Conservative MPs have rounded on Boris Johnson after it emerged that the US ambassador had decided to resign in the wake of the senior Tory’s lack of support.
Sir Kim Darroch said his job had become “impossible” after the leak of diplomatic memos highly critical of Donald Trump’s administration.
His decision is understood to have been made after Mr Johnson repeatedly refused to support him during a televised Tory leadership debate on Wednesday.
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Boris Johnson’s refusal to budge on Brexit has backed him into a corner – and a general election will be the only way out, writes Independent columnist Andrew Grice.
Read his column here:
The vote to liberalise abortion law in Northern Ireland has sparked a ferocious backlash from the Democratic Unionist Party and campaigners.
MPs resoundingly backed the right to abortion in the country at a historic vote on Tuesday. Northern Ireland currently has a ban on abortion in almost all cases – even rape or incest. Women seeking a termination can face life imprisonment.
Staff in the House of Lords have been bullied and harassed by peers and colleagues, an independent report has found.
Naomi Ellenbogen QC found that there was a “prevailing culture” of staff being disrespected and reluctant to report wrongdoing.
Ms Ellenbogen found evidence that “staff have bullied and harassed other staff” and “members have bullied and harassed staff”.
More here:
NEW: Jeremy Corbyn’s team repeatedly interfered in disciplinary cases relating to antisemitism, according to revelations by whistleblowers in a new documentary.
The Labour leader was personally copied into emails in which Jennie Formby, the party’s general secretary, appeared to promise to interfere in a case involving an activist who had claimed Jews were responsible for the slave trade, according to the BBC’s Panorama programme.
Westminster has been braced for the Panorama report for days, after bits of the work appeared in the Sunday newspapers. Labour is furious, and has complained to the BBC about it.
Here is a preview of tonight’s show:
Cressida Dick has told the Home Affairs Committee that the Met has not yet received a referral from the Cabinet or Foreign Offices over the leak of Sir Kim Darroch’s diplomatic memos.
She said: “As police, we are interested in whether a crime may or may not have been committed, and that is the point at which we would get involved in terms of a referral and scoping process. We are not at that stage yet.”
The Metropolitan Police commissioner would not be drawn on what civil servants or politicians any investigation might look at.
“We think about whether it is at all likely to be able to identify who committed a crime, prove it, and what level of resource would be required to do the inquiry,” she added.
“There does have to be a crime.”
Dominic Grieve says the fight to give MPs the power to stop Boris Johnson shutting down parliament in October can still be won, as it moves to the House of Lords.
Peers are likely to reinstate clauses, thrown out in the Commons, designed to prevent the Tory leadership favourite forcing through a no-deal Brexit, the Conservative rebel said.
More here:
Downing Street confirmed that there had been some “initial discussions” between government and the police regarding the Whitehall investigation into the leak of Sir Kim’s dispatches.
“There have been some initial discussions with the police on the investigation.
“If there was concern about criminal activity the police would become involved more formally at that point,” a No 10 spokeswoman said.
Shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, has accused Boris Johnson of a “pathetic lick-spittle response” to criticism of Sir Kim Darroch from Donald Trump.
She said: “It makes a laughing-stock out of our government, and tells every one of Britain’s brilliant representatives abroad that the next Tory prime minister will not stand up for them, even when they are simply telling the truth and doing their job.
“Sir Kim Darroch should hold his head high for the wonderful job he has done representing our country, while Boris Johnson should go and hang his head in shame.
“He claims to regard Winston Churchill as his hero. But just imagine Churchill allowing this humiliating, servile, sycophantic indulgence of the American President’s ego to go unchallenged.
“Johnson likes to accuse opponents of being ‘supine invertebrate jellies’. How does he think he looks today?
“If this is what represents the future of leadership in our country, then it is all the more reason why we must force Johnson to call an election, and let the British people decide if such an obsequious weakling should be our Prime Minister.”
Theresa May’s effective deputy David Lidington said that proroguing parliament in order to prevent MPs voting on a no-deal Brexit would be a “constitutional outrage”.
Asked whether prorogation in these circumstances would be acceptable, Mr Lidington told the Commons Exiting the EU Committee: “No. All members in this place have the right to express their own opinions. I think it would be a constitutional outrage.”
Asked whether a future PM could disregard a vote by MPs to rule out no-deal, Mr Lidington said: “I would have thought that any PM would be unwise lightly to disregard the expressed view of the House of Commons, simply because the reality is that every government exists because it can command a majority in the House of Commons.”
Theresa May has been accused of double standards for failing to vote in favour of same-sex marriage, days after she promised to be an LGBT+ ally for life.
Earlier, Theresa May sidestepped a chance to “recommend her successor”, telling MPs that the next Tory leader would be an “excellent prime minister, whichever of the candidates wins”.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable pigeon-holed Ms May on the spot during Prime Minister’s Questions by asking how Jeremy Hunt or Boris Johnson would secure a majority in the Commons.
He said: “The Prime Minister’s last major duty will be to recommend her successor. How does she plan to satisfy herself that the next leader of the Conservative Party will command a majority in the House of Commons?”
Mrs May replied: “The next leader of the Conservative Party will, I believe, be an excellent prime minister, whichever of the candidates wins, and they will ensure that they take this country through Brexit, deliver on the 2016 referendum, ignore the attempts by (him) and his (honourable friends) to try and go back on the democratic vote of the British people and lead us forward to a brighter future.”
Liam ., the international trade secretary, says the leaker was someone who for “whatever malicious reasons, sought to either damage the US-UK relationship or indeed Sir Kim personally”.
Speaking after meeting Sir Kim in Washington on Tuesday night, Dr . said: “I don’t know what the motivations would be at this stage, but it’s very important that we find out who actually carried out this particularly damaging act.
“It’s important that our ambassadors are able to write frankly to politicians. If they have to do so worrying about how it might look in a newspaper it will represent a fundamental change in how our diplomatic system operates.
“I’m afraid the world has looked at this episode and they will have seen that there has been, in this case, what I would describe as an unprofessional, unethical and unpatriotic lapse in the usual standards we have come to expect in this country.”
He said those responsible should take “a long hard look at themselves” and see the damage they have done to their country and to Sir Kim himself.
Stern words here from former Tory MP Nick Boles, who resigned the party whip over Brexit.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill has told Sir Kim Darroch: “Although I understand the reasons for your decision, it is a matter of enormous regret that you were put in this position after a shocking betrayal of trust.”
Sir Mark said: “I know that public servants in the UK and overseas will continue to be guided by the same values of integrity and impartiality that you have shown in these challenging times.”
He added: “You have been an outstanding mentor, colleague and friend. Our country has been stronger for your service. On behalf of the entire public service, I wish you and your family well for the future.”
In the Commons, MPs are debating a bill that would toughen sentences for people found guilty of abusing animals.
If passed, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill would increase the maximum prisons sentence for animal cruelty from six months to five years, plus an unlimited fine.
This would be one of the toughest sentences anywhere in the world.
David Rutley, the rural affairs minister, tells MPs:
“It is a simple yet vital measure to ensure those that perpetrate cruelty on animals are subjected to the full force of the law.”
He said increasing the maximum jail sentence would “help deter people from committing detestable activities against animals, and demonstrate this behaviour is not tolerated in this country.”
Jeremy Corbyn‘s spokesman has hit out at the BBC ahead of tonight’s episode of Panorama, which is about antisemitism in Labour.
He said: “What we haven’t seen is anything remotely comparable over the clear and much stronger evidence of rampant Islamophobia among Conservative Party members.”
He also attacked “the public record of [Panorama producer] John Ware, who has spoken out extensively in opposition to Jeremy Corbyn and his policies”.
Opinion: Refusing to budge on Brexit will be the end of Boris Johnson, writes chief political commentator Andrew Grice
Sir Simon McDonald says officials have been ‘shaken by what has happened’. This incident has challenged the basis of the system they work under.
McDonald says he is “bracing” himself for further diplomatic leaks. “I fear there may be more.”
Downing Street said that Ms May spoke with Sir Kim shortly before PMQs, when the ambassador informed her of his decision to quit. Ms May told him his resignation was a matter of “great regret”.
The PM had written to Sir Kim on Tuesday to assure him off her support and those of the Cabinet, said her official spokesman.
The spokesman declined to say whether the PM had tried to persuade Sir Kim to stay, or whether the ambassador had mentioned Mr Johnson’s comments in last night’s TV debate, saying it was a”private conversation”.
He was unable to set out the timetable for the appointment of a successor, or say whether it would be completed by the time Ms May leaves office, saying only the it would come “in due course”.
The spokesman said Sir Kim also spoke to the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant, permanent secretary Sir Simon McDonald, this morning, but was unable to say whether this came before his conversation with the PM or whether she was informed in advance of his resignation.
Asked to characterise the state of US-UK relations, the PM’s spokesman said: “We have a strong relationship which is based on decades of close cooperation and partnership.
“That remains the case and the PM is confident that will remain the case in the future.”
