UK Politics

Senior Conservative MP Mark Harper has called for Boris Johnson to step down over his conduct during the Partygate scandal – saying the prime minister was “no longer worthy” of the office.The former minister revealed that he had sent a letter of no-confidence to the 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady shortly after Mr Johnson apologised “unreservedly” in the Commons.Mr Harper, who leads the Covid Recovery Group, told MPs: “I’m very sorry to have to say this, but I no longer think he is worthy of the great office that he holds.”The senior figure added: “We have a PM who broke the rules that he told the public to follow, hasn’t been straightforward about it – and is now going to ask the decent men and women on these benches to defend the indefensible.”In his letter to the 1922 Committee chair, Mr Harper suggested Mr Johnson may have broken the ministerial code – saying it was “difficult to avoid the conclusion that the prime minister has misled parliament”.Mr Harper accused the PM of fostering a “toxic culture” at No 10 – saying the clearest example was staff partying “hours before Her Majesty the Queen laid to rest her beloved husband”.Dismissing the idea that a leadership contest would be unwise during the Ukraine war, Mr Harper said it was at times of international crisis “that our country needs a prime minister who commands trust [and] obeys the law”.The senior figure added: “I have reached the conclusion he is no longer able to deliver the principled leadership required to take our country forward … Our party still has so much to offer our country, but sadly, not under Boris Johnson’s leadership.”Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the idea that Mr Harper’s statement was a “big moment”. He told LBC Radio: “Mark had been gearing up for that for some time. It was quite funny when he said how much it pained him when he was clearly enjoying the moment thoroughly.”Mr Rees-Mogg also said Mr Johnson’s “contrition was very genuine” and insisted: “I think it is clear that the prime minister did not knowingly misled.” In his first comments to the Commons since he was handed a £50 fine for attending his birthday party in June 2020, Mr Johnson repeated the “full apology” he first made in a broadcast interview last week.Asked if he had deliberately misled the House by telling MPs in December that Covid rules were followed at Downing Street, he replied: “No.”The apology was dismissed as “half-hearted” by Sir Keir Starmer – who repeated his call for Mr Johnson to resign after becoming the first sitting PM found to have broken the law.The Labour leader urged Tory MPs to “bring an end to this shameful chapter”, adding: “I urge them again – don’t follow in the slipstream of this out of control, out of touch prime minister.”However, several Tory MPs came to Mr Johnson’s defence. Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee, thanked the PM for his apology and said it would “mean something to my constituents”.Sir Geoffrey Clifton Brown, treasurer of the 1922 committee, praised the “fulsome apology” and said the prime minister was “taking a lead in Ukraine”.Veteran Tory MP Sir Bill Cash pointed out that the fixed penalty notice was a civil fine – claiming that it comes without “any admission of guilt”.Steve Baker MP, Mr Harper’s fellow lockdown sceptic, said: “My right honourable friend could not have made a more humble apology.” But the senior Tory backbencher added: “What assurance can he give us that nothing of this kind will ever happen again?”Tory MP David Simmonds also challenged Mr Johnson, saying he understood public anger over parties. “I have to ask … what steps he had in mind to restore the moral authority of this government?” Mr Johnson replied that he was “heartily sorry”, before saying he had “taken steps to change the way we do things in No 10”. But the PM refused to say whether he accepted that he had broken the law.Conservative MP Sir Robert Goodwill reportedly asked some constituents which leading Tory figure would make the best “alternative” PM. In an email shared by Times Radio, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby outlined the merits of several cabinet members – including Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid.But Sir Robert insisted that he was not suggesting there should be a leadership contest, claiming the letter sent to around 100 constituents was only bid to “smoke out” Labour supporters writing to him.A no-confidence vote in the PM is triggered if 1922 chair Sir Graham Brady has 54 letters from Tory MPs. But two of the dozen or so MPs who said they had submitted letters earlier this year recently said they had withdrawn their missives, citing the Ukraine war.Meanwhile, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has allowed MPs to vote on a Labour motion this Thursday on whether the PM should face an investigation over claims he misled parliament over Covid rule breaches.Labour is understood to be wording the motion to make the vote about whether to refer Mr Johnson to the Committee of Privileges, which has the power to summon reports and documents.A Labour source: “Any Conservative MP considering voting to block this investigation would be voting for a cover-up. They should reflect on the mess they got themselves into over Owen Paterson before falling into line.” More

MPs will get the opportunity to debate, and vote on, whether Boris Johnson should be referred to the Commons privileges committee over potentially false statements he made to parliament about Partygate, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has announced. And we want to know what you think should happen next.Have your say. Scroll down to take part in our reader poll.The motion has been tabled for Thursday after several MPs, including Labour leader Keir Starmer, wrote to Sir Lindsay over the Easter recess about the prime minister’s conduct. Sir Lindsay said while it is not for him to police the ministerial code, having taken advice “from clerks of the House” he would allow a debate to go ahead on Thursday.“Scheduling this will, I hope, give members an opportunity to consider the motion and the response to it,” he told MPs.The PM has been fined by the Metropolitan Police for attending a birthday bash – thrown in his honour – at No 10 while strict Covid restrictions were in place during the first lockdown of 2020.When questioned about the gatherings, he repeatedly denied that any Covid laws were broken – something now known to be untrue.He now faces career-threatening allegations that he knowingly misled parliament. There are also reportedly three other gatherings being investigated that the PM face further fines for.What do you think should happen now? Do you think Johnson should be investigated further by parliament? Cast your vote in our readers’ poll below and check back soon to see the results. More

Theresa May has said she does not support the Rwanda asylum policy and questioned its legality and effectiveness.Addressing Priti Patel in the House of Commons, the former prime minister and home secretary asked for more details of the scheme and who will be affected by it.“From what I have heard and seen so far, I do not support the removal to Rwanda policy on the grounds of legality, practicality and efficacy,” she said.“If it is the case that families will not be broken up, where is her evidence that this will not simply lead to an increase in the trafficking of women and children?”Ms Patel insisted the deal complied with international laws but refused to give parliament more details of eligibility requirements, offering to meet Ms May instead.The home secretary said that the agreement was aligned with “all international and domestic legal obligations” and was part of wider efforts to combat people smuggling.She told MPs that the current situation was putting “unsustainable pressures on our public services and local communities”, and that almost £5m was being spent every day on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers awaiting decisions.“Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers,” she added.Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said the costs were being generated by a backlog of asylum decisions caused by the Home Office.“The only reason we’re paying a fortune in hotel costs is because Home Office decision making has completely collapsed on her watch,” she told the House of Commons.“[Ms Patel] is asking Rwanda to do the job but she is not capable of … she is just using this policy to distract from years of failure.”Ms Cooper called the policy “unworkable, unethical and extortionate”, questioning why the government had not given full information on costs.She said there was “no evidence of a deterrent effect” after the Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft warned there was not an insufficient “level of assurance over value for money”. More

Boris Johnson was saying “what he believed to be the truth” when he denied there were any law-breaking No 10 parties, a cabinet minister says – despite attending at least one of them.Brandon Lewis lifted the lid on what the prime minister will tell the Commons later, when he will face MPs for the first time since the police fined him for breaking his own Covid rules.The Northern Ireland Secretary hinted that Mr Johnson will accept the police’s verdict only grudgingly – referring to the Met having “taken the view that a fine should be issued”.And he insisted it is perfectly possible for the a “lawmaker to be a lawbreaker”, because Tony Blair is among ministers issued with parking tickets in the past.Mr Johnson faces career-threatening allegations that he knowingly misled parliament when he repeatedly denied that any Covid laws were broken – something now known to be untrue.But Mr Lewis said: “When he spoke to parliament, he was speaking what he believed to be the truth and what he outlined to be the truth.”Asked whether the prime minister now accepts he broke the rules, Mr Lewis told Sky News: “In the sense that he has paid a fine that the police have decided to issue because the rules were broken.“But that doesn’t mean that anything he said to parliament was inaccurate at the time. What he said to parliament he believed to be true at the time.”The argument is crucial to Mr Johnson’s survival chances, because the ministerial code dictates that any minister who knowingly misleads parliament must quit.It will become more difficult to mount if the prime minister is, as expected, is fined again for other social gatherings during lockdown – including one allegedly held in his own Downing Street flat.At present, his only fine is for the surprise birthday party held in the cabinet room in June 2020, which No 10 insists was brief and took place between work meetings.The Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, will decide today whether to allow a vote on whether Mr Johnson has brought parliament into contempt – or should be investigated by a committee of MPs.Although the government would almost certainly win the vote easily, the opposition parties believe it would at least force Tory MPs to put their support for the prime minister on public view.Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the Commons defence committee, called for a vote of confidence after the May local elections, to decide if “it is time for change”.“Unfortunately, many, many MPs continue to be very numbed by this – very, very concerned by where we’re going,” he said.“If I was the prime minister, I would show leadership here, recognise this requires crisis management as such, and say that ‘these are difficult times, I will give you the opportunity to support me through an actual vote of confidence’.” More

MPs will vote on whether to hold an inquiry into how Boris Johnson misled parliament about the lockdown-busting parties in No 10.The Commons Speaker announced he has agreed to the debate and vote – on Thursday – ahead of the prime minister making a statement about the fine he received for breaking the law.The privileges committee would then investigate whether Mr Johnson deliberately misled parliament when he wrongly claimed no Covid rules were broken, which should require his resignation if proven.Although Tory MPs will almost certainly defeat the attempt, it would embarrass them by forcing them to block the inquiry, opposition parties believe.It is accepted that Mr Johnson made statements that were untrue when, last year, he repeatedly denied that any Covid laws were broken.He is expected to argue that he was saying “what he believed to be the truth” at the time – despite attending at least one of the parties that breached his own rules.But Keir Starmer, who requested the debate and vote, has rubbished the claim, saying: “The prime minister makes the laws, tells the country to obey the laws, then breaks them and then – in my view – lies to parliament about it.”Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, told MPs it is not his job to “police the ministerial code”, which requires any minister who knowingly lies to parliament to resign from office.“Secondly, it is not for me to determine whether or not the prime minister has committed a contempt. My role is to decide whether there is an arguable case to be examined,” Mr Hoyle said.“Having taken advice from the clerks of the House,” he said, he had decided that the Labour leader “may table a motion for debate on Thursday”.Labour quickly announced it would table a motion seeking an inquiry by the privileges committee, a source saying: “Any Conservative MP considering voting to block this investigation would be voting for a cover up.”And Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: “The British public have declared Boris Johnson a liar. Now it’s time for parliament to do the same.“Johnson has taken the British people for fools for far too long, and it’s time for Conservative MPs to show where they stand. They must do their patriotic duty and kick him out of Downing Street once and for all.”The government is expected to treat Thursday’s vote as equivalent to a confidence motion in Mr Johnson – raising the stakes for any Tory MP considering a rebellion.The prime minister will escape having to defend his previous denials of wrongdoing in person, because he will be on a visit to India.The privileges committee deals with matters relating to contempt of parliament, which includes the charge of having lied to MPs.It is chaired by Labour’s Chris Bryant, but has a Conservative majority – even in the unlikely event that the Commons approves an inquiry. More

Boris Johnson “eluded” the law by ignoring parking ticket fines during his days at Oxford University, according to his own book on motoring.The prime minister admitted he let tickets pile up until they “disintegrated” in his 2007 book Life in the Fast Lane: The Johnson Guide to Cars.It comes as a cabinet minister sparked outrage after suggesting that the prime minister’s fine for breaking Covid laws was similar receiving speeding tickets.Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said senior figures had received parking and speeding fines. “That clearly has happened with a number of ministers over the years,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.In an unearthed passage from his book on cars, Mr Johnson said he used the rain “as a means of eluding the law” while at Oxford by letting the tickets disintegrate – suggesting Belgian registration plates meant he could ignore them.“My favourite parking spot was on the yellow lines by the squash courts in Jowett Walk and sometimes, it is true, I got a ticket. But what did I care? The Stallion had Belgian plates,” he wrote.“What were the poor parkies going to do? Contact Interpol? … Ha, I snapped my finger at the parking tickets. I let them pile in drifts against the windscreen … until the fines just disintegrated in the rain.”Sir Keir Starmer ridiculed claims that the PM’s Partygate fine was as minor as a speeding offence and said Tory MPs should be “ashamed” of defending him.The Labour leader told ITV’s Lorraine: “I have never had anybody break down in front of me because they couldn’t drive at 35mph in a 30mph zone; I have had no end of people in tears – in real bits – about complying with rules that really, really hurt them.”The prime minister is reportedly ready to make a “full-throated apology” to MPs on Tuesday after paying a fine issued by police for attending a birthday bash in breach of Covid laws.Mr Johnson – along with his wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak – were fined by the Metropolitan Police for attending his birthday party in the Cabinet room in June 2020.Meanwhile, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has allowed MPs to vote on a Labour motion this Thursday on whether the PM should face an investigation over claims he misled parliament over Covid rule breaches.Labour is understood to be wording the motion to make Thursday’s vote about whether to refer Mr Johnson to the Committee of Privileges. The committee has the power to summon reports and documents.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged Tory MPs to “do their patriotic duty” by rebelling in Thursday’s vote on the PM’s conduct.A Labour source: “Any Conservative MP considering voting to block this investigation would be voting for a cover-up. They should reflect on the mess they got themselves into over Owen Paterson before falling into line.”The ministerial code states that ministers who “knowingly mislead parliament” will be expected to offer their resignation. More

Cabinet minister denies PM lied to parliament over PartygateSpeaker Lindsay Hoyle has announced that MPs will get the opportunity to debate, and vote on, whether Boris Johnson should be referred to the Commons privileges committee over potentially false statements he made to parliament about Partygate.Sir Lindsay kicked off Tuesday afternoon’s proceedings by announcing that multiple MPs – including Labour leader Keir Starmer – had written to him about the prime minister’s conduct. He said while it is not for him to police the ministerial code, that having taken advice “from the clerks of the House”, he had decided to allow a debate to go ahead on Thursday.“Scheduling the debate will, I hope, give members an opportunity to consider the motion and the response to it,” he told MPs.It comes as Mr Johnson is expected to make a “full-throated apology” to MPs later today in his first statement to the Commons since he was fined by the Metropolitan Police for attending a birthday bash – thrown in his honour – in the Cabinet room in June 2020 while strict Covid restrictions were in place.Show latest update

1650379670Patel speaks to MPs about plan to divert refugees to RwandaNext up on the Commons schedule is Priti Patel, the home secretary, who is making a statement to the Commons about the government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving in the UK on small boats to Rwanda.Stay tuned for live updates on what she says. Sam Hancock19 April 2022 15:471650379448Tories who vote against Labour motion ‘to be accused of cover up’ – reportITV’s Paul Brand says a “Labour source” has told him that Tory MPs who vote against the Labour motion on Thursday will be accused by opposition politicians of supporting a cover up.Sam Hancock19 April 2022 15:441650379309Every misleading statement PM has made to parliament since general electionBoris Johnson and his ministers have made at least 27 false statements to parliament since the 2019 general election – and have failed to correct them.An investigation by The Independent, working with Full Fact, has found that the prime minister made 17 of the statements, while four were made by Matt Hancock as health secretary, two by home secretary Priti Patel, and one each by attorney general Suella Braverman, culture secretary Nadine Dorries, Afghan resettlement minister Victoria Atkins, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ex-House of Commons leader.The figures have sparked accusations of a “crisis of honesty”. Our home affairs editor Lizzie Dearden reports:Sam Hancock19 April 2022 15:411650378631Chair of privileges committee ‘won’t be commenting’ Labour’s Chris Bryant says he will not be answer “any questions” about the upcoming vote on Boris Johnson in case the PM should be referred to the privileges committee, which he chairs.Sam Hancock19 April 2022 15:301650378166Full text of speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s statement to MPsFor anyone interested, here is the full text of Lindsay Hoyle’s statement to MPs:“I’ve received letters from a number of honourable and right honourable members, including [Keir Starmer], requesting that I give precedence to a matter of as an issue of privilege. The matter is the prime minister’s statements to the house regarding gatherings held at Downing Street and Whitehall during the lockdown.“The procedure for dealing with such a request is set out in Erskine May at paragraph 15.32. I want to be clear about my role.“Firstly, as members will appreciate, it is not for me to police the ministerial code, I have no jurisdiction over the ministerial code even though a lot of people seem to think I have. It is not the case.“Secondly, it is not for me to determine whether or not the prime minister has committed a contempt. My role is to decide whether there is an arguable case to be examined.“Having considered the issue, having taken advice from the clerks of the House, I’ve decided that this is a matter that I should allow the precedence accorded to the issue of privilege. Therefore [Starmer] may table a motion for debate on Thursday.“Scheduling the debate for Thursday will, I hope, give members an opportunity to consider the motion and the response to it.“The motion will appear on Thursday’s order paper to be taken after any urgent questions or statements. Hopefully there won’t be any.“I hope this is helpful to the house.”Sam Hancock19 April 2022 15:221650377832What is the Commons privileges committee?The House of Commons privileges committee is made up of seven MPs reflecting the make-up of the Commons – meaning at the moment there are four Tories, two from Labour and one from the SNP.Its chair must also be a member of the opposition, and the position is currently held by Labour’s Chris Bryant.The group only considers specific matters to do with the privileges of the Commons – for example, witnesses refusing to appear in front of a select committee, or, as the claim may be in this case against Boris Johnson, ministers misleading the House.But the committee can only swing into action if MPs vote in favour of them conducting an investigation, which is what the vote on Thursday could do.They would then send a report back to the Commons, and their conclusions, or any recommendations, would be voted on by MPs.Sam Hancock19 April 2022 15:171650377392MPs to vote on whether PM ‘committed contempt’ over PartygateFollowing my last post, here’s our deputy poltical editor Rob Merrick with more on Lindsay Hoyle’s announcement: Sam Hancock19 April 2022 15:091650376139Speaker: MPs to vote on Thursday over claims Johnson lied to parliamentCommons speaker Lindsay Hoyle has kicked off this afternoon’s proceedings by announcing that multiple MPs have written to him about the prime minister. This includes Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, he says.Sir Lindsay says it is not for him to police the ministerial code, and that he has no jurisdiction over it, “even though a lot of people think I have”. It is also not his role to consider if the PM has committed a contempt, he tells MPs.But, having taken advice “from the clerks of the House”, he says he has decided to allow this request to take precedence “accorded to the issue of privilege”.As a result, Sir Keir can table a motion for Thursday. “Scheduling the debate for Thursday will, I hope, give members an opportunity to consider the motion and the response to it,” he says, adding:“I hope this is helpful to the House.”The debate will result in a vote, which will ultimately determine whether Boris Johnson should be referred to the Commons privileges committee over making potentially false statements to parliament about Partygate. Sir Lindsay made the announcement ahead of Mr Johnson’s scheduled speech to MPs later this afternoon, at around 4.30pm, where he is due to apologise after being fined by police for breaking his own Covid laws. Sam Hancock19 April 2022 14:481650375501PM wrong to use Brexit to justify ‘delinquent’ Rwanda plan – senior ToryFormer Brexit minister David Davis has accused Boris Johnson of “moral delinquency” over the government’s decision to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.The senior Conservative MP condemned the PM for using Brexit to justify the plan to fly cross-channel migrants to east Africa.It comes after MR Johnson invoked his pledge of “taking back control” of borders, claiming that offshore processing is an “innovative approach made possible by Brexit freedoms”. But Mr Davis said: “The freedoms of Brexit should be about innovations justifying British exceptionalism on the basis of moral leadership – not moral delinquency.”Adam Forrest reports:Sam Hancock19 April 2022 14:381650374600PM will attempt to persuade, but not lecture, India to loosen Russian tiesNo 10 has released some details of Boris Johnson’s upcoming trip to India this week, where he will encourage Narendra Modi to loosen ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.The PM will not seek to “lecture” his Indian counterpart, despite concerns within the government that Mr Modi has not been strong enough in condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Downing Street insisted. It added that Mr Johnson will promise to work with India and other countries in a similar position to reduce their dependence on Russian fossil fuels and defence equipment.At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Johnson told ministers the UK had a “deep and long-lasting partnership” with India which he would seek to expand.The PM will meet Mr Modi in New Delhi on Friday.Ahead of the trip, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow international trade secretary, said Mr Johnson must secure commitments on climate change and labour standards in supply chains. “Otherwise, people will – rightly – see this as a vanity trip to distract from the prime minister’s law-breaking and failure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis,” the Labour frontbencher insisted.Sam Hancock19 April 2022 14:23 More

Only around a quarter of the emergency aid the UK has promised to war-torn Ukraine has been delivered, the government has admitted.Liz Truss has been accused of a “shameful” effort to help a population under Russian assault after acknowledging that only “up to £60m” of £220m is likely to have arrived at the last count.The foreign secretary also confirmed that the package has been swiped from the shrunken international aid budget – which it means it requires cuts to other programmes.The situation was condemned by Sarah Champion, the chair of the Commons international development committee, which received a letter from Ms Truss.“I am shocked and disappointed that less than £60m of the UK’s promised £220m humanitarian aid package for Ukraine has been delivered so far,” Ms Champion said.“I am quite sure the British people, who have given so quickly and generously, will also be astounded at the news.”In her letter, Ms Truss argues the government is “working tirelessly to disburse our funding quickly and effectively” in Ukraine, “and encourage our international partners to do the same.”“The UK has led the way in our response,” she wrote, before adding: “We are on track to disburse up to £60m by the end of March.”The letter was revealed as Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, warned that the Russian offensive to seize eastern Ukraine and the “battle for Donbas” has begun.The World Health Organisation revealed it had reports of 147 attacks on healthcare facilities in the country, which have killed 73 people and injured a further 53.Keir Starmer attacked the “offensive” argument that the Ukraine crisis means Boris Johnson must stay in No 10 despite being fined for breaking Covid rules.In her letter, Ms Truss has written: “We were quick to announce £220m humanitarian funding as part of a wider £394m package of support for Ukraine.”But Ms Champion added: “On 9 March, I urged the prime minister to make sure the UK’s pledges for Ukraine are disbursed quickly. Today, more than a month later, it is shameful that I have to repeat that urgent appeal.“More than 12 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian support, as well as 4 million people who have fled the country. These people need our help now – not at some vague future date.”Some £4.6bn was slashed from the aid budget in 2021 because of the manifesto-busting decision to cut spending from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of national income.Ms Champion called the inclusion of Ukraine aid within that shrivelled pot “disappointing”, adding: “We know that this reduced budget means cruel cuts to aid programmes around the world.” More