Strange tactics

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The untrue smear used by Johnson against Starmer this week was a low blow, so low that an increasing number on his own side have been repelled by it, and some of his ministers have been forced into giving farcical responses to questions. He’s presumably working on the assumption that if he can only somehow demonstrate that everyone is as bad as he is, then people will forgive his own sins. It’s a curious tactic, though, for at least two reasons. Firstly, he accused Starmer of prosecuting journalists instead of paedophiles, but there is surely a danger that he might also be reminding people that some journalists might deserve to be prosecuted – especially those, perhaps, who conspire to have their colleagues beaten up, yet somehow get away with it. But secondly, insisting that the man at the top must take the blame personally for everything done by those under his management is a risky tactic for someone who is reportedly on the verge of sacking a number of staff in order to preserve his own skin. Even if the tactic weren’t proving to be so counter-productive on his own side, neither comparison strikes me as being particularly helpful to himself.