On any other day, the sight of Theresa May telling Priti Patel that her Rwanda immigration environment was too hostile even for her would have been parliamentary box office. But, as it was, most eyes were on the prime minister’s Partygate apology that followed the home secretary’s statement.
It was certainly a three-line whip for the cabinet. Patel was joined by Liz Truss, Dominic Raab and Nadine Dorries nice and early in an enforced show of support. And just after 5pm, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak filed in to take centre stage. They could have been mistaken for defendants in a court were it not for the fact they had both already been found guilty.
