When Boris Johnson enters the shipping box on Tuesday, for the first time in weeks, his allies will express their support – an attempt to immediately dispel any questions about the credibility of his leadership.
While the prime minister may sometimes seem remorseful for violating Covid laws during the first Covid blockade in England, he is expected to maintain that at the time he did not believe he was doing anything wrong.
This protection is crucial to ensure that he cannot be found, that he deliberately misled Parliament when he declared that the rules were not violated in № 10 when stories of scattered staff first appeared. organizes parties with suitcases full of wine and a DJ.
This is the “conscious” that is most important.
Johnson will seek to keep the issue under the rug, reject calls for resignation and urge lawmakers to focus on issues such as the war in Ukraine. He will inevitably be thrown by lifelines by some supporting backbenchers. The question will inevitably drag on.
In addition to the ongoing Met police investigation and Sue Gray’s as-yet-unpublished report, opposition parties are also trying to keep the spotlight on Johnson’s rule violation.
They are urging President Lindsay Hoyle to allow a debate on whether the prime minister should be treated with contempt of parliament, which could potentially lead to an investigation by the Privileges Committee into whether the municipality has been misled.
This is a danger zone for Johnson, because the ministerial code that bears his signature is crystal clear that the cost of misleading parliament is resignation.
While the text of any final proposal has not yet materialized – and Hoyle will not decide whether to accept it or not until Tuesday at the earliest – Tory insiders acknowledge that the issue will be treated as a vote of confidence.
But any vote will almost certainly be shattered, which means the plan is doomed to failure, even if it goes to the vote thanks to Johnson’s vast majority – except for a huge revolt.
One MP said that they were considering voting against the government, but they knew that if they did, they would be deprived of the whip and that would be the end of their political careers.
“We have a reputation for being ruthless and brutal, which is not in line with that at the moment,” they said.
There are people on the government side who also believe that this move is premature and that in fact maximum damage will be done if the issue remains unresolved on the eve of local elections next month to cause maximum damage.
Opposition parties are also skeptical about the chances of any investigation using evidence to prove that Johnson misled parliament. “It is not clear how we will show that the intention is indisputable,” said a source.
Both Labor and the Liberal Democrats are still pushing for a vote, given the inconvenient time for the Conservatives, with the by-elections in less than a month.
Online advertisements are being developed to target voters in key areas where Tory MPs who may not want to offer their public support to Johnson will be forced to support him.
While the government will certainly win, it is another troubled echo for some Tories since the fall of Theresa May, whose administration was established in disrespect to parliament less than four years ago.
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