Markus Andrews

Labour leader Keir Starmer has urged Boris Johnson to “do the decent thing” and resign as prime minister after he admitted attending a drinks gathering at No 10 at the height of lockdown.The Labour leader said “the party’s over” and said the British public could see Mr Johnson had been “lying through his teeth” about parties at Downing Street during the pandemic.The prime minister has apologised for attending the event in the No 10 on 20 May 2020 – but insisted he thought it was a “work event” and could have been said technically to fall within the guidance.“His defence that he didn’t realise he was at a party is so ridiculous that it is actually offensive to the British public,” said Sir Keir at PMQs on Wednesday.“He has finally been forced to admit what everyone knows – that while the whole country was in lockdown, he was hosting boozy parties in Downing Street. Is he going to do the decent thing and resign?”Mr Johnson replied: “I regret very much that we did not do things differently that evening. I take responsibility and apologise. But as for his political point, I don’t think he should pre-empt the [Sue Case] inquiry.”Calling his apology “worthless”, Sir Keir said: “Is the prime minister really so contemptuous of the British public that he thinks he can just ride this out? Why does the prime minister still think that the rules don’t apply to him? … Can’t the prime minister see why the British public think he is lying through his teeth?”The opposition leader said: “We’ve got the prime minister attending Downing Street parties – a clear breach of the rules. We’ve got the prime minister making a series of ridiculous denials, which he knows are untrue – a clear breach of the ministerial code.”Sir Keir added: “The party is over, prime minister. The only question is: will the British public kick him out, will his party kick him out, or will he do the decent think and resign?”Mr Johnson claimed a lawyer should “respect” the parties inquiry led by top civil servant Sue Gray, but accepted that “misjudgments had been made” under his watch.Admitting to his attendance to the lockdown gathering at the start of PMQs, the PM told the Commons that the No 10 garden had been used “as an extension of the office which has been in constant use because of the role of fresh air in stopping the virus”.Mr Johnson said that he attended the 20 May drinks event to thank groups of his staff, saying: “I believed implicitly that this was a work event.”He added: “With hindsight I should have sent everyone back inside, I should have found some other way to thank them, and I should have recognised that – even if it could have been said technically to fall within the guidance – there would be millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way.”Calling again on the prime minister to quit, the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said that if Mr Johnson “has no sense of shame” then Tory backbenchers “must act to remove him”.Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said on Tuesday that Mr Johnson would have to resign if he was found to have broken Covid laws and misled parliament, while backbencher Nigel Mills said the PM’s position would be “untenable” if he was found to have attended the 20 May 2020 event.Meanwhile, Mr Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings said the PM’s excuse that he thought the May 2020 event was within the rules was “bullshit”.Mr Cummings said he had objected to the invitation sent by No 10’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds because it was obviously a social event. “Whole point of why I & other official told MR – WTF YOU DOING HOLDING A PARTY – was cos the invite = obv totally SOCIAL NOT WORK (Unlike all the mtngs in garden).” More

Boris Johnson should not only resign as prime minister but be suspended from the Conservative Party if his attendance at a Downing Street party was found to be illegal, a Tory mayor has said.Having a PM who had broken coronavirus laws at a time when others were suffering would be an untenable position, according to Roy Aldcroft, the Mayor of Market Drayton.The intervention will be seen as significant because his town is in North Shropshire, the constituency where the party surrendered a 23,000 majority in a parliamentary by-election last month to lose the seat for the first time in more than a century.Councillor Aldcroft, who also sits on the Conservative-run Shropshire Council, said: “Everyone…who is found to have broken the guidelines or the law – they must be dealt with as severely as you or I would have been. And, for the prime minister, he would have to consider his position.”He added that a “suspension” from the party should also be considered: “you cannot just carry on if you have broken the law without the party acting. That’s not how we work. He [ the PM] is no different to anyone else.”Such a removal of the whip would be unprecedented and would stand almost no chance of being supported by Tory MPs, Councillor Aldcroft’sc omments highlight the anger among rank-and-file party members.Mr Johnson admitted on Wednesday that he attended a drinks event for 25 minutes in the garden of 10 Downing Street on 20 May 2020, a time when Britons were only allowed to meet one other person outdoors.An email inviting roughly 100 staff to the “BYOB” shindig was sent out by the PM’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds.But the delay in the PM’s admission had only caused more pain for Tory councillors and MPs.“I thought it was all over after we had [all the revelations about] Christmas parties but now it’s just getting tiresome,” he said. “It needs to be put behind us so we can crack on with the important work of dealing with recovering from a pandemic.”His call comes after Douglas Ross the leader of leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, and a plethora of senior northern Tories called for the PM to resign if he went to the bash.On Wednesday morning, meanwhile, Christian Wakeford, the MP for the old Red Wall seat of Bury South became the first of the 2019 intake of new Conservative MPs to openly turn on the PM.“How do you defend the indefensible?” he tweeted. “You can’t! It’s embarrassing and what’s worse is it further erodes trust in politics when it’s already low. We need openness, trust and honesty in our politics now more than ever and that starts from the top!” More

Boris Johnson is facing one of the most politically perilous moments of his premiership, as he continues to come under intense scrutiny over his own involvement in a No 10 drinks party held in the midst of England’s first national lockdown.The prime minister has sidestepped questions over whether he attended the event on the 20 May, 2020, after an explosive email provided evidence that over 100 Downing Street staff were invited to attend and to “bring your own booze”.No 10 has also stonewalled questions over the party — pointing to the Whitehall investigation led by the senior civil servant Sue Gray into rule-breaking events — but anger is growing among Tory MPs and Conservative-leaning newspapers.Inevitably, attention has rapidly turned towards Mr Johnson’s future in No 10 and just last night a poll showed that two-thirds of the public (66 per cent) believed he should resign amid the latest allegation of rule-busting parties.But will Boris Johnson resign? If he admits to MPs he attended the party and broke lockdown rules, he will face immediate calls to step aside for misleading Parliament from opposition parties.Just yesterday Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, also warned: “If he [the PM] has breached his own guidance, if he has not been truthful, then it is an extremely important issue.” He added: “If the prime minister has misled Parliament, then he must resign”.But the prime minister could reach for the increasingly farcical defence that he cannot comment on the allegations until Ms Gray’s inquiry concludes. The results of this probe (no timetable has been set out publicly) will be crucial for Mr Johnson’s future. If it finds he broke lockdown rules at the No 10 gathering, calls for his resignation will grow further.On Wednesday morning, the backbench Conservative MP, Nigel Mills, said his position would be “untenable” and it would be a resigning mater if he was found to be at the May 2020 event. Perhaps, but any frequent observer of Johnson’s administration might point to the prime minister’s reluctance to sack his own ministers for breaches of the ministerial code and could attempt to ride out the storm.It also remains to be seen whether the Metropolitan Police launches a formal investigation into rule-breaking in No 10. After reports emerged on Monday of the 20 May 2020 gathering, the force said it was “in contact” with the Cabinet Office over “alleged breaches of the Health Protection Regulations at Downing Street”. Ministers have previously said the inquiry by Ms Gray will be “paused” if the Met does formally investigate. But even if the force does opt for this route and wrong-doing is found, it is by no means certain Mr Johnson will step down as prime minister.There are many different routes towards a potential resignation, but just two years after winning a thumping majority at a general election, he is unlikely to resign on his own accord. As Conservative commentators have previously highlighted, the party has a brutal record of deposing of leaders it no longer sees an electoral asset, and a forced exit could the most probable route for any resignation.Either the cabinet could launch a full-scale revolt with senior ministers telling the prime minister to stand down (perhaps unlikely) or the key would be for 15 per cent of the Conservative Party’s MPs to submit a letter of no confidence in the prime minister to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the influential 1922 committee of backbench Tories.The number of letters submitted at any given point is a closely guarded secret by Sir Graham, but if the required number is reached, it would trigger a vote of confidence in Mr Johnson and his premiership would be on the line. Theresa May, whose premiership was dealt a terminal blow by her ill-fated election gamble, survived a confidence vote in December 2018 but eventually resigned six months later.For the time being, however, only one Tory MP has publicly said they have had submitted a letter and Mr Johnson’s allies are adamant he is “going nowhere”, with a minister insisting just yesterday: “The prime minister retains the confidence of the people of this country and he did so two years ago with the biggest majority in decades”. More

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a high-stakes showdown Wednesday in Parliament that could help defuse a crisis over claims that he and his staff held broke coronavirus lockdown rules with illicit parties — or fan the flames even further.Opponents and allies alike want Johnson to come clean about whether he attended a gathering in May 2020, when Britain was under a strict lockdown imposed by Johnson to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Johnson has so far declined to comment on reports he was at the “bring your own booze” get-together in the garden of his Downing Street residence.An invitation to the “socially distanced drinks” gathering was emailed to about 100 people by a senior prime ministerial aide. At the time, people in Britain were barred by law from meeting more than one person outside their household.Johnson’s lunchtime appearance at the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons will be his first public appearance since details of the party emerged. On Tuesday, a spokesman declined to comment on the allegations, citing an ongoing investigation by a senior civil servant, Sue Gray, into several alleged parties by government staff. Johnson has previously said that he personally broke no lockdown rules, but his troubles are mounting.Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party said Johnson’s refusal to say whether he was at the May 2020 party was “astonishing.”“People have been reflecting about what was happening to them at the time in May and many people are still grieving their loved ones who they weren’t able to say goodbye to at the time, and to think the prime minister was laughing and partying is just unforgivable,” she told the BBC.Rayner said that if Johnson had “lied to the British public, lied to Parliament and he has attended parties during lockdown, then his position is untenable.”The scandal dubbed “partygate” has become the biggest crisis of Johnson’s two-and-a-half years in power. During the U.K.’s first lockdown, which began in March 2020 and lasted for more than two months, almost all gatherings were banned. Millions of people were cut off from friends and family, and even barred from visiting dying relatives in hospitals.So there has been widespread anger at claims Johnson’s Conservative government flouted the rules it had imposed on the rest of the country by holding garden parties, Christmas get-togethers and office quiz nights in Downing Street, which is both the prime minister’s home and his office.Opposition politicians are calling for Johnson’s resignation. More worryingly for the prime minister, many members of his own party are increasingly concerned about Johnson’s judgment and leadership.The Conservatives picked Johnson as leader in 2019 for his upbeat manner and popular touch, a choice that appeared vindicated when he led the party to a big election win in December that year. But support in the party is being eroded by discontent over continuing pandemic restrictions, which some Conservatives view as draconian. He is also facing disquiet about his judgment after a slew of financial and ethical misconduct allegations against him and his government.The Conservatives have a history of ousting leaders if they become a liability —and a recent surprising loss in a by-election for a district the party held for more than a century has increased their jitters. Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood said Johnson needed to apologize and “show some contrition” if he wanted to ride out the storm.“We can’t allow things to drift, that is not an option,” he told Sky News. More

Boris Johnson’s position will be “untenable” if he was found to have attended a drinks party in the No 10 garden in breach of Covid lockdown rules, a Conservative MP has said.The prime minister is under increasing pressure over the “bring your own booze” gathering – with backbenchers demanding he reveals whether he attended at PMQs on Wednesday.Nigel Mills MP said it would be resigning matter if he was found to have been at the 20 May 2020 event. “I would say anybody who organised or willingly attended a party at that time can’t possibly stay in position,” the backbencher told Times Radio.He added: “I can’t see how anybody who broke the rules in such a blatant way at the worst possible part of the pandemic possibly be remaining in a position to have any influence over Covid policy.”Mr Mills told BBC’s Newsnight the PM had “accepted resignations for far less,” adding: “He accepted the resignation of his spokesperson [Allegra Stratton] for not attending party but joking about it at a time of much lighter restrictions. I just think that’s untenable.”Tory peer Ros Altmann also told Newsnight: “If those who were attending, and breaking the law, include the prime minister, then obviously the position becomes untenable.”Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has also warned that Mr Johnson would have to resign if he was found to have broken the rules. He called on the prime minister to tell the public whether he attended, rather than refer to Sue Gray’s ongoing investigation.Mr Johnson faces an uncomfortable grilling over party-gate by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs, who comes out of self-isolation on Wednesday after testing negative for a second consecutive day.Peter Cardwell, former special adviser to Mr Johnson, said the PM must “level with the country” today and explain whether he attended the drinks events.“Keir Starmer only needs to ask the same question six times – ‘Did you attend the party on 20 May 2020, yes or no?’ – and Boris Johnson must give an answer,” he told Sky News on today’s PMQs.Two sources told The Times that Mr Johnson attended the 20 May 2020 party and was seen “wandering round gladhanding people”. The newspaper claims one official even joked about the risk of a drone capturing the garden party from above.It comes as The Independent was told that No 10 staff were advised to “clean up” their phones by removing information that could suggest parties were held at No 10. Two sources claimed a senior member of staff told them it would be a “good idea” to remove messages.Asked about the story, Mr Cardwell said: “If anyone’s deleting any information that is very unethical and possibly criminal, and they absolutely should not be doing.”Another senior Tory backbencher told The Independent that Mr Johnson’s position would be “difficult” if a probe by Whitehall mandarin Sue Gray found against him. The MP said backbenchers were “p***ed off”, adding: “When there’s so much about bending the rules, ignoring the rules – you can only go on for so long.”Senior Tory councillors in the north of England have said Mr Johnson must resign if he attended a garden party at the height of lockdown. “If he is found to have attended this gathering, as they call it, he has no option but to resign,” Alan Marshall, a cabinet member with Darlington council, told The Independent. However, senior Tory MP Huw Merriman has said that Mr Johnson does not need to resign if he attended a drinks party in May 2020.Asked on Radio 4 Today’s programme if the PM should step down if he would have to step down, Merriman said: “No, I don’t believe so. I do think it needs clearing up. But if you’re saying, ‘Is that a resigning moment’, I don’t believe it is.”Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood urged Mr Johnson to “show some contrition” today. “I strongly urge the prime minister to act now, to apologise for No 10’s poor judgment, to show some contrition and to be committed to appropriately respond to Sue Gray’s findings when they come out,” he told Sky News.In a pointed message to Mr Johnson, Tory MP Christian Wakefod called for “openness, trust and honesty” in politics, and “that starts from the top”. The MP said on Twitter: “How do you defend the indefensible? You can’t!” Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said that Mr Johnson’s position would be “untenable” if it is proved that he had attended parties in contravention to lockdown rules. She said the Metropolitan Police had an “obligation” to investigate if lockdown rules were broken. More

Boris Johnson has seen his parliamentary majority reduced after the Conservatives removed the party whip from a backbencher who voted with Labour over the cost of living crisis.Anne Marie Morris will now sit in the Commons as an independent after she voted for Labour’s opposition day motion proposing a VAT cut on energy bills on Tuesday.“It is deeply disappointing to have had the whip removed by the government – especially on a matter of simply standing up for what I believed to be the best interests of my constituents,” Mr Morris said on Wednesday.The MP for Newton Abbot added: “I believe removing VAT is the right thing to do and I won’t apologise for supporting measures that would help my hard-working constituents at a time when the cost of living is rising.”A group of 20 Tories have already called for VAT to be cut from fuel bills, but the government said it could not allow a Tory MP to vote for a motion letting Labour seize control of the Commons order paper.“This motion was clearly put forward to seize control of parliament business, which we cannot accept,” a government official told Politico.It is the second time that Ms Morris has had the Tory whip removed. She was briefly suspended in 2017 for using the phrase a “real n***** in the woodpile” at a meeting about Brexit, but had the whip restored after for “using such inappropriate and offensive language”.Ms Morris said she would remain “strongly committed to Conservative principles” but would vote on the issues of the day “in the best interests of my constituents”.The rebel MP added: “I’m afraid I believe that any disagreement over parliamentary procedure will always come second to standing up for the best interests of my constituents.”Last week a group of 20 Tory MPs and peers penned an open letter asking the chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap VAT and green levies on rapidly-rising energy bills.Jake Berry, leader of the Northern Research Group (NRG), said on Wednesday he wanted the government to freeze council tax and take the poorest households out of the coming 1.25 per cent national insurance tax rise, as well as ditching green levies.Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have called for a windfall tax on oil and gas profits in a bid to cut average household energy costs set to soar further in April.Unions, charities and green groups have also urged the government to impose a levy on North Sea giants. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady told The Independent: “Using a windfall tax on profits would help address the cost-of-living crisis and alleviate domestic gas bills.” More

Some lorries bringing goods from the EU to the UK have been stuck at the border for four days, as logistics bosses blamed disruption on “terrible” new Brexit red tape.Truck drivers have reported queues of up to eight hours trying to get through customs controls at the French port of Calais – causing delays in deliveries as firms struggle with the new rules which came into force at the start of January.Jon Swallow, who runs the logistics company Jordan Freight, told The Independent that he has had two trucks containing automobile parts stuck at customs controls at Felixstowe for the past four days, despite getting over the border into the UK.The driver was able to leave the port, but the goods have been stuck there since Friday. “We just don’t know what the problem is – It’s crazy,” said Mr Swallow. “We’ve been told by HMRC that they are just too busy to deal with it. These delays are very frustrating and costly for companies.”Customs experts said problems were partly down to the government’s new IT system, which means all imports from the EU must be processed using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) managed by HMRC. Many drivers have been unable to get their reference codes accepted.But firms are also struggling with complex new customs declarations and rules-of-origin forms they have been required to complete on goods imported from the EU since 1 January 2022.Steve Cock, director of the customs consultancy firm The Customs House, said one of his clients had 20 lorries of food products coming to the UK stuck in Calais and Rotterdam for around 48 hours at the end of last week because of the red tape.“It’s a bit of pickle at the moment – it’s not just the IT system,” he told The Independent. “Not everyone knows exactly what they need for customs declarations and other paperwork.”One British driver posted on Twitter about being forced to wait at Calais for just over eight hours “for a f***ing bar code” and described the queues at the port since 1 January as “mental”.Another haulage driver, who did not wished to be named, told The Independent he had waited in a queue at Calais for around four hours at the end of last week – causing him to miss to push back another delivery to the following day.“It’s so frustrating. The inland border park at Calais was full of trucks stuck in checks. I’m seeing 20 per cent to 25 per cent of trucks sent there for extra checks because of incorrect paperwork. This is a quiet period, and the queues are massive. So I’m expecting a lot of delays when things get busier in February.”Michael Szydlo, who runs Quick Declare, a business advising importers and exporters, said clients have had to spend a whole day emailing back and forth with HMRC about lorries waiting at ports.“There are a lot of issues showing that GVMS is not yet fully ready. Lots of importers will get delayed at some point,” he said. “There will be shortages from time to time. The situation needs to be sorted.”Japanese car giant Honda is among the companies hit by delays and the hold-up of parts at the border. “Some teething problems are not unexpected as the UK’s new customs systems come online,” a spokesperson said last week. “We are currently looking into the details behind this.”Rod McKenzie, Road Haulage Association, said he hoped the “teething problems” at the border could soon be worked out as firms adjust to the new requirements. “It’s patchy. If there are trucks held up because they don’t have the right codes it creates a backlog, which is frustrating.”On problems with the IT system, he added: “Whenever there is a new system, we see people struggle with it at first. There’s friction, but then they adjust. We still don’t know how quickly those [drivers and firms] in the EU will adjust.”Long queues of lorries also built up at the port of Dover in Kent on Thursday, as the Operation TAP temporary traffic system was implemented to help ease traffic.The port’s chief executive Doug Bannister said the failure to provide enough lateral flow tests was causing the congestion – despite the government’s scheme to give 100,000 key workers daily tests.An HMRC spokesperson said the GVMS has been live for over 12 months and is “working well” with over 15,000 customers using the IT service.“We recognise that the introduction of full customs controls is a significant change for hauliers and traders, which is why we are providing comprehensive support both through the customs and international trade helpline and jointly with representative bodies and the border industry,” the spokesperson added.“Indications since 1 January are that traders and hauliers are adapting very well to these changes, and where issues are arising, we are working quickly to provide a solution.” More

Simon Case, the UK’s most senior civil servant, will oversee any action arising from the probe into lockdown-busting parties, despite his withdrawal as head of the investigation following claims of parties in his own office. Boris Johnson is under intense pressure after a leaked email showed that No 10 staff were invited to a drinks party in May 2020, when people were banned from meeting more than one person outdoors. Mr Johnson has refused to say whether he was present at the gathering, while Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, carries out an investigation into a series of allegations about rule-breaking parties at Downing Street and other government departments.Ms Gray’s inquiry is expected to focus on establishing the facts, leaving it to the prime minister to determine any consequences for his own position and political staff, while Mr Case is in charge of the fallout for the civil service, The Independent and Politico understand.As cabinet secretary and head of the civil service Mr Case is the ultimate arbiter of any disciplinary action faced by civil servants or proposals for culture change in Whitehall. He is also the line manager for Martin Reynolds, the senior aide who emailed staff about a “bring your own booze” gathering in the garden of No 10.Mr Case was originally placed in charge of the investigation into Downing Street parties, but recused himself in December after reports of social gatherings in his own department. Civil service officials claimed he had attended drinks outside his personal office in 70 Whitehall in December 2020, as first reported by The Independent and Politico — allegations which were categorically denied by the Cabinet Office. Mr Case was later accused of misleading staff about his knowledge of the event. Separately, The Times reported that Mr Case attended another Christmas party in his department after London had been placed in Tier 3 restrictions. The Cabinet Office acknowledged a virtual quiz had taken place but said Mr Case “played no part in the event”.Announcing Mr Case’s decision to step aside from the inquiry, a No 10 spokesperson said he had done so “to ensure the ongoing investigation retains public confidence”.It is not known whether Mr Case attended or had knowledge of any other parties which may have contravened COVID-19 restrictions, including those at Downing Street.However, Whitehall staff have since raised concerns over his role in enforcing any disciplinary measures or institutional reforms after Ms Gray has published her report.One official who attended the 70 Whitehall party pointed out that Ms Gray was technically answerable to Mr Case and it was “ridiculous” he would oversee any ensuing steps. Another said that the civil service ought to be able to avoid “these conflicts of interest.” They added that there needed to be a “clear route” to avoiding anyone “working directly with the prime minister and his office” or who had knowledge or took part in any parties from making decisions about the investigation. At present, the “cabinet secretary would effectively be either marking his own homework or marking the prime minister’s,” they said. Catherine Haddon, senior fellow at the Institute for Government, said Ms Gray’s report would most likely focus on the facts rather than any sanctions for individuals, “but the kind of language she uses is going to imply something about the leadership not only of the prime minister, but also by leaders in the civil service”.She added: “Case himself is going to have questions to answer, because these are civil servants as well. And if he knew it was happening, then ultimately the responsibility lies with him.”Thus far, Ms Gray has focused her time and interviews on senior staff and those already named in press reports, according to several officials with knowledge of the process. She has insisted on interviewing the prime minister as part of her enquiries, the same officials said.A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We are not going to speculate on the outcome of an ongoing investigation.”Have you got a story you would like us to report on? Contact us by clicking here More