Struggling Boris Johnson is bringing back “regular” Downing Street press conferences as he tries to get back on track after a string of scandals.
The Prime Minister and other Cabinet ministers will speak about the cost-of-living crisis in an echo of the 5pm briefings that happened during the Covid crisis.
The press conferences - the first of which is expected next week - are set to take place in a £2.6m Downing Street briefing room built during the pandemic.
Like during Covid, ministers could be accompanied by officials or experts to explain soaring inflation and measures the government is taking to help.
Mr Johnson announced the move - which has been talked about for months - during a gloomy meeting of his Cabinet today, as No10 was accused of lying about what he knew of “grope” accused MP Chris Pincher.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister [said] tackling inflation and addressing cost of living pressures will remain the top priority.
“Which is why we will be holding regular government press conferences over the next six months to explain the details of different elements of the government’s plan for the economy.”
The spokesman later clarified the briefings “won’t necessarily be every week or every fortnight”, and it’s not yet decided if they’ll take the old 5pm slot.
“They will be done at the right moment - the publication of latest statistics or new information,” he said. “The objective is to set out some the measures the government is doing.”
They will encourage “greater awareness” of support schemes and be “clear about the challenges” emerging from the pandemic.
The spokesman insisted it wasn’t a “distraction technique” to bring them back now.
It came as a minister claimed Boris Johnson FORGOT he had been briefed about an investigation into concerns about Tory Chris Pincher's conduct at the Foreign Office.
Paymaster General Michael Ellis admitted the PM had been "made aware" of concerns about alleged inappropriate behaviour by Mr Pincher when he was a Foreign Office Minister in 2019.
Downing Street finally admitted the Prime Minister was told of two separate allegations against the top Tory, once in 2020 and once in 2022, before making him Deputy Chief Whip.
The first briefing came after an October 2019 Foreign Office investigation into Mr Pincher - which involved the Foreign Secretary, head of the Foreign Office, Chief Whip, and an ethics team in the Cabinet Office.
No10 confirmed the 2019 complaint against Mr Pincher was “upheld”, though it did not lead to formal disciplinary action, and said Mr Johnson was briefed verbally about it in 2020.
The spokesman also confirmed Mr Johnson was told about a second, separate set of allegations in February 2022 when giving Mr Pincher a whips’ job.
The allegations went to the Propriety and Ethics Team (PET) in the Cabinet Office.
Tory sources had previously suggested PET signed off the appointment.
One said on Friday that the appointment was “cleared by the civil service - they cleared it, so the appropriate checks were made”.
But the PM’s official spokesman contradicted this, saying PET does not clear appointments - it only provides advice.
Yet despite all this, No10 said on Friday that Mr Johnson was not aware of “specific allegations” before making Chris Pincher his Deputy Chief Whip.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Ellis said: "The exercise established that while the minister meant no harm, what had occurred had caused a high level of discomfort. This is what the exercise established. The minister apologised and those raising the concern accepted the resolution.
"The Prime Minister was made aware of this issue in late 2019, he was told that the permanent secretary had taken the necessary action, no issue therefore arose about remaining as a minister.
"Last week when fresh allegations arose, the Prime Minister did not immediately recall the conversation in late 2019 about this incident. As soon as he was reminded, the No 10 press office corrected their public lines."
