Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson is at risk of placing the ministerial code in a place of “ridicule” over the Partygate scandal, according to his own ethics adviser.In a scathing public rebuke, Christopher Geidt said there were “legitimate” questions over whether Mr Johnson had breached ministerial standards and made a veiled threat to quit if the PM said there was no case to answer.Labour said the row showed that Mr Johnson’s “days are numbered” after he “tried to rig the rules and evade scrutiny”.But the prime minister insisted he had not breached the code, and blamed a “failure of communication” for what Lord Geidt said was a repeated oversight to heed his advice.The spat came as Mr Johnson rang potential rebels on the Conservative backbenches in a desperate bid to shore up his position ahead of a vote of no confidence in his leadership that many Tory MPs now expect to be called when parliament returns next week.Downing Street declined to confirm reports that the PM is planning a relaunch in the final weeks of the parliamentary year, featuring a joint speech with chancellor Rishi Sunak on reforms to insurance rules to release billions of pounds for infrastructure investment. But a source did not deny he was calling backbench waverers, saying: “Obviously he speaks to MPs all the time.”It comes as the Telegraph reported Downing Street is preparing to go on “economic war-footing” in the weeks after the Queen’s Jubilee in a bid to stabilise Mr Johnson’s premiership.Plans being considered are said to include a return to regular Covid-style press briefings, but which would instead focus on the economy. The briefings would seek to explain what is being done to help ease the cost of living crisis and provide the latest data, the newspaper reported. Former Conservative leader William Hague said the prime minister was in “real trouble” and the party was “moving faster” towards a leadership ballot, which will be triggered if the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, receives 54 letters from MPs.But culture secretary Nadine Dorries on Thursday evening insisted Mr Johnson would win should Tory MPs submit enough letters to trigger a confidence vote.She told Sky News: “180 MPs are what would be needed to secure a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, that is never going to happen.”Earlier, a former close ally of Mr Johnson, ex-cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom, went public with concerns over “unacceptable failures of leadership which cannot be tolerated”.A 17th Tory MP – Carlisle’s John Stevenson – also revealed he has submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM, declaring himself “deeply disappointed” at Mr Johnson’s response to revelations of lockdown parties at No 10.He brought the number of MPs who have publicly called for Mr Johnson to go to 28, with others arguing privately for his removal.Meanwhile, backbench critics of Mr Johnson told The Independent they were worried that the PM would narrowly win a confidence vote by securing the support of more than half of his MPs, and then trigger a potentially disastrous early general election in a bid to reassert control over his fractious party.“The parliamentary party is split with one-third against, him one-third loyal and one-third up for grabs,” said one. “If he gets less than the 63 per cent which Theresa May got in 2018 he will be in real trouble, but I’ve no doubt he will try to cling on.“I think he might try to manufacture an election because it would be the only way he could reassert his authority.“He has so much self-belief and he thinks he has the country on his side, but I think the country would say ‘no thanks’ and he would be throwing the red wall MPs under the bus.”Ms May’s former chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, said: “Right now, it feels like we are heading for a confidence vote at some point which he might narrowly win. If the PM seeks to carry on in those circumstances, as I suspect he would, that would be the worst outcome for the Conservative Party.”One supporter of Mr Johnson, business minister George Freeman, admitted the PM was “in the thick of it” and said he did not know if he would survive a confidence vote.In a letter to constituents, Ms Leadsom – who worked closely with Mr Johnson on his abortive bid to save disgraced MP Owen Paterson last year – said the Gray report had exposed “unacceptable failings of leadership that cannot be tolerated and are the responsibility of the prime minister”.While she did not call for Mr Johnson’s resignation, Ms Leadsom said every Conservative “must now decide individually on what is the right course of action that will restore confidence in our government”.Her intervention was regarded as significant and an indication of discontent spreading beyond Mr Johnson’s “One Nation” critics and MPs in marginal seats worried about his impact on their slim majorities.One MP told The Independent that he knew of several MPs who have written to Sir Graham without revealing it publicly, adding: “We must be close to 54 now. I think Sir Graham may just be waiting for the jubilee weekend to be over to announce it.”Mr Brady himself remained tight-lipped, telling reporters it was “not a regular pastime of mine” to add up letters.Lord Hague said that last week’s Gray report into lockdown-breaching parties at No 10 had lit the touch-paper on a “slow fuse explosion”.Mr Johnson was wrong to think he was safe just because the report did not trigger an immediate flood of letters,” he said.“That’s actually not the mood in the Conservative Party which is very, very troubled about the contents of that report,” Lord Hague told Times Radio.“I think they’re moving, either next week or around the end of June, they are moving towards having a ballot. It looks like that”.Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Johnson was “reduced to desperately phoning around his mutinous MPs offering baubles in a doomed attempt to save his own skin”.She also said that the rebuke from Lord Geidt was “the latest sign of the rampant sleaze engulfing Downing Street”.In a preface to his delayed annual report on ministerial standards, the ethics adviser said that Mr Johnson had failed to heed advice repeatedly conveyed to No 10 that he should make a public statement on whether he had breached the ministerial code of conduct.Failure to do so could put him in the position of having to advise the PM to launch an inquiry into himself and then resign when Mr Johnson refused to do so – which would put the code “in a place of ridicule”, said Lord Geidt.But Mr Johnson responded that Lord Geidt had not raised the issue directly with him and blamed the situation on a “failure of communication between our offices”.The PM insisted he had complied with the code’s requirements by correcting statements to parliament that were “made in good faith” but turned out not to be true. And he said he did not believe the £50 fixed penalty notice he received from the police amounted to a breach of the code.Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: “This scathing criticism shows even Boris Johnson’s own ethics adviser no longer trusts him to tell the truth. He is not fit to hold public office.” More

Boris Johnson is under pressure to extend the free school meals programme before the summer holidays amid warnings more than a million children face going hungry because of the cost of living crisis.Former education secretaries from both Labour and the Conservatives, as well as the mayor of London, unions and charities have urged the government to act as it did during the Covid pandemic.As inflation surges the cost of some foods has already soared, while the governor of the Bank of England has warned of “apocalyptic” prices ahead.Justine Greening, the Conservative former education secretary, said: “The government has a chance to avoid the mess on free school meals that happened last year and get ahead of the next phase of the cost of living crisis for families.” Both she and Labour’s Alan Johnson called on ministers to expand the system to include all children whose families receive universal credit benefits.They also called for less patchy support for schoolchildren in the summer holidays.During the Covid pandemic, the prime minister was forced into a humiliating climbdown over the provision of food to some of the country’s poorest families, after a campaign led by England footballer Marcus Rashford. Teaching unions have now written to the government warning that the cost of living crisis is leaving many families struggling. They have called for free school meals to be provided for all children from families receiving universal credit in England as an immediate first step. The former children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, said she supports the move. As well as expanding eligibility to all on universal credit, Ms Greening said the government should “put in place proper summer holiday provision and revisit the school meals funding that schools get to make sure it’s not eroded by inflation so children have the provision of healthy nutritious meals as intended.” Alan Johnson said that he and his sister both received free school meals and had “never forgotten how important those school dinners were”. He expressed his surprise that entitlement to universal credit was not already “a passport to free school meals”. He said there was a good case for all infant and primary school pupils to have free meals but extending it to all those on the benefit “would be a good start”.He also said the voucher system adopted during lockdown to ensure those on free school meals weren’t disadvantaged “provided a solution to the long-standing practical problem of how to continue through the holidays”. The Food Foundation charity estimates 2.6 million children live in households that missed meals or struggled to access healthy food in April.Labour’s shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy told The Independent: “It was so striking for me during the last few school holidays, when the government was refusing to keep free school meals going, how councils and businesses across the country stepped up and did it anyway.“Here in the northwest, I don’t think there was a single Labour council that didn’t step forward and do that. Because these are our children and we won’t let them go starving hungry in school holidays just because of the government that they’ve got.“So, if the government won’t, then there’ll be a mobilisation effort led across the country to make sure that children don’t go hungry over those summer holidays. That’s levelling up in action, isn’t it? That’s communities coming together to level themselves up. Imagine what they could do with a government that backed them,” she added.The Department for Education state that those on universal credit must have an annual income of less than £7,400 to be eligible for free school meals.In response to previous criticism ministers set up a “Holiday activities and food programme” during the summer and other school closures.But Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it only covered part of the holidays and required children to attend activities.Around 1.7 million pupils in England receive free school meals, official figures show.But an independent report, the National Food Strategy, published last year, estimated that another million children in England would receive free school meals if every family on universal credit were eligible.And just 495,000 children on free school meals accessed food in the school holidays through government-funded activity clubs last year.Poverty campaigners also backed the latest call.Helen Barnard, associate director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “There’s been a disconnect for a long time between free school meal eligibility and who needs them.” In particular, the scheme tends to exclude families in working poverty, she said, while adding that cash support for families over the holidays “makes much more sense”.Kate Anstey, from Child Poverty Action Group, said the charity was hearing from more and more parents who could not afford school lunches on top of everything else, a situation that was “devastating for them and has serious consequences for their children”.“Expanding eligibility to all families on universal credit is the minimum change we should make to provide a basic layer of protection for children,” she said.A government spokesperson said ministers had “expanded access to free school meals more than any other government in recent decades”.“The holiday activities and food programme runs during major school holidays, and wider welfare support is available through the household support fund, which helps vulnerable families in need with essentials, such as food and utility bills.” More

Brexit could lead to a significant shortage of potatoes for Irish consumers by 2023, experts have warned.Prior to the UK’s departure from the EU, the majority of potato seed used by Irish farmers for varieties such as Kerr Pinks, Golden Wonders and British Queens had been imported from Scotland.But under post-Brexit rules and following the UK’s departure from the single market, exports of seed potatoes – those not consumed but used to plant other potatoes – from Scotland to Ireland are no longer allowed.While many in Ireland are hopeful that the changes will spark a revival of home-grown Irish seed potatoes, experts warned this week that there is likely to be some disruption in the years ahead.“It’s a bit of a conundrum to be honest; we’ve limited seed crops growing here and UK potato seed imports aren’t approved,” Shay Phelan, a potato specialist at Ireland’s Agriculture and Food Development Authority, told the Irish Times.“A derogation was sought to import seed but it wasn’t successful and that will have a big impact on some farmers. If we got access to a derogation for seed growers we could fill the gaps but even that would take a year or two.”Most growers should have enough seed for this year following a strong crop yield, meaning that consumers are unlikely to see a significant impact until 2023, Mr Shay said. John Carroll, a grower in County Louth, warned that “it will be a big issue unless something is done with the seed industry”, telling the paper: “We don’t save seed because it’s completely different, that’s why there’s so few seed growers in Ireland because it’s hard to get right.”Ireland’s agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue has pledged to help revive Ireland’s own seed potato industry, with these efforts heavily reliant on production at the research farm, Tops Farm. But Mr Carroll warned it will take several years to fill the gap left by Brexit.“We need to get foundation stock and I don’t know when Tops Farm will have tonnes of seed to give out and sell. This thing takes years to get right,” he said.Similarly, the Irish Farmers Association’s (IFA) former national potato chairman Thomas McKeown told the Irish Times that Brexit provides “a great opportunity here for seed growers, but it will take about three years and it’s going to be a bit of a pain”, adding: “There’s no quick fix.”While exports of seed potatoes from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have also been banned, the DUP has previously cited potatoes as a food whose strong domestic production means it should be safe from shortages.Meanwhile, the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) warned that “the loss of the European market was significant” north of the border.The immediate seed potato export ban caused by Brexit “disproportionately affected Scotland”, because a significant portion of Scottish potatoes are grown as seed potatoes and are exported worldwide,” NFUS spokesperson Bob Carruth told The Independent.While he said the “door isn’t completely closed” to a deal allowing trade to resume, Mr Carruth said: “There aren’t too many major casualties of the Brexit deal, but seed potatoes is undoubtedly one of them because there’s no trade.“So it’s not even an issue with regards to paperwork or transport times, there is no opportunity to export seed potatoes, so that’s certainly something we continue to try and work on at a European level.”Prior to Brexit, Britain exported around 30,000 tonnes of seed potatoes – worth £13.5m – to mainland Europe each year, the majority of which were high-health stocks grown in Scotland, according to NFUS.Mr Carruth said that most farmers who grow seed potatoes will have other elements to their business, potentially growing different crops and keeping livestock. “Very few of them will only grow seed potatoes, so I haven’t heard of any Scottish potato growers who have gone out of business because of the loss of the European market,” he said.But he warned that, “like all Scottish farmers”, potato growers will “be struggling to cope with the unprecedented increase in input prices”, with the cost of fertiliser having soared 300 per cent in 18 months and the price of plant protection products having doubled.Spiralling costs are also feared to have been hampering Ireland’s effort to revive its domestic potato seed industry, according to IFA potato committee chair Sean Ryan, who warned last month that less potatoes were likely planted as a result.Speaking of the cost of refrigerating potatoes while they are harvested, he told Agriland: “One example is a farmer in Wexford, his costs for the cold room three years ago was €1,800 (£1,532) for two months, this year it was €9,120. So there’s a serious cost increase there in keeping the potatoes ripe. The consumer doesn’t always realise that.”But last week, Mr Ryan welcomed the Irish government’s announcement of a €3m support scheme for the seed potato sector – funded by the EU’s Brexit adjustment reserve fund – as a “positive first step”. More

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner have both received police questionnaires about the so-called “Beergate” event at a party office in Durham last year.The party confirmed that both senior figures had been asked by Durham Constabulary to explain their attendance at the 30 April gathering, at which beer and curry was consumed.The Durham force announced earlier this month that it would investigate potential breaches of Covid laws by Starmer and his staff, despite initially deciding against action when images of the meeting first appeared.The Labour leader then announced a high-stakes gamble – that he would resign as leader if he is issued with a fixed penalty notice by the force.“I believe in honour, integrity and the principle that those who make the rules must follow them,” said Sir Keir.Ms Rayner, who was also at the Labour constituency office in Durham last spring, said she too would “do the decent thing and step down” if issued with a fixed penalty notice (FPN).Both Sir Keir and Ms Rayner have continued to stress that they believe no Tier 2 rules in place at the time – which allowed for political campaigning – were broken.Starmer said his team had “got on with their work” as the ate takeaway curry. “I simply had something to eat while working late in the evening, as any politician would do days before an election,” said the Labour leader.Ms Rayner added: “Eating during a long day’s work was not against the rules.”Senior Labour MP Nick Brown – chief whip under six party leaders – suggested earlier this week that Starmer should stand for re-election if he is fined and forced to resign.“I don’t believe for one moment that the police will find against him. But let’s just for the sake of the argument, say they did,” the former Labour minister told the BBC’s Politics North.Mr Brown added: “If they did, Keir would do what he said he would do and would resign. And I would be the first person urging him to seek re-election and to lead us into the next general election.”It comes as Boris Johnson faces a steady flow of Tory MPs calling for his resignation following the damning report into Partygate by top civil servant Sue Gray.John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, became the latest Tory to call on Mr Johnson to resign over the Partygate “revelations” – telling colleagues to “facilitate a vote of confidence” in his leadership.Under party rules Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, must call a vote of confidence if 54 Tory MPs submit a letter calling for one.Close to 30 Tory MPs have publicly called on the PM to stand down. But more than 40 MPs have openly questioned his future, although not all of them have said whether they have written to Sir Graham.Former Tory leader William Hague said Mr Johnson was now “in real trouble”, predicting that a vote on his leadership could come as early as next week. More

A government minister today struggled to convert metric measures into what Downing Street has called “universally understood” imperial units. Lord Parkinson appeared perplexed when quizzed on the conversion amid reports the government will open a consultation on reviving imperial measures.Appearing on Sky News, the arts minister was first asked how many ounces are in a pound – to which he incorrectly said 14.Host Kay Burley continued: “If you are ordering a pound of sausages, approximately how many grams of sausages are you getting? 250, 350, 450, or 550?”Cambridge University-educated Lord Parkinson hesitantly chose the first answer – again, incorrect – before being asked which volume was greater: four pints or three litres.“Three pints?” he answered, seemingly uncertain. More

Led by Donkeys video chronicles the times Boris Johnson told people to ‘follow the rules’Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser Lord Geidt has warned that the ministerial code is at risk of “ridicule”, as he urged the prime minister to set out in public why he did not believe his Partygate fine represented a breach.Mr Johnson insisted in response that he “did not breach” the code, citing “past precendents” of ministerial breaches “where there was no intent to break the law”, his public apology, and his having “corrected the parliamentary record”. It comes as Andrea Leadsom became the latest Tory MP to turn on Boris Johnson amid the fallout from Sue Gray’s damning report into Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street.The former business secretary ally of the prime minister said he resided over “unacceptable failings in leadership” adding it was now time for Conservative MPs to decide on the “right course of action” to restore trust in the government. Former Tory leader William Hague also warned that Boris Johnson could face a no-confidence vote “next week”.Show latest update

1654029409That’s all for our live coverage this evening. Come back tomorrow for more updates. Katy Clifton31 May 2022 21:361654026353Exclusive: Expand free school meals in time for summer holidays, Boris Johnson toldBoris Johnson is under pressure to extend the free school meals programme before the summer holidays amid warnings more than a million children face going hungry because of the cost of living crisis.Former education secretaries from both Labour and the Conservatives, as well as the mayor of London, unions and charities have urged the government to act as it did during the Covid pandemic.Kate Devlin and Zoe Tidman have the exclusive story here:Andy Gregory31 May 2022 20:451654024563Rebels putting themselves ahead of Queen’s Jubilee, says Tory peerA Tory peer has suggested that rebellious Tory MPs are “putting their own thoughts ahead of” the country’s desire to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.Asked on LBC whether he thought it was “offensive” for Conservatives to be declaring their opposition to Boris Johnson ahead of this weekend’s celebrations, Lord Jonathan Marland said: “I think they’re putting their own thoughts ahead of what the British people are really thinking.“And the British people are really thinking, ‘I’m looking forward to this weekend, I want to celebrate the magnificent achievement of the Queen as head of the Commonwealth … and her leadership of this country’.“Let us enjoy that, let us celebrate. We’ve had a very difficult time, and we’re going to have very difficult times. Let’s have the noises off and concentrate on her.” Andy Gregory31 May 2022 20:161654023053John Rentoul | The PM’s defences are crumbling – but one thing might still save himIn his latest analysis, our chief political commentator John Rentoul writes that “Boris Johnson’s defences are falling, one by one”. But he suggests that there is “one argument that might just slow down the advance of the guerrilla army that is swarming over the barricades”:Andy Gregory31 May 2022 19:501654021553Boris Johnson’s ‘clearly p***** off’ ethics adviser hints he could resignBoris Johnson’s ethics adviser has appeared to hint that he could resign over the prime minister’s response to the Partygate scandal if the prime minister rejects his advice.“I have attempted to avoid … offering advice to a prime minister about a prime minister’s obligations under his own ministerial code,” Lord Geidt said in a letter to Mr Johnson. “If a prime minister’s judgement is that there is nothing to investigate or no case to answer, he would be bound to reject any such advice, thus forcing the resignation of the independent adviser.”While Mr Johnson’s response to Lord Geidt’s letter likely reduces the chances of this, it would mark the second such exit during his term, with the advisor’s predecessor, Sir Alex Allan, resigning in 2020 after Mr Johnson rejected his finding that Priti Patel had been guilty of bullying civil servants.The i newspaper’s chief political commentator suggests that Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser is “clearly p***** off with him”.Andy Gregory31 May 2022 19:251654019993Breaking: Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have received police questionnaires, Labour saysSir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have received questionnaires from Durham Constabulary, Labour has said.The force is investigating a gathering in Labour Party offices in April last year while lockdown rules were in force.The Labour leader – who was photographed through a window drinking a beer – and his deputy have both said they will resign if fined by police over the event.My colleague Adam Forrest has more details here:Andy Gregory31 May 2022 18:591654019220Boris Johnson insists he ‘did not breach’ ministerial code’Boris Johnson has insisted he “did not breach” the ministerial code after receiving a fixed penalty notice for breaching his own coronavirus rules.Mr Johnson’s ethics adviser Lord Geidt has written to him to urge the prime minister to set out “in public” the reasons why he believes his police fine was not a breach of the code.In his letter to Lord Geidt, Mr Johnson said: “In coming to that conclusion, (a) I have duly considered past precedents of ministers who have unwittingly breached regulations where there was no intent to break the law; (b) I have been fully accountable to Parliament and the British people and rightly apologised for the mistake; (c) I have corrected the parliamentary record in relation to past statements; and (d) I have followed the principles of leadership and accountability in doing so.“In my view, the same principles apply to the fixed penalty notice paid by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.”Earlier in his letter, Mr Johnson reiterated there was “no intent to break the regulations”, adding: “I did not consider that the circumstances in which I received a fixed penalty notice were contrary to the regulations.“I have accepted the outcome and paid it in compliance with legal requirements. Paying a fixed penalty notice is not a criminal conviction.”Andy Gregory31 May 2022 18:471654018553Ministerial code at risk of ‘ridicule’ over Partygate, Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser warnsOur political editor Andrew Woodcock has this breaking report:Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser has warned the ministerial code of conduct risks being placed in “ridicule” after the prime minister failed to heed his advice over Partygate.In his annual report, Christopher Geidt revealed that he had repeated urged the PM to make a public statement to make clear whether he felt he had personally breached the code with the police fine he received in relation to unlawful lockdown-breaking gatherings at No 10.But Lord Geidt said that the advice – intended “simply been to ensure that the prime minister should publicly be seen to take responsibility for his own conduct – had not been heeded by Mr Johnson.Mr Johnson last week released an update to the ministerial code which gave the independent adviser the power to reveal if a PM has blocked an inquiry into ministers’ misconduct, but stopped short of granting him the power which he had requested to launch investigations on his own initiative.Lord Geidt said that this had left him in the position where if he felt an investigation into the PM’s own conduct was merited, he would have to request permission from the PM and would be forced to resign if it was refused.“Such a circular process could only risk placing the ministerial code in a place of ridicule,” he warned.You can refresh the story below for updates:Andy Gregory31 May 2022 18:351654016920Cabinet is ‘very, very poor’, Dominic Cummings saysHere’s more from Dominic Cummings’ interview with Suzanne Moore.Asked whether he believes Boris Johnson will remain in No 10, his former chief political aide said: “As far as we [his Vote Leave team] know. “The fact that Rishi blew himself up makes it much more likely that Boris will somehow survive. I don’t want to say ‘no chance’, but I think Rishi is out of the running. They’re going to be thinking who can win the next election. “Whatever you might think of Michael Gove’s abilities, he is not a loved character. There are some very junior people who I like, who I won’t curse by naming – if I name them then everyone will hate them. But it’s a very, very poor Cabinet.”Andy Gregory31 May 2022 18:081654015914Home Office announces plans for first Rwanda flightsThe Home Office has begun issuing formal removal directions to asylum-seekers due to be sent to Rwanda, with the first deportation flight planned to depart in two weeks on 14 June.The government described the move as the “final administrative step” in its partnership with the east African nation, whereby people who are deemed to have entered the UK illegally will be encouraged to rebuild their lives thousands of miles away.“Our world-leading partnership with Rwanda is a key part of our strategy to overhaul the broken asylum system and break the evil people-smugglers’ business model,” Priti Patel said.“Today’s announcement is another critical step towards delivering that partnership and, while we know attempts will now be made to frustrate the process and delay removals, I will not be deterred and remain fully committed to delivering what the British public expect.”Multiple journalists have reacted by drawing links to the growing crisis of confidence in Boris Johnson, including The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire, and Tom Harwood of GB News.My colleague Liam James has more details here.Andy Gregory31 May 2022 17:51 More

Boris Johnson yet again finds himself fighting for his political future as the furore surrounding Partygate refuses to die down, even after the publication of the Sue Gray report, with many of the prime minister’s own MPs continuing to call for his resignation.Ms Gray, a respected veteran Whitehall civil servant, last week finally delivered her long-awaited dossier into the string of lockdown-breaking social events that occurred behind the scenes in Westminster while the rest of the country was pulling together, making personal sacrifices and observing strict rules to fend off Covid-19.Her inquiry into the multiple newspaper revelations about wine suitcases, “BYOB” garden parties and Christmas quizzes had been delayed by the Metropolitan Police launching an investigation of its own based on the evidence she had collected, which ultimately led to 83 individuals receiving 126 fixed-penalty notices, the PM, his wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak among their number and forced to fork over £50 each.Following the eventual conclusion of the Met’s investigation, Ms Gray was at last able to publish her dossier in full on 25 May, which carried previously unseen photographs and further lurid details of security staff being insulted by drunken revellers, janitors left to sponge claret stains and vomit from the walls of the corridors of power and staff stumbling out of “work events” in the early hours of the morning surreptitiously via a rear door.“There were failures of leadership and judgement by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times,” she wrote.“Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.”Mr Johnson has repeatedly attempted to ride out the storm of indignation, protesting his innocence with credulity-straining excuses and brazenly rejecting calls to step aside despite being found to have broken his own laws in office.While he might have hoped his subsequent apology would draw a line under matters, he must still appear before the Commons Privileges Committee to answer questions about whether he knowingly misled Parliament about Partygate, having regularly denied holding any prior knowledge about what went on.Many of his own MPs meanwhile remain incensed and, at the time of writing, 28 have openly called for Mr Johnson’s resignation – including former attorney-general Jeremy Wright – and 16 have admitted to sending letters of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady’s 1922 Committee of axe-wielding backbenchers.Under Conservative Party rules, a leadership contest is triggered if 15 per cent of sitting Tory MPs write to its executive committee, whose 18 members meet weekly to discuss party affairs, demanding a change at the top.Currently, that would equate to 54 letters from the party’s pool of 369 serving MPs.No-confidence letters are handed in confidentially under internal rules, so there is no accurate, publicly available tally of how many have been submitted until the threshold is passed.Should the secretive Sir Graham eventually receive enough to proceed, he would be expected to give the PM advanced warning before making a public announcement.Mr Johnson would then need to secure 50 per cent of the ensuing secret ballot to survive, equating to around 180 MPs, without which he would be forced to step down, prompting a fresh leadership contest in which the likes of Jeremy Hunt, Liz Truss and Tom Tugendhat are presently being tipped as likely front-runners.If he were to secure a majority, the PM’s prize would, in theory, be the guarantee of a full-year’s immunity from further challenges, potentially giving him time to steady the ship, rebuild alliances and strengthen his grip over the parliamentary party.In practice, Mr Johnson may find himself unable to survive that period politically: you will recall that, six months after emerging victorious from a confidence vote, Theresa May announced her resignation outside No 10.As to how likely these proceedings are to occur this time around, Andrew Bridgen MP, for one, has said he believes the true number of letters in Sir Graham’s hands is “close” to the threshold of 54 but the matter is far from a foregone conclusion and highly unpredictable by nature.Two senior members of Parliament have meanwhile said that a loss in the upcoming by-elections in Tiverton and Honiton in Devon and Wakefield in West Yorkshire could inspire more Conservatives to reach for their feather quills.“There will be another round of [no-confidence letters] post the by-elections,” one unnamed MP told The Financial Times. More

Liz Truss would make an “even worse” prime minister than Boris Johnson, former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings has said.The strategist – who has been pushing Conservative MPs to oust his former boss – said the foreign secretary was “as close to properly crackers” as anybody he had met in parliament.Despite the steady flow of backbenchers calling for change at No 10, Mr Cummings said many Tories had convinced themselves there was no-one better than Mr Johnson to lead the party.“The Tory party itself is quite rotten now and the sign of that is that they can’t think of anyone better than Boris, who’s clearly just completely shot,” he said in an interview with the Unherd website.“They are collectively saying, “if we get rid of him, we might get somebody worse”. It says a lot about the state of the Tory party.”He added: “And they actually could get somebody worse: Liz Truss would be even worse than Boris. She’s about as close to properly crackers as anybody I’ve met in parliament.”The PM’s former consigliere said chancellor Rishi Sunak had “blown himself up” and also dismissed cabinet minister Michael Gove’s chances of becoming leader – making it more likely that Mr Johnson will “somehow” survive.“I don’t want to say “no chance”, but I think Rishi is out of the running,” he said in his interview with Suzanne Moore.“They’re going to be thinking who can win the next election. Whatever you might think of Michael Gove’s abilities, he is not a loved character.”Mr Cummings also criticised the Partygate report from top civil servant Sue Gray – saying it was “bit brazen” to ignore the alleged “Abba party” in the Johnsons’ Downing Street flat on 13 November 2020.Claiming that “dozens” of staff downstairs could hear loud music in the flat on the evening he left No 10, Mr Cummings adviser: “All the police had to do was interview any one of them to find out”.He added: “Where [Ms Gray] says she stopped investigating the party in the flat because the police got involved — even though the police didn’t then investigate it. So basically, they have sort of just said: “F*** this. We’re not going to get involved with the after-party on the night of 13th.”The Vote Leave campaign mastermind said he did not “feel bad” about going to work for Mr Johnson, saying: “If we didn’t go in and sort it out, Brexit wouldn’t happen, and there would be a second referendum.”However, Mr Cummings said he knew there was “a reasonable chance that this goes t***s up” – before repeating his attacks on Carrie Johnson for “injecting more craziness” into Downing Street.He also said Mr Johnson was “broke” after his divorce and couldn’t afford the refurbishment of the Downing Street flat. He claimed the PM told him: “I want to get donations in to do it. But obviously it’s bad PR so I have to keep it quiet.”It comes as John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, became the latest Tory to call on Mr Johnson to go over the Partygate “revelations” – telling colleagues to “facilitate a vote of confidence” in his leadership.Under party rules Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, must call a vote of confidence if 54 Tory MPs submit a letter calling for one.Close to 30 Tory MPs have publicly called on the PM to stand down. But more than 40 MPs have openly questioned his future, although not all of them have said whether they have written to Sir Graham.Former Tory leader William Hague said Mr Johnson was now “in real trouble” – predicting that a vote on his leadership could come as early as next week. More