Boris Johnson news - live: Fresh Partygate fines ‘issued’ as PM warned no-confidence vote ‘inevitable’
Polling expert says party MPs will have say within months
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Your support makes all the difference.At least two Downing Street staffers have received police fines for attending a ‘bring your own booze’ event on 20 May, 2020, sources told The Independent.
This is the second event that Boris Johnson is known to have attended at which revellers have been given fixed penalty notices.
It comes as senior Conservatives have warned the prime minister that a no-confidence vote on him is now inevitable over the Partygate scandal, with one warning the mood had “turned against him”.
Tory peer Lord Hayward, the party’s influential polling expert, predicted a vote within months, and former defence minister Tobias Ellwood said a ballot on Boris Johnson’s future was a matter of “when not if”.
Polling guru Sir John Curtice says Partygate is set to be a major problem for the Tories at the May local elections, after MPs voted for the Privileges Committee to investigate whether the prime minister misled Parliament.
Tory MPs warn ‘illegal migrant’ ads attacking Labour politicians will stoke hatred
Conservative MPs have condemned their own party’s new online adverts attacking Labour MPs over immigration, warning they will stoke hatred and put all politicians at greater risk, writes Adam Forrest.
Tory backbenchers have raised fears about personalised ads targetting Yvette Cooper and other frontbench Labour politicians – telling the public they voted “to keep illegal migrants in Britain”.
Some Tories criticised the potentially inflammatory ads in a private WhatsApp group where MPs share graphics on social media, according to Bloomberg.
“These ads lead directly to attacks on MPs and their families and they stoke up hatred of politicians,” Tory MP Miriam Cates wrote – calling the ads “very, very disappointing”.
Tory MPs warn ‘illegal migrant’ ads attacking Labour MPs will stoke hatred
‘These ads lead directly to attacks on MPs,’ says Conservative backbencher
Partygate saga ‘done and dusted’, says Tory minister
The saga over the numerous lockdown-busting parties held in No 10 is “done and dusted”, defence minister Leo Docherty this afternoon declared.
It comes as a number of senior Conservative MPs have called for Boris Johnson to resign for failing to obey his own Covid rules.
Speaking to the PA news agency at the Invictus Games in The Hague, Mr Docherty said: “It’s pretty much done and dusted in the sense that the prime minister’s apologised for the fixed-penalty notice he received.
“In my opinion I regard that as matter closed. I really want to see him being able to get on with the job.”
He said the “vast majority” of Brits wants to see Boris Johnson get on with representing the UK.
“People I think are sick of it and want us to move on,” he said.
Mr Docherty has previously faced calls of his own to resign. In September 2019, his brother Paddy Docherty wrote an open letter to the Guardian urging the Tory MP to step down in the wake of Mr Johnson’s proroguing of Parliament.
He wrote: “I used to joke that your degree in Swahili and Hindi made you “perfectly qualified to be an army officer – in the 1840s”. As you now serve in a government with alarmingly backward intentions, that no longer seems quite so funny.
“I must therefore beg you, as your brother, to resign your post in the whips’ office and speak out in defence of democracy.”
Here are some of the latest images from prime minister Boris Johnson’s two-day visit to India to discuss new collaborations on defence and green energy with his counterpart Narendra Modi:
PM suggests fresh delay to Brexit checks after trade collapse warning
Boris Johnson has all-but confirmed that Brexit import controls on goods from Europe due to take effect in July will be delayed for a fourth time.
Experts have warned of a collapse in trade if the checks are implemented on 1 July at a time of fast-rising prices and falling consumer confidence, writes Andrew Woodcock:
Boris Johnson indicates fourth delay to import checks after trade ‘collapse’ warning
PM speaks of hopes that technology will make inspections ‘obsolete’
Have your say on Home Office Rwanda plan
Priti Patel’s deal to send asylum-seekers who arrive in the UK illegally to Rwanda has been met with criticism, but we want to know what readers of The Independent think of the controversial plans. Click here to vote and comment:
Poll: What do you think of the Home Office’s Rwanda plan?
The controversial deal has been met with criticism since it was announced last week
No-confidence vote inevitable, Tories warn PM
Senior Conservatives have warned Boris Johnson that a no-confidence vote on him is now inevitable over the Partygate scandal, with one warning the mood had “turned against him”.
Tory peer Lord Hayward, the party’s influential polling expert, predicted a no-confidence vote within months, reports Adam Forrest:
Boris Johnson warned no-confidence vote now inevitable, as ‘mood turns’
Support among Conservative MPs has fallen ‘markedly’, says party’s polling guru
Tory northern leader says PM making life harder on doorstep
Boris Johnson has become an embarrassment to the Conservative party, the leader of the Tories in Sunderland has said as he campaigns to make historic gains on the northeast city’s local council. Colin Drury reports:
Tory northern leader says Johnson making life harder ahead of local elections
Internal polling is said to suggest the blues could win enough seats at May’s local elections
People are ‘sick’ of ‘done and dusted’ partygate story – minister
The partygate story is “done and dusted” and “fizzling out” for people outside the Westminster bubble, a government minister has said.
Defence minister Leo Docherty said he is “100 per cent supportive” of Boris Johnson, adding that the prime minister has “behaved with integrity”.
He said he thinks people are “sick of it” and want to move on.
Speaking to the PA news agency at the Invictus Games in The Hague, he said: “It’s pretty much done and dusted in the sense that the Prime Minister’s apologised for the fixed-penalty notice he received.
“In my opinion I regard that as matter closed. I really want to see him being able to get on with the job.”
Read the full story below:
People are ‘sick’ of ‘done and dusted’ partygate story – minister
Defence minister Leo Docherty said he is “100% supportive” of Boris Johnson.
Boris Johnson encapsulates ‘aspiration view of the Great British future,’ minister says
Defence minister Leo Docherty said Boris Johnson is someone who "encapsulates that positive, aspirational view of the Great British future".
Asked if history will look upon Boris Johnson favourably, Mr Docherty told the PA news agency: “Yeah, I think history will...of course he's got a number of years to serve as prime minister, but I think history will judge him as someone who was successful as a political leader because he could communicate a sense of hope about the future, because he's very, very interested in science and technology and innovation.”
He said Mr Johnson knows that addressing challenges of the future, such as economy, energy sovereignty, and the jobs market, “depends on us being the best in field.”
Mr Docherty said Mr Johnson is someone who “encapsulates that positive, aspirational view of the great British future”.
He added: “That's why I support him and that's why my constituents are very enthusiastic about him as our prime minister.”
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