Johnson 1) The Prime Minister will face a confidence vote this evening
“Boris Johnson is to face a vote of no confidence after the threshold of 54 letters from Conservative MPs seeking his departure was reached. Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee that represents backbench Tory MPs, announced he had been sent at least 54 letters, reaching the minimum of 15% of all 359 Conservative MPs. This automatically triggers a secret ballot of all Tory MPs, which is usually held within 24 hours. If Johnson gets 50% (180 MPs) or more votes in his favour, he will stay on as Conservative leader and thus prime minister and will be safe from such a challenge for at least a year under party rules. If he does not reach that margin he will be ousted and a campaign will begin to install a new leader, with Johnson excluded.” – The Guardian
News:
- Graham Brady announced the vote this morning – The Daily Telegraph
- The announcement by the Chairman of the 1922 Committee was short but sweet – The Times
- Zahawi: Divided parties don’t win elections – The Daily Mail
- Don’t ‘over-interpret’ Johnson being booed, says Shapps – The Guardian
- Rebels circulated memo listing thirteen reasons to ditch the Prime Minister – The Times
- The Prime Minister’s allies had switched their focus to a ‘fightback’ based on health and housing policy… – The Guardian
- …and threatened an early election, in order to try and prevent a vote – The Daily Telegraph
- Johnson vowed to hit the campaign trail for the two upcoming by-elections… – The Sun
- …where he faces ‘crunch time’ in Tiverton and Honiton – The Financial Times
- Toppling Johnson may do nothing to improve the party’s prospects – The I
Comment:
- Only Starmer gains from this clueless plot – Editorial, The Daily Mail
- Britain faces very serious political problems – now is not the time for political games – Editorial, The Sun
- Ousting Johnson now would be nothing less than insanity – Daniel Johnson, The Daily Mail
- Feuding Tories must not allow Starmer into Number 10 – Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun
>Today:
- ToryDiary: A vote of no confidence in Johnson will take place today
- Steve Barclay MP in Comment: My fellow Conservatives face a choice. Look outwards and follow Johnson. Or look inwards – and tear ourselves apart.
- MPs Etc: The 32 MPs who have called on Johnson to go
>Yesterday:
Johnson 2) Norman: Why I can no longer support Boris Johnson
“Little could please me less than to have to write in these terms. But someone needs to say it, now. With Brexit and Covid behind us, we are at an inflection point. People are crying out for good government – and for warm, engaged, unifying and constructive leadership, in the service of a vision all can believe in. Neither the Conservative party nor the country can afford to squander the next two years adrift and distracted by endless debate about you and your leadership. For you to prolong this charade by remaining in office not only insults the electorate and the tens of thousands of people who support, volunteer, represent and campaign for our party; it makes a decisive change of government at the election much more likely. That is potentially catastrophic for this country. For these reasons and with great sadness, I am withdrawing my support for you as leader and I have notified this to the 1922 committee. I leave it to my colleagues to decide where they stand in relation to these concerns. For the avoidance of doubt, however, this is not a leadership bid.” – Twitter
Johnson 3) Conservative MPs spent the jubilee weekend placating angry constituents
“Under the union jack bunting of chilly street parties or next to the children’s bouncy castles at the village jubilee fetes, Conservative MPs have been quietly taking the mood of their constituents before returning for a week of bloodletting in Westminster. “I‘m getting people coming up to me and greeting me with that smile and the tilt of the head that’s usually reserved when your labrador puppy has just been run over,” one senior MP said. “It is deeply uncomfortable.” Though few have been directly confronted with angry constituents demanding they oust the prime minister, most admit there is an awkwardness about the encounters.“I don’t think that anyone wants to spoil the weekend but I have been asked by some members of my association if I have considered sending a letter,” one MP said. “This is new territory, it is very serious. It’s like denouncing family.”” – The Guardian
- A party like no other: the Platinum Jubilee was a joyous occasion and great success – Editorial, The Times
- Truly a happy and glorious weekend – Editorial, The Sun
Nick Timothy: There is both an ethical and political vacuum at the top of Government
“Even if Johnson wins a vote of no confidence, he is unlikely to win by such a margin that his ability to lead is restored. He has already destroyed so much political capital that he will struggle to convince sceptical backbenchers to support contentious proposals. And for what? This is not a midterm blip caused by tough early decisions that will release benefits later. It is a fatal rupture with the public, who have identified hypocrisy and dishonesty in their prime minister. But we must also ask if there really is a project, beyond keeping the PM in office?… So the vacuum at the top of government is not only ethical but political. And now, as Tory MPs decide the future leadership of their party and the country, they need to demand not only a restoration of ethical standards but political purpose.” – The Daily Telegraph
- Johnson’s woeful economic record is a betrayal of Thatcherism – Roger Bootle, The Daily Telegraph
The Chancellor faces the Treasury Select Committee, whilst facing calls from businesses to take more action over surging prices
“Business leaders are urging Rishi Sunak to step in with a support package to help firms survive the cost-of-living crisis. Their calls come as the Chancellor today faces a grilling from Parliament’s Treasury committee over his efforts to help with surging prices. Last month Sunak announced a £15billion scheme to cut domestic energy bills…Rising costs have been particularly painful for energy-intensive businesses such as manufacturers and travel firms. Bills are eating up a disproportionate amount of income at everything from restaurants and shops to plumbing and delivery firms.” – The Daily Mail
- Inflation may leave millions more workers paying 60 percent tax – The Times
- Pensioner jokingly guards her purse from the Chancellor – The Sun
Shapps: Air passengers should get automatic refunds for axed flights
“Airline passengers should receive automatic compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, Grant Shapps said as thousands of Britons risked being stranded abroad by travel chaos. The transport secretary wants aviation companies to adopt a scheme like that run by the railways, which provides quick refunds for delayed journeys. He was speaking after further flight cancellations left some holidaymakers unable to get back to Britain. Others turned up at airports to find there were more passengers than seats. Shapps said airlines had to stop overbooking. He also clashed with Sadiq Khan, who wants European Union workers to return to save the industry, telling the mayor of London that immigration could not always be the answer.” – The Times
- Strikes will close Tube stations across London today – The Daily Mail
- Londoners advised to work from home – The Daily Telegraph
Britain will send Ukraine longer-range rockets
“Britain is sending cutting-edge rocket systems to Ukraine that can strike targets 50 miles away as part of efforts to help the country defend itself against a new onslaught from Russia. The multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) come with precision-guided rockets. The rockets are deployed with pinpoint accuracy and the steel blast-fragmentation cases are designed for low collateral damage. Britain is sending them after a request from Ukraine for longer-range weapons to counter Russian heavy artillery, which has been used to devastating effect in the eastern Donbas region. Ben Wallace, defence secretary, said Britain’s continued support would help Ukraine win the war, despite the Russian onslaught in the east and the first assault on Kyiv for weeks.” – The Times
- Russia targets Kyiv for the first time in a month – The I
- Johnson is right and Macron is wrong – saving Putin’s face is a mug’s game – Dominic Lawson, The Daily Mail
Baroness Nicholson calls for a sentencing review after a transgender paedophile avoids prison
“A Tory peer is seeking a sentencing review after a paedophile who identifies as transgender was spared jail. Baroness Nicholson is demanding action over the case of Peter Selby, who was caught with more than 125,000 child abuse images, including more than 2,400 that were classed as Category A, the most obscene. Selby, 68, amassed the vile pictures and videos over a decade using internet search terms such as ‘pre teen’ and ‘jail bait’, and the collection featured pictures of children as young as three. The paedophile, who was born male, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornography, which involved an adult engaged in bestiality.” – The Daily Mail
‘Weakness’ of UK position shaped Northern Ireland protocol negotiations, Frost says
“Boris Johnson’s former Brexit negotiator David Frost has said the “weakness” of the UK’s position shaped the negotiations for the Northern Ireland protocol but blamed a lack of pragmatism in the EU’s approach for the current difficulties. Frost said the deal he negotiated while in Johnson’s government would have run smoothly only if it had never been fully applied by the EU. Writing in a foreword to a report by the centre-right thinktank Policy Exchange, he also challenged the Irish government’s focus on the “all-island” economy, which he said was not consequential but had become a political tool. “Shaped as the protocol is by relative UK weakness and EU predominance in the withdrawal agreement negotiations, it enshrines a concept – the all-island economy – which suits the EU, Ireland, and their allies politically but which does not exist in real life,” Frost wrote in the foreword.” – The Guardian
- UK willing to abandon the EU’s €95bn science fund – The Financial Times
Buckland: Laws must protect those who expose government’s sins
“The National Security Bill, which targets foreign spies operating on British soil, faces its second reading today. It largely replaces the Counter State Threats Bill, which did not reach the floor of either house in the last parliamentary session. But the new bill is missing a key facet: the long-awaited introduction of a public interest defence as part of the wholesale reform of the Official Secrets Act. The government dropped this, saying that it needs more time. Whatever the concerns, the 1989 Act is not fit for purpose. The Law Commission gave a detailed critique of its flaws and possible remedies two years ago. The Act is a relic of a pre-internet, Cold War era. Its failure to reflect modern threats and modern values is stark. The core defect is that it contains no safety valve for those who reveal serious government wrongdoing otherwise protected by official secrecy.” – The Times
Khan rules out bid to replace Starmer over Beergate row
“London mayor Sadiq Khan today rejected suggestions he could seek to replace Sir Keir Starmer if the Labour leader is forced to quit over Beergate. Mr Khan insisted he was ‘not at all’ interested in leading Labour should Sir Keir have to resign over his boozy curry in Durham last year. Sir Keir’s dramatic vow to stand down if he is fined by police for breaking Covid lockdown rules has fuelled fresh speculation about who could succeed him. The Labour leader has taken a huge gamble on his political future by promising to go if he receieves a fixed penalty notice (FPN). The same pledge has also been made by Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner. But, despite being among those touted as Sir Keir’s likeliest successors, Mr Khan ruled out a future Labour leadership bid.” – The Daily Mail
Sturgeon blames Brexit as the SNP cut 17,000 public sector jobs
“The Scottish National Party have announced they will be axing 17,000 public sector jobs in a post-Brexit “reset” amid criticism from experts and the opposition. It comes as the Scottish government intends to bring the “overall size of the public sector workforce” back to pre-pandemic levels, mainly targeting workers at the health and education front line. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has estimated this reform to cause around 17,000 job cuts over the next four to five years, according to the Herald. Although, according to official records, the number of people employed in the public sector went from 505,200 in December 2019 to 534,400 by December 2021, a difference of almost 30,000.This number could spike to up to 40,000 job cuts, causing strong backlash with widespread strike actions across the country, trade unions have warned.” – The Daily Express
News in Brief:
- Is the fall of Boris inevitable? – Patrick O’Flynn, The Spectator
- Who wants to be a stripper? – Kat Rosenfield, UnHerd
- The power of the pageant – Jonathan Welch, The Critic
- Russia must be offered a way out – Robert Colls, The New Statesman
- What does a man need to do to go to jail? – Ed West, Wrong Side of History