Category Archives: Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson calls for Ukraine to be sent more long-range rocket systems

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Prime minister says MLRS rockets can help embattled forces but stops short of UK offering M270 system

Boris Johnson has said Ukraine should be supplied with long-range multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to help Kyiv’s embattled forces prevent Russian invaders from gaining ground in the Donbas.

But the prime minister stopped short of committing the UK to sending the powerful M270 rocket system, which Kyiv has been pleading for from Britain, the US and other Nato members for several weeks.

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Boris Johnson changes ministerial code to avoid need to resign over breaches

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New rules say ministers can apologise or temporarily lose pay for breaking code, which PM is accused of doing

Boris Johnson is changing the rules to let ministers avoid resigning if they break the ministerial code, allowing them to apologise or temporarily lose their pay instead.

The prime minister, who is facing claims of breaching the code, published a policy statement on Friday saying it is “disproportionate to expect that any breach, however minor, should lead automatically to resignation or dismissal”.

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More Tory MPs call for PM to go as No 10 tries to limit Partygate report fallout

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Boris Johnson’s allies rally to his defence as one former minister says he ‘will not defend the indefensible’

Four more Conservative MPs called for Boris Johnson to resign on Thursday over lockdown-breaking parties, as Downing Street sought to contain the political aftermath of the Sue Gray report.

The prime minister’s allies reiterated the defence that his attendance at a series of gatherings for departing staff was permitted as work duties. His official spokesman argued that Covid guidelines did not specifically rule out leaving drinks.

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Partygate: more Tory MPs call on Boris Johnson to resign after Sue Gray report – UK politics live

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Government attempt to move on with cost of living announcement undermined as three backbenchers say PM should go

Speaking on Times Radio this morning Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, repeated the point he made on the Today programme about the need for the cost of living support package to be targeted at those most in need. (See 9.25am.) He also said Rishi Sunak should ensure that his measures were not inflationary. He said:

There’s a very strong case for giveaways to help those who are struggling most. But if you’re going to do that, because of the dangers associated with inflation, there’s a case for tax rises elsewhere so that there isn’t significant additional money swirling around in the economy.

Now we do have some tax rises coming in this year, so the chancellor is already taking some money out of the economy. But I think he does need to think quite hard about that balance and the risks associated with inflation. What you generally don’t want to do in the face of lots of inflation is chuck lots more money at the economy.

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More Tory MPs call for Boris Johnson to quit over Partygate revelations

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John Baron and David Simmonds say they have lost confidence in prime minister after Sue Gray report

Boris Johnson has faced two more calls to quit from Tory MPs, as his attempt to move on from the Partygate scandal after Sue Gray’s damning report unravelled.

Backbenchers John Baron and David Simmonds, who is the prime minister’s constituency neighbour in west London, said they had lost confidence in him after an investigation that confirmed a string of lockdown-busting parties took place in Downing Street.

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Partygate live: Boris Johnson says no plan to resign over Sue Gray report despite Tory MP calling for him to step down

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Prime minister feels it is his ‘job to get on with my job’ despite report detailing major leadership failures at No 10

This is from Nikki da Costa, a former director of legislative affairs at No 10, speaking up on civil servants whose reputations, she fears, will be tainted by the Sue Gray report.

Tom Harwood from GB News is now also saying the report has arrived in Downing Street. It is 37 pages long, he says.

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Tory MPs suspect cover-up over ‘Abba party’ in Boris Johnson’s flat

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Frontbencher says PM ‘getting away lightly’ after Sue Gray says she did not fully investigate alcohol-fuelled gathering

Conservative MPs fear a “cover-up” over potentially the most damaging event of the Partygate scandal after Sue Gray admitted she did not fully investigate an alcohol-fuelled gathering in the flat shared by the prime minister and his wife.

The six-month inquiry concluded with an acknowledgment from Gray that little was known about what took place in the flat above 11 Downing Street on 13 November 2020, with food, alcohol and loud Abba music reported.

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Nurse fined £10k over NHS pay protest in lockdown wins compensation

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Greater Manchester police agree to withdraw penalty notices issued to two nurses for socially distanced protest in March 2021

Two NHS nurses have won compensation from Greater Manchester police (GMP) after being fined over a socially distant protest about NHS pay during lockdown.

Karen Reissmann, a 61-year-old mental health nurse who worked throughout the pandemic, received a £10,000 fixed penalty notice for organising the protest on 7 March 2021 over the government’s proposed 1% pay rise for NHS workers.

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Tory MPs’ staff tell Boris Johnson abuse is treated as ‘mere gossip’ in parliament

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Exclusive: Letter urges PM and party to do more to tackle sexual abuse, harassment and bullying

Serious sexual abuse, harassment and bullying accusations made against MPs are treated as “mere gossip”, dozens of Conservative staffers have said, as they urged Boris Johnson and party HQ to do more to tackle the problem.

The group of staff working for Tory MPs said “behaviour committed by a few individuals but tolerated by others has stained the reputation” of parliament.

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Six in 10 people in UK believe government ‘ignores rules’

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People in the UK and Poland rated their governments worst on matters of trust and legitimacy in an EU-funded study

People in the UK are more likely than those in other European countries to say that their government ignores rules, according to a large six-state survey, with ‘Partygate’ probably to blame.

The EU-funded study found that 62% of people in the UK think their government ignores rules and procedures, compared with an average of 44% and well above the next highest, Poland (50%), where the administration has been accused of authoritarianism.

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Shapps refuses to deny Johnson suggested Sue Gray abandon publication of her report – UK politics live

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Latest updates: Grant Shapps, transport secretary, does not deny Times report as row grows over further Partygate photos

At cabinet this morning Boris Johnson praised Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, for helping people get back into work. Johnson believes work is the best route out of poverty and, with unemployment at its lowest level for almost 50 years, he is using this as part of his attempt to show there is a Tory response to the cost of living crisis.

According to PA Media, Johnson opened cabinet by saying:

I want to give a special shout out to Thérèse Coffey, the secretary of state for DWP, because under her plans, the Way To Work scheme, since we launched it this year it has got 380,000 people off welfare and into work. That’s the way forward.

I want to see people not on benefits, I want to see them in work - that’s the Conservative answer and that is the answer we are offering to the people of this country.

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Partygate: Boris Johnson under pressure to explain meeting with Sue Gray

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Prime minister met Gray in run-up to long-awaited report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street

Boris Johnson is under increasing pressure to explain a meeting with Sue Gray before her report into lockdown breaches in Downing Street, after a cabinet minister declined to deny he had queried whether it should be published.

The report, which is expected to be handed to No 10 on Wednesday, is said by sources to be deeply critical of the prime minister and senior civil service leadership over the culture that developed in No 10 and eventually led the Metropolitan police to issue 126 fines.

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No 10 admits PM meeting with Sue Gray was instigated by Downing Street – UK politics live

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Latest updates: PM’s spokesperson clears up that No 10 requested meeting after Simon Clarke suggests it was the other way round

The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished, and the PM’s spokesperson told journalists that Boris Johnson has still not received the Sue Gray report into Partygate. The spokesperson did not say when it would be arriving, but it is not expected to be published today.

Boris Johnson has recorded a clip for broadcasters during a visit to a school in south-east London. PA Media has written up the key lines.

I’m not attracted, intrinsically, to new taxes. But as I have said throughout, we have got to do what we can - and we will - to look after people through the aftershocks of Covid, through the current pressures on energy prices that we are seeing post-Covid and with what’s going on in Russia and we are going to put our arms round people, just as we did during the pandemic.

Of course, but on the process you are just going to have to hold your horses a little bit longer. I don’t believe it will be too much longer and then I will be able to say a bit more.

It’s basically very rare disease, and so far the consequences don’t seem to be very serious but it’s important that we keep an eye on it and that’s exactly what the the new UK Health Security Agency is doing.

As things stand the judgment is that it’s rare. I think we’re looking very carefully at the circumstances of transmission.

It hasn’t yet proved, fatal in any case that we know of, certainly not in this country.

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When is the Sue Gray report due and what could it mean for Boris Johnson?

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Analysis: Key questions answered about report into Downing Street lockdown breach claims

The full Sue Gray report into lockdown-breaching gatherings in and around Downing Street could be published as early as Tuesday. Here is what we know about its likely contents – and their impact.

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Boris Johnson to stress work as the fix for cost of living crisis

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Ministers remain unable to decide on ways to help as energy firm boss warns soon 40% could be in fuel poverty

Boris Johnson hopes to blunt calls for urgent action on the cost of living crisis by stressing that work is the best route out of poverty, as an energy firm boss warned that 40% of households could soon be in fuel poverty.

No 10 sources confirmed on Sunday that the prime minister will continue to throw the spotlight on the healthy state of the job market, in the face of the rising clamour to help families struggling with their bills.

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Boris Johnson among dozens warned they face criticism in Sue Gray’s report

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PM notified before publication next week, as an ex-civil service chief says ‘real issue’ is the No 10 leadership

Boris Johnson is among dozens of No 10 officials warned by Sue Gray they are facing criticism in her Partygate report next week, as a former civil service chief said the “real issue” was the leadership of the prime minister and his cabinet secretary, Simon Case.

Johnson is one of 20 to 30 current and former staffers who have been notified by letter that accounts of their conduct will feature in her final report on the lockdown-busting parties. This is now likely to be published next week after Scotland Yard handed out 126 fixed-penalty notices to people from No 10, including one for Johnson but many for more junior staff.

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Civil servants and No 10 advisers furious over single fine for Boris Johnson

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PM received only one of 126 fixed-penalty notices relating to law-breaking parties, prompting claims Met police bungled inquiry

Civil servants and special advisers have reacted with fury and disbelief after Scotland Yard confirmed Boris Johnson got only one of 126 fines levied for law-breaking parties at the heart of Downing Street and Whitehall.

The Metropolitan police came under intense pressure to explain how it reached its conclusions after Downing Street said officers confirmed no further action would be taken against the prime minister despite him attending gatherings for which others were fined.

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Police conclude Partygate investigation into Downing Street gatherings

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Met has issued 126 fixed-penalty notices, but it is unclear if Boris Johnson has had more than one

The Metropolitan police have completed their investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street and Whitehall, and issued a total of 126 fixed-penalty notices, the force has announced.

Thus far Boris Johnson has received one fine. It is not immediately clear if any of the last tranche of fines involve any more for the prime minister.

20 May 2020, when “bring your own booze” drinks were held in the Downing Street garden.

18 June 2020, when a party was held to mark the departure of a No 10 private secretary.

19 June, the date of Johnson’s birthday party, for which he was fined.

13 November 2020, when a leaving do was held for adviser Lee Cain as well as a party in the No 10 flat.

17 December 2020 when several parties were held, including one to mark the departure of Covid taskforce boss Kate Josephs.

18 December, the date of the “cheese and wine” gathering which led to the resignation of Allegra Stratton.

14 January 2021, when gatherings were held to mark the departure of two private secretaries, as revealed by Sue Gray.

16 April, the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when two parties were held, one of which culminated in Wilfred Johnson’s swing being broken.

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Boris Johnson ‘choosing to let people struggle’ with cost of living says Keir Starmer – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. You can find our latest cost of living stories below:

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, has warned that inflation will experience a further “bump” before prices are likely to stabilise.

In a Q&A after delivering a speech on green trade at Bloomberg’s HQ in London, she said countries around the world were facing a “a global battle against inflation”. She went on:

This is something we have to tackle across the board.

And the worry we always have is that inflation tends to have two bumps to it.

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Irritation all round at handling of move against Brexit protocol

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Analysis: leak blindsided US officials, caused shock waves in Europe and appears to have annoyed No 10

Given that it has just announced a bill that could spark a trade war in the middle of a cost of living crisis, it is remarkable how often members of the government say that what they want is for everyone to calm down.

The intention to legislate is now formally announced but when the bill will be seen by MPs is intentionally unclear. The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, says it was never meant to be this week. Of course it wasn’t. Now the only commitment is “before the summer”.

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