Email from Birmingham Northfield MP (a 2019er) @GarySambrook89 to a constituent about the PM. Says he “would expect anyone who is found to have broken the law to seriously consider their position in the Government and that includes the Prime Minister.”
Another email to a constituent, this time from @kevinhollinrake. Says “There is a requirement within the [ministerial code] that any significant breach would necessitate the rendering of a resignation, and this of course applies to the Prime Minister.”
Constituent letter from Levelling Up minister @NeilDotObrien not exactly a ringing endorsement of BJ: “I would like to assure you I have read the emails on this and understand the strength of feeling here and will be paying close attention to the report and response of the PM.”
Letter from @SteveBrineMP: “I am not even going to try and defend the events in Downing St...they are indefensible in my book.”
Says he’ll wait for Gray report but “I have to make a judgment on not just ‘party gate’...but what I think we will get with the status quo...”
“...and what/who we will get with a change.”
Letter from Stephen Crabb on PM: “He was right to apologise earlier this week but this may not be a sufficient response given the seriousness of these matters.”
Do keep responses coming if you have one
Response from Sir Graham Brady. Says he’s Chair of the 22 but says “it was incumbent on those who introduced them to follow both the letter and the spirit of the regulations that were in force. Like others, I will be looking at Sue Gray’s report into these matters v carefully.”
Chris Loder (admittedly one of the rebels) completely unsparing: “Frankly this situation with No10 is humiliating...I have told the Whip yesterday that an investigation with no timeline’s not good enough and we want this ‘report’ for scrutiny in the Commons urgently.”
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Wow-after what seemed like a decent PMQs David Davis essentially calls for Boris Johnson to resign, invoking Leo Amery to Chamberlain: "You have sat there too long for all the good you have done, in the name of God, go."
Full David Davis quote: "I've spent weeks and months defending the PM...but I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. Yesterday he did the opposite of that...You have sat there too long for all the good you have done, in the name of God, go."
PM says he's not familiar with the famous quote DD has deployed, seems surprising given the PM is a biographer of Churchill.
A Conservative MP texts: “In terms of the management of this crisis and opinion with colleagues, the interview with @BethRigby today was a complete disaster.”
David Davis to @BBCcarolynquinn: “His comments yesterday that ‘I wasn’t told’- I’m afraid that isn’t what I was expecting from a leader...I expect leadership. Leadership means shouldering responsibility and he didn’t do it. Yesterday’s interview was an attempt to escape rbility.”
1) Still some ambiguity. PM repeatedly says he wasn’t warned that it was against the rules/wasn’t work event. Does that mean he wasn’t warned/advised against it at all, in any sense? 2) Q PM will have to answer is why he had to be warned, wasn’t it obvious?
2 continued) not least because PM was the man proselytising those rules to the nation at the time and his staff, also at this event, were those supporting his doing so.
as I say, PM says specifically that no-one warned him it was against the rules/was non work event (or some variation thereof) repeatedly. Beth asks if there was ever a more general warning (or some variation thereof) and PM says the same thing.
NEW: PM denies he was warned about May 20th party- "No, nobody told me that what we were doing was against the rules, the event in question was something that wasn't a work event...When I went out into that garden I thought I was attending a work event."
@BethRigby: "To be clear you're saying Cummings is lying and his version of events is untrue?"
PM:"I can tell you categorically that nobody told me and nobody said that this was sthing that was against the rules or a breach of covid rules or something that wasn't a work event.."
PM:.."because frankly I can't imagine why it would have gone ahead or been allowed to go ahead. My memory, as I've said is going out into the garden for 25 minutes for what I implicitly thought was a work event and talking to staff, thanking staff..."
Andrew Bridgen on the “red meat” strategy: “I find it a little bit patronising. It’s a bit like offering sweets to placate children that you already had in your pocket and you’ve already promised. Most of this was in our manifesto and should have been doing anyway.” #newsnight
Bridgen says Sue Gray should interview Dominic Cummings about his claims.
Peter Bone says that he went canvassing in his constituency at the weekend: “I thought my goodness me I’m going to have a terrible reception on the doorstep. But no, they were wholly supportive of the Prime Minister.” #Newsnight
The obvious striking thing about the polls recently is the size of Labour’s leads. The other less immediately obvious thing is how big the Lab+Green share now is: in this latest poll together they’re at 50%.
The Venn diagram between Labour and Green isn’t entirely shaded. There are some southern areas the Greens attract some votes from the Tories, especially on planning etc. But generally they’re more Labour inclined or non-Conservative if push comes to shove.
Worth noting Conservatives had already suffered in polls before the party story. They’ve in fact been slowly declining since last summer, with especially sharp drop offs in December and since the turn of the year.
Labour lead largest lead for any party with R&W since May 2020