Inside Politics: Big Dog on life support
Boris Johnson fights for his political life following two cabinet resignations, writes Matt Mathers
Roll up, roll up. Boris Johnson’s circus has a new look following two cabinet resignations last night. But for how much longer will it remain in town? The PM is facing fresh calls to resign this morning as he begins reset number *checks notes…* Sorry, lost count.
Inside the bubble
Commons action gets underway with Wales questions at 11.30am, followed by a not-to-be-missed PMQs at noon. After that comes any urgent questions or statements. SNP MP Angela Crawley has a bill calling for paid leave to be brought in for people who have had a miscarriage This is followed by estimates day debates on education and Foreign Office spending.
Daily Briefing
End of days
Are we now truly witnessing the end of days for Boris Johnson? The prime minister was dealt a double hammer blow last night as Sajid Javid, the health secretary and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, resigned in protest at Downing Street’s handling of a series of recent scandals, most recently the Chris Pincher affair.
A matter of minutes after Johnson apologised for appointing Pincher to the role of deputy chief whip in February – despite being told of an upheld sexual misconduct complaint against the Tamworth MP in 2019 while he was a Foreign Office minister – Sunak and Javid decided enough was enough. The latter’s resignation letter was particularly scathing as he essentially accused the PM of being incapable of change. And on the past few days’ evidence, who could blame him?
So what is the state of play this morning? No other cabinet ministers followed Javid and Sunak out of the door. However, a number of junior ministers and aides also decided that the Pincher case was the straw that broke the camel’s back and walked out, one doing so live on TV. Johnson loyalist Steve Barclay, his chief of staff, replaces Javid in health and Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary takes over from Sunak. Education minister Michelle Donelan takes over from Zahawi.
Reports say that Zahawi came out on top in a battle with Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, for the keys to No 11 Downing Street. And tax is the theme upon which No 10 will this morning attempt to reset Johnson’s premiership on, in a last throw of the dice, with the Big Dog now undoubtedly on life support. Johnson and his allies are trying to spin last night’s enforced reshuffle as a moment of liberation for the government. Zahawi, said to be more open to tax cuts than his predecessor (who warned such a move would likely exacerbate inflation), is now free to slash the burden as many backbench Tories are demanding, says No 10. Zahawi, out on the broadcast round earlier, denied that he threatened to quit if he wasn’t given the chancellor role. He says the PM is determined to get on with the job. On tax cuts, he told Sky News “everything is on the table”. “As my first day in the job, the conversation we had is my task is to rebuild the economy and to grow the economy.” he said. “I will look at everything to make sure that we continue to be on the side of people.”
In reality, the two resignations are catastrophic for Johnson and further undermine his already battered authority, following the narrow confidence vote victory in June. Zahawi might view himself as a buccaneering chancellor, but it is doubtful that Johnson’s government will make it as far as the next budget in the autumn, particularly with upcoming elections to the executive of 1922 Committee of backbenchers, which could see a change of rules to hold another confidence vote within 12 months. Rebel MPs plotting against the PM will be further emboldened by last night’s events. It is not at all clear that Johnson would win that ballot following the resignations of Javid and Sunak, who followed Oliver Dowden, the Tory Party chair, in quitting cabinet in the wake of the party’s disastrous byelection defeats in Wakefield and Honiton and Tiverton.
Labour leader Keir Starmer called for a general election last night as he warned that the government was “collapsing” and that Johnson is “unfit” to govern. Today’s papers and news websites make grim reading for Johnson, with several saying he is now on the “brink”and must quit if he is to recover any dignity.
Stop pretending
Questions about Johnson’s future will dominate today – as they have been doing so for weeks now – but there is some other news around.
The government should not pretend a new Brexit trade deal with Australia will have “noticeable” benefits for consumers, a cross-party parliamentary committee has warned. In a landmark report the international trade committee said ministers should be wary of overselling the “modest” gains from the free trade agreement.
MPs said the removal of tariffs from food products would likely only cut prices by a few pence and “will not make any noticeable difference at supermarket tills”.
The government’s own impact assessment predicts a very small economic gain from the agreement of just 0.08 per cent of GDP over a 20 year period.
Today’s cartoon
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On the record
Javid’s resignation letter:
“The vote of confidence last month showed that a large number of our colleagues agree. It was a moment for humility, grip and new direction.I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership - and you have therefore lost my confidence too.”
From the Twitterati
Daily Mirror politics editor Pippa Crerar looks at challenges facing the new chancellor:
“Interesting that Boris Johnson’s meeting with loyalist MPs went ahead earlier. PM told them now Rishi Sunak has gone he can cut taxes. But there’s already pushback from inside govt & business not to do that b/c of inflationary pressures. Big call for Zahawi.”
Essential reading
- Anna Isaac, The Independent: The road to Sunak and Javid’s double resignation
- Andrew Grice, The Independent: These are the three scenarios the PM now faces
- Sean O’Grady, The Independent: It’s finally over for the ‘greased piglet. There’s now coming back
- David Harding, The Independent: Who will last longer in power, Johnson or Zelensky?
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