UK Politics

Conservative MP Anthony Mangnall has accused Boris Johnson of “mistruths” as he became one of dozen MPs to have called on the prime minister to resign.The MP for Totnes and South Devon said he had submitted a letter of no-confidence to the chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers.“Standards in public life matter. At this time I can no longer support the PM,” Mr Mangnall tweeted on Wednesday. “His actions and mistruths are overshadowing the extraordinary work of so many excellent ministers and colleagues.”The backbencher was swiftly followed by Gary Streeter, Tory MP for South West Devon, who also announced he had sent in his letter on no-confidence.He wrote on Facebook: “I cannot reconcile the pain and sacrifice of the vast majority of the British public during lockdown with the attitude and activities of those working in Downing Street.”It follows ex-minister Tobias Ellwood’s announcement earlier on Wednesday that he was sending a letter of no-confidence to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady.Though many Tory MPs have said they are waiting for Scotland Yard to conclude its probe into lockdown gatherings at Downing Street and Whitehall, Mr Ellwood said it is “just horrible” for Tory MPs to have to defend the partygate scandal in public.He suggested Mr Johnson should “take a grip” of the situation and now call a vote of confidence in himself – warning that “this is all only going one way and will invariably slide towards a very ugly place”.A dozen Conservative MPs have said they have submitted letters to the 1922 Committee or publicly called on Mr Johnson to quit.However, 54 letters are needed to trigger a confidence vote, and a majority of Tory MPs (around 180) must vote against him before a leadership contest takes place to decide on his replacement.Peter Aldous, Tory MP for Suffolk, said on Tuesday that after “a great deal of soul-searching” he had decided that “the prime minister should resign”.Other Tory MPs to have publicly called on the PM to go include former Brexit secretary David Davis, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, Andrew Bridgen and Sir Roger Gale.Backbenchers are uneasy about the failure of the Sue Gray “update” report to draw a line under partygate, and there is growing frustration over Mr Johnson’s refused to retract his false claim that Sir Keir Starmer was behind the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.Senior Tory MP Julian Smith is among the backbenchers to have attacked both the PM’s “smear” and deputy PM Dominic Raab’ claim that the remarks were part of the normal “cut and thrust” of the Commons.Tory Simon Hoare MP said prior to PMQs that the “false allegation should be withdrawn”.Mr Johnson refused to retract his false claim at PMQs, as the Labour leader accused him of “parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try and score cheap political points”.Nicola Sturgeon likened Mr Johnson to Donald Trump and accused him of spreading “fake news” over comments made about Sir Keir and the Savile case. More

The prime minister lives to fight another day, as Sue Gray, the civil servant who investigated alleged lockdown-busting parties, published an “update” stripped of detail instead of her full report. She had to take out anything in her report that might interfere with the Metropolitan Police investigation into whether the law was broken.That means that, although Gray was critical in general terms of the way public servants in Downing Street seemed to think the coronavirus rules didn’t apply to them, the question of whether Boris Johnson himself broke the law still hangs over him.The prime minister himself admits that the “work event” in the garden of Downing Street during the first lockdown should not have gone ahead, even if he thought at the time it was technically allowed under the guidelines. But most voters seem to have made up their mind that the prime minister broke the guidelines and was responsible for a culture at the heart of government that was cavalier about the rules.Most voters tell opinion pollsters that Johnson should resign, but it is up to Conservative MPs to decide the prime minister’s fate, and despite a trickle of rebels urging him to go, the 54 MPs needed to trigger a vote of no confidence in his leadership have failed to materialise.The prime minister must feel that he is wading through treacle, as the questions about the police investigation are going to follow him persistently until it is resolved. At Prime Minister’s Questions Keir Starmer repeatedly mocked Johnson, saying that his bluster “wasn’t going to work with the police” and that he “may want to sharpen how he answers questions under interview”.Other MPs asked Johnson if he was at the celebration of Dominic Cummings’s departure in his own flat, and if he would resign if he received a fixed penalty notice. There are weeks and months of this to go, constantly reminding the public of their anger at Johnson’s apparent rule-breaking at a time when he was asking them to make sacrifices.I shall be here to answer your questions on Thursday – I may not know what is going to happen next, or when, but at least I understand the rules of Conservative leadership elections better than some Tory MPs themselves. Some of them are talking about Johnson fighting on even if he loses a vote of confidence, when the rules clearly state that a defeated leader cannot put their name forward for re-election.If you have a question about what still looks like the endgame for Boris Johnson, submit it now, or when I join you live at 1pm on Thursday 3 February for an “Ask Me Anything” event.To get involved all you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments below.If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question. Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them. Then join us live on this page at 1pm as I tackle as many questions as I can. More

Sexist, racist and homophobic messages sent by a group of Metropolitan Police officers show a “failure of leadership”, the home secretary has said.Priti Patel said the “sickening” exchanges on WhatsApp and Facebook – which included jokes about rape, domestic violence and killing Black children – were not “one-off, isolated incidences” and reflected “problems with the culture” within the force.“We have seen now too, too many times, too many instances where, in policing, we just see the most appalling behaviours, the most appalling conduct,” she told the Commons home affairs committee. “I also think it shows a failure of leadership in some quarters.”The home secretary said she confidence in Met boss Dame Cressida Dick – but that “change is required”.Her comments came after highly-offensive language used by officers from a now disbanded team based in Westminster, primarily at Charing Cross Police station, was exposed after whistleblowers contacted the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).The watchdog took the unusual step of publishing the messages in full on Tuesday, despite many of them being too offensive to print as part of mainstream news coverage, because it said it was important for the public to know.Asked whether she believed police forces were “institutionally misogynistic”, Ms Patel told the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday: “There are problems with the culture, and some aspects of the culture, within the Metropolitan Police.“I do think there are some very, very serious and significant matters that need, not just following up, but further investigation.“So you’ve asked me the question about institutional misogyny within policing. There are cultural issues there. What we saw in the IOPC report absolutely points to, I’m not even going to say just misogynistic behaviours, I think it’s cultural and attitudinal.”Asked about Ms Dick, she added: “I’ve always said that I’m confident in her and her work, but that also means that change is required.“There are lots of issues, it’s not straightforward with the Met, and there are lots of issues there where we need to see major, major significant improvements: culture, delivery, accountability and protecting the streets.”Two inquiries are under way looking at the culture within the Met – one by Baroness Casey that was organised by the force itself, and a Home Office probe headed by Dame Elish Angiolini that is looking at the failures behind the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer.Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the IOPC’s report had uncovered “truly appalling behaviour” and urged the Home Office to address issues in policing. More

Boris Johnson blamed Dominic Cummings for things as a means of avoiding arguments with his wife, the PM’s former advisor has claimed.Mr Cummings says he became aware that the prime minister was telling Carrie Johnson he was responsible things he was not – and that this soured the relationship between the PM’s wife and his chief of staff.The pair are thought to have been at odds when Mr Cummings worked for the prime minister, with regular negative briefings to Conservative-supporting newspapers presumed to have come from both sides.”He lied to her about a lot of things and blamed me,” Mr Cummings said.”A small example, I was told one day ‘Carrie’s enraged you’ve blocked her from doing an interview.””Eh, what interview, I haven’t heard about any interview, I haven’t blocked any interview.”Mr Cummings said he spoke to Mr Johnson alone and asked about the situation and that Mr Johnson gave him “the guilty face and the smile”. The prime minister is said to have replied “Oh well I might have said something that gave her that impression, err, sorry matey”. Mr Cummings, who was recounting his version of events in a question and answer session on his blog, said the episodes were “constant”.He added: “While it’s true that I think Carrie has been a dreadful influence, and it was incredibly foolish of her to start a briefing war with me and others, it’s also only fair to point out that he lies to her all the time about stuff and she’s often operating on duff information herself. This is obviously an incredibly toxic combination.”Ms Johnson, who was known as Carrie Symonds before she married the PM, is regarded in Westminster as a close confidant of the prime minister.Mr Cummings said that she was previously a “strong supporter” of bringing Mr Cummings into Downing Street but that she wanted to “take over as the main influence”. Since he left Downing Street Mr Cummings has waged a guerrilla media war against Mr Johnson’s administration. The pair worked together on the Vote Leave Brexit campaign, which Mr Johnson supported and Mr Cummings ran. More

Boris Johnson caused anger this week by repeating a discredited claim linking Keir Starmer with Jimmy Savile.While he was on the ropes over No 10 parties, the prime minister told parliament that the Labour leader had failed to prosecute the sex offender when he ran the Crown Prosecution Service.But there is no evidence to support the claim. The PM’s words was branded “a disgrace to parliament and office of prime minister” by Nazir Afzal, a former chief Crown prosecutor for the North West on Monday.“It’s not true. I was there. Keir Starmer had nothing to do with the decisions taken. On the contrary, He supported me in bringing hundreds of child sex abusers to justice,” Mr Afzal said in a post on social media.Many of Mr Johnson’s own MPs have also distanced themselves from the prime minister and said he should retract his comments.Tory MP Julian Smith said on Tuesday that the PM’s “smear” against the opposition leader was “wrong and cannot be defended”, urging the prime minister to withdraw it.He was joined overnight by veteran Tory Bob Neill, chair of the Commons Justice committee. Sir Bob said: “This suggestion is baseless and unworthy, even in the cut and thrust of political debate.“There are plenty of reasons to attack Keith Starmer and Labour on their policies but not a false premise. Let’s at least fight out politics cleanly.” Other Tories have said the PM does not have to apologise, though they have not repeated the remark outside the chamber. Within parliament MPs are protected from libel and defamation law.Where did this claim originate? The answer is complicated. The allegation has circulated online since Sir Keir entered frontline politics.One graphic that has done the rounds on Facebook and WhatsApp dubs Sir Keir “the man who failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile in 2009 in spite of evidence, threw out the case & then earned a knighthood”. The false graphic dates from 2020 when Sir Keir became Labour leader.According to research by the Guardian, the first popular Facebook post containing the claim was shared by a page called Recusant Nine, whose post was shared 2,400 times. The page shares many posts relating to historic child sexual abuse and regularly makes unproven claims about the Labour party. The false claim was picked up by pro-Brexit Facebook groups and has made its way into the more extreme fringes of the right.One early significant point where the claim was referenced by a mainstream right-wing publisher was in a January 2018 post by the Guido Fawkes blog, published when Sir Keir was shadow Brexit secretary under Jeremy Corbyn.The blog, which is read by many MPs and Westminster insiders, claimed the Savile episode was part of “Starmer’s litany of failure”. It says he “spent four years failing to prosecute 23 Sun journalists” while he “failed to build a case against Jimmy Savile”. The framing is strikingly similar to that of the prime minister, who also referenced the prosecution of journalists in his remarks to the Commons. The deployment of the remark was pre-planned by the prime minister. The Financial Times reports that Mr Johnson was “strongly advised” not to use the line by some of his advisors in No 10, but they said: “He doesn’t listen to advice.”It could be that the PM wanted to use the claim as a “dead cat” to deflect attention while he was on the ropes and cause a row. Whether it has backfired on him or not will only become clear with time. More

Priti Patel has falsely told MPs that most migrants crossing the English Channel are not asylum seekers, after the Home Office’s own report said “almost all” are.In a combative session of the Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday, the home secretary was questioned on the government’s strategy for reducing small boat crossings and providing alternative routes.Conservative MP Tim Loughton pointed out that the number of migrants reaching the UK on small boats had tripled in 2021 to 28,000, and asked what alternative routes were available to them.“We have people coming from Syria and Afghanistan, we do have the work of the Afghanistan resettlement scheme – that is a safe and legal route that has been stood up,” the home secretary replied.Mr Loughton repeatedly asked what was offered to asylum seekers from countries other than Syria and Afghanistan. “For economic migrants they don’t need safe and legal routes because they should be claiming asylum in many of the other countries they’re travelling through,” Ms Patel said.“The majority of them are people that are not claiming asylum or fleeing persecution.”The Home Office’s most recent asylum statistics, released in November, said “almost all” people who arrive on small boats claim asylum.Two thirds of all applications were granted on the first decision, while half of appeals were successful.Ms Patel repeated that people crossing the Channel “should be claiming asylum in other countries”, but the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said it is not a requirement under the Refugee Convention or any other international law to seek protection in the first safe country.Mr Loughton asked: “What safe and legal route is available if you’re not an Afghan, not Syrian, not on one of those specialist schemes and if you are genuinely fleeing from danger and would be likely to be granted asylum status?”The home secretary said new safe and legal routes were being created but did not provide any detail, and admitted: “We don’t currently have those routes in place.”British law means that anyone seeking to claim asylum in the UK must be physically present in the country.There is no asylum visa and campaigners say existing resettlement schemes are insufficient.In an interview with French newspaper La Voix du Nord published on Tuesday, French president Emmanuel Macron said there was “no legal route” to cross the Channel, and urged the UK to “reopen a path to legal asylum requests”.Asked for her response to the comments, Ms Patel said: ”Mr Macron’s comments are wrong. They’re absolutely wrong.” More

Boris Johnson refuses to retract Savile smear after being accused of ‘parroting fascists’The prime minister has refused to withdraw his false claim in the Commons that Sir Keir Starmer was behind the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile, despite calls from some of his own MPs to do so.Labour leader Sir Keir accused Boris Johnson of “parroting fascists” with the Savile smear as the pair clashed over the row at PMQs. He also asked Conservative backbenchers to rally against their leader, who he said was peddling “conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try to score cheap political points”.Hours before the pair’s standoff, another Tory MP publicly called time on Mr Johnson’s premiership, announcing he would submit a letter of no confidence later today, insisting the PM should trigger his own vote rather than wait for the 54-letter threshold.“The question now is, ‘is the prime minister the best person to lead the party moving forward?’” Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons defence committee, told Sky News. “I don’t think he realises how worried people are in every corner of the party.” Mr Ellwood joins around 10 other Tories who have publicly confirmed they have submitted letters to the party’s 1922 committee.Show latest update

1643813627Policing minister condemns ‘disturbing’ reports of police ‘banter’Kit Malthouse today spoke about the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)’s report, which revealed how Met Police officers joked about hitting and raping women and killing Black children in messages later downplayed as “banter”.The policing minister told MPs in the Commons that the document, mostly about officers at Charing Cross police station, makes for “extremely disturbing reading”.He added that HM Inspector of forces was how forces were ensuring misogyny and sexism were being dealt with.Tory backbencher Matthew Offord MP condemned a “sinister and obnoxious culture” that allowed police to talk or boast about hitting their wives or girlfriends. He asked Mr Malthouse to change the law so that anyone in a position of trust commits a criminal offence if they seek to have sex with them.Mr Malthouse said he was happy to consider the suggestion, blaming failings among leadership.Sam Hancock2 February 2022 14:531643810770Households to be given £200 towards soaring energy billsUK households are to be offered discounts of around £200 on their energy bills – but suppliers said the size of the scheme was disappointing and would cover only around a third of the expected jump in costs this year. Ben Chapman reports:Jane Dalton2 February 2022 14:061643810289Only Johnson can open investigation into Johnson’s lying to parliamentThere is unlikely to be a legal shortcut to making the prime minister resign, thanks to the UK’s weak oversight system. Analysis by Jon Stone :Jane Dalton2 February 2022 13:581643809221Starmer apology over Savile publicly recorded, says No 10Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s apology for the Crown Prosecution Service’s failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile is a “matter of public record”, according to a spokeswoman for Boris Johnson.The prime minister’s press secretary, asked by reporters whether he still believed Sir Keir acted “improperly” while director of public prosecutions, said: “On that, we were simply pointing out Sir Keir Starmer’s record as leader.“You’ve got what the prime minister said today, which is that in 2013 Keir Starmer apologised and took full responsibility for what happened on his watch, and that that was the right thing to do.”Pressed on whether Mr Johnson was confident he was not fuelling “conspiracy theories of violent fascists” – as Sir Keir called the claim in the Commons – his spokeswoman said: “It is all entirely a matter of public record about what happened at the time, and Sir Keir Starmer’s apology at the time is a matter of public record – you can find it for yourself online.”Jane Dalton2 February 2022 13:401643808170Watch: Starmer accuses govt of ‘treating taxpayer as ATM for their mates’Starmer accuses government of ‘treating taxpayer as ATM for their mates’Sam Hancock2 February 2022 13:221643807685Tributes for Labour MP Jack DromeyMPs are now taking part in a special Commons session to honour the life of Jack Dromey, the representative for Birmingham Erdington from 2010 until his death on 7 January this year.Mr Dromey, husband of Harriet Harman, fellow Labour MP and mother of the House, died suddenly last month of natual causes.Tributes came from Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and a range of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs. More

Boris Johnson has refused to retract his false claim in the House of Commons that Sir Keir Starmer was behind the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.The Labour leader accused him of “parroting violent fascists” with the Savile smear, as the pair clashed over the row at the beginning of PMQs on Wednesday.Appealing to Tory MPs – some of whom have condemned the PM’s remarks – Sir Keir said: “Theirs is the party of Winston Churchill. Our parties stood together as we defeated fascism in Europe.”He added: “Now their leader stands in the Commons parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try and score cheap political points. He knows exactly what he is doing. It is time to restore some dignity.”Refusing to apologise or withdraw his remarks, Mr Johnson said: “I don’t wish to make heavy weather of this, but I am informed that in 2013 [Sir Keir] apologised and took full responsibility for what had happened on his watch.”The prime minister’s jibe earlier this week about the Labour leader failing to prosecute Savile in his former role as director of public prosecutions has been completely discredited – and has sparked condemnation from MPs in all parties.However, Michael Gove claimed Mr Johnson has nothing to apologise after the PM tried to use a notorious paedophile to get one-up on his opponent. Asked on Wednesday whether the PM should say sorry, Mr Gove said: “No”.Mr Gove added: “Keir Starmer acknowledged that mistakes had been made by the organisation of which he was head, to his credit. He was very clear about those mistakes.”Fact-checking charity Full Fact also looked into the claim that Sir Keir had stopped Savile being charged in 2009 – a claim which has also been perpetuated by far-right groups on social media.Full Fact said that while Sir Keir was head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) when the decision not to prosecute Savile was made on the grounds of “insufficient evidence”, he was not part of the decision.Senior Tory MP Julian Smith is among the backbenchers to have attacked both the PM’s “smear” and deputy PM Dominic Raab’ claim that the remarks were part of the normal “cut and thrust” of the Commons.Tory Simon Hoare MP said prior to PMQs that the “false allegation should be withdrawn”. Meanwhile, senior backbencher Tobias Ellwood – revealing that he would submit a letter of no-confidence – cited the Savile smear as he warned the party was heading towards a “very ugly place”.The prime minister’s press secretary said Sir Keir’s apology for the Crown Prosecution Service failing to prosecute Savile was a “matter of public record”.Pressed on whether Mr Johnson was confident he was not fuelling “conspiracy theories of violent fascists”, his spokeswoman said: “It is all entirely a matter of public record about what happened at the time and Sir Keir Starmer’s apology at the time is a matter of public record.”But a senior Labour spokesperson dismissed No 10’s claim that Mr Johnson had simply been referring to Sir Keir’s apology, since he referred on Monday to the Labour’s “failure” to prosecute Saville.“If you’re going to get into the what the prime minister has chosen to do – which is further degrade public life by reaching into the dark recesses of the internet to promote conspiracy theories – then I would simply refer you to the response of a number of Tory MPs who have called this out as totally inappropriate behaviour,” the spokesperson said.Victims of Savile have also called on Mr Johnson to withdraw his smear, according to a lawyer who has represented some of them.Richard Scorer, head of abuse and public inquiries at law firm Slater and Gordon, told The Independent: “I’ve spoken to a number of victims, and they are appalled and really quite upset that Johnson has tried to use their suffering for political purposes. It’s completely untrue and unjustified to link the case to Keir Starmer – he had no involvement at all.”The lawyer added: “So for Johnson to repeat this garbage to get himself out of a political hole – you’re into Donald Trump territory, Donald Trump tactics of repeating Q Anon conspiracy theories.”Meanwhile, Mr Johnson refused to say at PMQs whether he attended a party alleged to have taken place in his Downing Street flat on 13 November 2020 during Covid restrictions.SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the PM had become a “running joke” on the international stage, adding: “We have now reached the ridiculous scenario of a prime minister who can’t even tell us where he was.” More