A scoundrel he may be, but Boris Johnson is well placed to ride out this crisis | Martin Kettle

Politics is coarser than it was, the Tory leader is surrounded by loyalists, and no one is wielding the stiletto

In the midst of the Conservative car crash over the Owen Paterson lobbying affair, I asked a very senior Tory if he thought Boris Johnson's ignominious U-turn would now reshape the party political landscape. He replied with the words of the instinctive pragmatist: We will see. In politics, nothing matters - until it does."

Plenty would say this is a moment when it matters. Labour seems re-energised by the anti-sleaze campaign. Charges against Tory MPs Geoffrey Cox, Iain Duncan Smith and Daniel Kawczynski have given the Paterson outrage fresh legs. Reporters across Fleet Street are digging for more scandals. Columnists - not just on this newspaper - are plundering the thesaurus for condemnatory language with which to damn the scoundrel in Downing Street.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist