Did The Prime Minister Hint At A Comeback For Johnson?

Rishi Sunak has been subjected to the personal profile treatment by ITV, featuring a previously unseen photo of him as a boy in front of a caravan... and an interview with Anushka Asthana in which he "doesn't rule out" Boris Johnson returning to the cabinet.

- JOHN RENTOUL

“Doesn’t rule out” is being used in the journalistic sense, in which he also “didn’t rule out” flying to Mars and back in time for tea. It was not so much that Sunak “didn’t rule out” Johnson following Lord Cameron back to the front rank, but that he didn’t answer the question at all.

He told Asthana: “I’m proud of the work that we did together. And we worked well together for a long time…”

When Asthana challenged him: “You didn’t answer whether you’d have him back,” the prime minister replied: “Well, I never talk about these personnel things.” Then he changed the subject: “But look, I, you know, I speak to him on occasion.”