Live to fight another day: Crucial week for Boris Johnson with new team on a mission to kill off backbenchers’ final concerns February 7, 2022 Boris Johnson is heading into a new week hoping changes to his top Downing Street team will ease the concerns of backbenchers who were wavering about his future. The Prime Minister made key changes over the weekend, appointing Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay as his new chief of staff and journalist and [...]
Boris Johnson lashes out at Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey: Do not show pay restraint February 5, 2022 Downing Street stressed this afternoon Boris Johnson fiercely disagreed with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey over his call for workers to show “restraint” over pay rises amid high inflation. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s not something that the Prime Minister is calling for. We obviously want a high-growth economy and we want [...]
Downing Street rushes to stress relation between PM and Chancellor is ‘good’ while Boris Johnson turns to Lion King after staff exodus February 4, 2022 Downing Street insisted this afternoon that relations between Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are “good”. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I don’t know when they last spoke, they speak almost daily, but I don’t know the exact last time.” Asked how relations are between No 10 and No 11, he said: “Good – [...]
Chancellor Rishi Sunak no longer rules out Tory leadership bid if Boris Johnson is forced out February 3, 2022 Chancellor Rishi Sunak refused to rule out a leadership bid if Boris Johnson is forced out as he acknowledged the Government needed to rebuild trust after the “partygate” disclosures. Despite deepening disquiet in the Tory ranks, Sunak insisted the prospect of a leadership contest remained a “hypothetical situation” and that the Prime Minister had his [...]
‘Upset’ Ruth Davidson does not think Boris Johnson can recover from partygate February 1, 2022 Tory grandee Ruth Davidson does not think Prime Minister Boris Johnson can recover from ‘partygate’, as the former Scottish Conservative leader said she has been left “upset” by Downing Street partygate allegations. Baroness Davidson said the allegations of lockdown breaching parties in No 10 and Whitehall “makes a mockery of all of the sacrifices that [...]
Boris Johnson should be ‘very worried’ after partygate apology, says Tory heavyweight William Hague February 1, 2022 William Hague, the former Conservative Party leader, has said the Prime Minister “should be very worried” and criticised his apology to the House of Commons. He said Boris Johnson had the opportunity to propose real change in response to Sue Gray’s report and squandered it. Writing in The Times, Hague said the PM had plenty [...]
PM pulls out of tech chief meet-up following Sue Gray party report February 1, 2022 The Prime Minister pulled out of a well-publicised meeting with tech chiefs yesterday as he focussed on responding to the report into lockdown parties at Downing Street.
Weekend Read: Legal minds discuss how Sue Gray report could prejudice police probe into partygate January 30, 2022 Publishing the findings of Sue Gray’s inquiry could prejudice the police investigation into allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, the Metropolitan Police said yesterday morning. However, lawyers have questioned how this could be the case, as they zoom in on both investigations and look at the legal aspects of finding the truth in what [...]
Fraud minister who resigned this week opens up: ‘I didn’t want to blow my top, but I was very angry’ January 29, 2022 The government minister who quit this week over the “schoolboy” handling of fraudulent Covid-19 business loans said of his resignation during a speech at the despatch box in the House of Lords: “I didn’t want to blow my top, but I was very angry.” Lord Agnew of Oulton, who was the Tories’ anti-fraud minister, says [...]
Sue Gray furious after police intervention as Scotland Yard contacts ‘partygate’ suspects January 29, 2022 Sue Gray, the civil servant looking into the lockdown-breaking parties allegedly held at No 10, is furious after the Met’s intervention. Gray, who was told by Scotland Yard on Friday to make “minimal reference” to the parties, was frustrated and angered by the situation, as her report is expected to be published within days, the [...]