'The Public think Boris Johnson attacking sleaze watchdog stinks - and it does'

Boris Johnson is fond of focus groups. But I cannot imagine one which would think it a good idea to change Parliament’s independent standards rules.

And certainly not to do so midway through Owen Patterson’s high profile case.

So I assume that no member of the public was consulted before last week’s chaos went ahead.

That’s astonishing, given that in recent years politics has been driven by focus groups and polling. It’s the way to do the good old “sniff test”.

If my postbag is anything to go by, the public think the PM’s decision to circle his wagons and attack Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone well and truly stinks. And it does.

It is why the PM had no indication that his course was obviously doomed to failure in the court of public opinion.

That tells us something.

"The PM and his whips in charge of Commons voting should listen to what they are being told by their own MPs" (Getty Images)

The PM should have used the barometer of backbench MPs. We are, after all, the ones who receive the emails, attend public events in our constituencies, and live in our communities.

It means we have good lines of communication with our fellow residents.

And I can assure you every one of my electors is far from backward in coming forward when they believe something is wrong.

That’s why the PM and his whips in charge of Commons voting should listen to what they are being told by their own MPs.

When MPs as diverse as Father of the House, Sir Peter Bottomley, Britain’s longest serving MP, and the Conservative’s newest one, Jill Mortimer, convey concerns the whips really need to take heed.

I do not pretend to be an expert on standards procedures, and there may be a case for some sort of appeals process.

But that decision should be made cooly and dispassionately, not in an 11th hour heat of the moment Commons debate.

Because I agree with our voters. What happened on Wednesday just stinks.