Tomorrow’s vote in the House of Commons on whether to refer the Prime Minister to the Committee of Privileges is the latest example of the proliferation of unnecessary inquiries.

It may well be the case that Boris Johnson has misled Parliament, wittingly or otherwise, but there is little about the lockdown parties that has not been investigated, either by the Metropolitan Police or Sue Gray, a senior civil servant. The former are continuing their inquiries and have handed out 50 fines so far, indicating that there was law-breaking in No 10 on at least one occasion and possibly others. But the details of why they reached this conclusion have not been revealed.

Ms Gray has completed her report, which had been due to be published in January before the police stepped in, and it is now gathering dust while decisions are taken about further fixed-penalty notices. That report will, we trust, fill in the blanks about who did what and when, thereby warranting the fines issued by the police. The point is that this episode has been trawled over enough without setting up yet another inquiry.

If the police and Ms Gray produce the evidence and place it in the public domain everyone can judge for themselves whether Mr Johnson’s apology is sufficient. Tory MPs – and eventually the voters at a general election – can then pass judgment on the Prime Minister.

In the Commons today, Mr Johnson sounded a good deal less contrite than he had yesterday and emphasised how minuscule this issue looks against what is happening in Ukraine. Though this does not absolve him of the need to be straightforward with Parliament and the country, he is right. We don’t need another inquiry. Let’s move on.