By Tony O’Reily-
The label placed on Boris Johnson as the moral vacuum in the conservative party is up for debate , after a former Conservative Party chairman has labelled Boris Johnson a “moral vacuum” for his failure to apologize for the false claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
In a damning attack on the prime minister, Lord Chris Patten went as far as suggesting that the conservative party had undergone “fundamental change” with some sections having “turned into an English nationalist, populist, Johnsonian cult”.
His venom comes following the resignations of senior officials from No 10, most notable Mr Johnson’s long-standing aide Munira Mirza, who quit last night in protest at the prime minister’s comments towards Sir Keir in the Commons.
Three other officials, including the No 10 director of communications and chief-of-staff, also announced their departure from Downing Street amid the ongoing fallout over allegations of parties during Covid restrictions.
However , the claim Johnson is the moral vaccum has been questioned on the grounds that several other ministers and highly placed professionals equally breached the rules in Downing Street.
Nhs researcher and media analyst, Amber Smart, an insightful member of The Eye Of Media.Com’s Thinktank said : ” The fact that many otherwise well standing members of the government and society attended those parties, makes it logically and factually incorrect to make the claim that the prime minister is the moral vacuum in government.
‘There was a broad absent of moral values were exposed by those who attended the prohibited parties, including the chief deputy editor of the Sun Newspaper, James Slack. If someone of that stature could breach the lockdown rules, it means we have to closely examine what their perception of the rules and its legitimacy was at the time.
Whilst Johnson’s attack on Keir Starmer in relation to the Jimmy Saville scandal was wrong, some of his supporters say he was calling for Starmer to be vicariously liable for the blunder in failing to prosecute a prolific paedophile like Saville when he was alive.
‘Starmer was to far high up in the hierachical structure of the Cps to be aware of the outcomes of all allegations presented for a final decision, but the most serious allegations sent to the Cps can arguably have been required to be sent to Starmer for final approval. Johnson can be seen to have been fighting back in calling for the level of accountability he himself was being made to be subjected to, but it was always going to register as an unjustified slur. The idea of failing to prosecute a paedophile has too many connotations”.
Lord Patten’s strong point in the context of responsibility and leadership is irresistible in circumstances like that which occurred over numerous gatherings in 2020 when the rest of the world thought they were on lockdown. High standards of discipline and accountability is imperative in any well functioning organization or government but a culture of indiscipline, which can be tarnishing for all those in top positions is a disease that engulfs all with a responsibility to put everyone in check.
Disaster
Addressing the prime minister’s widely condemned comments on Savile, which have also attracted criticism from Tory MPs, Lord Patten told the BBC’s World at One: “I always thought the show was likely to end in disaster.
“And I fear that’s what’s happened,” he said. “It’s been particularly scarred in the last act by this sort of scurrilous attack on Keir Starmer for which there was no purpose, other than to try to get a few members of the right wing of the Conservative party in the House of Commons excited”.
Lord Patten also praised the chancellor Rishi Sunak – tipped as Mr Johnson’s most likely successor if he is forced from office – for distancing himself from the prime minister’s remarks during a press conference on Thursday.
“I’ve heard other ministers being asked whether they would repeat the words and they sort of dodge and dart and duck and bob and weave without being prepared to say it,” the former cabinet minister said.
Whilst Sunak wasn’t in Boris Johnson’s position to know how lonely the House Of Commons had become for him in the face of attacks from Starmer, his representative of the general view, but the entire downing street team were smeared by news of the numerous parties. Politicians were generally all smeared collectively due to the bad reputation of lies and deceit that accompanies their line of work.
Inefficient decisions at the Cps reflects badly on all senior officials there, but it was a below the belt blow to deliver in parliament. The reputations of politicians took a hard knock following the revelations of parties.
Only a few months ago it was revealed that a high percentage of minister’s toilets had traces of cocaine in and around its surrounding areas. If drug use is rampant among politicians, covid violations at a large scale should be no surprise , but represent a wider problem amongst politicians.
His attack of Boris Johnson will add to the pains of the prime minister. He has not acted alone and his involvement in the parties do not place him as playing a central role in them. he no doubt somewhat condoned the breach, but the participation of so many other highly positioned people means he cannot fairly bare the cross of everyone sins on his own. Rot and branch changes is necessary among politicians.