Category Archives: Conservatives

From prorogation to partygate: 1,000 days of Boris Johnson as PM

Posted on by

The UK prime minister leaves a trail of scandals, U-turns and law-breaking as he reaches his milestone

Tuesday marks 1,000 days since Boris Johnson first began working in Downing Street on 24 July 2019. When he came to power, many warned that UK was in for a bumpy ride. He promised to defy the “the doubters, the doomsters and the gloomsters”, but since then his premiership has exceeded even the gloomiest, most doom-laden fears of his doubters and detractors.

Here is a list of some of the most notable scandals, U-turns and examples of law breaking.

Continue reading...

Tory plotters eye local elections as next chance to oust Boris Johnson

Posted on by

Unhappy MPs feel poor results would help their cause, but No 10 believes he has ‘crossed Rubicon’ and will cling on

Tory MPs are eyeing the aftermath of dire local election results as their next chance to oust Boris Johnson, with the prime minister preparing to apologise for his Partygate penalty.

However, Downing Street is feeling bullish that Johnson has “crossed the Rubicon” after receiving his first fixed-penalty notice earlier this month, and will cling on in the face of further charges.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson says India visit will focus on jobs and economic growth

Posted on by

PM also expected to discuss free trade agreement and defence with Narendra Modi this week on twice-postponed trip

Boris Johnson has said his long-awaited visit to India this week will focus on “the things that really matter” to the people of both countries, primarily jobs and growth.

Although Tory MPs have been talking up Johnson’s role as a leader of the international pro-Ukraine coalition, an advance government briefing about the visit did not mention the war – which has not led to India loosening its close links with Russia.

Continue reading...

Can Boris Johnson survive? The prime minister is on the ropes but not yet out

Posted on by

Analysis: the Tory leader is unpopular for breaking lockdown rules but his departure may depend on options for his replacement

Timing is everything. Suspicions that Boris Johnson had broken lockdown rules nearly toppled him in January. Yet now the prime minister looks safe, even as suspicion becomes fact with the issuing of a fixed penalty notice by the police. Johnson’s strong response to the international crisis provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appears to have saved him for now, though with more fines probably still to come, and Sue Gray’s final report looming, his position remains perilous.

The lockdown party scandals have turned a lot of voters against Johnson. His average net approval ratings across seven national pollsters collapsed from -9 last September to -40 in January. At rock bottom, the prime minister’s ratings were as bad as Margaret Thatcher’s during the poll tax crisis or Gordon Brown’s at the height of the financial crisis. Johnson was less popular with voters in January than Jeremy Corbyn was during the 2019 election campaign. The Johnson brand as a politician with unique popular appeal looked completely shot.

Continue reading...

Wakefield’s disillusioned residents say it is time for political change

Posted on by

Ahmad Khan’s conviction, Partygate and recent Conservative policies have swayed constituents to the left

“Labour is definitely due a comeback now,” said Wakefield market stall owner Mohammad Javed. After coming to the area from Pakistan aged 16, he has spent the last four decades observing life in the town centre from his busy high street spot.

“I’ve seen the rise and fall of this town, I know the locals, and I’m telling you – the Tories have outstayed their welcome.”

Continue reading...

UK Rwanda plan for asylum seekers decried as inhumane, expensive and deadly

Posted on by

Politicians, legal experts and refugee groups condemn Johnson’s plan to ‘offshore’ Channel crossing crisis

Boris Johnson’s plans to send unauthorised asylum seekers on a one-way ticket to Rwanda have been roundly condemned amid warnings that it will be challenged in the courts and could result in further deaths in the Channel.

After the prime minister outlined plans to hand an initial down-payment of £120m to the Rwandan government in the hope that it will accept “tens of thousands” of people, politicians and refugee groups condemned the move as inhumane, unworkable and a waste of public money.

Continue reading...

MP Imran Ahmad Khan resigns after conviction for child sexual assault

Posted on by

Byelection triggered in Wakefield as MP expelled from Tory party says he is withdrawing from political life

Imran Ahmad Khan, the disgraced MP expelled from the Conservative party after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, has announced he will resign, triggering a byelection in the Yorkshire seat of Wakefield.

Although Khan is appealing against Monday’s conviction, he admitted in a statement that the legal proceedings would last “many more months” and leave his constituents without proper political representation.

Continue reading...

‘Inhumane’: some Tories criticise plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

Posted on by

Small but vehement group have already expressed doubts about government’s outsourcing plan

Conservative opposition to plans to send asylum seekers for processing in Rwanda is likely to be led by a small but vehement group of peers and MPs who have already criticised outsourcing the issue overseas.

The House of Lords has now twice amended the nationality and borders bill to block the idea of non-UK processing for asylum claims. However, these government defeats were largely caused by Tory members staying away, giving opposition and crossbench peers a majority.

Continue reading...

UK plans to send thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda, says Boris Johnson – UK politics live

Posted on by

Latest updates: opposition parties denounce plan as ‘shameful’ and ‘evil’; home secretary Priti Patel in Kigali today to unveil more details

Simon Hart, the Welsh secretary, made a rare appearance on the morning broadcast round earlier today. He said the plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda would mark a “humane step forward”. He told Sky News:

We have to deal with this problem. We have a very good relationship with Rwanda: it’s an up-and-coming economy, it has got a very good record with migrants in this particular issue.

And it’s an arrangement which I think suits both countries very well and provides the best opportunities for economic migrants, for those who have been in the forefront of this particular appalling problem for so long now.

We’ve put forward proposals to make it more difficult for smuggler gangs to advertise online on social media, which is partly how they do it.

We think there should be safe and legal routes that people need for family reunions and so on, so that they don’t have to arrive through these illegal routes in order to make their asylum claims.

Continue reading...

Future Partygate revelations may be even worse for Boris Johnson, says Tory MP – UK politics live

Posted on by

Latest updates: a Conservative MP calling for the PM to resign says he fears there are more fines to come for Johnson

More than 35 homebuilders have agreed to put £2bn towards fixing unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings in England identified in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, Michael Gove, the housing secretary, has said. My colleague Rowena Mason has the story here.

The Conservative MP Nigel Mills has told PA Media more about why he thinks Boris Johnson should go now (see 9.10am) and why he does not accept that this would be a mistake because of the war in Ukraine. He said:

I have two comments on that. The first one is, when will Ukraine be any better than it is now? If you told me this crisis would be over in three months’ time, then you might say, ‘well OK, let’s get this done [then] the prime minister can meet his fate’.

But the Ukraine crisis could last for a very, very long time. Are we saying there’s no chance of a change of prime minister for years?

Continue reading...

Inquiry into leak of Matt Hancock kiss images leads to no prosecutions

Posted on by

ICO finds insufficient evidence against those suspected of capturing footage of minister with colleague

No one will be prosecuted over the leak of CCTV footage showing Matt Hancock engaged in a clinch with a colleague in his office, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced.

The footage and stills of the embrace, which prompted his resignation as health secretary, were leaked to the Sun in June last year. It was most likely obtained by someone using their phone to record a CCTV screen, the ICO said.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson ‘made a mockery’ of UK’s Covid sacrifices, says Ruth Davidson

Posted on by

Former Scottish Tory leader renews calls for PM to resign, in split from current leader Douglas Ross

Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Tory leader, has renewed her calls for Boris Johnson to quit over the partygate scandal as she accused him of “traducing” the office of prime minister.

One of the first Tories to call for his resignation when the scandal first broke, Davidson echoed a handful of Tory MPs who confirmed on Wednesday they stood by their no-confidence letters after Johnson’s fine for breaching his government’s Covid rules.

Continue reading...

Tory MP Crispin Blunt withdraws statement questioning guilty verdict in Imran Ahmad Khan’s sexual assault trial – politics live

Posted on by

Latest updates: all the news and developments in politics in the UK

As mentioned earlier, it is crime week in the Labour elections campaign grid and last night the party announced that - as it put it in its own press release - it was “calling for immediate nationwide injunctions to block Just Stop Oil protests as demonstrations continue to cause misery for motorists across Britain”.

Keir Starmer tweeted about this last night.

Up and down the country, people are struggling to get fuel to put in their cars to get to work to put food on the table, pay rent or mortgage and it’s a very basic thing. People are struggling under the cost of living crisis already with stratospheric energy bills. Life is tough enough. And we want people who need their cars to get to work to be able to.

Continue reading...

Crispin Blunt urged to apologise for comments on Imran Ahmad Khan case

Posted on by

Tory MP said trial in which colleague was found guilty was ‘nothing short of an international scandal’

The Conservative MP Crispin Blunt is under pressure to apologise for and retract comments that a fellow MP found guilty of sexual assault was a victim of a “miscarriage of justice”.

Blunt deleted the tweet and removed the comment from his website after an intervention from Tory whips overnight. A Tory source said: “Crispin’s views are wholly unacceptable. Following exchanges late last night we expect the statement to be retracted first thing this morning.”

Continue reading...

UK politics: Starmer accuses Sunak of taxation ‘hypocrisy’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. You can see some of our latest politics stories below:

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the No 10 spokesperson confirmed that Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministerial standards, would be conducting an inquiry into Rishi Sunak’s declarations of interest. Sunak requested one last night – but Geidt is only allowed to launch an inquiry with the permission of the PM, which has now been given.

But the spokesperson was unable to confirm that the inquiry would cover Sunak’s decision to retain his US green card after he became a minister, and even while he was chancellor. It is reported that he only gave it up last October.

Continue reading...

Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan found guilty of sexually assaulting boy, 15

Posted on by

Khan, 48, faces time in jail and could be disqualified as MP from his Wakefield constituency

The Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

The 48-year-old now faces time in jail. If he receives a sentence of more than 12 months he will automatically be disqualified from being an MP, prompting a byelection in his Wakefield constituency in West Yorkshire.

Continue reading...

Sunak asks PM for investigation into his own financial affairs

Posted on by

Entry on the list of ministers’ interests does not mention his wife’s £690m stake in Infosys – which has UK government contracts

Rishi Sunak has written to the prime minister to ask for an investigation into his own affairs after days of criticism over his wife’s “non dom” tax status and lack of transparency over their financial affairs.

The chancellor wrote to Boris Johnson asking him for a referral to Lord Geidt, the independent adviser, requesting a review of all his declarations since becoming a minister in 2018.

Continue reading...

From non-dom to green card: questions still facing Rishi Sunak

Posted on by

The chancellor remains under pressure after controversy over the tax affairs of his wife

The “non-dom” status: why will Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, not give it up?

Murty has agreed to pay UK tax on her worldwide earnings in future and for the last tax year, but she will continue to be a non-domiciled citizen. This potentially still confers inheritance tax advantages on her overseas wealth. Some critics are also still calling for her to pay UK tax on her worldwide earnings on a backdated basis.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak’s hopes of becoming prime minister are over, say top Tories

Posted on by

Senior party figures think the furore over the chancellor’s US green card and his wife’s tax affairs have put an end to his chances

Senior Conservatives have written off Rishi Sunak as a potential prime minister – and now believe Boris Johnson will have to remove him as chancellor in his next reshuffle – following the furore over his US green card and his wife’s tax affairs.

One former Tory minister told the Observer that the fear among Conservative MPs with small majorities was that the party was now in a “death spiral” with its two leading figures – the PM and chancellor – both having lost respect among voters.

Continue reading...

Johnson says trans athletes should not compete in events that do not match biological sex

Posted on by

PM also says women should have ‘dedicated’ spaces, amid fallout over decision to exclude trans conversion practices from ban

Boris Johnson has suggested athletes who are transgender should not be allowed to compete in sports competitions that do not match their biological sex, amid the fallout from his decision not to ban conversion practices for people questioning their gender.

The prime minister said the issue “wasn’t something I thought that I would have to consider in great detail”. Johnson also said that women should have spaces in hospitals, prisons and changing rooms which were “dedicated to women”.

Continue reading...