For TEN MINUTES this morning Boris Johnson refused to say whether he should quit if he broke the law

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. "It's a matter of principle" - the problem is that he's never had any principles

so putting a matter of principle to him will never get an answer. He will judge, from moment to moment, what he can get away with. Today, it was a polite "fuck off, I'm not answering your questions about my law-breaking, because the heat from backbenchers has abated". If that comes back - if there's a leak that he's been fined (he'll never admit that without a leak), he may have to concoct a new excuse why it's OK for him to cling on to power. But he'll muddy those waters when he comes to them. If the backbenchers get serious (eg after a disaster at the May local elections), he might find he's chucked.