Category Archives: Boris Johnson

From conference highs to the abyss: the swift undoing of Boris Johnson

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Less than four months ago, the PM was riding high and telling jokes in Manchester, a world away from where he is now

It was not meant to fall apart as fast as this. After Boris Johnson won the general election in December 2019, he declared in a victory address: “I, and we, will never take your support for granted.”

The prime minister’s 80-seat majority, a victory for the “get Brexit done” campaign, appeared to leave him impregnable. For 18 months after, Johnson continued to defy political gravity despite repeated missteps, as the pandemic came to Britain’s shores.

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PM facing calls to ensure all evidence is published in No 10 parties inquiry

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Labour and Lib Dems call for full transparency as it emerges Sue Gray’s report may just summarise findings

Boris Johnson is facing calls to ensure all evidence on the Downing Street parties is published with the Sue Gray inquiry, as it emerged the pivotal report is likely to amount to a concise summary of findings.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats called on Friday for the report to be published along with its accompanying evidence – including emails and witness accounts – to give full transparency around more than 15 alleged parties under investigation by Gray, a senior civil servant.

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UK government puts animal welfare policies on pause

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Delayed legislation includes ban on trophy hunting imports and stricter sentences for puppy thieves

Some of the government’s most prized new animal welfare policies are being put on pause in what supporters see as a sneaky attempt to ditch the “woke” measures altogether.

Senior sources in the Conservative party have confirmed to the Guardian that a series of policies including a ban on trophy hunting imports, stricter sentences for puppy thieves and a ban on live exports of livestock have been put on pause after a campaign led by Mark Spencer, the chief whip.

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‘In the name of God, go’: Tory fury spills over as Boris Johnson clings on

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Former minister demands PM’s resignation in Commons, one Conservative MP defects and others clamour for concessions

Boris Johnson has faced a defection and a demand to quit from one of his most senior MPs during a dramatic day in Westminster, with even allies of the prime minister warning the current situation cannot go on.

David Davis caused shockwaves when he told Johnson in the Commons: “In the name of God, go.” Less than an hour earlier, Christian Wakeford, the MP for Bury South, quit the Conservatives and joined Labour in fury at the Downing Street parties scandal.

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UK Covid live: end to England’s plan B measures next week ‘a milestone, not a finish line’, says Sajid Javid

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Latest updates: health secretary leads coronavirus update after Boris Johnson says England’s Omicron measures to end next week

Boris Johnson is expected to instruct millions to return to workplaces across England as he tries to placate furious MPs with a review of Covid restrictions that could end all rules introduced to combat Omicron.

The cabinet will meet on this morning to examine Covid data and review plan B restrictions imposed in December amid the rapid spread of the variant, with Johnson set to update the Commons later in the day.

I think they are a crucial building block of our baseline, a bit like Test and Trace, Test and Protect for us in Scotland, the alcohol gels, the vaccinations, I think these are what we’re going to be left with post-Omicron.

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The 2019ers: Tory unease as some of party’s newest MPs turn on Boris Johnson

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Members of old guard may refer to 2019 intake disparagingly, but they could hold PM’s fate in their hands

They were once among Boris Johnson’s most loyal defenders. Many of the army of the more than 100 MPs who sat in Westminster for the first time in December 2019 felt they owed the prime minister their seat.

So they were initially on their best behaviour, keen in a much-expanded parliamentary party to stand out from their peers and secure early promotion to the lowest rungs of the ministerial ladder. And most still feel that way.

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Plans to allow ‘double-jobbing’ in Northern Irish politics dropped

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PM says amendment is being pulled after Tory Northern Ireland affairs committee chair spoke out against it

The UK government has abandoned plans to introduce a law that would have allowed the leader of the Democratic Unionist party to potentially “double-job” in the Stormont assembly while remaining a Westminster MP.

Before a debate on the legislation in the Lords on Wednesday afternoon, Boris Johnson told the Commons that an amendment enabling dual mandates was being withdrawn.

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Work from home and and mandatory mask rules to be dropped as England moves back to plan A – video

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Boris Johnson has announced updates to Covid regulations as plan B measures are due to expire. The work-from-home mandate will be dropped, as will mandatory face mask-wearing, including in classrooms. Rules over self-isolation after a positive Covid test remain in place 

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David Davis tells Boris Johnson ‘in the name of God, go’ at chaotic PMQs

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Tory grandee calls on Johnson to resign at PMQs featuring fierce exchanges between PM and Keir Starmer

The Tory grandee David Davis told Boris Johnson: “In the name of God, go,” during an often chaotic prime minister’s questions overshadowed by intense doubt about Johnson’s future.

After a fierce set of exchanges between Johnson and Keir Starmer, Davis rose to tell Johnson that he had spent weeks defending him from “angry constituents”, but that repeated reports about lockdown-breaching parties were too much.

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Covid live: Czech Republic scraps mandatory jabs as daily cases hit record; UK reports 108,069 cases

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Czech government scraps decree to avoid ‘deepening fissures’ in country; UK records a further 359 deaths

China has reported its lowest daily count of local Covid infections in two weeks after cities clamped down on high-risk areas, quarantined infections and conducted mass testing on residents.

Mainland China reported a total of 55 domestically transmitted infections for Tuesday, according to data from the national health commission, lower than the 127 recorded a day earlier and marking the fewest since 1 January.

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Tory MPs openly discuss Johnson challenge as mood ‘turns dramatically’

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MPs from across party confident of enough letters to trigger leadership contest after Sue Gray’s report

The mood of Conservative MPs was hardening against Boris Johnson on Tuesday night, with open talk of how to oust the prime minister and who should succeed him as he gave a disastrous interview claiming not to have lied over Downing Street parties.

A string of Tory MPs from various ranks and wings of the party said they believed there would be enough letters to trigger a leadership contest after the publication of the Sue Gray report into allegations of lockdown breaches, with some reports on Tuesday night that it could come sooner.

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‘I put my arms around her’: doctor’s story captures anger at No 10 parties

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Prit Buttar, who tweeted about comforting grieving woman, says he wanted to show difference in experience between ordinary people and Downing Street

When Dr Prit Buttar, a retired GP, decided to break social distancing rules and offer his embrace to a bereaved woman, it was a gesture of core humanity. “Everybody on the team would have done exactly the same, Covid or no Covid,” he said from his study near Kirkcudbright.

He did not envisage, a year on, that his recollection of that moment would inspire a cathartic outpouring of similar memories from people across the UK, or that he would become a reluctant – though passionate – advocate for the fury and dismay of ordinary people at the boozy rule-breaking in the seat of power.

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France reports nearly half a million new cases, a record increase; Italy records 228,179 daily infections – as it happened

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France registers 464,769 new Covid-19 infections over the last 24 hours; Italy’s cases jump from 83,403 a day earlier

China’s postal service has ordered workers to disinfect international deliveries and urged the public to reduce orders from overseas after authorities claimed mail could be the source of recent coronavirus outbreaks, Agence France-Press reports.

In recent days, Chinese officials have suggested that some people could have been infected by packages from abroad, including a woman in Beijing whom authorities said had no contact with other infected people but tested positive for a variant similar to those found in North America.

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Lying to parliament a resigning matter, says Raab, amid claims PM misled MPs

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Justice secretary says allegations that Boris Johnson lied about No 10 lockdown party are ‘nonsense’

Dominic Raab has admitted that lying to parliament is “normally” a resigning matter, amid claims that the prime minister deliberately misled MPs over his knowledge of a Downing Street party.

Boris Johnson’s former senior aide Dominic Cummings had earlier accused the prime minister of lying when No 10 denied Johnson had been warned against allowing a “bring your own booze” garden party during lockdown.

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Covid live: unvaccinated over-60s face monthly fine in Greece; UK reports another 84,429 cases and 85 deaths

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Un-jabbed older people in Greece face penalties starting at a €50; UK cases continue downward trend

Germany is reporting a daily rise of 34,145 confirmed coronavirus cases and 30 deaths, according to recently released figures from the Robert Koch Institute.

The numbers bring the cumulative total of infections to 8,000,122 and 115,649 coronavirus-related deaths.

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‘Massive anger’: 40% of grassroots Tories want Boris Johnson to quit

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Survey finds widespread discontent as MPs inundated with emails about Downing Street parties scandal

There is “massive anger” among grassroots Conservative party supporters over the Downing Street parties scandal, the head of a leading group has said as its survey found 40% thought Boris Johnson should resign.

Ed Costelloe, chairman of Grassroots Conservatives, said it had been years since the group last polled its supporters and followers but it felt compelled by the “unique” nature of the public mood.

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Covid live: Boris Johnson broke the law, says Keir Starmer; UK records 70,924 new cases

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Latest updates: UK Labour leader says PM broke lockdown rules and then lied; latest daily UK figures do not include Scotland

Streeting tells Trevor Phillips that the Labour party isn’t calling for a vote of no confidence in the government as it would rally the Conservatives.

“We could call a motion of no confidence in the government - we’ve been around the block with this before, that would galvanise the Conservative party.”

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Is it the end for Boris Johnson?

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Last week’s ridicule is not the worst sign of the PM’s plummeting standing. The anger of families who have suffered in the pandemic will not go away. It’s now just a question of how long he survives

After another dreadful week for Boris Johnson that was dominated by news of yet more rule-breaking parties at No 10, the comedian Andy Zaltzman opened BBC Radio 4’s News Quiz at 6.30pm on Friday by announcing his two teams. One he named “team apologise” and the other “team pack of lies”.

Zaltzman added: “This show is best listened to when not at work. If you are unsure whether you are at work or not at work, please check whether anyone you normally work with has turned up with a bottle of wine and is getting hammered.”

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While Boris Johnson partied in the sun, I sweated in PPE, saving lives

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Downing Street’s lockdown parties were a world away from life as a frontline doctor in the pandemic

Forget Annabel’s – the place to be for the professional “partygoer” is Downing Street, especially during a pandemic. But it is invitation-only for the “in crowd” of government advisers, civil servants and elected politicians prepared to bring their own booze.

With every revelation, the nation recalls what it was doing on those nights that were filled with dancing for the Downing Street set. As people isolated, courageously risked their lives caring for the sick, or died from Covid-19, the revellers remained in their alternative universe where the wine flowed and the music played on.

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Boris Johnson now less popular than Theresa May as polls show Tories’ dire predicament

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Analysis: Voters across the country think the prime minister has lied and should resign

Today’s Opinium poll for the Observer is grim reading for Boris Johnson and his party. Johnson’s personal approvals fall below the worst figures ever recorded by Theresa May; and his party sinks to its worst vote share since the general election, 10 points behind Labour. Majorities of practically every political and demographic group believe Johnson and his colleagues have broken the rules and lied about it, and say Johnson should resign.

Until recently, the wobbly wing of the Conservative coalition looked to be better off Remainers in the South of England. Yet today’s poll adds to growing evidence that the “partygate” scandal is jeopardising the party’s support from “red wall” Leavers too. Such voters have long felt disaffected from and distrustful of a political class they felt ignored their concerns and lived by its own rules. The resentments once mobilised against the EU by the promise to “Take Back Control” now have a new target – an out of touch Downing Street team who partied while the Queen mourned.

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