Crunch time in Commons for Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is expected to urge MPs to move on from ‘Partygate’ today as politicians return after the Easter recess, reports Geraldine Scott
BORIS Johnson faces another crunch 24 hours in his premiership today as he prepares to address MPs about the ongoing fall-out from his alleged ‘Partygate’ transgressions.
The Prime Minister is due to confront his accusers in the Commons later today before facing up to his own backbenchers, amid mounting pressure questioning his suitability to continue in the job.
The embattled Mr Johnson is set to insist to MPs there are bigger issues to focus on than the ‘Partygate’ saga. Despite being fined by the Metropolitan Police for his birthday bash held in the Cabinet room in June 2020, while coronavirus restrictions were in place, the Prime Minister is expected to tell MPs today that this should not be the focus of politicians.
An argument repeated by many beyond Westminster is that, despite questions of Mr Johnson’s leadership, now is not the time to hand over the reins given the precarious nature of the Ukraine war, which so far has shown him in a favourable light. But one senior Tory yesterday suggested a “war cabinet” could be established in lieu of a leadership contest if Mr Johnson steps down or is deposed, so as not to detract attention from the focus on Ukraine.
Sir Roger Gale said the “interim administration” could be led by the deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, who briefly took the reins in 2020 when Mr Johnson was hospitalised with Covid-19.
Also, with local elections coming up next month, Tory MPs will be looking for some reassuring news to take back to their constituencies.
BORIS Johnson goes into a new week ready to defend his premiership again as he prepares to insist to MPs there are bigger issues to focus on than the ‘Partygate’ saga.
Despite being fined by the Metropolitan Police for his birthday bash held in the Cabinet room in June 2020, while coronavirus restrictions were in place, the Prime Minister is expected to tell MPs today that this should not be the focus of politicians.
Mr Johnson is reported to be preparing to make a statement in the Commons once MPs return to Westminster following the Easter recess.
It comes after a thinly veiled reference to standards in politics by one of the Church of England’s most senior clergymen, the Archbishop of York.
Using his Easter sermon on Sunday, Stephen Cottrell urged Britons to ask what sort of country they wanted to live in.
He said: “Do we want to be known for the robustness of our democracy, where those in public life live to the highest standards, and where we can trust those who lead us to behave with integrity and honour?”
The Times reported that Mr Johnson was set to focus on Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, and a trip to India which will focus on defence and trade.
As well as addressing MPs in the Commons, The Times reported that Mr Johnson would speak to a meeting of the entire Conservative Parliamentary party this evening.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, is also expected to decide whether to allow a vote on calls to refer Mr Johnson to the Privileges Committee – which would decide whether he had misled the House over his ‘Partygate’ explanations.
On Sunday, Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg indicated the defence Mr Johnson may reach for.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend programme, he said: “I think that when you hear what happened on the party for which he has been fined, many people would think that they were in accordance with the rules, when they were meeting people they were with every day, who happened to wish them a happy birthday, because that was the day it was.
“I think that was a perfectly rational thing to believe. Now the police have decided otherwise and the police have an authority. But he wasn’t thinking something irrational or unreasonable, that that was within the rules.”
Mr Johnson was also accused over the weekend of not only attending a leaving party for his former communications chief, Lee Cain, on November 13, 2020, but instigating the occasion.
Downing Street has declined to comment on the claims.
On Sunday, crossbench peer and historian Peter Hennessey told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme that the country was in “the most severe constitutional crisis involving a prime minister that I can remember, and it goes to the heart of the character of the Prime Minister”.
Reading from his diary entry from last Tuesday, when Mr Johnson apologised after receiving his ‘Partygate’ fine, Lord Hennessey said the PM had “shredded the ministerial code” and was “unworthy” of the Queen, “her Parliament, her people and her kingdom”.
Still reading from the entry, he added: “I cannot remember a day where I’ve been more fearful for the wellbeing of the constitution.”
However, Mr Rees-Mogg played down the “constitutional significance” of the ministerial code.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend programme, he said: “The ministerial code is not a legislative part of our constitution, it is a set of guidelines produced by the Prime Minister.”
He said that, when Mr Johnson told MPs rules had been followed in No 10 during Covid restrictions, “I think that the Prime Minister spoke to Parliament in good faith.”