Surely Britain is better than this?

"Caught lying, Johnson has pulled every trick in the book to avoid real personal responsibility."

With his deceitful conduct, Boris Johnson has exposed the weakness of democracy. Hiding behind procedures, rules and bluffs, he is fighting a rear-guard action to avoid answering for his deceits and alleged crimes. And the system allows this to happen. 

These days it is often said that democracy is under threat from totalitarian regimes. That may be so, but the antics of those within the system are more damaging; those that lie and cheat, obfuscating their way through parliament. 

H.L. Mencken, an American essayist, identified the idea that democracy operates against decent people raising to the top because the system intrinsically favours the most devious and mediocre types. Looking around the cast of characters performing in the UK parliament, it is easy to agree with Mencken’s thoughts.

Caught lying, Johnson has pulled every trick in the book to avoid real personal responsibility. Instead, he's ignored common decency, usurped process and fallen back from defence position to defence position, damaging institutions along the way.

His first line of defence was bluster, "No parties, no rules broken." Then we had, "It is a misunderstanding" and "I didn't know it was a party." That is despite the booze and cheese. When that argument faltered on a sceptical public, he summoned an insider to 'independently' investigate the matter. 

That word 'independent' is doing a lot of work because Gray is a noted behind-the-scene operator who worked to shield Nos 10. As a fixer, in the past, she held off scrutiny of Nos 10, including denying freedom of information requests on what many consider dubious grounds. 

Yet even Gray couldn't ignore the vast amount of evidence of wrong-doing. While critical of Johnson, her interim report fails to deliver the killer blow. She's left many issues unaddressed. 

We are told she held back because the Metropolitan Police finally got off their backsides to investigate the Covid rule-breaking taking place under their noses. Happy to slap fines on ordinary citizens, chase people with drones and raid wedding parties, the police turned a blind eye to events in and around Nos 10. 

Police in England and Wales have fined more than 18,000 people for meeting outside during the pandemic – a crime for which Boris Johnson has repeatedly escaped punishment.

Now that the clamour for action reached a crescendo, even Commissioner Dick couldn't ignore it. That has meant that aspects of the Gray Report are held back, allowing shifty Boris to take cover behind the police inquiry. 

Nominative determinism is the concept that people gravitate towards jobs and actions that fit their names. Ms Dick may substantiate that theory. She has undoubtedly made a rod for her own back by holding off investigating Boris, eroding further the already tarnished image of the Metropolitan Police.

It is helpful to tally up the institutions of state that Boris debased as he seeks to fend off a full acknowledgement of the truth. First up is the Office of Nos 10; next is the Civil Service and finally the Metropolitan Police.

I've watched the debates with a sense of awe at the sheer audacity of Boris as Kier Starmer, the opposition leader, had a few decent attempts at getting Boris to fess up. 

Yet assailed from all sides, Boris laughs and smirks as MPs raised the community's trauma over Covid deaths. One Tory MP asked if Boris considered him a fool for following the Covid rules at his grandmother's funeral.

And yet conservative MPs are holding back on delivering a leadership challenge.

As Boris hangs on, he's like a wounded lion lashing out and roaring at anyone who dares to criticize him. As a result, he's a diminished figure and has diminished the UK's standing internationally. 

The villain of the moment, Putin, is not inclined to take any calls from Boris. Who can blame him? Boris is a silly man who can't even remember if he attended a party in his flat, plus he is looking like yesterday's man.

I suspect to see a slow march to the gallows of dismissal for Boris; he will need to be prized from Downing Street kicking and screaming. That process will drag the country down with him, leaving the UK looking like a lesser country.

Anyone interested in justice and truth must be asking, surely Britain is better than this?