Boris Johnson faces revolt over forcing through
Covid measures
Amendment calling for votes on new restrictions is
winning cross-party support
Toby Helm
Political editor
Sat 26 Sep
2020 21.00 BSTLast modified on Sun 27 Sep 2020 04.37 BST
The revolt reflects mounting anger at the way Downing
Street ignores parliament.
Boris
Johnson is facing a massive parliamentary revolt over the way he is imposing
Covid-19 restrictions on the British people without first consulting MPs – amid
new signs that confidence in his leadership is collapsing in the Conservative
party and across the country.
An
extraordinary cross-party backlash against Johnson’s “rule by diktat” from
Downing Street was taking shape on Saturday – ahead of a key vote on Wednesday
– as a new poll by Opinium for the Observer showed Labour has overtaken the
Tories for the first time since Keir Starmer became leader in April.
The survey,
which will sow more doubts among Conservative MPs about Johnson and his teams
in No 10 and the cabinet, puts Labour on 42%, three points ahead – a rise of
three points in a fortnight – with Johnson’s party dropping to 39% (down
three).
Starmer has
also pulled well ahead when voters are asked who would make the best prime
minister, with 36% choosing the Labour leader (up four points), and 32% preferring
Johnson.
At the end
of March, after the full lockdown was imposed, the Conservatives were powering
ahead on 54%, 26 points clear of Labour.
But Johnson
is now under intense pressure to beat yet another retreat, this time over how
coronavirus rules are agreed and imposed, when, on Wednesday, ministers seek a
six-month extension to special powers that allow them to act unilaterally over
Covid-19.
In a sign
of Tory unrest over both the extent of restrictions to counter a second wave of
Covid-19 and the way parliament is being bypassed, the chair of the backbench
1922 committee, Graham Brady, is winning wider support for an amendment calling
for MPs to be allowed to debate and vote upon any new measures before they are
implemented.
Labour, the
Scottish National party and the Liberal Democrats indicated they were seriously
considering joining dozens of Tory rebels to back the Brady amendment and rein
in Johnson and No 10.
For
opposition parties to unite behind an amendment put down by a leading Tory
backbencher would be highly unusual. But the revolt reflects mounting anger at
the way Johnson and his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, ignore parliament – a
feeling that has festered since parliament was prorogued in order to get
Johnson’s Brexit deal through the Commons last year.
If all the
opposition parties support Brady, he would need 43 Tories to defeat the
government. At the last count he had 46 on board.
It is
believed Downing Street, which has ordered Tory whips to take soundings among
MPs this weekend, is ready, initially, to order a partial climbdown by agreeing
to bring forward a debate on the already introduced “rule of six” from early
next month to this week.
But Brady
made clear on Saturday evening that this would not be enough and that he will
continue to demand debates and votes in parliament in advance of all emergency
measures, such as those announced last week which included ordering pubs and
restaurants to close at 10pm.
Brady told
the Observer: “It is essential that the House of Commons should have the
opportunity to debate and vote on emergency measures before they come into
force.”
Another
senior Tory, the former cabinet minister Damian Green, who is backing Brady,
added: “The principle of parliament having a say on important decisions that
affect the lives of everyone in the country is a hugely important one that we
should hold to very tightly.”
The extent
to which faith in Johnson is ebbing away is matched by growing admiration for
the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, increasingly seen on the Tory backbenchers as more
of a unifying figure for the post-Brexit era, and a potential successor to
Johnson.
Sunak, who
on Thursday announced measures aimed at saving jobs as a second Covid-19 wave
gathers force, has been conducting charm offensives among backbenchers and
newspaper editors in recent weeks. He will address the 1922 committee again
next month, sources said.
Meanwhile
it has emerged that senior Tory MPs on the powerful liaison committee have
drawn up a draft letter to Johnson asking that he considers using the army more
extensively in the fight against coronavirus – as concerns grow about shortages
in testing capacity and manpower.
Tobias
Ellwood, chair of the defence select committee, said: “It is paramount that
what our armed forces bring to the table is better appreciated during these
times of enduring crisis. The Ministry of Defence is the only department
trained in strategic planning, crisis management and command and
communications. These are the precise skills the government needs to tackle
this pandemic. There is frustration both in parliament and the MoD that they
are largely confined to barracks.”
The Opinium
poll also found that Starmer has improved perceptions of the Labour party since
becoming leader. Now 40% of voters, up from 36% in July, think the party is
ready to form the next government, while 42%, down from 47%, think it is not.
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