Will the furore over the No 10 party be enough to burst Boris Johnson’s bubble? | Martin Kettle

The prime minister has shamelessly broken rules before, but the sense that the country can do better is now running deep

Boris Johnson’s entire life and career are littered with personal, professional and political deceptions. He breaks rules and tells lies with shameless confidence and without compunction. This is part of his act, but it sometimes feels as if it is almost a matter of self-regarding principle too. That is partly because, most of the time, he gets away with and is even rewarded for it. So why should it be any different now?

The question facing British politics today is whether the image of a Downing Street Christmas party, and the excruciating insensitivity there would be in holding it on a day when nearly 500 people were dying of Covid, may be the event to burst Johnson’s bubble. Last week an online video spoof showed Johnson apparently receiving a Covid booster jab, then shrivelling up like an empty balloon. That video was someone’s fantasy. Now nature is imitating art. It was a deflated Johnson, a rare sight in any season, who turned up to answer prime minister’s questions today.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3y7eL9U

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