There is one thing that Boris the Beleaguered must do, and he must do it quickly, while he commands sufficient authority. Whether he does it for self-preservation or for the good of the country is immaterial: he must abolish the proposed hike in National Insurance due to take effect in April. And if he bites the bullet and decides to renounce this source of extra revenue, he would do well to scrap it completely: postponement would provoke sceptical distrust among the public and deprive Boris of the electoral advantage of such an act of fiscal self-denial.