It is one rule for the Tory elite and another for the rest of us.
You may have heard the phrase thrown around in MPs' media interviews, and debates in the Commons.
That’s because Boris Johnson tried to rip up the standards guide book that all MPs are required to follow, in a bid to stop his mate getting a 30-day suspension.
Realising how bad it looked, he U-turned and allowed MPs to suspend Owen Paterson after all - but he quit as an MP before it could happen.
Since then, the PM has said: “Those who break the rules must be investigated and should be punished.”
But he refused to apologise for whipping his cabinet into voting for a new Tory-run committee to oversee MPs' behaviour.
It's not the first time the PM has tried to override, rip up or simply ignore the rules to get his own way. Here are a few other times he acted as though the system was for the little people...
Mustique holiday
Boris Johnson did not provide the full details of his £15,000 donor-funded 2019 holiday.
The Prime Minister and Carrie Symonds jetted to the island of Mustique for a New Year getaway following the Tories' 2019 election landslide.
For more than a year, questions remained about how exactly he funded the luxury trip to the 1,400-acre private island.
The Commons Standards Commissioner found Mr Johnson breached the MPs’ Code of Conduct.
The Commissioner found he did not "make sufficient inquiries to establish the full facts about the funding arrangements for his free accommodation, either before his holiday, as he should have done, or in 2020."
But a Standards Committee of MPs and lay members - which has the final say - overruled this and found Mr Johnson had not breached the code after all. But added he did have an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the House.
Handing out peerages for Tory donors
The Prime Minister overruled from the official Appointments Commission to put Peter Cruddas in the House of Lords after he failed its vetting process.
Lord Cruddas’ term in the Lords was confirmed in December, began on January 27, according to Parliament, and he was formally introduced on February 2.
A donation from him of £500,000 was received by the Tory party on February 5.
Lord Cruddas has given millions to the Conservatives, and also donated large sums to the Vote Leave campaign. He has always denied wrongdoing.
Brits should self-isolate, but I won’t
The PM and Rishi Sunak faced a wave of public fury in July, when they decided they would not have to isolate despite Covid rules saying otherwise at the time.
The pair were in contact with Health Secretary Sajid Javid who tested positive for Covid a day after their meeting.
Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were contacted by NHS Test and Trace because of their close contact with Mr Javid.
But a statement from Downing Street made it clear they would not be isolating.
Why? Number 10 claimed the pair were taking part in a “daily contact testing pilot to allow them to continue to work from Downing Street:.
The statement added: “They will be conducting only essential government business during this period.”
This was 24 hours before ‘Freedom Day’. With England ditching the vast majority of its COVID-19 restrictions on Monday July 19th.
But two hours and 38 minutes later, the PM’s spokesman said he would remain at Chequers to isolate. With the Chancellor staying at home too.
A source told The Times this plan to avoid isolation, while thousands across the country followed the rules, was the PM’s idea.
“It came from Boris. Nobody thought it was a good idea.”
‘No excuses’ for not tackling climate change… apart from me
At the crunch Cop26 summit, he told world leaders, the world is at “one minute to midnight”, urging them to help the fight against climate change.
Yet Boris Johnson can’t follow the basic rules of lowering his own carbon footprint - even when it matters.
On November 4, Mr Johnson flew back from Cop26 by private jet to go for dinner at a men-only private members club just to attend a reunion dinner for Daily Telegraph journalists.
Mr Johnson used to earn a whopping £250,000 as a columnist for the right-leaning newspaper, a sum he once described as "chicken feed".
But he refused to get a private jet to face allegations of Tory sleaze in the Commons. The PM did not even show up, yet alone apologise to the public.
Breaking House of Commons rules
Boris Johnson has repeatedly broken Commons rules on financial interests.
Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone found Mr Johnson was 11 months late registering his 20% share in a property in Somerset, from which he drew a share of rental income.
MPs who own all of part of properties they rent out, worth at least £100,000 or £10,000 a year in rent, must register the shareholding within 28 days.
And Mr Johnson was also three months late registering joint ownership of a London property in 2017.
The time Parliament was shut down
In 2019, Mr Johnson broke the law to shut down Parliament in a bid to see off his Brexit deal without endless criticism.
The Supreme Court said shutting the Commons down for five weeks before the Brexit deadline had an "extreme" effect on democracy.
Mr Johnson advised the Queen on August 28 2019 to prorogue Parliament for five weeks, and it was suspended on September 9 until October 14.
He insisted he was shutting down Parliament in order to bring a new Queen's Speech which would set out his legislative agenda.
But Opposition MPs said it meant the government would avoid scrutiny for five weeks during a crucial period in Brexit negotiations which Brussels have described as "paralysed".
Christmas lockdown 2020
A report claimed Boris and Carrie Johnson's pal Nimco Ali stayed with them over the Christmas period last year.
Despite the PM stopping thousands of Brits across the country from spending time with their loved ones.
The rules at the time said: “You can only use a childcare bubble for childcare. You cannot use a childcare bubble to mix with another household for other reasons.”
And social mixing was cut to meeting one person in an open public space, unless people lived with them or they were part of their existing support bubble.
A No10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and Mrs Johnson have followed coronavirus -1>coronavirus rules at all times. It is totally untrue to suggest otherwise.”
Mrs Johnson’s spokeswoman issued an almost identical comment, telling the Mirror: “The PM and Mrs Johnson have followed coronavirus rules at all times. It is totally untrue to suggest otherwise.”
It is thought the pair considered Ms Ali to be in their childcare bubble, which was within the rules. But the incident stuck in the craw of some who cancelled plans with family.
Ms Ali said the allegations had led to a torrent of racist abuse on social media, adding: "I did not break any rules but you all knew that."
'Defend the Prittster', despite bullying claims
When Home Secretary Priti Patel faced serious bullying allegations, Mr Johnson's response to the issue was ordering Tory MPs to "form a square around the Prittster".
Ms Patel was found to have "shouted" at her staff, and she was accused of "bullying".
The Home Secretary denied bullying, and apologised after an inquiry found she broke the Ministerial Code of ethics.
But the Mr Johnson overruled the inquiry and decided he didn't believe Ms Patel broke the Ministerial Code - despite writing in it himself that "there must be no bullying".
In a bizarrely worded message to MPs he then ordered her Tory colleagues to rally around her. His message read: "Time to form a square around the prittster".
Asked what the PM's message meant, his then Press Secretary Allegra Stratton told reporters that it was the PM asking colleagues to support her on a "testing day".
She said: "He said it to recognise that today she is coming forward with a full and frank apology. He wanted her parliamentary colleagues to support her on what will be a testing day for her."
Flat refurbishment: From John Lewis to designer Lulu Lytle
Mr Johnson faces another investigation into the funding of his flat refurbishment.
Prime Ministers are only allowed to spend up to £30,000 of taxpayers' cash a year on doing up the official flat during their time in Downing Street.
The PM assumed a charitable trust would foot the bill for the lavish work, which was overseen by his then fiancee Carrie Symonds.
But this fell through, prompting a Tory donor and the party headquarters to cough up for the lavish redecoration, said to include £840-a-roll wallpaper, a £9,800 Baby Bear sofa and a £3,000 Lily Drum table.
The entire bill is thought to be at least £88,000, if you include the £30,000 allowance.
He was cleared by of breaking the ministerial code over the scandal by his standards advisor Lord Geidt. But it found a complex chain of money and confusion about who would actually pay. And his former advisor, Dominic Cummings claimed the PM had “lied” to Lord Geidt during his probe.
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, has reportedly been been waiting for the Electoral Commission to present its findings before potentially launching a probe of her own into whether Mr Johnson broke Commons rules.
Making up a quote as a journalist
The Times sacked Boris Johnson in 1988 for making up a quote in a front-page story.
The former journalist fabricated a claim by his godfather, academic Colin Lucas, that Edward II and his lover Piers Gaveston would have cavorted in a newly-discovered Rose Palace.
In what the 23-year-old later called “my biggest cock-up”, it emerged the Palace was only built long after Gaveston was murdered.
Rather than admit his lie Mr Johnson wrote a further story saying “the mystery had deepened”.
