Boris Johnson news – latest: Ex-PM already planning ‘worst-case’ scenario by-election

Boris Johnson will step up campaigning in his constituency as concerns grow that he will face a by-election within months if he is found to have deliberately misled Parliament over Downing Street lockdown parties (Thomas Kingsley writes).

It comes after Tory polling guru Lord Hayward warned the former prime minister would lose his Uxbridge and Ruislip seat if he is punished severely by the cross-party committee and forced to fight for his seat.

According to The Times, Mr Johnson is planning for the “worst-case scenario”– that the committee imposes a 10-day suspension from the Commons, which could trigger a by-election.

“A shining beacon of hope”, were the words used by British prime minister Rishi Sunak to describe Israel last year, writes Shawan Jabarin.

But for the Palestinian people, who are living under Israel’s settler-colonial apartheid regime and prolonged illegal occupation, as well as being subjected to discriminatory policies and practices manifested in almost all elements of their lives, the word hope does not come to mind.

Rishi Sunak has challenged Benjamin Netanyahu on his controversial judicial overhaul but spoke of strengthening ties as the Israeli prime minister faces a wave of protests.

Shouts of “shame” followed Mr Netanyahu to Downing Street, where hundreds of pro-democracy protesters amassed to warn against a slide towards autocracy.

Mass protests were sparked in Israel by legislation protecting Mr Netanyahu from being deemed unfit to rule, which critics say will shield him from his corruption trial.

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More than 3,000 civil servants in four government departments have announced a programme of continuous industrial action from April 11.

The action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will hit the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), Forestry Commission, Rural Payments Agency and Marine Management Organisation.

It marks another escalation of the union’s long-running dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This action further ratchets up the pressure on ministers to settle our dispute. Our members are showing no sign of backing down.

Rishi Sunak headed to Dudley in the West Midlands this afternoon to launch the Conservatives local election campaign.

Appearing with West Midlands mayor Andy Street, the prime minister met local children and was pictured behind the counter in a local fish and chip shop.

The BBC expressed concerns to the government about the appointment process for a new chair before the controversial hiring of Richard Sharp.

Former BBC chair Sir David Clementi wrote to former culture secretary Oliver Dowden in October 2020 to voice concern from the corporation’s nominations committee about the recruitment process for his replacement.

On Friday, a spokesperson from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: “The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments is reviewing the competition to ensure the process was run in compliance with the rules and we will await the outcome.”

Mr Sharp is facing pressure to resign amid an ongoing review after it emerged he helped former prime minister Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 loan facility. The BBC has declined to comment.

Nicola Sturgeon has carried out her final official engagement as Scotland’s First Minister, opening a £33m treatment centre for orthopaedic surgery.

The National Treatment Centre at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, is intended to address the backlog of planned care exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Sturgeon opened the facility on Friday, with further centres due to open this year in NHS Highland, NHS Forth Valley and at the Golden Jubilee Hospital.

It was her final act as First Minister, with the result of the SNP leadership election to replace her expected on Monday afternoon.

Having missed her last moments due to Covid restrictions, Mick Yates stood two metres apart from his brothers as his mother’s coffin was lowered into her grave on 26 June 2020. A week before, Boris Johnson had been photographed in a room full of at least 30 people celebrating his birthday at a time of strict lockdown rules.

Throughout the pandemic, countless people were in Mr Yates’ position, unable to be with loved ones when they died, and banned from hugging family and friends at funerals – if they were even able to attend. Meanwhile, the then-prime minister attended gatherings at Downing Street, flouting the very rules he was supposed to be enforcing as part of attempts to curb the virus’ spread and reduce pressure on the NHS.

Tara Cobham speaks to those who were mourning as their prime minister partied:

The UK must be “a critical friend” and challenge Israel over its controversial judicial overhaul, foreign affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns has said.

The Conservative MP told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “This is the time for the UK to work out what it means to be a critical friend to Israel and make sure that, yes, we continue to trade and to work together on security co-operation, because they are a key partner, but also that we listen to our Jewish communities. And this, the biggest response and loudest response I’ve ever seen from a Jewish community to Israeli policies.”

She said the UK must “look from the outside and judge where we can make a difference to end suffering, to promote prosperity, and to make sure that the rights of individuals are not violated on all sides, and that everyone can live not feeling under threat.”

Ms Kearns added: “The UK has a key role here and a key voice. If politicians feel silenced, if there is a lack of debate amongst the political class, then we are in a very dangerous position.”