A summary of today's developments
- Boris Johnson says he has no plan to resign over the Sue Gray report and insisted that staff in his press office thought they were “working around the clock” when they were partying in No 10. In his Commons statement he justified his own attendance at leaving do events on the grounds that they were work, but he said he could not defend what happened later. But, when asked why his press office had said that no parties took place even though the gatherings had actually taken place in the press office, Johnson said his press team thought what they were doing was allowed.
- The prime minister sidestepped a question about whether his political team had asked for the removal of any facts from the Sue Gray report before its release and did not deny the report saying that he floated with Gray the idea of shelving her report. He insisted that the alleged party in the Downing Street flat on 13 November 2020 was a work event and added he was making inquiries to find out who was rude to cleaning and security staff.
- Julian Sturdy has become the first Conservative MP to say that in light of the contents of the Gray report he is now calling for Johnson’s resignation. Meanwhile, responding to the report in the Lords, Labour frontbencher Lord Collins of Highbury called on Conservative members to act “to stop this out-of-touch, out-of-control prime minister from driving Britain towards disaster”.
- Boris Johnson will not be apologising to the Queen during their audience despite Gray’s findings on the party held on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, according to a Conservative party source. Asked if Johnson will be apologising to the Queen during their call this evening, the party source told PA: “What does he need to apologise to the Queen for?”
- Two-thirds of people believe Boris Johnson should resign given the findings from Gray’s report into Partygate, according to a snap poll from Savanta ComRes.
- This figure is higher than the proportion who thought the prime minister should resign when he was issued with a fixed-penalty notice last month (61%), but it is lower than when Sue Gray’s initial interim findings were published in January at the height of the scandal (69%).
- Rishi Sunak will push the button on a controversial windfall tax on energy companies on Thursday, as he lays out measures to ease the pain of rising household bills. The chancellor has confirmed he will announce fresh support for people struggling with the cost of living crisis. The measures are expected to help the poorest households as rampant inflation pushes up the price of everything from food to fuel. Sunak is expected to announce an increase in the warm home discount scheme, which is worth £150 to 3 million low-income households. This figure could rise to as much as £500.
- The takeover of British microchip manufacturer Newport Wafer Fab by a Chinese-owned company has been called in for a “full national security assessment”, the government said. Boris Johnson said in July 2021 that he had asked the national security adviser, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, to look at the reported £63m purchase by Nexperia, a company said to be linked to the Chinese Communist party, PA reports. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has finally called in the takeover.
Updated
The plot against Boris Johnson could hardly be more different from the sound and fury that characterised the one against Theresa May, which took place in crammed and sweaty meeting rooms and with public denunciations in front of amassed journalists.
Instead, those hoping to oust this prime minister tend to meet in pairs over bottles of wine in the Adjournment cafe or catch a quiet word in a corridor.
But MPs keeping close tally said they believed at least three more letters had been given to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Tory 1922 Committee, asking for a vote of no confidence.
Multiple MPs who spoke to the Guardian said Johnson’s future was not secure. “I think this is the day it really hit home to some of my colleagues that we are on the brink of losing the next election,” said one former minister.
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