SUNDAYS can sometimes seem like a twilight zone between the political week just past and the one to come, but are they home to an alternative reality, a parallel universe where things are not as they seem?

The question surfaced while watching Clive Myrie interview Andrei Kelin, Russia’s ambassador to the UK, on BBC1’s Sunday Morning. It was a lengthy encounter, and one enlivened by the feeling that Vladimir Putin’s man in London might at any moment walk out in protest at what he perceived to be an unfair line of questioning.

Myrie asked the ambassador about Russia’s actions in Ukraine and whether these constituted war crimes. Whatever evidence was put to him, including CCTV film, Mr Kelin rejected. Nothing was as reported by the west, insisted the ambassador. There was another side, the Russian side, that was not being covered.

After the interview, Myrie spoke to Steve Rosenberg, the BBC’s Russia editor, about this disconnect between what was going on in Ukraine and what Russia said was happening. Here was the world of alternative realities or parallel universes, one that Rosenberg was familiar with from dealing with the Kremlin, but which does not often come up in any discussion of UK politics. Not until now at least.

Across the Sunday newspapers and political programmes two alternative realities competed for prominence.

In one, Boris Johnson was in the clear after the publication of Sue Gray’s report into parties in Downing Street.

In another version of reality, he remained in serious trouble with more to come in two by-elections and a parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled parliament.

Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, was the Minister on government firefighting duty. First to tackle him was Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, who noted it was the second time that week that the former party chair had taken on the role. “I’m always happy to come out and talk about what we are doing in government,” he said.

Ridge asked him about a story in the Sunday Times that said Downing Street had put pressure on Ms Gray to take names out of her report. It was also claimed that edits had been made in relation to the so-called “Abba party” held in the Prime Minister’s flat on November 13 2020.

Mr Lewis’s response? “I don’t recognise any of that.”

“What does that mean?” asked Ridge. It did seem like a formulation that could have come from Yes Minister or The Thick of It. Regardless, Mr Lewis stuck to the line that any suggestion of meddling was wrong.

Asked whether he could vouch that pressure was not placed on Ms Gray, he said: “I’m absolutely confident that’s the case. Anybody who has worked in No 10 knows Sue Gray well enough that that kind of thing wouldn’t work.

“I’m confident, particularly now that No 10 have outrightly made the point and denied that this happened, that Sue Gray had the freedom to write the report that she was comfortable to write and publish.”

He was similarly untroubled by those Conservative MPs who had withdrawn support from the Prime Minister after seeing the Gray report. He did not believe a no confidence vote was on the cards. Not in the interests of the country or the Conservative Party.

Surely he was concerned at a YouGov MRP poll, published on Saturday, which predicted that the Conservatives would lose all but three of 88 battleground seats at the next General Election? Among the seats going from blue to red would be Mr Johnson’s. Such polling was a “snapshot”, said Mr Lewis.

On Sunday Morning, Myrie asked if Mr Johnson would have to go if the Conservatives lost next month’s Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections. “No, I don’t think so. I equally don’t think we will lose those two by-elections.”

Not to be outdone, BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show had its own foray into alternative realities: one put forward by interviewer Martin Geissler, the other described by Craig Hoy MSP, Scottish Conservative Party chairman. Asked about any connection between the publication of the Gray report on Wednesday and the Chancellor’s multi-billion package of help the day after, Mr Hoy said there was not one. The help was announced on Thursday because the Commons was about to go into recess the next day, said Mr Hoy.

In whatever alternative reality you chose to believe in, the recess date was undeniably true. The Commons returns on June 6.