Good morning. Like many politicians, Boris Johnson usually lives by the dictum, “By no means apologise, by no means clarify”. (It’s a saying attributed to numerous individuals, however one of the best supply for it I can discover is Jacky Fisher, first sea lord within the first world conflict, who wrote in a letter to the Occasions “By no means contradict, by no means clarify, by no means apologise”.) However right this moment, in relation to the studies that he attended a workers occasion within the Downing Avenue backyard on 20 Might 2020, when the nation was in lockdown and outside gatherings have been banned, Johnson is sort of actually going to must provide you with some type of apology and a few type of rationalization. Yesterday No 10 was making an attempt to stay to the road that it might wait till Sue Grey, the senior civil servant investigating all of the partygate allegations, produces her report. However anybody following the Westminster news from yesterday for greater than about 30 seconds can have twigged that that line can not maintain.
Right here is the Guardian story summing up the scenario in a single day.
Johnson shall be within the Commons for PMQs at 12pm. Final night time there was speculation about some type of assertion beforehand, however that most likely referred to a plan to start PMQs with a remark addressing the partygate affair, to realize some credit score forward of Keir Starmer’s first query. That is precisely what Johnson did on 8 December, when he was underneath intense stress due to the discharge of the video exhibiting Allegra Stratton, his then spokesperson, successfully confirming a separate lockdown-busting No 10 occasion (on 18 December 2020), and laughing about it, at a briefing rehearsal. (The most recent allegation is way worse, for causes defined here yesterday.)
The character of Johnson’s rationalization/apology could properly decide how lengthy he stays as prime minister. Clearly some persons are more likely to be extra forgiving than others, however what is going to matter most for Johnson would be the response of Tory MPs, who’ve the ability to set off a confidence vote in the event that they conclude this afternoon that he stays an excessive amount of of a legal responsibility. Finally the general public’s response shall be extra necessary (as a result of that may form whether or not Tory MPs conclude he stays viable as a pacesetter), however it may take longer to evaluate what the general public’s thought of view is.
Provided that some Tory MPs have mentioned Johnson must resign if he knowingly attended a social occasion, Johnson is more likely to argue that the 20 Might occasion final yr was primarily a piece perform, however in a backyard, with alcohol. Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy chief, has been doing interviews and he or she advised the In the present day programme that this rationalization can be implausible. She mentioned:
I don’t settle for that sending out invites to carry your personal booze – the climate’s beautiful, come out into the backyard – to 100 workers as work, to be trustworthy. I feel it’s very clear that that breaks the Covid guidelines.
Requested if she accepted that the No 10 backyard may very well be seen as a office, Rayner replied:
Many key staff are NHS workers who have been working very heavy shifts, 12-hour shifts with full PPE on – they didn’t escape into the backyard with cheese and wine and produce your personal booze eventualities.
They have been working extremely arduous watching individuals’s family members die, holding good telephones and iPads in entrance of them so they may say goodbye to their family members – it’s not acceptable to say: ‘It is a office backyard, so all of us cracked open the bubbly as a result of it was a very nice day.’
Many individuals on the time understood the principles, and the principles have been very clear.
Largely Johnson’s future shall be decided by what he says at PMQs, however there may very well be different partygate-related developments right this moment too. A couple of hours after PMQs on 8 December Stratton resigned. Martin Reynolds, who as Johnson’s principal personal secretary despatched out the invitation to the 20 Might occasion, is broadly anticipated to go sooner or later and it’s fairly attainable that that may very well be right this moment.
Other than PMQs, there’s not a lot on the agenda. In the present day the weblog shall be largely targeted on Johnson and partygate.
I attempt to monitor the feedback under the road (BTL) however it’s unattainable to learn all of them. If in case you have a direct query, do embody “Andrew” in it someplace and I’m extra more likely to discover it. I do attempt to reply questions, and if they’re of normal curiosity, I’ll submit the query and reply above the road (ATL), though I can’t promise to do that for everybody.
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