Conservative MPs have their public reasons why Boris Johnson should not resign after his fine for breaches of lockdown regulations, and also private motives for wanting him to stay in office. There is not much overlap between the two. Both discredit the party and degrade British democracy.
The official lines are that Mr Johnson has apologised for an accidental misdemeanour, that he has reformed his Downing Street operation and that his leadership is indispensable given the fact of war in Ukraine. The first of those defences is meaningless, the second is untrue and the third is repugnant.
