Boris Johnson apology: MPs to vote on whether Boris Johnson should be investigated
The Prime Minister is expected to make a “full-throated apology” to MPs after he was fined by police for attending a birthday bash in breach of Covid rules.
In the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle confirmed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will be allowed to table a motion for debate on Thursday regarding the PM and parties in Downing Street.
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Mr Johnson is widely expected to make a statement in the Commons today, as MPs return to Westminster following the Easter recess.
As well as addressing MPs in the Commons, Mr Johnson will also reportedly speak to a meeting of the entire Conservative parliamentary party on Tuesday evening.
RECAP: Boris Johnson set to address MPs over partygate fine
The PM will make a statement in the House of Commons later today, following a Cabinet meeting, as MPs return to Westminster following the Easter recess.
The treasurer of the 1922 committee of Tory backbench MPs saying now is not the time for the PM to step down over Partygate.
Away from the Partygate latest - there has been a lot on at Downing Street...
The Prime Minister’s Downing Street office may have been the target of surveillance by powerful spyware made by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to a cyber watchdog group.
Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto on Monday said it “observed and notified” the Government of “multiple suspected instances of Pegasus spyware infections” within 10 Downing Street and the Foreign Office in 2020 and 2021.
A Pegasus operator linked to the United Arab Emirates is suspected of being behind the infection at Boris Johnson’s office, Citizen Lab said.
The group also associated the suspected Foreign Office hacking with NSO clients linked to the UAE, as well as to India, Cyprus and Jordan.
Following the first wave of Partygate fines on Downing Street party Covid breaches, here’s a timeline of when the parties all took place and which have been confirmed so far.
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry has appealed to Conservatives to rise above party politics if opposition parties secure a vote on the future of Prime Minister Boris Johnson after he was fined by police for attending a birthday bash in breach of Covid rules.
The Labour MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “there are ongoing discussions between the opposition parties and with the Speaker” about how to try to deal with the situation, and said “it would be wrong for me to cut across those”.
Brandon Lewis has suggested that Boris Johnson being fined as part of the investigation into alleged lockdown parties in Downing Street was akin to ministers have previously received parking fines.
The Northern Ireland Secretary told Sky News: “I think we do see consistently, whether it is through parking fines or speeding fines, ministers of both parties over the years have been in that position.
“We’ve had prime ministers in the past who have received penalty notices, from what I can see, and also front bench ministers.
“I saw there was a parking notice that Tony Blair had once. We’ve seen front bench Labour ministers and, let’s be frank, government ministers as well.”
He added: “You’ve asked me, can someone who sets the laws and the rules, can they also be someone who breaks the rules.
“That clearly has happened with a number of ministers over the years.”
Now is not the time for Boris Johnson to step down over “partygate” and “it is certainly not in the country’s interests to think about replacing the Prime Minister”, the treasurer of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbench MPs has said.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “At a time when thousands of our constituents are facing the biggest squeeze in their cost of living for a generation, when we are facing a bloody war in Europe the like of which we haven’t seen since the Second World War, when we are seeing a slowdown of the world economy because of all of that – to force the prime minister out and have instability at the top of government for at least two months, as I know as treasurer of the 1922 when we re-selected a successor to Theresa May, I think would be not in the country’s interests.”
Earlier Tobias Ellwood MP told BBC Breakfast that now was the time for a vote on Mr Johnson’s future as Prime Minister.
“Unfortunately, many, many MPs continue to be very numbed by this, very, very concerned by where we’re going,” he said.
Hello and welcome to our live blog ahead of what may well be a monumental day in UK politics.
The prime minister will face MPs after being issued with a fixed penalty as a result of a police investigation into lockdown breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall in 2020 and 2021.
Mr Johnson is expected to update the House of Commons on the affair and also look to address members of his own party amid some calls to quit.
But will it be enough? Keep up to date with all the goings on in Westminster today in our live blog.