Inside Politics: A Frosty intervention

Lord David Forst warns Boris Johnson he has months to save his skin as PM’s housing plan criticised by experts, writes Matt Mathers

(PA)

Boris Johnson is on the campaign trail in Devon as the manoeuvring against him shows little sign of abating. Lord David Frost has warned the PM he has months to save his skin. Keir Starmer is in Northern Ireland for talks with leaders there about the Brexit protocol.

Inside the bubble

Parliament is not sitting.

Daily Briefing

Changes

Boris Johnson yesterday confirmed an extension to the Right to Buy scheme and a pledge to allow people to use their housing benefits to pay for mortgages. The policy was widely criticised by experts, who said that it failed to address the main problems with the UK housing market: supply and prices. Lenders, meanwhile, welcomed the government’s aspiration of getting more people onto the housing ladder.

But when it came down to the brass taxes the response was much more tepid. “Firms are committed to lending responsibly, with regulatory rules in place to ensure that mortgages are affordable,” Charles Roe, director of mortgages at trade association UK Finance, said. “It will be important to carefully consider any changes to ensure they deliver good outcomes for customers throughout the life of the mortgage.”

Johnson’s speech appears not to have had the desired effect of diverting attention away from his leadership woes either. Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, told interviewers that the rules on confidence ballots could be changed so that the PM could face another vote within 12 months.

And there is a fresh headache for the PM this morning in the form of another intervention by Lord David Forst, his former ally and cabinet minister, who quit government last year having failed to secure a solution to the impasse over Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Frost warns Johnson he has until the autumn to save his job.

He says the PM cannot “ignore” the scale of discontent among his own MPs and that Johnson must create a Conservative vision for Britain and reverse tax cuts. On the evidence of Johnson’s speech, it was not clear whether he wants, or is able, to change course, meaning Frost and others on the Tory right could be disappointed. Johnson’s scattergun speech on the economy was long on rhetoric and light on policy and there was nothing to suggest that the tax cuts being demanded immediately by some of his backbenchers are coming any time soon. Rishi Sunak’s Treasury, meanwhile, has warned repeatedly that he will only reduce the tax burden when the fiscal weather allows it.

Heading out on the campaign trail in Devon later today, the PM has survived another week but faces another almighty row over Brexit next week as, if expected, the government publishes its legislation to take unilateral action on the protocol. Labour leader Keir Starmer is urging all parties to come together to find practical solutions to the issues surrounding the post-Brexit trading arrangements as he warned that “threats, bluffs and unilateral action” by the government is making the process more difficult. He is in Belfast today following a visit to Dublin.

(PA)

Prisoners of war

The story dominating most major outlets this morning is the plight of two Britons sentenced to death by Russia for fighting for Ukraine as the battle for the Donbas region rages on.

Moscow was accused of breaching the Geneva Convention over the treatment of Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, both of whom were captured while fighting against Vladimir Putin’s troops.

Ministers are demanding the release of the two men who have been sentenced in what has been described as a “Soviet-era show trial”. They will reportedly face a firing squad after being convicted of terrorism in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic – but Britain says the pair should be treated as prisoners of war.

Liz Truss condemned the court ruling, saying: “This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy” and promising to “do everything we can” to support the pair’s families.

The foreign secretary will continue the UK’s preferred approach of not dealing with the Kremlin directly during the war by holding talks with leaders in Ukraine about how to secure the release of the two men, who she says should be treated as prisoners of war rather than mercenaries.

There were suggestions the men’s fate could be used by Moscow as a bargaining chip to force Britain to scale back the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.

Today’s cartoon (Dave Brown)

On the record

“One of the things that we will be doing is making sure that there is a replacement – a like-for-like, one-for-one replacement.”

Michael Gove says social homes sold in right to buy scheme will be replaced “one-for-one”.

From the Twitterati

“The theme of the speech was please stfu about partygate now pls.”

Financial Times correspondent Jim Pickard on Johnson speech.

Essential reading

• John Rentoul, The Independent: Never mind the logic - Boris Johnson’s bizarre Blackpool speech
• Tom Peck, The Independent: What is Boris Johnson going to do about the housing crisis? Absolutely nothing
• James Forsyth, The Times: Johnson is losing his hold on levers of power
• Lucy Jordan, The Guardian: The disappearance of journalist Dom Phillips in Brazil should leave you incandescent with rage

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