UK Politics

Boris Johnson is facing the threat of legal action over the alleged intimidation of Tory MPs who are demanding his head over the Partygate scandal.Lawyers from the Good Law Project have sent the prime minister a letter before action warning that alleged threats to withhold government funding from rebel MPs’ constituencies were an “unlawful misuse of ministerial powers” which may amount to misconduct in public office.The move came as Downing Street refused to investigate claims from senior Tory William Wragg that MPs have been subjected to blackmail by whips, despite a cabinet minister’s call for them to “get to the bottom of it”.Meanwhile the prime minister’s woes deepened as it emerged there is photographic evidence of Downing Street staff drinking late into the night before the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in April 2021.The parties for No 10’s departing head of communications and a Downing Street photographer were already public knowledge and have been the subject of an apology.But Whitehall mandarin Sue Gray may want to consider the photograph, as well as text messages seen by The Daily Telegraph, before completing her report into allegedly lockdown-busting drinks events at No 10, expected early next week.The new evidence allegedly indicates that drinking and loud music continued to around 1am, with staff eating pizza in the No 10 garden, spilling wine on an office printer and trying out a children’s slide belonging to Mr Johnson’s son Wilf.Ahead of the release of the make-or-break report, Mr Johnson faces a high-pressure weekend of calls from his country residence Chequers to MPs believed to be preparing to submit letters expressing no confidence in his leadership.If Ms Gray’s findings point to the PM having lied to parliament, the threshold of 54 letters is expected to be swiftly reached, triggering a vote on Johnson’s leadership as early as next week.It is understood that the prime minister will receive her findings no more than 24 hours before the release of the report and is not likely to be given an opportunity to respond directly to Ms Gray ahead of publication.And it emerged on Friday that the senior civil servant, rather than Johnson, will have the final say over how much of her report is published, greatly diminishing the prime minister’s ability to control its reception.It had been thought that Mr Johnson would have the power to keep sensitive details away from the public eye by “redacting” the document, as he did with the report into bullying allegations against Priti Patel.But a Downing Street spokesperson said that decisions on which parts of the report will be made public were “a matter for Sue Gray and her team”.The spokesperson also confirmed that no inquiry was being launched by Downing Street into allegations of bullying of MPs by whips, saying only that evidence would be looked at “if it came forward”.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said threats to withhold government funding were “completely unacceptable” and ministers need to “get to the bottom” of Mr Wragg’s assertion.But he said he had not come across such activities in his 12 years as an MP and thought it “very unlikely” to be true.No 10’s refusal to mount an inquiry may encourage rebel Tories to publish evidence which they have been gathering of what they regard as unacceptable behaviour by whips.One of those involved in discussions among red wall MPs who entered parliament in 2019 told The Independent: “There is an increasing level of evidence that MPs have collated in order to be able to share if it becomes necessary to do so.”Evidence which has been collected is reported to include a secretly recorded conversation with chief whip Mark Spencer as well as text messages sent to MPs thought to be preparing to send letters of no confidence letters.Mr Wragg said on Thursday that the PM’s Conservative critics were receiving threats to “withdraw investments” from constituencies, as well as “intimidation” from No 10 staff.And Christian Wakeford, the Bury South MP who defected from the Tories to Labour, said he was told funding for a new school in his constituency would be withheld if he did not vote with the government over free school meals.In its letter to the prime minister, the Good Law Project demanded details of any complaints made by MPs, as well as confirmation that the allegations are being investigated.The campaign group’s director Jo Maugham said: “What these reports suggest is that public money will be held back from left-behind communities unless their MP votes to overlook sleaze or scrap school meals. That’s not levelling up; it sounds much more like blackmail to me.“We don’t think it’s lawful – it may even be criminal – and it’s certainly unfair. So we are taking legal action to benefit left-behind communities.”Wales’s first minister Mark Drakeford said “history is catching up” with the prime minister.“This is a government that at the moment is simply not capable of doing the ordinary business of government in a competent and sensible way because it is overwhelmed by the headlines that surround dreadful events that went on in Downing Street,” he said.Eminent historian Peter Hennessy said that Mr Johnson’s response to the party allegations had displayed “in technicolour” the fact that he has “more disdain for the constitution” than any other PM in modern history.Prof Hennessy told Prospect magazine: “He hasn’t got a single feel for either proper behaviour, proper procedure, not a single nerve end. He has got no sense of the restraints you need to make this work.”Former cabinet minister Rory Stewart said he expected the Gray report to be “the last nail in the coffin” for Mr Johnson. Even if he survived for a few more months, he will be “badly wounded” and unable to regain credibility, said Stewart, who fought Johnson for the Conservative leadership in 2019.“He was manifestly unsuited to be prime minister from the beginning, so it’s very, very disturbing that a great country like Britain should have chosen somebody so unsuitable for the role,” the former international development secretary told Sky News. More

Will he stay or will he go? As “partygate” rumbles on, Boris Johnson’s future as PM continues to hang in the balance.To round off the week that saw a Tory MP defect to Labour, others plot to overthrow him and former cabinet colleague David Davis telling him “in the name of God, go”, The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul answered reader questions on the PM’s future.During an ‘Ask Me Anything’, Rentoul said: “What is significant about the past few weeks is that large numbers of voters who liked him have now gone off him. Many of them feel strongly, and that has been reflected in MPs’ emails – to which they are acutely sensitive (probably too much so). That is why I think Tory MPs will get rid of him, even though it is only two years since he delivered a huge election victory and Brexit.”What is the most likely road map for Boris Johnson’s departure?It is hard to predict, and I have taken a risk in making my prediction [Tory MPs should ditch Boris Johnson and put Rishi Sunak in No 10 as soon as they can], but I think the route is the 54 letters asking for a vote of confidence, which I think Johnson will lose – because in a secret ballot enough Tory MPs will calculate that he is unlikely to recover sufficient popularity to win the next election, AND that if they leave him in office he may do such damage to the party that switching leader later may not save them.You are right, I think, that Johnson will not go quietly. Nor I think is he likely to go for the Blair tactic of promising to go at some point. So if he survives a vote of confidence, it will be a long damaging struggle, which I think he would be likely to lose before the next election.If the 54 letters don’t materialise, of course, then his chances are much better. Once Tory MPs realise that other Tory MPs are cowards, they will have in effect have decided to let him have two years to try to recover the situation.If the May booze up in the No 10 garden was a business meeting, what was Carrie Johnson doing there?The legal situation is more complicated than some of the prime minister’s critics allow. Carrie Johnson was allowed to be in the garden of her home, and the PM might have been allowed to attend a gathering there if it was “reasonably necessary for work”. Mixing the two exemptions from the requirement to stay at home may seem to be stretching the law, but the situation in Downing Street is unusual.How has Rishi Sunak at Number 11 avoided any of the blame for these Covid breaches?I think The Times reported one alleged gathering in the Treasury (25 November 2020) to celebrate completing the Autumn Spending Review, and there have been questions asked about when Sunak or his staff were ever working in No 11 while carousing was going on next door or in the garden. But one of Sunak’s strong personal defences is that he doesn’t drink.Do you think the Met’s refusal to investigate any of this is cutting through with the public as a cover-up?Yes, I think it is. Opinion polls suggest people think that the police should investigate; and a focus group I heard wanted politicians to be fined if they had broken lockdown laws. On the other hand, most members of that focus group were not particularly angry with Johnson; they were more concerned that he shouldn’t be distracted from focusing on the NHS and energy bills.Is it a very cunning plan by the Labour Party to accept a defecting Tory MP, which in turn solidifies support for Johnson amongst remaining Conservative MPs? And makes it more likely they would be fighting Johnson at the next election rather than Sunak. Or is that just too cunning by half?That is too cunning by half, I think. Keir Starmer was right to say in a recent interview that he can only fight the opponent in front of him. Labour can do things at the edges, such as spending some time attacking Rishi Sunak, and the really important thing – which Labour failed to do when Thatcher fell in 1990 – is to change approach to match the change of opponent. But no, I don’t think Labour even realised that Christian Wakeford’s defection would temporarily unite the Tories in the Commons – an MP’s defection is the hard currency of politics; it is so valuable to receiving party that it cannot risk playing games with it.Do you think there is any possibility that Johnson deep down knows that the game is up and that part of him is beginning to consider what happens to him after being PM? (I partly ask this as it seems to me he must be aware that more revelations and evidence are very likely to emerge shortly.)I remember a Labour MP once said that they saw Johnson coming towards them, muttering to himself as if he were composing three columns at once in his head: I think he has a wide, chaotic, semi-compartmentalised personality, capable of thinking several things at the same time. All prime ministers fear that they are about to be turfed out of office at any time, and I’m sure he thinks vaguely about finishing his book on Shakespeare and about his post-PM career, but most of his mind is probably focused on fighting to hold on to office for as long as possible.As for more evidence of wrongdoing, I think that if his most committed opponents had it, they would use it. I do not believe in the idea of some great plot to drip-drip information into the public domain until he’s gone. Many of the stories have seeped out in a chaotic, disorganised way, often triggered by other leaks, or by official denials.Although there is clearly a lot of discontent with Boris, do you think that the potential successors have the desire to become PM right now? There are so many massive hurdles to overcome. If no-one wants the poisoned chalice, could Boris survive?Ideally, most Tory MPs and most candidates for the succession would rather wait until next year, when the 2024 election is imminent and the situation is clearer. But Tory MPs know that they may not get another chance – or at least, not in such potentially favourable circumstances – to change leader, and that if they leave Johnson in power he might seriously damage the Tory brand.And Rishi Sunak faces the classic front runner’s dilemma: for him, most of the risks of delay are on the downside. He is currently the most popular politician in the country, among Tory members and among Tory MPs. For him, things can only get worse, especially given the outlook for inflation, energy prices and taxes. Sunak must want to take the chance when he can, but he cannot do more to bring it about than a day trip to Ilfracombe while the PM is defending himself in the Commons, because the party members have not yet given up on Johnson, and will resent any more overt show of disloyalty.What intrigues me most is the timing of the drip-feed of leaks of the ‘partygate’ scandal. Who or what is driving this?This is a very good question, which I answered in part already. I don’t think there is an orchestrated campaign beyond what we know, which is that Dominic Cummings, the PM’s former chief adviser, is determined to bring down his former boss. But Cummings did his best last May, when he gave evidence (for seven hours) to the joint select committee about what he thought was Johnson’s mishandling of the pandemic and his “possibly illegal” plan to have Tory donors pay to refurbish the Downing Street flat.But you are right to ask why there was such a long delay between the 2020 Christmas parties in No 10 and the reports, first in The Mirror on 1 December 2021. (All that time Allegra Stratton, the PM’s former spokesperson, knew there was a video of her embarrassing answers about a Christmas party at a rehearsal for a TV news briefing.)I think the explanation is that civil servants don’t leak unless they think a politician has done something seriously wrong: in these cases most of the people who organised and attended these “work events” were civil servants and special advisers; they may not have thought they did anything wrong, or were uncertain.But once the stories started to come out, a kind of chain reaction happened.These questions and answers were part of an ‘Ask Me Anything’ hosted by John Rentoul at 1pm on Friday 21 January. Some of the questions and answers have been edited for this article. You can read the full discussion in the comments section of the original article.Do you have any topics you’d like to see an expert host an ‘Ask Me Anything’ on? Let us know your suggestions in the comments below. More

Ministers are making “misleading” claims about the costs and red tape facing performers trying to tour the EU after Brexit, a parliamentary inquiry says.Liz Truss is urged to carry out an “urgent review” of repeated assertions that problems have been eased – as a committee of peers backs protests made by musicians, led by Elton John.Their report rejects the departed David Frost’s attempt to wash his hands of the controversy – by arguing the culture department has responsibility – insisting the foreign secretary must take charge.And it raises the alarm over the plight of young musicians, denied the chance to further their careers after the Brexit trade deal broke a promise to save visa-free touring“We heard clear evidence that young classical musicians, in particular, were being forced out of the profession because they were no longer able to travel to a country (or countries) that is a member of the European Union for work at short notice,” a letter to Ms Truss states.Elton John has led criticism of the government for claiming 21 of the 27 EU countries are offering visa and work permit-free access, when severe restrictions still exist.The letter, from the Lords European Affairs Committee, points out that Austria requires a permit for visits longer than four weeks, with similar curbs in Belgium (21 days), the Czech Republic (7 days), The Netherlands (6 weeks) and Poland (30 days).Charles Kinnoull, the committee’s chair, told The Independent: “Not only are government websites not accurate, but there has been a lot of misleading information about the processes that someone needs to go through beforehand.“It’s incredible complex. Imagine wanting to perform in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – which is perfectly logical for a classical musician – there are three completely different regimes to go through.”The non-affiliated peer said he hoped the placing of Ms Truss in charge of EU talks – after Lord Frost’s shock pre-Christmas resignation – will allow a “landing zone” to be found.“This is something that is causing harm on both sides. Not only are British musicians unable to plan tours, but it is also damaging for European artists wanting to come here,” Lord Kinnoull added.The Independent revealed that only Spain has agreed a new deal to ease post-Brexit tours, despite Boris Johnson’s vow to “fix” the crisis, made 10 months ago.The trade deal saw the UK reject an EU offer to retain visa and permit-free tours, leaving artists mired in expensive “mountains of red tape”, the Incorporated Society of Musicians said.No effort has been made at fresh talks with Brussels, although “cabotage” rules – to allow trucks to cross borders – are an EU matter.The committee’s report states: “There is no legal impediment to the establishment of a sector-specific visa waiver programme and that this could be done in such a way as to ensure that the UK retains full control over its borders.“The committee urges the government to reconsider its approach to a visa-waiver regime and to recognise that the decision to implement such a system is, in itself, an exercise of sovereignty.” More

MI5 gathered evidence that Arron Banks ordered “intrusive surveillance” of the information commissioner during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a Labour MP has alleged.Liam Byrne used parliamentary privilege to name Nigel Farage’s former Leave.EU ally during a wider debate on how wealthy people use British courts to silence journalists and regulators.He told the Commons: “I have been told, Elizabeth Denham, who was the Information Commissioner at the height of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, was warned by counter-terrorism officers that MI5 had evidence that she was under active intrusive surveillance ordered by Mr Arron Banks, so her office had to be swept.”Mr Banks told The Independent: “I’ve heard enough crazy conspiracy theories to last me a lifetime. I’m not really interested in MPs that use parliamentary privilege to land allegations. Say it outside parliament.”The Independent has also asked the Information Commissioner’s office if it is correct that Ms Denham – who is no longer leads the organisation – received the warning.Mr Banks, a multi-millionaire businessman, was a figurehead for the successful Brexit referendum in 2016, through his Leave.EU group – which was separate to the Vote Leave campaign, fronted by Boris Johnson.Cambridge Analytica did work for Leave.EU, emails published by a House of Commons committee later revealed, although the company did not receive payment for it.In 2018, the firm was embroiled in the scandal over the collection of personal data belonging to millions of Facebook users without their consent, who were targeted for political advertising.During the Commons debate, the former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis called for a US-style ban on rich individuals using the British legal system to curb free speech.People with “nefarious intentions” and “exceptionally deep pockets” are able to “threaten, intimidate and put the fear of God into British journalists, citizens, officials and media organisations”, he said.Bob Seely, also a Conservative MP, said: “The abuse of UK courts by organised crime, oligarchs and authoritarian states and their wretched proxies is, I believe, a significant threat when it comes to the corruption of the UK legal system.”He added: “If we allow the cancer of the selling of intimidation services by high-end legal firms, it will not do us any good in the long run – just as, in the long run, letting mafias launder money would also be bad for us.”Mr Byrne told ministers: “Others have told us about the “hack and leak” technique, whereby systems are hacked into and information is then leaked to serve as a trigger for defamation proceedings.”Stephen Kinnock, a fellow Labour MP, also warned that “Russian-backed interests are hacking people’s private data, leaking it and then suing them for libel” – calling the situation “utterly absurd and unacceptable”.Cases in which the wealthy take on their critics in the courts have been dubbed SLAPPS – strategic litigation against public participation.James Cartlidge, justice minister, agreed that “SLAPPs represent an abuse of the legal system”, attacking “threatening tactics to silence free speech”.But he told MPs: “We must be cautious to respond to SLAPPs in a proportionate way that continues our tradition of balancing individual rights with the public good.” More

Foreign secretary Liz Truss is facing a backlash from Australian wine producers during her trip Down Under, amid complaints that any benefits from a post-Brexit trade deal will be more than wiped out by proposed changes to UK taxes on alcohol.Industry lobby group Australian Grape and Wine estimates that the tax hikes will cost an additional £70m, adding 40p to the price of every £5 bottle of the country’s drink bought by British consumers. This compares to a forecast £26m gain from the trade deal.The review of excise duties on alcohol has been hailed by Boris Johnson as a key benefit of Brexit, but is branded “unworkable” by the UK drinks trade because it will generate vast amounts of extra red tape as well as forcing up the price of some of Britain’s most popular brands.Under plans set out by chancellor Rishi Sunak and due to take effect in February 2023, a single tax rate for most wines will be replace by a sliding scale with 13 different bands of duty levied according to strength – with 14 more bands for fortified wines.Because of the country’s sunshine, Australian wines tend to clock in at the higher end of the strength scale, with alcohol by volume (ABV) levels of 13 per cent or more. Under Mr Sunak’s plans, any wine over 11.5 per cent ABV will incur more tax.Ms Truss was challenged on the scheme during her current visit to Australia to promote trade and defence links with the UK.Australian Grape and Wine chief executive Tony Battaglene said: “It is unfortunate that the result of the free trade agreement will be directly impacted by this (tax). We are hoping they will look at it and come to a better solution. At the moment, it is very concerning.“This will discriminate against red wine imports. We estimate it will add 40p to the price of a bottle, and that’s a lot when you’re talking about a wine that is £5.”A spokesperson from Treasury Wine Estates – producers of top-selling brands like Wolf Blass, Penfolds and Lindeman’s – said: “The proposed new lacohol duty system in the UK will significantly impact the Australian wine industry and increase costs for UK consumers.“We understand it will wipe out the £26m benefit for Australian wine growers agreed upon in the recent UK/Australia Free Trade Agreement, replacing it with £70m of costs and diminish future growth prospects in the largest export market for Australian wine growers and UK consumers.“The new duty could add up to 40 pence to a bottle of Australian wine for UK customers.”Pressure group Wine Drinkers UK, which is campaigning for Mr Sunak to ditch his plans, said that the “sunshine tax” will also impact on wines from New Zealand, South Africa, California and Argentina, where warm weather naturally translates into high alcohol content in wines.Wine is the UK’s favourite alcoholic drink, with almost one-third (32 per cent) naming it as their favourite tipple. But Wine Drinkers UK calculate that tax rises on wine have far outstripped those on other alcoholic drinks and increased twice as fast as that on beer.In a new year message marking the first anniversary of his trade deal with Brussels, Mr Johnson listed “simplifying complex EU alcohol duty rates” as one of a handful of benefits he believes Brexit has delivered for the UK.But the chief executive of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association, Miles Beale, said the proposed changes were in fact so complicated as to be “unimplementable”.The change will add up to 68p in tax per bottle on wines drunk by millions of Britons, while saving cash for those choosing the less popular, low-strength brands containing less than 11.5 per cent alcohol.But the industry believes that knock-on effects could mean an increase of as much as 30-35p for every 0.5 percentage point in ABV above 11.5, meaning price rises of £1 or more on higher-strength bottles.The overall hit to consumers of is estimated at around £250m a year, while levies on beer and cider will fall and those on spirits will remain unchanged.Opponents of the new levies are urging wine-lovers to raise their concerns in a Treasury consulation which ends on 30 January. More

Huge lorry queues building up at the Port of Dover have been blamed “entirely” on extra controls which have come into force from Brexit.It comes as port chiefs urged the UK government to hold talks with the EU on ways to ease further checks set to come in later in 2022 which could cause “disastrous” disruption to trade.One courier told The Independent he had been caught up in queues of up to 15km since full customs controls came into force at beginning of January.The British haulier said it was taking 15 to 20 minutes for each driver to clear checks needed for the UK government’s new Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) system and other export paperwork at Dover.“It’s entirely Brexit – you can’t blame it on anything else but Brexit,” said the driver, who has had to push back some deliveries.The haulier added: “People will get to grips with GVMS and the new paperwork in the weeks ahead. But even if they don’t take as long, checks still take time. So the queues are bound to get worse when traffic flows pick up next month.”Recent disruption has been even more significant around the French port of Calais since new customs controls were introduced on goods imported into the UK at the start of January.Lorry drivers have reported queueing for up to eight hours to get through controls, partly because UK firms have struggled with complex new customs declarations and rules-of-origin forms.But the GVMS system is also creating longer checks for lorries heading to the EU at Dover. There was a queue of 7km leading up to Dover port on Friday morning, according to the Sixfold traffic tracker used by the logistics industry which has record “high than usual” build-up this week.The congestion at Dover in recent days has seen the Operation TAP temporary traffic system being implemented – with all vehicles restricted to 40mph and lorries asked queue in one lane until there is space.A cross-party group of MPs on the transport select committee visited Dover earlier this week to hear the concerns of port chiefs and assess overflow space.Labour MP Ruth Cadbury, a member of the committee, told The Independent: “There are clearly issues with congestion at Dover. There is no doubt the regulatory changes from Brexit are causing delays.”She echoed a call from the British Chambers of Commerce for the government to streamline some of the new red tape required. “The government has an opportunity to smooth things out,” she said.Doug Bannister, chief executive at Port of Dover, has called on the government to start urgent talks with EU authorities over the biometric checks set to come into force in September.The port chief said the new checks on non-EU citizens – which could involve body or facial scanning similar to those seen at airports – may involve car drivers being asked to step out of their vehicle.“If it is forcing people to get out of their vehicles inside of a busy port, that is just unsafe. We couldn’t allow that to happen. That will lead to increased queues, no doubt.”Logistics UK warned at the end of last year that the new biometric checks to travel into the EU could lead to 27km (17 miles) tailbacks.Transport select committee chair Huw Merriman said the potential for significant traffic delays could be a “disaster” for trade if it were to impact on supply chains.“That per-vehicle movement will end up causing a 17-mile delay back into Kent and that would be a disaster for the local economy and a disaster for trade as well,” said the Tory MP.A spokesperson the Home Office said: “The UK is continuing to engage with our European partners at an operational level and, in particular, where we operate juxtaposed controls, to ensure our respective border arrangements work and interact as well as possible.”Meanwhile, the head of Dublin Port said the route through Dover that once offered Irish traders the fastest means of getting between the Republic of Ireland and the European continent will not “re-emerge” as a preferred option for moving goods.“I don’t see [the route] recovering,” Dublin Port chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly told the Irish Times. More

Downing Street is refusing to conduct an inquiry into allegations of intimidation and blackmail by government whips, despite a cabinet minister’s call for an investigation.Asked repeatedly at a Westminster media briefing on Friday whether No 10 was looking into allegations from senior Tory William Wragg, a Downing Street spokesperson said only that evidence would be considered “if it comes forward”.No 10’s refusal to mount an inquiry may encourage rebel Tories to publish evidence which they have been gathering of what they regard as unacceptable behaviour by whips.One of those involved in discussions among Red Wall MPs who entered parliament in 2019 told The Independent: “There is an increasing level of evidence that MPs have collated in order to be able to share if it becomes necessary to do so.”Evidence which has been collected is reported to include a secretly recorded conversation with chief whip Mark Spencer as well as text messages sent to MPs thought to be preparing to send letters of no confidence in the PM over the partygate affair.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today said there should be an investigation into “completely unacceptable” allegations that MPs have been threatened with withdrawal of funding from their constituencies if they declare no confidence in Boris Johnson as prime minister.Mr Kwarteng said ministers “need to get to the bottom of the matter” but that he believes it is “very unlikely” the claims are true.But under sustained questioning, the Downing Street spokesperson was unable to point to any efforts by No 10 proactively to investigate the claimsAnd he repeatedly refused to comment on the alleged behaviour of whips, insisting that this was a matter for the Conservative Party despite the fact that they are employed by the government and paid with taxpayers’ money and are subject to the ministerial code of conduct.Mr Wragg sensationally claimed on Thursday that Tory MPs considering triggering a no confidence vote in the PM had received threats to “withdraw investments” from constituencies, as well as “intimidation” from No 10 staff.The chair of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee said the threats could amount to “blackmail” and urged colleagues to report them to the police.Christian Wakeford, the Bury South MP who defected from the Tories to Labour, said he was threatened with funding for a new school in his constituency being withheld if he did not vote with the government over free school meals.Mr Kwarteng told Sky News: “As far as the specific allegation about whips withholding funds, I think that’s completely unacceptable. Any form of blackmail and intimidation of that kind simply has no place in British politics.“We need to get to the bottom of the matter. But I find it very unlikely that these allegations are true.”Mr Johnson said on Thursday that he had neither seen nor heard any evidence of intimidation of MPs, while a Downing Street source said: “If there is any evidence to support these claims we would look at it very carefully.”The row has sparked debate over the role of the whips, renowned over decades for their sometimes ruthless enforcement of discipline among MPs.By convention, official Downing Street press spokespeople do not comment on the instructions given by whips to party MPs. But No 10 today suggested that this code of silence also extended to allegations of misbehaviour.The No 10 spokesperson said only that he “can’t get into matters of whipping”.Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said on Thursday it could be a contempt of Parliament to obstruct MPs in their work, adding that MPs and their staff are “not above the criminal law”.“While the whipping system is long-established, it is of course a contempt to obstruct members in the discharge of their duty or to attempt to intimidate a member in their parliamentary conduct by threats,” he said. More

Boris Johnson says ‘no evidence’ on ‘blackmail’ allegationsThe government is not investigating claims that some Tory MPs were “blackmailed” by its whips, despite a minister’s call for an inquiry into the claims. After business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the allegations were “completely unacceptable” and should be investigated, Downing Street distanced itself from his position, saying evidence would only be looked at “if it comes forward”.This stance comes as Tories clash over Boris Johnson’s future, with Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford likening the infighting to “ferrets in a sack”. The Conservative politician William Wragg first suggested on Thursday that Tory whips were guilty of blackmailing MPs. Christian Wakeford, who defected to Labour on Wednesday, then alleged that he had been forced to toe the government line as a Conservative MP or risk losing school funding in his constituency. The prime minister has denied such allegations, saying he had “seen no evidence, heard no evidence” to support them. However, rebel MPs are said to possess a secret recording and texts that supposedly back up their claims. Show latest update

1642776356History ‘catching up’ with PM, says Drakeford It is not just Holyrood that is sensing weakness at Westminster over partygate – so is the devolved Welsh administration.Speaking on Friday afternoon, Mark Drakeford attacked Boris Johnson for his relationship with the truth. “If I’m truthful about it, the prime minister is someone who’s been sacked from two previous jobs for not telling the truth,” the country’s first minister said. “I think what you see is his history catching up with him,” he added.Mr Drakeford also suggested that Westminster was fully distracted, seeing everything “exclusively through the lens of ‘how does this make a difference to the efforts that are being made to shore up the position of the prime minister?’”. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 14:451642775156PM’s position ‘untenable’, SNP reiterates The SNP has reiterated that Boris Johnson’s position is “untenable” after a series of “boozy lockdown Downing Street parties”. Kirsten Oswald, the party’s deputy leader at Westminster, said the public and his own MPs know that he should step down.“The reality is that getting rid of Boris Johnson alone won’t fix the problem. Corruption and scandals are part of a wider culture of Westminster entitlement and contempt for the rules,” she added. Referring to a recent survey showing partygate had damaged the Union in the eyes of Scots, Ms Oswald said: “This new poll – highlighting the scale of public opposition to the corrupt Tory government and movement in favour of independence – is another reminder that only with independence will we be able to escape the broken and corrupt Westminster system.” Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 14:251642773956Government hopes to ban opioid 500-times stronger than morphine The governnment wants to tighten drug legislation on an opioid 500 times stronger than morphine. Isotonitazene, a synethic opioid, has been connected to 25 deaths as of September last year, according to the Home Office.Although it is illegal to supply this drug, possessing it does not break the law. Home secretary Priti Patel has sought advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). “Reports of fatal overdoses linked to this dangerous substance have been deeply disturbing, and I want to act now to ensure no further lives are lost or families torn apart,” she said. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 14:051642772756Does Johnson have ‘bat out of hell’s chance’ of still being PM in two years? A lobby journalist asked a No 10 spokesperson today whether Boris Johnson thinks he has “a bat out of hell’s chance” of being the incumbent prime minister at the next general election. “Does the PM think he has a bat out of hell’s chance of leading the Conservative party into the next election or will he be gone, gone, gone?” they asked. The Downing Street spokesperson did not respond directly. “I will point you to the PM’s remarks during PMQs earlier this week,” they said.In the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Johnson ruled out resigning – at least for the time being. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 13:451642771496UK trade deal benefits wiped out by duty changes, Australian wine producers sayAustralian wine producers have complained that any benefits from their country’s trade deal with the UK will be undone by changes to wine duties in Britain. They warn that the £26 million uplift suggested by British foreign secretary Liz Truss will be wiped out through £70 million in extra costs.Britain is planning on increasing its wine duties from next February for drinks with an alcohol content of 11.5 per cent and above. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 13:241642770356Sue Gray report: When will she publish findings of Downing Street party probe?Sue Gray, who is investing the No 10 lockdown parties, became a household name overnight. But when is her report likely to be published? What might it contain? And does this bode badly for the prime minister? Matt Mathers takes a look: Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 13:051642769651No Downing Street investigation into blackmail claims, despite minister’s call for probeDowning Street is not conducting an inquiry into allegations of intimidation and blackmail by government whips, despite a cabinet minister’s call for an investigation.Asked repeatedly at a Westminster media briefing on Friday whether No 10 was looking into allegations from senior Tory William Wragg, a Downing Street spokesperson said only that evidence would be considered “if it comes forward”.No 10’s refusal to mount an inquiry may encourage rebel Tories to publish evidence which they have been gathering of what they regard as unacceptable behaviour by whips.Andrew Woodcock 21 January 2022 12:541642769456Households will not receive help with energy bills until March, says business ministerThe public will not be given extra support with energy bills until March, a minister has said.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s comment comes as household bills are expected to soar later this year when a new energy price cap comes into force. Households will not receive help with energy bills until March, says business ministerRory Sullivan21 January 2022 12:501642768256Another former Tory MP claims party’s whips blackmailed him Another former Conservative MP has gone on the record to suggest he was blackmailed by the party’s chief whips.Mr Howlett, who represented Bath between 2015 and 2017, said he was told that a project he backed in his constituency would not get off the ground unless he toed the party’s Brexit line. “There were some very dicey votes for the government and I was campaigning to receive government funding, and of course one of the tactics used to make sure I fell into line on some of the Brexit rebellions was to threaten the withholding of money to pay for an investigation into whether or not this link road would have been built,” he told the BBC. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 12:301642767176Watch: Truss defends PMBoris Johnson is “doing a fantastic job”, Liz Truss has told reporters in Australia.Hear more about what she had to say:Boris Johnson ‘doing a fantastic job’, says Liz Truss as she pledges full supportRory Sullivan21 January 2022 12:12 More