UK Politics

The government has been accused of launching an attack on the BBC to distract from the Partygate scandal and stop Boris Johnson becoming “dead meat”.Culture minister Nadine Dorries told the Commons on Monday that the BBC’s funding would be frozen for the next two years, and confirmed that the “long-term” future of the current licence fee model was in doubt.Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said the announcement – reportedly part of Downing Street’s ‘Operation Red Meat’ moves to please Conservative supporters – was designed “to stop the prime minister becoming dead meat”.The Labour frontbencher accused Tory ministers of a “long-term vendetta” against the BBC, and said the attack was “a really obvious, pathetic distraction from a prime minister and a government who has run out of road”.Ms Dorries told MPs that the BBC had asked for the fee to rise to over £180 by the end of the current settlement, but said it will instead be frozen at £159 until April 2024, before rising with inflation for the following four years.On Sunday the culture secretary had tweeted that this year’s licence fee funding announcement – which takes the BBC up until the end of it current charter at the end of 2027 – “will be the last”.However, in more subdued language in the Commons, she said the government would soon begin a review of the licence fee model, based on a mandatory TV licence for a household watching the BBC.“It’s time to begin asking those serious questions about long-term funding of the BBC,” she said, adding she wanted a debate over “new ways of funding the BBC”.Asked about her tweet referring to it being the “last” licence fee settlement, she said: “I cannot see a world … in 2028, in which individual households are paying an outdated funding fee that was established in 1922.”Asked by MPs what her own “instincts” were on the BBC’s funding model beyond 2027, she said: “My instincts are, let’s have the discussion.”Ms Dorries also renewed her attack on the BBC’s editorial choices – demanding that the corporation addresses “issues around impartiality and group think”. The minister said the government wanted to make sure the broadcaster “commands support from the UK, not just the London bubble”.Labour responded by saying the government’s decisions on the future of the BBC makes it look like a “tin-pot dictatorship” – suggesting Ms Dorries was trying to “destroy” the corporation.Ms Powell told the Commons: “By explicitly linking the charter renewal to the BBC’s editorial decisions, the government sounds more like a tin-pot dictatorship than a healthy democracy.”The Labour MP added: “[Ms Dorries] has been the first to throw up a distraction and finding someone else to blame for the prime minister’s disintegrating leadership: the BBC’s reporting, of course.”Dismissing Ms Dorries’s claims the government want to help with the cost of living crisis, Ms Powell added: “It’s part of Operation Red Meat to save the prime minister from becoming dead meat.”John Nicolson, the SNP’s Westminster spokesperson for culture, also accused the government of trying to “distract” from Partygate, adding: “The Tory right wants the broadcast media to be as sycophantic as most of the print press, offering fawning adulation to their leader.”The Liberal Democrats’ culture spokesperson Jamie Stone MP said the “half-baked announcement was frankly embarrassing – this is a government in chaos, flailing out at any target it can find”.Tory MP Damian Green, criticising Ms Dorries rhetorical attacks on the licence fee model, said: “Like many of the best things in this country, the BBC licence fee is something that may not work in theory, but works really well in practice.”Tory MP Julian Knight, who chairs the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, said: “Speaking strictly personally, I welcome the freeze, and the overt commitment to weaning the BBC off the licence fee.” But Mr Knight also called for more details, including on the timetable.BBC bosses branded the licence fee freeze “disappointing”, arguing it will lead to “tougher choices” that will impact on viewers.In a message sent to staff earlier on Monday, BBC director-general Tim Davie and chairman Richard Sharp said they “welcomed” debate about the future of the licence fee, and wanted to engage “in a discussion about public service broadcasting in the UK and how best to fund it”. More

Sue Gray, the senior civil servant handed responsibility for untangling a string of Downing Street parties that allegedly broke lockdown rules, has been placed in an “impossible position, with an impossible task,” Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has said. Ms Gray, the second permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, was given the job of leading the inquiry into the scandal last month after cabinet secretary Simon Case recused himself when it emerged that a party had also been held within his own department.Boris Johnson and his Cabinet have since declined to answer questions about any allegations of rule-breaking and have instead been calling for Ms Gray to be allowed to collect the facts and complete her inquiry in peace before her findings are published in a report. “Sue Gray is acting independently, she is leading this piece of work,” Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson has insisted, sailing past the inconvenient truth that she must ultimately report to Michael Gove.“Under the terms of reference she is able to speak to who she wishes and investigate as she sees fit to ascertain the facts.”She has, reportedly, already used that freedom to speak to Mr Johnson.But her assignment seems to get more complicated by the day as more and more revelations continue to come to light on the front pages of Britain’s newspapers, carrying sordid tales of staffers being sent out to Co-op to fill suitcases with bottles of wine and drunken revellers staggering out into the garden of the prime minister’s official residence and breaking his infant son’s swing set.At the outset, Mr Johnson was not thought to have been in attendance at any of the “gatherings” in question but now we know, by his own admission, that he was at the 20 May 2020 garden party, even if he did “implicitly believe it was a work event”.So not only is establishing the precise narrative of what went on when and who knew about it tricky enough, the veteran inquisitor also faces the prospect of incurring further anger from voters if she is ultimately deemed to have been too lenient and carried out a “whitewash” on Mr Johnson’s behalf.Equally, delivering a damning verdict would mean overtly criticising the moral conduct of senior ministers and civil service colleagues with whom she has long worked and may retain friendly personal ties.As such, she is widely expected to err on the side of caution and conclude that poor judgement was evident in abundance but that nothing criminal took place, keenly aware that it is beyond her remit to recommend the resignation of a British prime minister.Sir David Normington, a former Whitehall permanent secretary, summed up the complexity of her situation when he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last week: “She will be very aware that she has the reputation and possibly the careers of senior civil servants and possibly of the prime minister in her hands, and that is a very difficult position to be in, however fair and fearless and rigorous you are.”But, by all accounts, if anyone can walk that tightrope, it is Ms Gray, nicknamed “the woman who runs the country” and “deputy God” by MPs Oliver Letwin and Paul Flynn respectively.“Sue has been there for so long, she knows everything that anybody has ever done wrong,” ex-Cabinet Office special adviser Polly Mackenzie told the BBC’s Profile programme in 2017.Enjoying a reputation for diligence, Ms Gray is also so discreet that even her own precise age is disputed.She is either 63 or 64, did not attend university and has served in the civil service since the late 1970s, barring a career break during the 1980s when she abandoned Westminster to run a pub called The Cove Bar in Newry, Northern Ireland, with her husband, a country singer named Bill Conlon.“If a pub landlady doesn’t know what a party is, who will?” a rather wry family friend told The Daily Mail’s Michael Crick recently.According to her biography on the government website, she has worked in the departments of transport, health and work and pensions “covering a range of roles which included both policy and front line delivery”.Subsequently joining the Cabinet Office in the late 1990s, Ms Gray eventually became director general of propriety and ethics from 2012 to 2018.It was in that guise that she carried out a number of high-profile inquiries into the likes of defence secretary Liam Fox, ex-chief whip Andrew Mitchell over “plebgate”, and Damian Green, Theresa May’s de facto deputy prime minister, who was dismissed after he was found to have been “misleading” in a statement made to police regarding pornography on his office computer in 2008.As The Independent’s Sean O’Grady writes, Mr Mitchell has since been highly complimentary about his one-time interrogator, commenting: “I have always found her to be extremely straightforward, very easy to deal with; she’s got a great sense of humour and she is clear-cut and doesn’t shilly-shally around.”It was also in relation to this period as ethics chief that the former BBC Newsnight journalist Chris Cook complained that Ms Gray was “notorious for her determination not to leave a document trail” and had assisted departments to “fight disclosures” in the shape of freedom of information requests.“If the government feels it has to get rid of a minister, she will give them cover to do that. If a government really wants to keep someone, she’ll find a way to do that,” he said.She served as permanent secretary to the Northern Irish executive’s department of finance on secondment from the Cabinet Office between 2018 and 2021 before returning to occupy her present role last May, reportedly frustrated to miss out on the top job in the Northern Irish civil service and speculating to the BBC: “Perhaps I was too much of a challenger, or a disrupter.”Many will be willing her to show some of that same spirit as she rattles out her Partygate dossier this week. More

As he fights for his career, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has one constant refrain: Wait for Sue Gray.Gray is a senior but previously obscure civil servant who may hold Johnson’s political future in her hands. She has the job of investigating allegations that the prime minister and his staff attended lockdown-flouting parties on government property.Gray is due to report by the end of the month on claims government staff held late-night soirees, “bring your own booze” parties and “wine time Fridays” while Britain was under coronavirus restrictions in 2020 and 2021. The allegations have spawned public anger, incredulity and mockery, and prompted some in the governing Conservative Party to call for Johnson’s resignation.The prime minister last week made a contrite, carefully worded apology in Parliament, but stopped short of admitting rule-breaking and urged everyone to wait for Gray’s verdict. Alex Thomas, a program director at the Institute for Government, said those expecting the report to “either clear the prime minister or damn him” would likely be disappointed.“This is a huge political and wider public issue,” he said. “The Gray report is an important part of finding out what happened. But in the end this is a judgment for Conservative Cabinet ministers and MPs about whether they want Boris Johnson to lead their party and therefore lead the country.” Gray is investigating close to a dozen alleged gatherings held between May 2020 and April 2021, most in the prime minister’s Downing Street office-cum-residence. One party took place when people in Britain were banned from socializing or visiting sick relatives in hospitals. Another came on the eve of Prince Philip’s socially distanced funeral, at which widowed Queen Elizabeth II was forced to sit alone in church.Gray’s assignment is to uncover the facts about the gatherings and whether they broke any rules. She has access to “all relevant records” and power to interview officials, including Johnson. The prime minister’s office hasn’t confirmed whether Johnson has been quizzed by Gray, though Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said Johnson had “submitted himself” to Gray’s investigation.Gray can establish “whether individual disciplinary action is warranted” against officials, and London’s Metropolitan Police force says it could open an investigation if she finds evidence of law-breaking.Crucially, though, Gray has limited room to censure Johnson himself. Usually, civil service inquiries make recommendations to the prime minister. In this case it’s the prime minister who is being investigated, making Johnson the arbiter of his own punishment.The inquiry is an unusually high-profile assignment for a woman used to exerting power behind the scenes. Gray has served both Labour and Conservative governments over several decades, according to a brief biography on the government website, with a gap in the 1980s when she ran a pub in Northern Ireland.As head of “propriety and ethics” at the Cabinet Office, she investigated previous allegations of wrongdoing by ministers, including claims of sexual misconduct against then deputy prime minister Damian Green in 2017, who was forced to resign as a result.Gray is regarded within government as a straight shooter unafraid to stand up to politicians. But freedom of information campaigners have criticized her role in keeping government secrets. A previous role involved vetting officials’ memoirs to ensure no secrets were spilled, and she has been accused of stonewalling freedom of information requests.Thomas, who knows Gray, said she wouldn’t be enjoying the spotlight.“You don’t generally join the civil service to become a household name,” he said. “That said, she is a resilient person.”Johnson’s office says the prime minister “will accept what facts she establishes,” but won’t say what action he might take after Gray’s report. He has previously ignored a similar civil-service inquiry: In 2020, Johnson backed Home Secretary Priti Patel after an investigation concluded that she had bullied her staff. British media reported Monday that the prime minister plans to fire senior officials and aides to save his own skin if Gray’s report is critical —a plan dubbed “Operation Save Big Dog.”Johnson spokesman Max Blain dismissed the reports and said he had “never heard that term used.” He also denied the government was deploying “Operation Red Meat” — throwing out attention-grabbing policy measures to distract from the party claims.The government has undeniably made a flurry of recent announcements likely to appeal to Conservative lawmakers who may be wobbling in their support for Johnson. They include a plan to cut taxpayer support for the BBC; a vow to deploy the military to stop migrants crossing the English Channel from France in small boats; and an intention to lift remaining coronavirus restrictions next week.“Partygate” has helped the opposition Labour Party open up a double-digit opinion poll lead on the Conservatives. Johnson doesn’t have to face voters’ judgment until the next general election, scheduled for 2024. But the Conservative Party has a history of ousting leaders once they become liabilities. Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, was forced out in 2019 after failing to secure acceptable Brexit divorce terms with the European Union. Johnson could suffer the same fate if the party decides his popular appeal — the star quality that has seen him bounce back from past scandals — has vanished.Under Conservative rules, a no-confidence vote in the leader can be triggered if 54 party lawmakers write letters demanding it. It’s unclear how many have already been submitted, and so far only a handful of Conservative members of Parliament have openly called for Johnson to quit.Many others are waiting to see what Gray says, and how the public responds.“The atmosphere within the Conservative Party is a mixture of shame, anger and disappointment,” Conservative lawmaker Andrew Bowie told the BBC. “There is a real sense of anger and disappointment within the party, and I think that many MPs therefore are struggling with the decisions that they may have to take over the next few weeks.”___Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic More

No 10 has denied that Boris Johnson told aides objecting to the “bring your own booze” garden party he attended that they were “overreacting” to the staging of the event.The allegation – put forward by his close friend Dominic Lawson, a newspaper columnist – would contradict the prime minister’s claim that he did not realise the gathering was a party.On Sunday, Downing Street said it was “untrue that the prime minister was warned about the event in advance” and that he “believed implicitly that this was a work event”.Now his spokesman has widened that denial to insist he at no point “defended the event” or told any aides that “they were overreacting”.Asked if Mr Lawson’s claims – including that Mr Johnson called Martin Reynolds, his private secretary “my loyal Labrador” – were accurate, the spokesman replied: “No”.“Those claims of being forewarned are not true, as we made clear over the weekend,” he added.The denial comes as Conservative MPs mull over growing evidence that voters want Mr Johnson to quit even before civil servant Sue Gray concludes her inquiry into the rash of lockdown-busting parties.No 10 refused to say whether the prime minister has been interviewed by her, but said the “full” report will be published when it is ready, either later this week or next week.Mr Johnson is “no longer required to reduce contact”, after either his wife Carrie or one of his children tested positive for Covid, because their period of isolation has ended.However, it is unclear whether he will be seen in public for the first time in nearly a week, before prime minister’s questions in the Commons on Wednesday.Asked if Mr Johnson refers to himself as “big dog”, as he battles to save his job – as The Independent has been told – the spokesman replied: “Certainly not that I’m aware of.”In his Sunday Times column, Mr Lawson claimed that Mr Johnson was “warned, at the time, that to go ahead with the party, trestle tables and all, was in obvious breach of the prevailing regulations”.“I spoke to a former Downing Street official who said at least two people had told the PM, after seeing the emailed invitation from his principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, that this was “a party” and should be immediately cancelled.“I was told that Johnson’s dismissive response was to say they were “overreacting” and to praise Reynolds as “my loyal Labrador”.Downing Street also defended Mr Johnson “commuting” between Chequers and No 10 during March 2020, when Carrie was pregnant, when guidance said people should not travel for non-essential reasons.“Mrs Johnson was heavily pregnant and had been placed in a vulnerable category and advised to minimise social contacts,” the spokesman said.“So, in line with clinical guidance and to minimise the risk to her they were based at Chequers during that period, with the prime minister commuting to Downing Street to work.”The guidance on not travelling to second homes did not come in until March 22, “at which point the prime minister and his wife were already based in Chequers”. More

Everything you need to know about the Downing Street party inquiryNadhim Zahawi today said Boris Johnson is safe in his job, as reports of a further Covid-rule breaking gathering emerged last night.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Education Secretary said – after being asked three times – that the prime minister will stay in his position.Mr Zahawi’s comments after a report in the Mirror said Mr Johnson attended a leaving do before Christmas 2020 during which he gave a speech to mark the departure of his defence adviser Captain Steve Higham.In a bid to survive the scandal, Mr Johnson could reportedly overhaul his top team and announce a raft of policy announcements, including putting the military in charge of preventing small boats from crossing the Channel.That plan was today lambasted by Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons defence committee, who said the military taking on the “migrant challenge” was a “massive distraction”.Show latest update

1642430692What is happening in the Commons this afternoon?In about 45 minutes we are due to hear from Home Secretary Priti Patel who will give an update on security matters. And at 4.30pm Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries will make a statement on the BBC.Labour’s Lucy Powell confirmed on Twitter that she will be responding to Ms Dorries update in the House of Commons.Joe Middleton17 January 2022 14:441642429356Labour accuses government of ‘picking fights’ with British institutionsShadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused the Government of trying to “pick fights” with “important” British institutions and defended the BBC, saying they do “important things”.Asked if she welcomed reports that the BBC licence fee will be frozen, Ms Cooper told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “I think the thing is the BBC is such an important part of our national life. And what’s going on is the Government is now just trying to pick fights with our big, really important institutions, our British institutions.”Pressed on whether she would allow the licence fee to rise, she said: “I think everybody understands in terms of right now, there are all sorts of issues about making sure that we can support people through a cost of living crisis. But that’s not what really is going on with the Government at the moment.“What instead that they’re doing is trying to actually talk about undermining or stopping the BBC altogether, seems to be their approach. And that’s what we think is the damaging approach, at a time when the BBC, you know, does so much important things.“For example, during the first lockdown the BBC provided huge amounts of home support for kids who were doing home learning and provided those sorts of resources.Joe Middleton17 January 2022 14:221642428232Sturgeon accuses PM of resorting to ‘cheap, populist policies’ to distract from partygateNicola Sturgeon has accused Boris Johnson of resorting to “cheap, populist policies” to distract from the scandals engulfing his leadership.Scotland’s First Minister responded to reports that Downing Street had launched ‘operation red meat’ in a bid to stem public outrage at the slew of parties reported to have taken place during lockdown.Ms Sturgeon said proposals such as ending the BBC licence fee and ordering the military to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel was “unedifying” for the Prime Minister.Speaking to the media at a visit to Irvine after the announcement of offshore energy contracts, the SNP leader said the scandal surrounding the apparent “serial, repeated breaches of the Covid regulations” showed the Conservative Party was “not fit for office”.She said: “Instead of Boris Johnson taking responsibility, he appears to be preparing to pass the blame to those who work for him and around him, which I don’t think is the kind of thing you would expect from somebody who is leader of his party and Prime Minister.“But also, looking for cheap, populist policies to try to distract attention, to use refugees and those seeking asylum to save his own skin.“While everybody will have different degrees of criticism of the BBC, to try to jettison the BBC to save his own skin, it’s unedifying, it’s beneath the office of Prime Minister and all it does really is underline this feeling that Boris Johnson is not just himself damaged irreparably, in my view, but he is bit by bit undermining and damaging the institutions of the country and the institutions that support our democracy and that’s why it’s got to stop.”Joe Middleton17 January 2022 14:031642427127Boris Johnson’s sister says that if he attended parties then it ‘would’ve been work’ for himJoe Middleton17 January 2022 13:451642426423No 10 denies Boris Johnson said aides objecting to ‘bring your own booze’ party were ‘overreacting’No 10 has denied that Boris Johnson told aides objecting to the “bring your own booze” garden party he attended that they were “overreacting” to the staging of the event.The allegation – put forward by his close friend Dominic Lawson, a newspaper columnist – would contradict the prime minister’s claim that he did not realise the gathering was a party, writes Rob Merrick.On Sunday, Downing Street said it was “untrue that the prime minister was warned about the event in advance” and that he “believed implicitly that this was a work event”.Joe Middleton17 January 2022 13:331642425266It is vital that BBC keep costs down, say No10Downing Street said it was “vital” that the BBC sought to keep down costs ahead of an expected freeze in the licence fee.The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s obviously vital the BBC is doing everything possible to avoid new costs for UK households at a time when many are facing financial pressures and deliver the best value for money for licence-fee payers.”Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said at the weekend that the next announcement about the BBC licence fee “will be the last”, and indicated she wanted to find a new funding model for the BBC after the current licence fee funding deal expires in 2027.The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “We have said that we will keep the licence fee until the end of the current charter period in 2027 but ahead of that point we will review how the BBC is funded.”The spokesman rejected Labour’s claim that the announcement of the plans was an attempt to distract from Boris Johnson’s political difficulties: “The Government’s commitment to BBC reform is long standing.”Joe Middleton17 January 2022 13:141642424308PM doesn’t refer to himself as ‘big dog’, says No 10 The prime minister does not call himself “big dog”, Downing Street has said.This comes after reports emerged last week that Boris Johnson wanted to save himself from the backlash caused by partygate by pinning the blame on others under an initiative called “Operation Save Big Dog”. When asked whether the prime minister was called “big dog” by staff, his spokesperson said: “I’ve never heard that term used”. Rory Sullivan17 January 2022 12:581642423406Partygate inquiry: What happens next? Sue Gray, the civil servant tasked with investigating the Downing Street parties, could deliver her report this week, it has been suggested. But what happens next with the inquiry? Our political editor Andrew Woodcock takes a closer look: Rory Sullivan17 January 2022 12:431642422907DUP denies government deal over double jobs The leader of the DUP has denied striking an agreement with the British government to allow politicians in Northern Ireland to hold jobs in Westminster and Stormont simultaneously. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he did not have anything do with the UK’s contentious plan, which has been widely criticised by other parties in the territory. The scheme is seen to unduly favour the DUP, with the Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie calling it a “scam”.While distancing himself from the decision, Sir Jeffrey said he would make use of the double-jobbing policy.“I do think there is a benefit for the leader of unionism to continue having a voice at Westminster as well as having a role at Stormont because we are in critical times,” he told the BBC Good Morning Ulster programme. Rory Sullivan17 January 2022 12:351642421972Inside Politics The prime minister has been accused of “distracting” the public’s attention from the partygate scandal with an attack on the BBC. My colleague Matt Mathers has more on this and today’s other major political stories in his daily newsletter: Rory Sullivan17 January 2022 12:19 More

A senior Tory MP has accused Boris Johnson of presiding over a “massive distraction” amid reports the military will be put in charge of preventing small boats of migrants crossing the Channel.As Mr Johnson faces a dangerous moment in his premiership over allegations of rule-busting parties in No 10, it was reported he will give the Royal Navy “primacy” over all government vessels in the Channel this month.According to The Times, a change being considered could include processing asylum seekers in Ghana and Rwanda, although the Home Office would not be drawn on such suggestions after a diplomatic row earlier this year over similar reports.It comes amid reports the government is embarking on a series of policy announcements — dubbed Operation Red Meat — in an attempt to appease furious Conservative MPs who have been deluged with angry emails from constituents.Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons defence committee, however, told Sky News that there were “policy proposals being rushed out”.“The idea that the military is to take on the migrant challenge — that’s a massive distraction given how the dangerous the world is becoming,” he added. “This isn’t what our Navy should be doing — I’ll be asking questions about that today”.The senior Tory also aired criticism of the plan unveiled yesterday to freeze the BBC licence fee for two years. saying: “It may seem very, very populist to freeze that, but ultimately there will be knock-on consequences to our voice across the world.”“Yes lots of proposals and ideas, but ultimately we need something bigger than that,” he stressed. “Our party has become somewhat tribal, sub-tribal if you like, we need to be able to rally around a single flag, the Conservative flag, coming out with Conservative proposals that are suitable for the challenges that we face in the immediate future.”Labour accused the government of failing to do the “serious, practical work” with France to stop criminals profiting from Channel crossings, and claimed Boris Johnson was using the situation to “chase headlines to distract from the total mess he is in as a result of rule-breaking parties in No 10”.The party’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, added: “The government brought I the navy in to patrol the Channel three years ago in 2019.“HMS Enterprise and HMS Mersey did not intercept a single boat and the cost to the Home Office was £780,000. They need to explain what is different in these latest plans. They’ve announced pushback they’ve now admitted won’t work and keep re-announcing offshore processing even though no other country has agreed to it and it was incredibly costly and damaging when tried in Australia.”Ms Cooper went on: “The prime minister should say whether this latest briefing means he has lost confidence in the Home Secretary and the Border Force or whether this is really about the crisis of confidence in him”.Earlier, when asked whether the military being brought in to tackle the migrant Channel crossings was a good idea, Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, told Sky News: “It’s a good idea that there is a single command and control, and that includes not just naval vessels but all other vessels including Border Force, so that you actually have a co-ordinated operation in terms of the small boats.“A really important idea is the legislation that Priti Patel has put through Parliament to allow us to have a much better way of dealing with illegal migration because there are legal routes for migration, you know, I’m the son of immigrants.”He said the Government wanted to “go after the illegal smugglers who are putting these people’s lives at risk”. But when told those were not the ones on the boats, he added: “Well, they’re the ones we want.” More

Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi has claimed Boris Johnson is safe in his job — after being asked three times about the prime minister’s perilous position.Despite growing anger from Tory MPs and calls for the prime minister’s resignation after multiple allegations of rule-busting parties in No 10 during Covid restrictions, the education secretary said “he’s human and we make mistakes”.On Sunday evening, one Conservative MP said they had received an “enormous” number of emails from constituents over the gatherings and suggested the affair raised questions about the “moral authority” at the top of government.Several MPs have also publicly proclaimed in recent days to have submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership to Sir Graham Brady — the chair of the 1922 committee of backbench Tories.Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether Mr Johnson was “safe in his job”, he replied: “I think Boris Johnson has done the right thing to apologise.”Pressed again, Mr Zahawi said: “I think the prime minister on the big, big decisions, if you look at the way he did on Brexit, on vaccines, on Omicron pre-Christmas, on the economy, has called it right.”Questioned a third time, the cabinet minister eventually replied: “Yes, he is, because he’s human and we make mistakes.“And, actually, he came to the despatch box and apologised and said he will absolutely submit himself to Parliament, because that’s our parliamentary democracy.”The cabinet minister stressed that when Sue Gray, the civil servant tasked with investigating rule-breaking events, produces her report to No 10, the prime minister will face MPs’ questions in the Commons.Defending the prime minister, the education secretary added: “I think it’s really important you don’t condemn a man before you’ve had the investigation”.After Mr Johnson’s apology to MPs last week — despite claiming he believed the No 10 rose garden party on 20 May, 2020 was a “work event” — Mr Zahawi also attempted to say the prime minister attended the gathering to “motivate his workforce”.Speaking on the Westminster Hour on Sunday evening, however, the Tory MP Chris Loder said the “vast majority” of the “enormous” number of emails from constituents he had received were “critical of the prime minister”.The Conservative, who was elected in 2019, said: “As I’ve said, I’m not going to call for anyone’s resignation until I’ve seen the facts, but then real action is required, and then we shall go from there.”“There is no two ways about it, there are a good number of people at home for me who feel very strongly. “The fundamental point is they need to be able to trust the leadership, and when that is in question, you really have a question over the moral authority in terms of governance, I think.”Mr Loder added that he thought there was a “considerable level of nervousness” among Tory MPs as they wait to see what is in the Sue Gray report, claiming: “Boris is a bit of a survivor. I think this is a difficult time for him, and there are a number of us that are very sad about this.” More

Boris Johnson is set to overhaul his Downing Street operation in a desperate attempt to “address the underlying culture” that led to lockdown boozing, a cabinet minister has said.Tory party chair Oliver Dowden insisted on Sunday that the prime minister was “contrite” over allegations of rule-breaking, and suggested the PM would be making changes to his top team.But opposition parties doubled down on criticism of the prime minister, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer saying that Mr Johnson had broken the law and then lied about it.“I think he broke the law. I think he’s as good as admitted that he broke the law,” Sir Keir told the BBC.“I know that the government’s holding position is ‘Let’s all wait for the Sue Gray report.’ But I think it’s pretty obvious what’s happened – this industrial-scale partying had been going on at Downing Street; not much of it is really denied – and I think that the public have made up their mind. I think the facts speak for themselves.”He added: “I think the prime minister broke the law; I think he then lied about what had happened.”There have been over a dozen different allegations of festivities in Downing Street while lockdown rules were in place – but no charges have yet been brought by the police.Mr Johnson was last night accused of attending another gathering in December 2020, when a leaving do was held for former defence adviser Captain Steve Higham. According to The Mirror, Mr Johnson attended “for a few minutes” in which he gave a speech “to thank him for his service”. The newspaper, which did not reveal the exact date of the leaving do but claimed it was in the run-up to Christmas, said a “small number of No 10 staff briefly said goodbye”.It also emerged that Mr Johnson has now been questioned by Ms Gray ahead of the report being published and has shared with her what he knows, The Telegraph reported. So far, six Tory MPs have publicly called on the prime minister to resign over the scandal, with others telling him he needs to up his game and reverse the polling slide. Yet more have warned that their inboxes are overflowing with emails from constituents who are livid at the revelations.In order to trigger a leadership contest, 54 of Mr Johnson’s MPs must submit letters in private to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee. So far, three have said publicly that they have written to Sir Graham – Sir Roger Gale, the MP for Thanet North; Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives; and Andrew Bridgen, the member for North West Leicestershire – though it is rumoured that as many as 20 MPs may have done so.The prime minister is said to be taking action to try to bring his party back onside.The Independent reported earlier this week that Mr Johnson was set to try to save his own skin by sacking officials close to him, in a plan apparently named “Operation Save Big Dog”.Details are now beginning to emerge of the planned cull of his inner circle, which is designed to restore both public and internal party confidence. Martin Reynolds, who sent the “bring your own booze” invitation to No 10 colleagues, is expected to be forced out along with his deputy, according to The Sunday Times. The paper reports that No 10’s chief of staff may also have to go.Mr Dowden told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “I can assure you the prime minister is both very contrite and deeply apologetic for what happened.“But more importantly, he is determined to make sure that this can’t be allowed to happen, and that we address the underlying culture in Downing Street. There were failings; we should have done better – much, much better.”It has been suggested that No 10 staff may be banned from drinking on the job, amid revelations that they regularly held “wine-time Fridays” while lockdown regulations were in place.But there is also pressure from within the party to change tack on policy, and perhaps chart a more right-wing course.Lord Frost, who quit the cabinet last month over the political direction of the government, said changing the No 10 team was “necessary but not sufficient”.“To get through this we need changes in machinery, so good decisions are taken and actually delivered [along with] changes in policy,” he said – indicating that he would support a switch to less ambitious action on climate change and more tax cuts.But Will Tanner, a former senior official in the No 10 policy unit, poured cold water on Mr Johnson’s reported approach. He said it was “hard to see how losing the principal private secretary, deputy principal private secretary, chief of staff and director of communications simultaneously will improve the Downing Street operation – no matter who replaces them”. Meanwhile, there have been reports that Mr Johnson was warned by “at least two people” that the May 2020 “bring your own booze” event amounted to a party and should be immediately cancelled.But a No 10 spokesperson rejected the claims. Speaking on Sunday, they said: “It is untrue that the prime minister was warned about the event in advance. “As he said earlier this week, he believed implicitly that this was a work event. He has apologised to the house and is committed to making a further statement once the investigation concludes.” More