Tory MPs do not want a vote on partygate

Nearly every Tory MP I have spoken to this morning has used the word ‘exhausted’ to describe their mood. They are tired of this scandal and worried about how long it may have to run.

Their general view on yesterday was that Boris Johnson did ‘enough to get through’. But there are, as Katy notes, increasing nerves about tomorrow’s vote on whether to refer Johnson to the privileges committee over his Commons statements that no rules were broken in Downing Street.

They know how Labour will use the vote against them and they worry that Starmer might bring this motion again once the Sue Gray report is out. One senior Tory MP warns that he ‘can see an awful lot abstaining’ on the motion if it is just a straight-up referral to the privileges committee and isn’t full of political language.

I am told that at last night’s meeting of Tory MPs, the only moment when Johnson risked losing the room was when he was replying to the suggestion from Craig Whittaker, who wants Johnson to go, that the Prime Minister should refer himself to the privileges committee to spare colleagues the agony of Thursday’s vote.