Boris is on the rack – and it all goes back to Brexit

There is now a ticking time-bomb under the former prime minister of Great Britain, writes Michael Heseltine

The ex-PM may bluster but he will have to comply with the law (PA)

Never in my lifetime have I seen an ex-prime minister so nakedly and painfully on the rack to the extent that Boris Johnson is.

Two potential police investigations. The privileges committee inquiry. The real possibility of being banned from the Commons for lying, and potentially losing his seat.

There is now a ticking time-bomb under him, with legal threats and potential criminal proceedings.

The Cabinet Office has less than one week to hand over the WhatsApp messages which the former prime minister knows will be damaging, with his propensity for loose language, four-letter tirades and frivolity, to an investigation led by a very heavyweight, serious judge.

Baroness Hallett, who is leading the Covid inquiry, is a formidable force with the full authority of the law and the government behind her. The government will have to comply with the law.

This is all part of the terrible historic mistake the Tories made, which they need to purge and alter: they must put an end to Brexit.

This political car-crash that is now engulfing Boris is damaging and divisive to our party; we know that feuding parties do not fight elections well. They invariably lose.

This latest catastrophic scenario for Boris is part of a wider conversation that the Conservative Party is having with itself, which is endlessly about bringing back Boris. It all stems back to Brexit and to the hardline views which led to our country being damaged. It underlines the disastrous, seismic decision the Tories made, and that needs to be reversed – they need to engage again and to join with Europe.