Thread by @paulwaugh

"It's not the crime, it's the cover up" has become such a hackneyed assessment of scandals since Watergate.

But on Partygate, it really IS the crimes, not the cover up, that matter more to many voters.

The latest #WaughOnPolitics:

inews.co.uk/opinion/voters…

Yes, voters do care about truth in politics. But on Partygate I suspect they're not interested in the minutiae of what @BorisJohnson said and when.

The most important fact is that he broke the laws he wrote and which he demanded others follow. Everything else is a detail.

That's why the Privileges Committee probe matters. Even if it finds he inadvertently misled Parliament, it keeps the focus on the law-breaking. And when multiple fines are confirmed, no amount of apologies/excuses will bury them.

But Tory MPs' real fear is the PM's claim he's 'getting on with the job' isn't matched by concrete evidence of delivery.
Minister tells me: “The party is losing patience. They look at Electoral Calculus, they look at the clock, they want us to get moving”

inews.co.uk/opinion/voters…

"Whether there was cake or not, let's not fetishise on that." Govt minister and devout Johnson loyalist @ConorBurnsUK tells @NickFerrariLBC.

He admits his famous line that the PM was 'ambushed by cake' will probably end up on his political obituary.

.@ConorBurnsUK tells @BBCr4today that @BorisJohnson "apologised 42 times by the way, in just over an hour and half [on Tues]"

But isn't that the problem? The PM seems to think the quantity, not quality, of the apology matters. Plus his repeat offending means repeat apologies.