Two other ministers resigned from the UK government on Wednesday.
London:
On Wednesday, Boris Johnson refused to step down as British prime minister, despite a flurry of resignations from his scandal-plagued government, mounting pressure as he faced opposition from angry MPs. evil.
The 58-year-old leader promised to “deliver” on his “duty” but his ability to stay in power appeared to slip after a brief 10 minutes on Tuesday night, when Rishi Sunak stepped down as finance minister and Sajid Javid Retired as health minister.
Both say they can’t stand the scandalous culture that has dogged Johnson for months, including a Downing Street lockout that outraged the public.
At the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions in parliament, MPs from all sides surrounded Johnson.
But dismissing calls to step down, he told MPs: “Honestly, it’s the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when you’re given a huge task to carry on and that is what I’m going to do.”
Johnson went through a round of evictions of ministers in just 24 hours and then faced an hour-long squabble from seats on the House’s most powerful committees, including one some of his most ferocious critics in the Tory ranks.
Sunak and Javid’s departures come just minutes after Johnson apologized for appointing a senior Conservative, who resigned last week after allegedly groping two men drunk. .
Former education minister Nadhim Zahawi was immediately handed the financial brief. “You don’t do this job to have an easy life,” Zahawi told Sky News.
Challenge
Days of interpretation changed led to the resignation of deputy sheriff Chris Pincher. Initially, Downing Street denied Johnson was aware of the earlier charges against Pincher when appointing him in February.
But by Tuesday, that defense had collapsed after a former top civil servant said Johnson, as secretary of state, had been briefed in 2019 of another incident involving his ally. .
Children and families minister Will Quince resigned early Wednesday, saying he was given incorrect information before having to defend the government in a media interview on Monday.
That sparked a new wave of more than a dozen resignations and withdrawal of support from previously loyal MPs.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a hardline critic of Johnson, told Sky News the Pincher affair was “the cake” for Sunak and Javid.
“Me and many on the team are now determining that he will be gone before the summer break (which starts July 22): the sooner the better.”
The resignation dominated the British media, with even some of Johnson’s most staunch supporters questioning whether he could survive the incident.
Other senior cabinet ministers, including Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, remained supportive of Johnson but many wondered how long that could last.
Johnson only survived a vote of no confidence among Conservative MPs a month ago, which usually means he cannot be challenged again for another year.
But the influential “22nd Committee” of non-Tory MPs is said to be seeking to change the rules.
‘Local difficulty’
Jacob Rees-Mogg, a staunch cabinet ally and Johnson’s “minister in charge of Brexit opportunities”, dismissed the resignation as “small local difficulty”.
He said on Sky News: “Losing a prime minister is a common occurrence,” he said on Sky News, pointing to Tory’s past leaders – although Margaret Thatcher was eventually brought down by an uprising. cabinet by top allies.
In particular, Sunak’s departure, amid policy differences and the cost of living crisis sweeping Britain, is sad news for Johnson.
Johnson, who received a police fine for the so-called “Partygate” affair, faces a parliamentary inquiry into whether he lied to MPs about the revelations.
Pincher’s departure from the whip office – accused of enforcing party discipline and standards – marks another allegation of sexual misconduct by the Tories in recent months, recalling “sleazy” dogged John Major’s government in the 1990s.
Conservative MP Neil Parish resigned in April after he was caught viewing mobile pornography in the House of Commons.
That prompted a by-election to his former safety seat, which the party lost in a historic victory to the opposition Liberal Democrats.
Labor, the main opposition party, defeated the Conservatives in another by-election in northern England on the same day, due to the Tory MP being found guilty of sexual assault.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a collaborative feed.)
