Arrest: Good enough for Sturgeon? Then good enough for Johnson

However, the pair were unsuccessful.

Many may laud their efforts, though it’s unlikely that even harsher penalties will prevent some comeback by Johnson. Not only does an open door wait for him with the hard-right Reform Party – formerly Nigel Farage’s UKIP – but even expelled members can make a return to parliament, as the MP John Wilkes did in the mid-1700s.

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There is, some say, perhaps a different means of dealing with Johnson, one that many feel fitting given the recent events surrounding Nicola Sturgeon: arrest.

It appears there could be grounds to consider whether Johnson may have committed the offence of ‘misconduct in a public office’, not simply in connection with Partygate, but also in the wider way he conducted government during the pandemic.

His government, it is alleged, awarded 11.4% of Westminster Covid contracts, worth billions, to Conservative Party donors and associates. Some claim this alone makes the saga around the SNP’s finances seem ‘relatively’ minor.

Then there is the lack of preparation for the pandemic; policies which seemingly led to the increasing spread of Covid like ‘Eat Out to Help Out’; and claims that Johnson infamously said ‘let the bodies pile high’.

Does this amount to misconduct in public office? One of the UK’s leading specialist law firms in criminal and regulatory litigation, Corker Binning, notes that in France criminal investigations include whether the government’s “response ... resulted in the commission of offences including involuntary manslaughter … endangering lives and the wilful refusal to fight a disaster”.

Gendarmes raided homes and offices of the health minister, director of public health, and the former prime minister. Regarding UK public officials, Corker Binning said “there are clear warning signs that merit criminal investigation”.

The renowned QC Michael Mansfield chaired the ‘People’s Covid Inquiry’, which spent four months gathering evidence about the government’s response to the pandemic.

Mansfield has said there are grounds for prosecuting Johnson, members of his cabinet, and former ministers, for their role in Covid.

The People’s Covid report said: “The government’s handling of the pandemic was grossly negligent and has unquestionably led to significant loss of life that could and should have been avoided … Those in charge during the pandemic showed a wilful disregard for public safety and a callousness toward the numbers of people who have died and their bereaved relatives.”

The UK’s former chief scientist Sir David King has claimed the government could have saved more than 100,000 lives if it had taken a more cautious approach.

Misconduct in a public office, according to the Crown Prosecution Service in England, is a common law offence which can carry a maximum of life imprisonment.

It occurs when a public office holder “wilfully neglects to perform his duty and/or wilfully misconducts himself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder without reasonable excuse or justification”.

Just as with those already subjected to the scrutiny of the law, such as Nicola Sturgeon, the presumption around Johnson must be innocent until proven guilty.

It will be instructional to observe the process of the ongoing official public inquiry into the pandemic and learn what evidence, if any, may emerge that justifies the concerns in the minds of some that Johnson should be arrested and questioned by police.

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