Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Open warfare
The Independent reports that the row between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak has descended into open warfare, as the former PM accused his successor of “talking rubbish” about the resignation honours list saga:
Mr Johnson hit back at the prime minister after Mr Sunak accused his one-time ally of asking him to “do something I wasn’t prepared to do” by bending the rules on peerages.
In his first public comments since Mr Johnson quit as MP, a defiant Mr Sunak claimed Mr Johnson asked him to either overrule the committee which vets peerages - known as Holac - or “make promises to people” on the issue.
Mr Sunak claimed he was “not prepared to do that” because he didn’t think it was “right”. Ramping up his message, he added: “If people don’t like that, then tough.”
But Mr Johnson responded hours later, saying that all Mr Sunak needed to do was ask Holac to “renew their vetting”.
He said in a statement: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish. To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac - but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”
Mr Johnson and his allies blame Downing Street for some of his key Tory allies - including Nadine Dorries, Alok Sharma and Nigel Evans - failing to appear on the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
As well as Mr Johnson, the saga prompted the resignation of Ms Dorries and Ms Adams, triggering three challenging by-elections for the Prime Minister as his party trails in the polls.
Speaking at the London Tech Week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do because I didn’t think it was right.
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.
“When I got this job I said I was going to do things differently because I wanted to change politics and that’s what I’m doing.”
After Mr Sunak’s comments, an ally of Mr Johnson fired back by accusing Mr Sunak of having “secretly blocked” a handful of peerages.
Downing Street later said Mr Sunak does not regret the comments he made at the event. A spokesman said: “He was asked a direct question. He gave a clear answer.”
There have been claims that Mr Johnson reached a “gentleman’s agreement” with Mr Sunak that he would wave through the honours list and allow the MPs to be re-vetted by Holac at a later date so they would not have to stand down now.
But Mr Johnson’s camp has accused his successor of breaking the deal that has now enflamed tensions.
Government figures have insisted neither Mr Sunak nor Downing Street removed names from Mr Johnson’s peerages submission. Michael Gove stressed on Monday that the “appropriate procedure” and the correct “precedent” was followed.
Meanwhile Downing Street said it is is “entirely untrue” that Rishi Sunak or members of his No 10 team removed names from Boris Johnson’s peerages submission.
Interestingly, former Tory leader, Michael Howard, went on the record yesterday to accuse Johnson of making misleading comments about the process Holac follows.
Mr Johnson hit back at the prime minister after Mr Sunak accused his one-time ally of asking him to “do something I wasn’t prepared to do” by bending the rules on peerages.
In his first public comments since Mr Johnson quit as MP, a defiant Mr Sunak claimed Mr Johnson asked him to either overrule the committee which vets peerages - known as Holac - or “make promises to people” on the issue.
Mr Sunak claimed he was “not prepared to do that” because he didn’t think it was “right”. Ramping up his message, he added: “If people don’t like that, then tough.”
But Mr Johnson responded hours later, saying that all Mr Sunak needed to do was ask Holac to “renew their vetting”.
He said in a statement: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish. To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac - but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”
Mr Johnson and his allies blame Downing Street for some of his key Tory allies - including Nadine Dorries, Alok Sharma and Nigel Evans - failing to appear on the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
As well as Mr Johnson, the saga prompted the resignation of Ms Dorries and Ms Adams, triggering three challenging by-elections for the Prime Minister as his party trails in the polls.
Speaking at the London Tech Week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do because I didn’t think it was right.
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.
“When I got this job I said I was going to do things differently because I wanted to change politics and that’s what I’m doing.”
After Mr Sunak’s comments, an ally of Mr Johnson fired back by accusing Mr Sunak of having “secretly blocked” a handful of peerages.
Downing Street later said Mr Sunak does not regret the comments he made at the event. A spokesman said: “He was asked a direct question. He gave a clear answer.”
There have been claims that Mr Johnson reached a “gentleman’s agreement” with Mr Sunak that he would wave through the honours list and allow the MPs to be re-vetted by Holac at a later date so they would not have to stand down now.
But Mr Johnson’s camp has accused his successor of breaking the deal that has now enflamed tensions.
Government figures have insisted neither Mr Sunak nor Downing Street removed names from Mr Johnson’s peerages submission. Michael Gove stressed on Monday that the “appropriate procedure” and the correct “precedent” was followed.
Meanwhile Downing Street said it is is “entirely untrue” that Rishi Sunak or members of his No 10 team removed names from Boris Johnson’s peerages submission.
Interestingly, former Tory leader, Michael Howard, went on the record yesterday to accuse Johnson of making misleading comments about the process Holac follows.
Howard is a former member of the committee, and says that if Sunak had referred the list back to Holac, then he would have got the same result. He also says that Johnson is aware of that fact and that for the former PM to assert otherwise is disingenuous.
Only one Prime Minister has ever overridden a Holac recommendation, and that was Johnson himself, while in No 10, over the peerage of Tory donor Peter Cruddas.
I'm just going to get my popcorn.
Only one Prime Minister has ever overridden a Holac recommendation, and that was Johnson himself, while in No 10, over the peerage of Tory donor Peter Cruddas.
I'm just going to get my popcorn.
