Ministers are more collegiate than you might think. They'll do the nightmare media round, defend the indefensible, cling to absurdist logic – on one condition. If the prime minister sends them into battle, the line to take must not subsequently change. Because then, the punches they have endured are rendered worthless.
And it was this, more than almost anything else, that ultimately ended Boris Johnson's premiership. Ministers were frequently despatched to hold the line on Partygate, only for it to later (and we're talking hours here) transpire that the prime minister was present, or was aware, or some other half-truth had been exposed.
