Boris Johnson says victory in censorship vote is “decisive” despite massive Conservative rebellion
Boris Johnson was branded the prime minister of a “lame duck” when he confronted MPs for the first time since suffering a disastrous result in Monday night’s vote of confidence in his leadership.
SNP leader Ian Blackford launched a violent attack on Mr Johnson’s position in the PMQ, comparing the Prime Minister to Monty Python’s Black Knight, who claimed that the fatal wounds were only flesh wounds. and said to him, “It is finished, it is done.”
The SNP MP said 41% of Conservative MPs had agreed to his repeated calls for the prime minister to resign.
But Johnson fired the rebels, saying he had “picked up political opponents everywhere” because his government had “done very big and very remarkable things that they didn’t necessarily approve of.”
With the promise of new measures on home ownership and the defense of the NHS waiting times from the attacks of Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister insisted that he would fight to stay in power and joked that the his political career “had just begun.”
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Nuclear test veterans call for recognition at first meeting with prime minister
People affected by British atomic experiments have called for formal recognition for nuclear test veterans at their first official meeting with a Prime Minister, and Boris Johnson has reportedly been “very scared to hear the death stories premature, illness, government coverage … ups, dead children ”.
During the 40-minute meeting, a group that includes a veteran of nuclear bomb testing, a widow, and four descendants told Mr. Johnson his experiences with the tests and the debilitating health problems they suffered as a result.
Alan Owen, founder of Labrats International for Atomic Test Survivors, told PA News Agency: “We met with him and he looked us in the eye and told him why these men deserve a We are the only country in the world that has not given formal recognition … It is only 70 years of denial by the Ministry of Defense. [Ministry of Defence] not acknowledging what happened; it is not taught in schools, there is no education ”.
Mr. Owen’s own father was on Christmas Island during nuclear tests in 1962 and died of heart disease at the age of 52. Her sister was born blind with one eye, her older brother died at the age of 31, and Mr. Owen recently suffered a cardiac arrest.
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 5:45 p.m.
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Sir Keir Starmer will announce new policies, Labor says, following Lord Mandelson’s warning
Sir Keir Starmer will announce a series of new policies in the coming months, his allies have said, after Labor leader Lord Mandelson urged the party to “look up” and warn that its leader has “about a year” to change. the things. around.
“By next year … we will have to see more powerful brushstrokes, put on this canvas,” the former cabinet minister told Times Radio.
In a speech in Durham, the couple said that Sir Keir should “accelerate” policy development and “change the intellectual course” instead of just hoping to benefit from Boris Johnson’s problems, and called for to the party that focuses on the need to invest in digital. , artificial intelligence and carbon transition technologies.
In response to the speech, a Labor spokesman said: “Peter Mandelson continues to focus on the industrial policy he had in government and this is an approach shared by Keir Starmer.”
The spokesman insisted that voters were already returning to the party across the country and said more policies would be put in place in preparation for the party’s autumn conference in Liverpool in September, adding: “We will continue to focus on the issues that matter to the public, what the cost of living crisis is and how we grow the economy. “
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 5:20 p.m.
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Foreign Ministry adviser resigns after saying “responsibility” Boris Johnson should be fired
A Foreign Ministry adviser has resigned after telling LBC Radio that Boris Johnson should leave the number 10 and that it is “a responsibility” that he is “in the wrong job,” reports our deputy political editor Rob Merrick.
Helena Morrisey, a Conservative couple, also argued that the prime minister had shown “contrition” over the Partygate scandal, saying he had to show “facts and not words”.
She has now resigned as director of the Commonwealth Office for Development and Foreign Affairs, a paid role to provide “strategic leadership” and “performance and delivery advice”. It is understood that he agreed to leave after Liz Truss, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, told him that his position was untenable.
The resignation is the first since the censure vote on Monday, despite expectations that some ministers could leave, to try to foment a revolt against the prime minister.
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 5:01 PM
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Telegraph readers give a condemned verdict on Boris Johnson’s leadership
Today’s Daily Telegraph’s letter section is likely to be an awkward read for Boris Johnson, with many of the dozens of contributors offering a doomed verdict on his leadership.
In a headline article, “A Leadership Contest is the Conservatives’ Best Hope,” columnist Madeline Grant suggests that the Prime Minister “turned out to be less of a Churchillian figure than a leader in Anthony Eden’s mold.” “. – vain, ambitious, coveting the traps of power rather than the responsibility that entails it, wasting parliamentary majorities in record time ”.
He added: “We are heading for an era of narrow margins and fragmented politics, but a change of leadership combined with a sensible Conservative agenda could be enough to keep a destructive left-wing coalition out of power.”
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 4:57 PM
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Foreign Ministry has “lessons to learn” on Afghanistan evacuation, senior official says
The Foreign Ministry has “lessons to learn” after the chaotic evacuation of Afghanistan last year, the department head said.
Sir Philip Barton, the permanent undersecretary, once again regretted not returning from holiday in the fall of Kabul, after a scathing report from parliamentarians asked him to consider his position.
Witnessing to the International Relations Committee of the House of Lords, Sir Philip said: “If I had had my time again, I would have returned from my termination earlier. That is what I should have done.”
He said the crisis following the fall of the Afghan capital Kabul to the Taliban was “one of the most complex and challenging” the department had ever faced, adding: “We managed to evacuate 15,000 people against a “Original planning assumption of six. That’s more than any country other than the US. We wish we could have evacuated more people.”
Sir Philip added that once the immediate crisis phase was over he launched a “proper exercise” to establish what lessons could be learned, which had led to a number of changes, saying: “We have integrated those into the way in which we approached the invasion of Ukraine in February. “
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 4:30 p.m.
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‘There is no vacancy’ for the office of Chancellor, insists No. 10
Boris Johnson’s press secretary has rejected reports suggesting he could replace Rishi Sunak as chancellor by former Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt in a reshuffle following Monday’s damaging censorship vote.
“There is no vacancy for this post. We have an excellent chancellor and he and the prime minister are working closely together. There are no plans to re-mix,” he said.
He downplayed reports that the prime minister could try to remove ministers who did not publicly support him before the vote and said he was “unaware” of the sanctions comments by Culture Secretary to Prime Minister Nadine Dorries. Mr. Hunt.
“Several things were said before the vote and now is the time to unite and focus fully on our work, which is being offered to the British public,” he said.
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 4:06 PM
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Boris Johnson will cut taxes at a “responsible” time, says No. 10
The government remains committed to reducing taxes, but will only act when it is “responsible” for doing so, Boris Johnson’s press secretary said.
Johnson has faced new calls from Conservative MPs to cut tax levels after Monday’s hurt vote of confidence.
The press secretary said: “We have made it clear that we want to reduce taxes, but we are in a very difficult position after the global pandemic, so as soon as it is responsible we will establish plans to do so.”
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 3:53 PM
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Labor MPs call for mass protests over the cost of living crisis
Labor MP Richard Burgon has called for mass and vague protests to force the Boris Johnson government to take stronger action on the cost of living crisis.
Writing in the Morning Star, the former shadow cabinet member said that “next year, as the crisis bites even more, the scale of the protest will have to match the scale of the crisis.”
Burgon called for the June 18 Trade Union Congress protest to be “a spark for new actions that make 2022 a year of protest against this Conservative government”, adding: “This is key to overcoming the emergence of the living standards that conservatives are choosing to force on our communities. ”
Her calls were backed by Diane Abbott, who said: “We need a mass mobilization to get the Conservatives to do something about the cost of living crisis.”
Andy Gregory June 8, 2022 3:40 PM
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Priti Patel has not met me once in 14 months, says the head of borders “frustrated”.
The government’s border inspector has expressed his “frustration” at not being able to meet with Priti Patel once since his appointment more than a year ago, reports my colleague Adam Forrest.
David Neal, who was appointed Chief Independent Inspector of Borders and Immigration 14 months ago, told lawmakers that …