SO Boris has gone. He knew a lost cause when he saw it, at least as far as his part of the Tory leadership contest was concerned.

Some have rather unkindly suggested he never intended to win the referendum either, and if that were the case he has failed in his goals in spectacular fashion.

It is certainly likely that he would have been in a stronger position today, politically, if Remain had prevailed.

His vocal support for Brexit would have effectively de-fanged Ukip, presenting the anti-EU voters with a simple choice at the next General Election - the man who fought in their corner but lost or the long-standing Eurosceptic Jeremy Corbyn, who, despite his beliefs betrayed the cause.

As it stands, with Leave having won, albeit by a wafer-thin margin, it was inevitable that Boris would stand down from the race. He’ll have no stomach for steadying the ship.

He will be back however. The former Mayor of London is a shrewd and ambitious man, whatever else one might think of him, and his public profile has never been bigger.

One major profile raising event for Boris was the London Olympics four years ago. Yes it was that long ago.

And the international celebration of money... sorry sport... returns to our screens next month, this time from sunny Rio.

Does anyone actually really care about the Olympic Games?

I can understand why, perhaps, an enthusiast for bike riding or jogging might have some interest in whichever particular muscle factory happens to have edged point two of a second ahead this year - surely for most of us it is as dull as can be.

We hardly need to go into the strange inclusion of football and rugby sevens, as though these contests are in any way a test of the best exponents of those sports.

Some love to trumpet the national medal haul, and certainly the UK picked up a fair heap of baubles in the last contest, albeit at considerable expense in ‘sports’ in which many other countries can hardly hope to compete.

Before patting ourselves on the back for what we might consider a sporting success story, let’s remember, here in England, our rather more mixed history when it comes to the competitions which actually matter - Euro 2016? The Rugby World Cup?

One way to make the Games more deserving of interest, at least to me, would be to return it to Olympus.

Have athletes representing ancient Greece’s former city states compete in only the original disciplines, javelin, discus, wrestling, marathons etc. I reckon you could get the cost down to under £10,000 a year, which would also clearly be good news for the host nation in its present circumstances.

In the meantime, and more importantly, England play Pakistan in a four match test series starting next week. This will be a real test of their recent good progress, something we can be proud of.

In other entertainment news an Absolutely Fabulous film is out. If it is as strong as the original series was I will be astonished, although I dare say it will appease fans of the show and give them a few new antics to chuckle over.

Not new though is it. A quick glance at the cinema listings also reveals the sacrilegious Ghostbusters remake, a sequel to something called Ice Age, a sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - that is a revamp of a film franchise derived from a 1990s kid’s cartoon - and a belated, unnecessary and totally unwanted sequel to Independence Day.

Even within these films - think Star Wars: The Force Awakens - writers and directors seem incapable of putting together anything resembling a fresh plot, in amongst all the flashy effects, fan-boy references and ‘hilarious’ wisecracks.

What has happened to Hollywood? They seem incapable of coming up with an original story these days. It is just a blessing studios in Europe, South Africa and here in old Blighty are in rugged good health (although the US did give us Sicario last year - check it out if you can).