You know game's up when Sunak & Co find their spine

THE Pincher scandal seemed like just another Partygate without the canapes, an all-too-familiar tawdry tale of decit and dishonour from No10.

We will probably never know exactly what Boris Johnson knew and when about the alleged sexually predatory behaviour of the former deputy chief whip, Chris Pincher.

Pincher stood down after assaulting two fellow guests at the Carlton Club - a Tory party private members' club in London's Piccadilly - last Wednesday evening.

Now only because they saw the writing on the wall for Johnson, chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid last night resigned from his Government.

Javid said he could "no longer, in good conscience, continue serving in this Government".

Where has his conscience been until now? In the loft next to Sunak's? For Sunak, this resignation has nothing to do with integrity and all about smelling blood and opportunity as the heir apparent.

After civil servants took the rare step of openly cutting through the bull and attacking the lies of the PM, they really had no choice.

Johnson's own Cabinet ministers were at last sapped of the will to defend, most refusing to speak to the media about the Pincher debacle.