Boris Johnson’s survival in a confidence vote propelled coverage of his tenure over post-Brexit Britain to prominence in newspapers and television bulletins across the world. From the EU to Australia, almost all commentators said that the prime minister’s days were numbered.
President Zelensky of Ukraine said he was “very happy” that Johnson was still prime minister, adding: “Boris Johnson is a true friend of Ukraine. I regard him as our ally, and Great Britain as a great ally.”
Russian state television suggested that Johnson had decided to hold yesterday’s vote of confidence because he was wary that his popularity would fall even further if Britons who went to fight in Ukraine were killed by pro-Kremlin separatists.
Vladimir Solovyov, a current affairs show host, said:
Boris Johnson used a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to urge ministers to move on from the highly damaging no-confidence vote in which 41 per cent of Tory MPs voted to oust him and refocus on practical issues.
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, addressed the cabinet on tackling NHS backlogs and improving health services. The prime minister, meanwhile, told cabinet ministers to find further departmental savings to shift spending towards households.
Johnson’s allies believe he is also planning a ministerial reshuffle to reward those who have remained loyal to him, while punishing those who have not. But Downing Street said on Tuesday that there were “no plans” for a reshuffle.
Johnson won Monday’s no-confidence vote of Tory MPs by 211 to 148 and told the cabinet the result had been “conclusive and decisive”.
But he was confronted by grim newspaper headlines. The Daily Telegraph, Johnson’s former employer, led its front page with the headline: “Hollow victory tears Tories apart” while Lord William Hague, one of his predecessors as party leader, used a column in the Times to call on the prime minister to quit.
Johnson received a boost on Tuesday morning when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told the Financial Times Global Boardroom conference that his survival was “great news”, adding: “I am glad we have not lost a very important ally.”
The prime minister and his allies attempted to portray the result as a moment when the party could bury its differences. But the vote exposed rancour and a breakdown in Tory discipline.
Johnson’s victory was by a slimmer margin than the one secured by his predecessor Theresa May in a no-confidence vote in 2018; she was forced to resign as prime minister six months later.
The biggest threat to Johnson now would be a series of resignations by ministers no longer willing to serve in his government, although so far there has been no sign of that happening.
Tobias Ellwood, Tory chair of the House of Commons defence select committee and a Johnson critic, said on Monday: “The days of honourable resignations are no longer there.”
Dominic Raab, deputy prime minister, told the BBC he had no intention of quitting. “I will always put first and foremost the good of the country,” he said, adding that that was best done by Johnson remaining in post.
He said he was confident the Conservatives could exceed the 80-seat majority secured by Johnson in the 2019 general election if the party united.
But some Tory MPs believe Monday’s vote starts the beginning of a long slide out of office for Johnson, who faces multiple looming challenges — including an autumn of high inflation and possible recession.
Hague, a former foreign secretary, wrote in The Times that the votes cast against Johnson’s leadership “show a greater level of rejection than any Tory leader has ever endured and survived”. He called for the prime minister to “turn his mind to getting out in a way that spares party and country such agonies and uncertainties”.
Johnson also faces a parliamentary inquiry into whether he lied to the Commons about the partygate scandal — gatherings in Downing Street during Covid restrictions while social events were banned — as well as two treacherous by-elections. The Tories are defending seats in Wakefield, and Tiverton and Honiton on June 23 and opinion polls have shown them lagging the opposition in both.
Under current party rules, Johnson cannot face another no-confidence vote for 12 months, but senior Tories have said the rules could be changed with immediate effect.
Some Conservative MPs believe Johnson will never resign, no matter what electoral damage he might be causing. “He’s an existential threat to the Conservative party,” said one Tory backbencher.
A test of Johnson’s authority could come soon, with the publication expected in the coming days of draft legislation to rip up parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, part of the UK’s 2020 Brexit agreement with the EU.
Some Conservatives have already warned Johnson not to tear up an international treaty. If he pushes ahead with the legislation, the EU has said it will retaliate by shutting British scientists out of the €95bn Horizon research project.
Thousands of airline passengers are facing fresh disruption as widespread flight cancellations continue - with travel agents inundated with calls from customers worried the chaos will carry on and ruin their summer holidays.
EasyJet cancelled at least 35 flights on Tuesday, with Gatwick the worst affected airport, while Hungarian carrier Wizz Air axed at least seven flights due to serve UK airports.
British Airways cancelled 124 Heathrow flights, although the airline said affected passengers were given advance notice.
Diego Garcia Rodriguez, 32, a Spanish national who lives in Brighton, said there had so far been no changes to his Barcelona flight, but other passengers have been left in tears at Gatwick.
He said: "I have seen lots of people whose flights have been cancelled, some crying and stressing out and they only got the news after having gone through the security control so they didn't know how to get out. There was no information and it was all very chaotic."
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Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, which represents independent travel agents, said: "About 30% of all calls that they're receiving now are from customers that are reading the headlines, have bookings for July and August in the school holidays, and they are worried."
She acknowledged the situation is "hideous and disappointing" for passengers whose flights are being cancelled, but added travel agents are trying to reassure customers that "in the vast majority of cases flights are departing and arriving".
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There has been a "significant surge" in demand for holidays this year, she said, creating a "bottleneck" in the system.
The number of people who jetted off during last week's half-term school break was 21% higher than 2019 levels, while summer holiday bookings are at around 80% of normal.
"I'm confident that the industry will get to a point where these bottlenecks will be sorted," she added.
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Huge queues at UK airport
Today's cancellations are the latest following months of disruption for UK airline passengers - leaving the holiday plans of tens of thousands of travellers in disarray.
The chaos has also impacted those who have managed to getaway, with many thousands of British holidaymakers finding themselves stranded across the rest of Europe after hundreds of flight cancellations.
The aviation industry is struggling to recruit new workers after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic - and a blame game has broken out over who is responsible for the crisis.
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'We'll think twice about traveling again'
Airlines, airports and ground handling companies repeatedly called for sector-specific financial support during the COVID-19 crisis as lockdowns and travel restrictions suppressed demand.
Airlines are now suffering from staff shortages and say government red tape is delaying security checks on any new recruits.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has rejected calls to open the door to more "cheap" overseas workers to relieve the pressure on the sector.
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Family stranded abroad amid travel chaos
He has claimed airlines and travel firms have "seriously oversold flights and holidays relative to their capacity to deliver" despite government warnings, and accused bosses of "cutting too far".
The cabinet minister has answered industry demands to speed up security checks for workers and allow some staff in non-security related jobs to take up training immediately.
But he has said it is up to the sector to fix the issues after receiving £8bn of state support and having access to furlough money to keep staff on the books while COVID travel restrictions were in place.
Large Conservative Party rebellion deals blow to PM
Johnson says it is 'decisive result'
COVID-19 'Partygate' sours mood
LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a confidence vote on Monday but a large rebellion in his Conservative Party over the so-called "partygate" scandal dealt a blow to his authority and leaves him with a struggle to win back support.
Johnson, who scored a sweeping election victory in 2019, has been under increasing pressure after he and staff held alcohol-fuelled parties in his Downing Street office and residence when Britain was under lockdowns to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vote was a blow to Johnson, with 41% of his lawmakers casting ballots against his leadership after months of scandals and gaffes that has raised questions over his authority to govern Britain and knocked his standing among the public.
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But Johnson, a master of political comebacks, instead described the vote as a "decisive result" meaning that "as a government we can move on and focus on the stuff that I think really matters to people".
"We can focus on what we're doing to help people with the cost of living, what we're doing to clear the COVID backlogs, what we're doing to make streets and communities safer by putting more police out," said Johnson, who for weeks has tried to move the national conversation away from "partygate". read more
It is a change of fortune for Johnson and underlines the depth of anger against him. He was met with a chorus of jeers and boos, and some muted cheers, at events to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in recent days.
Several lawmakers said the vote, which saw 211 lawmakers cast ballots in favour of Johnson against 148, was worse than expected for a prime minister, once seemingly unassailable after winning the Conservatives' largest majority in more than three decades.
"Boris Johnson will be relieved at this vote. But he will also understand that the next priority is to rebuild the cohesion of the party," David Jones, a former minister, told Reuters. "I am sure he will be equal to the challenge."
Others were less optimistic, with one Conservative lawmaker saying on condition of anonymity: "It is clearly much worse than most people were expecting. But it is too early to say what will happens now."
Roger Gale, a long-time critic of Johnson, urged the prime minister "to go back to Downing Street tonight and consider very carefully where he goes from here".
12-MONTH REPRIEVE
By winning the confidence vote, Johnson has secured a reprieve for 12 months when lawmakers cannot bring another challenge. But his predecessor Theresa May scored better in her 2018 confidence vote only to resign six months later. read more
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts during Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Party, at Buckingham Palace, in London, Britain, June 4, 2022. Paul Ellis/Pool via REUTERS
Dozens of Conservative lawmakers have voiced concern over whether Johnson, 57, has lost his authority to govern Britain, which is facing the risk of recession, rising fuel and food prices and strike-inflicted travel chaos in the capital London.
But his Cabinet rallied around him and highlighted what they said were the successes of the government: a quick rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations and Britain's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Johnson vs May: confidence votes compared
A majority of the Conservatives' lawmakers - at least 180 - would have had to vote against Johnson for him to be removed.
Earlier, a spokesperson for Johnson's Downing Street office said the vote would "allow the government to draw a line and move on" and that the prime minister welcomed the opportunity to make his case to lawmakers. read more
Johnson, a former London mayor, rose to power at Westminster as the face of the Brexit campaign in a 2016 referendum, and won the 2019 election with the slogan to "get Brexit done".
Jacob Rees-Mogg, Brexit opportunities minister, told Sky News that completing Britain's departure from the European Union would be "significantly at risk without his drive and energy".
Johnson has locked horns with Brussels over Northern Ireland, raising the prospect of more barriers for British trade and alarming leaders in Ireland, Europe and the United States about risks to the province's 1998 peace deal.
But it was the months of stories of what went on in Downing Street, including fights and alcohol-induced vomiting, when many people were prevented from saying goodbye to loved ones at funerals, that did the real damage.
The move led to lawmakers from different wings of the party revealing that they had turned against their leader. One former ally accused the prime minister of insulting both the electorate and the party by staying in power.
"You have presided over a culture of casual law-breaking at 10 Downing Street in relation to COVID," Jesse Norman, a former junior minister, said before the vote.
Johnson's anti-corruption chief John Penrose also quit.
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Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill; Additional reporting by David Milliken, William James, Alistair Smout, Farouq Suleiman and Helena Williams; Editing by William Schomberg and Grant McCool
Chip shops across the UK are asking Norway for more fish to help combat surging costs.
Rising energy bills and increased costs of cooking oil, potatoes and fish due to the war in Ukraine has meant the price of fish and chips has gone up.
Andrew Cook, who is president of the National Federation of Fish Friers, is set to ask for help on behalf of the industry at the Frozen At Sea summit in Alesund, Norway, on Wednesday,
"Most vessel owners in Norway produce headed and gutted fish that is then sent to be processed elsewhere," Mr Crook said.
"I am hoping that I can get them to switch some vessels to produce fillets for my industry, as we need as many as we can get to help keep the price as under control as possible."
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He added that the industry expects a 35% tariff on white fish from Russia, which will force the price of all fish up.
"We cannot be so reliant on supplies from one specific nation," he added.
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The cost per kilo of Icelandic cod increased from £7.80 in October to £16, while potato costs have increased by 30%, according to the Daily Mirror.
In May, Mr Crook said that chip shops could close due to rising costs and he reiterated his warning again, saying that a third of chippies could shut and "action is needed now to ensure we get through this in the best shape possible".
Image:Andrew Crook is president of the National Federation of Fish Friers
On 3 March, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen raised the issue in the Commons, telling politicians that "award-winning" fish and chip shops in his constituency have told him "the business outlook has never been more volatile, with record price rises for fish, batter, fat, wrapping paper and of course, energy".
He said: "Many fish and chip shops are worried about whether they are actually going to survive, so, could we have a statement from the government about what action the government is going to take to ensure they protect the future of our fish and chip shops, a great part of British life?"
Commons Leader Mark Spencer jokingly told MPs "I declare an interest in fish and chips," before adding: "Takeaways are a huge part of the night-time economy.
"Those businesses are actually a service they provide to our community and they should be supported.
"I wish not only his fish and chip shop well, but all fish and chip shops all around the country."
Sanctions imposed on Russia at the end of March meant price rises across the global seafood industry.
According to a 2020 report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Russia is one of the largest producers of seafood globally and was the fifth-largest producer of wild-caught fish.
LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Russia should not close the U.S. embassy despite the crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine because the world's two biggest nuclear powers must continue to talk, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow was quoted as saying on Monday.
President Vladimir Putin has cast the invasion of Ukraine as a turning point in Russian history: a revolt against the hegemony of the United States, which the Kremlin chief says has humiliated Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine - and its Western backers - says it is fighting for its survival against a reckless imperial-style land grab which has killed thousands, displaced more than 10 million people and reduced swathes of the country to wasteland.
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In a clear attempt to send a message to the Kremlin, John J. Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador appointed by President Donald Trump, told Russia's state TASS news agency that Washington and Moscow should not simply break off diplomatic relations.
"We must preserve the ability to speak to each other," Sullivan told TASS in an interview. He cautioned against the removal of the works of Leo Tolstoy from Western bookshelves or refusing to play the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
His remarks were reported by TASS in Russian and translated into English by Reuters.
Despite the crises, spy scandals and brinkmanship of the Cold War, relations between Moscow and Washington have not been broken off since the United States established ties with the Soviet Union in 1933.
Now, though, Russia says its post-Soviet dalliance with the West is over and that it will turn eastwards.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month quipped that he would like to dedicate Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" to Putin.
Asked about that remark, Sullivan said: "We also will never break up entirely."
When asked by TASS if the analogy meant that the embassies could be closed, Sullivan said: "They can - there is that possibility, although I think it would be a big mistake.
"As I understand it, the Russian government has mentioned the variant of severing diplomatic relations," he said. "We can't just break off diplomatic relations and stop talking to each other."
Russia's foreign ministry has called in the Moscow bureau chiefs of U.S. media outlets to discuss on Monday what it says are the repercussions of the United States' unfriendly actions.
Tsarina Catherine the Great's refusal to support the British empire when America declared independence laid the ground for the first diplomatic contacts between the United States and St Petersburg, then Russia's imperial capital.
Following the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917, President Woodrow Wilson refused to recognize Vladimir Lenin's revolutionary government and the U.S. embassy closed in 1919. Relations were not re-established until 1933.
"The only reason I can think of that the United State might be forced to close its embassy would be if it became unsafe to continue its work," Sullivan said.
Asked how relations would develop, Sullivan, a 62-year-old lawyer, said he didn't know but added that he hoped there might one day be a rapprochement.
"If I were to make a bet, I would say perhaps not in my lifetime."
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Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Philippa Fletcher
LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a confidence vote on Monday, after a growing number of lawmakers in the governing Conservative Party questioned the British leader's authority following a "partygate" scandal.
Johnson, who won a sweeping election victory in 2019, has been under growing pressure after he and staff held alcohol-fuelled parties at the heart of power when Britain was under strict lockdowns to tackle COVID-19.
He was met with the chorus of jeers and boos, and some muted cheers, at events to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in recent days.
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On Monday, the once seemingly unassailable Johnson was also attacked by one-time ally Jesse Norman, a former junior minister who said the prime minister staying in power insulted both the electorate and the party. read more
"You have presided over a culture of casual law-breaking at 10 Downing Street in relation to COVID," he said, adding the government had "a large majority, but no long-term plan".
Norman is one of a growing number of Conservative lawmakers to publicly say that Johnson, 57, has lost his authority to govern Britain, which is facing the risk of recession, rising prices and strike-inflicted travel chaos in the capital London.
Jeremy Hunt, a former health minister who ran against Johnson for the leadership in 2019, said the party knew it was letting the country down. "Today's decision is change or lose," he said. "I will be voting for change." read more
Johnson's anti-corruption champion John Penrose quit. "I think it's over. It feels now like a question of when not if," he told Sky News when asked about Johnson's future.
DRAWING A LINE?
Graham Brady, chairman of the party's 1922 Committee that represents rank-and-file Conservative lawmakers, said a vote would be held between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (1700-1900 GMT) on Monday. read more
"The votes will be counted immediately afterwards. An announcement will be made at a time to be advised," he said.
A spokesperson for Johnson's Downing Street office said the vote would "allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people's priorities".
"The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs (members of parliament) and will remind them that when they're united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force."
Johnson, the former London mayor, rose to power at Westminster as the face of the Brexit campaign in the 2016 referendum, and took a tough stance once in power, steering Britain out of the single market and customs union.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, Brexit opportunities minister, told Sky News that completing Britain's departure from the European Union would be "significantly at risk without his drive and energy".
Johnson has recently locked horns with the EU over Northern Ireland, raising the prospect of more barriers for British trade and alarming political leaders in Ireland, Europe and the United States about risks to the province's 1998 peace deal.
OUTCOME UNCERTAIN
A majority of Conservative lawmakers - or 180 - would have to vote against Johnson for him to be removed - a level some Conservatives say might be difficult to reach. If passed, there would then be a leadership contest to decide his replacement, which could take several weeks.
Lawmakers said they had received letters from the prime minister, in which he asked for their support in the vote.
Several ministers in his cabinet team were swift to put out messages of support for the prime minister, with finance minister Rishi Sunak, like other possible successors, saying Johnson had shown "strong leadership".
"I am backing him today and will continue to back him as we focus on growing the economy, tackling the cost of living and clearing the COVID backlogs," he said on Twitter in what appeared to be a choreographed expression of support.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes put former health minister Hunt as its favourite to replace Johnson if he was ousted, followed by foreign minister Liz Truss, who also tweeted her "100% backing" of the prime minister in Monday's vote. read more
Since the release of a damning report into the so-called "partygate" scandal, which listed fights and alcohol-induced vomiting at lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, Johnson and his government had urged lawmakers to move on.
But after parliament took a break last week sending many lawmakers back to their constituencies, or voting regions, several were met by a chorus of complaints over Johnson.
The biting criticism from Norman, who served as a junior minister in the finance ministry between 2019 and 2021, was perhaps the biggest sign that criticism of Johnson had spread beyond a vocal group of so-called rebels.
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Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Additional reporting by William James, Alistair Smout, William Schomberg and Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton and Alex Richardson
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