Inside Politics: Tories call on PM to quit after he apologises for attending boozy lockdown party

The government benches may have been full yesterday at PMQs but the mood among Tory MPs was visibly subdued as Boris Johnson finally broke his silence on the latest partygate report. The usually furiously nodding heads at the front sat bowed and still as the prime minister apologised to the Commons and the country for attending a lockdown-busting bash on 20 May 2020, which he said he thought, at the time, was a work event and therefore technically within the rules, leading Keir Starmer to brand the excuse “ridiculous”. This morning’s Metro headline surmises: ‘Sorry, not sorry’. Johnson now faces calls from some senior Tories to resign and while the cabinet has begun to rally around him, support from the apparent heir to the throne has been noted as lukewarm. As we enter day four of the ‘bring your own booze’ garden party bash, one poll now puts Labour in a 10 point lead. Away from partygate, the government’s VIP fast lane for suppliers of Covid protective equipment with connections to ministers and officials has been ruled unlawful by the High Court and the trade secretary is trying to kick-start post-Brexit talks with India.

Commons action kicks off at 9.30am with Cabinet Office questions, followed by any urgent questions. After that, Jacob Rees-Mogg delivers his weekly business statement. The main business comes later with backbench debates on the detention of Bahraini political prisoners and on the joint Online Safety Bill committee’s first report. There is also an adjournment debate on the government’s Troubles legacy legislation led by former veterans minister Johnny Mercer.

Coming up:

– Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

– Shadow housing and levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy on LBC at 9.05am

Daily Briefing

NEW YEAR OF DISCONTENT: Douglas Ross, leader in Scotland, is among a number of Tories urging Johnson to resign despite his statement yesterday. “He is the prime minister, it is his government that put these rules in place, and he has to be held to account for his actions,” he said, as he called on the PM to walk away. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, hit back at Ross in a very catty putdown on Newsnight last night, describing his colleague north of the border as “quite a lightweight figure.” Ouch. There remains plenty of discontent on the backbenches too. William Wragg called for Johnson to quit, as did vocal Johnson critic Sir Roger Gale, who described the PM as a “dead man walking” politically. One former minister told The Independent that MPs “in double figures” had submitted letters of no confidence in the PM to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady – with some letters going in after the PM’s dramatic apology in the House of Commons.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER?: Liz Truss, the second-favourite to replace Johnson should he resign or be ousted, joined Sunak in tweeting her support for the PM last night after a spreadsheet emerged on Twitter listing all the cabinet members who had publicly backed Johnson. “The Prime Minister is delivering for Britain - from Brexit to the booster programme to economic growth,” she said. “I stand behind the Prime Minister 100% as he takes our country forward.”

BACK OF THE NET: Keir Starmer was under pressure himself yesterday to hit the back of the net in what many observers described as an open goal to inflict a serious and lasting injury on a PM who now looks well beyond his peak. The Labour leader gave an assured performance, using controlled aggression to skewer Johnson on his “ridiculous” excuses, accusing him of “lying through his teeth”. Starmer wakes up this morning to an increased lead in the polls, according to a YouGov survey, which puts Labour on 38 per cent (up one) and the Tories on 28 per cent (down five). In the same poll, Starmer was also far ahead on who would make the best prime minister. Just 23 per cent said Johnson would, compared to the Labour leader’s 35 per cent.

PILING ON THE PRESSURE: Lisa Nandy, the shadow housing and levelling up secretary, is already out on the airwaves this morning piling the pressure on Johnson, who she accuses of hiding behind Sue Gray’s inquiry into parties. She is the senior civil servant in charge of the probe. Johnson continues to plead with Tory MPs to wait for the conclusion of that investigation. “There are serious questions to be answered, not just for the prime minister, but for many cabinet ministers who appear to have been at parties but simply won’t answer basic questions about them,” Nandy told BBC Breakfast earlier. “[He] has had ample opportunities to level with the public, it’s about time he was honest with us and it doesn’t need an investigation by a civil servant in order to do that.” Live politics updates throughout the day here.

HERE WE GO AGAIN: Foreign secretary Truss later today hosts EU negotiator Maros Sefcovic for talks over Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol, when she is expected to call for a reset in relations between London and Brussels. “There is a deal to be done but it will require a pragmatic approach from the EU,” she said ahead of the showdown. Earlier this week Ireland’s EU commissioner has said the UK and Brussels must find a solution to the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol before the Assembly elections later this year. Mairead McGuinness, the EU financial services commissioner, said on Tuesday that she hopes the appointment of Liz Truss to the role of Brexit negotiator will bring some “pragmatism to the situation”. The Foreign Secretary has taken charge of the UK negotiations on the protocol after Lord Frost’s resignation from the government last month.

PPE FASTLANE UNLAWFUL: The government’s use of a VIP fast lane for suppliers of Covid personal protective equipment (PPE) with connections to ministers and officials has been ruled unlawful by the High Court. Campaigners from the Good Law Project and EveryDoctor took the Department of Health and Social Care to court over claims that suppliers with political links were given an unfair advantage in obtaining contracts running into hundreds of millions of pounds. In a ruling released today, judge Mrs Justice O’Farrell found that the VIP lane system was “in breach of the obligation of equal treatment”, adding: “The illegality is marked by this judgment.” The DHSC claimed the ruling showed the system was “open and transparent”.

“I thought it was a work event”.

PM insists he thought BYOB party was a work event.

“After speaking to Tory MPs looks like numbers needed to trigger confidence vote (54) won’t be reached yet. Many waiting to see what Sue Gray says in report - and how PM reacts. Many Tory big guns rallying round for now - but lots of MPs very unhappy - still dangerous for PM.”

Daily Mirror politics editor Pippa Crerar hears Johnson is safe, for now.

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