Tories accused of 'leveling' to save Boris Johnson

By Al Mayadeen net
Source: Agencies
30 Jan 2022 10:36

Johnson's government has been accused of attempting to manipulate poorer parts of the UK to keep Johnson in power.

Johnson held illegal parties during Covid-19 lockdowns (Redux)

Boris Johnson's government has been accused of "leveling" to save his premiership.

In the wake of the lockdown party scandal that made headlines the past week, as well as his confession, British PM Boris Johnson is facing arguably the biggest political crisis of his Tory party’s leadership.

Debates have erupted after Michael Gove's Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities issued a press statement — ahead of the publishing of a leveling up white paper this week – stating that 20 towns and cities will benefit from a "new £1.5bn brownfield fund."

The 20 locations would supposedly benefit from “developments combining housing, leisure, and business in sustainable, walkable beautiful new neighborhoods”.

Gove expanded on the initiative as a transformational one that aims to "spread opportunity more evenly and help to reverse the geographical inequalities which still exist in the UK."

However, when contacted by The Observer, Gove's department admitted the new fund is made up of leveling-up money proposed by chancellor Rishi Sunak in last year's spending review.

Labour and other parties considered the attempt of Johnson's party evidence of them attempting to gain support from MPs in "red wall" seats ahead of the "partygate" scandal by Sue Gray this week.

A vote of confidence in the PM would be triggered if at least 54 Tory MPs wrote to Sir Graham Brady expressing their desire for Johnson to resign. If the conservative vote is lost, he loses the premiership.

Thus far, 20 letters have been accounted for while the number needed to trigger a vote of no confidence is 54. Senior party members have confirmed that this number would certainly be secured once Gray’s report arrives.

Not a penny in the pot of gold

Lisa Nandy, the shadow leveling-up secretary, said the Conservatives had been caught attempting to spin that more money had been found for poorer communities when the white paper included nothing they didn't previously know about.

“I don’t think Tory MPs are going to find it very reassuring when the supposed new pot of gold contains not a penny of new money,” Nandy said.

“Not only is the government trying to take the public for fools, they are also trying to take their own MPs for fools. It shows the lengths they are prepared to go to keep Boris Johnson in power. It is beyond contempt.” said SNP leader Ian Blackford.

Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the incident demonstrated that the government was "not remotely serious about leveling up this country."

Johnson has been contacting his MP's and urging them to stay with him as the debate around the lockdown parties has heated up.

On Saturday night, Gray – who had been urged by the Met police on Friday to make limited references in her report to severe offenses related to the meetings under investigation - was said to have still not sent her report to No 10.

According to sources, she would only do so on a day while parliament is in session, forcing Johnson to go immediately to parliament to make a statement, rather than giving him a weekend to spin its results to the media.

Meanwhile, there were calls on Saturday night for the Met to be relieved of its probe due to a "conflict of interest." The requests came from those responsible for supervising the force, who argue it cannot be trusted to deliver on such a politically sensitive matter.

Unmesh Desai, whose questions in the London Assembly last Tuesday led to Met Commissioner Cressida Dick launching the probe, suggested an outside police department should take over the investigation.

Desai, Labour's London Assembly policing and crime spokesperson, said he was writing to the commissioner this week to express his worry that Dick's supervisor is, in effect, the home secretary, Priti Patel, who is appointed by Johnson.

“It’s a clear conflict of interest. Wouldn’t it be better for an outside force to investigate?” said Desai, a member of London's police and crime committee, which oversees policing. Desai said, on behalf of other committee members, “You could even call in a retired chief constable to oversee it, the evidence is all there.”

Johnson controversially supported Patel when she was found to have mistreated employees in an internal investigation in 2020 and she declared her full support for Johnson in the wake of the lockdown parties.

UK govt used blackmail, intimidation to keep Johnson in power: lawmaker

The British government has used intimidation and attempted to blackmail lawmakers suspected of wanting Prime Minister Borish Johnson out of power, a senior Conservative lawmaker claimed Thursday.

This comes as Johnson faces calls to step down in light of various scandals in Downing Street, including his attendance at a party in his office during a COVID-19 lockdown in Britain.