EVEN by the usual standards of his chaotic premiership, it’s been a shocker of a week for Boris Johnson.
From the unconvincing denials ("there wasn’t a party but if there was I’m sure it was within the rules") to the sensational leaked video from the Downing Street briefing room, Boris has sought at every turn to simply blag his way out of trouble.
It’s not working though, is it? Polls in recent days have given us a snapshot of public mood: a majority think there was an illegal party in Downing Street last Christmas and a majority think the Prime Minister should now resign.
The Prime Minister’s Conservative colleagues are unimpressed that his habitual lying continues to cause problems.
The only people who seem unsure about whether the poshos were partying while the commoners followed the rules are Boris Johnson, one or two of his kids, and the Met Police.
They’ll get there in the end.
Then on Thursday, he was caught in yet another lie. The Conservative party was fined £17,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to accurately report a donation that was made – at Johnson’s request, via WhatsApp – for the redecoration of his flat. Remember that? The interior design disaster that he insisted at the time was proper and above board?
READ MORE: Tories admit to holding Christmas bash in party HQ during lockdown
The sham investigation into the Downing Street parties also got underway. The Cabinet Secretary pledged to get to the bottom of what happened.
But he won’t look into the party that the Prime Minister allegedly attended at his own flat, because something, something oh look there’s a squirrel.
With all that going on, Douglas Ross must have been dreading FMQs on Thursday.
The Scottish Tory leader is currently self-isolating so had to be beamed into the chamber from home. Honestly, the lengths some people will go to to get out of a cheese and wine engagement at No 10.
He asked about the "right-wing" statement made by Patrick Harvie about the proposed Cambo oil field which he described as an "insult" to those working in the industry. In her reply, the First Minister said that for the sake of the planet we need to transition away from oil and gas, but that transition must be just and workers in the industry would be supported.
In response, Douglas Ross went on to accuse Nicola Sturgeon of joking and laughing at the comment made by Patrick Harvie.
Maybe his signal was bad or maybe my telly was glitching: but at this point, I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.
Neither, it seems, did the chamber. The SNP benches erupted in indignation and Alison Johnstone had to intervene to tell everybody to be quiet.
After the week the Not-a-Party party have had, you’d think Douglas Ross would be a bit hesitant to accuse others of a "disgusting" display of inappropriate laughter.
Did he maybe get Nicola Sturgeon mixed up with Allegra? These days, anything is possible.
She hit back: "We have witnessed and are continuing to witness right now many disgusting things in politics. But none of them are on the part of this Scottish Government. I almost feel a little bit of sympathy for Douglas Ross today because I know he must be deeply mortified by the actions and behaviour of his colleagues in the UK Government. But that is no excuse for throwing around unfounded accusations and trying to cause concern for oil and gas workers."
"The video will SHOW the First Minister LAUGHING and JOKING …" began Douglas Ross, before he was cut off by Alison Johnstone because the chamber had once again lost its shit.
Did he mistakenly believe he had Facetimed PMQs and was addressing his boss? I suppose, when you’ve got three jobs it must be hard to keep track of which one you are doing at any given time.
MORE FROM FMQs:
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