Boris Johnson‘s brother today dramatically announced he was resigning as an MP because he cannot resolve ‘family loyalty and the national interest’.
In a move that completely blindsided No10, universities minister Jo Johnson said he was standing down in Orpington – suggesting he did not believe the PM was acting in the ‘national interest’.
Mr Johnson is on the Remainer wing of the Tories, having previously resigned from Theresa May’s government accusing her of bungling negotiations with the EU and called for a second referendum.
However, he signed up to the ‘do or die’ pledge to leave the EU by Halloween – with or without a deal – when he joined his brother’s Cabinet in July.
It is another staggering blow for the premier after Remainer MPs boxed him in by passing a law to prevent No Deal.
He has also been blocked by Jeremy Corbyn from calling a snap election to ‘let the people decide’ – leaving him powerless to control Parliament but unable to seek a new democratic mandate.
A No10 spokesman said Jo had been a ‘brilliant talented ministers’ and the PM understood it will not have been an ‘easy matter’.
Jo Johnson has not expanded on his reasons for resigning, but is thought to have been infuriated by the PM’s ‘Stalinist purge’ of 21 Remainer rebels this week. He is believed to have informed his brother last night, but officials were taken completely by surprise.
Some 21 MPs – including eight Cabinet ministers – were brutally expelled from the Parliamentary party after voting in favour of the legislation to stop the UK crashing out of the EU at Halloween.
It opens the prospect of a damaging sibling split, which will bring back memories of the clashes between the Miliband brothers.
Boris Johnson (pictured left at No10 today) suffered a shattering blow today as universities minister Jo (pictured in Downing Street yesterday) dramatically announced he was quitting
In a move that took No10 completely by surprise, universities minister Jo Johnson said he was standing down in Orpington
Jo Johnson backed his brother’s campaign for Tory leader, and attended Cabinet as universities minister. However, he was rumoured to have turned down a more senior role in the government.
Mr Johnson tweeted: ‘It’s been an honour to represent Orpington for 9 years & to serve as a minister under three PMs.
‘In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest – it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & Minister. #overandout.’
One of those expelled, Ed Vaizey, praised Mr Johnson over his decision today.
What could the PM do next – and does he have any cards left to play?
Boris Johnson appears to be quickly running out of options to deliver Brexit after Labour last night voted to block an election on October 15.
The bill to block No Deallooks certain to become law this week, tying the PM’s hands in his pledge to take Britain out of the EU ‘do or die’ on October 31.
Parliament is also due to be suspended early next week, ending fresh opportunities for Mr Johnson to try again to call an election.
Here are his potential courses of action:
ACCEPT A BREXIT DELAY
Mr Johnson could merely recognise that he has been outflanked by Parliament, and rule out No Deal.
But he has made a ‘do or die’ vow to get the UK out of the bloc by Halloween. And he insists his negotiating strategy would be destroyed without the threat of No Deal.
His political career would be effectively over if he did this, and the Tories could be eaten alive by Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.
TRY AGAIN TO CALL AN ELECTION
Mr Corbyn did give Mr Johnson a glimmer of light last night by suggesting Labour could vote for an election after the rebel legislation gets Royal Assent – potentially on Monday. That would just about leave time for an October 15 date.
However, there is no guarantee as Mr Corbyn’s front bench looks to be plunging into civil war over the issue.
Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer told MP earlier that a poll should not be triggered until after a Brexit extension has been granted by the EU. That would require Mr Johnson to beg Brussels, and potentially push the date back well into November.
Similarly, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said the election should not be called for a ‘few weeks’.
CHANGE ELECTION LAW
Passing a new piece of legislation that triggers an election might be easier than using the existing Fixed Term Parliaments Act.
It would only need a simple majority, rather than two-thirds of the Commons.
But Mr Johnson is now in charge of a minority administration, and without Labour support he looks unlikely to have the numbers.
One potential avenue would be splitting the Remainer opposition, perhaps by convincing the SNP to line up behind the government, although the vote would sill be very tight.
GO TO SEE THE QUEEN
If Labour’s Remain-minded faction wins the internal struggle, and it will not support an election before November, Mr Johnson will really be in a corner.
There does not appear to be any plausible legal option open to him to force an election. Some have suggested the government could call a no confidence vote in itself, but it is thought the Speaker would only permit one tabled by the official Opposition.
Some believe his only course could be to see the Queen and tender his resignation. Once it was clear neither Mr Corbyn nor anyone else can command a majority in the House, an election would have to be called.
But this would be a hugely high-stakes gamble, with the outcome highly uncertain. There is no sign he is ready to take it yet.
‘Great respect for @JoJohnsonUK for what must have been a very difficult decision,’ he said.
Fellow rebel Sam Gyimah said: ‘Honest Jo Johnson is a top talent & will be a big loss to politics…
‘Huge admiration for him in resolving an impossible and painful ”conflict of loyalty” in the national interest.’
A No10 spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister would like to thank Jo Johnson for his service.
‘He has been a brilliant, talented minister and a fantastic MP. The PM, as both a politician and brother, understands this will not have been an easy matter for Jo.
‘The constituents of Orpington could not have asked for a better representative.’
It is understood that Jo Johnson will stand down as an MP at the next election.
In a 2013 interview, Boris Johnson was asked whether he and his brother could ever fall out in the same way as the Miliband brothers.
He said: ‘Absolutely not. We don’t do things that way, that’s a very left-wing thing … only a socialist could regard familial ties as being so trivial as to shaft his own brother.’
The PM will launch another searing attack on ‘chicken’ Mr Corbyn in a speech later, accusing him of a ‘cowardly attack on democracy.
But Mr Johnson has been left at the mercy of a raging battle for supremacy within Labour over whether to approve an election once rebel legislation ruling out No Deal has been passed tomorrow night.
Mr Corbyn said in the House yesterday that he backed the idea, which could potentially allow Mr Johnson’s October 15 date to go ahead.
However, shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry have suggested the party should not sign off on a poll before the Halloween Brexit deadline has been extended – which the law dictates must happen by October 19. That could mean a polling date well into November.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell made the extraordinary admission this morning that Labour had yet to decide on its position. ‘We’ve got to get the right date,’ he told Sky News.
He added: ‘We are now consulting about whether it’s better to go long… rather than to go short.’
In a sign of internal tensions, Sajid Javid today insisted Tory Remainer rebels including Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond can be brought back into the party.
The Chancellor said Mr Johnson had no choice but to strip the whip from the 21 Conservative MPs who joined the extraordinary Commons revolt to rule out No Deal this week.
But he said he was ‘sad’ about the situation, and he hoped they would return to the fold ‘at some point’.
The intervention appears to contradict a commitment Mr Johnson gave to Eurosceptic Tories during a meeting last night. The premier told a meeting of the 1922 committee that he would not reverse the decision.
However, Mr Johnson is facing growing disquiet among his own ranks, with one backbencher branding the move ‘Stalinist’.
Tory MP Simon Hoare said today that there was ‘deep disquiet’ at the handling of the rebellion.
‘We can’t win unless our base is broad and representative of all strands of opinion. No10 needs to rethink and fast,’ he tweeted.
‘I think we are better being like Churchill and NOT Stalin #toriesdontpurge’
Damian Green, a cabinet minister under Theresa May, wrote to Mr Johnson last night accusing him of a ‘purge’ of ‘moderate members’.
Writing on behalf of the 100-strong One Nation caucus, he complained the whip had been removed from ‘principled, valued and dedicated colleagues…all of whom have given years of service to the Party, their constituents and the country.’
BREXIT TIMELINE
This afternoon: Boris Johnson addresses the nation in a speech in Wakefield
Monday: Bill to block No Deal Brexit becomes law
By Thursday: Parliament suspended – last chance to call an election before Brexit is delayed
19 October: EU summit where law will compel the PM to ask for a Brexit delay
31 October: Britain due to leave the EU
‘We are deeply concerned about this, and we are asking you to reinstate the Party whip to these colleagues. If your ambition is to unite the Party and the country, last night’s actions have hindered that mission.’
Mr Green said the caucus could only ‘continue to support’ Mr Johnson ‘wholeheartedly’ if ‘moderate modernising Conservatives are still welcome in the Parliamentary Party.’
The PM is preparing a final throw of the dice to get a national poll on Monday.
After suffering a series of body blows in the Commons last night, Mr Johnson will use a speech in Yorkshire later to insist he would never abandon his ‘do or die’ vow to leave the EU by Halloween – and letting the ‘people decide’ is now the only option.
No10 made clear that the premier sees a speech as effectively the start of the election campaign.
After losing the vote on the election motion last night, a visibly frustrated PM ridiculed the stance taken by Mr Corbyn – who did not even bother to be present for the declaration of the result.
Jo Johnson pictured with brother Boris on the campaign trail in Orpington this summer
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured leaving his London home today) blocked the PM’s bid to force a snap election last night
No10 Brexit chief Dominic Cummings looked in good spirits despite the mounting crisis as he arrived at No10 today
He taunted that he was the first Opposition leader ‘in history’ to turn down the opportunity of a poll.
But crucially, Mr Johnson did not give a clear indication of how he could try to extricate himself from the impasse – merely hinting that he might try staging another vote in the coming days.
That move appeared more likely in the early hours of today after the House of Lords reached an unexpected agreement to allow the rebel No Deal bill to pass by tomorrow evening.
A No10 spokesman said today that the PM would ‘speak directly to the nation’ about the political deadlock.
‘Jeremy Corbyn has led a drive by Parliament to back a Surrender Bill that stops us delivering Brexit, and is also cowardly running away from an election that will give the public the opportunity to decide on the path we follow,’ the spokesman said.
‘Parliament has voted to block Brexit and voted not to give the people the power to decide on their future. Boris will argue that it is now time for the people to decide after Parliament has failed them so we can resolve this once and for all.
‘For Jeremy Corbyn to continue to avoid an election would be a cowardly insult to democracy.’
Yesterday’s vote leaves the Prime Minister in potential purgatory with just a few days to find a solution before Parliament is suspended next week.
Labour SPLIT over giving the public an election after Jeremy Corbyn chickened out last night
Labour descended into a bitter civil war over a snap election today as Jeremy Corbyn faces pressure to block a vote until the Brexit date has been delayed.
Mr Corbyn dramatically thwarted Boris Johnson’s call for an October 15 poll last night despite the PM saying he needed a new mandate because Remainer MPs had ‘wrecked’ his Brexit strategy.
Mr Corbyn said in the House yesterday that he backed the idea, which could potentially allow Mr Johnson’s October 15 date to go ahead.
However, shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry have suggested the party should not sign off on a poll before the Halloween Brexit deadline has been extended – which the law dictates must happen by October 19. That could mean a polling date well into November.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell made the extraordinary admission this morning that Labour had yet to decide on its position. ‘We’ve got to get the right date,’ he told Sky News.
He added: ‘We are now consulting about whether it’s better to go long… rather than to go short.’
Last night aides were frantically casting round for an alternative way to either force an election or kill off the rebel legislation.
One insider said: ‘We underestimated the rebels. We thought there would be some loopholes in the legislation we could wriggle through, but it is much better drafted than we had expected.’
Another acknowledged that even securing an election would be a ‘massive gamble’, saying: ‘Nobody knows how it will pan out.’
The PM needed to get the agreement of two thirds of the House for an early election, but fell far short of the mark with Mr Corbyn ordering his troops to abstain.
Just 298 MPs backed a poll, compared to the 434 required.
The result and the legislation looks to have left Mr Johnson facing disaster, as he is unable to honour his ‘do or die’ vow of leaving the EU by Halloween, and unable to call an election to get a fresh mandate.
His only hope appears to be the astonishing spat on Labour’s front bench about whether it should support a poll next week, after the law against No Deal has been finalised and put on the statute book.
A weary-looking Mr Johnson tried to put a brave face on the dire situation after the vote was declared in the House. ‘I note that the leader of the Opposition is once again not in his place in what I think is a slightly symbolic way,’ he said.
‘Forty eight hours ago he was leading the chants of ”stop the coup, let the people vote”, now he is saying ”stop the election and stop the people from voting”.
‘I think he has become the first Leader of the Opposition in the democratic history of our country to refuse the invitation to an election.
‘I can only speculate as to the reasons behind his hesitation, the obvious conclusion is, I’m afraid, that he does not think he will win.
‘I urge his colleagues to reflect on the unsustainability of this position overnight and in the course of the next few days.’
