TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Boris Johnson fights for his premiership after MP defects to Labour

Boris Johnson fights for his premiership after MP defects to Labour

Embattled prime minister refuses to step down despite defection and reports of a plot to remove him.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is fighting to save his premiership after a member of his party defected over accusations he and his staff defied lockdown rules, and as an internal Conservative rebellion reportedly gathered pace.

Christian Wakeford, who represents the Bury South constituency in northern England, switched allegiances to join the main opposition Labour Party on Wednesday.

He crossed the lower chamber House of Commons to take a seat on Labour’s benches, a symbolic departure made during the weekly Prime Minster’s Questions (PMQs) session.

“I can no longer support a government that has shown itself consistently out of touch with the hard working people of Bury South and the country as a whole,” he said in a statement.

Asked by an opposition Liberal Democrat lawmaker during PMQs whether it was now time to resign, Johnson replied: “No.”

The Conservative Party leader, who is alleged to have broken social distancing rules in 2020 by attending a party, said people should await the outcome of an inquiry led by a senior civil servant into whether such gatherings were held in breach of COVID-19 restrictions.

The inquiry’s conclusions, expected to be published by next week, will analyse reports of several events that reportedly took place while most other Britons fastidiously followed measures aimed at stemming the virus.

Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from London, said Johnson was “on the defensive but not subdued” during PMQs despite Wakeford’s decision and repeated questioning about the so-called “PartyGate” scandal.

“He was very at pains to say his was a competent government that had done well with the pandemic, but he was put under enormous pressure not just by Labour leader Keir Starmer but also by people on his own side,” Brennan said.


No-confidence vote


Wakeford’s defection heaps yet further pressure on Johnson, who a week ago admitted to attending a garden party at Downing Street during a coronavirus lockdown in May 2020.

Since then, it has emerged that two more gatherings were held at Downing Street on April 16, 2021, in breach of restrictions.

The April parties, which Johnson did not attend, took place the evening before Queen Elizabeth II sat alone as she buried her late husband, Prince Philip, in strict compliance with the virus rules.

A string of other rule-breaking gatherings have been reported, thrusting Johnson into the severest crisis of his premiership since he won a landslide election victory little more than two years ago on a pledge to “Get Brexit Done”.

He has apologised for the parties and said that he was unaware of many of them.

In what critics have called a move to quell the Britons and politicians who are sceptical of COVID restrictions, Johnson scrapped all measures on Wednesday; working from home is no longer being encouraged, mask-wearing is not mandatory, and COVID passes will not be needed for large events.

Johnson told lawmakers that the restrictions were ending because government scientists believed it was likely that the surge of infections prompted by the highly contagious Omicron variant “has now peaked nationally”.

Meanwhile, as public anger rises, some Conservative legislators are reportedly trying to trigger a no-confidence vote.

Under the Conservatives’ rules, for such a vote to take place, 54 legislators must write letters to the head of their parliamentary group demanding a ballot.

A handful of Conservative politicians have called for Johnson to quit, while more have criticised him. Several dozen are understood to have submitted letters.

If Johnson lost a confidence vote, it would lead to a leadership challenge that would by default determine who replaces him as prime minister.

Leading contenders to potentially replace Johnson are thought to include Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, 41, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, 46.


Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×