While the prime minister may at times appear remorseful for breaking Covid laws during the first lockdown in England, he is expected to argue that at the time he did not believe he had done anything wrong. This defense is the key to ensuring that he can not be found to have deliberately misled parliament into declaring that no rules were violated at No. 10, when stories of crushed staff partying with suitcases full of wine and a DJ first appeared. . It is the “knowledge” that is the most important. Johnson will seek to toss the issue under the rug, drop calls for resignations and urge lawmakers to focus on issues such as the war in Ukraine. Inevitably, he will be thrown to the rescue by some supportive followers. The issue will inevitably be delayed. In addition to the ongoing Met police investigation and the so far unpublished report by Sue Gray, opposition parties are also working to keep the spotlight on Johnson’s rule violation. They are pushing for President Lindsay Hoyle to allow a vote on a debate on whether the prime minister should despise parliament, possibly launching an investigation by the privileges committee into whether the Commonwealth has been misled. This is a dangerous area for Johnson, because the ministerial code that bears his signature is clear that the price for misleading parliament is resignation. While the text of any final proposal has not yet been implemented – and Hoyle will not make a decision on whether or not to accept it by Tuesday at the earliest – Tory representatives admit the issue will be treated as a vote of confidence. But any vote is almost certain to be flogged, which means the plan is doomed to fail even if it goes to a vote thanks to Johnson’s vast majority – ruling out a mammoth uprising. One MP said they were thinking of voting against the government, but they knew that if they did, they would be stripped of their whip and that would be the end of their political careers. “We have a reputation for being ruthless and brutal, which is not the case at the moment,” they said. There are those on the government side who also believe that the move is premature, and that the maximum damage will actually be caused if the issue is left unresolved in the run-up to next month’s local elections to cause the maximum damage. Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections. “It is not clear how we would have shown that the intention was unquestionable,” said a source. Both Labor and the Liberal Democrats still want to force a vote, given the difficult times for the Conservatives, with local by-elections less than a month away. Online ads are crafted to target voters in key areas where Tory MPs who may not want to offer their public support to Johnson will be forced to back him. While the government will certainly continue to win, it is another worrying echo for some Tories of the fall of Theresa May, whose administration was found to despise parliament less than four years ago.
