Time to move on to issues that matter

The Boris Johnson who stood at the dispatch box yesterday was a chastened figure. The Sue Gray report laid bare a culture of disregard for the rules in Downing Street at the height of the pandemic.

While the public stayed at home and avoided mixing with other households, the people setting the rules gathered for drinks in their offices. hardly the most glamorous of soirees but unlawful all the same.

The Gray report assigns blame to both senior civil servants and the political leadership. There was clearly a cavalier attitude to Covid restrictions in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, with regular after-work drinking sessions taking place.

The details of these sessions make for grim reading. Drunken vomiting. Staff brawling. Revelling until dawn. A senior civil servant even boasted that ‘we seem to have got away’ with one alcohol-fuelled gathering. Worse, cleaning and security staff were subjected to verbal abuse by inebriated Downing Street officials.

Boris Johnson has previously apologised for his lapses in judgment and he expressed regret again yesterday. This was not the bombastic Boris of old. his contrition before the house of Commons sounded humble and sincere – which is only right and proper. Trust was broken and will have to be repaired if the Conservatives hope to win another election.

This can only happen if the Prime Minister continues in post. That will not satisfy opponents calling for his head, including Sir Keir Starmer, whose own actions during lockdown are now under scrutiny. More to the point, there could not be a more perilous time for Britain to go through an unseemly battle of egos and ambition for the job of Prime Minister.

And despite Miss Gray’s findings, the Damoclean sword still hangs over Mr Johnson. he faces a Commons privileges committee probe over claims he lied to Parliament about No10 parties.

But this country needs strong leadership. On Ukraine. On the cost of living crisis. On growing the economy. These are the priorities that matter for hard-pressed families, struggling businesses and national security. The Prime Minister has apologised. he must do better.

It is now time to move on from cheese and wine and focus on the issues that matter to ordinary people.