The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said it was 'a bit of a stretch' to suggest a photograph in which the prime minister, Boris Johnson, and his staff are seen sharing wine and cheese platters in the gardens of Downing Street in May 2020 was a work meeting. No 10 has denied anything social took place and the deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, said no Covid rules had been broken
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Raab says PM and staff’s garden gathering was within lockdown rules
Minister says other offices would have been doing the same, in defence that appears to differ from No 10’s line
A photograph of Boris Johnson, his wife and up to 17 staff in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown shows people “having a drink after a busy set of work meetings” and acting entirely within the rules of the time, Dominic Raab has said.
Other workplaces would have done the same during this period and this would not have breached any rules, the justice secretary argued.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson and staff pictured with wine in Downing Street garden in May 2020
Exclusive: photograph raises fresh questions for No 10 after denial of a social event at time of Covid restrictions
Boris Johnson has been pictured with wine and cheese alongside his wife and up to 17 staff in the Downing Street garden during lockdown, raising questions over No 10’s insistence it constituted a “work meeting”.
The photograph was shared with the Guardian following No 10’s denial last week that there was a social event on Friday 15 May 2020 including wine, spirits and pizza inside and outside the building. Johnson’s spokesman said Downing Street staff were working in the garden in the afternoon and evening.
Continue reading...Liz Truss to take on Brexit brief after David Frost resignation
The foreign secretary is assuming responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the EU, says Downing Street
The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is to take over responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the EU after the Brexit minister Lord Frost’s resignation, Downing Street has said.
She will be adding ministerial responsibility to her foreign portfolio with immediate effect.
Continue reading...‘All bets are off now’: a torrid week when Johnson’s balloon was burst
Last week’s byelection result laid bare the growing anger felt towards the PM – both from outside and within his own party
Shortly after Owen Paterson resigned as the Tory MP for North Shropshire in early November, Helen Morgan, who had been trounced when she stood as Liberal Democrat candidate at the last general election, rang her party’s HQ in London with a message that took senior officials by surprise.
“She told us that we really had a chance in the byelection, that we had to throw everything at it. Initially there was a lot of scepticism,” said a party official. “Nobody really believed it.”
Continue reading...Brexit minister’s shock resignation leaves Boris Johnson reeling
Lord Frost’s frustrated exit is yet another blow for PM struggling for control of his government
Boris Johnson was dealt another major blow to his leadership on Saturday night as it emerged that the man overseeing Brexit was resigning from the cabinet.
With Tory MPs already warning the prime minister that he would have to regain control of the government to survive as leader until the next election, it emerged that Lord Frost is to leave the government after frustrations over Brexit negotiations and broader concerns over the government’s Covid policies and tax increases.
Continue reading...‘He’s in real trouble now’: Tory MPs are viewing Boris Johnson as the problem
Analysis: It’s not Downing Street, it’s him, says a minister, amid fears the PM’s strengths have become weaknesses
Asked on Friday whether he took personal responsibility for the disastrous North Shropshire byelection result, Boris Johnson suggested the problem was that everyone else was talking about the wrong issues. “My job as prime minister is to get the focus on to the things that matter for all of us,” he said.
Yet after weeks of self-inflicted crises and the drip, drip of stories about lockdown-busting parties at the heart of Downing Street, many of his MPs believe it is Johnson himself who is the real problem – and some are warning he is now on borrowed time.
Continue reading...North Shropshire byelection: Liberal Democrats win former safe Tory seat in blow to Johnson
Helen Morgan wins a stunning victory for the Lib Dems in a byelection called after environment secretary Owen Paterson resigned
The Liberal Democrats have won a stunning victory in the North Shropshire byelection, taking what had previously been a safe Conservative seat by nearly 6,000 votes, capping a disastrous few weeks for Boris Johnson.
Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem candidate, took 17,957 votes, ahead of the Conservatives’ Neil Shastri-Hurst, on 12,032, a majority of 5,925. Labour’s Ben Wood was third, with 3,686 votes.
Continue reading...No 10 parties raise questions about whether PM will follow Covid science
Analysis: After a steady stream of reports, how likely is it that Boris Johnson will take advice about imposing tougher restrictions?
• Boris Johnson joined No 10 party during May 2020 lockdown, say sources
Cast your minds back to 15 May 2020. Matt Hancock, the then health secretary before he quit for breaking restrictions by having an affair, was giving a press conference where he said people should be “staying at home as much as is possible”.
Social interaction was strictly limited to outdoors and one person at a time. It was the week when people were told they could meet one parent outside, in a socially distanced way, but not both of them together.
Continue reading...Don’t call it sleaze, call it corruption – why scandal haunts Boris Johnson’s government
From contracts for mates to flat makeovers and illicit parties, barely a day passes without a crisis at No 10. But using the tabloid language of the 90s doesn’t scratch the surface of this government’s sins
Think of bonking. Not the activity, but the word. As a shorthand for sex, it was popularised, if not invented, by the tabloid press in the 90s – back then, “Bonking Boris” referred to a former Wimbledon champion rather than a future prime minister. You can see why it appealed. “Bonking” slipped easily under the bar prohibiting expletives in family newspapers; it sounded fun rather than pornographic. It was clear and direct, yet had all the advantages of euphemism.
Now think of sleaze. As it happens, that word performed a similar role in the same period. It could be hurled at politicians – specifically the Conservative government of John Major – relatively free of legal risk. You could say an MP or minister was “mired in sleaze” without having to prove that they had broken a specific law. It was handy.
Continue reading...Canapes and party hats in CCHQ: Boris Johnson’s latest photo nightmare
Picture emerges showing Tory mayoral candidate, activists and a party donor crammed together during lockdown
As Christmas parties go, it may not be everyone’s idea of a good time: there are barely touched canapes, hotel buffet-style containers of hot food, a hand sanitiser dispenser visible in the background, and about 25 political activists, all crammed into a brightly lit basement in the middle of a pandemic.
Uninspiring though it might be, that is the scene captured by a photo taken at Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) last December, which emerged in the Daily Mirror on Tuesday to create another political nightmare for Boris Johnson.
Continue reading...MPs back Covid passes in England amid large Tory rebellion
Measure comes into force on Wednesday and was passed despite many Tories voting against
Boris Johnson has suffered a humiliating rebellion over measures to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, with 99 Conservative MPs rejecting plans for vaccine certificates despite surging infections and personal lobbying by the prime minister.
Johnson had earlier warned his cabinet of a “huge spike” in cases but failed to convince many in his party to support plans to insist on a Covid certificate or negative lateral flow test to attend large venues.
Continue reading...Who are the rebel Tory MPs likely to oppose plan B Covid restrictions?
Analysis: distinct camps have emerged in Westminster, from hardline lockdown sceptics to selective rebels
Government whips are braced for a major rebellion by Tory MPs over new plan B Covid restrictions due to come into force this week, against a backdrop of anger over rule-breaking Christmas parties. The restrictions are set to pass – but only thanks to support from Labour.
Ahead of the Commons votes on Tuesday on mask-wearing, working from home and Covid passports, these are the camps that are set to oppose at least some of the measures.
Continue reading...Liz Truss plays stateswoman as Tory leadership contenders line up for battle
The foreign secretary was doubtless happy to project an image of authority at a G7 meeting as chaos reigned in Downing Street
While Downing Street spent a disastrous week attempting to deal with scandals over parties and wallpaper – and the prime minister was juggling the crises with the birth of a daughter – things were somewhat more serene for another member of his top team.
Rather than dealing with resignations among staff or the latest revelations about Whitehall Christmas parties, foreign secretary Liz Truss has spent the weekend boosting her credentials as a stateswoman, using a meeting of her international counterparts in Liverpool to pitch herself as one of those protecting “the frontiers of freedom” around the world.
Continue reading...Fresh evidence on UK’s botched Afghan withdrawal backs whistleblower’s story
MPs’ inquiry given further details of Britain’s mismanagement of Afghanistan exit with ‘people left to die at the hands of the Taliban’
Further evidence alleging that the government seriously mishandled the withdrawal from Afghanistan has been handed to a parliamentary inquiry examining the operation, the Observer has been told.
Details from several government departments and agencies are understood to back damning testimony from a Foreign Office whistleblower, who has claimed that bureaucratic chaos, ministerial intervention, and a lack of planning and resources led to “people being left to die at the hands of the Taliban”.
Continue reading...Government faces Tory backbench revolt over plan B Covid measures
Dozens of Conservative MPs threaten to rebel or abstain next week as Johnson struggles with fallout from No 10 party scandal
Downing Street is facing a damaging revolt over planned Covid restrictions after dozens of Tory backbenchers threatened to rebel or abstain in fury over the proposed new rules and Boris Johnson’s handling of the Christmas party scandal.
With at least 30 Conservative MPs already expected to vote against regulations on masks, home working and vaccine passports, and many more now vowing to stay away from Tuesday’s vote, the prime minister could be left relying on Labour support to win.
Continue reading...UK Covid live: Met police will not investigate No 10 Christmas party allegations
Latest updates: Scotland Yard cites ‘absence of evidence’, as PM triggers plan B Covid restrictions
- Full story: PM triggers plan B Covid measures in England
- Allegra Stratton resigns after No 10 Christmas party video
- Johnson ‘apologises unreservedly’ over Christmas party video
- Three Pfizer jabs likely to protect against Omicron, tests suggest
Downing Street sources are saying this morning that “no decisions have been made” on a move to plan B. But, frankly, an FT story carries more credibility in the Westminster media village.
Ben Riley-Smith, the Telegraph political editor, thinks the timing of such a move would be suspicious.
Continue reading...Allegra Stratton resigns after No 10 Christmas party video
Boris Johnson ‘sorry to lose’ spokesperson for climate summit who was seen in footage joking about party during lockdown
Allegra Stratton has stepped down as the government’s spokesperson for the Cop26 climate summit after footage emerged of her joking about a party at Downing Street during the peak of lockdown rules in December last year.
Boris Johnson told a coronavirus press briefing on Wednesday that Stratton had been an “outstanding spokeswoman … I am very sorry to lose her”. But he added: “I take responsibility for everything that happens in this government and I have throughout the pandemic.”
Continue reading...‘It’s hypocrisy, pure and simple’: growing public anger over No 10 party
A grieving daughter and a publican prosecuted for breaching rules are among those furious at apparent flouting of rules
On 23 December last year, the day after Downing Street aides were recorded laughing about how they could pretend that a party at No 10 was a “cheese and wine” gathering, a large contingent of police officers arrived at the London Tavern pub in Hackney, east London. James Kearns, the owner, was hosting Christmas drinks for workers at a scaffolding company he also runs.
“There were 15 of us,” he said on Wednesday. “About 20 of the police showed up, absolutely hammering on the doors. We all hid in the toilets, but they found us.” This week, the case went before a magistrate. “And we’ve all been fined £100 each.”
Continue reading...Covid Christmas parties: timeline of government’s alleged festivities
Boris Johnson denies staff gatherings took place or rules were broken during last year’s lockdown
Downing Street is facing renewed pressure after TV footage emerged showing senior No 10 officials joking about a Christmas party during lockdown last December.
In the leaked video, obtained by ITV, an adviser to Johnson is seen joking with Allegra Stratton, the prime minister’s then press secretary, about “a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night”.
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