Where's Boris?

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Good evening, Tom Ambrose here to bring you all the latest fallout from Westminster today as Boris Johnson’s own MPs continue to turn up the heat on the prime minister after his display in the Commons this afternoon. He dismissed opinion polls suggesting Johnson should resign and said Tory MPs who have called for the PM to go were “people who are always unhappy”. He said: Johnson says he is a unionist. But Brexit, which he arguably made happen, has put fresh strains on the union, during Covid he has had to govern, in many respects, as an English PM, not a UK PM (because devolution has allowed health policy to vary markedly), and now his leadership is driving an England/Scotland wedge through the party. Published: 12:56 PM Top Boris Johnson aide says there was 'chaos' in Downing Street during Covid response – video On that note, I am done for the day, but my colleague Tom Ambrose is taking over to keep you updated with the latest developments.

That's now 19 @ScotTories MSPs calling for @BorisJohnson to quit (that's more than 60% of the Tory Holyrood group) #partygate https://t.co/68kDXheNEe— Severin Carrell (@severincarrell) January 12, 2022 I know a lot going on. PM absolutely right to apologise and we need to let the investigation complete its work.

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One former minister was even less convinced, saying Johnson “didn’t apologise for what he did but for things that may or may not have happened which he officially knows nothing about until Sue Gray tells him about it”. Another MP said: “I’ve not seen such a half-arsed apology since my child apologised for spilling all the milk.” Some cabinet ministers later tweeted their qualified support for the prime minister – though the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, was noticeable by his silence and absence from the frontbench as Johnson offered his account during prime minister’s questions.

What it does, it reminds us of what we were doing at that time. And what was I doing in May 2020? I was dressed in PPE. Yeah, the weather was warm. I was sweating. Trying not to pass out every time I went into the contamination room to see a patient who had Covid in our full PPE. We weren’t going out in the evenings to gather as colleagues to have drinks. Published: 1:11 PM Boris Johnson had ‘wrong skill set’ to lead during Covid, top aide tells inquiry Whole point of why I & other official told MR - WTF YOU DOING HOLDING A PARTY - was cos the invite = obv totally SOCIAL NOT WORK (UNlike all the mtngs in garden).Asked if he would run again for the Tory leadership, Raab said that was a “daft question”. He added: “I’m fully supportive of this prime minister and I’m sure he will continue for many years to come.” A junior minister agreed, saying Johnson had effectively “bet the farm” on the Gray report. “He’s done enough to win himself another week or two. If Gray doesn’t directly pin the blame on him, it will be framed by No 10 as exoneration,” they said. The adjacent seat meanwhile – Dulwich and West Norwood – elected Labour MP Helen Hayes to Parliament with 66% of the vote in 2019, with the Conservatives coming in third place behind the Green party candidate. Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy PM, told BBC News that Boris Johnson had given a “very clear account” of the events of 20 May 2020.

Again, responsibility for any declaration is on the recipient, in this case allegedly the party. Donors can hand over any amount, and it is up to the recipient to ensure that any donation or loan is within the law. The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, said Johnson had been “right to personally apologise” because people were “hurt and angry at what happened”. She said it was now right to await the findings of senior civil servant Sue Gray’s inquiry into Downing Street gatherings. The findings could come as soon as the end of next week but more likely the week after, a cabinet source suggested.

An NHS doctor has described Boris Johnson’s apology as “insulting”, as she recalled how she was sweating while working in full PPE around the same time as the event took place. Dr Saleyha Ahsan, who lost her father to Covid in the pandemic, said she believes the prime minister’s situation is untenable. According to i, the Johnsons are planning on moving to a five-bedroom house on the outskirts of Dulwich Village near Herne Hill. As colleagues are saying to one another and off the record, I sadly think that the prime minister’s position is untenable.