The prime minister lives to fight another day, as Sue Gray, the civil servant who investigated alleged lockdown-busting parties, published an “update” stripped of detail instead of her full report.
She had to take out anything in her report that might interfere with the Metropolitan Police investigation into whether the law was broken.
That means that, although Gray was critical in general terms of the way public servants in Downing Street seemed to think the coronavirus rules didn’t apply to them, the question of whether Boris Johnson himself broke the law still hangs over him.
The prime minister himself admits that the “work event” in the garden of Downing Street during the first lockdown should not have gone ahead, even if he thought at the time it was technically allowed under the guidelines.
But most voters seem to have made up their mind that the prime minister broke the guidelines and was responsible for a culture at the heart of government that was cavalier about the rules.
Most voters tell opinion pollsters that Johnson should resign, but it is up to Conservative MPs to decide the prime minister’s fate, and despite a trickle of rebels urging him to go, the 54 MPs needed to trigger a vote of no confidence in his leadership have failed to materialise.
The prime minister must feel that he is wading through treacle, as the questions about the police investigation are going to follow him persistently until it is resolved.
At Prime Minister’s Questions Keir Starmer repeatedly mocked Johnson, saying that his bluster “wasn’t going to work with the police” and that he “may want to sharpen how he answers questions under interview”.
Other MPs asked Johnson if he was at the celebration of Dominic Cummings’s departure in his own flat, and if he would resign if he received a fixed penalty notice. There are weeks and months of this to go, constantly reminding the public of their anger at Johnson’s apparent rule-breaking at a time when he was asking them to make sacrifices.
I shall be here to answer your questions on Thursday – I may not know what is going to happen next, or when, but at least I understand the rules of Conservative leadership elections better than some Tory MPs themselves. Some of them are talking about Johnson fighting on even if he loses a vote of confidence, when the rules clearly state that a defeated leader cannot put their name forward for re-election.
If you have a question about what still looks like the endgame for Boris Johnson, submit it now, or when I join you live at 1pm on Thursday 3 February for an “Ask Me Anything” event.
To get involved all you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments below.
If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question. Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them. Then join us live on this page at 1pm as I tackle as many questions as I can.
