Boris Johnson cannot let his standing with Tory MPs impact the government’s Covid response

Boris Johnson and his remaining allies are deploying a new tactic to try to deflect attention away from the social events held in Downing Street in the run-up to last Christmas.

Nadhim Zahawi, regarded in No 10 as one of the government’s most dependable media performers, was sent out on a tricky round of TV and radio interviews on Sunday to defend the indefensible. The latest revelation showed Mr Johnson taking part in a quiz for staff – not a hanging offence in itself, but further evidence of what ministers euphemistically call “gatherings” in Downing Street.

On Sky News, Mr Zahawi questioned whether the media had got “the right balance” by focusing on the “hype” about parties rather than the risk from the omicron variant of Covid-19. On the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, the education secretary repeatedly answered questions about “partygate” with statements about omicron.

By lashing out in such a desperate manner, Mr Johnson will merely deepen the hole he has dug for himself since foolishly trying to save the political skin of the disgraced former Tory MP Owen Paterson. It is right to focus on whether those at the heart of government broke the rules they had made for everyone else a year ago. It is just as much in the public interest as publicising the booster campaign as Mr Johnson should know.

Mr Johnson is trying to shoot the messenger when No 10’s apparent belief it could flout the rules has muddied the government’s vital public health messages. He could hardly blame people for using his aides’ behaviour as an excuse to ignore restrictions this Christmas. We hope that does not happen, and that, as thankfully they have done throughout the pandemic, the public will show more common sense than Mr Johnson and his team.

The public interest now requires the prime minister to protect the nation’s health at another dangerous moment. It was announced on Sunday that double-jabbed people in England who are close contacts of Covid cases will be told to take daily lateral flow tests for seven days. That change will come into effect from Tuesday. On the same day the prime minister will do the right thing by proposing measures – including greater use of face coverings, vaccine passports and guidance to work from home – in the Commons, when he faces the biggest backbench Tory rebellion of his premiership.

It will be uncomfortable for him to rely on the Labour opposition to win the vote. But Mr Johnson may soon need to move further – the UK Health Security Agency has warned ministers that “stringent national measures” might be needed by 18 December to prevent hospital admissions passing the peak of last winter. This plan C could involve a stricter isolation regime for contacts of people with coronavirus, wearing masks in pubs, closing pubs and restaurants and restricting social mixing.

Downing Street has made clear Mr Johnson has no intention of announcing more measures before Christmas; it is easy to see why he is anxious to avoid a repeat of his volte face just before last year’s festive season. But if his scientific advisers tell him more curbs are needed, he must not repeat his previous mistakes by delaying them purely out of political expediency; we know from bitter experience that this would likely result in even tougher restrictions at a later stage.

At almost every session of Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson accuses Keir Starmer of “playing politics”. If that were true, then Labour would make common cause with the Tory lockdown sceptics to inflict a humiliating defeat on the government on Tuesday that would take the crisis engulfing the prime minister to a new level. To his credit, Sir Keir is resisting the temptation to put the party interest before the national interest.

Mr Johnson should now do the same by standing up to his noisy backbench critics – if necessary, by introducing further restrictions after the Commons begins its Christmas break on Thursday. If he wants to regain the public’s rapidly diminishing trust, doing the right thing on Covid would be a good start.