The Conservatives no longer care about standards in public life.
We know this because they still think Boris Johnson, the first sitting Prime Minister to break the law, is fit for office.
The world’s oldest political party used to be associated with the ideas of responsibility, duty and accountability.
Now its MPs, with a few honourable exceptions, are guided by a very different set of values.
When Edwina Currie said it didn’t matter that Johnson broke the law as long as her party kept winning elections she was saying out loud what many Tories are privately thinking.
That is how debased the Conservatives have become. They will turn a blind eye to lawbreaking, lying and dishonesty if that means they can stay in power.
They are not bothered that the ministerial code says ministers who “knowingly mislead parliament will be expected to offer their resignation” or that the party’s code of conduct states holders of public office have a “fundamental duty” to “act with honesty and probity”.
If the Tories want to uphold these codes they would demand Johnson’s resignation. By refusing to do so they are degrading our democracy.
Perhaps they will win the next general election under Johnson. But it will come at a terrible price.
It will set the precedent that future Prime Ministers no longer have to abide by the rules.
They could commit crimes far worse than Johnson’s in the knowledge they will be able to get away with it.
Britain, the mother of Parliaments, will be in no position to lecture other countries on the importance of the rule of law.
The fabric of our democracy will fray as voters become even more detached from politics.
For short-term gain, the Conservatives are prepared to wreak long-term damage.
They may not care about the consequences of keeping Johnson in place but they should do.
