No Prime Minister, I don't want to move on

There's much to be angry about in the Dominic Cummings scandal. I need not go in to the heart of it - it's self-evident that a top advisor not obeying the same rules as everyone else is unfair. Especially so when so many others were in far worse, more dangerous situations and still found a way to manage without driving across the country to their parent's sprawling estate. That's the behaviour of a cunt. As is saying, "I was perfectly reasonable and justified", which means that either everyone else was too stupid to understand the rules correctly, or that he's so important that the rules don't apply to him. There isn't a third option.

But we need not dwell on that. What I want to rant about here is the barefaced lying, which in the long term is far more damaging than one middle-aged idiot driving to a castle when he shouldn't. It's the excuses and their defence that should concern us more than the recklessness itself.

Nobody goes for a 60 mile drive to "test their eyesight" - anyone who does is knowingly endangering themselves and others. Nobody manages a 260 mile drive with a 4 year old without stopping. Nobody has "shouted conversations" across a 50 yard gap when they're ill, except those who've never heard of telephones. Never mind retroactively editing a blog to make oneself look more knowledgeable about a coming crisis which leaves tens of thousands dead. That is bizarre indeed : does he want us to think he knew but did nothing ? That's far, far worse than simple ignorance.

Not to mention feeling threatened by the media at his London home during a period when nobody was allowed outdoors. Or the downright strange description of his parents estate as having a bunch of cottages, private woods, but also being "not very nice, just a bunch of concrete blocks". And as for which erroneous media claims have been refuted, that's anyone's guess, since he refused to specify which ones were wrong. "Everyone will understand now they know the truth", he said, after having confirmed the exact truths everyone was very angry about.

The litany of transparent falsehoods in the account is too long to examine fully, so let's take it for granted that the whole account is a sham. Does it even matter that one twit told a pack of lies ?

Well, yes, obviously it does. At least the other important political figures who had to resign had the decency to admit their mistakes. They didn't try and convince us they were actually lovely people doing perfectly sensible things : they admitted their wrongdoing, and, perhaps, learned from it.

But there's worse. When the Prime Minister throws his all at defending a lunatic, what does that say about the Prime Minister ? Or when he says, "I've seen the evidence, but no-one else needs to", what does that say about him ? If this lying scumbag is so important to him, what does that say about the Prime Minister's intellect and character ?

Obviously nothing good. But when he tells us to "move on", that is arguably worse still. It is a synonym for "I don't care". He's saying, "you just have to accept this because I'm the boss." He's saying, "accountability means me feeling slightly uncomfortable during interviews but not actually doing anything about it".

Now Boris did not, so far as I'm aware, openly admit to an error on the NHS surcharge for foreign workers, but at least that error was remedied. When it comes to Dominic Cummings, he won't even do that. No advisor should ever warrant this level of immunity. Saying, "move on" is an attempt to force us to agree to disagree, to say, "these are the lies, shut up and live with them". Well, screw you, Prime Minister - it's not up to you to tell me what I should approve of. Your top advisor is a deranged liar, and you're defending him. You're saying it's okay for the government to tell lies while simultaneously telling the public to use their common sense. What conclusion am I supposed to draw from that ?

With a twenty point plummet in the opinion polls, the consequences for trust in the government - at a time when it's most needed - are already clear. We absolutely should not move on from this. Government defence of liars is not a Westminster spat, it's an attack on the system of government itself. My conclusion is that you're an arsehole, Prime Minister.