British Politics

Tory MPs told they can email letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson over Christmas
Entire leadership of 1922 Committee join the rebellion over the Prime Minister's plan for Covid passports

ByChristopher Hope, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT and Lucy Fisher, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR15 December 2021 • 9:08pm

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MPs believe the confidence leaders of the 1922 Committee had in Boris Johnson has been dented in the wake of the Covid passports revolt and a series of other rows CREDIT: UK Parliament
The entire leadership of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs joined the rebellion over Boris Johnson’s plan for Covid passports, it emerged on Wednesday.

It came as Tory MPs were told they can email letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson over Christmas, in a blow to allies who hoped the festive break might ease the pressure on the Prime Minister.

There had been a presumption in Westminster that only letters that were physically handed to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, would be counted to avoid the risk of forgeries.

This would have meant that letters would need to be submitted to him before the Commons rises on Thursday, or else wait until the House returns three weeks later in January.

However, Sir Graham has privately made clear that he will accept letters that are emailed and followed up by a phone call.

One source said that emailed no confidence letters would count "as long as they are verified".

The news means that Tory MPs will be able to register their unhappiness with Mr Johnson as Tory leader in the days following the result of Thursday's North Shropshire by-election, rather than wait until Parliament is expected to return on January 5.

Boris Johnson ‘has got to now be in some danger’
MPs believe the confidence leaders of the 1922 Committee had in Mr Johnson has been dented in the wake of the Covid passports revolt and a series of other rows, including allegations of rule-breaking parties at Downing Street last year and the sleaze debacle.

All six officers of the committee, who make up its leadership, rebelled on Tuesday night: Sir Graham; Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the committee’s treasurer; vice-chairmen Nusrat Ghani and William Wragg; and secretaries Bob Blackman and Gary Sambrook.

As executives of the 1922, these senior backbenchers effectively control the committee that is often dubbed the trade union of the Tory parliamentary party.

It presides over votes of no confidence in the party leader and provides Conservative MPs with a weekly forum to quiz frontbenchers and coordinate on other matters.

Sir Geoffrey warned on live television that a leadership challenge against the Prime Minister “has got to be on the cards”.

The veteran Tory said: “He has got to now be in some danger. He has got to realise that ... If this goes on - we have had a very bad month in the last month - some members of the party will be thinking we have got to have a change.”

Asked directly if he had put in a letter of no confidence himself, Sir Geoffrey said he “would not put a letter in yet”. However, he told Sky News that Mr Johnson had to “think very carefully about how he will reset his performance to actually govern with a united party”.

Tory MPs said his remarks appeared to be a deliberate shot across the bows by the 1922 Committee at the Prime Minister, with one backbencher commenting that the intervention was “unlikely to be an accident”.

North Shropshire by-election: ‘I think Boris is in a lot of trouble’
Mr Johnson remains under severe pressure ahead of Thursday’s by-election, which was sparked by the resignation of Owen Paterson in the midst of a damaging row over sleaze.

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, the Conservative candidate, campaigning in the North Shropshire by-election CREDIT: Julian Simmonds
Government insiders have expressed jitters about the poll, despite the Conservatives sweeping a commanding 22,949 majority at the last election. The Liberal Democrats are viewed as the strongest challengers.

One senior Tory MP said: “Everything is riding on North Shropshire. I think Boris is in a lot of trouble. 100 backbenchers voting against you on a critical vote is trouble, it doesn’t matter how you spin it. Whether that trouble is going to escalate, very much depends on what will happen tomorrow.”

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Other Conservatives who rebelled this week remain deeply concerned by the impact of the Plan B measures.

Marcus Fysh, Tory chairman of the Economic Growth Group, warned of hospitality venues facing 90 per cent cancellations in the run-up to Christmas in the wake of the Government’s messaging, as he hit out at “irrational, fear-based decision-making”. He said he was “concerned about the creep of more regulations” in coming weeks.

The Prime Minister has insisted the restrictions are “balanced and proportionate”, but said on Wednesday that he respected “the feelings and anxieties that colleagues have” about restricting Britons’ liberties.

MPs demand changes in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street
Some Tory MPs are looking ahead to the new year and demanding Mr Johnson tighten up his operation in Downing Street to avoid falling daily into “elephant traps”.

Many are calling for him to appoint a “Willie Whitelaw” figure, referring to Margaret Thatcher’s loyal fixer within the Cabinet.

The 1922 Committee chairman is duty bound to call a vote of no confidence in the Tory leader if more than 15 per cent of Conservative MPs - 54 Tory MPs - submit letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson.

Senior allies close to Mr Johnson believe that the number of letters is on the border of “single/double figures”, suggesting that it is around nine or 10.

If the threshold for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister is met, a vote would take place and Mr Johnson would need to secure the backing of 181 Tory MPs to remain as Conservative leader.

MP critics have insisted there is no organised attempt to unseat Mr Johnson, and that MPs are acting unilaterally if they are submitting letters. One said: "They are a long way from the 54 letters.”

However, another Conservative MP mused on the Prime Minister’s future: “People find him a great figure of fun, but the question is has appetite for that now waned?”

 

Ponsonby Shortpiece.

 

"This whole vaccine roll out is an IQ test "

From the ****wit who can't even spell census.

 

Outrage signaling. Using despicable crimes as a convenient bandwagon to parade opportunistic, pious whataboutery. Pass the sickbag.

 

North Shropshire - Well done Tubs de Pfeffel !

 

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Lessons learned - will this stop Tory MPs taking bungs?

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Between that and "damp squid", but yeah I think you are right, "tenderhooks" probably is the oldest, it is certainly used more.

 

A chap who worked for me once said " Their business is in trouble, they've called in the liquidiser."

 

De Fife pumped by the Lib Dems

 

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JAWAD IQBAL
Belittling experts like Chris Whitty will not solve anything

Jawad Iqbal

Thursday December 16 2021, 9.00pm, The Times
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Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has an almost impossible job, straining every sinew of his knowledge and experience to help guide the country through the pandemic. That job is made even harder, thankless even, when he is subject to ignorant public attacks by politicians such as Joy Morrissey, the Tory MP for Beaconsfield.

In a tweet, she belittled Whitty as an “unelected Covid public health spokesperson” before going on to suggest that he was turning Britain into a “public health socialist state” by urging people to scale back their Christmas plans. The tweet was quickly deleted but the wider damage is done: her comments only help legitimise baseless attacks on the motives of scientists everywhere.

Morrissey isn’t alone in being out of line. Steve Baker, the leading Conservative opponent of coronavirus restrictions, has questioned whether Whitty was “staying within the bounds” of government policy. And Steve Brine, a former health minister, made the absurd claim that “advisers are now running the show”.

This is deluded and nonsensical. Whitty has been scrupulously clear that it is ministers who make and decide policy. It is not the role of the chief medical officer to be a cheerleader for the government but instead to present the medical evidence and then give an independent assessment of what is best for public health. It is ludicrous as well as anti-democratic to suggest that only those who are elected can be trusted to speak about public policy.

It is not the first time Whitty has been unfairly targeted. Last summer, he was grabbed and shoved in the street by two men who laughed while they filmed the incident. Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, was verbally abused by an anti-vaccine protester who accused him of “lying to the British people”. The pandemic has made health officials into household names as never before but also opened them up to criticism, turning them into targets of public anger. Verbal abuse, including savage attacks on their good faith, even death threats, are becoming commonplace.

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The belittling of expertise, scientific or otherwise, is stupid and counterproductive. Governments and science organisations must speak out more to defend individual scientists and the crucial role their expertise plays. Far too many politicians are addicted to sly digs about the country having had enough of experts: if anything, what this pandemic has demonstrated is that real expertise and knowledge is more vital than ever. It simply isn’t good enough for Joy Morrissey to delete her tweet. She owes Chris Whitty a public apology.

Jawad Iqbal is a freelance writer