PARTYGATE QUIZ D-DAY FOR BORIS
Deadline approaches for PM to return cop questionnaire
BORIS Johnson has until tonight to return his Met Police Partygate questionnaire.
The Prime Minister – who visited the Royal Air Force Station Waddington yesterday – was issued with the quiz last Friday and given a seven-day deadline to send back the completed form.
He has been consulting lawyers over his response and is expected to resist any attempts to oust him from No10 if he is slapped with a fine.
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a “Humble Address” parliamentary motion to force the Government to reveal – once the probe is over – whether the PM, ministers and senior officials have been fined over the lockdown-busting, boozy bashes in Downing Street.
Sources have signalled No10 would say if Johnson was hit with a fixed penalty notice.
But Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Boris Johnson can’t be trusted to admit whether he or any other Conservative ministers end up being fined by the police.
“We’ve seen time and again that his instinct is to lie, blame others or cover up the truth.”
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office has reportedly told Scotland Yard not to publish 300 photos linked to the criminal probe.
No10 staff feared publishing the damning pictures could harm their reputations, according to reports.
Latest Ipsos polling revealed the damage inflicted on Johnson’s premiership by the Partygate scandal, first exposed by our sister paper, the Daily Mirror. Fifty-four per cent of voters think he has done a bad job as Prime Minister, while just 29 per cent claim he has done a good job.
A year ago, as the coronavirus vaccine rollout was gathering pace, 37 per cent said he had done a good job compared with 41 per cent saying he had performed badly.
Some 54 per cent of voters who crossed the Tory box at the last general election still believe he has performed well as PM – but that is down from 69 per cent last February.
Meanwhile, the proportion saying he has done a bad job has nearly doubled from 15 per cent to 29 per cent.
Some 56 per cent back Conservative MPs triggering a vote of no confidence in his leadership by submitting letters to the party’s 1922 Committee.
Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady must call a vote when he receives 54.
No one knows how many have been signed.
Ipsos director of politics Keiran Pedley said: “The data continues to show Boris Johnson’s personal poll ratings weakening, with a majority of Britons now saying he has done a bad job as Prime Minister and a majority supporting the concept of Conservative MPs triggering a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
“What happens next will likely be decided by events, as police investigations draw to close and other items move up the news agenda.”
Ipsos quizzed 2038 adults online between last week.