“I get it and I will fix it,” said Boris Johnson.
He then proceeded to use the rest of his statement on Sue Gray’s report to prove he had neither got nor intended to fix it.
When an inquiry finds there were 16 parties during lockdown in Downing Street and Whitehall, including one in the Prime Minister’s flat, you would have thought this would have been a moment of contrition.
When the report states that the police reckon 12 of these gatherings could have broken the law, you would have thought this would have been a moment for humility.
And when the report shows that the Prime Minister misled MPs by denying in Parliament that the parties had not taken place, you would have thought it would have been a moment to consider your resignation.
As Johnson rose to address MPs he might have had at the back of his mind those who unable to be with loved ones in hospital, attend funerals or visit relatives in care homes.
If he was genuinely remorseful about his actions then he would have calibrated every word he uttered to ensure he did not heap more misery on the pain he had already caused.
The only sensitivity he showed was towards his own survival.
Did he not realise that his triumphalism on Brexit and Covid were completely wrong for this occasion?
Having denied the parties took place, he then proceeded to deny the findings of Gray’s report. When it was put to him by Theresa May there was no clear evidence that people in Downing Street had not followed the rules, he claimed that was not what Gray had found.
His grasp of the Gray reported was as feeble as his grasp of the Covid regulations.
Johnson's strategy for survival is not hard to fathom. He is hoping that by the time the police make a decision the public anger will have subsided and by the time Gray publishes her full report - if No 10 allows her to - he can hide behind the police investigation.
As Keir Starmer said the ball is now in the hands of Tory MPs.
Do they want decency and honesty in politics or to be tainted by their association with someone who has corroded these values?
