WE NEED TO WIN VOTERS
TORY MPS have told Boris Johnson that voters are far more concerned that he delivers on his manifesto promises than with how he paid for new wallpaper in his Downing Street flat.
With crucial mid-term elections across the UK on Thursday – as voters choose city region mayors, the Scottish and Welsh governments as well as local councils – the row over the refurbishment of Mr Johnson’s flat and the fallout with former chief-of-staff Dominic Cummings is not coming up on the doorsteps.
Behind the scenes, Tory MPS believe they will still win the West Midlands and Teesside mayoral elections, and they are close to being the biggest party inwales.
More dramatically, they think the party has a chance of winning a seat off Labour despite being in government for 11 years, making it only the
‘Boris has gone down a storm’
second government gain in a by-election since 1982.
But backbenchers have told the Prime Minister he will be facing trouble if he fails to keep his promises, with MPS threatening a major rebellion over providing amnesty from prosecution for military veterans who served in Northern Ireland.
One senior MP claimed that the problem is “the Northern Ireland Office is dragging its feet and making life difficult”.
The MP said the Government has paid out £10,000 in compensation to a civil servant in the NIO who objected to passing a portrait of the Queen.
“If we have officials like this in the NIO then what hope do we have of them helping out our military veterans who served during the Troubles?” the MP said.
Former minister Mark Francois, deputy chairman of the Veterans Support Group in the Commons, said: “In our 2019 election manifesto, we promised to legislate on this issue yet nearly 18 months on we still have not seen a Bill from the NIO.
“It’s crucial that we see a firm commitment in the Queen’s Speech to introduce this legislation, for which our veterans have already been waiting for far too long.”
Another red wall MP pointed to the recent resignation of veterans minister Johnny Mercer over the issue. “A number of us are very unhappy with the footdragging,” he said.
However, Conservatives across the country are confident that the commotion over