Summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments of the day:
- Boris Johnson is facing mounting calls for a confidence vote in his leadership that could put his position under threat within days, as two more MPs suggested they had lost faith in the government. Here’s a full list of the Conservatives who have sent a letter of no confidence, publicly urged the PM to quit or criticised his leadership.
- The former minister Andrea Leadsom has criticised Boris Johnson’s “unacceptable failings of leadership” following the publication of the Sue Gray report. In a letter to her constituents, published on social media, Leadsom said she believed it was “extremely unlikely that senior leaders were unaware of what was going on”.
- The former foreign secretary William Hague has said the prime minister is “in real trouble” and that Tory MPs are “moving towards having a ballot” on his leadership. Allies of Boris Johnson had been hopeful he had escaped unscathed but Lord Hague said it was proving to be “one of those sort of slow-fuse explosions in politics”.
- Boris Johnson “didn’t stand as the patron saint of virtue” and that “people knew who they were electing” the science minister, George Freeman said. He urged caution among Tory MPs considering submitting letters of no confidence in the prime minister.
- Dominic Cummings has accused Sue Gray of not properly investigating the alleged “Abba party” in Boris Johnson’s flat during lockdown, saying the music was so loud that dozens of people working in the office downstairs could hear it.
- ITV’s Paul Brand reports there are rumours that the prime minister has begun phoning MPs who have voiced doubts about his leadership and hinting that they could be promoted if they offer him their support.
- Boris Johnson has written to civil servants justifying plans to cut 91,000 jobs, saying the government must reduce its costs “just as many families are doing”. Following the announcement that the civil service’s flagship graduate scheme was to be frozen for at least a year to help reduce head count by 20%, the prime minister tried to assure officials that support would be provided to “anyone affected”.
- Shadow financial secretary to the Treasury James Murray said that the “government hasn’t prepared” for the rise in demand for travel. The Labour MP told Sky News said Labour had been warning there would be problems after the travel sector cut staff during the pandemic and are now struggling to cope with the increased demand.
- Meanwhile, the arts minister, Stephen Parkinson, said the “industry should have been recruiting people ready” for the increased demand for travel. Asked if government could have done more to help the aviation sector during the pandemic, Lord Parkinson told Sky News that the government had helped but put the blame squarely on the travel sector.
- The former children’s commissioner for England has called for free school meals to be extended to all families on universal credit, while acknowledging that poverty has not been tackled in this country “well enough”. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Anne Longfield, who is chairing a year-long commission on young lives, said she had supported the extension of free school meals to all families receiving the benefit for “some time”
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The Tory MPs calling on Boris Johnson to resign – and what they said
Explainer: a full list of the Conservatives who have sent a letter of no confidence, publicly urged the PM to quit or criticised his leadership.
Boris Johnson was warned he would face a string of no-confidence letters after the Sue Gray report into Partygate concluded. In order for a vote of no confidence to be triggered, the chair of the 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, must receive letters from at least 54 Conservative MPs – 15% of the parliamentary party.
Here is the full list of Tory MPs who have urged the prime minister to stand down or criticised his leadership, though some say they have not written letters to Brady. Several other critical MPs say they will not reveal whether they have sent a letter – so the true number is likely to be higher.
