A sorry show from Boris
SORRY. It’s such a little word, yet it can be so powerful.
Sorry I shouted like a banshee. Sorry I forgot your birthday... again.
Sorry I borrowed that vintage jacket and never gave it back (that one’s addressed to my daughter.)
Sorry comes in many sizes, from the smallest of ‘oops-Ibumped-your-Tesco-trolley-withmine’ to heavyweight admissions of remorse for corporate failings.
But it’s a magic little word because, in my experience, even the most appalling of circumstances can be made better by a straightforward apology.
It’s a balm to help soothe raw anger and grief; a stepping stone to something better, an open door which allows people to move forward.
But here’s the thing: however big or small, whether from a huge organisation or the bloke that scraped the paintwork on your car, that sorry has to come from the heart – otherwise it means nothing.
And a half-hearted or self-serving sorry is worse than none at all.
That’s something our parents taught us and we, in turn, teach our kids.
The first rule of instilling responsibility and compassion in your offspring: say sorry and mean it.
What a pity then that nobody seems to have mentioned that to the Prime Minister.
We were told Boris Johnson would deliver a ‘full-throated’ apology to the House and to the country in the wake of the partygate revelations and his subsequent fine.
But, from what I heard, we didn’t even get a whisper of proper contrition. Yes, he might have said the word a great many times in his speech but every one felt hollow.
Each ‘sorry’ was followed by blather, deflection and excuse.
First he tried to convince us all that he had not realised the gathering in No 10 Downing Street was against the law.
The same law which, you will remember, the PM reminded us about every night at 5pm when the telly schedules were cleared and he stood at a lecturn to address a terrified nation.
If he wasn’t trying that tactic he was trying to move on swiftly. Next up – the conflict in the Ukraine.
Partygate? That’s so 2021.
Don’t you know there’s a war on? From where I stood his apologies meant nothing to him, just as they meant nothing to the relatives of those who died alone during the pandemic as they stuck to the rules and stayed away from hospitals and care homes and were denied final hugs and last goodbyes.
They meant nothing too to those only allowed a handful of mourners at the funerals of family and friends or those separated for painful months on end from a loving, familiar face.
There is another side to an apology of course and that is the acceptance of it. It’s the gracious thing to do after all if someone has expressed true remorse for their actions.
But I am having a hard job finding that grace when it comes to the man leading this country.
If Boris Johnson was truly sorry he would have resigned months ago.
Despite what the song says, sorry isn’t really the hardest word.
It’s easy – as long as you mean it.