It's been a traumatic week in Parliament, with Boris Johnson offering several groveling apologies for misleading MPs.

But now he is facing his third inquiry into the party gate scandal.

I paid the fine immediately, and I offered the British people a full apology.

And I take this opportunity on the first available sitting day to repeat my wholehearted apology to the House.

Welcome to Payne's Politics, your insider guide to British politics from the Financial Times, with me Sebastian Payne.

In this week's episode, we'll be diving into the question of whether the Prime Minister knowingly misled MPs.

Boris Johnson has apologized several times, yet aroused to avoid charges he is in contempt of Parliament failed.

We'll be examining whether the Prime Minister's standing is crumbling away with our chief political commentator Robert Strimsley and special guest Hannah White from the Institute for Government Think Tank.

And later, we'll explore Johnson's trade trick to India and ask whether it is yielded any substance or simply a distraction from problems at home.

We'll also see how this links into the UK's trade deal with the EU and whether that's a risk due to concerns about that thorny Northern Ireland protocol.

George Parker, our political editor, joins us down the line from New Delhi and public policy editor Peter Foster is in the studio with me in London.

Thank you all for joining.

After being the first Prime Minister to have been found guilty of committing a criminal offence while in office, it was always going to be a tricky week for Boris Johnson.

He truly came to the commons on Tuesday and apologized over and over, sometimes in almost dead silence.

But then it all went off the rails again for Downing Street as they attempted to avoid a contempt investigation into Johnson.

The PM tried to dodge and push this inquiry back into the summer but the government whip suddenly found on Wednesday and Thursday the Tory MPs were unwilling to support them.

So it was nodded through on Thursday, dragging in the whole party gate to fair out even further.

Angela Rainer, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, argued in the comments that the whole affair is dragging the Tory party into distribute.

The Prime Minister is leading the Conservative Party into the sewer.

It's now up to members opposite to decide whether they follow him.

It is up to members to decide whether it is a red line for the Prime Minister of this country to break the ministerial code, break the trust of the British public and get away with it.

Robert Trimsey, welcome back to the podcast.

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