UK Politics

Watch live as Boris Johnson faces Keir Starmer at PMQsFollowing his showdown with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs, Boris Johnson is now facing a further grilling from senior MPs on the Commons liaison committee.Earlier, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford accused the Tories of “partying through the cost of living emergency” by attending a “champagne bash” on Tuesday night, days before an energy price hike hits millions of families.The bereaved families of Covid victims chanted “shame on you” as Conservative MPs entered the dinner party at the Park Plaza hotel, which came as the Metropolitan Police confirmed an initial 20 Partygate fines, prompting renewed calls for Boris Johnson to resign.Dominic Raab insisted on Wednesday morning that Mr Johnson acted in “good faith” and did not intentionally mislead parliament when he told MPs no rules had been broken, but suggested he may have said things that “turned out not to be true”.The PM has not yet been informed whether he will receive a fine, his official spokesperson said, but added that they are “committed” to ensuring the public is informed if he does.Show latest update

1648652056Boris Johnson says he hopes Nato support can make Ukraine ‘indigestible’ to PutinBoris Johnson has said he believes that we are evolving towards “a new way of looking at Ukraine” and other former Soviet countries.“Because of the sheer quantity of Nato-compatible materiel and the weapons we’re now supplying, we’re changing the dynamic, and we’re changing the security architecture of the situation bit by bit,” he told MPs on the Commons liaison committee.The prime minister said that he hopes Nato will be able to offer, not an Article 5-style protection to Ukraine, but “a different kind of commitment based on the idea of deterrence by denial so that Ukraine is so fortified, so protected with weaponry – the quills of the porcupine have become so stiffened – so that it is ever-after indigestible to Putin. And that is the path that we are now on.”Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:541648651371Britain looking at ‘going up a gear’ in military assistance to Ukraine, Boris Johnson saysBritain is looking at “going up a gear” in its military assistance to Ukraine, Boris Johnson has told MPs.“We’re certainly looking at going up a gear now in our support for the Ukrainians as they defend themselves,” the prime minister said. “In Mariupol, the issue is that Ukrainian defenders are now pretty much encircled and there’s a humanitarian catastrophe. The question is – can we help the Ukrainians relieve Mariupol, if that were possible.”Asked by Tom Tugendhat about the “civilian assistance” the UK could provide, such as armoured ambulances to help in areas around Kyiv, Mr Johnson said: “It’s a very interesting suggestion. It’s not something that Volodymyr Zelensky has requested so far from me personally, but that doesn’t mean that the Ukrainians haven’t reached out and asked for it through other channels.”Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more on this breaking story:Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:421648650974Boris Johnson says he ‘understands’ Biden’s comments about PutinAsked whether he agrees with comments by Joe Biden suggesting that “the end state should be not only Russians out of Ukraine, but Putin gone from the Kremlin”, Boris Johnson said: “Look, I understand why Joe Biden said that.“And I understand the frustrations that people feel about Putin, and to desire a change of government in itself is not an ignoble thing. I think there are probably plenty of people around this horseshoe who perhaps would like a change in this government and that’s the objective of a lot of democratic politics.“But let’s be absolutely clear – it is not the objective of the UK government.”Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:361648650733Putin is ‘plainly not to be trusted’, Boris Johnson saysMoving on to Ukraine now, Tory MP Tom Tugendhat has asked Boris Johnson whether France’s Emmanuel Macron “has been speaking to Putin for too long?”The prime minister said “I think it’s very important that the unity of the west and the unity of Nato should be prioritised, and that’s what we’re doing. I think the question of negotiation with Vladimir Putin, of the value of those negotiations, is an open one. “My own view is that Putin is plainly not to be trusted.”Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:321648650516Boris Johnson pressed on ‘dreadful optics’ of Tory dinner partyPete Wishart asked Boris Johnson, in light of reports that he had quoted Gloria Gaynor in saying “I will survive” in response to the Partygate scandal, whether he still believed this was the case, adding: “We can always have a duet after this.”The prime minister said he was “always only too happy to have a drink with my friends from the SNP”.Pressed on whether he thought he had “got away with it”, and on the “dreadful optics” of “parading your MPs in front of the Covid bereaved to go and party the day that you received fixed penalty notices”, the PM said: “You are entitled to your characterisation of events. I have no wish to engage with you in dispute about how you choose to see things. That’s not the way I see things.”Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:281648650090Confronted with a list of his own previous and altering positions on the Partygate scandal, Boris Johnson said: “There will come a point when I will be able to talk about the investigation and the conclusions of the investigation, and that is when the investigation has concluded.”Asked if he will resign if he has broken the ministerial code, he says: “With great respect, Pete, I think you’re going to have to hold your horses and wait until the conclusion of the investigation.”Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:211648649894Boris Johnson told he is ‘pretty much toast’ if handed Partygate fineThe liaison committee has started its questioning of Boris Johnson by focusing on the Partygate scandal.Asked by SNP MP Pete Wishart whether he had received one of the 20 fixed penalty notices the Met Police announced last night would be handed out, the PM said: “I’m sure you’d know if I were.”He added that he would not “give a running commentary on an investigation that is underway”.Mr Wishart responded: “Absolutely, prime minister, we’re not expecting you to give a running commentary, quite obviously. But if you are served with one of them, you’re pretty much toast, aren’t you?“No prime minister could possibly survive being found of criminality for the very rules that that prime minister set. You’d be finished if you got one.”Mr Johnson replied: “With deepest respect to you, Pete, I don’t wish to minimise the importance of the issue and your point, but … that would come under the category of running commentary, in my view.”Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:181648648889Grant Shapps tells regulator to disqualify ‘unfit to lead’ P&O Ferries bossGrant Shapps has told MPs that he has urged a government regulator to disqualify P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite on the basis he is “unfit to lead a British company”, Adam Forrest reports.The transport secretary said he had written to the Insolvency Service “conveying my firm belief” that Mr Hebblethwaite should longer be in charge of the under-fire ferry operator.“I have asked them to consider his disqualification,” said Mr Shapps told the Commons as he set out his nine-point plan to crack down on “sharp” practices after P&O sacked 800 workers without warning.Mr Shapps said he asked British ports to immediately refuse access to ferry services paying below the existing minimum wage – saying the government would legislate soon to protect them in doing so.Andy Gregory30 March 2022 15:011648648755The Commons liaison committee is due to start grilling Boris Johnson in just a few moments.The first half of the three-hour session is billed to focus on Ukraine, while the second will see the PM asked about the cost of living crisis.Andy Gregory30 March 2022 14:591648647391We will make points to China over Hong Kong, says PMThe government will continue to make its points to China, the Prime Minister says, following the withdrawal of British judges from Hong Kong’s courts system.At Prime Minister’s Questions, Conservative former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland said: “Today’s announcement by our serving United Kingdom judges of their withdrawal from the Hong Kong court of final appeal is now the right decision and I support it, as does my right honourable friend.“Does he agree with me that on this sad day for the people of Hong Kong and at a time when the international rule of law is under unprecedented challenge, it is for us here in Britain to stand up for what is right, to be resolute in the face of tyranny and to make sure that the international rules-based order is defended at every opportunity?”Boris Johnson replied: “I want to thank the judges in Hong Kong’s court for everything that they have been doing but I think that they have evidently concluded that the constraints of the national security law make it impossible for them to continue to serve in the way that they would want.“I appreciate and I understand their decision.“It is vital that we all continue to make our points to the Chinese as I did in my conversation with President Xi (Jinping) the other day about freedom in Hong Kong and about the treatment of the Uighurs, and we will continue to do that.”Jane Dalton30 March 2022 14:36 More

Boris Johnson has publicly mocked the weight of a Scottish National Party MP for a second time in two months – after having previously being accused of “body-shaming” the same politician.Speaking at prime minister’s questions Mr Johnson said Ian Blackford was “a living testament to the benefits of moderation in all things” The prime minister’s apparent reference to to Mr Blackford figure prompted laughter from his own MPs.At a previous PMQs in January Mr Johnson also used the dispatch box to mock Mr Blackford’s appearance, suggesting that his political rival had been “eating more cake” than he had.Wednesday’s exchange at prime minister’s questions saw the prime minister invoke Mr Blackford’s size in response to the SNP’s Westminster chief’s criticism of the government’s Spring statement.In the earlier comments at the end of January Mr Blackford had referred to the consumption of cake at a lockdown-breaking Downing Street birthday party for Mr Johnson.But the prime minister fired back: “I don’t know who has been eating more cake?”After Mr Johnson’s earlier comments Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s equalities spokesperson, said the PM’s remarks were evidence he is “is completely unfit for office”.“Whether it’s his body-shaming jokes, his racism, his homophobia, or his wider misconduct in public office, Mr Johnson is giving people another telling insight into his odious character,” Ms Oswald had said.Responding to the latest exchange on Wednesday, an SNP spokesperson said: “It’s telling that Boris Johnson was more interested in making these snide remarks rather than being able to answer Ian Blackford’s question on the Tory cost-of-living crisis hammering households and pushing people into poverty. “Despite these personal insults, Ian Blackford and the SNP will keep our focus on what really matters to people right now – the cost-of-living emergency which the Prime Minister and his Chancellor are failing to fix.” More

In a clash between Boris Johnson and his deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, Downing Street has refused to endorse the justice secretary’s admission that laws were broken in the Partygate scandal.Since the announcement on Tuesday of 20 fines for lockdown breaches at Downing Street and Whitehall, No 10 has refused to accept that the Metropolitan Police move meant the law had been broken by members of Mr Johnson’s administration, and that the prime minister himself misled parliament.But Mr Raab this morning broke with the official line, telling a TV interview that the issue of fixed penalty notices “inevitably” meant the law had been breached.The cabinet minister also accepted that Mr Johnson may have said things “that turned out not to be true” when he assured MPs that no rules were broken in No 10,.But he insisted that there was no “intention to mislead”, as the PM had been “updating parliament to the best of his knowledge and understanding” before suggesting he may have said things that “turned out not to be true”.Asked on Sky News if the issuing of a fixed penalty notice meant the law had been broken, Mr Raab said: “Yes, inevitably fixed penalty notices (are issued to) those that have breached the regulations.”Challenged repeatedly over Mr Raab’s comments, Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson refused to say whether the PM agreed with his justice secretary’s interpretation of the police action.“The prime minister has said he respects the position of the Met,” said the spokesperson. “This investigation is ongoing and, as I said yesterday, you will hear more from him at its conclusion.”The spokesperson said that No 10’s position had not changed since Tuesday, when he said that it was “for the Met rather than the prime minister” to make a judgement on whether the law had been broken.“It simply would not be right for me to give the Prime Minister’s view in the midst of an ongoing Met Police investigation,” he said.His comment sparked speculation in Westminster over whether Mr Johnson is wary that public acceptance now that a FPN signifies law-breaking may backfire on him if he is himself later issued with a fine.Earlier, the prime minister faced calls of “resign” as he deflected questions over Partygate in the House of Commons.Sir Keir Starmer told Prime Minister’s Questions that the Met’s decision to issue fines indicated there was “widespread criminality” in Mr Johnson’s Downing Street.“The ministerial code says that ministers who knowingly mislead the House should resign,” said the Labour leader. “Why’s he still here?”Mr Johnson replied: “Of course the Met, the investigators, must get on with their job but in meantime we’re going to get on with our job.”Starmer retorted that the PM was either “trashing the ministerial code or he’s claiming he was repeatedly lied to by his own advisers, that he didn’t know what was going on in his own house and his own office”. Accusing Mr Johnson of believing he can “pass off criminality in his office and ask others to follow the law”, Sir Keir asked: “When is he going to stop taking the British public for fools?”A Labour spokesperson later said that it was “totally untenable” for Downing Street to “refuse to acknowledge what is a statement of fact and law – and that is that the issuing of 20 fixed penalty notices proves that there has been criminality in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street”.Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain, a former police officer, said: “It is completely absurd that Boris Johnson still won’t accept that the lockdown parties in Downing Street broke the law.“This stubborn denial flies in the face of the evidence. It shows that Johnson hasn’t learnt any lessons from this scandal and is still taking the British people for fools.“As a former police officer I know what people do to get out of answering questions.These excuses wouldn’t cut it then and they won’t cut it now with the public.” More

A production of The Phantom of the Opera has been brought in from China to tour the EU because Brexit red tape made it too “expensive” to use a British one.The latest example of the “disastrous” impact of Boris Johnson’s hard Brexit deal on touring creative artists was revealed as MPs investigated the hit to UK “soft power”.Jessica Koravos, president of the Really Useful Group, which promotes Andrew Lloyd Webber’s shows around the world, revealed she was unable to take UK staff across the Channel.It was “more straightforward and less expensive” to bring in a production from China 5,000 miles away, she told the Commons culture committee.“Under current circumstances, I would not dream of sending a UK production into Europe,” Ms Koravos said, pointing to the mountain of paperwork involved.The revelation comes after David Frost, who negotiated the trade deal, admitted he had failed touring artists by inflicting the punishing costs and red tape on them – breaking a pre-Brexit promise.The astonishing U-turn came 14 months after The Independent revealed he rejected an EU offer to rescue visa and permit-free touring deal in the Brexit talks.Julian Knight, the committee’s Tory chair said the inability to tour with a British production of The Phantom of the Opera underlined the “economically disastrous” situation.“That one of the all-time great British musical impresarios would not now dream of taking a production rich in West End heritage into the EU from Britain speaks volumes about the impact of the government’s approach to supporting touring creatives,” he said.A fellow Tory, Steve Brine, warned the “rubber is about to hit the road” in the touring crisis – after it has been masked for more than a year by Covid shutdowns.Ms Koravos warned the hurdles are even more formidable for a theatre production than for a music group, because it is seeking permission for perhaps 100 people.Bringing it from China allowed The Phantom of the Opera to obtain “one permission for the whole production”, instead of having to apply for different visas for different staff, to different EU countries – which was “uneconomic”.Lord Frost had staunchly defended the Christmas 2020 agreement – blamed for making many tours unaffordable – and refused to get involved in attempts to improve it.He has now admitted it was a mistake not to compromise with the EU and has called for a rethink, but the government has yet to agree the position is unsustainable.“There is a whole set of problems here that is making life difficult on both sides: youth mobility, movement of specialists like musicians and artists,” Lord Frost admittedHe argued “these problems can be solved” without crossing the UK’s red line of ending free movement of EU citizens – despite ministers repeatedly insisting that is not possible.And he admitted he had been “too purist”, saying a deal removing “excessive paperwork and process requirements” is needed, adding: “We should try to get to it.” More

Boris Johnson has agreed Vladimir Putin should be sent to “the dustbin of history”, as he warned Nato allies not to “backslide on sanctions” against Russia.The prime minister toughened up his stance on the Russian president’s fate – despite criticism of Joe Biden for appearing to call for regime change in Moscow to end Ukraine’s agony.In the Commons, Mr Johnson was urged to recognise that now is the time “to double down” on military aid to defeat Russia, “whilst consigning Vladimir Putin to the dustbin of history where he belongs”.He told MPs: “I think that is absolutely right,” as he praised the questioner, Tory former minister Johnny Mercer, for his “bravery” in visiting Ukraine.There have been suggestions that some Western countries might ease up on sanctions in return for Russia signing up to a ceasefire – but the prime minister attacked the idea.The West must “make sure there is no backsliding on sanctions by any of our friends and partners around the world,” he argued, calling instead for action to “ratchet up the economic pressure on Putin.“And it is inconceivable that any sanctions could be taken off simply because there is a ceasefire. That would be absolutely unthinkable,” Mr Johnson said.Washington was forced to deny the US president was calling for regime change, after his ad-libbed remarks on a visit to Poland were attacked by the Kremlin and alarmed Nato leaders.The UK government was among those that distanced itself from any suggestion that the West wants Putin to be deposed, insisting that is a matter for the Russian people.At the weekend, the foreign secretary Liz Truss says said could be lifted if Russia withdraws from Ukraine and commits to end aggression.The West should retain the ability to impose “snapback sanctions if there is further aggression in future,” she argued in a newspaper interview.But No 10 declined to endorse the stance and said the cabinet has not discussed the possible circumstances for easing the economic pressure” on Moscow.On Tuesday, Russia announced it is scaling back operations around Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital it expected to conquer, to “increase mutual trust” in the peace talks.But Western governments are sceptical, believing the talks are a smokescreen and that Putin has no real intention of stopping his attempted advance.“Nothing that we have seen so far has demonstrated to us that President Putin and his colleagues are particularly serious about that. It is more of a tactical exercise playing for time,” one official said.Last week, Moscow said it is focusing its efforts on “liberating” the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, currently part-held by pro-Russian separatists.“Even if they do do what they say they are going to do that is not in any shape or form a cessation of hostilities,” the official added. More

Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak have an “utterly cynical” plan to delay tax cuts until closer to the 2024 general election campaign, the Labour leader has claimed.Sir Keir Starmer said they had imposed the highest tax burden for 70 years, despite hard-pressed families struggling to pay their bills during the current cost of living crisis.“While they are counting every penny, the prime minister is hitting them with higher taxes,” Starmer said at PMQs. “But in 2024 – when there just so happens to be a general election – they will introduce a small tax cut.”Sir Keir added: “It’s putting the Tory re-election campaign over and above helping people pay their bills. How did he find a chancellor as utterly cynical as he is?”Mr Johnson said the chancellor had made “tough decisions” with his Spring Statement – and claimed recent changes amounted to the “biggest tax cut for 25 years”.The PM also said the government was “getting on with reducing the tax burden wherever we can”, and claimed that he and the chancellor were “tax-cutting Conservatives”.The Labour leader responded by pointing to an income “stealth tax”, the national insurance hike and tuition fee rise. “Cut the nonsense and treat the British people with a bit of respect.”Sir Keir again called for a windfall tax on the oil and gas companies’ record profits, accusing Mr Johnson of “shielding” the fossil fuel giants from helping families with rising energy bills.“They’re the party of excess – oil and gas profits – we’re the party of working people,” said the Labour leader.Mr Johnson said Britain’s oil and gas companies are now investing large sums in helping ensure “that we have long-term energy supplies”.Sir Keir also challenged the PM over the 20 fines issued by Metropolitan Police detectives investigating the Partygate scandal – asking him to explained his previous claims that “all guidance had been followed”.“The ministerial code says ministers who knowingly mislead the House should resign. Why is he still here?” the Labour leader asked.Sir Keir added: “There are only two possible explanations – either he’s trashing the ministerial code or he’s claiming he was repeatedly lied to by his own advisers.”“He really does think it’s one rule for him and another for everyone else – that he can pass off criminality in his office and ask others to follow the law.”Mr Johnson responded: “We do expect some consistency from this human weathervane. It was only a week or so ago that I shouldn’t resign. What is his position? The investigators must get on with their job, and they should let them.”Mr Johnson and his ministers were accused of “partying through the cost of living emergency” by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford.The senior SNP figure that while “millions of families will have been desperately trying to figure out how they can possibly afford the £700 energy price hike … Tory MPs were gathering across the street for a champagne bash in the Park Plaza”.Tory ministers and backbenchers were booed and heckled by bereaved families of Covid victims as they attended a dinner held by the prime minister at the Park Plaza on Tuesday night.Boris Johnson told truth about Partygate ‘to best of his ability’, says deputy PMEarlier on Wednesday, Dominic Raab denied that Mr Johnson deliberately misled parliament over government gatherings – saying he had been telling the truth “to the best of his ability”.The deputy prime minister also conceded that government ministers will “inevitably” have to reveal any fines they receive over breaches of Covid laws.No 10 has only promised to confirm if Mr Johnson or his cabinet secretary Simon Case are given a fixed penalty notice after Scotland Yard said it was issuing the first 20 fines over Partygate. More

Members of Portugal’s center-left Socialist Party are set to be sworn into office Wednesday for the party’s third straight term in government as the country prepares to start spending some 45 billion euros ($50 billion) in European Union aid to help fire up one of the bloc’s weakest economies.The Socialists captured 120 seats in the 230-seat parliament in a landslide January election, opening a path for far-reaching reforms long postponed by political quarreling. The main opposition center-right Social Democratic Party has 77 seats.Prime Minister António Costa, the Socialist Party leader who has led the country since 2015, promised an economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic but now faces headwinds stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Portugal, a country of around 10.3 million people, has for more than two decades been marked by low growth, low productivity and low salaries.New challenges include a steep rise in the cost of living, including higher electricity and gas prices for households and businesses, in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.Consumer confidence posted its second sharpest drop on record in March, the national statistics agency reported Wednesday. It also said that rental prices for accommodation jumped by more than 8% at the end of last year.Despite the promise of more public spending, the incoming finance minister, Fernando Medina, said that keeping a firm lid on the national debt is a “fundamental priority” for the new government, adding that the country’s international credibility depended on it.However, due to delays in holding the general election and vote-counting, the new parliament sworn in Tuesday is unlikely to pass the 2022 state budget before the end of June due to bureaucratic procedures.The EU aid expected in coming years includes 15.3 billion euros ($17 billion) in immediate pandemic-recovery aid and almost 30 billion euros ($33.4 billion) as part of EU subsidies through 2027. More

Boris Johnson joked about Vladimir Putin, his Partygate scandal troubles and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s approach to transgender rights at a dinner for Conservative MPs.The prime minister is said to have made light of the Russian leader’s political position and his own struggles to contain a backbench Tory rebellion over parties while speaking at the Park Plaza hotel.“One of reasons that Putin is deluded and isolated is because he has no cabinet of equals, no 1922 committee and nobody to write 54 letters to Sir Graham Brady,” Mr Johnson quipped, according to Politico.Mr Johnson also joked about Sir Keir’s refusal to answer questions on whether a woman can have a penis. “Good evening ladies and gentleman – or as Keir Starmer would put it, people who are assigned female or male at birth.”The Labour leader said too many people were intolerant of others when discussing the issue on LBC earlier this week. Asked if a woman can have a penis, Sir Keir said: “I don’t think that discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run.”It comes as Conservative MP Jamie Wallis announced he has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. In a highly personal statement on Twitter, the Bridgend MP said he was trans, “or to be more accurate, I want to be”.Mr Johnson later issued a statement praising the Tory MP for bravery in coming out as trans and sharing a “very intimate” story “which will undoubtedly support others”.The prime minister said: “The Conservative Party I lead will always give you, and everyone else, the love and support you need to be yourself.”Meanwhile, Tory ministers were heckled by bereaved families of Covid victims as they attended a dinner held by the prime minister at the Park Plaza on Tuesday night.Shouts of “Shame on You” and “Off to another party are we?” were directed at cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg as they turned up to the venue, where a penthouse costs up to £653 a night. More