Johnson's turn at Trump's top table no surprise to Rats readers

Boris Johnson’s inclusion among the chosen few allowed into the Rotunda for Donald Trump’s inauguration will have surprised many – including the snubbed Nigel Farage – but not readers of Rats In A Sack.

Last week we reported on a rumour among top Tories that Johnson was in close contact with Trump ally Elon Musk, and was driving much of the incoming US administration’s rift with Keir Starmer’s UK government.

We wrote then: “Allies of the former prime minister, who is still said to be furious about his own removal from office, believe he has been in close and regular WhatsApp contact with Musk for months, and say they can detect Johnson’s fingerprints on several of Elon’s most famous interventions. One suggestion is that Musk’s adoption of the phrase “two-tier Keir” in the wake of the August riots across the country was thanks to a Johnsonian intervention.”

Johnson ally Nadine Dorries later tweeted: “The real UK man in Trump’s circle is Boris. He doesn’t talk about it or make it public, but where he’s sat today speaks loud and clear.”