Inside Politics: Johnson accused of ‘running scared’ as he ducks debate on MPs’ standards

Just how far is Boris Johnson willing to go to escape scrutiny? Some 26,000 miles – or more than the entire circumference of planet Earth, according to one crafty Labour Party HQ staffer, who reportedly totted up the distances travelled by the PM throughout his career during times of crisis or political uncomfortableness. His trip to Afghanistan to avoid the Heathrow third runway vote, a camping excursion to Aberdeen amid the A-level chaos and yesterday’s journey to the North East all made the list. As Stephen Barclay was sent out to face the music, No 10 insisted that the PM’s visit to a hospital in Northumberland was “long-standing” and that he wouldn’t be able to get back to London on time for the debate – an excuse that came days after he took a private jet home from Cop26 in Glasgow to attend a dinner with journalists at a private members club in London. Downing Street’s handling of this mess appears to be going from bad to worse, with the PM still refusing to apologise. The calculation made by him and his aides seems to be that this scandal will soon blow over, which it will, but at what cost to the reputation of parliament and MPs? A look at today’s papers and news websites suggests this story is going nowhere just yet. “Just say sorry for the mess, prime minister,” says the Daily Express, which critics have in the past accused of North Korea levels of support for Johnson. As anger continues to foment on all sides of the Commons, it looks increasingly like No 10 has judged this one extremely poorly.

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for:

A quiet day in the Commons, which takes the rest of the week off, so there will be no Prime Minister’s Questions tomorrow. Questions to Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, today from 11.30am, followed by backbench debates on early years support and school counselling services. On the committee corridor Nick Carter, outgoing chief of the defence staff, gives evidence to the defence committee. Meanwhile, science, innovation and gender equality are on the agenda at Cop26 in Glasgow.

Coming up:

– Deputy PM and justice secretary Dominic Raab on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.30am

– Shadow communities secretary Steve Reed on Times Radio at 8.35am

CHICKEN RUN: Johnson’s ducking of the debate has left him facing accusations by the opposition that he’s “running scared” and trashing his party’s reputation. Labour leader Keir Starmer has gone as far as to say the PM is running the Tories “through the sewers”, comments that make the front of this morning’s Guardian. In the wake of the Owen Paterson scandal, Johnson said in his pool clip interview that it is important MPs are held to account and that he will seek cross-party support for any new reforms. But he refused to say sorry or take any responsibility for the attempt to rip up sleaze rules. And while Labour continues to turn the screw on the government over its handling of the case, it is the interventions of those sitting on the government that are likely to be most damaging to the PM. “If the team captain gets it wrong, then I think he should come and apologise to the public and to this house, that’s the right thing to do in terms of demonstrating leadership,” former Conservative chief whip, Mark Harper, said, in the latest sign that the anger felt by Tory MPs goes beyond the 2019 intake occupying red wall seats.

YOU WHAT?: Elsewhere, the second jobs and earnings of MPs are likely to come under fierce scrutiny today after it emerged that former attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox has declared a new contract for part-time work – 41 hours of work per month – worth £400,000 a year on top of his MP salary. This story is likely to get significant pick up after some top reporting by the Daily Mail revealed Cox has been voting in parliament remotely from the Caribbean as he works a second job advising the government of the British Virgin Islands...as the tax haven faces a Foreign Office probe into corruption. You couldn’t make it up.

TAX WOES: Another story embarrassing the government today is the case of Adam Afriyie, the Tory MP who is facing bankruptcy action over unpaid taxes, leaving open the possibility of another by-election if he is forced to stand down. It has emerged that HMRC has filed a petition for bankruptcy against the MP in a dispute related to “past business interests”. Any MP who is declared bankrupt must step aside under parliamentary rules – sparking concern among some Conservatives that Afriyie may have to step aside in his Windsor seat. The backbencher’s spokesperson said he is challenging the HMRC’s petition and hoped the matter could still be resolved without bankruptcy. Afriyie, who has held his seat since 2005, vowed: “I will of course pay any tax that is due.”

COP STAR: Week two of Cop26 started with a sprinkling of star quality as former US President Barack Obama – who played a key role in the 2015 Paris Agreement – rolled into Glasgow town to speak at an event, where he welcomed the progress made at the summit so far but warned that, without action to back up the big talk, the world would not meet its target of keeping temperatures rises below 1.5C. Obama also used his platform to hit out at China and Russia for what he said was both counties “lack of urgency” in tackling the climate crisis. He also urged young people to “stay angry” and to continue campaigning for change. Meanwhile, one billion people could be facing deadly levels of heat stress if global warming reaches 2C above pre-industrial levels, new research has found. Currently, 68 million people around the world are affected by heat stress. But a group of academics and Met Office scientists estimate that under a 2C scenario the number of people living under conditions of heat stress could increase 15-fold.

SEWAGE FEARS: A move by Boris Johnson’s government to stop water companies from dumping raw sewage into Britain’s rivers and the sea does not go far enough, campaigners have warned. On Monday evening MPs voted 283-163 in favour of an amendment that calls on firms to make a “progressive reduction” in the amount of sewage they pump into the nation’s waterways. Environment minister Rebecca Pow also met with company bosses to make it “crystal clear” that the government is “absolutely committed to cutting harmful sewage entering our precious watercourses”. But critics argue that the proposals aren’t adequate because they do not stipulate measurements or metrics for the reduction required by water companies. Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, called the amendment a “political ruse” that places a “meaningless” duty on firms.

“I think it is very important that we get this right. We are going to hold MPs to account. MPs should not break the rules. If there is anything positive to come out of the whole thing it is that as far as I can make out the Speaker is determined to try to move us all forward with a system whereby we have a cross-party approach, which is what we were trying to achieve last week.”

PM says MPs shouldn’t break the rules on lobbying.

“Trouble on Tory benches not confined to 2019 intake. Mark Harper, former Conservative, Chief Whip has said that PM as the ‘team Captain’ should come to the House and apologise to his party and the public.”

Newsnight policy editor Lewis Goodall points out growing unease on government benches.

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