Facing a Boris Johnson premiership, Labour shadow cabinet to debate its stance
Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet is set to debate Brexit on Monday, as the prospect of a Boris Johnson premiership accelerates Labour’s drift towards supporting a second referendum.
Corbyn is coming under renewed pressure to set out his backing for a fresh public vote more clearly, as the shockwaves from Labour’s catastrophic performance in the European elections continue to reverberate.
Continue reading...Frontrunner refuses invite, but will take part in a similar BBC-hosted event two days later
Boris Johnson will be represented by an empty podium in a television debate on Sunday night as his five remaining rivals to be Britain’s next prime minister fight it out for a place alongside him in the ballot of Conservative members.
The former foreign secretary declined an invitation to participate in the Channel 4 leadership debate, saying he feared it would be “cacophonous”.
Continue reading...Decision on ‘consolidation’ imminent after former foreign secretary’s crushing victory
Conservative leadership candidates are in talks about joining forces to provide the strongest challenge to Boris Johnson, who looks all but certain to be Britain’s next prime minister after trouncing rivals in the first MPs’ ballot.
Johnson hoovered up the votes of 114 MPs, more than a third of the parliamentary Tory party, and enough backers to guarantee him a place in the final two, assuming he retains their support in later rounds.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the first round of voting in the Tory leadership contest
Here is my colleague Rafael Behr on Boris Johnson.
Related: Boris Johnson has an unfair advantage in the leadership race … there’s two of him | Rafael Behr
One of the two Johnsons served as mayor of London from 2008-2016. He has liberal, metropolitan instincts – broadly pro-immigration, old-fashioned in his use of idiom, but a moderniser at heart. Then there is 2016-2019 Johnson, figurehead of the Vote Leave campaign, the ultimate Brexit-booster. He is a more aggressive, divisive figure – a partisan of nationalistic culture wars who has consorted with Steve Bannon. Both Johnsons are dispensing wild promises to Tory MPs behind closed doors. The self-styled “One Nation” Conservatives and rightwing ultras each seem to think the other side is being taken for a ride, which suggests they all are.
Matt Hancock surpassed expectations, a spokesman for his campaign said. The spokesman went on:
MPs have responded well to Matt’s energetic and positive campaign. His pro-business message, his focus on taking the fight to Corbyn and the Lib Dems not just the Brexit party, and his argument that the Tory party “need a leader for the future, not just for now” has gone down well with colleagues.
Continue reading...European newspapers in chorus of disapproval after Tory leadership hopeful’s campaign launch
European newspapers have expressed horror at the prospect of Boris Johnson becoming the UK’s next prime minister, describing him as a scandal-proof serial promise-breaker whose arrival at No 10 would be “a calamity for his country and for Europe”.
Le Monde, in a coruscating editorial, said Johnson had shown himself to be “a stranger to logic and convictions” in a career rich in “deceits, blunders and failures”. In the run-up to the 2016 referendum he “told lies on the side of a bus, promised the UK could have its cake and eat it, and compared the EU to the Third Reich,” it said.
Continue reading...Former foreign secretary accused of showing ‘total disregard’ for civilians
Tory leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson recommended that the UK allow Saudi Arabia to buy British bomb parts expected to be deployed in Yemen, days after an airstrike on a potato factory in the country had killed 14 people in 2016.
Campaigners accused the then foreign secretary of showing a “total disregard” for Yemeni civilians by allowing the sales, revealed for the first time in emails disclosed via a freedom of information request.
Continue reading...Tory leadership frontrunner avoids interviews and refuses to commit to TV hustings
Boris Johnson has been accused of “not having the guts to face the people” in the Conservative leadership race, coming under fire for dodging interviews and refusing to confirm his participation in a BBC debate with other candidates.
Johnson, the clear frontrunner with MPs and the Tory membership, was implicitly criticised by several of his rivals who said the race must put all the candidates under proper scrutiny.
Continue reading...Environment secretary insists he is ‘in it to win it’ and vows to focus on overlooked families
Michael Gove has tried to claw his way back into the race to be Britain’s next prime minister with a pledge to govern for “overlooked families and undervalued communities” – and a series of personal attacks on frontrunner Boris Johnson.
The environment secretary’s campaign was blown off course at the weekend after revelations about cocaine use. But on the day the Tory leadership contest launched in earnest, Gove insisted he was still “in it to win it”.
Continue reading...Pledge comes as James Brokenshire backs former foreign secretary, while Ruth Davidson endorses Sajid Javid
Boris Johnson has vowed to withhold Britain’s £39bn Brexit “divorce” payment until the EU agrees better terms for the UK to leave.
Withholding the cash, scrapping the Northern Ireland backstop, guaranteeing the rights of all EU citizens in Britain while stepping up preparations for a No Deal “disruption” in the wake of no deal are among measures the government would carry out if he was elected leader of the Conservative party, he said.
Continue reading...Downing Street says it expects parliament to be sitting when new prime minister is announced
No 10 has made it clear that a new Conservative prime minister will be in place before MPs break up for the summer, meaning Boris Johnson is likely to face an immediate confidence vote in his premiership if he becomes leader.
Downing Street said it expects parliament to be sitting when the new prime minister is announced in late July, after Labour and some Tories raised concerns that the government was trying to avoid a test of its new leader’s ability to command a majority.
Continue reading...US president tweets calling London mayor ‘loser’ before touching down at Stansted
Donald Trump has arrived in the UK for a delayed state visit and set a combative tone by attacking the London mayor as his plane landed.
After Air Force One touched down at Stansted airport, the president and his wife, Melania, were greeted by the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, one of the contenders in the Conservative leadership race.
Continue reading...US president makes second intervention in British politics, saying UK should ‘walk away’
Donald Trump has called on Britain to leave the European Union without a deal if Brussels refuses to meet its demands, as he urged the government to send Nigel Farage into the negotiations.
In his second extraordinary intervention into British politics ahead of this week’s state visit, the US president suggested the UK should “walk away” from talks and refuse to pay the £39bn divorce bill if its requests were not met.
Continue reading...Donald Trump praised the politicians on Thursday, saying they were 'two very good guys, very interesting people'. Speaking to reporters as he left the White House, the US president said he wasn't sure he would endorse either candidate to be the new UK prime minister: 'I haven't thought about supporting them. Maybe it's not my business to support people. But I have a lot of respect for both of those men'
Home secretary announces bid as hopefuls weigh up whether to take part in TV debate
Sajid Javid has become the latest Conservative to declare he is standing for the party leadership, telling party members: “First and foremost, we must deliver Brexit.”
The home secretary made his announcement on Monday in a video posted on Twitter. He said: “As last night’s results made all too clear, we must get on and deliver Brexit,” adding it was important to “restore trust, bring unity, and create new opportunities across the UK”.
Continue reading...Philip Hammond and senior party figures warn that MPs are prepared to take drastic action
Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have been warned that Tory MPs would be prepared to bring down any prime minister backing a no-deal Brexit, triggering a general election, amid fears the leadership hopefuls will veer to the right in response to a surge in support for Nigel Farage at the European election.
A string of senior Conservatives, led by Philip Hammond, the chancellor, delivered a sobering message to candidates that many Tory MPs are prepared to take drastic action to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Continue reading...A campaign to stop Boris Johnson becoming prime minister and taking the country into a no-deal Brexit was launched by moderate cabinet ministers on Saturday as the first shots were fired in the Tory contest to succeed Theresa May in Downing Street.
After May bowed to pressure on Friday and announced she would resign as Tory leader within two weeks, justice secretary David Gauke and international development secretary Rory Stewart condemned Johnson’s readiness to embrace a no-deal, saying it would be hugely damaging to the national interest.
Continue reading...Leadership contender seeks backing of Amber Rudd’s One Nation group
Boris Johnson is launching a bid to court One Nation Conservative MPs in the group of centrist liberals run by Amber Rudd, as he tries to pitch himself as a candidate who can appeal beyond rightwing Brexit supporters.
The former foreign secretary, who is favourite to be the next Conservative leader, is backed by Brexit hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg but infuriated many Tory colleagues by backing Theresa May’s deal after months of campaigning against it.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, as Theresa May’s cabinet met to consider the contents of the Brexit EU withdrawal agreement bill
PM’s speech is called ‘A new Brexit deal - seeking common ground in Parliament’
In the urgent question in the Commons earlier on British Steel, which is on the brink of collapse putting 5,000 jobs at risk, Andrew Stephenson, the business minister, said the government “leave no stone unturned” in supporting the UK steel industry. He said:
I can reassure the house that, subject to strict legal bounds, the government will leave no stone unturned in its support for the steel industry ...
We can only act within the strict bounds of what is legally possible under domestic and European law.
Continue reading...Chancellor argues no-deal Brexit would betray leave vote, as chances of PM’s bill fade
The expected demise of Theresa May’s Brexit plan has sparked open lobbying over an alternative Tory vision, with the chancellor, Philip Hammond, arguing that proponents of a no-deal Brexit are betraying the referendum result.
The cabinet will on Tuesday discuss the final details of what Downing Street call a “new and improved deal” to be presented to MPs, expected to include reassurances on areas including the Irish backstop, workers’ rights and environmental protections.
Continue reading...Conservative leadership contenders will shepherd the party to disaster if they adopt the “comfort blanket of populism” in response to Nigel Farage, scores of Tory MPs will warn this week.
Eight cabinet ministers are among a group of 60 modernising MPs who will call on contenders for the leadership to “reject narrow nationalism” in their quest to replace Theresa May. The warning comes with Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, who have both said they are willing to back a no-deal Brexit, emerging as the favourites among Tory members. Johnson is the frontrunner.
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