Humiliation of the Pork Pie pygmies as plot fizzles out

Putin poised to start a war. Inflation soaring. Yet a narcissistic rabble of Tory MPs are trying to topple the PM who’s leading us out of Covid. Today, as their plot crumbles, we echo one of their ringleaders to implore

BORIS Johnson vowed to take the fight to Tory plotters yesterday as their efforts to oust him fell flat.

Mutinous Red Wall MPs faced humiliation after their threat to force a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister by the end of the day failed to materialise.

Bury South MP Christian Wakeford, one of the ringleaders of the ‘Pork Pie Plot’, attempted to deliver the fatal blow by defecting to Labour just minutes before Mr Johnson faced the Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday lunchtime.

But the act of betrayal by an MP who owes his slender 402vote majority to the PM appeared to galvanise Tory support behind Mr Johnson.

One Cabinet source said the mutineers had ‘overplayed their hand’, adding: ‘They are inexperienced and it has shown in the past 24 hours.’

Downing Street confirmed that the PM would fight to win any confidence vote forced by rebel MPs in the coming days. His press secretary said he believed he was still ‘the best man for the job’.

Mr Johnson put on a combative performance at Prime Minister’s Questions, in stark contrast to his downbeat appearance the previous day which helped fuel the plotting against him.

And the PM vowed to lead the party into the next election – and retake Mr Wakeford’s seat for the Tories. ‘We will win again in Bury South at the next election under this Prime Minister,’ he said.

The PM also moved to ease Tory anger over lockdown rules by announcing that Plan B restrictions, including masks and Covid passports, will be scrapped next week. He was cheered as he announced that Government guidance to work from home would be dropped immediately.

He pointed out that Britain had avoided the lockdowns seen across Europe this winshockwaves ter, adding: ‘While we must continue to remain cautious, the data are showing that time and again this Government got the toughest decisions right.’ On a day of high drama:

■ In an ominous intervention, former Cabinet minister David Davis told the PM to his face: ‘In the name of God, go!’;

■ Mr Wakeford was booed by Tory MPs as he became the first Conservative to cross the floor to Labour for 15 years;

■ A poll predicting the Conservatives could lose 42 of 45 Red Wall seats they hold sent through the ranks of Northern MPs;

■ A Labour source claimed the party was wooing more Tory MPs to defect, in an initiative named Operation Domino;

■ It emerged Tory grandees are considering a change to party rules that could allow MPs to challenge the PM twice a year instead of once;

■ Loyal MPs from Red Wall seats were sent out on to the airwaves to voice support for the PM, with one claiming that some plotters were withdrawing letters of no confidence in the PM.

Senior Tories last night acknowledged Mr Johnson still faces a battle to survive the fallout from the ‘Partygate’ controversy.

Whitehall ethics chief Sue Gray is expected to publish her report into lockdown parties in No10 next week, after interviewing the PM’s archenemy Dominic Cummings.

Several wavering Tory MPs yesterday said they were waiting to see the report before deciding whether to move against Mr Johnson.

Andrew Bowie, a former vice-chairman of the party, said: ‘I think the Prime Minister should be considering his position, but my position is that we need to wait and see what the facts were.’ Downing Street had hoped that Miss Gray’s report would be published this week to give the PM the chance to draw a line under the affair.

But Whitehall sources yesterday said the constant dripdrip of new allegations, including from Mr Cummings, meant it would be delayed.

Rebel Andrew Bridgen, one of seven MPs to publicly declare they have submitted letters against the PM, predicted Mr Cummings would publish a slew of further allegations if a vote of confidence is triggered. ‘Dominic Cummings will unleash everything in his arsenal at that point to finish him off,’ he said.

Tory whips yesterday launched a concerted drive to crush the Pork Pie Plot, which acquired its name because of

‘Everything in his arsenal’

‘Shows how high the stakes are’

the involvement of Melton Mowbray MP Alicia Kearns.

The plotters suggested that by 5pm yesterday the target of 54 letters needed to force a vote of no confidence in the PM would be passed. But the deadline came and went.

One Cabinet loyalist last night said the enormity of the plot was giving wavering MPs pause for thought.

‘The sight of one of your own crossing the floor to join Labour reminds people how high the stakes are,’ the source said. ‘People are also having to face the question of what happens next. There is not a Boris figure to rally round who would do better electorally.’

IT is often said that Margaret Thatcher was a giant toppled by pygmies. But the Tory ‘men in grey suits’ who defenestrated the most influential British politician since Churchill were leviathans compared to the motley bunch trying to depose beleaguered Boris Johnson.

Drunk on their own melodrama, puffed-up with self-importance, a small group of Conservative MPs – including the newly-elected ‘Pork Pie’ plotters – have sought to wield the blade against their leader.

Without regard for the consequences, up to 20 took the ominous step of submitting letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

They are, of course, rightly appalled by the litany of lockdown-flouting drinks parties held in Downing Street, at least one of which Mr Johnson attended, inadvertently or not.

Who in the country is not outraged? Let’s be clear: These boozy social gatherings – two held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral – were reprehensible.

Across the nation, millions made immense sacrifices and endured tragic circumstances for the greater good – to stem the deadly spread of Covid.

Families were cruelly barred from comforting dying loved ones in hospitals and care homes. Fathers were prevented from being at the births of their children. Thousands were even forbidden from attending funerals. Their pain must be truly unimaginable.

So it is not difficult to understand the rage when people learned Mr Johnson and his entourage were whooping it up in defiance of the strict laws they themselves had imposed on everyone else.

When the Government lays down gruelling, nannying diktats for the whole population to follow (reinforced by threat of arrest, fine or imprisonment), those in authority are duty-bound to treat them as sacrosanct.

Confronted by wrathful constituents, it was hardly surprising that Tory MPs feel aggrieved. The PM’s hold on No10 is precarious indeed.

But at this time of grave national crisis – with Russia sounding the drumbeat of war and inflation soaring – could there be anything more unhelpful and irresponsible than for a handful of immature, political pipsqueaks to waste time risking a leadership election?

Their pitiful attempt to trigger a coup is not just a juvenile exercise in political posturing when the country is crying out for stable leadership. It is superficial, selfish and short-sighted.

Christian Wakeford, the Bury South MP who defected to Labour in a fit of self-righteous bluster yesterday, epitomises this puerile crew.

Was the traitor ever a true Tory? Apparently, yes. He stood on a platform at the 2019 election opposing socialism and championing the free market.

But could anyone with genuine Conservative principles feel comfortable in the bosom of the Brexit-blocking, open borders-supporting, financially incontinent, anti-patriotic Labour party? We sincerely believe not.

If he had any decency, he would resign and test his choice at a by-election. But he won’t, because he’s a coward as well as a turncoat.

Perhaps most risible, however, was former Tory minister David Davis, who should be old enough to know better.

A serial under-achiever, he simply couldn’t resist an opportunity to grab the limelight.

He clearly thought his call for Mr Johnson to resign was a moment of high drama. In fact, it looked like a pompous piece of attention-seeking.

Channelling Oliver Cromwell, he urged the PM: ‘In the name of God, go!’

Today, the Mail echoes his words with a stark message for all the plotters: In the name of God, grow up!

Too many seem to have lost all sense of perspective and proportion.

Of course, many have the jitters over Labour’s 10-point poll lead, especially Red Wallers defending thin majorities.

Still, they should take heart. Mid-term slumps, which the 2019 intake have never experienced, are inevitable. But politics is volatile and public opinion can turn on a sixpence.

So instead of rushing to act out of naked self-interest, the saboteurs should put Britain’s interests first and support their leader. For a start, Mr Johnson has apologised profusely for the ‘Partygate’ misjudgments. No one should downplay the hurt that was caused. But equally, few who saw his emotional TV interview on Tuesday could be left in any doubt that he feels genuinely remorseful.

The malcontents should have shown some respect and waited for Cabinet Office sleazebuster Sue Gray’s report.

If, as some suggest, the mandarin finds the Premier not personally guilty of wrongdoing, we must draw a line under this whole unseemly saga.

True, the PM too often displays a troublingly lax attitude to probity. And new MPs were also burnt by his bungling of the Owen Paterson debacle.

But they should remember this, too. A large number were the first Tories elected to serve their constituencies in many generations.

They owe their exalted positions to Mr Johnson, who achieved what many thought was impossible.

By delivering Brexit against considerable odds and promising the kind of levelling-up agenda previous governments had dismally failed to achieve, he persuaded millions who had never voted Tory to give him a chance.

Now, at the first whiff of grapeshot, these Tory exhibitionists bite the hand that fed them. For all his many mistakes,

Mr Johnson has made an exceptionally good fist of guiding Britain through the worst pandemic in a century.

So often during Covid he has got the big calls right.

From shunning the EU’s sclerotic vaccine cooperative in order to pursue our own world-beating jabs programme, to bravely ditching all restrictions in July in the face of warnings of disaster.

From reopening schools and the booster rollout, to his rejection of lockdown measures as Omicron surged and shroud-waving scientists warned preposterously of 6,000 deaths a day. Each one of these decisions was a genuine masterstroke.

Yesterday, with infections plunging, he announced to nationwide sighs of relief the scrapping of Plan B measures.

Jubilantly, we are set to be the first country in the world back to normal.

If Sir Keir, an unremitting dud, had been in charge, Britain would – like his beloved EU – still be stuck in a stultifying, ruinous lockdown.

Instead, the economy is flourishing. With astonishing speed and resilience, it has bounced back to pre-Covid levels.

Only this week, figures showed the number of people in work are almost back to where they were before the pandemic – a jobs miracle.

The UK has stolen a march on our rivals – and is reaping the rewards.

This is, however, not the end of Mr Johnson’s onerous task.

With inflation hitting a 30-year high, a cost of living nightmare is hurtling down the track. Imminent tax hikes, soaring energy bills, food prices rising… people are already feeling the pinch.

Meanwhile, the continent is edging closer to its biggest conflict since the Second World War, as Russia flexes its muscles over Ukraine. There are still sticking points over Brexit that need ironing out. And the Channel migrants crisis and BBC reform must be tackled.

And let’s be brutally honest, who else around the Cabinet table has the calibre, vision and ambition to bring about the changes Britain is crying out for?

Few would claim Rishi Sunak has grown in stature over recent days. Liz Truss has many admirable qualities, including some of the PM’s bounce and optimism, but even her greatest supporters admit she is sorely untested.

And Jeremy Hunt (who, if he had become Tory leader, would have left us trapped in limbo, half-in, half-out of the EU) is little more than Theresa May in trousers.

If in a year’s time the Partygate fiasco has broken Boris, and he can’t regain voters’ trust, the polls will reflect that. Then a successor can seize his crown.

For now, with the revolt crumbling, the Tories must end the damaging internecine warfare that appals the public.

Facts must be faced: the only ones whose interests are served by dethroning Mr Johnson are Labour, the anti-Brexit Establishment and the Tory-hating BBC.

On the day after the ‘grey men in suits’ forced Mrs Thatcher out of Downing Street 31 years ago, the Daily Mail front page could not have been clearer.

She was, we wrote, ‘Too damned good for the lot of them’. For the pygmies trying to bring him down, so is Mr Johnson.