Prime minister right to be humble over his failure to abide by Covid rules he helped draw up

In a sense the point that is made by Brandon Lewis and others, comparing the prime minister’s Covid fine to a parking ticket, is reasonable enough.

A fine is a fine, and it is a way of dealing with a minor offence.

There is no doubt, however, that the situation in which Boris Johnson has put himself is far more serious than it would be if he had merely fallen foul of traffic regulations.

First there is the fact that he did preside over the laws that he breached.

It will take many years to assess whether or not the UK and other countries were right to impose such swingeing restrictions on people’s freedoms as they did over coronavirius after March 2020.

It has been a horrible pandemic and tragically many people have died with it (albeit mostly people who were approaching end of life, or who died from other factors in addition to Covid). But we do not yet know the full consequences of lockdown in terms of mental health, in terms of the economy, in terms of damaged education, and so on.

However, the UK under the premiership of Boris Johnson did go down a route of lockdowns, which in some shape or form continued into this year.

It is not at all surprising that Mr Johnson was at times cavalier in Downing Street. That is often his style.

Prime ministers have immensely pressured jobs and they are entitled to major perks so that they can run the nation. However, while there are multiple charges levelled against Mr Johnson, some of them of no consequence, at other points he could hardly not have known that he was in breach of both the letter of the rules he drew up and the spirit.

Whether or not the fact that Mark Harper, a former Tory chief whip, has turned against Mr Johnson is a harbinger, or whether or not the PM will survive again remains to be seen.

But Mr Johnson is right to adopt a humble approach to this crisis, which was brought about by his hubris.