Time to end chaos circus

IF THE way Boris Johnson governs is wearying, so is the protracted nature of his demise.

Whatever appetite there was for Government as a branch of soap opera it has been sated by the antics of this Prime Minister. Such is his histrionic nature that he cannot depart the stage with quiet dignity.

This misery may end today with the publication of Sue Gray’s report.

Since the storm of partygate first broke the Prime Minister has used every trick in the book to avoid being held to account.

When his initial defence – there were no parties – crumbled under the weight of evidence that there was not just one knees-up in Downing Street but an apparently endless number of jollies, get-togethers and sing-a-longs he resorted to the last refuge of a minister in trouble: an Cabinet Office inquiry.

For as long as Sue Gray was investigating he could hide behind the excuse that he could not comment until the report was published.

It also caused Tory MPs plotting his downfall to sheath their knives until Gray delivered her judgement.

This was a desperate ploy by a desperate Prime Minister.

His survival rested on the hope that Gray’s findings would echo her name by being sufficiently grey for him to argue his behaviour was an error rather than a crime.

But what he really needed was time. In the past Johnson has wheedled his way of trouble by making a cod apology, waiting for the outcry to calm down and then hoping everyone will forget about it.

Any Conservative trying to excuse Johnson cannot have heard Cressida Dick explain that one of the thresholds for the deciding to launch the probe was a potentially “serious and flagrant” breach of the law.

The question Tories are now asking themselves is whether Johnson can limp on or has he so irretrievably damaged their party’s reputation they should get rid of him now.

Like the ringmaster of a diabolical circus he ushers in one scandal after another, whether it is refurbishment of the No 10 flat, accusations of blackmail by his whips or reportedly sacking a minister for her “Muslimness.”

Will Gray’s report be enough to convince Tory MPs that it is time end this carnival of chaos?