Partygate is not going anywhere. The deputies are going to try him. and on Tuesday Simon Case, the secretary of the cabinet, confronted the constitutional committee (it is not an easy job when you work for the most naughty boy in school). Case, who looks like a leading adult prefect, initially walked a clever line between revelation and secrecy, but came into conflict with John McDonnell, a man whose interrogation technique could not have been more frightening if he wore balaclava. How do you respond to the allegation that Boris tried to find a job with his then girlfriend, McDonnell asked? “No knowledge,” Case replied. Have you researched? “No.” Why not? “Investigation … can only be authorized by the Prime Minister.” “Isn’t he willing?” asked President William Rag, the babbling baby face. McDonnell did not laugh. He has not laughed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. He went back to work: do you have no responsibility to follow the standards? In this case, he threw a swing: “I am VERY aware of my responsibilities”, he growled, “and I take them very seriously … I have throughout my career and I continue to do this!” The general implication of his remarks was that the government does not have a formal compliance system: we rely on custom. If ministers want to be ethical, that’s very good, and civil servants are ready to advise them. If they do not, everything goes a little Lord of the Flies. A civil servant could always protest and resign, but given the pension from which one would leave, this would clearly not be in the national interest – so the government is confused and Whitehall is just watching. Case has admitted that he now spends up to 30 percent of his time dealing with ethical issues, which, according to what he told us, must be a waste of taxpayer money. Like trying to teach the highway code to a cat.
Some customs die hard
To return to McDonnell, he was not happy. Case had done “angry” and “angry” is the McDonnell issue. Well, on his second trip with the blower, he asked, if someone at No. 10 lied to the press and has been disciplined about it, will they tell us? “No,” Case replied – “because we do not comment on internal management and, after all, unions may have something to say about it.” “I have been a trade unionist all my life!” said McDonnell, with class war raging in his veins, “so don’t tell me what unions are!” Case lowered his eyes and said, “I do not want to fall with you.” In the good old days, when a teacher was threshing, a student would shake his hand afterwards – and when the committee meeting was over and the cameras were off, Case approached McDonnell, apologized for what he had said, and shook his hand. It is gratifying to see that some customs die hard.
