Boris Johnson is seen jogging to the gym this morning amid worries that Sue Gray’s report on Partygate might be even worse than he thought.
Boris Johnson will tear into his diary in order to charm mutinous MPs. This is amid the fears that Sue Gray’s report on Partygate could be even worse than it appears, as claimed today.
Although the PM was able to fend off an initial plot by so-called “Pork Pie” plotters, even his supporters acknowledge that his fate is dependent on the decisions of top civil servants – which are expected next week.
Allies are hopeful that Ms Gray will not condemn Mr Johnson directly, despite Johnson having been at a “BYOB” party in Downing Street’s garden in May 2020. However, Ms Gray is accumulating more evidence that Whitehall’s mood music may be “darkening”.
He will be meeting with more backbenchers this weekend, as he prepares to face the next phase in his survival fight.
Mark Drakeford, Welsh First Minister turned the tables this morning when he accused Johnson of lifting Covid restrictions in an attempt to erase the scandal.
However, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, a possible successor to Mr Johnson has stood behind him and said that he’s doing an “excellent job”. Kwasi Kwarteng from the Business Department said that Johnson’s departure is not likely.
On the other front, rebel Tories are considering publishing secret recordings and messages from government whips in order to support allegations of intimidation.
Ms Truss is currently in Australia on a business trip and dismissed the possibility that Mr Johnson would quit when she was questioned.
She responded, “The Prime Minister is my 100% support.” He’s doing an outstanding job. The Covid vaccine was first introduced in Britain by the British government.
“We have had an extremely successful booster program. Our economy is now open again in Britain, and our country has one of most rapidly growing G7 economies.
“And that is why we are here to Australia, it’s because of our close partnerships, in order to promote freedom and democracy all over the globe and protect our country.
I want to see the Prime minister continue in his current job. His job is amazing. He is doing a great job.
Mark Drakeford, the Welsh First Minister (left), turned the tables this morning and accused Mr Johnson of lifting Covid restrictions in an attempt to remove the scandal from the media. Liz Truss (right), however, stated that Johnson does an ‘excellent’ job.
Kwasi Kwarteng, Business Secretary to Johnson said that he doesn’t believe Johnson will leave.
Cabinet ministers branded the Tory rebels as ‘attention-seeking schoolchildren’ after failing to collect enough confidence letters to allow them to vote on Mr Johnson’s future. (Pictured by Dehenna Davieson, alleged ringleader)
Chief whip Mark Spencer (pictured) is accused of intimidating rebel MPs into supporting the PM
Whitehall sources claimed that the Prime Minister was forced to rip out his calendar to speak with troubled MPs in advance of Gray’s expected publication next week.
Some MPs may be seen individually, while others might be asked for their views in smaller groups.
Sources say that similar meetings held this week may have helped disarm the threat from the Red Wall MPs’ ‘Pork Pie Plot ‘coup.
Johnson will encourage MPs to look at the larger picture, highlighting the successes of Johnson’s strategy in dealing with Omicron, which has seen the UK freed from Covid restrictions more quickly than any other European country.
However, a senior Tory claimed that earlier sessions weren’t a complete success. The PM wasn’t willing to promise any more harmful revelations.
Sources claimed that Mr Johnson had asked Lee Anderson, MP from Ashfield in Nottinghamshire to retract a lack of confidence letter sent to Sir Graham Brady by Tory shop steward Tory, and Anderson declined.
After failing to get enough confidence letters to allow Mr Johnson to be voted on, cabinet ministers called the Tory rebels “attention-seeking schoolchildren”.
They have been dubbed the ‘Pork Pie plotters, as a key meeting took place in the office of Alice Kearns, MP for Melton Mowbray.
The government faces a fierce backlash over alleged whip-tricks. MPs have been threatened with losing funding.
Johnson’s aides were also accused by the Press of using unsubstantiated statements about Mr Johnson and his personal life to denigrate rebels. No. 10 denied these claims.
According to The Times, the Tory rebels met yesterday in order to decide their next step.
A source close to the group stated that they were discussing how to publish texts from whips and comparing notes.
“One member recorded heated conversations that they had with chief whip.”
The material could be released to the press or the public in a move that could humiliate the PM after he denied that any of the rebels had been ‘blackmailed’ into supporting him.
Telegraph heard from one rebel: “We want the head of the Chief Whip on a stake.”
However, a source involved in the whipping operation told the same paper that claims of threats and blackmail were ‘complete bull****’.
According to the source, he said: “Ask them for one shred evidence.”
This morning Mr Kwarteng stated that he doesn’t believe the accusations of blackmail against Tory whips in a series of interviews.
Sky News interviewer Mr Kwarteng stated that he has been an MP 12 years and had never heard of such allegations.
Blackmail is the notion that money is withheld from those who need it because of the behavior of MPs. I have never seen anything similar.
“I find this strange, because the whip’s office doesn’t really have the power to control spending in such a way.”
He claimed that the Government would look into the allegation’seriously, and we must get to the root of it’. But he also said, “I don’t think this is happening.
Mr Kwarteng said he had never been bullied by the whips, but suggested it might be because he was tall.
LBC. He stated that his whips are generally much shorter than my own over the years.
Also, Mr Kwarteng snubbed at Mr Wakeford as a ‘turncoat”, pointing out that it was now his responsibility to undermine the government.
He stated, “You’d need to ask Christian why or how he changed his political affiliations, or what he did to make it worse.”
“I’m not sure what his motives were. As you’ll see, he’s now a Labour MP. Part of his job, it’s to discredit and criticize the Government.
It comes after the rebels were urged to report the blackmail claims to the authorities by William Wragg, chairman of the public administration committee and one of seven Tory MPs who submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM.
He said that the intimidation of a MP was a serious matter on Thursday.
“Moreover, the reports that I know would appear to be blackmail.
“I would advise my colleagues to inform the Speaker of House of Commons as well the Metropolitan Police Commissioner about these issues.
Recalling a heated moment with a party whip after voting against the Government last year, another rebel alleged: ‘They pulled me over and I told them I was voting against them.
“They started to get in my face. They told me that if you think you’re getting a single f***ing penny, forget it.
Don’t think that a minister is going to visit your place. You’re done.’
William Wragg was the chair of Commons Public Administration Committee. He said that he’d been informed of intimidation and pressure being applied to politicians
According to a poll, Mr Johnson’s popularity ratings are now at the same level of Jeremy Corbyn just before the 2019 general election. Rishi is being seen as more favorably.
As Mr Johnson’s enemies seized on his woes, Labour’s Welsh First Minister jibed that he had ‘long since abandoned’ science when making Covid decisions.
BBC Breakfast interview with Mr Drakeford. Drakeford has come under fire for excessive restrictions placed in Wales. He said, “I don’t believe there is any doubt that the UK Government has abandoned any sense it follows the science.”
“It’s a government that is in dire straits and in its own problems, and it is always on the hunt for headlines that distract from the terrible mess in which it is in.”
If asked by a reporter if the different restrictions between the countries could cause difficulties for people in Wales, he responded that ‘people have had to manage these differences through the pandemic.
Dr Drakeford said, “My job as well as the job of my Cabinet is to receive the scientific and medical advice. We have to make decisions to keep Wales safe.”
Bury South Christian Wakeford MP defected Wednesday to Labour.
After he had sensationally crossed the aisle yesterday, Mr Wakeford has made other blackmail claims.
BBC North West told him that he had previously intended to vote against the government, but was informed by his local authority that no new school would be built.
He said, “I was threatened with losing the school for Radcliffe” if I didn’t vote in one way.”
“This town has not been home to a high school in the past ten years. What would you think if you were holding back the regeneration of your town in order to allow for a voter’s vote? It wasn’t a comfortable fit.
Some believe Mr Wakeford was driven ‘over-the edge’ to deceive when he was taken in. He was threatened with having the boundary of his seat changed if he opposed the PM.
However, Johnson stated to reporters during a Taunton visit that he hadn’t seen any evidence to back up the claims.
“What I’m focusing on is the work we are doing to address the top priority of the British people which is Covid.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Wragg – who has been heavily critical of Mr Johnson and previously called for him to quit – had highlighted ‘grave and shocking accusations of bullying, blackmail, and misuse of public money’ that ‘must be investigated thoroughly’.
In the Commons Chamber, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle stated that although he wasn’t aware of all details, his “general observation” was that government officials were not above the criminal law and that trying to intimidate an MP would constitute contempt of Parliament.
One spokesperson from No. 10 stated that they did not know of any supporting evidence for the clearly grave allegations.
“If we have any proof to back these claims, we will examine it carefully.”
Dehenna Davison with rescued puppy ‘Carter’ pictured next to Carrie Johnson with dog Dilyn and Rishi Sunak, canvasing in Bishop Auckland. It is believed she was one of the ringleaders.
Some backbench Tory plotters are Alicia Kearns (left), representing Melton Mowbray and Gary Sambrook from Birmingham Northfield
Sir Keir Starmer, his party leader, welcomed Mr Wakeford to his parliamentary office.
Next week will see the publication of Partygate’s official inquiry, which was led by Sue Gray, Whitehall ethics chief (pictured).