The Tories lost two seats with around 20,000 majorities in by-elections on Thursday in Selby and Ainsty, to Labour, and Somerton and Frome, to the Lib Dems, while narrowly holding on to Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat amid a challenge from Labour.
Tory Party chairman Greg Hands claimed the 495-vote victory in Uxbridge was the “standout result” while Mr Sunak insisted the next general election was not a “done deal” despite the loss of two safe seats.
Not all politicians are the same, I know that, but enough of the current crop are to make many turn away from politics forever. The Johnson debacle, like Trump’s manoeuvrings, is a profoundly anti-democratic moment as both leaders seek to undermine any institution that stops their ambition. That ambition has nothing to do with improving the lives of anyone but themselves. “Power,” says O’Brien as he tortures Winston in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, “is not a means, it is an end.” Indeed.
Mr Sunak joined many Conservatives in swerving the debate, instead attending a Jewish Care event.
(19.06.2023)
Only seven Tories voted against the report after a five-hour debate in Parliament, with 354 MPs across all parties in favour of the conclusion that Mr Johnson had deliberately misled the House.
The former prime minister quit as an MP after he learned of the recommendations of the cross-party group, which included a 90-day ban from the House of Commons for “repeated contempts” of Parliament.
(19.06.2023)
Branding him the first former prime minister to have lied to the Commons, the Privileges Committee found Mr Johnson committed ‚repeated contempts‘ of Parliament by deliberately misleading MPs with his partygate denials before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation.
The former prime minister had urged his allies not to oppose the report, arguing that the sanctions have no practical effect, although critics said it was a move designed to avoid revealing the low level of remaining support for him among Tory MPs.
The former prime minister also warned Mr Johnson’s critics they should “never, ever, ever” write him off amid questions over whether he could seek a return to the political frontline.
The committee recommended Mr Johnson “should not be entitled to a former Member’s pass” after it concluded he had deliberately misled MPs over partygate.
Long-awaited, but much more hard hitting than anticipated, the Privileges Committee report condemned Boris Johnson for repeatedly misleading MPs and – despite his protestations to the contrary – undermining the committee itself.
(27 August 2022)
Lockdown – closing schools and much of the economy while sending the police after people who sat on park benches – was the most draconian policy introduced in peacetime. No. 10 wanted to present it as ‘following the science’ rather than a political decision, and this had implications for the wiring of government decision-making. It meant elevating Sage, a sprawling group of scientific advisers, into a committee that had the power to decide whether the country would lock down or not. There was no socioeconomic equivalent to Sage; no forum where other questions would be asked.
So whoever wrote the minutes for the Sage meetings – condensing its discussions into guidance for government – would set the policy of the nation. No one, not even cabinet members, would know how these decisions were reached.
(25.08.2022)
For some time, I’ve been trying to persuade Rishi Sunak to go on the record about what really happened in lockdown. Only a handful of people really know what took place then, because most ministers – including members of the Cabinet – were kept in the dark. Government was often reduced to a “quad” of ministers deciding on Britain’s future and the then chancellor of the exchequer was one of them. I’d heard rumours that Sunak was horrified at much of what he saw, but was keeping quiet. In which case, lessons would never be learnt.
His speaking out now confirms much of what many suspected. That the culture of fear, seen in the Orwellian advertising campaign that sought to terrify the country, applied inside Government.
If you are a right-wing MP or ambitious wonk on the Truss campaign ‘pivot’ is such a useful word. Far better to say ‘we need to pivot from campaign mode to governing mode,’ than to blurt out that ‘now we have their votes we can forget the lies we told to win over Conservative members’. Far better for Truss herself to say, ‘I am pivoting from my previous position on tax cuts’ to ‘I admit that I was wrong’.
Pivoting calls to mind the elegance of a ballerina turning on her points. Not the cynicism of a politician breaking promises she made only a few days before.
As it will take years for culpable parties to retire, I once feared that a full generation would need to elapse before we recognised lockdowns for what they were: the biggest public health debacle in history. Yet everywhere I turn lately, still another journalist is decrying the avoidable social, medical and economic costs of this hysterical over-reaction to a virus, while deriding lockdown zealots for having vilified sceptics of a policy that may well end up killing more people than it protected. The Covid revisionism is welcome – though it’s a good deal easier to publish these opinion pieces now than it was two years ago, and I speak from experience.
(27 August 2022)
Lockdown – closing schools and much of the economy while sending the police after people who sat on park benches – was the most draconian policy introduced in peacetime. No. 10 wanted to present it as ‘following the science’ rather than a political decision, and this had implications for the wiring of government decision-making. It meant elevating Sage, a sprawling group of scientific advisers, into a committee that had the power to decide whether the country would lock down or not. There was no socioeconomic equivalent to Sage; no forum where other questions would be asked.
So whoever wrote the minutes for the Sage meetings – condensing its discussions into guidance for government – would set the policy of the nation. No one, not even cabinet members, would know how these decisions were reached.
The meetings were “literally me around that table, just fighting”, which “was incredibly uncomfortable every single time”.
At one meeting he raised the impact on children’s education: “I was very emotional about it. I was like, ‘Forget about the economy. Surely we can all agree that kids not being in school is a major nightmare’, or something like that.
“There was a big silence afterwards. It was the first time someone had said it. I was so furious.”
Setting out the problems he found with Government policy being influenced by outside academics, he said: “If you empower all these independent people, you’re screwed.”
Mr Sunak said one of the Government’s biggest mistakes was giving too much power to scientists and claimed the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) edited its minutes to hide dissenting opinions.
The former chancellor made the statements in an interview with the Spectator magazine.
“We shouldn’t have empowered the scientists in the way we did,” he is quoted as saying.
In Großbritannien findet momentan eine bemerkenswerte Diskussion über die vergangenen Lockdown-Maßnahmen statt. Einer der beiden konservativen Regierungschef-Kandidaten, der bisherige britische Finanzminister Rishi Sunak, hat diese Diskussion vor wenigen Tagen dramatisch intensiviert. Der staatliche Nachrichtensender BBC berichtete am 25.8.2022[1] über die Aussagen von Rishi Sunak gegenüber der Zeitschrift „The Spectator“: Ministern sei es untersagt worden, über Kollateralschäden (trade-offs) der Lockdowns zu diskutieren[2]; es sei falsch gewesen, eine staatliche Angstkampagne zu fahren. Das Regierungs-„Script“ sei ein ungerechtfertigtes Angst-Narrativ gewesen („the fear narrative“). Die vorgegebene Leitlinie sei gewesen: „Es gibt keine negativen Auswirkungen“.[3] Interne Kritik in dem wissenschaftlichen Beratungsgremium (SAGE) sei nicht veröffentlicht worden.
MP Greg Hands has branded ‘dangerous’ a retweet by culture secretary Nadine Dorries, showing Rishi Sunak stabbing Boris Johnson in the back.
Tories are braced for more blood on the carpet today as another hopeful is knocked out of the leadership race – with Liz Truss allies begging rivals to recognise the ‚reality‘ they cannot win.
The results are due to be revealed at 3pm after another frenzied day at Westminster that saw the Foreign Secretary officially launch her campaign insisting she can be ‚trusted to deliver‘ after taking on the EU over Brexit and Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.
In a dig at frontrunner Rishi Sunak she said she had been ‚loyal‘ to Boris Johnson, and it was not the time for ‚business as usual economic management‘.
Der britische Premierminister Boris Johnson tritt als Chef seiner Konservativen Partei zurück. Er wolle aber als Regierungschef weitermachen, bis ein Nachfolger gewählt ist, sagte Johnson am Donnerstag in London.
But he can, technically, be deposed as Tory leader and remain in office. He will not be removed from No 10 until he tenders his resignation as prime minister, or until he loses a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons (the last PM to lose such a vote was Labour’s Jim Callaghan in March 1979). Johnson will not, like Donald Trump, attempt to stay in power once the Tory party does select a new leader, but he has notably chosen not to tender his resignation as prime minister until it does.
– Boris Johnson makes 372-second resignation speech in Downing Street
– He confirms he will stand down as Prime Minister once new Tory leader elected
– He says he is ‚sad‘ to be ‚giving up the best job in the world‘ and blasts rebel MPs
BORIS Johnson has today told the nation he is resigning as Prime Minister and clearing the stage for a new Tory leader by the autumn.
In an address outside No10, the defeated PM said he was so „sad“ to be forced out of the job he loves but conceded: „Them‘s the breaks.“
Nightmare scenario of tactical voting could put several Cabinet ministers’ majorities at risk, including the Prime Minister’s
Ex-leader Michael Howard among Conservatives to call for resignation after byelection catastrophes
Und im südwestenglischen Devon, im Wahlkreis Tiverton und Honiton, errangen die Liberaldemokraten einen deutlichen Sieg in einem Wahlkreis, den die Konservativen seit mehr als 100 Jahren innehatten. Der neue „Lib Dem“-Abgeordnete Richard Foord erklärte, es sei Zeit für Premierminister Boris Johnson zu gehen:
Im ganzen Land schalten die Liberaldemokraten die Konservativen aus und gewinnen. Menschen, die ihr Leben lang konservativ gewählt haben, sind abgestoßen von Boris Johnsons Lügen und haben die Nase voll.
Try walking about in a British city Johnson and see how many cheers you get
Lord Hague, the former leader of the Conservative Party, said Mr Johnson is now facing a „big problem“ because it „isn’t viable actually when more than 40 per cent of your party vote against you“.
He told Times Radio: “That is very difficult then to proceed as party leader in the long term. This is like trying to drive along the M1 with two flat tyres. You can say you are at the steering wheel but is it really viable? You are not going to get to the end of the motorway.”
– Boris Johnson is setting out to revive his premiership after a hugely damaging confidence vote last night
– His allies are begging the 148 MPs who voted against the PM to ‚back down‘ after his slim victory yesterday
– One loyalist MP described Monday as ‚the first day of a Tory civil war‘ with a double by-election looming
– The PM‘s allies have insisted he will ‚fight his corner‘ amid warnings that an early general election is possible
– Backbench chief Sir Graham Brady called a full vote after receiving 54 letters from MPs calling for one
Some big names may quit during the day, because many cannot accept the result. If you think Johnson is a disaster on Monday morning, you’re not going to believe he’s a genius on Monday evening, and no one would believe you if you said so.
Sir Graham said in a statement: “The threshold of 15 per cent of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded.
“In accordance with the rules, a ballot will be held between 1800 and 2000 TODAY MONDAY 6th JUNE — details to be confirmed.
– Boris Johnson is facing a confidence vote at 6pm tonight after Tories wrote letters to the 1922 committee
– The PM‘s allies have insisted he will ‚fight his corner‘ amid warnings that an early general election is possible
– Backbench chief Sir Graham Brady calls a full vote when he receives 54 letters from MPs asking for one
Tory MPs are assessing the fall-out after a „tough night“ for Boris Johnson in his first test at the ballot box since being fined for breaking lockdown rules.
The Conservatives lost nearly 500 seats in England, Wales, and Scotland in Thursday‘s council elections, with partygate and the cost of living crisis cited by local leaders as key issues on the doorstep.
– The Prime Minister said sorry with ‚full humility‘ over the £50 fixed-penalty notice he received last week
– But in the same breath he claimed ignorance of his own Covid rules over June 2020 event in No10
– Told MPs ‚It did not occur to me then or subsequently that gathering … could amount to a breach of the rules‘
According to a snap poll by YouGov, 57 per cent of British adults think Mr Johnson should resign for breaching the Covid rules. The same proportion also now want his Treasury protege to follow suit.
The Chancellor will be especially disheartened to discover that while 25 per cent of Tory voters want rid of Mr Johnson, the figure rises to 30 per cent when it comes to his own future in the party.
Cressida Dick appeared to rule out any punishment stronger than a fine for Boris Johnson over Partygate today – as he refused to confirm he would quit if found to have broken the law.
Scotland Yard is sending formal questionnaires to more than 50 people to ask them to give an account of their involvement, with the documents due to start arriving by the end of this week.
More than 100 Conservative MPs could turn against Boris Johnson if his leadership is put to a confidence vote, i has established.
The Prime Minister would still technically win the ballot of 360 Tory MPs as he only needs a majority of one to survive, but he would be severely wounded by the scale of the rebellion, which would go far beyond the current public dissent by backbenchers against his leadership.
Matt Hancock did it. Allegra Stratton did it. Heck, even Priti Patel once did it, and she’s terrifying when cornered.
They’ve all said that magic phrase that makes the worries of the world, the expectation of their paymasters and the weight of public opinion suddenly lift from their slumped shoulders with a shuddering creak and an almighty groan. That phrase being something along the lines of: “I have become a distraction – and for that reason, I will be resigning with immediate effect.”
It comes to something when a police investigation into misconduct in No 10 and the danger of war in Europe are seen as helpful developments by supporters of the Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson’s human shield is no longer Sue Gray, but the Metropolitan Police. Gray’s report, used by Downing Street to evade scrutiny about Covid rule breaches and by Conservative MPs to delay moving against the Prime Minister, will soon be published. But her account of the worst transgressions will be redacted, following an edict by the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick.