Boris is off his trolley if he thinks he has a hope in hell of a comeback

It seems to have surprised the ex-PM that some of his own aides have a conscience, says Andrew Grice

A proper Commons vote would show how little support Johnson has (Getty)

It was not, as Boris Johnson claimed, a “dreadful day for MPs and for democracy”. It was a good day for both.

The Commons privileges committee’s scathing report on Johnson has reasserted parliament’s right to hold ministers to account, and, crucially, ensure they tell the truth. In future, if they mislead parliament inadvertently, they will feel under pressure to correct the record quickly – something Johnson failed to do, the committee found.

This landmark report is not, as Johnson and his allies allege, the revenge of a Remain establishment against the person who took the UK out of the EU, as his former Brexit negotiator David Frost claims today. The two senior Tories on the Tory-dominated privileges committee, Bernard Jenkin and Charles Walker, are Brexiteers. Nor was its verdict pre-cooked from the outset, as Johnson’s cheerleaders claim. Walker offered Johnson an escape route from a severe punishment when he gave evidence to the committee in March, by asking him whether he was reckless in his statements to parliament. Johnson was too stubborn to take it and doubled down on his lies, compounding his offence.