UK Politics

This was the week British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hoped to get a grip on his government after weeks of scandal. By Friday, he was struggling to hang on after a scathing report on lockdown-breaching parties and the departure of several top aides.Johnson was rocked Thursday by the resignation of his policy chief, Munira Mirza a trusted adviser who worked with him for more than a decade. Mirza stood by the prime minister amid “partygate” revelations that Johnson and his staff broke the rules they had imposed on the country. But she said Johnson’s “scurrilous accusation” this week that an opposition leader had failed to stop a notorious pedophile was the final straw.“This was not the normal cut-and-thrust of politics; it was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse,” Mirza wrote in a resignation letter, which was published by The Spectator magazine.After Mirza quit, Johnson’s office announced the departure of three more top staffers: chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, communications director Jack Doyle and principal private secretary Martin Reynolds. Elena Narozanski, who worked in Murza’s policy unit, resigned Friday.Conservative lawmakers loyal to Johnson depicted the departures as part of a planned overhaul to restore order to his 10 Downing Street office.“The prime minister was absolutely clear on Monday that there would be changes at the top of No. 10 and that is what he has delivered,” Energy Minister Greg Hands said. “This is the prime minister taking charge.”Others weren’t so sure. The prime minister’s grip on power has been shaken by public anger at revelations that his staff held “bring your own booze” office parties, birthday celebrations and “wine time Fridays” at times in 2020 and 2021 while millions in Britain were barred from meeting with friends and family because of COVID-19 restrictions.A total of 16 parties have been investigated by a senior civil servant, Sue Gray with a dozen of them also under investigation by the Metropolitan Police.On Monday, Gray released an interim report looking at the four parties police are not probing. She found that “failures of leadership and judgment” allowed events to occur that “should not have been allowed to take place” and described a Downing Street operation marked by excessive drinking and dysfunctional dynamics.Johnson apologized and pledged to fix the problems in his office, though he didn’t admit personal wrongdoing.Rosenfield, Doyle and especially Reynolds — who sent 100 government staff an invitation to a BYOB garden party in May 2020 — were always likely to be ousted as part of Johnson’s post-“partygate” shakeup. But Mirza’s departure was a major blow. In her resignation letter, she said Johnson had not heeded her advice to apologize for accusing Labour Party leader Keir Starmer in the House of Commons on Monday of “failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile” when Starmer was the U.K.’s director of public prosecutions. Savile was a long-time presenter of youth television shows who was exposed after his death in 2011 as a sexual predator who had abused hundreds of children.Starmer said the accusation was “a ridiculous slur peddled by right-wing trolls.” A 2013 report found that Starmer hadn’t been involved in decisions about whether Savile should be prosecuted.Some Conservatives also recoiled at the use of Savile in a political attack. In her resignation letter, Mirza said Johnson had let himself down “by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition.”The Downing Street exodus is sending further shockwaves through Conservative lawmakers as they mull whether to seek a no-confidence vote in the leader who won them a big parliamentary majority just over two years ago. Under party rules, such a vote is triggered if 15% of party lawmakers — currently 54 people — write letters calling for one. If Johnson lost such a vote, he would be replaced as party leader and prime minister.Only about a dozen Conservative legislators have publicly called for Johnson to quit, though the number who have written letters may be higher. Many others are biding their time, waiting to see whether police censure the prime minister and what Gray will say in her final report, due once the criminal investigation is over.Huw Merriman a moderate Conservative lawmaker, said the prime minister had to shape up or ship out.“My constituents are upset,” he told the BBC. “I feel like we’ve lost face and public trust with them. We’ve got to gain that back.” More

Conservative MPs have been mocked for tweeting bizarre identikit messages in support of Boris Johnson – apparently under orders from their party.The almost identical posts were all sent just before 8.30pm on Thursday night as the prime minister faced an avalanche of resignations from Downing Street.The messages all claimed that the resignations were good news for the PM because he had promised to overhaul his No 10 operation and replace staff.One such message was posted by Joy Morrissey, Tory MP for Beaconsfield, who said: “The PM promised changes to the No10 operation earlier this week, glad to see him delivering tonight.”But she was swiftly followed three minutes later by Lichfield MP, Michael Fabricant, who posted: “The PM promised changes to the No10 operation at the 1922 [committee] on Monday, and it’s good to see action is now swiftly being taken.”Stuart Anderson, a Wolverhampton Tory had posted just minutes before: “On Monday Boris Johnson promised MPs change. Tonight we see that change starting to happen and I welcome this quick action by the prime minister.”And Darlington MP Peter Gibson said: “Great to see the change that Boris Johnson promised in Downing Street being delivered.”The thoughts were also echoed in strikingly similar terms at the same time by Chris Clarkson, MP for Heywood and Middleton, who said: “Earlier this week the PM promised the parliamentary party swift and decisive change at No.10 to get us back on course and focused on people’s priorities – pleased to see true to his word he’s delivering.” Other Tory MPs also joined in posting very similar messages.Responding to the posts, Louise Haigh, a Labour MP tweeted sardonically: “This is extremely convincing.”Despite the Tory MPs’ claims otherwise, the most explosive departure from No 10 on Thursday did not appear to be on the orders of Mr Johnson. Policy chief Munira Mirza, who has worked with the prime minister since he was Mayor of London, quit dramatically on Thursday afternoon, citing the PM’s discredited attempt to try and link Keir Starmer to notorious sex offender Jimmy Savile.Other departures includes Jack Doyle, the PM’s director of communications, Martin Reynolds, his principal private secretary, and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield. The latter three departures were reportedly part of a clearout of senior Downing Street staff designed to help Johnson avoid personal blame for the string of 12 allegedly lockdown-breaching social events currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police. Many Tory MPs have made a shake-up of senior personnel at No 10 a key demand if they are to hold back from ousting Mr Johnson in a vote of no confidence. In his partygate apology earlier this week, he promised to reshape the operation as an Office of the Prime Minister under a civil service permanent secretary. More

Government minister Greg Hands has attempted to claim the resignations of key advisers in Boris Johnson’s inner circle demonstrates the prime minister is “taking charge”.The remarks — echoed by some Tory MPs loyal to the prime minister on social media — follow an evening of turmoil at the top of government, with the departure of No 10’s director and of communications, and head of policy.The first and perhaps most damaging resignation came from Mr Johnson’s longstanding ally of 14 years, Munira Mirza, who quit in protest at his “scurrilous” smear linking Sir Keir Starmer with the paedophile Jimmy Saville.Her departure was later followed by the resignations of Jack Doyle, the No 10 spin doctor, Martin Reynolds, the prime minister’s principal private secretary, and Dan Rosenfiled, chief-of-staff, amid the fallout of allegations of parties in government buildings during strict Covid restrictions.But speaking to Sky News, the energy minister Mr Hands insisted the prime minister made clear on Monday — following the publication of Whitehall mandarin Sue Gray’s “update” into rule-busting event in No 10 — that “there would be changes at the top” of the Downing Street operation.“Resignations have been made, resignations have been accepted,” he said. “These are all people who have done fantastic service to the country throughout the pandemic in almost all of those cases and we should be thankful to them for their service.“But the prime minister was absolutely clear on Monday that there would be changes at the top in No 10 and that is what he’s delivered.”“This is about the prime minister saying the Sue Gray report update said that their were failings at the top of the operation. This is the prime minister taking charge.”However, on Ms Mirza’s resignation, he admitted the move was “a little bit different”, saying: “She made clear her reasons for her resignation. The prime minister equally clear that he disagreed with her. The prime minister was also clear on Wednesday that he was referring back to the public apology made by Sir Keir Starmer in 2013.“These are all events that happened many, many years ago. The time is now to move on.”His comments came after a series of Tory backbenchers — loyal to Mr Johnson — defended the prime minister after an evening of chaos, applauding him for “taking swift action” and “decisive change” at the top of No 10.Their enthusiasm was not shared by the Conservative grandee and former foreign secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who told BBC Newsnight that the decision of Ms Mirza to quit — in protest at his Jimmy Savile comments — showed the prime minister had become “toxic”.“With the best will in the world, one has to say this is not so much the end of the beginning but it is the beginning of the end,” he said.The Tory MP Huw Merriam also said he was “deeply troubled” by recent events, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We all know that if the prime minister doesn’t ship up, then they have to shape out [sic], and that’s exactly what happened when this prime minister took over.“We know how it works. I’m sure the prime minister will be focused now on getting on with the job in hand, focusing on policy and regaining the public’s trust.” More

Boris Johnson has reportedly suffered the resignation of a fifth aide from his No 10 operation following an evening of turmoil at the top of government.According to Conservative Home, Elena Narozanski, a former adviser to the cabinet minister Michael Gove and Theresa May during her tenure as home secretary, quit her role in the Downing Street policy unit.It comes after Mr Johnson was dealt a severe blow on Thursday, with his longstanding ally and head of policy, Munira Mirza, handing in her resignation in protest at his “scurrilous” smear against Sir Keir Starmer.In her stinging letter to the prime minister, she said there was “no fair or reasonable basis” for his attack on the Labour leader, after he attempted to link Sir Keir to the failure to prosecute the paedophile Jimmy Savile.The chancellor, Rishi Sunak – tipped as Mr Johnson’s most likely successor if he is forced from office – distanced himself from the PM, telling reporters: “Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it.”Ms Mirza’s departure was followed by the resignations of the No 10 director of communications, the prime minister’s chief-of-staff, and his principal private secretary amid the fallout from parties held during Covid restrictions.Reports of Ms Narozanski’s resignation came just moments after a government minister attempted to claim the exodus of key advisers demonstrated Mr Johnson was “taking charge” of his faltering Downing Street operation.Downplaying the resignations, Greg Hands, the energy ministers, said the prime minister had promised MPs “there would be changes” at the top of government during a Commons statement on Monday.“Resignations have been made, resignations have been accepted,” he said. “This is about the prime minister saying the Sue Gray report update said their were failings at the top of the operation. This is the prime minister taking charge”.However, Nikki da Costa, who previously worked in Mr Johnson’s administration as director of legislative affairs, posted on social media: “It has been said that the 4 departures from Number 10 is ‘taking charge’.“First, the clear signs are that this has not happened in a controlled fashion, and was brought forward by Munira’s principled resignation”. More

Boris Johnson and Priti Patel have been criticised by the statistics watchdog for “misleading” claims that crime has fallen under their leadership.The Liberal Democrats urged the prime minister to return to the House of Commons “to apologise for his latest lie and set the record straight”, following the “damning verdict” from the UK Statistics Authority, which had been investigating the claims.While addressing Sue Gray’s report into No 10 parties in a bruising Commons session earlier this week, the prime minister claimed the government had “been cutting crime by 14 per cent”.And in a press release last week, the Home Office claimed that new Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed “crime continues to fall under this government”, and quoted Ms Patel as saying this demonstrated the government’s approach “is working”.But in fact, the ONS found that overall crime levels had actually increased by 14 per cent. The decrease by the same amount touted by Mr Johnson was only true when excluding fraud and computer misuse, said the watchdog’s chair, Sir David Norgrove.In a letter on Thursday to Alistair Carmichael – the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman who raised the issue – Sir David said he agreed that ONS crime data “must be used accurately, and not misrepresented”.“In this case, the Home Office news release presented the latest figures in a misleading way,” Sir David wrote.“Likewise, the prime minister referred to a 14 per cent reduction in crime, which is the change between the year ending September 2019 and the year ending September 2021. This figure also excludes fraud and computer misuse, though the prime minister did not make that clear.”The UK Statistics Authority has written to the Home Office and to the offices of Mr Johnson and Ms Patel “to draw their attention to this exchange”, Sir David said.Mr Carmichael called the watchdog’s verdict “damning”, saying: “Yet more distortions from Boris Johnson and his Cabinet to play down the extent of crime.“When the government’s record on crime is so bad that both the prime minister and home secretary feel the need to fiddle the figures, it is clear we need a new approach. The prime minister must come before parliament to apologise for his latest lie and set the record straight.”Reacting to the PM’s comments in parliament on Monday, Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “To say things that are contradicted by the facts in the middle of a statement that is all about the lack of integrity and honesty in Number 10 is truly shameful. “It shows, yet again, that no one can trust anything that Boris Johnson says.”In the same Commons session, SNP leader Ian Blackford was ejected from the House after refusing to withdraw his allegation that Mr Johnson had “wilfully, wilfully misled parliament” during the Partygate saga.The following day, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle rebuked the prime minister over his discredited claim that Sir Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile, saying he was “far from satisfied the comments in question were appropriate”. Mr Johnson’s policy chief – and ally of 14 years – Munira Mirza criticised the PM’s “scurrilous” jibe as she resigned in protest on Friday, shortly after the prime minister retracted his remarks. He has so far failed to apologise.The Cabinet Office’s ministerial code of conduct states that it is of “paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the prime minister”.It adds: “Ministers need to be mindful of the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice which defines good practice in relation to official statistics, observance of which is a statutory requirement on all organisations that produce National Statistics in accordance with the provisions of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.”The watchdog works to “promote and safeguard official statistics to serve the public good”, including “regulating the quality and publicly challenging the misuse of statistics”. It can intervene if it considers a politician or government department has misused or misrepresented figures.While there was a fall in most crimes during coronavirus lockdowns, some are now reaching or exceeding pre-pandemic levels – with rises in some offences like fraud offsetting reductions seen elsewhere, the ONS said last week.The figures also showed police recorded the highest number of rapes and sexual offences in a 12-month period, while separate Home Office data detailed how the proportion of suspects being taken to court has fallen to a new record low and remains the lowest for rape cases.Additional reporting by PA More

Boris Johnson’s leadership has been plunged deeper into crisis by the resignation of four top aides within a few hours – including an ally of 14 years who quit in protest at his “scurrilous” smear linking Sir Keir Starmer with the paedophile Jimmy Savile.In a scathing resignation letter, policy chief Munira Mirza said there was “no fair or reasonable basis” for Monday’s attack and made clear that Mr Johnson had resisted pleas from advisers to apologise.The chancellor, Rishi Sunak – tipped as Mr Johnson’s most likely successor if he is forced from office – distanced himself from the PM, telling reporters: “Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it.”And Mr Johnson’s former chief aide turned bitter enemy Dominic Cummings gleefully declared Ms Mirza’s departure “an unmistakeable signal the bunker is collapsing and this PM is finished”.Just three hours after Ms Mirza’s bombshell letter dropped, the Downing Street director of communications, Jack Doyle, announced to No 10 staff that he too was leaving.Mr Doyle – who had been named in the “partygate” scandal for handing out awards at a 2020 Christmas drinks event in No 10 – insisted his departure was not linked to Ms Mirza’s walkout, saying it had always been his plan to go at this point and recent weeks had taken “a terrible toll” on his family life.One Downing Street staffer told The Independent: “I think he’d wanted to leave for some time and he had been under huge pressure. He didn’t get everything right, but he tried his best for the PM.”Soon afterwards, more resignations were announced – this time involving Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, who penned the email inviting No 10 staff to a “bring your own booze” party during lockdown, and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield.Unlike Ms Mirza’s, these resignations appeared to be part of a planned clearout of senior Downing Street staff designed to help Johnson avoid personal blame for the string of 12 allegedly lockdown-breaching social events currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police. Both will remain in their roles until successors are appointed.Many Tory MPs have made a shake-up of senior personnel at No 10 a key demand if they are to hold back from ousting Mr Johnson in a vote of no confidence. In his partygate apology earlier this week, he promised to reshape the operation as an Office of the Prime Minister under a civil service permanent secretary.The insider said the atmosphere at No 10 had been “agonising” as officials wait for the outcome of the police investigation into 12 allegedly lockdown-breaching parties as well as the publication of the full Sue Gray report.“The atmosphere is terrible,” said the staffer. “And several people have been horrified by the Savile comment and the failure to apologise. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more resignations soon. People are exhausted.”The walkouts came on a fraught day for Mr Johnson’s administration, with power-sharing arrangements in Northern Ireland threatened by the resignation of the DUP first minister, Paul Givan, in protest over the impact of the protocol negotiated by the PM as part of his Brexit deal.And the cost-of-living crisis facing millions of families across the UK was brought starkly home by a £693-a-year hike in the cap on domestic energy bills, forcing Mr Sunak to offer a package of assistance worth up to £350.It is understood that advisers urged Mr Johnson not to make the claim in the House of Commons debate on Monday that Sir Keir, when he was the director of public prosecutions, “spent more time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, as far as I can see”.It was seen as a classic “dead cat” move of the type deployed repeatedly by Mr Johnson in order to distract attention away from his own difficulties.But it horrified many Tory MPs, and was branded “disgraceful” and “Trumpian” by the former home secretary Amber Rudd.After standing by the unfounded allegation in a newspaper interview and at prime minister’s questions in the Commons – when Starmer accused him of “parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists” – Mr Johnson finally backed down on Thursday, telling reporters: “I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions.”But Ms Mirza’s letter made clear that aides had urged him to go much further and apologise to the Labour leader, who was cleared of any responsibility for decisions relating to Savile in an official QC-led report more than a decade ago.In her resignation letter, obtained by The Spectator magazine, she condemned the PM’s “inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse”.“I believe it was wrong for you to imply this week that Keir Starmer was personally responsible for allowing Jimmy Savile to escape justice,” she said.“There was no fair or reasonable basis for that assertion. This was not the usual cut and thrust of politics.”And she added: “You tried to clarify your position today but, despite my urging, you did not apologise for the misleading impression you gave.“You are a better man than many of your detractors will ever understand which is why it is so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition.”Confronted with Ms Mirza’s comments in an interview with 5News during a trip to the northwest to publicise his “levelling up” strategy, Mr Johnson said: “I don’t agree with that.” He again refused to apologise.Mr Sunak found himself assailed by questions about the Savile slur at a Downing Street press conference to promote his assistance for families hit by soaring energy bills.“Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it, and I’m glad the prime minister clarified what he meant,” said the chancellor.But he insisted he continues to back the PM, saying: “He has my support and I’m glad that he is doing what he is doing.”Sunak’s deputy at the Treasury, chief secretary Simon Clarke, came to the PM’s defence, telling BBC2’s Newsnight: “I have the highest regard for the chancellor … but it is my view that it was a perfectly reasonable remark for the PM to have made.”But Mr Clarke did not attempt to hide the stress recent events were inflicting within government, telling Channel 4 News: “I think the last days of Rome were more fun.” However, the Tory mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, refused to give Mr Johnson his backing over the partygate scandal.He told the Birmingham Post: “What he’s done, very clearly, is wrong. It’s bad by any measure. And I find it very hard to understand how on earth it could have happened.”The blow of Ms Mirza’s departure is all the more devastating for Mr Johnson because she was one of few remaining members of his inner circle to have stuck with him through his time as mayor of London and survived recent years’ vicious infighting at No 10. He once hailed her as one of the five women who have most inspired him.Nikki da Costa, a former Downing Street director of legislative affairs, said: “Munira was the very best of No10 – this is a huge loss.”Downing Street announced the appointment of the MP Andrew Griffith as her replacement, saying: “We are very sorry Munira has left No 10 and are grateful for her service and contribution to government.” More