Boris Johnson news - live: MPs to investigate PM over potential partygate Commons lies
PM accused of ‘running away’ from Commons drama with twice-delayed India trip
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Boris Johnson is set to be investigated for potentially lying to MPs over parties held at Number 10, after a landmark decision by the House of Commons.
This comes after the prime minister rejected a call by former Brexit minister Steve Baker for him to resign over Partygate, insisting that he has “absolutely nothing, frankly, to hide”.
Tory MP claimed the prime minister “now should be long gone” after – in a major U-turn, amid fears of a rebellion – the government backed down from a bid to force its MPs to delay a vote on whether to hold a Commons inquiry into whether he misled parliament, which is now expected to go ahead.
Ahead of Thursday’s debate, Labour threatened to plaster the names of MPs who blocked the probe across election leaflets, and accused Mr Johnson of using his two-day trip to India as a distraction.
Speaking from a JCB factory in Gujarat, Mr Johnson claimed he was “very keen for every possible form of scrutiny” and said MPs “must do whatever they want.”
In the Commons, the SNP’s Ian Blackford branded Mr Johnson a “liar” – and was not ordered to retract his remark by the Speaker.
Sturgeon says her mask ‘error’ not the same as No 10’s partygate
Nicola Sturgeon has insisted there is a “very, very clear difference” between her face mask “error” and the apparent “serial culture of lawbreaking” at Downing Street lockdown parties.
The Scottish First Minister has already apologised after she was filmed not wearing a face covering while campaigning in a barbers shop in East Kilbride.
Footage shared on social media showed the SNP leader without her mask on after she went inside Iconic Gents Hair on Saturday.
The incident took place before laws requiring face masks to be worn in indoor public places were lifted in Scotland on Monday, and the First Minister was spoken to by Police Scotland.
Read the full story here:
Sturgeon says mask ‘error’ not the same as ‘culture of lawbreaking’ at Number 10
The Scottish First Minister was spoken to by police after being filmed campaigning inside without a face covering for a ‘few seconds’.
Opinion: Talk of more ‘safe and legal’ asylum routes is empty words
Current resettlement schemes do little to help those embarking on dangerous journeys across the Channel: Home Office data show that only 134 refugees from the top three nationalities arriving on small boats were brought to the UK via the resettlement route last year, writes May Bulman:
Analysis: Priti Patel’s talk of more ‘safe and legal’ asylum routes is hot air
Despite her claims, Priti Patel is doing little to create safe pathways for women, children and families so they don’t have to be put in the hands of smuggling gangs, argues May Bulman
MPs reject bid to let asylum-seekers work
MPs have voted 294 to 242 to reject a Lords amendment linked to allowing asylum-seekers to work if no decision had been taken on their claim after six months.
Eleven Conservative MPs rebelled in a bid to retain the amendment, including Steve Baker, Sir Peter Bottomley and Sir Robert Buckland.
Committee faces unenviable task if MPs back investigation
The motion on whether to refer the PM for an investigation over partygate allows for the case to be looked at only after the various other reviews and investigations are completed - removing a key objection. Sean O’Grady looks at the detail:
How Partygate vote on inquiry into Boris Johnson will play out
The prime minister avoids an excruciating process thanks to his India trade trip, as Sean O’Grady explains
Boris Johnson to get street named after him in Ukraine, MP says
Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko said streets in Ukraine with names connected to Russia will be changed.
British PM Boris Johnson will have a street named after him in a town in Odesa, she said.
Ms Vasylenko tweeted: “Derussification is spreading fast across #Ukraine. All Moscow and Pushkin streets are getting new names.
“A town in Odesa region will soon get a @BorisJohnson street, for example. All I can say: #SupportUkraine”
Motion tabled to delay probe into whether PM misled Parliament
Tory MPs will be facing a three line whip to vote for a government amendment that would “kick tomorrow’s partygate motion into the long grass”, as phrased by ITV’s UK editor Paul Brand.
Boris Johnson’s government has tabled an amendment to Labour’s motion for an investigation into whether the PM misled Parliament over the Downing Street parties held during coronavirus lockdown.
The amendment states that Mr Johnson has “accepted mistakes were made” but that the matter should not be considered until the police inquiry has concluded and the Sue Gray report has been published.
A government spokesperson said: “The government has tabled an amendment to Labour’s motion which says that consideration of this matter should take place after the conclusion of the police investigation, and the publication of the Cabinet Office report, allowing MPs to have all the facts at their disposal.”
Police did not quiz Cummings in order to stay ‘apolitical'
Police did not question Dominic Cummings, the former chief adviser to Boris Johnson, over his violation of coronavirus pandemic lockdown laws because of the need to remain “apolitical”, an officer said.
Jo Farrell, who is Durham Police’s first female chief constable in the force’s 183-year history, told the Mirror why Mr Cummings was not interviewed by police over his 260-mile trip to Durham from London or his day out to Barnard Castle to “test his eyesight”.
Ms Farrell told the newspaper: “Because of his character, because of who he was, he divided political lines.
“We police without fear or favour. We are apolitical, so it was my job to make sure that there was a proportionate line. Had we stopped him when he was driving to Barnard Castle, we would have told him to turn around and go back.
“Thousands of people have lost their lives in the pandemic so, yes, we never took any of this lightly. But we could not be influenced by the huge political feeling about him as an individual and his role within the Government.”
Tory MPs reject bid to give parliament say over asylum offshoring amid backlash to Rwanda deal
Conservative MPs have voted down a law aimed at forcing the government to put schemes like the Rwanda deal to parliament – and disclose the costs.
The House of Lords created an amendment to the Nationality and Borders Bill meaning that MPs and peers must approve any offshoring agreements before they come into force.
The clause, which was defeated by 303 votes to 234, would also force the government to provide “estimated costs for at least the first two years”.
Here is the story:
Tory MPs reject bid to give parliament say over asylum offshoring
Labour calls plan ‘extortionate, unworkable and profoundly un-British’
Boris Johnson faces calls to apologise for colonial-era massacre
Boris Johnson is facing calls to apologise for a colonial-era massacre in which as many as 1,200 people were killed.
Last month, Gujarat — which is UK PM’s first spot on his two-day itinerary — commemorated 100 years of the Pal-Dadhvav massacre.
More than 2000 people, led by a social reformer Motilal Tejawat, protested against exploitation and forced labour by the British.
Tejawat’s grandson is now demanding that Mr Johnson apologise. “It was the British rule at the time when these killings happened so, if the British PM is coming here, he must apologise,” 77-year-old Mahendra Tejawat told AFP.
During the massacre, British major HG Sutton ordered his troops to open fire. The government remembers the episode as “like a battlefield, the entire area was filled with corpses.” It says two wells were “overflowing with bodies.”
“My grandfather was only running a campaign for the poor, harmless and illiterate tribals,” Mr Tejawat said.
“He [Johnson] must express regret if he feels what happened to the defenceless tribals was wrong.”Mr Johnson has arrived in Gujarat in India.
Ukraine peace talks doomed because Putin cannot be trusted, says Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson said that the peace talks to end the war in Ukraine are doomed as the Russian president cannot be trusted.
He accused Vladimir Putin of a complete failure to approach talks in good faith and said that it was clear the Russian president was seeking to grab territory to use as leverage in talks - and could even launch another assault on capital Kyiv for that purpose.
He asked: “How can you negotiate with a crocodile when it’s got your leg in its jaws? That is the difficulty that the Ukrainians face.”
Read the full story here:
Ukraine peace talks doomed because Putin cannot be trusted, says Boris Johnson
‘How can you negotiate with crocodile with your leg in its jaws?’: Russian president not ‘valid interlocutor’, says PM
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