Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Tory unrest continues with Johnson due to face a key committee
If Dominic Cummings' appearance in the Downing Street rose garden was meant to put the controversy over his northern odyssey to rest then he badly miscalculated.
Already, a junior minister has resigned while more than 30 other Conservative MPs called for Cummings to go, many citing inboxes overflowing with hundreds of angry messages from constituents. A snap poll found that whereas 41% of Tory voters thought Cummings should resign before the press conference, this had risen to 46% after it.
The Guardian reports that significant revolts are rare at such an early stage after a thumping election victory, but Cummings was already a divisive figure and his refusal to apologise for an apparent breach of the rules appears to have touched a nerve with the lockdown-weary public:
Calls for him to go came from across the spectrum of the Conservative party on Tuesday.
They included the former chief whip Mark Harper, who said there was “no credible justification” for the drive to local beauty spot Barnard Castle, apparently to test whether Cummings’ eyesight was good enough to make the drive back to the capital. The former health secretary Jeremy Hunt released the text of a reply to a constituent, in which he said of Cummings: “What he did was a clear breach of the lockdown rules” – though Hunt did not call for him to resign, saying: “You do make mistakes in these situations.”
Four more former ministers – Steve Baker, Harriett Baldwin, Stephen Hammond and Jackie Doyle-Price – all called for Cummings to go.
The veteran Brexiter Peter Bone said he had not been reassured by Monday’s statement. “The rose garden interview just confirmed to me that he had driven up to Durham when we were in a strict lockdown. He absolutely should resign,” he said.
“I have 400 emails from people and I’m sitting here with my colleague going through every one, and we’d rather be doing some case work but we just have so many people to reply to.”
Meanwhile, there is controversy over today's meeting of the House of Commons liaison committee at which Boris Johnson is scheduled to give evidence. The Times reports that senior Tory MPs have been blocked from questioning the prime minister at a Commons “super-committee” tomorrow in a move that has prompted anger in the party:
Boris Johnson is set to attend the liaison committee, which usually comprises the cross-party chairmen of 36 Commons select committees, tomorrow afternoon for questioning over the coronavirus outbreak.
Tom Tugendhat, one of the most prominent Tory critics of the prime minister and chairman of the foreign affairs committee, has been excluded, however.
Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chairman of the defence committee who has called for the government to handle the crisis better, is also off the list of those attending.
A series of MPs have accused Bernard Jenkin, the head of the liaison committee, of banning the pair and other critical MPs on the instruction of the Tory whips.
Unusually Mr Jenkin was Downing Street’s sole choice for the nomination for the liaison committee chairmanship, while other select committee chairmen are elected by the Commons.
One select committee chairman said: “Chairs are deeply unimpressed that his first efforts are to try and exclude key chairs in this way. It reflects the lack of independence that chairs were concerned about in allowing this appointment to go ahead. This is a sad start to what is supposed to a programme of scrutiny.”
Other backbench MPs were also unimpressed that an appointed select committee chairman was vetoing elected colleagues. One said: “Bernard has sold his soul and demonstrated that he will suck up to anyone for £16,000 a year [the salary for the liaison committee chairmanship].”
Members of the Liaison Committee are also concerned at the fact that they will only have one and a half hours of the Prime Minister's time and that only a small part of that time will be devoted to questions about the government's response to coronavirus.
The paper says that while the liaison committee asks the prime minister of the day to attend sessions three times a year, today will be Mr Johnson’s first appearance since arriving in Downing Street ten months ago.
He has been accused of “bottling” three previous appearances, including pulling out of a session scheduled last October the day before he was due to attend. He said he had to “focus on delivering Brexit” in response to accusations he was avoiding scrutiny.
Accountability is not top of this government's agenda.
Already, a junior minister has resigned while more than 30 other Conservative MPs called for Cummings to go, many citing inboxes overflowing with hundreds of angry messages from constituents. A snap poll found that whereas 41% of Tory voters thought Cummings should resign before the press conference, this had risen to 46% after it.
The Guardian reports that significant revolts are rare at such an early stage after a thumping election victory, but Cummings was already a divisive figure and his refusal to apologise for an apparent breach of the rules appears to have touched a nerve with the lockdown-weary public:
Calls for him to go came from across the spectrum of the Conservative party on Tuesday.
They included the former chief whip Mark Harper, who said there was “no credible justification” for the drive to local beauty spot Barnard Castle, apparently to test whether Cummings’ eyesight was good enough to make the drive back to the capital. The former health secretary Jeremy Hunt released the text of a reply to a constituent, in which he said of Cummings: “What he did was a clear breach of the lockdown rules” – though Hunt did not call for him to resign, saying: “You do make mistakes in these situations.”
Four more former ministers – Steve Baker, Harriett Baldwin, Stephen Hammond and Jackie Doyle-Price – all called for Cummings to go.
The veteran Brexiter Peter Bone said he had not been reassured by Monday’s statement. “The rose garden interview just confirmed to me that he had driven up to Durham when we were in a strict lockdown. He absolutely should resign,” he said.
“I have 400 emails from people and I’m sitting here with my colleague going through every one, and we’d rather be doing some case work but we just have so many people to reply to.”
Meanwhile, there is controversy over today's meeting of the House of Commons liaison committee at which Boris Johnson is scheduled to give evidence. The Times reports that senior Tory MPs have been blocked from questioning the prime minister at a Commons “super-committee” tomorrow in a move that has prompted anger in the party:
Boris Johnson is set to attend the liaison committee, which usually comprises the cross-party chairmen of 36 Commons select committees, tomorrow afternoon for questioning over the coronavirus outbreak.
Tom Tugendhat, one of the most prominent Tory critics of the prime minister and chairman of the foreign affairs committee, has been excluded, however.
Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chairman of the defence committee who has called for the government to handle the crisis better, is also off the list of those attending.
A series of MPs have accused Bernard Jenkin, the head of the liaison committee, of banning the pair and other critical MPs on the instruction of the Tory whips.
Unusually Mr Jenkin was Downing Street’s sole choice for the nomination for the liaison committee chairmanship, while other select committee chairmen are elected by the Commons.
One select committee chairman said: “Chairs are deeply unimpressed that his first efforts are to try and exclude key chairs in this way. It reflects the lack of independence that chairs were concerned about in allowing this appointment to go ahead. This is a sad start to what is supposed to a programme of scrutiny.”
Other backbench MPs were also unimpressed that an appointed select committee chairman was vetoing elected colleagues. One said: “Bernard has sold his soul and demonstrated that he will suck up to anyone for £16,000 a year [the salary for the liaison committee chairmanship].”
Members of the Liaison Committee are also concerned at the fact that they will only have one and a half hours of the Prime Minister's time and that only a small part of that time will be devoted to questions about the government's response to coronavirus.
The paper says that while the liaison committee asks the prime minister of the day to attend sessions three times a year, today will be Mr Johnson’s first appearance since arriving in Downing Street ten months ago.
He has been accused of “bottling” three previous appearances, including pulling out of a session scheduled last October the day before he was due to attend. He said he had to “focus on delivering Brexit” in response to accusations he was avoiding scrutiny.
Accountability is not top of this government's agenda.
