Leadership challenge has 'got to be on the cards' after PM suffers worst revolt of premiership as backbenchers ignore plea on virus curbs
Source - Daily Telegraph 14/12/21
Boris Johnson suffered the worst Parliamentary rebellion of his premiership after scores of Tory MPs ignored a personal plea to support the introduction of Covid passports.
Almost 100 Tory MPs, close to half of the party’s backbenchers, voted against legally requiring events with large crowds to check attendees for proof of vaccination or a negative test.
The rebellion dwarfed the previous record under Mr Johnson, which came last December when 55 Conservative MPs opposed a new tiered lockdown system.
The vote came less than an hour after the Prime Minister had sought to convince rebels to back his Plan B restrictions by addressing the 1922 Tory backbench committee.
Mr Johnson used the face-to-face meeting to urge his fellow Tories to do the “right thing” in the face of the rapid spread of omicron.
But one MP was heard exclaiming “wow” when the scale of the rebellion on Covid passports, one of four changes approved on Tuesday, became clear in the Commons chamber.
Questions over Boris Johnson’s leadership following Tory rebellion
Covid passports passed only thanks to Labour support. Three other measures were also approved: extending face mask mandates; mandatory Covid jabs for NHS workers; and allowing people to avoid self-isolation after contact with someone who has Covid if they regularly test negative.
The scale of the rebellion - much bigger than expected - raises fresh questions about the Prime Minister’s ability to keep his party on side if he adopts tougher Covid restrictions in the coming weeks, as well as the depth of support in his leadership.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee, said after the vote that a leadership challenge in the new year was now possible.
"I think that's got to be on the cards. He's got to realise that he's got to change,” Sir Geoffrey told Sky News.
Tory whips are working on the assumption that the number of letters of no confidence submitted by Tory MPs about Mr Johnson is already in the double figures. If 54 letters are handed into the 1922 committee, a no confidence vote is automatically triggered.
The Commons revolt also heaps further pressure on the result of the North Shropshire by-election on Thursday.
The safe Tory seat was won by 23,000 votes by the Tories two years ago but is at risk of falling to the Liberal Democrats, after Owen Paterson resigned when he was found to have broken lobbying rules - allegations he denied.
Mr Johnson’s supporters, who have consistently rejected suggestions of a leadership challenge as hyperbole from a core of frustrated Tory MPs, noted that nobody resigned from Government over the Covid passports vote.
There had been speculation that as many as a dozen parliamentary private secretaries - MPs who act as the “eyes and ears” of Cabinet ministers in Parliament - could resign, but in the end none did.
Parliament's website listed 98 Tory MPs as voting against Covid passports. Rebels claimed there were two others who forgot to scan their pass to register their vote, which would take the total to 100. That would be close to half of all backbenchers, which exclude people on the Government payroll and amounts to about 214 Tories.
During the 11th-hour attempt to limit the rebellion, the Prime Minister assured Tory MPs at the 1922 Committee that he was not minded to announce new restrictions beyond Plan B measures, despite the rapid spread of omicron.
Downing Street sources also stressed that Mr Johnson was hoping the combination of Plan B restrictions and a dramatic scaling up of the booster jabs would be enough to tackle the case surge coming.
Possibility of more restrictions to combat omicron
However, there were signs elsewhere across the Government - both among ministers and scientific advisers, as well as in the devolved administrations - that more restrictions may well be needed given the sharp increase in omicron cases.
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, urged Scots to limit their gatherings to no more than two other households during the Christmas period - though the guidance would not apply to Christmas Day gatherings or similar.
Eluned Morgan, Wales’s health minister, urged people to take lateral flow tests before going to Christmas gatherings and did not rule out tougher measures before December 25.
Government officials working on Covid policy in Westminster are looking at a range of possible measures to limit omicron’s spread, according to multiple government sources involved.
One would see social distancing rules return for pubs and restaurants. Another would see social gatherings capped, such as a return of the “rule of six” which barred big groups.
The number of daily cases hit 59,610 on Tuesday, with the total over the last seven days up more than 40 per cent on the previous week. Cases are likely to pass the record 68,053 set on January 8 if omicron continues to rise as expected.
There were a swathe of cancellations in the West End on Tuesday, with shows such as The Lion King and the Life of Pi called off as productions were hit by Covid infections.
The Liberal Democrats leader, Labour shadow chancellor, Labour shadow transport secretary and Labour shadow education secretary have all tested positive for Covid-19, it emerged on Tuesday.
Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, delivered a downbeat assessment of the situation to Cabinet and Mr Johnson told ministers to expect a "huge spike" in infections.
Prof Whitty said a "significant increase in hospitalisations" from omicron was likely to be seen and rejected suggestions that the omicron wave in South Africa had peaked.
Sajid Javid also warned that an omicron surge could “overwhelm” the NHS - arguing that even if the variant was mild, the speed of its spread could cause a jump in hospitalisations
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, had earlier caused confusion by wrongly saying there were 250 people in hospital with omicron when the latest figure was actually 10.
Prof Whitty is fronting a new television advert to encourage the take-up of boosters, in which he asks viewers to "please, get boosted now". It comes as the NHS national booking system is due to open to all over-18s on Wednesday, having opened to people over 30 on Monday.
Latest figures showed that 573,722 booster doses had been given in a day. That was higher than the day before but significantly lower than the one million doses that would be needed to give every eligible adult in England an extra jab by the end of the year.
Queues continued at vaccine centres on Tuesday amid ongoing concern that the Government's ambitious target will not be met. The Government also announced that the public would no longer have to wait 15 minutes after their jab for observation, in a move which officials said would increase the numbers that could be vaccinated each day by a quarter.
However, the British Medical Association warned that restrictions would be needed in January, even if the booster target was met.
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