Boris vs Rishi, round VII

The decision by the Cabinet Office to refer Boris Johnson to the police after his ministerial diary revealed visits by friends to Chequers in Buckinghamshire during the pandemic is being felt in Westminster today. Allies of the former prime minister say Johnson is considering taking legal action against the government (taxpayer-funded lawyers for Johnson – hired by the Cabinet Office – flagged the material to officials). Some of Johnson’s more vocal supporters have pointed the finger of blame at Rishi Sunak, accusing the Prime Minister of allowing a ‘witch-hunt’ against Johnson.

In a bid to quell such talk, a Cabinet Office spokesperson has released a statement this lunchtime stating that ‘ministers played no role in deciding whether the information should be handed over to the police’. Meanwhile, the official public inquiry into the government’s handling of Covid is threatening the Cabinet Office with legal action for refusing to share Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and diaries from during the pandemic without heavy redactions.

Taken together, it’s all becoming rather messy both for Johnson and the coming Covid inquiry. It’s possible that Johnson could clear the privileges committee – due to report back soon on whether he misled the House over partygate – only to find himself battling another investigation. It also points to how bruising the coming Covid inquiry could be for the Tory party generally, dredging up old memories while also risking fresh disclosures.

When it comes to Sunak, it’s clear that a number of Johnson loyalists believe Sunak is not being sufficiently supportive of his former boss, with threats from anonymous MPs to obstruct Sunak’s premiership unless he helps Johnson. It means there is some excited talk of moves to oust Sunak. However, such briefings have so far received short shrift among the bulk of the parliamentary party.

There are a handful of MPs who do want Johnson back. They have the potential to make life uncomfortable for Johnson but several of them already do: they tend to be the MPs who voted against the Windsor Framework. But for the time being, many more Tory MPs look at the headlines of more scandal involving Johnson and take the opposite view. The bigger worry is that a Boris Johnson circus threatens to overshadow the things the government wants to talk about.