Boris Johnson

has starred this Monday in one of his most notorious "escapades" in times of crisis, when he decided to stand up to Parliament in the debate on corruption.

The leader of the Labor opposition Keir Starmer has accused him of "running away scared" and of having given a "green light" to the excesses committed by the deputies of the Conservative Party such as Owen Paterson, who resigned on Friday after the revelations about the commissions received. by private companies such as Randox (benefited from contracts of 560 million euros for Covid tests).


"When he has been required to lead, he has chosen to hide," Starmer declared in the House of Commons.

"His only concern, as usual, is personal self-preservation before the national interest."


Downing Street has justified the absence of Boris Johnson from the debate (represented by Cabinet Minister Stephen Barclay) by claiming that he was on an official visit at Hexham Hospital in Northumberland and that he did not have time to return to the debate by train. Labor 'number two' Angela Rayner recalled how the 'premier' traveled last week on a private plane from Glasgow to London to arrive on time for a dinner organized by the conservative daily 'The Daily Telegraph'. Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain has gone even further in her criticism, saying that Johnson has treated Westminster with the same disdain as if it were "the Moscow Duma."

The Labor Party has in fact made the most of the

"Paterson scandal"

and has been ahead of the Conservative Party in the polls by 36% to 35%.

The Ipsos Mori poll also certifies the plummeting of confidence in Johnson, with 61% of British saying they "disapprove" of his management and only 34% giving him a "pass."


The erratic behavior of the Johnson Government, which first tried to avoid a vote in Parliament to sanction Paterson and then swerved when his resignation seemed inevitable, has caused a

barrage of criticism among the "Tories"

, who just a month ago clothed seamlessly to their leader at the Conservative Party conference.


Owen Paterson, who became Secretary of State for the Environment with David Cameron, was a strong advocate for Brexit and was aligned with the party's hard wing through the European Research Group. The revelations about the

money received under the hood from private companies

(up to three times more than his salary of 95,000 euros a year) have exposed the collusion of the "lobbies" and have led to the thorough revision of the code of conduct in Westminster .


Stephen Barclay, a former Brexit minister, was seen on the ballot defending Johnson in his role as Cabinet minister in the corruption debate. Barclay publicly expressed his regret over the "mistake" made by the government in trying to avoid a vote on the "Paterson case" in the context of reforming the parliamentary code of conduct. "Our intention is to advance in this area on the basis of an agreement between the parties," he said.


Labor Keir Starmer, however, accused Johnson of

using Paterson as "a bishop"

and of "corroding trust" in the political system. "We are not facing a tactical error, but rather a pattern of conduct," claimed the opposition leader, referring to the absent "premier." "When he says that the rules to avoid the influence of private interests do not affect his friends, he is also deliberately subverting the work of those who must stop corruption."


The corruption scandal has grown in the last hours after the revelations of 'The Sunday Times': a long dozen of wealthy Conservative Party donors supposedly received the title of Lord for the simple "merit" of having donated more than three million pounds (3.5 million euros) to the "Tories".

However, Environment Secretary George Eustice assured the BBC that the distinctions were due to his "experience" and not to his financial contributions to the party.

Eustice has countered by alleging that the corruption scandal is "a storm in a teacup."

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