A photograph of Boris Johnson drinking a beer at a birthday event held for him in No 10 is among the 300 images handed to the Metropolitan Police, it has been reported.
The prime minister was pictured standing next to Rishi Suank and raising a can of Estrella towards the camera in a photo allegedly taken by the official Downing Street photographer during the first national coronavirus lockdown.
Defending Mr Johnson on Saturday morning, culture secretary Nadine Dorries backed a suggestion that the growing rebellion against the PM was partly a “Remainer plot”, after long-serving former schools minister Nick Gibb became the 15th Tory MP to publicly announce he has submitted a letter of no confidence.
His intervention came hours after Red Wall MP Aaron Bell also called for Mr Johnson to go, declaring the prime minister’s position was “untenable” because of his handling of the Partygate scandal.
Meanwhile the PM has been trying to win over unruly backbenchers – as No 10 insiders warned the increasingly isolated prime minister is becoming “unpredictable and erratic”.
Nadine Dorries says new laws would ‘hold Netflix to account’ over Jimmy Carr’s Holocaust joke
Here’s more from Nadine Dorries’ interview on BBC Breakfast this morning.
The culture secretary suggested new laws would hold to account streaming sites from airing jokes such as those made by Jimmy Carr about the travelling community and the Holocaust.
In a widely-shared clip from his one-hour Netflix special, His Dark Material, Carr joked about the horror of the Holocaust and “six million Jewish lives being lost” before making a disparaging remark about the deaths of thousands of gypsies at the hands of the Nazis.
Ms Dorries said: “We are looking at legislation via the Media Bill which would bring into scope those comments from other video on-demand streaming outlets like Netflix. So it’s interesting that we’re already looking at future legislation to bring into scope those sort of comments.”
Pressed that she had previously claimed “left-wing snowflakes are killing comedy”, Ms Dorries said: “Well, that’s not comedy”, adding that the comments were “abhorrent and they just shouldn’t be on television”.
No 10 situation ‘disappointing and embarrassing’, says Treasury minister
John Glen, a junior Treasury minister, said the situation with No 10 was “deeply uncomfortable, disappointing, and embarrassing”, Adam Forrest reports.
Writing in his local newspaper The Salisbury Journal, the MP did not call for Boris Johnson to resign.
But Mr Glen said the culture in No 10 “fell short of what the country had a right to expect, and responsibility must be taken for the mistakes that were made”.
He said he spoke to the PM this week “and I took the opportunity to tell him in person how frustrated and let down we all feel”.
‘No government in my lifetime has ever imploded in this way,’ Tory MP says
The assistant editor of The Spectator – the magazine of which Boris Johnson was editor from 1999 to 2005 – reported this week that the consensus among all of the Tory MPs she had spoken to in the wake of No 10’s staff exodus was that “it is definitely a case of when Boris goes, not if”.
The magazine reported on Thursday night that “everyone” agrees that Munira Mirza’s departure “ups the dial for Boris” and that while it has “felt fatal for about a week now, things are speeding up”.
A formerly pro-Johnson MP – who is yet to send a no confidence letter – is reported to have told the magazine: “The staff are always the last to leave! They’re normally there in Downing Street crying as the PM finally quits, they’re thinking about the resignation honours list.
“No government in my lifetime has ever imploded in this way.”
Erratic PM will ‘make a mess… then play the victim when it blows up in his face’
A No 10 insider told The Independent Boris Johnson’s mood has been swinging wildly amid the turmoil in Downing Street.
“He’s been erratic. Boisterous and confident one moment and then bleak and full of recriminations the next,” said the source, speaking anonymously.
“It’s becoming a pattern. He was difficult to handle after he’d had Covid, and after Dom [Cummings, his former top adviser] left, but now he’s even worse. He’ll make a mess, like Savile, Peppa Pig, the early lines on parties – against the clearest advice – and then play the victim when it blows up in his face.”
Ukraine: 41% of Britons think Boris Johnson handling crisis badly
People crossing Channel to UK forced to wait hours on concrete floor
People crossing the Channel to the UK in small boats are being forced to wait on narrow benches and a concrete floor for hours while being held at a processing site, Border Force staff have warned.
The union representing immigration officers said a new temporary reception facility for processing new arrivals on the Kent coast is “less than optimal” for the men, women and children who are held there, sometimes for many hours at a time.
“You’ve got folk coming through who have gone through a very hard journey. They’re wet, they need to be warm, they need to be safeguarded. We’ve got no hot food or hot water, we can’t feed or wash them,” said Lucy Moreton, professional officer at the Immigration Services Union (ISU).
PM speaks to Macron about Russia-Ukraine tensions
Boris Johnson spoke to French president Emmanuel Macron this morning about rising tensions on the Ukraine border.
Russia has moved more than 100,000 troops to its neighbour’s border but denies planning an invasion.
In a readout of the conversation, a spokesperson said: ““The leaders updated one another on their respective discussions with international partners, including the prime minister’s visit to Kyiv last week. They agreed that finding a diplomatic solution to the current tensions must remain the overriding priority.
“The prime minister and president Macron stressed that Nato must be united in the face of Russian aggression. They agreed to continue to work together to develop a package of sanctions which would come into force immediately should Russia further invade Ukraine.
“The leaders discussed their work to strengthen Nato’s Eastern flank, ensuring that allies are fully defended against malicious Russian activity, wherever and however it might occur.”
The two leaders also discussed a border closer to home.
The readout continues: “The prime minister re-emphasised to president Macron his commitment to work with France on the shared challenge of illegal migration in the Channel. The leaders agreed on the need to cooperate to stop people traffickers.”
Revealed: Rishi Sunak’s behind-closed-doors meetings with banking bosses
Rishi Sunak met with dozens of financial firms and banking industry lobby groups before seeking a “bonfire” of regulations for the City of London, analysis by The Independent has shown.
The chancellor, who is reported to be putting the finishing touches to his Tory leadership campaign, is set to relax regulations and tear up rules, including some measures aimed at preventing a future financial crises.
My colleague Ben Chapman has the full exclusive report here:
Tory MP says he is mulling no confidence letter ‘very carefully’
Tory MP Stephen Hammond has said he is “considering very carefully this weekend” whether he still has confidence in Boris Johnson, saying it “certainly looks like” the beginning of the end.
He told the BBC he would be “reflecting on the events of the week, reflecting on the fact that my constituents and I and almost all of the country obeyed rules, and there seems to be a group of people who haven’t”.
He said he had not yet put a letter into Sir Graham Brady, but he said: “I think I’m making it very clear to you that I am considering very carefully over the weekend, what are the next steps.
“I think all Conservative colleagues, all of whom I know, are in it for trying to do the best for their constituents and the country will be wrestling with their consciences this weekend.”
Asked whether it was “the beginning of the end” for the PM, he said: “It certainly looks like that at the moment.”
He added: “It looks very difficult for the prime minister from here.” My colleague Adam Forrest has the full story here:
‘Remainer plot’ against Boris Johnson is ‘complete nonsense’, Tory MP says
A Tory MP has disagreed with culture secretary Nadine Dorries’ characterisation this morning that those who want Boris Johnson to resign are Remainers or those have always opposed him.
Stephen Hammond told BBC Radio 4: “All the rubbish written in some of the right-wing red tops about a Remainer plot, that is complete nonsense. I think as far as I can see, the people who so far declared that they’ve written a letter are from all wings of the party and none.”
He said it was “predictable rubbish from a predictable source” to suggest those who wanted him to resign were all from a group of usual suspects.
He said: “I’ve known Boris Johnson … I was on his campaign committee in 2008 and 2012, when he was running for Mayor of London, I’ve known Boris for all that time. I think the idea that I’ve always been against him is just nonsense.
“If you look at where the letters are coming from, I don’t understand how anyone could stand up that claim, and so I think probably the Secretary of State needs to think again.”
