The Scotsman says: The first thing Boris Johnson should do today is resign

Yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court that his government’s decision to prorogue parliament for five weeks was unlawful is no mere scrape from which Mr Johnson should escape unscathed.

Rather, it represents the most damning verdict on his integrity. In short, the unanimous verdict of 11 justices makes clear that Mr Johnson is unfit to be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

When the Prime Minister announced his plan to suspend parliament in advance of a Queen’s Speech, he and his acolytes in the Conservative Party were quite adamant that this action was not designed to thwart MPs who are fighting to prevent a No Deal Brexit.

Mr Johnson and Eurosceptic allies such as Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg and Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab dismissed such accusations as nonsensical. The five week suspension of the Commons was perfectly in keeping with parliamentary tradition, they said.

In fact, as Lady Hale made clear yesterday, this was “not a normal prorogation” and “took place in quite exceptional circumstances”, “the effect upon the fundamentals of our democracy was extreme”. Crucially, it was not lawful.

The Prime Minister misled the Monarch when he asked her to approve prorogation and he effectively lied to the nation. Boris Johnson has built twin careers in journalism and politics through the sheer force of his personality.

Larger than life and desperate to be loved, the Prime Minister was long indulged as “a character”. Consecutive victories in two London Mayoral elections proved that, for a while, at least, the Johnson schtick worked.

A significant number of voters in a city that has long been more Labour than Conservative were willing to believe the Johnson was not the typical Tory.

But the days when Johnson was considered a One Nation, liberally-minded Conservative are long gone.

When, in the 2016 referendum on EU membership, he threw his lot in with the Leave campaign, Mr Johnson burned the bridges he has built with those on the centre ground of British politics.

Victory for his side turned Mr Johnson into a hero of the Eurosceptic right.

Friends might continue to insist that, at heart, the Prime Minister is a centre-right liberal but few shoppers are buying those apples, today.

The Prime Minister yesterday insisted that he would not resign and that Brexit would go ahead on October 31, as he promised during his campaign for the Conservative leadership.

Since the Commons has voted to prevent a No Deal Brexit - and the EU has indicated that a further delay to the UK’s departure is possible - The Scotsman does not see how Mr Johnson can keep that promise.

It may be that the Prime Minister and his team believe there is electoral mileage in him becoming a martyr of the Brexit cause, that even if he is forced from office through a vote of no confidence he will be able to lead his party to victory in a subsequent general election.

But any Conservative member who cares about the integrity of our democracy should reject any such plot.

Mr Johnson is a Prime Minister fully disgraced just 62 days into the job.

He - and those cabinet ministers who played their own parts in deceiving Queen and country - have engaged in the worst of politics. The House of Commons would be all the richer for their departure from its benches.

If Boris Johnson had the slightest shred of integrity, he would resign, offering his humblest apologies as he went.