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- Will no one think about poor Boris? Former PM smirks and sighs through Covid inquiry | John Crace
Will no one think about poor Boris? Former PM smirks and sighs through Covid inquiry | John Crace
The political arena witnessed another masterclass in strategic deflection as Boris Johnson took center stage at the Covid inquiry's children and young people module, a performance so meticulously unbothered it could have been ripped from a campaign playbook. Here was the former Prime Minister, the architect of policies that saw an entire generation of schoolchildren sacrifice their education and social development for the protection of the elderly, facing the music with his signature disheveled hair, an unshaven face that screamed casual disregard, and that ever-present smirk—a political weapon he wields with the precision of a seasoned general.He didn't just answer questions; he navigated them like a candidate in a hostile media scrum, projecting an aura of bored irritation, as if the very act of accountability was a tedious interruption to his day. This wasn't merely a testimony; it was a battle report from the front lines of political survival, a stark reminder of the Johnson doctrine where personal responsibility is always someone else's portfolio.The inquiry, in this context, becomes less a search for truth and more a high-stakes debate stage, with Johnson deploying his classic tactics: the rhetorical flourish to obscure the lack of substance, the carefully cultivated image of the beleaguered statesman, and the strategic sighs that signal to his base that he is being persecuted by the establishment. One can almost see the internal polling data guiding his every non-answer, the calculation behind every evasive maneuver.The children and young people, the supposed focus of the day, became mere statistics in a larger political war, their lost years and mental health struggles reduced to talking points in a narrative Johnson is desperately trying to control. It’s a familiar strategy for those who have followed his career—create a fog of personality so dense that the facts cannot penetrate, and hope the public's memory is as short as a news cycle. The real inquiry here isn't just into pandemic policies; it's a live dissection of a political brand built on chaos and charm, and on this Tuesday, the brand was on full display, fighting for its life not with contrition, but with a smirk.
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