UK Politics

The UK is to step up military supplies to India, with the removal of many of the restrictions limiting arms sales to the emerging south Asian economic giant.The move was announced as Boris Johnson prepares to meet Indian prime minister Narendra Modi for talks on Friday that will have trade top of the agenda.The PM has struggled to prevent his Partygate woes from overshadowing the two-day visit, losing his cool on Thursday and telling a TV interviewer to stop her questions about the scandal.He has said he wants to accelerate a free trade agreement with India, pushing for a deal by autumn rather than the current New Year target, and dropping heavy hints that he is ready to offer visa liberalisation as a sweetener to Delhi for greater access for UK services and goods such as cars and whisky. More

For the first time ever, Ukrainian troops on the frontline are being trained to use military equipment on British soil. The Ukrainian fighters have come to Britain to learn how to operate 120 armoured vehicles promised by Boris Johnson to president Volodymyr Zelensky during his recent visit to Kyiv.The location of the mission and exact number of individuals involved – understood to total “around a couple of dozen” – are being kept strictly secret for security reasons.But training of this kind often takes place on the military ranges of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, where Ukrainian defence chiefs recently observed demonstrations of the Stormer armoured missile launcher. More

Boris Johnson has all but confirmed that Brexit import controls on goods from Europe due to take effect in July will be delayed for a fourth time.Experts have warned of a “collapse” in trade if the checks are implemented on 1 July at a time of fast-rising prices and falling consumer confidence.Now, Mr Johnson has sent a strong signal that he will postpone the introduction of “sanitary and phytosanitary” inspections on agrifood imports and plant products, declaring that he wants “minimal friction” at the UK’s borders with the EU.The prime minister appeared to suggest that he believes the checks can be put off indefinitely until long-promised technological solutions are found.While the EU was able to implement checks on UK exports entering the 27-bloc immediately when Brexit came into effect in January last year, Britain secured a “grace period” for imports from the continent, which has been repeatedly extended. More

Boris Johnson faces the humiliation of an inquiry into whether he lied to parliament over the No 10 parties, after a revolt by Conservative MPs forced him to abandon a shambolic attempt to block it.The prime minister has been plunged into a crisis by the debacle, which exposed his own MPs’ refusal to defend him – and is likely to trigger the release of damning photos of illegal gatherings.In an extraordinary 24 hours, No 10 was forced to scrap a bid to delay the inquiry by the Commons’s Committee of Privileges into the long grass when its own MPs refused to go along with it.A motion stating four denials of law-breaking made by Mr Johnson “appear to amount to misleading the House” passed without a vote, prompting the first such inquiry in modern times.If the inquiry finds MPs were “knowingly” misled – after the prime minister was fined for breaking Covid rules, with further fines expected – he will be expected to resign, for breaching his own ministerial code.Keir Starmer predicted the game is up. It has “never been more clear that Boris Johnson’s authority is shot and he is unable to lead,” he said, adding: “It’s clear he has lost the confidence of his MPs.”In India, where he is on a trade trip, the prime minister laid bare his worries, losing his cool as he fended off questions about the parties – even as he insisted he has “absolutely nothing to hide”.A new YouGov poll found that a staggering 78 per cent of voters believe Mr Johnson “lied” over the parties he long denied, while just 8 per cent do not.There was only a scattering of Tory MPs on the Commons benches for the dramatic moment when the motion passed, after most were allowed to go home when defeat became inevitable.Earlier, Mr Johnson was told “the gig’s up” by a senior Tory backbencher, as support for him among his MPs began to dwindle – while he was 5,000 miles away.The former minister Steve Baker said he had been “tempted to forgive” his leader, but told MPs “the possibility of that, for me, has gone”.Bob Neill, chair of the Justice Committee, said: “My constituents feel badly let down; I feel personally badly let down by what happened, and there must be consequences that follow from that.”William Wragg, chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee – who has demanded a confidence vote to topple Mr Johnson – urged his fellow Tory MPs to act. “It is the Conservative parliamentary party’s responsibility. We must stop delegating and delaying our political judgement,” he pleaded.And Anthony Mangnall, another Conservative MP, told his government: “I do forgive the prime minister for making those mistakes, but I do not forgive him for misleading the House, as I see it.”In an unprecedented move, MPs were allowed to openly call the prime minister a “liar”, a description normally banned as unparliamentary but permitted due to the substance of the debate.It is unclear when the “contempt” inquiry will start because the Metropolitan Police – which is still investigating five further “parties” Mr Johnson is believed to have attended – must complete its work first.Perhaps crucially, No 10 conceded hundreds of potentially damning photos and documents may have to be released. Neither the Met nor the stalled Sue Gray inquiry was expected to disclose them.After taking evidence in private, the committee will make recommendations to the Commons, which could be to suspend the prime minister if he is found to have misled MPs intentionally.At that point, the pressure on Mr Johnson to quit would be intense. But if it decides any misleading was accidental, he is likely to escape with a slap on the wrist.The committee has four Conservative members, one SNP MP and two Labour ones – but one of those, Chris Bryant, will not take part in the inquiry, because of his strong criticisms of Mr Johnson’s conduct.The Met said it would not announce any further fines until after May’s local elections – but Downing Street suggested it stick to its pledge to reveal any further punishment of Mr Johnson.Mr Bryant predicted the prime minister will quit before the inquiry starts because he was unable to “gather enough” of his MPs to protect him, saying: “It feels very end of regime. I can’t see he’d be there by the end of May.”And Daisy Cooper MP, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, urged Tories to “sack Johnson now”, saying: “Conservative MPs have made themselves complicit in his law-breaking and his lies. There is no need to let this drag on for more weeks.”Michael Ellis, the paymaster general, given the unenviable task of carrying out the U-turn, claimed the prime minister had “no concerns” about the inquiry – despite his failed attempts to obstruct it.There was laughter as he said Mr Johnson is “mortified” by his breaching of Covid rules – hours after he claimed the public is disinterested in the controversy – and “wishes the clock could be turned back”. More

Boris Johnson today lost his cool as he fended off questions about Partygate during his visit to India and insisted he has “absolutely nothing to hide”.As Sky News interviewer Beth Rigby fired off a series of queries about lockdown-breaching parties at 10 Downing Street, an increasingly tetchy prime minister looked at his watch and told her: “I want to talk about the point of this trip… Ask me questions relating to the trip.”The interview descended into a row over how many minutes were being devoted to the scandal rather than Mr Johnson’s trade agenda, with the Sky political editor protesting that she had not spent as long on Partygate as the BBC, and the prime minister replying: “It’s not a competition. Get onto the subject of the trip.” The prime minister was speaking shortly after abandonning a bid to kick into the long grass a new Commons inquiry into whether he committed a contempt of parliament by lying about breaches of Covid law in 10 Downing Street.With the row over parties threatening to overshadow a crucial trade visit to India, Mr Johnson let his frustration show in his interview with Sky News, repeatedly urging Ms Rigby to ask him about the commercial agreements sealed on the first day of the visit and his plans to push for a free trade deal in talks with prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Mr Johnson is facing probable investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee after ditching an amendment designed to delay a vote on the issue until after the completion of the police inquiry and the publication of a report by senior civil servant Sue Gray.But he insisted he was not trying to evade scrutiny, and denied that he had dropped his amendment out of fear of a major rebellion by angry Tory backbenchers.“What I decided is that if the opposition want to focus on this, that’s fine,” said the PM.“I think it’s very important nobody says we are trying to avoid scrutiny. I don’t want to avoid scrutiny.”He added: “People were saying this looks like we were trying to stop stuff coming out. I didn’t want that. I don’t want people to say that.“I don’t what this thing endlessly to go on. I have absolutely nothing to hide.”Responding to the call from prominent Tory backbencher Steve Baker for him to go because “the gig is up”, Mr Johnson said he did not believe that resignation was “the right thing to do”.“I understand people’s feelings, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” said the PM. “We have to wait for the conclusion of the report, perhaps I can say more then. In the meantime, what I would like to do is take the country forward, deal with the immediate problems we face.”As Ms Rigby continued to press him on the prospect of further fines, the PM told her “you’re going to have to wait” and then “ ask me questions relating to the trip”.His interviewer protested that she had been given only a few minutes with Mr Johnson, while the BBC had been granted seven, earning the reply: “It’s not a competition. Get onto the subject of the trip.” More

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether he and his family have benefited from his wife’s non-domicile tax status.In his first public grilling since The Independent revealed Akshata Murty’s non-dom status, Mr Sunak insisted that she had “followed all the rules”.Asked by the BBC if his household benefited – or could benefit – from Ms Murty’s status, he replied: “She has always followed all the rules, paid all the tax in the UK that is due, and paid tax internationally on her international investments.”Mr Sunak added: “But she recognised that this goes beyond just following those rules, so she had decided to pay both UK and foreign taxes on her foreign investments, and I follow support her decision to do so.”The chancellor referred himself to Boris Johnson’s advisor Lord Geidt for an investigation into his ministerial interests earlier this month, but has insisted that he “always followed the rules”.Labour had demanded to know whether Mr Sunak had ever benefited from the use of tax havens, and whether he had received any updates on his blind trust since becoming chancellor.Sir Keir Starmer’s party has also questioned whether Mr Sunak had made a legal promise to the US when he received his green card – held for almost two years upon entering governmentSpeaking on his trip to Washington on Thursday, Mr Sunak said the US green card – which he held until October – was “a legacy of my time living and working in America”.The chancellor also said he is “extremely and sincerely sorry” for the hurt he caused by his attendance at a birthday gathering for Boris Johnson during lockdown.Mr Sunak said he respected the decision of the police in deciding to fine him for a breach of Covid rules in June 2020 – and also rejected claims he misled parliament on the issue.“I am extremely and sincerely sorry for the hurt and the anger that this has caused so many people … I have always acted, I believe, in good faith in regard to what I said to parliament.”Mr Sunak was asked in December if he or his officials attended any of the Downing Street Christmas parties on 27 November or 18 December last year. He replied: “No, I did not attend any parties.”The chancellor also denied that he had considered resigning last week when he, along with Mr Johnson, received a fixed-penalty notice (FPN). Asked if he had considered stepping down, he said: “No. I am focused on getting on with the job.”It was reported that Mr Sunak had to be talked out of quitting after it took around six hours for him to issue an apology following his receipt last week of a FPN. More

Former Conservative minister Steve Baker has called for Boris Johnson to quit for failing to obey his own Covid rules during the Partygate scandal.“The prime minister now should be long gone,” the senior backbencher told the Commons on Thursday. “Really, the prime minister should just know the gig’s up.’”Mr Baker, deputy leader of the Tories’ Covid Recovery Group, said he found that he could not “forgive” Mr Johnson for “not obeying the letter and spirit” of the law.He added: “The reason that he is not long gone because removing a sitting prime minister is an extremely grave matter … I’ve been tempted to forgive. The possibility of that has gone.”Mr Johnson faces a new investigation after the government ditched an attempt to delay a vote on a Commons probe into whether he misled parliament in a dramatic U-turn.Tory MPs will be given a free vote on Labour’s motion seeking a Commons privilege committee investigation into claims the prime minister did not tell the truth about parties.No 10 has conceded it may have to hand over what are thought to be damning photos of lockdown-busting parties, after it dropped a bid to block a push back a new inquiry.The Metropolitan Police is examining more than 300 photos of the gatherings, many of which broke the law – which will be demanded by a committee of MPs now likely to launch its own probe. Another senior Tory called on Mr Johnson to go during Thursday’s afternoon’s debate on the motion, saying he had concluded that the PM was “no longer fit to govern”. William Wragg – who called for the PM to go earlier this year, but has been quiet since – said: “I cannot reconcile myself to the prime minister’s continued leadership of our country and the Conservative party.”Revealing he had submitted a no-confidence letter, Mr Wragg said it was “utterly depressing to be asked to defend the indefensible” – and urged colleagues to make their minds up on Mr Johnson’s leadership.The Tory MP added: “We must stop delegating and delaying our political judgement. We each only have our own limited and imperfect integrity. We can’t keep spending it on others who we cannot be sure will not let us down.”Fellow Tory MP Sir Bob Neill, chair of the Commons justice committee, said he felt “personally badly led down” by Mr Johnson – but had not yet “come to a final decision about the prime minister’s position”.Meanwhile, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford was allowed to repeatedly call Mr Johnson “a liar” in parliament, unchallenged by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.SNP MP calls Boris Johnson ‘liar’ in Commons“There is one thing that needs to be said … The prime minister of the United Kingdom is a liar,” said Mr Blackford. “He lied to avoid getting caught. And once he got caught, he lied again.”It was only when Mr Blackford made a reference to Mr Johnson “lying to the Queen” that the Speaker challenged the SNP. “I’ve asked for moderate language … ‘lying to the Queen’ I’m not happy [with]. I want you to withdraw that.”The Speaker said he wanted Mr Blackford to stick to “the terms of what we are debating” – apparently allowing claims of “liar” to be made because of the nature the discussion on whether the PM misled the House. More