UK Politics

It’s not just Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid who have stepped down. After the two big-hitters announced their resignations, a whole raft of Conservative MPs said they would be leaving their political offices in government.Although not as high profile, the resignation of such individuals points to the mounting sense of crisis consuming Boris Johnson’s administration, which appears poised to implode on itself after being buffeted by one scandal after another.Here’s what the government’s lesser-known quitters had to say:Jonathan Gullis resigned his role as parliamentary private secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, saying the Conservative Party has been “more focused on dealing with our reputational damage rather than delivering for the people of this country”.In a letter to the prime minister, Mr Gullis said he was resigning “with a heavy heart”.He wrote: “I have been a member of the Conservative Party my entire adult life, a party I believe represents opportunity for all. I feel for too long we have been more focused on dealing with our reputational damage rather than delivering for the people of this country and spreading opportunity for all, which is why I came into politics.“It is for this reason I can no longer to serve as part of your government.”The Conservative Party’s vice chairman Bim Afolami pulled off the most spectacular resignation of the evening, doing so live on air while saying Johnson no longer has the support of the country.Mr Afolami told Talk TV Mr Johnson should also resign from No 10 and said he “can’t serve under the prime minister” after months of turmoil.He said that after recent allegations regarding the former deputy chief whip, Christopher Pincher, and other damaging scandals, Mr Johnson did not have his support.“I just don’t think the prime minister any longer has, not just my support, but he doesn’t have, I don’t think, the support of the party, or indeed the country any more,” he said. “I think for that reason he should step down.”Saqib Bhatti handed in his resignation as a parliamentary private secretary to the PM himself. He wrote that his conscience would not allow him to continue in his government role.“The Conservative and Unionist Party has always been the party of integrity and honour. I feel that standards in public life are of the utmost importance, and the events of the past few months have undermined public trust in all of us,” the Meriden MP wrote“I have been grappling with these issues for some time and my conscience will not allow me to continue to support this administration. It is for this reason I must tender my resignation.”In a resignation that no-one saw coming, Dr Andrew Murrison announced he would be stepping down as trade envoy to Morocco, in a heavy blow for the north African nation. Dr Murrison, who backed Mr Johnon’s leadership bid in 2016 and in 2019, wrote in his letter: “The last straw in the rolling chaos of the past six months has been the unavoidable implication of Lord McDonald’s letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards this morning. “Others must square, as best they can, their continuing enjoyment of your patronage with their personal sense of decency, honour and integrity but I no longer can”.And Nicola Richards, a parliamentary private secretary to the Department for Transport, said that the Conservative Party was “currently unrecognisable” in her resignation letter to the PM, adding that “I believe something must change”.“At a time where my constituents are worried about the cost of living and I am doing my best to support them,” the West Bromwich East MP wrote, “I cannot bring myself to serve as a PPS under the current circumstances, where the focus is skewed by poor judgement that I don’t wish to be associated with.”Will such resignations be enough to force the PM out of office? I wouldn’t bet on it.In one of the most high-profile resignations from outside the cabinet, Alex Chalk, the solicitor general, said that he could not “defend the indefensible”.Stafford MP Theo Clarke resigned from her position as trade envoy to Kenya with a statement which said she takes “allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously” and that the Prime Minister had shown a “severe lack of judgment and care” for his parliamentary party. More

The government should not pretend a new Brexit trade deal with Australia will have “noticeable” benefits for consumers, a cross-party parliamentary committee has warned. In a landmark report the international trade committee said ministers should be wary of overselling the “modest” gains from the free trade agreement.MPs said the removal of tariffs from food products would likely only cut prices by a few pence and “will not make any noticeable difference at supermarket tills”.The government’s own impact assessment predicts a very small economic gain from the agreement of just 0.08 per cent of GDP over a 20 year period.The international trade committee also warns that the liberalisation of the market for Australian goods will open the door to food produced in “ways that would be illegal in the UK” – especially using pesticides banned for British farmers.This approach will open the door to the possibility of “unfair competition” with UK farmers, they said.”We are concerned about the potential undermining of voluntary food production standards in the UK as result of agri-food liberalisation under the Agreement. The Government must say what it will do to monitor, and potentially act on, this,” the MPs said.MPs said that while “we welcome the liberalisation of trade in processed food achieved by the Agreement”, they believed that “the gains are likely to be modest”. “Australia’s existing applied tariffs are low; and, while the UK’s applied tariffs for a few processed food products are significant, their removal from Australian imports will not make any noticeable difference at supermarket tills.”The committee is expected to question international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan at a session on Wednesday. It has previously criticised her for ducking previous evidence sessions and not giving it enough time to scrutinise the agreement.Ms Trevelyan had previously claimed the deal was “a landmark moment in the historic and vital relationship between our two Commonwealth nations”, which demonstrated what the UK could achieve as “an agile, independent sovereign trading nation”.Angus Brendan MacNeil, the Scottish National Party MP who acts as the committee’s chair, said: “The Government must level with the public – this trade deal will not have the transformative effects Ministers would like to claim. “The Government’s own impact assessment shows an increase in GDP of just 0.08 per cent as a result of the deal, and the balance of gains and losses varies between economic sectors and nations of the UK.”He added: “We have also found multiple examples where the Government’s flat-footed negotiating has led to significant concessions being given to the Australians without securing all possible benefits in return.“For example, the Government has increased access for food produced to lower standards than would be legal in the UK, yet did not secure geographical protections for iconic British goods, such as Melton Mowbray pork pies or Scotch whisky. This means there is nothing preventing UK goods from being impersonated ‘down under’.“As the first wholly new trade deal since Brexit, this agreement sets a precedent for the future. It is vital that the Government learns from this experience and negotiates harder next time around to maximise gains and minimise losses for all economic sectors and parts of the UK.”The government is keen to sign Brexit trade deals around the world to help it make up the damage it has done to UK exports and imports by leaving the European Union’s customs union and single market.However, it is expected to be virtually impossible to close the gap because of the scale of numbers involved. One assessment published by the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex found that the losses from leaving the EU’s trade regime were likely to be 178 times bigger than the expected benefits of new FTAs.A DIT spokesperson appeared to disregard the committee’s advice about overselling the deal, and said: “Our landmark trade agreement with Australia will unlock £10.4 billion of additional bilateral trade, support economic growth in every part of the UK and deliver for the 15,300 businesses already exporting goods to Australia.“We have always said that we will not compromise the UK’s high environmental, animal welfare or food safety standards, and the independent Trade & Agriculture Commission recently concluded that the deal does not undermine the UK’s robust domestic protections.” More

Labour leader Keir Starmer is backing the idea of a snap election after Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak dramatically quit, leaving Boris Johnson in what critics said was an “untenable” position.The resignations of two of the most high-profile cabinet members was followed by that of Tory vice-chair Bim Afolami and a string parliamentary private secretaries.Sir Keir said the government was collapsing and the prime minister was unfit to govern – as talk of a snap election mounted.He said if ministers who had backed him had a shred of integrity “they would have gone months ago”. “The Tory party is corrupted, and changing one man at the top won’t fix it: we need a real change of government and a fresh start for Britain,” he said.Just four days ago, the prime minister dismissed the idea of calling a snap election, after 41 per cent of his party voted against him in a no-confidence vote last month.The UK’s next general election is scheduled for Thursday 2 May 2024 – but a snap election could mean voters being asked to go to the polls sooner.A snap vote is often held when the government needs to resolve a specific issue and is confident it will increase its majority without weeks of the usual campaigning.Until 2011, prime ministers were able to call an election whenever they felt the time was right within five years of the last one.Then under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, a general election had to be held every five years on the first Thursday of May.Theresa May gambled on a snap poll in 2017 – which backfired when she lost her majority and voting led to a hung parliament, with the Tories reliant on a confidence-and-supply deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party – as did Mr Johnson in 2019.But earlier this year, the government repealed the Act, so at any time the prime minister may ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament at any time to hold an election.Mr Johnson has claimed he has a new mandate following his victory in the confidence vote last month.But many observers say the Chris Pincher scandal – and claims that the prime minister had known about allegations against the ex-deputy chief whip when he promoted him – were the final straw in a long list of reasons why many in his own party had called for him to go, including Covid lockdown-breaking parties. More

A “tsunami” of online child abuse is taking place in the UK, the NSPCC has said as it published data showing a more than 80% rise in online grooming crimes being recorded by police over the last four years.The children’s charity has asked the Government to use the Online Safety Bill to help combat the issue.According to figures gathered by the NSPCC through Freedom of Information requests, 6,156 sexual communication with a child offences have been recorded over the last year, with the data from 41 police forces showing an increase of 84% since 2017/18 – with more than 27,000 offences recorded since 2017.The data showed that 82% of cases last year – when the gender was known – were against girls, while Meta-owned platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were used in 38% of all cases where the platform was known.Snapchat was used in 33% of cases where a platform was recorded.The figures have been published on the day the Government announced plans to table an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, which would give Ofcom more power as the regulator to demand platforms do more to combat the spread of abuse material – including developing new technologies to find and tackle it.The NSPCC has voiced its support for those measures, but said it believes more can still be done to better protect children online.The charity said that the record levels of online child sexual abuse seen during the pandemic have not subsided and could mean a long-term increase in risk to children.It is calling for the Online Safety Bill to be further strengthened to compel tech firms to work together across platforms to combat “grooming pathways”, as well as do more to stop offenders from organising on social networks to organise and direct each other to abuse elsewhere – a process known as “breadcrumbing”.The NSPCC has also urged the Government to commit to creating a code of practice for platforms around tackling violence against women and girls and establishing a children’s watchdog to represent children’s needs online.“Online grooming is taking place at unprecedented levels and only concerted action will turn the tide on this tsunami of preventable abuse,” NSPCC chief executive Sir Peter Wanless said.“The crucial Online Safety Bill is the opportunity to deliver the legislative change we urgently need to address head-on these preventable crimes against children.“We strongly welcome the Government’s ambition to deliver world-leading legislation. But as it seems increasingly clear that the pandemic has resulted in a long-term increase in the abuse threat, the current proposals must go further now to tackle online sexual violence and prevent avoidable abuse.” More

The majority of Conservative voters and two thirds of Britons think Boris Johnson should resign as prime minister after a series of high-profile government resignations shook his premiership, a poll has found.The snap survey published by YouGov on Tuesday night revealed that 54 per cent of Tory voters were in favour of Mr Johnson stepping down, while 33 per cent said he should remain. The pollster said it was the first time that the number calling for him to leave had been higher those who want him to stay.Meanwhile, the number of Britons who were in favour of Mr Johnson resigning reached a record high, at 69 per cent.It comes as Mr Johnson faces the biggest leadership crisis of his premiership after Rishi Sunak quit as chancellor and Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary.The twin resignations came in the wake of No 10 ‘s bodged handling of the row over scandal-hit former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.A humiliating apology from the prime minister was unable to prevent the departure of two senior ministers and potential leadership rivals, with both writing incendiary resignation letters.Mr Sunak said “the public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”, adding: “I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”Nadhim Zahawi was promoted to be the new chancellor, with universities minister Michelle Donelan taking his place as education secretary.Mr Javid said the British people “expect integrity from their government” but voters now believed Mr Johnson’s administration was neither competent nor “acting in the national interest”.He was replaced as health secretary by Steve Barclay, the prime minister’s chief of staff.By the skin of his teeth, Mr Johnson survived a confidence vote last month which saw almost 150 of his own MPs try to force him from the helm of the Conservative party.And Tory backbencher Andrew Bridgen has today warned the PM that the backbench 1922 Committee will “deal” with his leadership.Mr Bridgen said: “The portcullis is the emblem of our Parliament, it is the last defence of our democracy.“The 1922 committee will deal with this turbulent prime minister, it’s what it was created for.” More

Shortly after the clock struck 6pm on Tuesday, two of the most senior figures in Boris Johnson’s cabinet broke a gentle sweat, and decided to pick up the knife. They published their resignation letters just as a broadcast interview with Boris Johnson aired on the BBC.Damning in different ways and just nine minutes apart, the resignations were not, according to those close to the former chancellor and health secretary, coordinated.Still, the political maths of the two former bankers was certainly arrived at the same answer: the Johnson stock had bombed and it was time to cut the losses.Rishi Sunak’s unhappiness, according to one of his senior officials, had been writ large for several weeks. “Back, camel, straw and a grope for good measure”, one texted. He had already considered resigning in the aftermath of revelations about his wife’s tax affairs.The possibility of quitting was also considered in the aftermath of the two by-election defeats that saw Oliver Dowden, Mr Sunak’s friend quit as chair of the Conservative party.However, there’s no doubt that Mr Sunak took the allegations of sexual misconduct against the deputy chief whip – and how they were handled – hard. A draft of a letter was sketched out on Monday, one insider claimed.But this was not just a throw-away remark: “We both want a low-tax, high-growth economy, and world-class public services, but this can only be responsibly be delivered if we are prepared to work hard, make sacrifices and take difficult decisions.”This gripe was truly a fundamental disagreement about a different kind of honesty: the immaculate truth of tax and spend. Mr Johnson’s attempt at Tuesday morning’s cabinet meeting to pass off what essentially amounts to a tax rise for most, as a glorious tax cut, did not sit well with the former chancellor.He had, even in his speech to a business school laying out his economic vision earlier this year, been crystal clear that tax cuts have to be paid for. With low GDP growth, record-busting inflation, and an NHS backlog to clear, trimming the tax burden was going to be an uphill struggle.The message that needed to be communicated – particularly post-Partygate – was a sober tale of tough choices, in Mr Sunak’s view, a source close to the chancellor said.However, Mr Johnson’s boosterism did not allow for the communication of tough choices and fiscal responsibility. Fear of pressure to pull out the chequebook yet again was one factor which prompted Mr Sunak to call time on his chancellorship, two Treasury insiders said.Both the former chancellor and health secretary faced a tough road ahead in their roles: strikes and the need to prepare for a winter potentially chock-full of NHS crises were shared concerns.Mr Javid was outraged at the handling of the Pincher affair. It added to a view of what one source close to his private office said he felt “Johnson simply wasn’t serious about the challenges of government in the months ahead”.But he could also see his own challenges coming thick and fast in the role of health secretary. Junior doctors had already indicated that they are prepared to pursue strike action in the face of a well-below inflation pay rise. Nurses are discussing the possbility of stikes. Meanwhile. the hopes of addressing the dire need to clear waiting lists from mental health care to surgeries in any meaningful manner ahead of the next election are vanishingly small.“There was a bit of a calculation about whether it made sense to take the pain of that, while also having to take the criticism of backbenchers and activists for sticking by Johnson,” a source with knowledge of Javid’s political thinking said. “But he’d have taken the reputational hit of a rough NHS winter for the right leader,” they added.Neither’s potential pull in a future leadership contest can be overlooked and neither seem to have written off futures at the top of British politics.Mr Javid has emerged as a strong contender in a leadership contest among backbenchers of late. Mr Sunak is still regarded as highly competent at the job of governing, if a bit less slick and the game of politics.They will both be key players in the coming weeks, and their early resignation may prove a key factor in the horse trading ahead. More

Boris Johnson’s chief of staff Steve Barclay will be appointed health secretary after the shock resignation of Sajid Javid on Tuesday evening, say Whitehall sources.Mr Johnson faces the biggest leadership crisis of his premiership after his handling of the row over scandal-hit ex-deputy chief whip Chris Pincher sparked a flurry of resignations on Tuesday evening.Rishi Sunak quit as chancellor, saying government was not being conducted “properly, competently and seriously”, shortly after Mr Javid stepped down as health secretary.In scathing remarks, the departing health secretary said the British people “expect integrity”, but voters now believed Mr Johnson’s administration was neither competent nor “acting in the national interest”.Nadhim Zahawi was named as Mr Sunak’s replacement as chancellor. Meanwhile junior minister Michelle Donelan stepped up to fill Mr Zahawi’s shoes as education secretary.Mr Barclay, the new health secretary, had been given a top job at No 10 as part of an attempted reset of Mr Johnson’s premiership in February, made chief of staff while remaining a minister at the Cabinet Office.Having struggled to move on from Parytygate, the PM is again attempting a desperate reset, rocked by accusations from a former top Foreign Office official that No 10 lied about whether the PM knew about sexual misconduct complaints against Mr Pincher.Mr Johnson admitted he should have sacked Mr Pincher when he was told about misconduct claims against him in 2019, but instead went on to appoint him deputy chief whip.“I think it was a mistake and I apologise for it,” he told broadcasters. “In hindsight it was the wrong thing to do. I apologise to everybody who has been badly affected by it.”But Mr Sunak and Mr Javid resigned soon after the PM’s comments. Bim Afolami then quit as Tory vice chair live on air – telling TalkTV that Mr Johnson no longer had his support and should now “step down”.The prime minister was then hit by a series of resignations by parliamentary private secretaries (PPS), including the shock exit of one of his most loyal backbenchers.Red wall Tory MP Jonathan Gullis – who has been a fierce defender of Mr Johnson – resigned as PPS to the Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, saying the government had become distracted “dealing with our reputational damage”.Tory MP Saqib Bhatti stepped down as PPS to outgoing health secretary Sajid Javid, saying the governement’s “integrity and trust” had been fatally undermined. Virginia Crosbie resigned as PPS to the Wales Office, while Andrew Murrison resigned as one of the PM’s trade envoys.In the most severe condemnation of the PM, Ms Crosbie said: “You cannot be trusted to tell the truth. This can never be a position to inhabit for anyone in public life, let alone prime minister.”Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Michael Gove, Priti Patel, Ben Wallace, Nadine Dorries and Therese Coffey were among the senior cabinet ministers standing by Mr Johnson on Tuesday night as the government appeared to implode.Jacob Rees-Mogg backed Mr Johnson to remain PM, claiming that he is “a big man who is willing to apologise”. The Brexit opportunities minister claimed that it was “a wonderfully 18th century view” to think the PM had to resign because his ministers had quit.Tory rebels urged Mr Johnson to quit – but also vowed to oust him in the weeks ahead by staging a fresh confidence vote if he does decide to cling on.One backbencher opposed to the PM told The Independent: “I had been hoping some cabinet ministers would show some backbone. If he clings on, we will have to get rid of him.”Veteran Tory MP Sir Roger Gale: “There comes a time when the game is up. I would like to think that even at this stage Boris Johnson is an honourable man, has to go and resign. If he doesn’t we’ll do it for him.”Rebels hope that a majority of anti-Johnson MPs will be elected onto the 18-member 1922 committee during the powerful backbench groups elections next week.Current committee rules mean the prime minister is safe from another no-confidence vote for another 12 months, after narrowly survived a ballot last month, but rebels are hoping to change the rules and allow a fresh contest.Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who is putting himself forward for the 1922 committee, said that he believed there would be “pro-rule change” committee after the imminent elections.“Whatever the cabinet do, I think we’ll be changing the rules before summer recess to remove the prime minister [through] a second confidence vote,” he told Sky News.Mr Bridgen added: “Any cabinet minister who doesn’t resign his position in the next 24-hours are ruling themselves out of any future leadership bids.” More

Boris Johnson was forced into a chaotic reshuffle on Tuesday night after potential leadership rivals Rishi Sunak quit as chancellor and Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary.The prime minister faces the biggest leadership crisis of his premiership after his handling of the row over scandal-hit ex-deputy chief whip Chris Pincher also sparked a flurry of resignations by envoys and parliamentary aides.In scathing remarks, Mr Javid said voters believed the government was neither competent nor “acting in the national interest”, while Mr Sunak said Britain deserved an administration that is run “properly, competently and seriously”.Nadhim Zahawi was promoted to be the new chancellor, with universities minister Michelle Donelan stepping up to take his place as education secretary. Steve Barclay, the PM’s chief of staff, was given the role of health secretary.Mr Zahawi made no comment when asked by press if he would “spray public money around to save Boris Johnson’s skin” before leaving Downing Street in a ministerial car.According to reports, Mr Johnson had wanted Liz Truss as chancellor but Mr Zahawi forced his hand by threatening to join the rebellion and quit if he was not given the job at No 11.Mr Barclay’s move to health comes only six months after he was appointed Downing Street chief of staff to help steady a premiership still floundering from the Partygate revelations.Having struggled to move on from the scandal, the PM has been forced once again attempting a desperate reset, rocked by accusations from a former top Foreign Office official that No 10 lied about how much the PM knew about complaints against Mr Pincher.Mr Johnson admitted he should have sacked Mr Pincher when he was told about misconduct claims against him in 2019, but instead went on to appoint him deputy chief whip. “I think it was a mistake and I apologise for it,” he told broadcasters.But Mr Sunak and Mr Javid resigned soon after the PM’s comments. Bim Afolami then quit as Tory vice chair live on air – telling TalkTV that Mr Johnson no longer had his support and should now “step down”.The prime minister was then hit by a series of resignations by parliamentary private secretaries, including the shock exit of one of his most loyal backbenchers.Red wall Tory MP Jonathan Gullis – who has been a fierce defender of Mr Johnson – resigned as PPS to the Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, saying the government had become distracted “dealing with our reputational damage”.Tory MP Saqib Bhatti stepped down as PPS to outgoing health secretary Sajid Javid, saying the governement’s “integrity and trust” had been fatally undermined. Theo Clarke left as trade envoy to Kenya, while Andrew Murrison resigned as one of the PM’s Middle East envoys.In the most scathing resignation, Virginia Crosbie quit as PPS to the Wales Office, telling the PM: “You cannot be trusted to tell the truth. This can never be a position to inhabit for anyone in public life, let alone prime minister.”Tory vice chair Bim Afolami resigns on live TVDominic Raab, Liz Truss, Michael Gove, Priti Patel, Ben Wallace, Nadine Dorries and Therese Coffey were among the senior cabinet ministers standing by Mr Johnson on Tuesday night as the government appeared to implode.Jacob Rees-Mogg backed Mr Johnson to remain PM, claiming that he is “a big man who is willing to apologise”. The Brexit opportunities minister claimed that it was “a wonderfully 18th century view” to think the PM had to resign because his ministers had quit.Tory rebels urged Mr Johnson to quit – but also vowed to oust him in the weeks ahead by staging a fresh confidence vote if he does decide to cling on.One backbencher opposed to the PM told The Independent: “The last few days have been appalling. I had been hoping some cabinet ministers would show some backbone. If he clings on, we will have to get rid of him.”Veteran Tory MP Sir Roger Gale: “There comes a time when the game is up. I would like to think that even at this stage Boris Johnson is an honourable man, has to go and resign. If he doesn’t we’ll do it for him.”Rebels hope that a majority of anti-Johnson MPs will be elected onto the 18-member 1922 committee during the powerful backbench groups elections next week.Current committee rules mean the prime minister is safe from another no-confidence vote for another 12 months, after narrowly survived a ballot last month, but rebels are hoping to change the rules and allow a fresh contest.Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who is putting himself forward for the 1922 committee, said that he believed there would be “pro-rule change” committee after the imminent elections.“Whatever the cabinet do, I think we’ll be changing the rules before summer recess to remove the prime minister [through] a second confidence vote,” he told Sky News.Mr Bridgen added: “Any cabinet minister who doesn’t resign his position in the next 24-hours are ruling themselves out of any future leadership bids.” More