Boris Johnson news: PM delays US trip after ‘apoplectic Trump call’, as key Labour figure’s fate in leadership contest hangs in balance
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Boris Johnson has chaired the first meeting of his new cabinet after a dramatic reshuffle saw Sajid Javid quit as chancellor in protest at a power grab giving No 10 greater control over the Treasury. Labour said it showed a government “in chaos”.
Mr Javid has wished the PM a “happy Valentine’s” and returned to his duties as MP by opening a pensioners’ fair. Sacked Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith told a group of school children his last meeting with the PM was “great”, and said his plans involved “going to the pub”.
Elsewhere, Labour leadership candidate Emily Thornberry has until the end of Friday to secure backing from 33 local parties to get on the ballot. And Labour has asked the parliamentary watchdog to get to the bottom of who paid for the PM’s £15,000 holiday in Mustique.
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Javid wishes Johnson ‘happy Valentine’s Day’
The new cabinet will meet for the first time today – minus one former chancellor who triggered Boris Johnson’s first real crisis since the election by quitting rather than be neutered by the PM’s closest adviser Dominic Cummings.
Sajid Javid has wished Johnson a “happy Valentine’s Day” following his stunning resignation on Thursday after he refused to accept an order to fire his closest aides and replace them with advisers chosen by No 10.
Leaving his south-west London home on Friday morning, Javid was asked by reporters if he had a message for Johnson. As he walked towards his ministerial car, he answered: “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Dominic Cummings, meanwhile, declined to answer questions about the reshuffle as he left his home, saying “Sorry everyone I’ve got to go” as he climbed into a waiting taxi.
Cummings did chuckle when asked if he was the Thomas Cromwell of British politics.
PM faces parliamentary investigation into £15,000 holiday on Mustique
The Commons sleaze watchdog has been urged to investigate Boris Johnson’s luxury Caribbean holiday, as it emerged that he may have taken advantage of a timeshare-style arrangement.
Labour has now formally asked the parliamentary commissioner for standards to get to the bottom of who paid for the prime minister’s £15,000 break on the island of Mustique.
A spokesperson for David Ross – declared on the register of members’ interests as having covered the £15,000 cost – initially denied the wealthy businessman had paid for it. But the spokesperson later said Ross had “facilitated accommodation” and “therefore ... Mr Johnson’s declaration to the House of Commons is correct.”
A government source suggested that the businessman had been due to occupy the villa on the island of Mustique but then agreed to make it available for their 10-day stay.
An investigation is expected to begin in the coming days.
Labour candidate calls for leadership contests to be suspended
A candidate is calling for the contests to be Labour’s new leader and deputy to be suspended in yet another controversy about the party’s use of data.
Rosena Allin-Khan, who is running to be deputy, urged fellow candidates to adopt her stand – after Labour suddenly refused access to full membership lists from Friday, as promised.
She protested it would leave some members voting without having been contacted directly by the candidates, when the ballot finally opens in a week’s time – penalising those lesser-known.
“It is my belief that the ballot should be postponed until all the data is processed and each campaign has had a decent amount of time to access it,” Allin-Khan said. “Otherwise, the most well-known candidates will have an unfair advantage.”
Labour can win with Corbyn manifesto policies, says Long-Bailey
Labour leadership Rebecca Long-Bailey will tell supporters in Salford the party cannot win the next election if it veers away from the left-wing path set by current leader Jeremy Corbyn. “Retreating from popular policies … is no route to victory,” she is expected to say.
Labour’s shadow business secretary believes the party must not row back from the “popular” policies found in its manifesto but instead learn to explain them better.
In a speech on Friday plotting Labour's path back to power, she is expected to say: “I wouldn’t blame you for looking for an easy option to win next time.
“Give up on something here, be less forthright there and we can win, you might hope. But believe me, the path of despair is also the path to defeat.
“Retreating from popular policies that provide answers to the crises facing our country is no route to victory.”
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Getty)
Sajid Javid’s exit an ‘accident’, thinks former special adviser
Salma Shah, former special adviser to Sajid Javid, has been talking about how Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings probably expected the departing chancellor to stay.
“It feels more like an accident rather than by design,” Salma Shah told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Nothing in the run-up suggested the chancellor would be at risk … it does feel like this has unsettled the whole reshuffle plan.”
She added: “I think Sajid rightly understood that not having his own political advisers would be incredibly detrimental to his decision-making power.
“You cannot have a minister that does not appoint their own special advisers because they cannot appoint anyone else. They are the only people in a government department that are the minister’s responsibility and chosen by them.”
She said Javid was not a politician who wanted to “rock the boat”. She said: “I think the thing you have to remember about him as a person is he is non-confrontational. He is not someone who is going to rock the boat for the sake of his own ego.”
Mel Stride, chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee, said Javid had little choice but to leave following the special adviser row with No 10. The former Treasury minister told Today: “I think he, probably more by accident than design, was put into a position where it was extremely difficult for him to swallow that and move on.”
DUP asks new NI secretary to ‘revisit’ Troubles investigation
Arlene Foster said she wanted new Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis to “revisit” the scope of the historical investigation unit that was proposed in the powersharing deal negotiated by his sacked predecessor.
Some Tories have been uneasy over the suggestion its set-up could see British Army veterans investigated for actions carried out in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
The DUP leader and Northern Ireland’s first minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “(What was) originally mooted in the Stormont agreement does need to be revisited because a lot of matters have changed since then, not least the fact that the chief constable put all of the so-called state killings into the historical investigation unit.
“So there are great difficulties in that - not least that 90% of those who lost their lives in Northern Ireland were killed by paramilitaries, terrorists if you will.
Asked if she would be asking Lewis to review the terms, Foster said: “I had already written to the secretary of state Julian Smith a number of weeks ago saying to him it is very important that the victims take the lead in all of these issues … It is very important that the victims are at the fore.
“I hope Brandon Lewis will listen to the voices of the victims. That is something I will certainly be saying to him.”
Julian Smith planning on his spending more time with a pint
The sacked former Northern Ireland secretary has been asked about his “future plans”. Smith told Sky News his plans would involve “things like going to the pub”.
New chancellor is no ‘puppet’, claims minister
Walking into Downing Street for today’s first meeting of the new cabinet, chief whip Mark Spencer was asked by reporters if Sajid Javid had been forced out.
He replied “No”, before adding: “It’s new a government.”
Earlier, the communities secretary Robert Jenrick denied that newly-appointed chancellor Rishi Sunak would be the PM’s “puppet” after accepting terms of office that his predecessor rejected.
The minister told the BBC: “That’s completely untrue. I know Rishi Sunak well and he is one of the most talented people in politics today.
“He is going to be a fantastic chancellor. He brings with him a great deal of experience from the private sector, he's been an excellent minister in my department, and now at the Treasury.
“He has been heavily involved in the preparations for the Budget in March and I think he is going to hit the ground running.”
New attorney general struggled over ‘secret list’ in disastrous first TV interview
Suella Braverman – a former chair of the European Research Group (ERG) of hardline Brexiteers – endured a very difficult interview on Channel 4 News. It resurfaced after she was made attorney general.
After admitting the ERG was funded by public money, she was asked by host Krishnan Guru-Murthy how many government ministers were in the group. “I’m not going to say how many government ministers are in it,” she said.
“It’s a secret a society is it?” asked Guru-Murthy.
“It’s not a secret society,” she replied, before claiming: “It’s all on the public record, and people are able to disclose their names…”
“Where can we see the list of members?”
“The list of members is kept by the European Research Group … it’s available if necessary.”
“We’ll I’m asking, so it’s necessary – where can I see this list?”
No clear answer came forth.
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