Cummings said he wanted to hear what would happen if Johnson didn’t send the letter and broke the law. The prime minister interjected, ‘What if I just wrote “Up yours!” on it?’ Eadie and MacNamara exchanged a look. MacNamara explained that the Benn Act dictated the exact wording of the letter which must be sent. Cummings was adamant, ‘Well we just won’t send it.’ Gesturing at Johnson, he added, ‘They can put you in jail.’
MacNamara could see Cummings was bristling for a fight, but she was in no mood for equivocation either. She thought it ridiculous that she had had to come in on a day off to point out to the prime minister that he could not just break an Act of Parliament and get away with it. ‘Well you can’t do that,’ she said.
‘Where does it say you can’t do that?’ Cummings asked.
MacNamara warned that if the government set out to break the law, officials would down tools. ‘The civil service can’t work for you. If you want to do that, it’s the law, none of us can work for you.’ The mutiny threat was back.
Cummings had previously contemplated the ultimate photo opportunity to dramatise Johnson’s desire to deliver Brexit. ‘We’ll just barricade the door and the police can fuck off. They’ll have to break the fucking door down.’ Another Vote Leaver said, ‘There was serious conversation about what happens if the police come to arrest the PM. We couldn’t think of a better visual of how determined Boris was to deliver Brexit.’ Johnson chipped in, ‘I’ll barricade myself in.’ He then recounted the story of an uncle who went mad and holed up in Newham Town Hall under police siege. ‘They’ll have to winkle me out with a flamethrower.’ MacNamara thought they had both misunderstood how his scenario would play out. Far from protecting Johnson from a policeman with a warrant for his arrest, those guarding the building would be the ones arresting him. ‘The police don’t work for you in that situation, Dom, they work for me,’ she said. ‘They work for us. It’s not your building. These aren’t your people. The police work for the Queen. We all work for the Queen.’ Johnson confirmed later: ‘She did say that.’
Eddie Lister, who was also present, had another question: ‘Can the Queen sack the prime minister?’
‘Do you really want us to have to advise the monarch that she’s going to have to ask you to stand down?’ MacNamara snapped.
Johnson, losing his nerve, blurted, ‘This might be getting a bit out of hand!’ Another source said, ‘He wasn’t keen to serve at Her Majesty’s pleasure.’
