Category Archives: boris johnson

No.10 Was ‘Sexist, Toxic And Awful’ Under Boris Johnson, Says Ex-Senior Civil Servant

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Boris Johnson oversaw a “toxic culture” in No.10 which saw the “obvious sexist treatment” of women, according to a former senior civil servant.

In shocking testimony heard by the Covid Inquiry, Helen MacNamara slammed the misogynistic environment in No.10 during the pandemic.

The former deputy cabinet secretary said the “dominant culture was macho and heroic” and “contaminated by ego”.

Statement handed to the Covid Inquiry by Helen MacNamara .
Statement handed to the Covid Inquiry by Helen MacNamara .

Covid Inquiry UK

Speaking at the Inquiry, she added that she was not alone in her feelings about how No.10 operated.

“Women whose job it was to do something were not able to do their jobs properly because they weren’t having the space or being treated with respect,” she said.

“It was both striking and awful.”

She added that the shift in attitude towards women had been recent and that despite the team always being dominated by men, she would “not have characterised No.10 as an abnormally sexist environment in the context of Westminster”.

Her statement added: “Women who had worked in the Cabinet Office for some time, reported feeling as if they’d become invisible overnight.”

Asked whether the issue resonated purely on a personal level or whether it had wider repercussions, MacNamara explained that culture was “problematic because it meant debate and discussion was limited, junior people were talked over and it felt that everything was contaminated by ego”.

Statement by Helen MacNamara on sexism at No 10
Statement by Helen MacNamara on sexism at No 10

Covid Inquiry UK

Messages revealed earlier in the Inquiry show Dominic Cummings referring to her as a c**t and saying he wanted to “personally handcuff her and escort her from the building”.

MacNamara said she found Cumming’s comment both “surprising and not surprising” as “it wasn’t a pleasant place to work” because Cummings was often angry and frustrated.

She added that Cummings was not alone in this type of attitude and suggested Johnson enabled the casual use of violent and crude language.

The then prime minister’s failure to end this behaviour, she added, was “miles away from what is right, or proper, or decent, or what the country deserves”.

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Boris Johnson Believed Old People Should ‘Accept Their Fate’ And Catch Covid

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Boris Johnson wanted old people to “accept their fate” and catch Covid so that the young could get on with their lives, it has been revealed.

The former prime minister also suggested that he agreed with Tory MPs who believed the virus was “nature’s way of dealing with old people”.

The shocking revelations were contained in former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance’s diaries, which have been made public by the Covid Inquiry.

It also emerged yesterday that a former aide to Johnson believed the former PM had asked “why are we destroying the economy for people who will die anyway soon” in the early days of the pandemic.

Writing in his diary on August 28 2020, Vallance said: ”[Johnson] is obsessed with old people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going. Quite a bonkers set of exchanges.”

In a further entry on December 12 that year, said: ”[Johnson] says his party ’thinks the whole thing is pathetic and Covid is just nature’s way of dealing with old people – and I am not entirely sure I disagree with them.”

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “This inquiry is painting a clear picture of a Conservative Party totally unfit to govern our country.

“Every shocking revelation is another devastating blow to the families who lost loved ones to Covid. It is hard to hear how badly Conservative ministers failed them, our NHS and our country.”

Natalie Grayson, national officer for care at the GMB union, said Johnson’s remarks “reveal the utter contempt his government showed to people living and working in care homes”.

“Care workers long suspected ministers were treating the lives of the elderly and vulnerable as less valuable than others,” she said.

“Emergency workers, care workers, residents and their families are the ones who have had to live with the trauma of the government’s failure. Boris Johnson is a disgrace.”

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Inquiry Needed Into What Boris Johnson Knew About Peter Bone Allegations, Say Lib Dems

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Boris Johnson’s decision to make Tory MP Peter Bone a minister despite an ongoing inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct must be formally investigated, the country’s most powerful official has been told.

Bone faces a six-week suspension from the Commons and losing his seat in a by-election after a Westminster ethics watchdog found he bullied and sexually harassed a member of his staff.

The Lib Dems have demanded Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, access Johnson and Liz Truss’ emails and text messages about the Wellingborough MP to avoid a “Conservative Party cover up”.

In one incident, Bone “trapped” a young male employee in a Madrid hotel room and indecently exposed himself.

Bone was found by the independent expert panel inquiry to have “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the man, who was in his early 20s.

He has denied the allegations. In a statement Bone said: “None of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.”

A complaint was first raised about the behaviour in 2015 when David Cameron was prime minister and again in 2017 when Theresa May was in No.10. The Conservative Party opened an investigation in 2018.

Bone, who was first elected in 2005, has spent the majority of his career as a backbencher.

But in July 2022, Johnson appointed Bone to the job of deputy Commons leader. It involved handling how complaints of bullying in parliament are dealt with.

When Liz Truss’ became PM, she sacked Bone and abolished the role entirely.

Christine Jardine, the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson, said on Tuesday: “We need an urgent inquiry to understand what Conservative ministers knew about the allegations against Peter Bone when these complaints were made.

“Boris Johnson must also be held accountable for his decision to appoint Peter Bone as deputy leader of the Commons despite the complaints made against him.”

She added in a letter to Case: “There are serious questions to be answered about what Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and other Conservative ministers knew about these allegations including when Peter Bone was appointed to a ministerial position.

“It is therefore crucial that any inquiry has full access to communications sent by Johnson and other ministers at the time, including emails, text messages and other electronic and written correspondence.”

Asked if an inquiry would be launched into Bone’s appointment as a minister, Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said: “I am not aware of any plans for that, no.”

Bone has been one of most notorious backbenchers for many years, and often a thorn in the side to his own party leaders. An unashamed eurosceptic, he had described Ukip as a “good thing for British politics”. And also called the idea of introducing same-sex marriage “completely nuts”.

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‘He’s Wrong’: James Cleverly Condemns Boris Johnson Over Ukraine

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James Cleverly has hit back at Boris Johnson after he accused Rishi Sunak of failing to give enough support to Ukraine.

The former prime minister launched an outspoken attack on western governments’ response to the ongoing Russian invasion in an article in The Spectator last week.

Johnson said: “I have asked it before, and I ask it again: what the hell are we waiting for?”

Shown Johnson’s comments by Trevor Phillips on his Sky News show this morning, Cleverly said: “He cannot be talking about the United Kingdom.

“Under his tenure, and I always pay tribute to his leadership on this, we supplied those NLAW anti-tank missile systems that were so instrumental in the defence of Kyiv, we supplied training.

“Under Rishi Sunak as prime minister we were the first in the world to commit main battle tanks, other countries in the world then followed our example.

“We were the first to commit to the training of fast jet pilots, then other countries followed our example.

“We were the first to commit to those long-range missiles that have been instrumental in helping the Ukrainians in their battle in the south and south-east of Ukraine. So we have led the world on all these issues.”

James Cleverly was showed Johnson's comments on Sky News
James Cleverly was showed Johnson’s comments on Sky News

But Phillips replied: “Surely [Boris Johnson] should know about the issue of pace? He was the fastest of western leaders to respond. And he now says that the momentum that he set is essentially being run into the ground by you guys. You’ve got to take this seriously.”

Cleverly said: “Of course I take his comments seriously, but I’ve just given you evidence of the fact that he is wrong on this issue.

“I speak to the Ukrainians very regularly on this. They remain incredibly grateful, not just for our donations but our leadership on this issue.”

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Fresh By-Election Nightmare For Rishi Sunak As Chris Pincher To Resign As MP

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Chris Pincher has said he will resign as an MP, triggering yet another by-election headache for Rishi Sunak.

The move came after he lost his appeal against an eight-week parliamentary suspension for allegedly groping two men.

Pincher, the MP for Tamworth, resigned as Conservative deputy chief whip last June after the allegations first emerged. He was also stripped of the Tory whip.

The scandal ultimately led to Boris Johnson’s resignation as prime minister.

In a statement on Thursday, Pincher said: “I have said already that I will not stand at the next General Election.

“However, following the Independent Expert Panel’s decision I wanted to talk to my office team and family.

“I do not want my constituents to be put to further uncertainty, and so in consequence I have made arrangements to resign and leave the Commons.

“Tamworth is a wonderful place and it has been an honour to represent its people. I shall make no further comment at this time.”

Pincher has been an MP since 2010 and retained his seat at the 2019 election with a majority of 19,634.

However, given their commanding lead in the opinion polls, Labour will will fancy their chances of seizing the seat and delivering yet another blow to the prime minister.

Sunak is already facing an embarrassing by-election defeat in Mid Bedfordshire in October, after Nadine Dorries finally stepped down as an MP.

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‘This Was A Conservative Policy’: BBC Presenter Skewers Minister Over Tory ULEZ Hypocrisy

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A Conservative minister was left squirming after a BBC presenter highlighted the Tories’ hypocrisy over London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

Transport secretary Mark Harper was skewered by John Kay on the day the controversial scheme is expanded across the whole of the capital.

The decision by Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has been criticised by the Tories.

But on BBC Breakfast this morning, it was pointed out to Harper that ULEZ was originally the brainchild of Boris Johnson when he had Khan’s job in 2015.

Kay told him: “There are millions of people waking up this morning inside the ULEZ charging zone in London.

“I just want to read you a quote from the mayor of London: ‘The world’s first ULEZ zone is an essential measure to help improve air quality in our city and protect the health of Londoners’.

“That was former mayor of London, Conservative Boris Johnson. This was a Conservative policy originally, however critical you are of it now.”

Harper replied: “No, the expansion of the ULEZ zone to cover the whole of Greater London is a decision by the Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, supported by the Labour leader.

“If you look at the mayor’s own impact assessment, it will have a minor to negligible effect on air quality. So it’s very clear, despite what the mayor says, this isn;t about improving air quality in Greater London, it’s about raising from Londoners for him.”

Kay then went on to point out that expanding ULEZ from central London was backed during the pandemic by Harper’s predecessor as transport secretary, Grant Shapps.

He said: “It wasn’t just Boris Johnson though, was it? Former Conservative transport secretary Grant Shapps, your predecessor in your job, he wanted the congestion charge in London expanded three years ago.”

But Harper hit back: “No he didn’t, this has been put around by the Labour Party. This was about the expansion of the ULEZ to the north and south London circular area, which was something that was a manifesto commitment by the mayor.

“The government does not support the rollout of the ULEZ to the whole of Greater London – we’ve been very clear about that.”

Under ULEZ, drivers of polluting vehicles are charged £12.50 per day.

Khan has insisted that its expansion is necessary to improve air quality across the whole of London.

However, the move was blamed for Labour’s failure to win the recent Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, which prompted Keir Starmer to urge the mayor to re-think the policy.

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Major Boost For Rishi Sunak As Tories See Off Labour Challenge In Uxbridge

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The Conservatives have narrowly beaten Labour to retain Boris Johnson’s former seat following a bitter by-election campaign.

In a major blow for Keir Starmer, Steve Tuckwell beat Tory candidate Danny Beales by just 495 votes to become the new MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

The by-election was called following Johnson’s dramatic resignation last month after he was found guilty by the privileges committee of repeatedly lying to parliament over partygate.

The former prime minister retained the seat with a majority of 7,210 at the 2019 election.

Tuckwell received 13,965 votes to Beales’s 13,470 to claim the constituency for the Tories once again.

The Conservatives effectively turned the by-election into a referendum on Labour mayor Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across the whole of the city from next month.

The result of a huge boost for Rishi Sunak, who had been braced for the Tories to lose the seat, given the unpopularity of the government and Labour’s commanding lead in the national polls.

A Labour spokesperson said: “This was always going to be a difficult battle in a seat that has never had a Labour MP and we didn’t even win in 1997. We know that the Conservatives crashing the economy has hit working people hard, so it’s unsurprising that the ULEZ expansion was a concern for voters here in a by-election.”

Elsewhere, Labour have won the Selby and Ainsty by-election after toppling one of the safest Tory seats in the country.

And in the third by-election of the night, the Lib Dems pulled off a stunning victory in a previously safe Tory seat of Somerton and Frome.

Despite the Conservatives avoiding a three-nil defeat, the swing in the vote went away from the Tories in every seat.

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Harriet Harman Tearful After Tory MP’s Defence Against Partygate Attacks From Boris Johnson Allies

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The House of Commons was emotional as a Conservative MP made a moving tribute to Harriet Harman following attacks from Tories over Boris Johnson and partygate.

Conservatives allied to Johnson have suggested veteran Labour MP Harman, who chaired the privileges committee which found the former MP guilty of lying to parliament repeatedly, was biased because of tweets she posted about partygate before taking up the role.

On Monday, MPs approved the committee’s report that judged the former prime minister’s outriders had launched a “co-ordinated” attack on its work.

During a debate ahead of the report being nodded through without the need for a vote, Conservative MP Laura Farris made an intervention damning her Tory colleagues.

Harman has long been aware of the potential issue – and asked the government for the green light to continue as chair of the committee investigating Johnson.

Harman said she wanted to avoid the “perception” that she was biased against the former PM – and was “assured that I should continue the work” by the prime minister at the time, which was still Johnson.

During Monday’s debate, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Johnson loyalist who was criticised for his role in the attacks on the committee, maintained it was “legitimate to question” Harman’s position.

But Farris took a different view, defending Harman and paying tribute to her career – with her parliamentary colleague close to tears as a result.

Farris said: “The member for Camberwell and Peckham (Harman’s constituency) had already announced her intention to retire from parliament at the next election.

“A parliamentary career that has spanned five decades and has been defined by her commitment to the advancement of women’s rights.

“Fourteen weeks before she took up that appointment (as committee chair) her husband of 40 years, Jack, had died.

“Against this background, I invite members of the House to consider what is more likely – that she agreed to chair the committee as a final act of service to this House, or that she did so because she was interested in pursuing a personal vendetta against Boris Johnson.”

Farris continued: “It is completely unacceptable to allege or insinuate that members of the privileges committee are corrupt or that the inquiry was somehow rigged.”

Harman’s husband, Labour MP Jack Dromey, died suddenly in his flat in Birmingham in January last year.

The initial report by the privileges committee, which has a Conservative majority, suggested Johnson should face a 90-day Commons suspension if he had not already quit parliament ahead of its release.

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Alastair Campbell Tells Question Time Brexit Voters ‘You Were Lied To’ By ‘Conmen’ Johnson And Farage

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Alastair Campbell has hit out at “conmen” Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage as he told Brexit voters on BBC Question Time they were “lied to”.

The corporation’s flagship politics show on Thursday held a “special” in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex to mark the seventh anniversary of the 2016 vote. Some 70% of people in the area voted to get out of the bloc and only Brexit voters were in the audience for the programme.

Campbell, the Tony Blair-era Labour Party spin chief, has been a fierce critic of leaving the European Union. On the show, the Rest is Politics podcaster said he understood why the audience members wanted to exit the EU – but that they were “lied to” and told it “would be pain-free” and “all be upsides”, as he pointed to the fall in the pound, a lack of a trade deal with the US and the claim of more money for the NHS.

He said: “Look, I understand why a lot of you guys voted for Brexit because you felt that Johnson, Farage … these conmen were coming along offering you something that was going to make your lives better.

“And I was in a school today, just a few minutes away from here. Clacton Coastal Academy. Really bright kids. Really nice teachers. Fantastic school in a very tough area, and I asked the kids what they thought of Brexit and all but two said they would vote to rejoin the European Union if they had the chance.”

He went on: “I don’t blame you for voting. I blame them for lying to you. They lied. They’ve not been properly held to account.

“Johnson’s gone from lying about Covid. He’s still not properly been held accountable for Brexit.

“And we’re all of us paying a higher price in our cost of living and everything else because of the lies that we were told.”

He later said Brexit is “one of the biggest acts of self-harm that we as a country have ever inflicted upon ourselves”, and that Johnson “never believed in Brexit”.

“Boris Johnson went for the referendum as a way of advancing his own career and becoming prime minister,” Campbell said. “The mess he’s left this country in, he should never be forgiven.”

Critics of leaving the EU have cited the impact on the pound, imports and labour costs, and other economies on the continent powering ahead. Britain’s higher rate of inflation compared to other major economies has also been blamed in part on Brexit thanks to higher administration costs and a small pool of workers.

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Boris Johnson Has Been Stripped Of His Parliamentary Pass For Lying To MPs

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Boris Johnson has been stripped of his parliamentary pass for repeatedly lying to the House of Commons over partygate.

MPs voted 354 to 7 to support last week’s privileges committee’s report which found him guilty of misleading parliament by insisting lockdown rules were followed in Downing Street during the pandemic.

Johnson resigned as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip 10 days ago after seeing an advance copy of the committee’s report.

Had he remained an MP, the committee said it would have recommended he be suspended from the Commons for 90 days.

Johnson described the inquiry as a “kangaroo court” and claimed he was the victim of a political stitch-up.

But following a five-hour debate, an overwhelming majority of MPs voted to back the committee’s findings, including the recommendation that Johnson should have the parliamentary pass given to former MPs removed.

The debate also exposed the deep splits within the Tories over their former leader, with around 200 of the party’s MPs – including prime minister Rishi Sunak – abstaining by failing to take part in the vote.

Some 118 Tory MPs voted to back the committee’s findings, including cabinet ministers Alex Chalk, Penny Mordaunt Gillian Keegan, and former PM Theresa May.

The Tories who voted against the committee’s report were Joy Morrisey, Karl McCartney, Adam Holloway, Heather Wheeler, Nick Fletcher and Bill Cash.

In a bizarre interview this morning, Sunak repeatedly refused to say what he thought of the report, insisting he “wouldn’t want to influence” any MPs on how to vote.

Meanwhile, the prime minister’s official spokesman said he was too busy with other engagements, including hosting the prime minister of Sweden, to attend parliament.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Tonight Rishi Sunak committed a cowardly cop-out. His failure to vote says all you need to know about this prime minister’s lack of leadership.

“Sunak promised integrity yet when push came to shove, he was too weak to even turn up.”

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