THE NEW YORK TIMES: When Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed British lawmakers in a febrile Parliament on Wednesday, he appeared to raise his eyes to the heavens for a split moment as if to seek rescue.
Was he praying for escape from the opposition lawmakers who loudly jeered what many considered to be his non-apology for attending a boozy party at Downing Street during the 2020 lockdown — after he repeatedly insisted over the past several months that he had broken no rules?
Or perhaps from the sullen members of his own political party whose view of the “Blond Bombshell” is fast transiting from electoral super-asset to toxic brand likely to lose them their seats?
Or was it from the millions like me watching — at home, in the streets, on buses, in cafes — who gasped at the entitled lack of respect he demonstrated to those of us who abided by the restrictions, in the name of the greater good, and thus never got to say goodbye to our dying mothers, fathers and friends?
The Boris Johnson show was box-office that day but it was no longer a comedy act that viewers wanted to see from Britain’s onetime favorite performer. We wanted honest and deep contrition, but we were denied it. The overall message was that he had done no wrong. And his attempt at an apology has now created a full-scale political crisis entirely of his own making. » | Sonia Purnell * | Saturday, January 15, 2022
* Ms. Purnell is the author of “Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition” and a former colleague of Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
