BORIS Johnson is going out as he came in – playing games with everything voters hold dear.

Playing with our health, our trust, our democracy and with the “sacred Union” he is sworn to protect.

It could be his biggest and final political mistake.

Because if there’s one thing serious-minded Scots hate, it’s a self-aggrandising chancer who sniggers as he evades responsibility in the so-called Mother of Parliaments – time after time.

Johnson stood there at Prime Ministers’ Questions yesterday, after receiving a bigger kick in the parliamentary teeth from his own MPs than any other sitting Tory prime minister ever (apart from Theresa May’s first Meaningful Vote), with no sign of hesitation or contrition.

READ MORE: Are the Tories about to lose a safe seat to Boris Johnson's leadership?

Indeed, the morning after the catastrophic night before, Johnson was almost cockahoop as he ducked and weaved through opposition questions in his depressingly familiar way.

First – a jibe at the opposition.

Two – mention of the vaccine programme.

Three – another slogan.

Four – another mention of the vaccine programme.

Thus, Keir Starmer could only “wibble wobble” on key issues, making party political capital out of Johnson’s little local Plan B difficulty.

Meanwhile the hero himself, of course, was focused on vaccine rollout and boosters – “we deliver, they complain”.

The National: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer

Then followed a pathetic attempt to tar Starmer (above) with Johnson’s own guidance-busting lockdown behaviour – “there are pictures of him quaffing beer” – and a near hysterical recitation of the difficult decisions Boris has bravely taken all on his ownsome. “I decided to stay out of the EU ventilator scheme. I decided to open up our economy in summer. Now we have the fastest growth in Europe. They vacillate, we vaccinate.”

Boom, boom.

All of which was followed by a downright lie about the “extra” money for the Scottish Government that was craftily announced minutes before Nicola Sturgeon’s call for furlough cash on Monday – all the better to mix messages and spike her guns.

It worked for a few hours until it became clear that this “new money” is just next year’s cash delivered early (and remember it’s our taxes anyway, folks).

Still, a few hours are all this Artful Dodger needs as he skips from crisis to crisis with commentator attention and newspaper headlines churning swiftly behind him.

So, at PMQ’s Johnson claimed that devolved governments had “the powers to protect their people” (wrong), accused the SNP’s Ian Blackford of “synthetic indignation” and probably hoped he had done enough to leave any watching Scots thoroughly baffled.

Finally, faced with the fact his Plan B restrictions only passed because of Labour support, Johnson took a leaf from Donald Trump’s book and declared: “We won that vote last night with Conservative votes”.

Yip – and Theresa May (below) is set to win Strictly Come Dancing.

It was the Old Etonian version of “Come on if you think you’re hard enough”.

If I’d been in the chamber, I’d have felt obliged to punch him in the chops.

The National: RECROPPED: Prime Minister Theresa May breaks into dance whilst meeting with Scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday August 30, 2018. See PA story POLITICS Afr

The Prime Minister of this benighted country is no longer making even the slightest pretence at government (you know – strategy, hard work, collaboration and long-term purpose). Gamesmanship is now the only order of the day.

A fluke here, a crafty wee jibe there. A quick bend of the truth followed by a meaningless burst of posh boy bluster.

Astonishingly, for irritated Scots, it’s got him where he is today.

BUT now the player is being out-played – by Tory backbenchers and perhaps by the Tory rank and file of sunny Shropshire.

Safe in the knowledge Labour would guarantee Johnson’s Covid plans, Tory MPs opted for some game-playing themselves and sent a shot across their leader’s bow – not so much because of the Xmas party scandal, the Owen Paterson scandal or even the “illiberal” Plan B restrictions, but because he hadn’t consulted them first.

Childish – yip. Grown adults playing stampie footie at a time like this – Boris and his backbenchers certainly deserve one another.

It’s almost hard to know which group is behaving in a shabbier way – the Tory Party’s game-playing leader or its gratuitous parliamentarians.

But the whole lot of them may soon discover that cynical gameplaying is contagious – if today’s North Shropshire by-election gives the Tories a bloody nose as many analysts predict.  

The National:

This safe Conservative seat has been vacant since Owen Paterson’s (above) resignation, following Johnson’s bizarre attempt to block his pal’s suspension for breaking parliamentary lobbying rules.

But now it seems True Blue voters have surveyed the Revolting Hundred Tory Backbenchers, surveyed Johnson’s thumping 80-seat majority and decided to indulge in some gameplaying too, teaching Boris a lesson by voting LibDem.

Labour does have a nine-point lead over the Tories, its largest since February 2014. But the LibDems are the strongest challengers and have urged Labour and Green supporters to lend their votes to the LibDems today – aided by the latest images of a “raucous” party thrown by Tory aides in their Westminster HQ during Covid restrictions last Christmas.

According to Politico, Conservative and LibDem activists believe there are just a few hundred votes between candidates. If the LibDems win, they’ll have upturned a 23,000 Tory majority and are certain to produce a “volcanic reaction” amongst Tory MPs.

But even if the opposition vote is split and the Tory candidate manages to limp home, Johnson isn’t out of the woods.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case’s investigation into Partygate, is set to conclude imminently and Johnson’s pledge to recall parliament for a vote on any further Covid measures looks certain to come back to bite. The promise makes new restrictions extremely difficult to authorise, because the Tory rebellion looks certain to increase, further undermining Johnson’s leadership.

One Tory MP has said that if Boris tries to bring in lockdown measures, the “threshold of letters for a no confidence vote in the Prime Minister will be met”.

All the while, Scots are watching, as our health, our Covid strategy, our economy and our future are all sucked into Westminster’s petty, game-playing maelstrom.

So, it boils down to this.

Are supporters of the Union ready to accept that governance has become nothing more than a self-serving game for this Prime Minister – even amidst a pandemic?

And that games are not just being played by England’s answer to Donald Trump, but also by Tory MPs who are happy to vote against him one day and cheer him on the next?

Gameplaying.

It’s what Britain does best.

Scotland can do so much better.