Sometimes what’s left unsaid is more significant than what is said.
As Boris Johnson – not for the first time – threw himself on the mercy of his Conservative colleagues, it was notable how little support there was on the green benches behind him.
Theresa May’s quietly devastating intervention will rightly garner the headlines, but it was the response of other Tory backbenchers that will most worry Number 10.
Throughout nearly two hours at the despatch box, a succession of Conservative MPs got to their feet and notably failed to give him their full-throated support.
At a time when Sir Graham Brady is counting the no confidence letters landing on his doormat, this is clearly a bad sign for the Prime Minister.
May aside, it was the contribution by former Conservative chief whip Andrew Mitchell which will wound the most.
Mitchell, who had not joined the Tory clamour for Johnson’s head thus far, told the Commons: “I am deeply concerned by these events and very concerned indeed by some of the things he has said from that despatch box and has said to the British public and our constituents.
“When he kindly invited me to see him 10 days ago, I told him that I thought he should think very carefully about what was now in the best interests of our country and of the Conservative Party, and I have to tell him he no longer enjoys my support.”
Aaron Bell, who has already submitted a no confidence letter, twisted the knife further when he said he had followed the rules throughout lockdown before asking the PM: “Does the prime minister think I’m a fool?”
In what appeared to be a co-ordinated move, many Tory backbenchers urged Johnson to pledge that he will publish the Gray report in full once the Metropolitan Police’s own investigation into partygate is over. Significantly, the PM failed to do so.
If Johnson believed that an apology and a shake-up of 10 Downing Street would be enough to bring his MPs onside, he was badly mistaken.
It’s highly unlikely that today’s report will trigger the 54 no confidence letters needed for a vote on Johnson’s leadership.
But there is no doubt that the Conservative parliamentary party have now put the PM on notice. Without a major improvement in his own performance, they will move against him. He now looks like a prime minister on borrowed time.