‘I can’t put into words how awful this is’ remarks one Tory MP. The party is split not on the kind of policy issue that people can debate but on the question of one man: the Prime Minister. Neither side is finding this struggle rewarding. The Johnson loyalists feel that they spend all day trying to bail water out of the boat, only to be hit by another wave as yet another story breaks. Those who want Johnson gone fear that the police investigation may slow every-thing down and that the current mantra, ‘Wait for the Sue Gray report’, will simply morph into ‘Wait for the Met report’.
In No. 10, there is still a mood of defiance. Just because the police are investigating matters doesn’t prove that regulations have been broken, they say, and the punishment for breaching Covid rules is generally only a penalty charge notice. Those around Johnson have consistently underestimated how serious this crisis is.
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