space Whelan, Campbell and others were adept at 'spin' and, to their credit, never actually denied it. Politicians have always spun things. Churchill did it. Wilson did it. Thatcher did it. But demonstrable lies from Blair? I'm not sure it's that clean cut.
Did Blair lie over the Iraq war? Perhaps. I'm no cheerleader for him, but he perhaps best exemplifies my point about the system changing. The nature of politics changed massively in the 90s and he was a product of that change.
The difference with Johnson is that his default position is to lie. For all their faults, the likes of Thatcher, Major, Blair and even Cameron in some respects, had a notion of what the office of PM meant. And of what came with it.
I don't think Johnson gets near that. And the new crop of Tory MPs are different. They're born of his rule. They are changing politics and, sadly, the opposition parties are and will continue to go the same way.
Anum Qaisar was one of the most effective contributors to the debate today. She spoke about what being an MP means and of how important the 'collegiate' nature of Westminster is so important. Johnson is destroying that.