Confidence in our PM even lower

POLITICIANS, broadcasters and historians will no doubt chew over the Cummings issue for years to come.

The facts and detail will be hashed and pulled apart but the real relevance is the impact this sorry episode will have on the loss of confidence of the nation in its leader.

Most people will feel it is just the typical elitist behaviour where there is one law for them and another for the rest of us. Nothing new there, then. After all Boris Johnson stayed in his publicly provided second home when released from hospital and Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, was given a free pass to go to his second home 150 miles from his normal residence.

But the real impact is in the exposure, once again, of the Tory Party who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. The value in this case is honesty.

On any reading, Boris Johnson has, at best, a passing relationship with the truth. His track record is littered with examples. But the twists and turns in this sad saga to show that “there’s nothing to see here” are really dangerous. The loss of honesty will lead to a huge drop in confidence and trust in the Government who are instructing the nation to completely turn their lives upside down.

We are living in a time when people are living as if under house arrest; we can’t grieve properly for our lost loved ones and children and their grandparents are isolated from each other. By and large we have accepted these restrictions for the greater good.

But when those who lead lose their moral compass and defend the indefensible then they can hardly expect to command the respect needed from a population under extreme stress.

What has been exposed , yet again, is that at this time of extreme danger our Prime Minister is the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time.

Dave Anderson Middleton-in-Teesdale