Category Archives: Boris Johnson

‘I am the führer. I’m the king’: new book lifts lid on life inside Boris Johnson’s chaotic No 10

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PM blamed both Dominic Cummings and his wife to disguise his own reluctance to take difficult decisions, author claims

Boris Johnson fell out with his former chief adviser Dominic Cummings after growing tired of being treated like a “young and inexperienced king” who needed to be kept in order, Michael Gove has revealed.

The levelling up secretary, who is close to Cummings and was a figurehead of the Vote Leave campaign beside Johnson, said the pair fell out soon after the 2019 election because Johnson no longer wanted to be treated “as a tempestuous thoroughbred, with a strong whip and bridle to keep him in order”.

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Joe Biden due to address Irish parliament after saying US relationship with Ireland getting ‘stronger and stronger’ – politics live

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US president praises emerging relationship with Ireland to taoiseach Leo Varadkar

Chris Philp, the policing minister, has published an article in the Telegraph today explaining the changes being introduced to the way that police record crimes in England and Wales. The changes are being introduced following recommendations from the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

Philp says:

Firstly, we are dropping the requirement for police to record some crimes twice or more, reintroducing the previous “principal offence” rule. This will remove multiple entries on the database which effectively re-record the same incident many times.

Accurate crime recording is vital, and these changes will better reflect victims’ experience. Recording crime does not equate to investigating crime and the police will continue to pursue all offences involved in the incident.

Accurate records of crime must be kept, and crimes will be recorded. These changes to the crime-recording rules will enable police to target and focus investigations and provide victims the service they deserve.

Ambulance response times for all types of emergencies have got longer, including for life-threatening illnesses and injuries, but remain below record levels.

Meanwhile around one in 10 people arriving at major A&E departments are having to wait more than 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged – the first time data of this kind has been published.

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Partygate: Johnson should reject any finding that he broke rules, say allies

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Former PM should refuse to accept outcome if privileges committee rules he knowingly misled MPs, say supporters

Boris Johnson should refuse to accept the outcome of the privileges committee investigation if it concludes that he intentionally misled the Commons over the Partygate scandal, his allies have said.

Some of the former prime minister’s supporters believe he should reject the cross-party group’s findings if they decide, based on written evidence and a fractious three-and-a-half-hour evidence session on Wednesday, that he broke strict parliamentary rules.

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Boris Johnson insists Partygate leaving dos were ‘essential for work purposes’ during grilling by MPs – as it happened

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Former PM suggests ‘unsocially distanced farewell gatherings’ were allowed at work and that he didn’t think following guidance meant following it perfectly

Turning back to the Northern Ireland protocol deal vote for a moment, Steve Baker, the Northern Ireland minister, has said that Boris Johnson risks being remembered as a “pound shop Nigel Farage” for his stance on the Windsor framework.

Baker said that reviving the Northern Ireland protocol bill, Johnson’s declared alternative to Rishi Sunak’s deal (see 9.40am), would “wreck our relations with the European Union and damage our standing internationally”. Sky’s Sam Coates has posted the full quote on Twitter.

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Boris Johnson ‘very much looking forward’ to appearing before MPs investigating whether he misled parliament over Partygate – as it happened

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Former prime minister says he believes evidence shows he did not recklessly mislead parliament over Partygate

Boris Johnson claims there is no document showing that he was given “any warning or advice” than any No 10 event may have broken Covid rules. He says:

It is clear from that investigation that there is no evidence at all that supports an allegation that I intentionally or recklessly misled the house. The only exception is the assertions of the discredited Dominic Cummings, which are not supported by any documentation.

There is not a single document that indicates that I received any warning or advice that any event broke or may have broken the rules or guidance. In fact, the evidence before the committee demonstrates that those working at No 10 at the time shared my honest belief that the rules and guidance were being followed.

I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the rules and guidance had been followed completely at No 10. But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time.

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‘A spirit of goodwill’: Michel Barnier praises Northern Ireland Brexit plan

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Rishi Sunak’s attitude ‘much more responsible’ than that of Boris Johnson, says former EU negotiator

The EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has praised the agreement on Northern Ireland between the union and the British government as a positive step that turns a page in relations between the two sides.

In an interview with the Guardian, the veteran French politician said the Windsor framework agreement signed by Rishi Sunak and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, last month, “operationalised” the Northern Ireland protocol he had negotiated with the British government in 2019. “There was a spirit of goodwill for the first time in three years, to find solutions that are concrete, operational and realistic.”

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Boris Johnson set to submit Partygate dossier, saying he didn’t deliberately mislead MPs – UK politics live

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Former PM expected to attack privileges committee inquiry as unfair before appearing before it on Wednesday

Downing Street has rejected a claim that government announcements are being held back this week because of all the media attention that the Boris Johnson privileges hearing will get. Asked about the claim (see 11.36am), the PM’s spokesperson said:

There is a large number of announcements being made this week, whether that’s on support for low-income households on energy, and obviously the vote on the Stormont brake on Wednesday so it is a significant week for government.

It’s wrong to suggest government business changes as a result of this committee hearing.

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Kwasi Kwarteng: I would ‘never rule out’ Boris Johnson leading Tories again

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Prediction comes as former PM set to be grilled by privileges committee as part of Partygate inquiry

Boris Johnson may emerge from a televised grilling next week over claims he misled parliament about Partygate unscathed and go on to lead the Conservative party again, a former cabinet minister has said.

Kwasi Kwarteng, who was made business secretary by Johnson before a short-lived stint as chancellor under Liz Truss – which ended after his notorious mini-budget – said he would “never rule out” a return by Johnson to frontline politics.

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Boris Johnson makes last-ditch bid to discredit Partygate inquiry

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Ex-prime minister due at televised Commons committee hearing, with legal team about to publish new evidence backing his claims

A defiant Boris Johnson is preparing an extraordinary televised defence of his actions during the Partygate scandal, as his allies this weekend accused the parliamentary inquiry into the affair of relying on weak evidence compiled by a former civil servant recruited by the Labour party.

With a potentially explosive appearance at the Commons privileges committee due on Wednesday, the Observer can reveal that the former PM’s legal team intends to publish written evidence, including new witness statements, supporting Johnson’s claim that he did not knowingly mislead MPs over lockdown parties – as well as examples of the advice he was given at the time.

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Boris Johnson may be only witness called in Partygate investigation

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Privileges committee rebuffs lawyer’s request to give evidence alongside former prime minister

Boris Johnson may be the only witness called by the privileges committee for its investigation into whether he misled parliament over Partygate, as the inquiry has rebuffed his lawyer’s request to give evidence alongside him.

The former prime minister is preparing to appear at a televised hearing on Wednesday. The length of the grilling will depend on how much he says.

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Boris Johnson reselected as Tory candidate in Uxbridge

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Former PM chosen to run again in constituency he currently holds, quashing speculation that he might seek safer seat

Boris Johnson has been reselected as the Conservative candidate in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

It comes after speculation that the former prime minister might seek out a safer seat before the next general election.

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Rishi Sunak’s ‘show, don’t tell’ approach brings hope back to Tories

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Some of party’s MPs even believe they could narrowly win next election – but the odds remain stacked against them

When Rishi Sunak took over, most Conservative MPs were in despair. Some even suggested the party did not deserve to be in power. “We need a reset,” one said at the time. “A period out of office to get our act together.”

But almost five months on, Sunak has given them hope that they can avoid a total wipeout at the next election. Despite 13 years in office and all the problems the UK is facing, they now believe they could hang on, albeit with a significantly smaller majority.

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Rishi Sunak offers soft rebuke to claims Boris Johnson abused honours list

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PM said Father’s Day card would be his ‘limit’ in response to Johnson nominating his father for knighthood

Rishi Sunak has said his father would be lucky to get a card on Father’s Day, let alone a knighthood, after accusations that Boris Johnson’s honours list had discredited the system.

Sunak has come under pressure to reject Johnson’s list, in which he nominated his father, Stanley Johnson, for a knighthood, given previous allegations about his behaviour.

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Boris Johnson nominates Daily Mail chief Paul Dacre for peerage for second time

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Placing of media boss on resignation honours list despite previous rejection puts Rishi Sunak in difficult position

Boris Johnson has once again nominated Paul Dacre for a peerage as part of a pared-back resignation honours list despite the Daily Mail chief having previously been rejected by the appointments watchdog, the Guardian has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the list have said that Johnson has put forward Dacre’s name for a second time. He had been knocked back last autumn after reported doubts raised by the House of Lords appointments commission.

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‘He’s gone full Trump’: Tories turn on Boris Johnson over Partygate

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Senior MPs blast ex-PM’s ‘wicked’ claims after his backers level new accusations against Keir Starmer’s appointment of Sue Gray

Tory support for Boris Johnson is draining away tonight as party grandees likened his response to a cross-party parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled MPs over “Partygate” to the lies of former US president Donald Trump.

Several Conservative MPs in senior positions reacted with disbelief after Johnson and his dwindling band of allies questioned the work of the independent Commons privileges committee and accused it of an “outrageous level of bias”, after it said on Friday there was a significant volume of evidence suggesting that the former PM may have misled parliament.

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New evidence shows Boris Johnson may have repeatedly misled Commons over Partygate, say senior MPs – live

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Former prime minister will give evidence to privileges committee inquiry from 20 March over claims he misled MPs over lockdown parties

The privileges committee report out today includes evidence that has not been made public before, suggesting Boris Johnson was not being honest with MPs when he told them the Covid rules were followed at all times in No 10.

It includes this paragraph.

The evidence strongly suggests that breaches of guidance would have been obvious to Mr Johnson at the time he was at the gatherings.

There is evidence that those who were advising Mr Johnson about what to say to the press and in the house were themselves struggling to contend that some gatherings were within the rules.

The committee of privileges today is taking further steps in its inquiry into the conduct of Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP. Mr Johnson has accepted the committee’s invitation to give oral evidence in public in the week beginning 20 March.

The exact date and time of the evidence session will be announced shortly. The session arises out of the referral from the House of Commons of the matter to the committee. The session, which will be held in public, will see the committee’s members, comprised of four Conservative, two Labour and one SNP member, question Mr Johnson on a range of matters arising from evidence submitted to the inquiry, as set out in a report published today.

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Boris Johnson in battle for political future amid fresh evidence he misled MPs

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Privileges committee document intended to help ex-PM prepare for questioning contains wealth of new information

Boris Johnson faces a battle for his future in parliament after a cross-party committee found there was significant evidence he misled MPs over lockdown parties, and that he and aides almost certainly knew at the time they were breaking rules.

The damning report includes one witness saying the then prime minister told a packed No 10 gathering in November 2020, when strict Covid restrictions were in force, that “this is probably the most unsocially distanced gathering in the UK right now”.

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Boris Johnson recites Oompa-Loompas song in defence of Roald Dahl’s books

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Ex-PM criticises sensitivity edit of author’s works – and also rejects sending Parthenon marbles to Greece

Boris Johnson has criticised a publisher’s rewriting of some language in Roald Dahl’s stories by reciting a song by the Oompa-Loompas.

The former prime minister expressed his “irritation at wokeness and political correctness” after Puffin made extensive changes to the author’s work to remove language it deemed offensive.

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Sunak’s Brexit deal under pressure after opposition from Boris Johnson and DUP

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Negative comments by former PM and senior unionists suggest revised Northern Ireland protocol has not won over key figures

Rishi Sunak’s hopes of ending years of Brexit infighting with a revised deal for Northern Ireland have suffered a double blow as Boris Johnson came out against the plan while pressure mounted within the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) to reject it.

In his first public comments since the Windsor framework was unveiled on Monday, Johnson used a speech to a conference in London to say he would find it “very difficult” to back the plan, arguing it would stifle the UK economically.

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Kemi Badenoch dismisses idea of trialling menopause leave because it was proposed ‘from a leftwing perspective’ – as it happened

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Minister for women and equalities dismisses suggestion government should pilot menopause leave for women

PMQs is about to start.

Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s chief whip, has said that he thinks the Stormont brake – the mechanism at the heart of Rishi Sunak’s deal to revise the Northern Ireland protocol – will turn out to be “fairly ineffective”.

Let’s not underestimate the fact that when the EU introduces new laws in the future, it will have an impact on Northern Ireland. And the point of the brake was meant to be to give a means for unionists to oppose that. I think it will have to be used on lots of occasions, though I suspect to be fairly ineffective.

As long as it takes us to get, first of all, the analysis, and secondly, the answers from the government, before we make that decision, that’s the time we’ll take.

But the one thing I’ll say to you is that we will not have a knee-jerk reaction to this deal. It means too much to us. And we have got to give it real consideration.

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