PMQ: quick verdict
Sir Lindsay Hoyle said when he was elected president that he would not let the PMQs run for 40 or 50 minutes as did his predecessor, John Bercow. However, this afternoon Hoyle has made an exception to mark Boris Johnson’s last day at the box office. Towards the end, after a long and often tedious session that mostly lit up what Johnson’s legacy was like, Hoyle must have been thinking it might have been better to pull the plug at 12.30. But then, in his final reply, to Sir Edward Leigh, Johnson suddenly changed gears and said something interesting.
It was the political equivalent of his last will, and it is worth reproducing it in its entirety. He said:
I want to take advantage of the last few seconds to give some advice to my successor, whoever he is.
First: Stay close to the Americans, stand up for the Ukrainians, stand up for freedom and democracy everywhere. Reduce taxes and deregulate whenever you can to make this the best place to live and invest, that is.
I love the Treasury, but remember that if we had always listened to the Treasury we would not have built the M25 or the La Mancha tunnel.
Focus on the road, but always remember to check the rearview mirror.
And remember, above all, that it’s not Twitter that counts, but the people who sent us here.
The last few years have been the greatest privilege of my life, and it is true that I helped achieve the largest Conservative majority for 40 years, and a great readjustment in UK politics. We have transformed our policy and restored our national independence.
We have helped, I have helped, to get this country through a pandemic and we have helped save another country from barbarism. And, frankly, that is enough to continue. Mission widely accomplished, for the time being.
I want to thank you, Mr. President, I want to thank all the wonderful staff of the House of Commons, I want to thank all my friends and colleagues, I want to thank my friend in front, I want to thank thank you everyone here, and see you, girl, thank you.
Johnson shows little interest in introspection, and the speech he delivered Monday afternoon at the opening of the debate on the motion of confidence in the government was mostly a trite and unreliable catalog of presumptions. This afternoon’s statement has been much more revealing, for three reasons.
First, it’s a useful guide to what Johnson’s political convictions really are: Atlanticism, low taxes, and deregulation; conventional conservatism, that is, except in support of large spending projects of the kind that the Treasury does not like. Upgrading received no mention, nor the environment. But his advice to politicians (focus on the future and don’t take Twitter too seriously) was right.
Second, while Johnson has never publicly acknowledged that it was the cause of his own downfall, here was a clue that his successes have been limited. Listening to his speech on Monday, he would assume that his government was the most successful ever. But here he summed it all up: a big election victory, Brexit, beating Covid and Ukraine. “That’s enough to continue,” he added, suggesting there was still a lot to do.
And that leads to the third, and most interesting, feature of his farewell: the strong hint that he wants to make a comeback. “Mission has been largely accomplished, so far,” he said. And he concluded with a Terminator 2 line that usually translates to “See you later.” Another line from the same film (and, more famously, in the first Terminator movie) is “I’ll Be Back.”
The conservative applause for Johnson in the end seemed pretty genuine, according to colleagues who were watching from the gallery. But that can only be a function of good manners, as much as anything else, and it doesn’t mean they want it to stay. Keir Starmer did a good job explaining what mess Johnson had left in his party, and there is no evidence that voters welcome a second Johnson president. The UK has not seen a prime minister stepping back to Downing Street after a ten-year term for almost 50 years, since Harold Wilson in 1974. But like his near-American counterpart Donald Trump, Johnson is pondering clearly about the possibility of returning someday. . They may not be the last PMQs after all.
Updated at 14.21 BST
Key events:
BETA filters
Key Events (11) Boris Johnson (37) Labor (11) Keir Starmer (10) Rishi Sunak (10) Penny Mordaunt (8)
In the information session no. 10 after the PMQ, Boris Johnson’s press secretary responded to Keir Starmer’s assertion that Johnson is “complete shit.” (See 11:57 a.m.) The press secretary said:
I wouldn’t respond with similar language, of course.
But I would not agree with this characterization. I think the Prime Minister has delivered a huge amount that was promised to the British public, especially the realization of Brexit, which was fulfilling the will of millions of people.
I [it’s] possibly a bit hypocritical of the opposition leader to say these things when he voted against doing so 48 times.
Updated at 14.55 BST
Government departments will have to fund higher-than-expected salary awards this year from existing budgets, says No. 10
Downing Street has said government departments will have to fund the public sector payment awards announced yesterday with their existing budgets. At the post-PMQ briefing, the prime minister’s spokesman said:
There are no plans for the Treasury to provide additional resources beyond the £ 150bn cash increase it is providing to this parliament.
The department’s spending grows by an average of 3.7% in real terms each year, which is the largest increase of any parliament this century.
Asked if this could lead to cuts in other areas of departmental spending, the spokesman replied:
The NHS itself will make it clear that no further cuts or savings will be needed as a result of these decisions, so the NHS will be able to focus on some of the basic issues it faces.
In a briefing this morning, the think tank at the Institute for Tax Studies said that because wage premiums were higher than originally anticipated, government departments would have to make “painful cuts” elsewhere. if their existing budgets were not increased. (See 11:37 p.m.)
Updated at 14.42 BST
Tobias Ellwood has temporarily restored the Tory whip so he can vote in the leadership vote
Tobias Ellwood has temporarily restored the Conservative whip so he can vote today in the leadership vote, the government has revealed. A government office spokesman said:
From the start of the leadership competition, the whip office took a neutral position.
After MP Tobias Ellwood did not attend a major vote, he suspended the whip of the Conservative party.
To ensure that the whip office’s neutrality in the leadership contest cannot be questioned, the whip has been temporarily overturned by Deputy Tobias Ellwood.
Once today’s leadership competition is over, Deputy Tobias Ellwood will have his whip suspended.
There were claims that Ellwood had the whip suspended because she supported Penny Mordaunt instead of Liz Truss, who is seen as the No. 10 favorite candidate.
PMQ: quick verdict
Sir Lindsay Hoyle said when he was elected president that he would not let the PMQs run for 40 or 50 minutes as did his predecessor, John Bercow. However, this afternoon Hoyle has made an exception to mark Boris Johnson’s last day at the box office. Towards the end, after a long and often tedious session that mostly lit up what Johnson’s legacy was like, Hoyle must have been thinking it might have been better to pull the plug at 12.30. But then, in his final reply, to Sir Edward Leigh, Johnson suddenly changed gears and said something interesting.
It was the political equivalent of his last will, and it is worth reproducing it in its entirety. He said:
I want to take advantage of the last few seconds to give some advice to my successor, whoever he is.
First: Stay close to the Americans, stand up for the Ukrainians, stand up for freedom and democracy everywhere. Reduce taxes and deregulate whenever you can to make this the best place to live and invest, that is.
I love the Treasury, but remember that if we had always listened to the Treasury we would not have built the M25 or the La Mancha tunnel.
Focus on the road, but always remember to check the rearview mirror.
And remember, above all, that it’s not Twitter that counts, but the people who sent us here.
The last few years have been the greatest privilege of my life, and it is true that I helped achieve the largest Conservative majority for 40 years, and a great readjustment in UK politics. We have transformed our policy and restored our national independence.
We have helped, I have helped, to get this country through a pandemic and we have helped save another country from barbarism. And, frankly, that is enough to continue. Mission widely accomplished, for the time being.
I want to thank you, Mr. President, I want to thank all the wonderful staff of the House of Commons, I want to thank all my friends and colleagues, I want to thank my friend in front, I want to thank thank you everyone here, and see you, girl, thank you.
Johnson shows little interest in introspection, and the speech he delivered Monday afternoon at the opening of the debate on the motion of confidence in the government was mostly a trite and unreliable catalog of presumptions. This afternoon’s statement has been much more revealing, for three reasons.
First, it’s a useful guide to what Johnson’s political convictions really are: Atlanticism, low taxes, and deregulation; conventional conservatism, that is, except in support of large spending projects of the kind that the Treasury does not like. Upgrading received no mention, nor the environment. But his advice to politicians (focus on the future and don’t take Twitter too seriously) was right.
Secondly,…