With the timing of a political soap opera, the Queen arrived for Prince Philip’s memorial service on the morning the Met Police started handing out fines for Downing Street’s lockdown breaches.
The Westminster Abbey service was a jarring reminder of how the Queen sat alone last year at her husband’s funeral and how the night before not one, but two, boozy parties were held in Downing Street.
Junior staff were sent out with a rolling suitcase for more supplies.
But timing is everything in this saga.
A war, a cost of living crisis and a faltering performance from Rishi Sunak have given Johnson space to recover.
From hanging on by his fingernails the Prime Minister now looks almost safe. A fixed penalty notice now, supporters say, is like getting a speeding ticket in a time of war.
But big hurdles remain for Johnson, whether he is fined or not.
If he knowingly misled the Commons, claiming he was “repeatedly assured” that “there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken,” the onus is on him to resign.
The Prime Minister has made it clear this will not happen. He doesn’t think he lied although the opposition say his pants are on fire.
Then there is the full Sue Gray report, bound to blast the double standards that locked people away from loved ones as Downing Street partied like it was 1999.
Even then, will there be a vote of confidence?
Douglas Ross famously withdrew and as part of the healing process the Prime Minister will party again on Tuesday night at a ‘let’s get together’ dinner to which he has invited all Tory MPs.
He’ll need to keep a clear head to face a committee of MPs on Wednesday before the Commons breaks up for Easter.
So, time rolls on while Rishi Sunak’s inability to tell a petrol station card reader from a price scanner highlighted the shallow alternative to campaigning Johnson.
As one Tory MP put it: “There is no point in a vote of confidence if you don’t have a clue on what to do if you win it.”
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