Boris Johnson resignation – latest: Ex-PM asked Sunak to ‘do something I wasn’t prepared to do’

Boris Johnson has accused Rishi Sunak of “talking rubbish” after the prime minister said his predecessor asked him to overrule the vetting committee for appointments to the House of Lords.

In a statement, Boris Johnson said: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish. To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”

It comes after Downing Street said it is “entirely untrue” that Mr Sunak or members of his No 10 team removed names from the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) list.

Rishi Sunak said Boris Johnson asked him to “do something I wasn’t prepared to do”, when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.

Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right.”

“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people.

“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”

Two very different British politicians who often clashed, Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon both led their parties to great heights — and both have had sudden and dramatic falls.

Former U.K. prime minister Johnson quit as a lawmaker rather than face being ousted for lying to Parliament. Sturgeon, the ex-leader of Scotland, was arrested and questioned by police investigating her party’s finances.

Here’s what to know about dramatic developments in U.K. politics:

Tax cuts must wait until inflation has come down, a Cabinet minister has said amid renewed calls by backbenchers for lower taxes.

In a speech to a conference in London, Gillian Keegan said cutting taxes without ensuring “sound money” and “fiscal discipline” was “fairytale economics”.

She said: “Whilst lower taxes are at the heart of Conservative economic thinking – Margaret Thatcher never thought that the way to achieve a low-tax economy was by dramatically increasing public sector debt and borrowing.

“She knew that you had to deal with inflation first otherwise every tax cut or spending pledge would simply be eaten by inflation.”

Christopher McKeon reports:

Penny Mordaunt has criticised people attacking Parliament “for carrying out its work”.

The cabinet minister told the Centre for Policy Studies’ Margaret Thatcher conference: “We have to be really strong about people who are attacking institutions, people who are attacking the House for carrying out its work, people who are attacking the media.”

She added: “The price of not doing so is going to be very great indeed.”

Her comments come after Boris Johnson and several other Conservatives attacked the Privileges Committee investigation into whether the former prime minister misled Parliament over the partygate scandal.

You could bet your mortgage on another interest rate rise at the next meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) next Thursday.

Consider the latest intervention by external member Jonathan Haskell, via a column for The Scotsman. He stuck to the script, allowing only that more rate rises “may be necessary”. But take note of his conclusion, which could easily be regarded as a softening-up exercise: “As difficult as our current circumstances are, embedded inflation would be worse.”

Haskell’s message is that ‘we know this is hard medicine but the alternative is much worse.’

“The Conservative Party is now in more turmoil and chaos than ever before, with no chance of winning the next general election. Rishi Sunak should take this as an opportunity to retrench and consolidate, to expel the far-right fringe and anyone else who refuses to toe his pragmatic and sensible line.

The party would, of course, be smaller, but it would be more cohesive and manageable, and would gradually rebuild in strength by welcoming back those disillusioned by the David Cameron, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss years of lunacy.

I shall never vote Tory, but democracy needs a realistic and robust opposition, which I regret we shall not have after the next (hopefully imminent) general election.”

The Reform UK and Reclaim parties have announced a deal to boost each other’s chances in the by-elections triggered by the resignations of Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries.

Actor Laurence Fox, who leads Reclaim, will stand in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat vacated by the former prime minister while Reform UK will not stand a candidate there.

Dave Holland of Reform, which was founded with Nigel Farage’s backing, will stand in former culture secretary Ms Dorries’ Mid Bedfordshire’s constituency.

Mr Fox said: “The Reclaim Party and Reform UK offer the only genuine conservative alternative to the electorate, seeking for a smaller state, lower taxes, control of our borders and a full debate over net zero and the contentious ideologies being forced onto our children in schools.”

Reform leader Richard Tice added that “this co-operation enables us to have extra focus on specific by-elections”.

Reclaim has one MP after recently welcoming Andrew Bridgen following his expulsion from the Tories for comparing vaccines to the Holocaust.

The row between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak intensified today as the former PM accused his successor of “talking rubbish” over a claim he was asked to bend the rules on peerages.

The prime minister claimed Mr Johnson asked him to either overrule the committee which vets peerages – known as Holac – or “make promises to people” on the issue.

But a furious Mr Johnson hit back, saying: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish.

He added: “To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”

My colleague Archie Mitchell has the full story:

Conservative peer Lord Marland offered a staunch defence of Boris Johnson, as he questioned the work of the Privileges Committee.

“Boris resigned because he was offended by the fact they didn’t believe him,” Lord Marland told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme.

He rejected the point that it was a Conservative-majority committee that was investigating the former prime minister.

“There is a lot of difference of views and personal jealousy within the Conservative Party, as there is within the Labour Party.

“In some ways, you’re better coming up in front of an entirely Labour group than a mixture.”

Lord Marland added: “Who would be prime minister? There has not been a prime minister since Margaret Thatcher who has not left office vilified.”

He admitted that Mr Johnson was “a partial architect of his own demise”, but added: “Other people have conspired to help that.”