Warts and All

A minister in the Irish government has thought better of comparing the Johnson junta to the government of Oliver Cromwell. Michael D'Arcy referred to the Imperial Haystack's suspension of Parliament as "perhaps the most anti-democratic decision" since the Protectorate, though others might nominate James II and VII's prorogation of Parliament in order to set himself up as a tin-pot Louis XIV. Cromwell's crimes in Ireland during his anti-Catholic crusade have understandably made him a reviled figure there to this day; but comparing him to Boris Johnson is going a bit far. The Popish antichrist aside, Cromwell's régime was rather tolerant, and the man himself was neither corrupt nor insincere. D'Arcy soon deleted the comment, evidently less because of the offence against Old Noll's memory than because the Irish government has better things to do than comment on the latest pie-fight in the Westminster wendy-house.