Category Archives: Conservatives

Boris Johnson faces rural fury over post-Brexit food strategy

Posted on by

Anger grows before West Country byelection as farmers say they will be left poorer and unable to compete with foreign producers

Boris Johnson’s hopes of surviving as prime minister have been dealt a serious blow after farmers and environmentalists condemned his government’s post-Brexit food strategy as a disaster for people in the countryside – with less than two weeks to go before a key rural byelection.

In an interview with the Observer, the president of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters, said ambitious proposals to help farmers increase food production, first put forward last year by the government’s food tsar, Henry Dimbleby, had been “stripped to the bone” in a new policy document, and meant farmers would not be able to produce affordable food.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson stands to make £5m a year after No 10, say experts

Posted on by

PM could join lecture circuit and rejoin paper where he complained of ‘chicken feed’ £250,000 salary

Boris Johnson could make more than £5m a year after he leaves Downing Street, experts have estimated.

The figure will be welcome news to a prime minister who is said to regularly complain to friends that he is hard up, citing his second divorce, several children and his reduced income since entering No 10.

Continue reading...

Tory MP apologises for calling Birmingham and Blackpool ‘godawful’

Posted on by

Heather Wheeler, a minister in the Cabinet Office, made comments at technology event in London

A UK government minister has apologised after calling England’s second city and one of the country’s best-known seaside resorts as “godawful”.

Heather Wheeler referred to Birmingham and Blackpool during a launch of the government’s new digital strategy on Thursday. According to Chris Middleton, a technology journalist who was at the launch, the junior minister in the Cabinet Office said: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”

Continue reading...

Draft legislation on overriding Northern Ireland protocol to be published next week

Posted on by

Draft legislation to be issued Monday, as Keir Starmer promises a Labour government would repeal law if it passes

Legislation to disapply parts of the Northern Ireland protocol will be published next week, but senior government sources acknowledge it is going to be a “difficult” process to get it through parliament.

The new laws are aimed at unilaterally changing parts of the protocol to make trade easier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, but critics say overriding the post-Brexit treaty could contravene international law.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson promises action on cost of living crisis but says higher wages risk further inflation – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on Boris Johnson’s comments about a potential ‘wage-price spiral’ here

The Queen has received a present from the cabinet to mark her Platinum Jubilee, No 10 says. It is a specially-commissioned musical box, with pictures of all the 14 prime ministers who have served here around the side. When it opens it plays Handel’s Hallelujah.

In every office there is always someone who organises the presents and this picture, on the No 10 Flickr account, suggests that in cabinet that job falls to Michael Ellis, the paymaster general.

Continue reading...

Senior Tory MPs renew calls to Boris Johnson for urgent tax cuts

Posted on by

High-profile MPs back demand from Adam Smith Institute to reduce tax burden and ease cost of living crisis

Senior Conservatives from across the party have renewed calls for Boris Johnson to implement urgent tax cuts as Downing Street played down the prospects of a shift in policy.

A string of high-profile MPs, from Steve Baker on the party’s right wing to Damian Green on its left, have backed a fresh demand from the Adam Smith Institute for the government to reduce the tax burden.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson’s no-confidence vote: PM tells cabinet to ‘draw a line’ under Partygate after narrowly surviving bruising ballot – live

Posted on by

Latest updates: Boris Johnson says ministers should focus on ‘cutting costs of government’ after William Hague says his position is ‘untenable’

In a speech to the Royal College of Nursing annual congress in Glasgow, Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, said it was “almost unbelievable” that nurses were having to use food banks. They deserved better pay, he said.

Two years ago the NHS was deservedly awarded the George Cross for its work during the pandemic, but the reward for individual nurses has been pay settlements well below inflation, leaving nurses much worse off.

Now, as part of the Platinum Jubilee, members of the armed forces and emergency services are rightly receiving Jubilee medals.

Douglas has been consistent in terms of the principle – he made it clear from the outset that he had huge doubts about the conduct of the prime minister ...

It was only when circumstances changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine that he said there are some things right now we need to set aside.

Continue reading...

The numbers are troubling for Boris Johnson, among Tory MPs and beyond

Posted on by

Analysis: 211-148 suggests about two-thirds of backbenchers are against him, and even his fanbase may be crumbling

For Boris Johnson, Monday evening’s win was “decisive”, and his allies were out immediately, briefing that it would “draw a line” under the chaos of the past few months. But faced with the raw numbers – 211 votes to 148 – even his former employer the Daily Telegraph called it a “hollow victory”.

It was less convincing than the 63% to 37% victory of Theresa May over her detractors in 2018 – though that was hardly seen as a resounding win at the time.

Continue reading...

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy ‘very happy’ at Boris Johnson confidence vote win

Posted on by

President says result is ‘great news’, while adviser says ‘the world needs such leaders’

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has declared himself “very happy” at Boris Johnson’s confidence vote win, hours after one of his senior advisers tweeted a picture of the two men and thanked the UK prime minister for helping to protect “the free world from barbaric invasion”.

Zelenskiy described Johnson’s narrow victory on Monday evening as “great news”, in remarks via video link to an event hosted by the Financial Times on Tuesday. “I’m glad we haven’t lost a very important ally. This is great news,” he said.

Continue reading...

City donations worth £15m raise concerns over influence on UK politics

Posted on by

Total donated to parties by financial firms and individuals tied to the sector over two years, report says

Concerns have been raised over the City’s influence on Westminster, after a report found financial firms and individuals tied to the sector donated £15m to political parties and gave £2m to MPs during the pandemic.

The campaign group Positive Money tallied the gifts, expenses and donations handed to MPs, peers and their parties, as well as the value of income from politicians’ second jobs, saying it contributed to finance’s “oversized influence” on policymaking.

Continue reading...

Tory rebels vow to keep trying to topple Johnson after no-confidence vote win

Posted on by

Even the PM’s allies concede it’s ‘the beginning of the end’ after 40% of MPs decline to support leader

Tory rebels have vowed to keep trying to force Boris Johnson from office, as the prime minister’s allies admitted he was reaching “the beginning of the end” after a devastating result in Monday night’s confidence vote.

Johnson’s struggle to hold his divided party together will become more intense, with some of the 148 MPs, or 40%, who voted against him said to be “implacably opposed” to his premiership.

Continue reading...

The PM is safe for now – but the vote is hardly a ringing endorsement

Posted on by

Analysis: With 148 votes against him, the task of governing is likely to become more, not less difficult in the months ahead

Boris Johnson’s allies had always said about the vote of no confidence that victory by just one vote was still a win, and he would remain in Downing Street and get on with delivering “the people’s priorities”.

They will no doubt be cracking opening the bubbly on Monday evening. But the truth is that with 148 votes against him, the task of governing is likely to become more, not less difficult in the weeks and months ahead.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson wins no-confidence vote despite unexpectedly large rebellion

Posted on by

PM retains support of most colleagues but badly weakened after result in which 148 MPs voted against him

Boris Johnson was clinging to his premiership on Monday night after 148 of his MPs voted to oust him from Downing Street in a ballot that exposed potentially fatal rifts within his party.

The prime minister won the support of 211 MPs but 41% of his party voted to get rid of him, with many citing his lack of repentance over the Partygate scandal and the public’s loss of trust in his leadership. It was the worst verdict on a sitting prime minister by their own party in recent times.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson no-confidence vote: prime minister wins by 211 to 148 but 40% of Tory MPs fail to back him – live

Posted on by

Vote means he will remain as Conservative leader and PM

This is from my colleague Aubrey Allegretti explaining how the no-confidence vote in Boris Johnson will be carried out.

Boris Johnson welcomes the chance to make his case to MPs, Downing Street claims. In a statement a No 10 spokesperson said:

Tonight is a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people’s priorities. The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force.

Continue reading...

Tories may face catastrophic defeat in Wakefield byelection – poll

Posted on by

Survey puts Labour 20 points ahead in the constituency amid reports Boris Johnson could face no confidence vote

The Conservatives are heading for a potentially catastrophic defeat in the Wakefield byelection amid reports Boris Johnson could face a vote on his future next week, according to a new poll.

A survey by JL Partners and reported in the Sunday Times gives Labour a 20-point lead over the Tories in the Yorkshire constituency.

Continue reading...

Labour says it is now the true party of patriotism and British values

Posted on by

‘We’re standing up for UK institutions,’ says shadow minister, pointing to booing of Boris Johnson

Labour has staked a bold claim to be the true party of patriotism and the best of British values, as four days of nationwide celebrations to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee draw to a close on Sunday.

Senior Labour party figures said Boris Johnson – who was booed outside St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday – was no longer seen by the public as a leader who upholds the British standards of integrity, decency and honesty that the country has long been admired for across the world.

Continue reading...

Bishop of Buckingham joins calls for Boris Johnson to resign

Posted on by

Alan Wilson calls PM’s self-defence ‘nonsense’ and says country needs leader it can trust

The bishop of Buckingham has joined the growing calls for Boris Johnson to resign and believes that he “obviously” lied over lockdown parties in Downing Street.

The Right Rev Dr Alan Wilson described the prime minister’s defence that he did not realise what was going on as “nonsense”, adding that the country needed a leader it could trust.

Johnson has faced public calls from Conservative MPs to stand down following the final report by Sue Gray into breaches of Covid regulations and the alcohol culture in Downing Street and Whitehall.

Under party rules, he will face a confidence vote if 54 Tory MPs, 15% of the party, submit a letter to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady calling for one.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson booed as he arrives at St Paul’s for platinum jubilee event

Posted on by

Prime minister greeted with whistles and jeers by crowd waiting at cathedral for Queen’s thanksgiving service

Boris Johnson was greeted by a chorus of boos as he arrived at the Queen’s platinum jubilee thanksgiving service on Friday morning.

Stepping out of his car when it pulled up at St Paul’s Cathedral in London with his wife, Carrie, the prime minister was met with boos and whistles by frustrated spectators.

Continue reading...

Angela Rayner calls for ethics commission and says Johnson unfit to uphold standards in public life – live

Posted on by

Latest updates: Labour’s deputy leader says her party would clean up politics and restore standards in public life

Prendergast also encouraged travellers to only take hand luggage on their holidays to beat long queues at the airport.

The national secretary of the GMB union told The Daily Telegraph: “If individuals can check in online and don’t take luggage, that limits the disruption. It’s not a magic bullet however it does scale back the prospect of there being issues.”

This unfortunately was a foreseeable problem, it was one we warned about at the point at which the mass redundancies were made.

We asked the government to look at the aviation industry as a special case and they refused. And now, quite frankly, for Grant Shapps to come out as he has in the last 24 hours is a little bit disingenuous considering these problems have been on the radar for a long time.

Continue reading...

Tory MP sparks Brexiter backlash with call to rejoin EU single market

Posted on by

Boris Johnson allies seize on Tobias Ellwood’s comments to say Brexit would not be safe with rebel Tories

A Tory MP and arch critic of Boris Johnson has sparked a backlash from Brexiters after suggesting Britain rejoin the EU’s single market to help ease the cost of living crisis.

Tobias Ellwood’s comments were seized upon by allies of the prime minister as evidence that deposing Johnson would threaten the country’s more distant relationship with Brussels.

Continue reading...