Boris Johnson thinks he can dig his way out of a "Partygate" shaped hole by doubling down on his attacks on the poor.
Dealt a delay, or a stay of execution, on the Sue Gray report into the lockdown parties in Downing Street, Johnson is pushing back against his mutinous MPs.
To show he is increasingly confident of "getting away with it", as SNP's Ian Blackford summed up the situation, Johnson insists his tax hike in the middle of a cost of living crisis will go ahead.
