Britain | Bagehot

Sue Gray delivers a first report on those Downing Street parties

Every part of the British establishment has debased itself

PEOPLE LASH out when cornered and Boris Johnson is no exception. In a bad-tempered debate in Parliament on January 31st, MPs picked over a summary report into a series of illegal parties in Downing Street—including Mr Johnson’s own flat—and other locations during lockdown. Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s leader, called on the prime minister to resign and labelled him “unworthy of his responsibilities”. Mr Johnson in turn repeated a misleading far-right meme by accusing Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, of failing to charge Jimmy Savile, a former children’s entertainer and Britain’s most notorious paedophile.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Gray day, Gray day”

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