UK Politics

The chair of the 1922 committee of Conservative Party backbenchers has said it was possible that rules could be changed to allow a fresh challenge against Boris Johnson within a year.The secretive committee’s current rules mean the prime minister is safe from another no-confidence for another 12 months, after narrowly winning a ballot among Tory MPs earlier this week.Sir Graham Brady said there are no current plans or discussions on the 1922 executive about amending those regulations, saying they were “likely” to remain – though he opened the door by conceding changes were “possible” in future.“It’s not something that we as an executive have discussed at all in this parliament,” he told Times Radio. “There was a point in the previous parliament when those discussions took place at length, we ended up without changing the rule.”The 1922 chair said: “Of course, it is technically possible that laws can be changed in the future. And it’s possible that rules can be changed in the future.”Sir Graham added: “But I think it’s important we say the rule that is in place, and is likely to remain in place is that there is a year’s period of grace following a confidence vote.”Speculation has been rife that rebel Tories could push for a change in the year-long grace period if opposition to Mr Johnson in the party grows even larger, after 148 of his own MPs – 41 per cent – voted to remove from No 10.Aaron Bell, a “red-wall” Tory elected in 2019 who voted against the PM, gave Mr Johnson a year to turn things round – bit did not rule out colleagues calling on the 1922 committee to alter the rules.“The rules say he has 12 months. I think that’s a fair assessment of the amount of time that he’s got to convince people that he can turn this round,” Mr Bell told ITV’s Peston on Wednesday night.Former Brexit minister David Davis said Mr Johnson could be deposed in a wider Commons vote later this year, if a privileges committee inquiry finds that he misled parliament.“I suspect if that happened, there would be big, big debates in the house, ending up with a vote on his ability to continue his tenure as prime minister,” he told GB News on Thursday. “But let’s wait and see how it plays out.”Ex-Tory chancellor Philip Hammond said on Thursday that Mr Johnson is doomed to be ousted by his own party before the next general election.The ex-cabinet minister said “the writing is on the wall” for the prime minister – predicting his authority would “ebb away” over the next few months.“I don’t think he will lead the party into the next general election. I think a rebellion on this scale is very difficult to survive,” Mr Hammond told Bloomberg.Former Conservative leader William Hague has described Mr Johnson’s position as “unsustainable”. He argued earlier this week there had been a collapse in trust over the Partygate scandal that “almost certainly cannot be repaired”. But cabinet minister Michael Gove said he still “enthusiastically” supports the PM on Thursday, saying Mr Johnson was doing a “good job” and it was a “privilege” to work alongside him. More

Boris Johnson’s plan to allow low-paid workers to use housing benefits to pay for mortgages is unworkable and “totally detached from reality”, experts have claimed.The scathing assessment came as the prime minister attempted to refocus MPs’ attention on domestic issues after narrowly surviving a no confidence vote with his political authority severely weakened.In a speech on Thursday, Mr Johnson also announced an extension of Margaret Thatcher’s flagship Right to Buy policy for housing association tenants — but the plan was immediately derided as “baffling”.Attempting to enable more people to “get on the property ladder”, Michael Gove, the Levelling Up secretary, confirmed that people in receipt of housing benefits will be able use payments to securing mortgages.The prime minister later told an audience in Blackpool the money would be better spent helping people buy their own home than on paying their rent – in a policy he described as “benefits to bricks”.He said: “It’s neither right nor fair to put ever vaster sums of taxpayers’ money straight into the pocket of landlords.”“We are going to look to change the rules on welfare so that the 1.5 million working people who are in receipt of housing benefits – I stress working people – and who want to buy their first home will be given a new choice: to spend their benefit on rent, as now, or put it towards a first-ever mortgage.”But Miatta Fahnbulleh, the CEO of the New Economics Foundation think-tank, said the policy was “totally detached from reality”, warning those on benefits were already struggling in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.“Social security has been cut so much that those receiving benefits can barely feed their kids, let alone save for a deposit or afford a mortgage when house prices are sky high,” she said.Ms Fahnbulleh added that Right to Buy is a “relic of a policy has fuelled our housing crisis for decades”, warning an extension would be “completely nonsensical”.Polly Neate, the chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter, said the government had failed to release “any clear proposals on how people receiving housing benefit will be able to take out a mortgage”.“Instead we’re left scratching our heads thinking how on earth can this work in practice.”She added: “Under the current system to qualify for universal credit you cannot have more than £16,000 in savings, so how are people meant to afford a deposit – it’s a classic Catch-22.“And even if someone managed to by-pass the savings issue, these plans essentially encourage people who are already struggling to make ends meet to take on large amounts of debt. “Much like the rest of the prime minister’s latest housing plans this is unworkable as it stands. Rather than far-fetched and fanciful schemes the government just needs to build more secure social homes with fair rents tied to low incomes. These are the type of homes people need.” Another campaign group, Crisis, also described the Right to Buy extension as “ill-concieved”, warning that for decades social hoising stock has been “stripped bare”.Director of policy and external affairs Kiran Ramchandani added: “The reality is that with housing benefit currently frozen, it’s barely enabling anyone to rent as it is. “To suggest this money can now be used to secure mortgages without a costly investment to the benefits system is an utter fallacy. Boris Johnson’s official spokesman earlier admitted that anyone seeking to buy a home in this way would still have to find a way to pay their rent.He said: “Yes,” adding: “If they were able to save money per month, over a number of years, they would then be able to save money towards a deposit.“And then they would have a monthly mortgage payment, a proportion of which would be provided through housing support.”The spokesperson said the change would allow somebody receiving universal credit to put money into an ISA – so they would not be hit by the current £16,000 cap of savings, above which they cannot claim UC.But he admitted sky-high property prices in places such as London might mean a house purchase would still be unaffordable, saying: “I think it will vary per area.” More

The EU’s position on the row over Northern Ireland Protocol has “hardened” in the face of the UK vow to unilaterally scrap part of the agreement, the Irish government has warned.Foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney urged Boris Johnson to stop the “rot” in Anglo-Irish relations and step back from his plan to introduce a bill to override parts of the post-Brexit deal.“I’ve been to Finland to Sweden to Estonia to Latvia, and I’ve been speaking to many other EU foreign ministers, in many ways in the last number of weeks the EU position has hardened,” Mr Coveney said on Thursday.The senior Irish minister said he did not think “a single capital across the EU and anybody in the European Commission believes the UK” was now serious about a negotiated solution.“All of the signals are about unilateral action … and that has hardened the EU response to what they’re seeing coming out of London now,” he added. “So, we need to find a way to arrest this rot in relationships and instead to look to compromise.”Mr Johnson’s government is expected to table its controversial bill early next week amid reports of a split within cabinet about how far-reaching the legislation should be.Labour leader Keir Starmer is holding talks with Mr Coveney and Irish premier Micheal Martin in Dublin on Thursday to discuss the stand-off over checks and customs forms on goods moving between GB and NI.Ahead of the meetings, Sir Keir accused Boris Johnson of taking a “wrecking ball” to UK relations with Ireland and the EU.Sir Keir claimed the PM was too “distracted” by his own leadership woes to focus on the impasse. “I think that with flexibility on both sides, with good faith, statecraft, and trust around the negotiating table, we can deal with the remaining issues,” he said.Starmer added: “My concern is that we have a prime minister who doesn’t have those attributes … He’s doing everything he can to save his own skin rather than focusing on the issue here.” More

Boris Johnson says no-confidence vote win ‘decisive’ despite mass Tory rebellionBoris Johnson confirmed plans to extend the right to buy to tenants of housing association homes.He said there are 2.5 million households whose homes belong to associations, saying “they’re trapped, they can’t buy, they don’t have the security of ownership, they can’t treat their home as their own or make the improvements that they want”.Mr Johnson added that some associations have treated tenants with “scandalous indifference”.However, the government’s right to buy plan has been labelled a “dangerous gimmick,” by housing charity Shelter with the group’s chief executive calling on the prime minister to “stop wasting time” on failed policies. Shelter CEO Polly Neate said the government’s promise to replace sold social homes through Right to Buy “has flopped.”“The government needs to stop wasting time on the failed policies of the past and start building more of the secure social homes this country actually needs.”Show latest update

1654785558Boris Johnson tells workers to accept pay cuts or UK faces 1970s–style ‘stagflation’Workers will have to settle for real-terms pay cuts if Britain is to avoid 1970s–style “stagflation” and soaring interest rates, Boris Johnson has warned.The prime minister performed a startling U-turn on a promise – made just months ago – to create a high-wage economy, instead highlighting the pain to come from rising inflation.Read the full story from our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, here: Tom Batchelor9 June 2022 15:391654783750Watch: Johnson confirms plans to extend Right to Buy schemeBoris Johnson confirms plans to extend Right to Buy scheme targeting 2.5 million householdsTom Batchelor9 June 2022 15:091654782814Johnson calls for more low-deposit mortgagesBoris Johnson has said he wants to ensure a “ready stream” of low-deposit mortgages. “Yes, we have got to help people get deposits, but we need to have many more 95% mortgages,” he said.“It is punitively difficult for so many people now in this country, it doesn’t need to be that way, that’s one of the reasons we are reforming it.”Tom Batchelor9 June 2022 14:531654781382PM quiet on tax cutsThe PM refused to give further details of his reported plans to reduce the tax burden.Asked about speculation of a 2p cut to income tax, Boris Johnson said: “On what Rishi (Sunak) and I are talking about on fiscal measures, you are just going to have to contain your impatience there.”He said the government was “strongly inclined to stimulate further growth, further productivity with tax cuts as and when they become sensible”.Mr Johnson added: “The cost of housing is a big chunk of expenditure, transport is a big chunk, childcare’s a big chunk, energy is an ever-growing chunk but tax is the biggest of all and we certainly aim to get that down.”Tom Batchelor9 June 2022 14:291654779746Government will explore discounting Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy ISA savings from Universal Credit eligibility rulesThe government will explore discounting Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy ISA savings from Universal Credit eligibility rules.Boris Johnson said that will “make it easier for hard-working people to put away a little every month until they have enough for a deposit on their first home”.The Prime Minister also said mortgage support for those who become unemployed will be available more quickly and the government was also looking at measures to “securitise” some of the £30 billion housing benefits bill in order to fund more development of homes.Mr Johnson said the overall package would “not only help us to build many more homes in the right place but will help millions of people realise what is currently an unattainable dream of home ownership”.The prime minister also added that government would explore having more 95 per cent mortgages to help aspiring homeowners get on the ladderThomas Kingsley9 June 2022 14:021654779597Boris Johnson addresses social housing availabilityBoris Johnson addresses one of the biggest criticisms of the housing policy – it’s impact on existing social housing availability. He said: “We want to see at least a replacement and we want to build hundreds of thousands more homes every year.” Mr Johnson said his government would launch a comprehensive review of the mortgage market to examine how access to low deposit mortgages could be secured.“Today, I can announce a comprehensive review of the mortgage market, reporting back this autumn it will look at how we can give our nation of aspiring homeowners better access to low deposit mortgages,” Mr Johnson said in a speech on the economy.Thomas Kingsley9 June 2022 13:591654778944Boris Johnsons confirms plans to extend Right to Buy scheme targeting 2.5 million households Boris Johnson confirmed plans to extend the right to buy to tenants of housing association homes.He said there are 2.5 million households whose homes belong to associations, saying “they’re trapped, they can’t buy, they don’t have the security of ownership, they can’t treat their home as their own or make the improvements that they want”.He said that some associations have treated tenants with “scandalous indifference”.”So, it’s time for change. Over the coming months we will work with the sector to bring forward a new right-to-buy scheme,” he said.Mr Johnson added that it would give “millions” more the chance to own their own home and would see “one-for-one replacement of each social housing property sold” while being affordable within existing spending plans.Thomas Kingsley9 June 2022 13:491654778826‘We’re on your side,’ PM insists amid falling living standardsBoris Johnson has reiterated that the government is on the side of the public amid the worst living standards in 40 years.“We’re on your side on cutting the cost of childcare, we’re on your side on cutting the cost of fuel, we’re on your side in cutting transport costs, we’re on your side in cutting the cost of home ownership,” the prime minister said in his speech.Thomas Kingsley9 June 2022 13:471654778654Boris Johnson said his administration would enact reforms to “cut the costs of government, cut costs for business and cut costs for people across the country”.“It cannot be right that the size of the central government has increased by 23 per cent since 2015,” he said.“There are 91,000 more officials than there were. I believe we have the best civil service in the world but, in view of the pressure now on families, we have got to find efficiencies, prune back Whitehall to the size it was only five or six years ago.“I think that’s something we can achieve without harming the public services they deliver.”Thomas Kingsley9 June 2022 13:441654778395Boris Johnson criticises Sadiq Khan’s rate of home building in LondonBoris Johnson takes a swipe at Sadiq Khan, criticising the London mayor’s performance on building homes. “Thanks to the planning reforms we’ve been putting in over the last decade, house building rates have reached a 20-year high – outside London,” the prime minister said.He added: “In London, the present mayor is not showing the speed or scale of his immediate predecessor.”Thomas Kingsley9 June 2022 13:39 More

Boris Johnson is doomed to be ousted by his own party before the next general election following this week’s damaging no-confidence vote, said former chancellor Philip Hammond.The ex-cabinet minister said “the writing is on the wall” for the prime minister after 41 per cent of his own MPs voted to remove him – predicting his authority would “ebb away” over the next few months.“I don’t think he will lead the party into the next general election. I think a rebellion on this scale is very difficult to survive,” Mr Hammond told Bloomberg.Asked if the PM should resign, he said: “It’s academic … I’m not at all surprised that the prime minister’s position is that even if he’d won it by a single vote he will solider on.”But Mr Hammond pointed out: “That was also Theresa May’s position after she won a no-confidence vote in 2018. But the writing was on the wall from that point on.”The ex-chancellor added: “Authority just quietly drains away. It doesn’t happen overnight. I think we’ll see a drip feed of, unfortunately, bad news around the UK economy that’s going to make it much, much more difficult for the prime minister.”Fellow Tory grandee William Hague said Mr Johnson’s position was “unsustainable” after 148 of his own MPs voted to remove from No 10.The former leader argued earlier this week there had been a collapse of faith over the Partygate scandal that “almost certainly cannot be repaired”.Current 1922 Committee rules say Mr Johnson cannot face another leadership challenge for a year, but there have been rumblings that rebel could try to change the rules if even greater opposition became clear.Aaron Bell – a “red-wall” Tory elected in 2019 who voted against the PM – gave Mr Johnson a year to turn things round.“The rules say he has 12 months. I think that’s a fair assessment of the amount of time that he’s got to convince people that he can turn this round,” he told ITV’s Peston on Wednesday night.But Mr Bell did not rule out colleagues calling on the committee of Tory backbenchers to change the rules to allow for a sooner vote – with one potential flashpoint being the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections later this month.The PM expected to confirm his intentions to allow lower-paid workers are to be able to use housing benefits to buy their homes – and extend the right to buy to housing association tenants – in a major speech on Thursday, as he seeks to repair his fortunes.Cabinet minister Michael Gove said he still “enthusiatically” supports the PM on Thursday, saying Mr Johnson was doing a “good job” and it was a “privilege” to work alongside him.Mr Gove also said he made a “mistake” by ruining Mr Johnson’s bid to become Conservative party leader in 2016. Asked if he would consider running against Mr Johnson again for the Tory leadership, he replied: “Oh God no.” More

The government expects zero economic benefit from the reintroduction of crown symbols on pint glasses, ministers have admitted.With food and energy prices soaring the government used the jubilee bank holiday to re-announce that crown marks could make a comeback to pub glassware.But asked about the benefits business minister Paul Scully said the government did not “anticipate any impact on GDP” from the jubilee measure. Until 2006 a crown symbol was displayed on beer glasses to indicate that it contained an accurate one pint. New EU rules from that date however meant the crown symbol was no longer required, with a European ‘CE’ mark instead needed.Manufacturers could still put a crown symbol on glasses if they wished, but few bothered as the mark no longer had a legal meaning and there was apparently little demand to retain it.In the intervening years some newspapers have run stories about the disappearance of the symbol and claimed that drinkers want it back.The government claims that the crown symbol is “fondly remembered by many people as a symbol that they associate with traditional pint measures”.In response it released guidance last week on how manufacturers can “apply a crown symbol to beer glasses as a decorative mark on a voluntary basis”.While this has always been the case, even while Britain was a member of the EU, ministers are desperate to demonstrate Brexit benefits and the guidance has been widely framed as a legal policy change – even though it is not.But asked about the tangible benefits of the policy, business minister Mr Scully said: “The Government wants to provide businesses with the option to use the crown stamp symbol so that it can appear on pint glasses once again. “The use of the crown stamp symbol on pint glasses will be voluntary. Businesses will have freedom to choose whether or not to apply the symbol to pint glasses, alongside the legally required UKCA and M markings. “No additional conformity assessment processes will be required and we do not anticipate any impact on GDP.Liberal Democrats Business Spokesperson Sarah Olney blasted the government’s approach and said it was focused on the wrong things.”This is a Government with its priorities completely backwards,” she told The Independent.”Businesses across the country are struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis, they need real targeted support to stay afloat, not a different symbol on a glass.”Sadly, this is exactly what we’ve come to expect from this incompetent Government, a gesture that provides no help or economic benefit whatsoever.” More

Michael Gove said he made a “mistake” by ruining Boris Johnson’s bid to become Conservative party leader in 2016 – saying he remained an “enthusiastic” supporter of the prime minister.The cabinet minister said he regretted betraying his former Vote Leave ally and running for the Tory leadership when David Cameron resigned in the wake of the Brexit referendum.Mr Gove said in 2016 that he had decided that Mr Johnson was “not capable of uniting that team and leading the party and the country”.Asked on Thursday if he backed the under-pressure prime minister, the levelling up minister told Sky News: “Enthusiastically – yes.”Reminded he had not always backed Mr Johnson to be PM, he said: “I made a mistake in 2016 – a misjudgement. If you’ve been in politics for a little while as I have, there are always mistakes.”He added: “I think the prime minister is doing a good job. I’ve been privileged to work alongside him when he made the Brexit entanglement, the imbroglio was broken.”Asked if he would consider running against Mr Johnson again for the Tory leadership, he replied: “Oh God no.”Mr Gove also defended his decision not to appear on the government frontbench at PMQs on Wednesday – saying he was working on his levelling up and regeneration bill speech.Told on LBC that cabinet colleagues Nadhim Zahawi and Priti Patel would have also been busy, but turned up to support the PM, Mr Gove said: “The Great Zahawi and the Pritster are a far more decorative addition to the front bench than my ugly mug.”Mr Gove and Mr Johnson are setting out plans for lower-paid workers to be able to use housing benefits to buy their homes, and an extension of the right to buy for housing association tenants.According to The Times, the government wants tenants the ability to buy for housing association properties at discounts of up to 70 per cent – though it is likely to be limited to a series of pilots for now, without additional government funding.But Mr Gove rejected the figure – and admitted that there would be a cap on the number of housing association tenants who will be able to benefit from right to buy extension.He also confirmed that there was no new money committed for the scheme, telling Sky News: “It will come from the overall parcel, the overall envelope of government spending. We expect that we will cap the number who will be able to benefit from this initially, and then it will grow over time.”Asked what the discount would be, Mr Gove told LBC: “It will depend how long you have been in the home. I don’t think we’ll be offering 70 per cent discounts for our housing association right to buy … We’re not proposing to offer discounts at that scale.”Mr Gove promised that the government would commit to replace social homes sold off “like for like” – but Labour and housing charities have pointed to the huge cost of building new homes sold off at a discount.Conceding large sums of money would be needed, the levelling up secretary said “we want to be able to have the resources to fund a programme of this kind”, adding that the government would have to make housing associations’ “balance sheets are robust”.Shadow cabinet minister Lisa Nandy has said the latest housing plans will “make the housing crisis worse”, adding: “We should be taking more action to increase the supply of affordable homes.”She added: “By their own reckoning, this will help a few thousand families a year. For those families that will be very welcome, but if it makes the housing crisis worse for everybody else, I’m not sure why they wouldn’t come forward with a proper plan that actually starts to increase the supply of affordable housing.”Shelter’s chief executive Dame Polly Neate said the “hare-brained idea” was “the opposite of what the country needs”, warning: “There could not be a worse time to sell off what remains of our last truly affordable social homes.” More