In a nifty bit of parliamentary footwork, Boris Johnson’s government this week failed to establish the ever-loyal Chis Grayling as the new chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament. The far more independently minded backbencher Julian Lewis was voted in instead, with the support of opposition MPs, and was promptly kicked out of the parliamentary Conservative Party as a result.
In reporting this story, the media has focused on the committee’s report on Russian interference in UK electoral processes, still unpublished months after it was completed. It is now highly likely that Lewis, a long-time critic of the former Soviet Union and more recently of Russia, will ensure rapid publication.
It may turn out, however, that the real significance of this mini-coup against Johnson will be what the committee does to investigate a much more important issue. This is the possible role of the intelligence agencies in the government’s failure to get a grip on the COVID-19 pandemic.
