‘GIVE JOHNSON A ROYAL REPRIEVE’
Wait until after Jubilee to oust him, MPs urged
A LEADING Tory rebel has urged angry colleagues to hold off on their bid to oust Boris Johnson until after the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Tobias Ellwood spoke out as backbenchers continue to lose patience over the Prime Minister’s Partygate scandal and his response to the Sue Gray report.
But he also sparked a backlash from Conservatives after claiming there was an “appetite” to rejoin the EU single market to ease the cost of living crisis.
Speaking of the growing dissent among Tories over Mr Johnson’s leadership, Mr Ellwood said: “Perhaps we should have a pause.
“Maybe leave this until Tuesday when we return because I do worry about where it’s descending.”
A string of Conservatives have written to the 1922 committee calling for a confidence vote in Mr Johnson.
They include former Attorney General Jeremy Wright, Sir Bob Neill, Commons Equalities Committee chair Caroline Nokes and ex-International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.
Speculation is rife that the PM could face a confidence vote as early as next week.
The Grassroots Conservatives group has called for Mr Johnson to quit and it has been reported a number of
MPs are waiting until next week to make a renewed push to get the 54 letters needed to trigger a vote.
But loyal Home Secretary Priti Patel has told rebel MPs to “forget it”.
She said: “Writing letters is a sideshow, quite frankly, rather than focusing on the real challenges that we have to find solutions to.”
Ms Gray’s report revealed how staff partied into the early hours, despite Mr Johnson initially claiming no law-breaking took place. The PM, who was yesterday at the Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service at St Paul’s cathedral in London with wife Carrie, has been fined over a party but refuses to quit.
MP for Bournemouth East Mr Ellwood also sparked a row with his call to rejoin the EU single market.
He said “more radical thinking is required if we are to energise our economy through these stormy waters”.
He added: “If an Army general, mid-battle, is mature enough to finesse his strategy to secure mission success, then government should do the same.”
But former chief whip Mark Harper said: “The UK voted to leave the EU. That meant leaving the single market. The end.”
Perhaps we should have a pause. I’m worried where it’s descending
TOBIAS ELLWOOD CALLS FOR TORIES TO HOLD FIRE