Can U.K's version of Trump survive?
LONDON - The parallels between American and British politics make many Brits nervous - especially when it comes to brash Prime Minister Boris Johnson and boastful former President Donald Trump.
As I spent the week in the U.K., Labour and conservative members of Parliament were calling on Johnson to go, and the question of the day was whether the Tory can survive.
He's too "Trumpian," railed critics who see Johnson as loose with the truth. Some warned if BoJo survives two recent scandals, the U.K. would assume the tattered moral authority of post-Trump America.
The first scandal is Partygate - revelations that Johnson and staff partied heartily at No. 10 Downing St. during the U.K.'s strict 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns.
Think of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who survived after he was caught dining at a posh Napa restaurant with a contingent of operatives and lobbyists. None masked between bites, as the governor's office had advised.
The effort to recall Newsom failed.
As BBC debated Johnson's behavior, Americans were transfixed by a Twitter photo of failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams with masked elementary schoolchildren sitting behind her. Abrams quickly removed the photo.
Partygate, I am told, could (or should) be fatal to Johnson because Britons see rule-following as part of their DNA.
The latest BoJo scandal is the "Savile slur" - gratuitous remarks the prime minister recently made about Sir Keir Starmer, the rival Labour leader. Johnson gratuitously offered that Starmer, when he was a director of public prosecutions years ago, "spent more time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, as far as I can make out."
Savile was a knighted and beloved celebrity until, a year after his death, reports emerged that he had sexually abused hundreds of children and adults. Dead, he may be the most hated celebrity in the U.K.
Staffers and colleagues were appalled at what they dismissed as Johnson's Trumpian "fake news," even if Starmer had apologized for the Crown Prosecution Service's failure, as the Daily Telegraph pointed out.
The fact that a mob swarmed and threw insults at Starmer, resulting in two arrests, led to comparisons with our Jan. 6 melee.
Johnson's long-term head of policy Munira Mirza resigned over Johnson's remarks. She wrote: "This was not the normal cut-and-thrust of politics; it was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse. You tried to clarify your position today but, despite my urging, you did not apologize for the misleading impression you gave."
I watch British conservatives' push for standards and decency with a sense of envy.
Given the parliamentary system, conservatives know if they push Johnson out of No. 10, the next prime minister will be a Tory. And they believe that good Brits should demand elected officials exhibit good character - more than one sees with Johnson or Trump.
But blimey, such winds seem to blow only in one direction.
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