Yeah, going political on here again, it's been a while, but you have to admit, the last few days have certainly been proof that "A week is a long time in politics". (Whilst I started writing this, Nicola Sturgeon got arrested! I wish the news would slow down a bit more these days.) So, now I am no longer one constituency over from The Johnson's, and not because I moved further away. I know he is going to stick around in some way for a while, he is the proverbial Turd That Will Not Flush, but I am going to enjoy this little moment. Now I am not going to do a full autopsy on his time as an MP and as PM, not enough time and far wiser souls than I have done so. Instead, what I want to discuss is the thing that really gets me about the whole sorry saga of Partygate; the fact that it was all for nothing.
Now often the phrase "all for nothing" suggests that some big noble cause or goal was followed, and it was doomed to failure; that's not what I'm suggesting here (like there's anything noble about Johnson!). Nor am I using "All for nothing" to suggest that it was a fuss about nothing, a non-issue; definitely not, he fully demonstrated all the reasons why he shouldn't be anywhere near a position of power over the course of the scandal, that is a serious reason. No, what I mean by "all for nothing" is that Johnson sowed the seeds of his own destruction to get absolutely nothing.
I know this might be hard for many of us, but think back to 2020 during the lockdowns. It was hard, it was tough on us all, and we all missed out on so much, but we went along with it. We all understood what was at stake, what the consequences were. I have friends who lost family members as a result of COVID, we all lost at least someone, we knew why it was necessary. Still, we had some comforts; in a way if it had to happen, it's lucky that it happened at a time when most of us had good internet access, we could download stuff, stream stuff, have zoom chats. I shudder to think how well it would have gone if instead we had to rely on whatever books, tapes, board games and such we happened to have in the homes when it started, and if one by one phonecalls was the only long distance option. So it wasn't like it was completely impossible to take our minds off the matter, we had something at least.
But that wasn't enough for Johnson; under his watch, he bought in a completely laissez-faire attitude at Number 10, resulting in multiple breaches of the Covid laws (you know, laws he introduced) for the sake of a few booze ups. Now it wasn't Partygate itself that forced him out as PM, no matter what he says in his unrepentant and self pitying resignation statement, that was the Chris Pincher affair, but the whole thing lead to a massive backlash and new level of mistrust against not Johnson but the whole Tory party, the effects of which aren't going anywhere. And this week, Johnson left as a result of the Privileges Committee examination of whether or not he lied to Parliament over the course of Partygate. Now it still isn't clear what he was told, but by his actions it's clear that they weren't looking on him favourably, which would have meant Parliament would have decided whether or not to suspend him for it, which in turn would have lead to a By-Election, and so he chose to run away rather than actually "lose". Coward.
So the portion of his career and legacy Pincher didn't ruin, Partygate did, and that brings me to the main point above, the "All for Nothing" part; what did he gain from having those par- oh I'm sorry, "Work Events"? He broke major rules, ones that existed to protect peoples' lives, and for what? For a few extra get togethers that, if he had just sat tight and waited properly, he would have had anyway? Nixon was bought down because of a scandal related to him trying to hold on to power. Over in the US, The Cheeto is facing major issues for actively taken confidential material for his own use, potentially even espionage uses. Many a politician has been bought down because they did something unethical to further their own ends, but in the case of Johnson, the thing that bought him down, that the broke the rules to do, was for... well, an alternative to watching Netflix on a few nights? And look at how spectacularly that has blown up in his face. I detest Ronald Reagan and Magaret Thatcher, but you know one thing they were good at? Understanding the principle of Risk vs Reward! You do not do something that can potentially cause this much trouble for you, unless you think what you'll get out of it will be really worth it.
Johnson, probably purely because he thought he could get away with it, and/or honestly didn't believe it would affect him, has f***** his career as an MP by doing something that's all risk and no reward. It's like he shot someone in broad daylight just to steal loose change from their pocket when he already had plenty of cash. Looking back over his life, right from the start he has shown this attitude that the rules don't apply to him, and he has time and again got in trouble for it. That, beyond anything else, shows why he was never suited to a position of power and responsibility, because he has zero sense of responsibility. Even now, he seems pathologically incapable of accepting anything his fault ever, calling it a "witch hunt"* against him. He cannot learn. So that's what I want everyone to remember from all this; he doesn't change, he doesn't accept responsibility, and he doesn't even need a reason to do things that put lives in danger. Always remember this, and when he tries to make his inevitable comeback, remind him of that too.
*It always amuses me that he's still trying to constantly use The Cheeto's tactics, even three years after The Cheeto lost; you'd think that would make one reconsider using those tactics.
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