All posts tagged: Boris Johnson

Ex-Starmer aide Sue Gray gets House of Lords consolation prize – POLITICO

Ex-Starmer aide Sue Gray gets House of Lords consolation prize – POLITICO

In her old life, she led the investigation into lockdown-busting parties in Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street at the height of the Covid pandemic. But Gray became a lightning rod for internal criticism in the wake of Labour’s victory, with colleagues blaming her for a myriad of issues including communications failures, the slow appointment of ministers and low pay for special advisers. She quit the job in October and was replaced by Morgan McSweeney, a close political aide of Starmer seen as helping propel him to power. A promised job of envoy to the nations and regions was not taken up. As a member of the House of Lords, Gray — who gained a reputation as a fear-inducing Whitehall ethics investigator before taking on the Labour job — will be entitled to claim a daily attendance allowance, shape legislation and grill ministers. Under the U.K.’s political system, prime ministers can appoint life peers to the House of Lords. Labour is in the process of thinning the thinning the ranks of peers eligible to …

Boris Johnson Left Squirming In BBC Interview After Voters’ Damning Verdict

Boris Johnson Left Squirming In BBC Interview After Voters’ Damning Verdict

Boris Johnson was left squirming in a BBC interview as he was forced to defend being a liar. The former prime minister was appearing on Radio 5Live in an attempt to drum up interest for his memoir, ‘Unleashed’. Presenter Matt Chorley told him there was “one word that comes up” in most of the messages sent in to him by the channel’s listeners. “It begins with ‘l’,” he told Johnson. “Do you want to guess what it is? “It’s liar. Lots of people think you’re a liar. Are you a liar?” The ex-PM, who was forced to resign in 2022 after dozens of his ministers resigned, replied: “No. And I think that if … you know … whether it’s the bus, which in fact was the bus of truth.” That was a reference to the infamous Vote Leave bus from the 2016 Brexit referendum, which claimed that leaving the EU would save the UK £350 million a week that could be spent on the NHS instead. Chorley told him: “You admit in your book that …

BBC Cancels Boris Johnson Interview Over Notes Leak

BBC Cancels Boris Johnson Interview Over Notes Leak

The highly-experienced presenter admitted the “embarrassing and disappointing” gaffe in a post on X on Wednesday night. She said she had been intending to send her briefing notes for the interview to her team, but sent them to Johnson instead. Johnson had been due to interviewed by Kuenssberg to coincide with the publication of the former prime minister’s memoir, ‘Unleashed’. But in her statement, Kuenssberg said: “While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow, by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team. “That obviously means it’s not right for the interview to go ahead. It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked. “But red faces aside, honesty is the best policy. See you on Sunday.” Source link

How politics killed brat summer  – POLITICO

How politics killed brat summer  – POLITICO

Meanwhile, writing in the New Statesman, columnist Sarah Manavis said that U.S. Democrats’ excitable response to Harris’s brat status put the entire concept in doubt. “Harris’ team is falling into an obvious social media trap: attempting to turbo-charge online hype when doing so is a guaranteed way to burst that bubble.” Breaking point  But despite countless cringe attempts to co-opt the term in Westminster and beyond, all might not have been lost for the brat summer were it not for the pollsters. After the major U.K. polling companies collectively got the result of the general wrong, it was a survey by Ipsos which finally broke brat, with a poll that asked an innocent public which U.K. politician was the most brattish. While, understandably, 58 percent said they had never heard of the concept, those in the know ranked former Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the politician most clearly fitting the bill. Boris Johnson is Britain’s most “brat” politician. | Alberto Pezzali/AFP via Getty Images Of those identified as knowing a “great deal” or “fair …

Tories Election Campaign Grows Desperate As July 4 Nears

Tories Election Campaign Grows Desperate As July 4 Nears

With a little over two weeks until the general election, one thing is becoming more apparent every day. The opinion polls are not shifting and the level of panic in Tory headquarters is becoming more acute. The first signs of this came last week, when Grant Shapps raised the possibility of Labour winning a “super-majority”. Leaving aside the question of how that is different from a normal majority, the defence secretary appeared to be conceding that Keir Starmer is not on course to win, but to win big. The Tory campaign was no longer about trying to get Rishi Sunak re-elected prime minister, but about trying to limit the size of the seemingly inevitable Labour victory. Although the PM himself said all the right things about fighting for every vote, if anything, the Tory campaign has become even more desperate this week. Responding to yesterday’s launch of Reform UK’s election manifesto, a Conservative spokesperson warned that a vote for Nigel Farage’s party could put Labour in power for a “generation” – widely considered to be …

BBC Question Time: Minister Slammed Over Broken Tory Promises

BBC Question Time: Minister Slammed Over Broken Tory Promises

BBC Question Time audience really gave minister Nigel Huddleston a grilling over the Conservative Party’s record last night. The financial secretary to the Treasury featured on the panel in Stoke-on-Trent and – ended up defending the government’s record while the audience laughed… One member of the crowd said: “I’m sorry – half of what you said doesn’t make sense.” He continued: “We gave Boris Johnson a chance, he lied. We gave Liz Truss a chance, she trashed the economy, now we’ve got an unelected prime minister. “We just want a general election and we want it now, please.” There was a robust round of applause at that. Rishi Sunak has repeatedly refused to confirm when the next general election will be – and the current parliament does not have to be dissolved until December. Man in green, “Half of what you said doesn’t make sense.. We gave Boris Johnson a chance, he lied.. We gave Liz Truss a chance, she trashed the economy.. Now we’ve got an unelected Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.. We just want …

Boris Johnson’s Ex-Wife Slams ‘Damaging’ Effect Of Rwanda Act

Boris Johnson’s Ex-Wife Slams ‘Damaging’ Effect Of Rwanda Act

Boris Johnson’s ex-wife has cast serious doubt on one of his flagship policies, the controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. The Conservative government, now led by Rishi Sunak, pushed to get the Rwanda bill passed into law – but it comes with major risks. Marina Wheeler KC – currently a workplace harassment adviser to Labour – said on Tuesday that the ongoing legal challenges to the scheme are “of concern”. Channel 4 News’ Cathy Newman asked the barrister if the government’s decision to ignore the courts’ fears around the act damaged the UK’s “reputation of legal probity”. Wheeler said she still thinks the country is a “beacon of legal probity”, but added: “The new [Rwanda] act doesn’t abide by the Supreme Court’s rulings, and I think that is very damaging. “An act that says we should ignore the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights is also very damaging.” The ECHR declared the deportation plan was unlawful in June 2022, and said British judges needed to examine the arguments against it more …

UK Tories powerless to escape Rishi Sunak’s death march – POLITICO

UK Tories powerless to escape Rishi Sunak’s death march – POLITICO

This sentiment was epitomized by a spokesperson for the Conservative Britain Alliance, a shadowy anti-Sunak movement, which announced at lunchtime the day of local election results: “We’re off to the pub,” suggesting that drowning their sorrows would be more worthwhile than plotting in response to the election rout. Even those urging bold action or displays of passion from the PM seem to know deep down that none will come. A series of potential moments to shift the dial — including some genuine surprises, such as Cameron’s re-entry at the top of government and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt trumpeting an ambition to abolish national insurance payments — have all come and gone without altering the polls.  Sunak’s allies seek to portray his determination to stick doggedly to his plan in the face of noise on the back benches as a virtue.  Harriett Baldwin, Conservative MP and chair of the Treasury select committee, told POLITICO it was time to “stop all this overhyped media speculation, unite behind the prime minister, and continue to deliver.” Harriett Baldwin, Conservative MP …

Susanna Reid Skewers Calls For Boris Johnson’s Return

Susanna Reid Skewers Calls For Boris Johnson’s Return

Susanna Reid effortlessly demolished calls for Boris Johnson to return to frontline politics on Tuesday by reminding his supporters about nothing other than partygate. Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, former Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman said he would install Johnson as party chairman with a seat in cabinet, and make sure he got elected to parliament at the next general election. He claimed: “He’s a great campaigner and we really are missing that now – we’ve seen that at these disastrous local elections.” “You remember partygate?” Reid interjected. Johnson actually stepped down as an MP days before the Commons privileges committee was set to announce he deliberately misled parliament over partygate when prime minister. But, Campbell Bannerman said the ex-PM was “set up” on that, as Johnson’s keen ally Nadine Dorries claims in her book, The Plot. Reid said: “Sorry, he was set up? Set up by whom?” When the ex-MEP said it was Johnson’s own staff who were setting him up, Reid reminded him: “Boris Johnson was in charge during lockdown, [there was] …

Susanna Reid Skewers Calls For Boris Johnson’s Return To Government With 1 Stark Reminder

Susanna Reid Skewers Calls For Boris Johnson’s Return To Government With 1 Stark Reminder

Susanna Reid questioned campaigns to get Boris Johnson back into government ITV’s Good Morning Britain Susanna Reid effortlessly demolished calls for Boris Johnson to return to frontline politics on Tuesday by reminding his supporters about nothing other than partygate. Some Tories want to “bring back Boris” following huge losses at last week’s local elections, even though the ex-PM resigned from parliament in 2023. Speaking on ITV’sGood Morning Britain, former Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman said he would install Johnson as party chairman with a seat in cabinet, and make sure he got elected to parliament at the next general election. He claimed: “He’s a great campaigner and we really are missing that now – we’ve seen that at these disastrous local elections.” “You remember partygate?” Reid interjected. Johnson actually stepped down as an MP days before the Commons privileges committee was set to announce he deliberately misled parliament over partygate when prime minister. But, Campbell Bannerman said the ex-PM was “set up” on that, as Johnson’s keen ally Nadine Dorries claims in her book, The Plot. Reid said: …