Inside Politics: PM’s authority badly damaged as 99 Tories rebel against Covid laws

A beleaguered Boris Johnson got his Covid plan B laws through the Commons last night, despite suffering the largest rebellion of his premiership so far, one that was larger than most, even those inside Downing Street, had anticipated. Some 99 mutinous Tories defied the prime minister on vaccine passes, or passports, severely weakening his authority at a time when his polls ratings are tumbling. The revolt, on a major public health issue, was particularly damaging for the PM because the number of rebels appears to have grown, not decreased, over the past few days, and came despite the whips’ operation and a personal charm offensive by Johnson on the phones and at the 1922 Committee before MPs went into the division lobbies. Some senior Tories have described the revolt as a warning shot to No 10, saying the PM could face a leadership challenge if he doesn’t change his ways on Covid rules. With the omicron variant now running riot across the country, it looks increasingly like more – not less – restrictions will be needed at some point in the next month to prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed with patients. The PM, who had to rely on Labour votes to get the new measures through, finds himself in a very weak position. Elsewhere, top medical advisers have warned of a “significant” rise in hospitalisations as the variant spreads further. Shaun Bailey, the Conservatives former London mayoral candidate and assembly member, has resigned from a policing position after pictures emerged of him and staff at a Christmas party and critics say Dominic Raab’s bill of rights will weaken human rights.

Political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Another testing day for Boris Johnson. There will be no shortage of ammunition for Keir Starmer at the final session of prime minister’s questions before Parliament’s Christmas break.

The health select committee will be briefed on the Omicron variant by Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, and Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency. MPs will elect a new chair of the home affairs select committee to succeed Yvette Cooper (now shadow home secretary) from a shortlist of the Labour MPs Rupa Huq, Diana Johnson and Yasmin Qureshi.

Coming up:

– Transport secretary Grant Shapps on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

– Statistician David Spiegelhalter on Times Radio at 8.07am

Daily Briefing

JUST IN: Chancellor Rishi Sunak has sought to calm fears of a cost of living crisis after new figures showed that inflation has risen again and is now at its highest level in 12 years. The rate of Consumer Price Index inflation increased to 5.1 per cent in November from 4.2 per cent in October, according to the Office for National Statistics. “We know how challenging rising inflation can be for families and households which is why we’re spending £4.2 billion to support living standards and provide targeted measures for the most vulnerable over the winter months,” Sunak said. “With a resurgence of the virus, the most important thing we can do to safeguard the economic recovery is for everyone to get boosted now.”

CHRISTMAS STUFFING: Not only was the rebellion larger than expected, but it also extended well beyond the usual cohort of backbench Tory MPs causing trouble for the government, with former deputy prime minister Damian Green among those considered in the centre of the party refusing to give their consent for vaccine passes and other measures, which the PM told the 1922 Committee he had “absolutely no choice” but to implement. Last night’s voting in Commons means that all adults in England must now show a Covid passport, or a negative test, to get into larger venues such as nightclubs and sports matches. The new mask mandate was also passed as were changes to self-isolation rules in favour of a daily testing regime. Speaking after the votes Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said the PM’s authority had been “shattered” as he called on him to consider whether he’s the right leader to take the country through the rest of the pandemic.

‘FLYING BLIND’: Last night’s Commons drama came following another day of dire warnings on Covid, with Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer and other experts saying that the NHS is likely to see a “significant” rise in hospitalisations over the coming weeks as omicron works its way through the population. Meanwhile, reports this morning say there could be as many as 1 million people forced to isolate on Christmas day, with London appearing to be the worst-hit region in the country. There is no need for alarm, however, because ministers and experts are able to track the size of the wave accurately because the world-beating testing programme has roared into action again. A lack of Covid tests has left the government “flying blind” over the scale of the omicron wave as it tries to calculate whether further restrictions will be needed, The Independent has been told. Senior sources from across Whitehall said that disruption to the supply of PCR tests and rapid lateral flow devices – after a policy of daily tests for Covid contacts was announced – would leave decision-makers lacking vital data.

PARTY AND PARTY: A former Tory mayoral candidate has quit as chair of a police and crime committee after images emerged showing him attending a Christmas party last year when London was under tier 2 Covid restrictions. Shaun Bailey’s team organised the gathering in the basement of the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) in December 2020. Tier 2 restrictions meant that separate households were not allowed to mix in order to limit the spread of the virus. Four of Bailey’s campaign staffers were disciplined last week by CCHQ for holding the “raucous” event. Bailey resigned from his policing post last night but is yet to comment.

‘AUTHORITARIAN’: Dominic Raab’s plan to overhaul the Human Rights Act is “authoritarian” and will weaken protections for ordinary citizens, MPs have warned. The justice secretary has opened a public consultation to replace the law with a new “bill of rights”, which aims to stop foreign offenders asserting their rights to a family life to stop deportations. Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow justice secretary, called the announcement a “dead cat distraction tactic by a government who do not know how to fix the criminal justice system that they have broken”. “It is clearly not the Human Rights Act that is preventing foreign criminals from being deported; it is this incompetent Conservative government,” he added.“These proposals do nothing to deal with the severe failings in the criminal justice system, they repatriate no powers that are not already based here.”

“I think that’s got to be on the cards. He’s got to realise that he’s got to change.”

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a senior member of the influential 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, on chances of a no-confidence vote in PM next year.

“Ominous for Boris Johnson. He makes a personal appeal to MPs and then over 100 vote against him or abstain an hour later. Whips had no idea how bad it would be – Johnson’s allies claimed at 6.15pm the rebellion was ‘haemorrhaging’. A party dangerously out of control.”

Financial Times politics editor George Parker on plan B rebellion.

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