Boris Johnson has been accused by a Conservative senior MP of “no longer worthy” of a senior post as lawmakers prepare to vote on whether he deliberately misled the House of Commons in the party scandal.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Tuesday issued a “sincere apology” for violating the rules for blocking Covid-19, but Mark Harper, a former Thai chief whip, said Johnson was asking his MPs to “protect the defenseless.”
Johnson is due to fly to India on Wednesday on a trade and diplomatic mission, leaving behind Westminster, swirling with criticism of his behavior and the upcoming key vote.
Municipal Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle allowed a debate Thursday on whether lawmakers want to refer Johnson to the Municipal Privileges Committee to assess whether he deliberately lied to the House of Representatives.
Harper told a heavily charged House that many Tory MPs would be forced to reluctantly support Johnson in the next vote. “I don’t think he is worthy of the great position he holds,” he said.
Johnson, who made a statement to lawmakers after the Easter break, expressed a remorseful tone, reiterating his statement that “people have a right to expect better from their prime minister.”
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He insisted last December that “all guidelines have been fully followed”, but police imposed a £ 50 fine on the prime minister this month after attending a surprise 10th birthday party when Covid’s restrictions were in place in June. 2020
But the prime minister insisted that “it did not occur to me then or after” that his presence at the cabinet event would violate the rules for blocking Covid. This argument is Johnson’s defense against allegations that he deliberately misled lawmakers that the rules were not violated.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer called Johnson’s partygate statement – which ended with an update on the situation in Ukraine – a “joke” and said the prime minister was a “shameless man”.
In a powerful intervention, tacitly heard by Tory MPs, Starmer argued that Johnson’s behavior was aimed at “taking everyone else with him” and making voters think all politicians are the same.
He called on Conservative MPs to remove the prime minister “to restore integrity, fairness and integrity in our politics”. Many Tory MPs left the room long before Johnson finished answering questions.
However, the prime minister is not in immediate danger; despite Harper’s call for his resignation, most Tory MPs have so far sided with Johnson, albeit with some nervousness.
“Thursday will be very inconvenient for many MPs,” said a former cabinet minister. “It will undoubtedly continue, with many additional inconveniences to come.”
MEPs fear Johnson will face new fines for blocked rallies, while the May 5th local elections will allow voters to pass their own sentence. Heavy Tory losses could spark new unrest over the prime minister’s leadership.
Johnson denies that he deliberately misled MPs and his allies expect the municipality to reject the commission’s investigation, as the Tories have a working majority of nearly 80.
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However, opposition parties are expected to use the debate to portray Tory MPs as ready to defend a liar. The Partygate affair is already prominent in the May election campaign.
“We are preparing the election posters now,” said a senior Liberal Democrat official. Party leader Sir Ed Davy called on Conservative MPs to “fulfill their patriotic duty” in Thursday’s vote.
Johnson’s allies have insisted that “there is no way” for the prime minister to cancel his trip to India, although lawmakers will vote for his honesty while he is abroad. They said the visit was “critical to jobs, trade, investment and diplomacy”, but Johnson’s attempt to focus on those issues is likely to be overshadowed by recurring questions about why he violated the Covid rules he set.
The prime minister on Tuesday night tried to unite his party in a meeting with all lawmakers, asking them widely whether they prefer Labor to run the economy or tackle illegal immigration.
The meeting, in which Johnson accused the BBC and the Archbishop of Canterbury of misinterpreting his controversial plan to send migrants through canals in Rwanda, ended with Tory lawmakers pushing desks in support of the prime minister.
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