THREAD: Here's a handy list of Tory MPs who said Boris Johnson had to go in July and are now saying he should be PM. It's been quite the journey for some...
Lee Anderson said it was wrong for Johnson to appoint Chris Pincher despite a sexual misconduct complaint, and to claim he had forgotten about the allegations. "I cannot look myself in the mirror and accept this" said Mr Anderson, adding that "integrity should always come first".
Anderson has now said: "Boris Johnson just called me. We have had a long chat about everything past and present. My inbox is full of BBB. I am drawing a line under it. Boris has my support."
Dr Caroline Johnson stood down as Tory party vice chair and said that Johnson's “errors of judgement” had “squandered the goodwill” of the party, and that he would “only damage our party and therefore our country" if he stayed. She has now told Times Radio she is backing Johnson.
Jonathan Gullis resigned as a PPS and said: "I feel for too long we have been more focused on dealing with our reputational damage rather than delivering for the people of this country and spreading opportunity for all, which is why I came into politics."
Gullis now says that constituents have been telling him to “bring back Boris” and that Johnson “got the big calls on Covid-19 right".
Antony Higginbotham said he could not “in good conscience continue supporting the current leader of my party... We have, for many months now, given the benefit of the doubt to the Prime Minister. And privately I and others have been pushing for changes in policy and approach."
Higginbotham now says: "Over the last 24 hours my inbox has been inundated with messages. The majority view, and my view, is clear. It’s time to #BringBackBoris. He has the mandate to lead our country & our party."
Simon Clarke tweeted following Mr Johnson's resignation: “I am deeply saddened but this is the right decision."
He now says Teesside is "levelling up because of Boris Johnson" and "the comeback will be greater than the setback"
Another Johnson backer, Jill Mortimer, said in July: “I am deeply saddened by what is happening in my party, and in spite of his getting the big calls right over the past two years, I believe the PM was in an untenable position."
Calling for Johnson to go, Shaun Bailey said "the information which has come to light has left me no other alternative than to believe that a new leader is the only way in which we can win the election and stop the travesty that would be a Labour government".
Bailey now says: "It's a simple one for me. It's time to #BringBackBoris. The members want him, he won the support of my communities and for the constituents I speak to, they want him back."
Amanda Milling said: "Boris has had my support from the start, but resigning was the right thing to do as the damage to our party and country was getting too much."
She now says he is the only candidate with a "proven track record of delivery for the British people".
Johnson is also backed by Mark Eastwood, who said in July that "in footballing terms when you lose not only the dressing room but the coaching staff it makes your position untenable".
Karl McCartney said Johnson no longer had the confidence of "a growing number of his colleagues in the Conservative parliamentary party. Therefore, the time has come for the PM to take the decision to resign".
He now says: "Many of my constituents want him back. I do too."
Gareth Johnson said: "It had become clear that the PM’s position was no longer tenable and he had to resign."
He now says Boris Johnson is "the person who has the ability and the electoral mandate".
Another MP backing Johnson, Henry Smith, said in July: "After leading our country through one of the most challenging periods we have experienced in decades, the Prime Minister’s decision last week to resign was the correct one."
Ben Bradley said that "though it pains me as I have always supported him, this can't continue. Government can't just grind to a halt like this."
He now says: "To be honest, though clearly he made mistakes, I was never one of those who had wanted him to go in the first place."
A few days ago I came across a bed and various possessions on the pavement of a busy Cardiff roundabout.
No one was around. But when I returned at night-time I met the couple living there, Ladislav and his five-months pregnant partner Nada...
Ladislav and Nada, who are both from the Czech Republic, have been together for five years.
They'd been living next to the roundabout (which is under Central Link flyover) for a month and a half since leaving a Cardiff Council hostel.
Ladislav told me they had to leave the hostel because Nada does not have a passport.
Later, when I spoke with the council, I was told Ladislav could access homelessness services but Nada was not eligible because she had no right to reside in the UK.
Rhos Road is a quiet, nondescript street in the suburbs of Swansea.
It also happens to be where 36 fake companies have been registered in the last few weeks.
A thread...
Rita and Brian Davies have lived on Rhos Road for 40 years. In recent weeks they've been getting strange letters from Companies House.
The letters congratulate various people on setting up companies — which have been registered to the Davies' home without the couple's knowledge.
One of the companies is owned by someone purporting to be a 26-year-old called Zhixiang Zhuang. Another is supposedly owned by a 20-year-old, Zefan Wang.
Both are apparently in the business of "raising of other cattle and buffaloes". The street has no farmland in sight.
This woman from Wales was recently prosecuted for not paying her TV licence.
She made clear she'd been in an abusive relationship and relying on foodbanks, but was now able to pay in full.
The case went ahead and she got a £146 court bill and criminal record.
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TV Licensing says prosecution is a "last resort" and vows to support those "making payments towards a licence so the prosecution can be withdrawn"
This disabled single mum from Llanelli was charged three weeks after an inspection despite starting payment plan. Court bill of £214
Disabled woman, 47, from Cardiff, missed eight weeks of TV licence payments. She'd been struggling so much with the cost of living crisis that she gave up her mobility scooter.
Recently I went undercover working at a door-to-door sales operation. I'd heard claims of exploitation and cult-like practices, so I got a job there to investigate
Wearing a hidden camera I gathered evidence of lies, pressure-selling and a network of linked offices around the UK
I worked at an office above a former Poundland in Cardiff. Two firms operated there, owned by men aged 22 and 25. I was trained to “trick” people in pitches for charity sign-ups, and advised to spend time with colleagues rather than family members after shifts.
I witnessed a series of lies told on doorsteps to get elderly people to sign up to direct debits to charities. One pensioner had to say no four times before a sales rep stopped persisting. There was also an attempt to sign up a woman who was clearly confused.
The murder of 18-year-old Lily Sullivan by Lewis Haines has not prompted a huge amount of coverage, but the sheer casualness of this 31-year-old man's evil is terrifying. A man who killed a woman because she rejected him.
These are the words read in court from Lily's mum Anna:
"I suffered 14 miscarriages prior to Lily being born. I had almost resigned myself to not having any children so when Lily was born it felt amazing. She gave purpose to my life, she was my little bit of normal.
"Everything made sense when she arrived. We were so close. She was a beautiful girl inside and out. She didn't see that and lacked self-confidence.
“She always saw the good in people. She was not an angry person or confrontational.