British police issued PM Rishi Sunak with a fine for riding in a car without wearing his seat belt.
London:
British police issued Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a fine on Friday for riding in a car without wearing his seat belt in order to film a clip for social media.
Sunak, who apologised on Thursday for what he called a “brief error of judgement”, filmed a video in the back seat of his car while travelling in the north of England, without wearing a seat belt.
“Following the circulation of a video on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seat belt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire we have today issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty,” Lancashire Police said on Twitter.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Ministry of External Affairs also reacted to the BBC report.
London:
Defending Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the British Parliament, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak distanced himself from the BBC documentary series, saying he “doesn’t agree with the characterization” of his Indian counterpart.
Mr Sunak made these remarks on the controversial documentary that was raised in the British Parliament by Pakistan-origin MP Imran Hussain.
“The UK government’s position on this has been clear and long-standing and hasn’t changed, of course, we don’t tolerate persecution where it appears anywhere but I am not sure I agree at all with the characterization that the honourable gentleman has put forward to,” he said while responding to Hussain’s question on the BBC report.
UK’s National broadcaster BBC aired a two-part series attacking PM Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister during the Gujarat riots of 2002. The documentary sparked outrage and was removed from select platforms.
Prominent Indian-origin UK citizens condemned the series. Prominent UK Citizen Lord Rami Ranger said the “BBC caused a great deal of hurt to over a billion Indians.”
Condemning the biased reporting of BBC, Rami tweeted, “@BBCNews You have caused a great deal of hurt to over a billion Indians It insults a democratically elected@PMOIndia Indian Police & the Indian judiciary. We condemn the riots and loss of life & also condemn your biased reporting.”
Ministry of External Affairs also reacted to the BBC report and said that this is a completely biased copy.
While addressing a weekly briefing in New Delhi, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We think this is a propaganda piece. This has no objectivity. This is biased. Do note that this hasn’t been screened in India. We don’t want to answer more on this so that this doesn’t get much dignity.”
He even raised questions on “the purpose of the exercise and the agenda behind it.”
“The documentary is a reflection of the agency and individuals that are peddling this narrative again. It makes us wonder about the purpose of the exercise and the agenda behind it; frankly, we do wish to dignify these efforts,” he added.
Referring to apparent remarks made by former UK Secretary Jack Straw in the documentary series, Bagchi said “He (Jack Straw) seems to be referring to some internal UK report. How do I have access to that? It’s a 20-year-old report. Why would we jump on it now? Just because Jack says it how do they lend it that much legitimacy.”
“I heard words like inquiry and investigations. There is a reason why we use the colonial mindset. We don’t use words loosely. What inquiry they were diplomats there…investigation, are they ruling the country? Bagchi asked.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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The Sunak government has promised to cut net migration in the UK. (File)
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be considering “all options”, including reducing the number of foreign students, in his bid to bring down the rising net migration in the United Kingdom, according to a report by the BBC.
Mr Sunak will be looking into imposing curbs on foreign students pursuing so-called “low quality” degrees and bringing in dependents, the report said, quoting a Downing Street spokesperson. The spokesperson did not, however, define what is a “low quality” degree.
The UK government’s concerns for rising migration have been set off by the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures this week that showed a huge jump in the number of migrants. Net migration to the UK rose from 173,000 in 2021, to 504,000 this year – an increase of 331,000.
International students, especially Indians who took over the Chinese for the first time to make up the majority of student visas, were a big contributor to this spike.
“We’re considering all options to make sure the immigration system is delivering. The prime minister is fully committed to bringing overall numbers down,” Mr Sunak’s spokesman had said on Friday.
But controlling the number of migrants by restricting the number of foreign students presents a tricky task. British universities lean on higher fees from international students to offset the money, they lose by charging British students a lower fee, with some universities even risking bankruptcy if restrictions were imposed on so-called low-quality degrees, the report said.
An Indian community-led students’ organisation on Friday urged the government to remove international students from the country’s immigration statistics. “Students who are in the UK temporarily, should not be counted as migrants. International students, of which Indians are the biggest cohort, bring a net revenue of GBP 30 billion into the British economy,” said Sanam Arora, Chair of National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK.
The Sunak government has promised to cut net migration in the UK with India-origin Home Secretary Suella Braverman earlier complaining about Indian students overstaying in the country. “I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” she had said.
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a former hedge-fund manager and U.K. Treasury chief, formally became Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday after he was appointed by
King Charles III,
vowing to steer the U.K. through a period of growing political and economic troubles.
In his first speech as prime minister, Mr. Sunak warned of a “profound economic crisis” facing the country, which is suffering from stagflation and has recentlyplunged into deeper political uncertainty with three different prime ministers in seven weeks.
Mr. Sunak said he would keep the current chancellor of the Exchequer,
Jeremy Hunt,
who stepped in to undo Ms. Truss’s tax-cut plan and regain market confidence.
Britain’s first Hindu leader pledged to repair the damage caused by the ill-fated experiment in British Reaganomics of his predecessor,
Liz Truss,
who was forced from office after markets were spooked by large unfunded tax cuts and a generous subsidy for household energy costs.
“Some mistakes were made. Not born of ill will or bad intentions. Quite the opposite in fact, but mistakes nonetheless. And I have been elected as leader of my party and your prime minister, in part to fix them,” said Mr. Sunak, as he stood in front of Downing Street. “I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda.”
King Charles III welcoming Britain’s new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
Photo:
POOL/via REUTERS
Mr. Sunak takes control of a Conservative Party that has its lowest rating in the polls in decades. He will have to orchestrate one of the great political rebrands of recent British political history if he is to lead them to a victory during an election expected in 2024, analysts say.
Mr. Sunak moved quickly Tuesday to steady the Conservative Party. He appointed lawmakers from across warring factions to senior government roles in an effort to rebuild some unity in a party that has ousted its past three prime ministers in as many years. Nearly all the top appointments were cabinet members of former Prime Minister
Boris Johnson,
who was pushed to resign in July by a party rebellion.
In a sign of the challenges facing Mr. Sunak, the new prime minister broke with tradition and didn’t have allies in Downing Street clapping him into the building, underscoring the dark economic times the nation faced as he prepares to oversee some difficult decisions to plug a government budget deficit that is estimated to be 40 billion pounds, equivalent to $45 billion.
“I will unite our country not with words, but with action,” Mr. Sunak said. “I will work day in and day out to deliver for you.”
President Biden spoke Tuesday with Mr. Sunak to congratulate him on his appointment as prime minister, according to a U.K. government readout. The two men discussed bilateral cooperation, including efforts to counter China’s “malign influence,” as well as efforts to bolster Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Mr. Sunak, who at 42 years old is Britain’s youngest leader in more than 200 years, faces a daunting inbox. The British population is struggling with a cost-of-living crisis as inflation runs at 10.1%, fueled by high energy costs because of the war in Ukraine. With financial markets now wary of the stability of U.K. government finances, Mr. Sunak will have to regain market confidence through a combination of politically damaging spending cuts and tax increases, likely aggravating a recession and hurting incomes further, analysts say.
The government is set to outline spending cuts on Monday, only days before the Bank of England is expected to also raise interest rates.
“It’s going to be a terrible time for the economy whoever is in power,” said Jill Rutter, a former government official and a senior research fellow of U.K. in a Changing Europe, a think tank. “It will be very difficult with any government to come through that with the voters saying, ‘That was great.’ ”
Investors have welcomed the end of Ms. Truss’s government and the shift in policy toward more fiscal caution. The pound has fully recovered from its selloff following the tax-cut announcement on Sept. 23, which saw sterling briefly hit a record low of $1.0349. The pound traded at $1.1480 on Tuesday, roughly 2% above its prebudget level.
U.K. government bonds, which were at the heart of the recent U.K. market turmoil, have also staged a strong rally that continued Tuesday as Mr. Sunak took office. The yield on a 10-year U.K. gilt was at 3.647% Tuesday, well below a high of 4.643% set earlier this month, according to Tullett Prebon data. Yields rise as prices fall.
“It’s helpful that we have a resolution, at least for now, to the craziness of the last few weeks,” said Fraser Lundie, head of fixed income for public markets at Federated Hermes in London. “Today and yesterday is the first time where you could start thinking in weeks instead of days. Perhaps in the weeks to come you can start thinking in months.”
But as investors start to take the longer view, they may not like what they see in the U.K. economy, he added. “As the days go on I think people will pretty quickly change their attention from that crazy crisis period back to watching the Bank of England, watching the economic picture. It doesn’t look great to be honest,” he said.
Mr. Sunak’s opening statement came just over an hour after Ms. Truss defended her vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy.
Mr. Sunak takes control of a Conservative Party that has its lowest rating in the polls in decades.
Photo:
HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS
“As the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote: ‘It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult,’ ” she said in a farewell speech outside Downing Street before handing her resignation to King Charles. “We simply cannot afford to be a low-growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth.”
Polls this week showed that Ms. Truss had the lowest approval rating of any prime minister in modern times, with one survey giving her a 6% approval rating.
The Conservative Party “is in free fall and I don’t know if it has a parachute or not,” said Matthew Goodwin, a politics professor at the University of Kent.
In his cabinet shuffle, Mr. Sunak kept Defense Secretary
Ben Wallace
in his post as well as Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
Suella Braverman,
who is popular on the libertarian wing of the party and advocates tough migration restrictions, was named as home secretary.
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Mr. Sunak inherits a political machine that is accustomed to rapid rebrands. The Conservative Party, which was founded in 1834, is one of the world’s oldest and most successful electoral franchises. Its success lies in its ability to repeatedly shed its skin and emerge anew to appeal to the ever-changing needs of its electorate.
The past 12 years of Tory government is a prime example. Under Mr. Sunak, the party will have completed an ideological full circle that started when
David Cameron
came into office in 2010 as a social liberal and fiscal conservative, as his government tried to repair the nation’s finances after the 2008 financial crisis. After the Brexit vote in 2016, Theresa May tried to launch the party in a new socially conservative direction. Her successor, Mr. Johnson, remodeled it into a more populist franchise as he bulldozed through Brexit and ushered in a period of state intervention and high taxes. Ms. Truss took over and tried to rapidly dismantle that with an unsuccessful shift toward free markets and lower taxes.
Mr. Sunak is now expected to take it back to the Cameron-era focus on deficits with a degree of social liberalism, embracing issues such as climate change. It is unclear whether the electorate will buy the Conservative Party’s latest rebrand.
Ms. Rutter recalls being in government when the Conservatives successfully retooled their economic policies after the 1992 “Black Wednesday,” when speculator
George Soros
and other hedge funds forced the pound to break its peg to European currencies. Despite their best efforts, the Tories were never fully forgiven by voters and later spent 13 years out of office. Having worked hard to rebuild their brand as competent on the economy after 2010, the Conservatives “had an economic competence premium, and Truss managed to burn through that,” Ms. Rutter said.
In a February speech, Mr. Sunak, then chancellor, laid out his views on the challenges facing the U.K. and other Western economies where economic growth is slowing and productivity is stagnant. He warned that failure by politicians to create the conditions for faster growth would undermine public support for free-market economies and democracy in a world where autocracies such as China are on the march.
Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s new prime minister and the first person of color to lead the country. WSJ’s David Luhnow explains how the former investment banker quickly rose through the ranks to head one of the world’s largest economies. Photo illustration: Ryan Trefes
But he also warned against what he described as two false ideas on how to spur growth. The first was more government spending, regardless of its impact on borrowing and debt. The second was unfunded tax cuts, the idea that slashing taxes will unleash growth that will eventually give the government more money from a dynamic economy to spend on social services and investment. The latter idea is precisely what his predecessor, Ms. Truss, tried and failed to carry out some seven months after Mr. Sunak’s speech.
“The trap of both those ideas—that we can simply boost the economy with public spending, or supposedly self-funding tax cuts—is that they are both highly seductive, easy answers,” he said. “Neither are serious or credible; neither on their own will transform growth; and because they ignore the trade-offs inherent in economic policy, both are irresponsible.”
Instead, Mr. Sunak outlined three areas he called capital, people and ideas aimed at getting businesses to invest more. He said capital invested by British companies averages 10% of annual economic output versus a 14% average in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development club of rich countries. He pledged to help drive innovation by creating the right tax and regulatory environment for business to boost capital investment and spending in research and development, called for more vocational training of employees already in the workforce, and a visa system to attract entrepreneurs and high-skilled workers.
“Less ‘build it and they will come’ and more ‘let them come and build it,’” he said.
Mr. Sunak will have to navigate opposition from lawmakers within his own party to increased immigration of any kind.
On Monday, Mr. Sunak warned lawmakers during a private meeting that they had no option but to cooperate if they wanted to avoid losing the next election, according to people present. He is hoping that the Tory lawmakers’ desire for self-preservation will trump their personal ideological leanings, one person added.
Mr. Sunak inherits a healthy majority in Parliament following Mr. Johnson’s 2019 electoral victory and so should be free to push through legislation as long as he can contain rebellions.
Mr. Sunak said he would stick to the 2019 manifesto that helped Mr. Johnson secure his electoral victory. It included a pledge to help left-behind parts of the country and crack down on illegal migration. “I will deliver on its promise,” he said.
—Chelsey Dulaney and Vivian Salama contributed to this article.
Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com and David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com
Rishi Sunak said “economic stability and competence” will be at the heart of his government’s agenda.
New UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak started delivering on his “work would begin immediately” promise within an hour of his meeting with King Charles II. Sources said he has asked for the resignation of several members of Liz Truss’s team of ministers as a precursor to the announcement of his new cabinet.
So far four ministers have been asked to step down. Among them are Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis, Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith and Development minister Vicky Ford, sources said.
Jeremy Hunt — who replaced Kwasi Kwarteng — will stay on as the finance minister, tweeted the Prime Minister’s official twitter handle.
The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP @Jeremy_Hunt has been re-appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer @HMTreasury. #Reshufflepic.twitter.com/Z2RepjNHj2
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) October 25, 2022
In his first address as Prime Minister, Mr Sunak promised to place “economic stability and competence” at the heart of his government’s agenda. “Trust is earned and I will earn yours,” he said, describing his election as a measure to correct the “mistakes” of his predecessors.
His government, Mr Sunak also said, will deliver on the promise of stronger NHS (National Healthcare system), schools, safer streets, supporting armed forces, levelling up and create jobs. It will have “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level,” he had said.
UK is currently facing a huge economic slump that’s rapidly progressing towards recession. Critics have accused the Conservative party of failing to address the situation.
Last week, Mr Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss stepped down after her mini budget — which had a large component of unfunded tax cuts — spooked the markets. The U-turn made by Jeremy Hunt, whom she appointed after sacking Kwasi Kwarteng, was unable to reverse the economic tumult.
Bond yields had spiked and the pound collapsed to a record dollar-low on fears of spiralling debt. Mr Sunak’s takeover had stabilised the situation to an extent, but Mr Hunt had warned of “difficult decisions” in the days ahead.
In his address today, Mr Sunak echoed the sentiment. But he said it would be tempered with “compassion”.
“You saw me during Covid doing everything I could to protect people and businesses with schemes like furlough. There are always limits, more so now than ever. But I promise you this, I will bring that same compassion to the challenges we face today,” he said.
LONDON—U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss fired Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng and reversed crucial parts of her government’s tax cuts, after her plans to jolt the economy into growth unraveled in spectacular fashion following a backlash from financial markets and her party.
Mr. Kwarteng, who three weeks ago presented the U.K.’s largest tax cuts since the 1970s, was asked to quit by Ms. Truss as markets balked at the scale of the borrowing required to fund the package and her lawmakers protested at the prospect of deep public-spending cuts. Mr. Kwarteng’s tenure as chancellor of the exchequer was the second shortest in recent British history. He was replaced by Jeremy Hunt, a party centrist and former foreign secretary.
LONDON (AP) — Liz Truss has been elected as the Conservative Party’s new leader, the party announced Monday, and she will take office Tuesday as Britain’s new prime minister to steer the country through an acute cost-of-living crisis.
The 47-year-old Truss, who is currently foreign secretary, beat former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak after a leadership contest in which only about 170,000 dues-paying members of the Conservative Party were allowed to vote. Truss received 81,326 votes, compared with Sunak’s 60,399.
She faces immediate pressure to deliver on her promises to tackle the cost-of-living crisis walloping the U.K. and an economy heading into a potentially lengthy recession.
Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to formally appoint Truss as Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday. The ceremony will take place at the queen’s Balmoral estate in Scotland, where the monarch is spending her summer, rather than Buckingham Palace in London.
The two-month leadership contest left Britain with a power vacuum at a time of growing discontent amid spiraling energy and food costs. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made no major policy decisions since he announced he was stepping down on July 7, and officials insisted that measures to address the energy cost crisis would be deferred until his successor is in place.
Meanwhile tens of thousands of workers have gone on strike to demand better pay to keep up with relentlessly rising costs. Inflation is above 10% for the first time since the 1980s, and the Bank of England has forecast that will reach a 42-year high of 13.3% in October. That’s largely driven by soaring energy bills, which will jump 80% for the average household starting next month.
“I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply,” Truss told party members after she was elected.
“I know that our beliefs resonate with the British people: Our beliefs in freedom, in the ability to control your own life, in low taxes, in personal responsibility,” she added. “I know that’s why people voted for us in such numbers in 2019 and as your party leader I intend to deliver what we promised those voters right across our great country.”
Truss has won the support of many Conservatives with her zeal in rolling back state intervention and slashing taxes. Both she and her rival Sunak have spoken of their admiration for Margaret Thatcher, who was prime minister from 1979 to 1990, and her free-market, small-government economics.
But it’s not clear how Truss’s right-wing brand of conservatism, which played so well with party members — who represent far less than 1% of the U.K.’s adult population — will go down with the wider British public, especially those most in need of government relief to afford essentials like heating their homes this winter.
Truss has promised to act “immediately” to tackle soaring energy bills, but declined to give any details so far.
“The Conservative Party members wanted that message of tax cutting. The country, I would guess, less so,” said Bronwen Maddox, director of London’s Chatham House think tank.
“At the moment you’ve got people deeply rattled, many very, very afraid going into a year where all they can see are rising costs,” Maddox added. “Until she’s got an answer on that, she doesn’t have a claim to the popularity of the country, I think.”
While the economy is certain to dominate the first months of the new premier’s term, Truss will also have to steer the U.K. on the international stage in the face of Russia’s war in Ukraine, an increasingly assertive China and ongoing tensions with the European Union over the aftermath of Brexit — especially in Northern Ireland.
Australia, New Zealand and Japan issued congratulations to Truss early Tuesday and looked forward to strengthening their ties with the U.K. under her government. “She has been a staunch supporter of the UK’s ‘tilt’ to the Indo-Pacific and played a central role in advancing our historic Free Trade Agreement,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
Truss will be the U.K.’s fourth Conservative prime minister in six years, entering Downing Street following Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron.
Johnson was forced to resign after a series of ethics scandals that peaked in July, when dozens of cabinet ministers and lower-level officials quit in protest over his handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by a senior member of his government.
Both Truss and Sunak were key players within Johnson’s Cabinet, though Sunak resigned in the last days of Johnson’s time in office.
A Truss government may not sit well with many because it reminds voters too much of Johnson’s misdeeds, said Steven Fielding, a professor of political history at Nottingham University.
“She’s basically been elected as Boris Johnson 2.0 by Conservative members — she’s made it very clear that she is a loyal Boris Johnson supporter,” he said. “I think she’s going to find it very difficult to disentangle herself from the whole Johnson shadow.”
Truss and Sunak were the final two candidates whittled from an initial field of 11 leadership hopefuls.
Under Britain’s parliamentary system of government, the center-right Conservative Party was allowed to hold an internal election to select a new party leader and prime minister without going to the wider electorate. A new general election isn’t required until December 2024.
LONDON (AP) — The fractious race to replace Boris Johnson as Britain’s prime minister entered an unpredictable endgame Tuesday as three candidates for Conservative Party leader were left battling for the two spots in a run-off vote.
Kemi Badenoch, a previously little-known lawmaker who has become a rising star of the party’s right wing, was eliminated from the contest after receiving the fewest votes from Conservative lawmakers in their fourth round of voting.
After the latest vote knocked Badenoch out, former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak led the shrinking field of candidates and had all but secured his place in the final pair. Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who were neck and neck behind him, will now scramble to woo Badenoch’s supporters before a final elimination vote on Wednesday.
All are running to succeed Johnson, who quit as party leader this month after snowballing ethics scandals sparked mass resignations in his government.
The two finalists will go to a runoff vote by all 180,000 members of the Conservative Party, with a winner expected to be announced Sept. 5.
Sunak got 118 votes on Tuesday, two short of the number that would guarantee he is one of the two candidates Conservative members can choose. Mordaunt received 92 votes, Truss 86 and Badenoch 59.
The remaining candidates are also courting supporters of Tom Tugendhat, an influential lawmaker who was eliminated from the contest on Monday.
Both Mordaunt and Badenoch tweeted praise for Tugendhat after Monday’s vote. Truss promised to increase military spending from 2% to 3% of gross domestic product — a key issue for Tugendhat, a former soldier who chairs the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
The bitter campaign has exposed deep divisions in the Conservative Party at the end of Johnson’s scandal-tarnished reign. Opponents have rounded on Sunak for raising taxes in response to the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Sunak has hit back that his rivals are peddling economic “fairy tales.”
In a contest where every vote counts, the electorate of 358 Conservative legislators was reduced Tuesday to 357. Tobias Ellwood, a Johnson critic who supports Mordaunt, was suspended from the party group in Parliament for failing to vote in a confidence motion on Monday.
The government easily won the vote thanks to a big Conservative majority, but Ellwood was punished for not cutting short a trip to Moldova to return for it.
Ellwood, who heads Parliament’s Defense Committee, said he had been unable to return “due to unprecedented disruption both here and in the U.K.,” where a heat wave is adding to summer travel chaos.
“I am very sorry to lose the whip but will now continue my meetings in Ukraine promoting the prime minister’s efforts here and specifically seeking to secure the reopening of Odesa port — so vital grain exports can recommence,” Ellwood said.
___
Follow all of AP’s coverage of British politics at https://apnews.com/hub/boris-johnson
Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid both announced they were quitting in letters posted to Twitter within minutes of each other on Tuesday evening.
“The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously,” Sunak said in his resignation letter. “I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”
“In preparation for our proposed joint speech on the economy next week, it has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different,” Sunak added in the letter. “I am sad to be leaving Government but I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we cannot continue like this.”
Javid wrote that “it has been an enormous privilege to serve in this role, but I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience.” Javid added that the vote of confidence in the prime minister last month “was a moment for humility, grip and new direction.”
“I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership — and you have therefore lost my confidence too,” Javid wrote.
Scandal after scandal
The most immediate controversy facing Johnson is Downing Street’s handling of last week’s resignation of deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, who stepped down from his post last Thursday amid allegations he had groped two guests at a private dinner the night before.
Downing Street has struggled to explain why Pincher was in government in the first place, amid a wave of revelations about his previous alleged conduct, denying Johnson knew anything specific about the allegations.
On Tuesday, it emerged that a complaint had been made against Pincher in the Foreign Office about three years ago and that Johnson was briefed on what happened.
Minutes before Sunak and Javid announced their resignations, Johnson acknowledged it “was a mistake” to appoint Pincher to his government.
UK opposition leader Keir Starmer said it was “clear” that the government was “collapsing.”
“Tory cabinet ministers have known all along who this Prime Minister is. They have been his cheerleaders throughout this sorry saga. Backing him when he broke the law. Backing him when he lied repeatedly. Backing him when he mocked the sacrifices of the British people,” the Labour Party leader said in a statement released after the two resignations.
For months Johnson has been facing a barrage of criticism over his conduct and that of his government, including illegal, lockdown-breaking parties thrown in his Downing Street offices for which he and others were fined. Johnson has faced numerous other scandals that have hit his standing in the polls — despite his 80-seat landslide victory just two-and-a-half years ago. These include accusations of using donor money inappropriately to pay for a refurbishment of his Downing Street home and whipping MPs to protect a colleague who had breached lobbying rules.
Last month, he survived a confidence vote, but the final count of his lawmakers who rebelled against him was higher than his supporters expected: 41% of his own parliamentary party refused to back him.
But while he managed to win the confidence vote, he suffered a further blow late last month when his party lost two parliamentary by-elections in a single night, raising new questions about his leadership. According to an Ipsos UK survey conducted between 22-29th June, Johnson’s Conservative Party is at its lowest level recorded in more than a decade when it comes to being seen as “fit to govern”. Just 21% of respondents said it is fit to govern — the lowest number for either the Conservatives or Labour since Ipsos started tracking this metric in 2011.
More resignations
Javid and Sunak were not the only ones to go on Tuesday. Shortly the two quit their jobs, Conservative party vice chair Bim Afolami announced live on television that he too was resigning. During an interview with The News Desk’s Tom Newton Dunn, Afolami said: “I just don’t think the Prime Minister any longer has my support… the support of the party or indeed the country anymore.”
Afolami called for Johnson to step down and then said he would also give his own resignation. “I think you have to resign because I can’t serve under the Prime Minister.”
Several other junior-ranking government officials also announced resignations later on Tuesday.
CNN’s Luke McGee, Sarah Dean, Luke Henderson, Lauren Kent, Jorge Engels and Maija Ehlinger contributed reporting.
