The new inquiry proves partygate isn’t going away

The Commons has approved – without a vote – a motion calling for Boris Johnson to face an investigation into whether he misled the House over partygate. Labour’s motion, supported by other opposition parties, means the Privileges Committee will start an inquiry after the Metropolitan Police’s work on the lockdown parties has concluded.

There was no vote because the government opposition to this motion, which was still active even this morning collapsed at the last minute, and it was easy from the debate to see why. It lacked the drama of a vote at the end, but the speeches themselves compensated for that. As Katy reported earlier, Steve Baker became the latest Conservative MP to call for Boris Johnson to go, switching from being supportive of the PM only this week to saying time was now up. William Wragg offered a taste of his own existential soul-searching over the matter, telling fellow MPs that it was ‘utterly depressing, defending the indefensible’ and that ‘each time, a part of us withers’.