We’re witnessing the slow self-destruction of the Tory party

We have not seen anything like this at the top of government before. The sleaze of the Major years has been replaced by a much darker kind of immorality, writes Sean O’Grady. All governments can suffer from external shocks, but we are observing a party which is entirely the author of its own destruction

Rishi Sunak has been urged to investigate claims that the Tory party mishandled rape claims against an unnamed MP (PA)

There comes a point in the life of a party too long in power when what used to be the normal kind of periodic manageable crises become endemic and unmanageable. It looks and feels as if it’s self-destructing. Every positive initiative, every fragment of encouraging economic news, every success is quickly subsumed by some grimier scandal, a bit of sleaze or a gaffe that blows any slender chance of recovery in the polls.

One minute Rishi Sunak is basking in the warm glow of Elon Musk and wittering about artificial intelligence; 48 hours later, he’s trying to deal with claims about a serial rapist who is still a serving Conservative member of parliament.

But hold any sympathy you might have for Sunak and ask yourself what he might have done better on this particular matter over the past year, and what he knew about it and when. All governments can suffer from external shocks – Covid, energy crises, wars; but sometimes they can be the authors of their destruction.