Axe PM over Partygate? Boris has a lot more fuel in the tank says Tory chief
TORY MPs plotting to oust Boris Johnson risk plunging Britain into ‘instability and uncertainty’, the Conservative Party chairman warned yesterday.
Oliver Dowden urged mutinous Tories to set aside their anger over Partygate and focus on the ‘big calls’ Mr Johnson has got right, including over Brexit and Ukraine.
And he predicted the Prime Minister would lead the Tories into the next election, saying Mr Johnson had ‘plenty more fuel in the tank’.
Downing Street is braced for bloodletting this week if the PM is fined over a notorious ‘bring
‘He will face a moment of truth’
your own booze’ party in the no 10 garden.
During a round of broadcast interviews yesterday, Mr Dowden acknowledged that ‘what happened in Downing Street was wrong’ and said Mr Johnson had been right to apologise.
But he said it was ‘quite a speculation’ to suggest that he will receive further fines in addition to the £50 fixed penalty notice he has already been given for attending a gathering held for his birthday in June 2020.
‘I understand how people feel really hurt and angry about this and I think the Prime Minister acknowledged that properly in what he said and gave a full and unreserved apology,’ Mr Dowden told the BBC.
‘But I also think you do need to balance against that – first of all the really good things that he has done as Prime Minister, whether that’s delivering the vaccine programme, getting Brexit done or the actions in Ukraine, but also the challenges we face right now, whether that’s national security or whether that’s energy security, it’s unparalleled challenges and I actually think that instability and uncertainty caused by a change of leadership would not be in the national interest.’
Critics of the PM stepped up calls for him to go over the weekend, amid warnings that he will face a ‘moment of truth’ after the local elections on May 5. Former chief whip Mark Harper said the party had a ‘very talented’ pool of potential successors capable of setting out ‘an attractive proposition and ensuring we can win the next election’.
One former Cabinet minister said any moves against the PM were now ‘on hold’ until after next month’s elections, but said a no confidence vote in Mr Johnson ‘looks inevitable’, adding: ‘If the elections go as badly as it looks like they might, and if he has received more fines, then I think he will face a moment of truth.’ Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, MP for the Cotswolds, said the May elections would supply the ‘verdict’ on the PM.
But another former minister said the PM’s position was more secure than some commentators suggest, provided he shores up the Right of the party. ‘Apart from one or two mavericks like David Davis and Steve Baker, the Right is solidly behind the PM,’ the source said.
Mr Dowden said it is wrong to see next month’s elections as a ‘referendum on the PM’ as voters have many other concerns.
Detectives are investigating alleged rule-breaking at a dozen events in no 10 and the Cabinet Office, half of which are said to have been attended by the Prime Minister.
Scotland Yard has said it will not comment on further fines until after next month’s elections.
no 10 yesterday said Mr Johnson had not received any additional fines so far.
OOZInG with condescension, Sir Keir Starmer says there is ‘no equivalence’ between partygate and his glaring lockdown breach in Durham last year.
really? the labour leader glugged beer and scoffed pizza with cronies while campaigning at a time when indoor socialising was banned. Boris Johnson had neither cake, nor alcohol, while colleagues sang ‘Happy Birthday’ between meetings.
no inquiry into Starmer, a fine for the pM. One rule for Keir, another for Boris.
Despite Boris apologising unreservedly, the remain-left’s obsession seems now to be a plot to reverse Brexit and torpedo the Government’s Conservative blueprint.
yes, the tories may suffer a walloping at next week’s local elections because of the parties, but Mps should hold their nerve.
Voters know Boris got the big calls right: Delivering Brexit, freeing us from Covid and saving us from Corbyn. Starmer to his shame would have done the precise opposite. tHe callous lengths to which the post
went to cover up the It scandal that saw innocent postmasters accused of stealing grow more shocking. today, we reveal how bosses pressured the widow of one, who killed himself after being wrongly sacked over cash shortfalls actually caused by computer bugs, into signing a gagging clause before receiving compensation. Until those who ruined so many lives are punished, justice will not be done.