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Boris Johnson is rumoured to be unveiled as the Daily Mail’s “erudite” new columnist days after quitting as an MP.
It comes after a cross-party committee of MPs found the former prime minister repeatedly lied to Parliament before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation.
The disgraced former prime minister is believed to be the blacked out silhouette on the Mail’s front page who will write for it weekly starting tomorrow.
The paper promises Mr Johnson’s column will be “required reading” in Westminster and around the world. It is paying a “very high six-figure sum”, Politico reported.
Johnson allies have vowed they will target Conservative members who endorse the Privileges Committee’s report for deselection.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries was among the first to condemn the report, calling it “quite bizarre”.
She warned that any Tory MPs who endorsed the Privileges Committee’s report on Monday were not “true Conservatives” and would be “held to account by members and the public”.
“Deselections may follow. It’s serious,” she said.
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Boris Johnson rumoured to be Daily Mail’s ‘erudite’ new columnist
Boris Johnson is rumoured to be unveiled as the Daily Mail’s “erudite” new columnist days after quitting as an MP.
The disgraced former prime minister is believed to be the blacked out silhouette on the paper’s front page who will write for it weekly starting tomorrow.
The Mail promises Mr Johnson’s column will be “required reading” in Westminster and around the world. It is paying a “very high six-figure sum”, Politico reported.
It would be a big step up from the former PM’s £275,000 salary as a columnist for the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Johnson is expected to take swipes at his successor Rishi Sunak, with the relationship between the two having descended into open warfare last week.
In a row over the former PM’s resignation honours list, Mr Johnson publicly accused his successor of “talking rubbish”.
Mr Sunak has denied “wielding the dagger” against Mr Johnson with his resignation as chancellor last July, a move which was seen as the beginning of the end of Mr Johnson’s premiership. He resigned just two days later.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:581686904260
Abstaining from Commons vote would not be rising to the occasion, senior Tory MP says
Senior Conservative MP Damian Green said abstaining from the vote to approve the damning report into Boris Johnson on Monday would not be rising to the occasion.
Asked if Rishi Sunak must take part, the former de facto deputy prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Every individual will make up their own mind obviously.
“I think personally it’s such an important act that deliberately abstaining is not really rising to the importance of the occasion.”
He said if the Prime Minister does not take part it shows he is “the busiest”, adding: “It’s not for me to tell him how to behave in this sort of situation.”
Mr Green said he intends to vote to approve the report with a “heavy heart”.
Theresa May’s former deputy also said it will be “quite difficult” for Boris Johnson to return as a Tory candidate for the Commons in the future.
He added: “What I feel particularly sad about is the response he has made.
“I think if he had been more temperate in his response it would be easier for him to have a way back into active politics, but he’s chosen to use phrases like ‘kangaroo court’ and ‘witch hunt’ and described the report as ‘deranged’.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 09:311686903350
Will Boris attend Commons vote on damning report?
Boris Johnson will host a foreign leader on Monday, meaning he may be too busy to attend a Commons vote on the report into Boris Johnson’s Partygate lies, the Telegraph reported.
Tory MPs are torn over whether to approve the “damning” Partygate report over the former prime minister’s conduct.
Many cabinet ministers are expected to skip the vote, while No10 has refused to say if Mr Sunak will attend.
Missing the would raise questions about Mr Sunak’s commitment to integrity in public life, while supporting it would risk stoking anger among Boris allies, who have warned those endorsing the report they could face de-selection as Conservative MPs.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 09:151686902101
Boris Johnson supporters vow to target Tory members endorsing report for deselection
Boris Johnson allies have vowed they will target Conservative members who endorse the Privileges Committee’s report for deselection.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries was among the first to condemn the report, calling it “quite bizarre”.
She warned that any Tory MPs who endorsed the Privileges Committee’s report on Monday were not “true Conservatives” and would be “held to account by members and the public”.
“Deselections may follow. It’s serious,” she said.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:551686901550
The 7 most damning findings from the report into Boris Johnson misleading parliament
A damning report by parliament’s privileges committee has concluded that Boris Johnson misled parliament and recommended that he should be barred from having a parliamentary security pass in future.
The 106 page document, put together by the cross-party group of MPs with a Tory majority, is packed with detail and arguments. Here are the seven most damning sections:
The 7 most damning findings from the report into Boris Johnson misleading parliament
The privileges committee report is packed with detailed criticism of the former prime minister
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:451686901114
Labour launches new attack ad against Sunak
Labour has launched a new attack ad against the prime minister, claiming that “whatever he pretends now, Rishi Sunak was Boris Johnson’s enabler”.
The party claims Mr Sunak “defended Mr Johnson’s lies and stood by him while he held the British public in contempt”.
The ad features a highlight reel of the prime minister’s public praise for his predecessor, including the claim Mr Johnon is “one of the most remarkable people I have ever met”.
“Britain won’t forget Rishi Sunak’s loyalty to a man who disgraced the office of prime minister,” the ad claims.
It also attacks Mr Sunak as “weak” for failing to scrap Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list, which Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called “honours for Tory cronies”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:381686900126
Boris ‘deserves further punishment’- Sir Ed Davey
Boris Johnson “deserves further punishment” following the Privileges Committee report that found he lied to MPs, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has said.
Sir Ed Davey told Sky News: “I think now we look to the Prime Minister to show some leadership. Rishi Sunak has been quite weak on this. He’s kowtowed to his backbenchers and people in the Conservative Party who still won’t face the facts about Boris Johnson, and Rishi Sunak should therefore withdraw this lifetime allowance.
“Boris Johnson will be paid £115,000 a year for the rest of his life to organise his offices. I mean, I just don’t think that sits alongside this report. He deserves further punishment, for sure.”
Sir Ed also said Mr Sunak’s potential absence from the Commons vote on the committee’s findings on Monday “confirms yet again his weakness” and “would be a massive failure if he doesn’t join Parliament in holding the former prime minister Boris Johnson to account”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:221686899533
I’m the woman who asked Boris the question that brought him down – I’m still angry and heartbroken
When he discovered he was going to face the consequences of his actions, Johnson lashed out. His behaviour fails to uphold the best traditions of our parliament, writes Catherine West.
Those dark days of the pandemic took a huge toll on so many. The loss of loved ones, missing the birth of a child or the funeral of a friend, the unbearable stress placed on key workers, the closed businesses, and health effects that linger for many to this day. Faced with such an unprecedented health emergency the British people did what they had to do – they stayed at home and followed the rules, often at great personal sacrifice.
Not Boris Johnson.
While the country hunkered down for the greater good, it’s now confirmed that he oversaw a Downing Street culture which repeatedly breached the same Covid rules they set. When allegations came to light that there had been parties in Downing Street, I asked the then prime minister, clearly and specifically, if he could tell the House if there had been a party in No 10 on 13 November.
“No, but I am sure that whatever happened the guidance was followed, and the rules were followed at all times.” That’s how the prime minister – from the despatch box, in front of a full House of Commons – answered my clear question.
I’m the woman who asked the question that brought down Boris Johnson | Boris Johnson
When he discovered he was going to face the consequences of his actions, Johnson lashed out. His behaviour fails to uphold the best traditions of our parliament, writes Catherine West
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:121686898882
Watch: Liz Truss believes in former boss’s political comeback
Former prime minister Liz Truss has said she is sure we “will hear more from” Boris Johnson as she said “never ever ever write Boris off”.
'Never write Boris off': Liz Truss believes in former boss's political comebackMaryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:011686898382
Telling the truth is a ‘central value of our democratic system'
Former Chair of the Committee of Standards in Public Life Sir Alistair Graham reiterates the importance of telling the truth being a “central value of our democratic system”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 07:53
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