I find the Stanley Johnson “AKTCHUALLY he hasn’t broken any rules” apologia very weird. This isn’t bending planning laws to maximise your conservatory or tax avoidance, loathsome as it is. These rules are a rushed and imperfect way of codifying pandemic safety to save lives. 1/3
What Johnson Pater undeniably HAS done, in essence, is this: he has left a place of maximum infection and gone to a small village of zero infections *and zero health infrastructure*. He is risking other people’s lives. That is what he’s doing. Dress it up any way you like. 2/3
Stanley Johnson is smart and educated. He gets precisely the underlying objective of the rules. He knows that taking two flights is a technicality that makes a mockery of them. He doesn’t give a toss, because his wishes trump all else. “BUT I WANT” is that family’s motto. 3/3
