for politicians. let s discuss some of the issues facing parliament in 2022 with lucy fisher the deputy political editor for the telegraph, and george parker the political editor at the financial times. good morning to you both. thank you for talking to us this morning. we will continue first, lucy. ladies first, happy new year to you both. what do you think of the big issues facing the government as we go into the new year? the new year? well, there are robabl the new year? well, there are probably three the new year? well, there are probably three categories. - the new year? well, there are - probably three categories. political challenges for boris johnson probably three categories. political challenges for borisjohnson and his administration, policy challenges, and economic challenges that present the backdrop to that. i think there is a hangover from the end of last year on the political front, is a hangover from the end of last year on the politicalfront, a lot of his back
in a report, the parliamentary. standards watchdog said he had repeatedly broken lobbying i rules while working as a paid consultant for two firms. borisjohnson wanted to save his friend and former minister owen paterson from being punished for breaking the paid lobbying rules. his plan? create a new conservative controlled committee to review the work of the standards watchdog. i think the thing that the paterson affair tells us most about is the government s attitude towards parliament. opening up the whole questions about how mps are dealt with by parliament, how the standards process works. but, on the basis of trying to save one individual case, and that blew up in their face. the ayes to the right, 238! the noes to the left, 232!
leaving borisjohnson open to claims of corruption. he said he knew nothing about it. by the time that was revealed not to be true, the prime minister had tried to fix the problem by paying for the refurb himself. what do you think his relationship to the truth is? how do you describe it? i don t think he is regarded as someone who, er. getting things right is an absolute priority and he has a confidence that he has the skills basically to ride over it. what do you think he s done to the office of prime minister? i think he s demeaning it, there s no other way of putting it. he will set a big picture and maintain an upbeat atmosphere but looking at the details of policy, that is pretty low down on his priorities. then, there was the owen paterson affair.
overwhelmed to. i know they are not directly comparable overwhelmed to. i know they are not directly comparable but overwhelmed to. i know they are not directly comparable but that - overwhelmed to. i know they are not directly comparable but that is i overwhelmed to. i know they are not directly comparable but that is not i directly comparable but that is not what the data is coming out of south africa, the data from south africa is that the number of cases is now dropping, the severity of them is not as severe as delta and yesterday the number, thank of deaths was coming down, the number of hospitalisations was coming. ijust don t think at the moment there is anyjustification for don t think at the moment there is any justification for further measures. of any justification for further measures. of course any justification for further measures. of course people must be sensible, they only need to meet where it is reasonable to do so and they must consider getting the vaccination.
is not as severe as delta and yesterday the number, thank goodness, of deaths was coming down, the number of hospitalisations was coming. i just don t think at the moment there is anyjustification for further measures. of course people must be sensible, they only need to meet where it is reasonable to do so and they must consider getting the vaccination. but i think we are asking the good sense of the british people to do that rather than further government edicts at the moment. i want to ask you a bit more generally if you don t mind, in the wake of the north shropshire by election loss, the owen paterson affair, hundreds of mps including yourself rebelling, what are you making of all of this? is borisjohnson still up to thejob? we have clearly had a bad month, nobody would deny that and that the north shropshire result was anything but disastrous but we have been in these sort of situation before. i think what we are looking for now is borisjohnson