Two weeks ago, @BorisJohnson threatened to invoke article 16 without hesitation.

Another threat in a long series of threats.

I think the only ones paying attention may have been the EU.

And for the first time they bit back - threatened to invoke article 16 themselves.

They look stupid now for threatening the same, and some on the right wind are saying we should now, but there is a problem for the UK government

The EU immediately backed down, stated they made a mistake, and are in effect unwilling to jeopardize the GFA

Any effort by Johnson to threaten to invoke article 16 - or God forbid actually do it - shows he doesn't care about the GFA.

And any posturing he may do is seen as hypocrisy - no moral high ground.

I initially thought the EU had a whole load of dirt on Johnson or AZ

Now, I think we may just have witnessed a masterful bit of international political play.

It would explain why suddenly Johnson's Tories are not trying to push their advantage

To be conciliatory, use words like "Our friends"

And seek to move the focus elsewhere

James Cleverly, clarion for the Tory message, today tweeted "when this has all blown over"

Cleverly is a bellwether - he tells you government thinking

And government thinking appears to be back off as fast as possible.