The prime minister has refused to withdraw his false claim in the Commons that Sir Keir Starmer was behind the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile, despite calls from some of his own MPs to do so.
Labour leader Sir Keir accused Boris Johnson of “parroting fascists” with the Savile smear as the pair clashed over the row at PMQs. He also asked Conservative backbenchers to rally against their leader, who he said was peddling “conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try to score cheap political points”.
Hours before the pair’s standoff, another Tory MP publicly called time on Mr Johnson’s premiership, announcing he would submit a letter of no confidence later today, insisting the PM should trigger his own vote rather than wait for the 54-letter threshold.
“The question now is, ‘is the prime minister the best person to lead the party moving forward?’” Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons defence committee, told Sky News. “I don’t think he realises how worried people are in every corner of the party.” Mr Ellwood joins around 10 other Tories who have publicly confirmed they have submitted letters to the party’s 1922 committee.
Policing minister condemns ‘disturbing’ reports of police ‘banter’
Kit Malthouse today spoke about the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)’s report, which revealed how Met Police officers joked about hitting and raping women and killing Black children in messages later downplayed as “banter”.
The policing minister told MPs in the Commons that the document, mostly about officers at Charing Cross police station, makes for “extremely disturbing reading”.
He added that HM Inspector of forces was how forces were ensuring misogyny and sexism were being dealt with.
Tory backbencher Matthew Offord MP condemned a “sinister and obnoxious culture” that allowed police to talk or boast about hitting their wives or girlfriends. He asked Mr Malthouse to change the law so that anyone in a position of trust commits a criminal offence if they seek to have sex with them.
Mr Malthouse said he was happy to consider the suggestion, blaming failings among leadership.
Households to be given £200 towards soaring energy bills
UK households are to be offered discounts of around £200 on their energy bills – but suppliers said the size of the scheme was disappointing and would cover only around a third of the expected jump in costs this year. Ben Chapman reports:
Only Johnson can open investigation into Johnson’s lying to parliament
There is unlikely to be a legal shortcut to making the prime minister resign, thanks to the UK’s weak oversight system. Analysis by Jon Stone :
Starmer apology over Savile publicly recorded, says No 10
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s apology for the Crown Prosecution Service’s failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile is a “matter of public record”, according to a spokeswoman for Boris Johnson.
The prime minister’s press secretary, asked by reporters whether he still believed Sir Keir acted “improperly” while director of public prosecutions, said: “On that, we were simply pointing out Sir Keir Starmer’s record as leader.
“You’ve got what the prime minister said today, which is that in 2013 Keir Starmer apologised and took full responsibility for what happened on his watch, and that that was the right thing to do.”
Pressed on whether Mr Johnson was confident he was not fuelling “conspiracy theories of violent fascists” – as Sir Keir called the claim in the Commons – his spokeswoman said: “It is all entirely a matter of public record about what happened at the time, and Sir Keir Starmer’s apology at the time is a matter of public record – you can find it for yourself online.”
Watch: Starmer accuses govt of ‘treating taxpayer as ATM for their mates’
Tributes for Labour MP Jack Dromey
MPs are now taking part in a special Commons session to honour the life of Jack Dromey, the representative for Birmingham Erdington from 2010 until his death on 7 January this year.
Mr Dromey, husband of Harriet Harman, fellow Labour MP and mother of the House, died suddenly last month of natual causes.
Tributes came from Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and a range of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs.
Dromey died on 7 January
” height=”726″ width=”982″ layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Dromey died on 7 January
PM refuses to say if he was at No 10 ‘ABBA party’ in his own flat
During PMQs, Boris Johnson again refused to say whether he attended a party alleged to have taken place in his Downing Street residence during Covid restrictions.
Asked about the event and his whereabouts on 13 November, 2020, the prime minister severed the question, saying “here we go again”, and told MPs the “process must go on”.
It comes after it emerged earlier this week the “a gathering in the No 10 Downing Street flat” was being examined as part of the Metropolitan Police investigation.
Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports:
PM insists ‘nobody wanted Allegra Stratton to resign’
Finally, the PM takes a question about his former spokeswoman Allegra Stratton who was forced to resign at the end of last year over a video clip showing her laughing about a rule-breaking party.
Johnson says he was “very sad” that Stratton resigned after SNP MP Gavin Newlands put forward the following:
“Let’s just recap: before we were told we must wait for the Sue Gray report, then we got told we must wait for the police investigation to conclude.
“We had ‘there was no party’, and then we had ‘if there was a party then I wasn’t there’, and then we had ‘if there was a party then all rules were followed’.
“But no one, prime minister, no-one believes you. If any of the above were true, then why did Allegra Stratton have to resign?”
Johnson responds: “I explained that sad matter on the floor of the House. Nobody wanted Allegra to resign. I was very sad that she did.”
That’s it for PMQs this week.
PM appears to consider minister for Brexit
Among the various other questions, Tory MP Henry Smith asks if the PM will appoint a minister responsible for exploiting the benefits of Brexit.
Johnson claims Labour still want to reverse Brexit. But thanks to Brexit the UK had the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, he claims.
He says without anticipating any changes he might make, a minister for Brexit would be a good idea.
Johnson’s Brexit negotiator Lord Frost quit in December, leaving foreign secretary Liz Truss to take over Northern Ireland Protocol talks with the EU.
Blackford insists PM be honest about November 2020 party
That’s it for the exchange between Starmer and Johnson. Now to Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, who was told to leave the Commons on Monday for calling the PM a liar.
He starts by saying he has a duty to represent people who feel deep anger about the PM’s handling of Partygate. But he concedes he wants to put on record his “respect for the Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)” and his seat.
Now, for the first mention of Partygate today, Blackford says the PM told colleagues there was no party in his flat in November 2020. But today The Telegraph reports that Johnson attended that party, he says, before insisting that if Johnson is fined, “he should go”.
“Will the PM say where he was on 13 November 2020?” he asks, to which Johnson criticises him for asking the same questions he did on Monday.
Blackford says this is an awful response and reminds the PM he has lost the support of some of his own party over the issue. He adds Johnson is a “dangerous distraction at home and a running joke on the international stage”, before bringing up the fact Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons defence committee, had today submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM.
