'54 letters not hard between now and November'
The Tory party once more finds itself in the middle of a bitter feud between rival camps, with supporters of Boris Johnson planning to submit letters of no confidence in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
It comes after the Cabinet Office referred the former prime minister to the police over new potential lockdown breaches after “information came to light” as they made preparations for the public inquiry into the Covid-19 outbreak.
The information relates to entries in the former prime minister’s official diary about visits to 10 Downing Street and Chequers by his friends and family during lockdown.
Johnson has branded the move a “politically motivated stitch up” and is understood to be considering suing the Cabinet Office over the disclosure. Supporters of the former Prime Minister believe that Cabinet Office ministers were involved in the decision to send evidence to the police.
The Cabinet Office has rejected allegations that ministers were involved, yet that has not been enough to placate furious Johnson loyalists.
Tortoise’s Cat Neilan tweeted: “The Chequers party story has really kicked up some dirt and MPs are seriously discussing letters of no confidence against the PM…
“54 letters not hard between now and November – Suella, Truss, Boris, Penny all have reasons to be awkward,” says one former minister.”
Meanwhile, Sky News has obtained leaked WhatsApp messages which show Tory MPs turning on each other over Boris Johnson’s legal woes. Some MPs were furious at the idea that the police referral should cause problems for Sunak, who was not involved in the decision.
Jackie Doyle-Price said it was “bonkersness. Are you determined to turn our party into a skip fire?”
Simon Hoare, a Tory select committee chairman, said that this “self destroying crap has to end or our party dies”.
Rather than fixing the problems the country faces, the Tories are once again engaged in a bitter internal feud.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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