Boris Johnson's grip on power has been pushed to the brink by documented revelations surrounding lockdown events in Downing Street but for weeks each phase of the crisis has been driven by the interventions of a man he sacked more than a year earlier, Dominic Cummings.
Mr Johnson faced the House of Commons on Wednesday after a week of precautious isolation when a member of his own household tested positive for Covid-19. Minutes before he stood up it was announced that Christian Wakeford, a recently elected "Red Wall" MP and one of the 45 new members who conquered previous Labour seats, had defected to the opposition.
An hour earlier his official spokesman was forced to tell reporters that Mr Johnson had not shed tears after a 14-minute grilling by a TV reporter – in which he gulped for breath – on Tuesday. "The story about Boris crying is completely untrue," the spokesman told the daily huddle with the press.
The trigger for the feverish atmosphere in Westminster was a new blog on Tuesday in which Mr Cummings said he would swear on oath that Mr Johnson was told a gathering on May 20 at Downing Street broke the Covid-19 lockdown rules. Martin Reynolds, Mr Johnson's private secretary, had organised the party in the garden but the prime minister said he "implicitly believed" it was a work event at which he spent 25 minutes.
Mr Cummings first recommended newspapers expose the party, without giving full details, last year. It was only when the email invite was leaked last week that the furore consumed Downing St. The former aide, who was being protected from calls to quit over a Covid lockdown trip to North-east England at the time of the May party, said Mr Johnson had been warned.
“Not only me but other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time would swear under oath this is what happened," he wrote on his blog. "I said to the PM something like: ‘Martin’s invited the building to a drinks party, this is what I’m talking about, you’ve got to grip this madhouse’. The PM waved it aside.”
“The events of May 20 alone, never mind the string of other events, mean the PM lied to Parliament about parties."
Mr Cummings's campaign is gaining traction because the party revelations, including a clutch that took place on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral in 2021, are triggering a massive backlash among the electorate. Mr Johnson admitted on Tuesday that he had personally apologised to Queen Elizabeth about those parties during a time of national mourning.
Mr Wakeford's Bury South was one of 43 Red Wall seats identified as vulnerable to a Conservative collapse in a poll released on Wednesday.
A voter survey by JLPartnersPolls on Wednesday put Labour on 48 per cent and the Conservatives on 37 per cent with Boris Johnson's satisfaction rating down to minus 35 per cent having peaked at 10 per cent favourable last March. Even among voters who supported the UK's exit from the EU in the north, satisfaction has now fallen to minus 20 per cent.
"The Red Wall is looking far more Blue Cliff as far Boris Johnson's ratings are concerned," said Tom Lubbock of the polling group. "The situation for the Conservatives in the Red Wall maybe even worse than our polling suggests. Half the fieldwork took place before the apology to the queen and the latest revelations."
Last week the same polling firm carried out research in the seats that gave Mr Johnson an 80-seat majority in 2019. James Johnson, the former Conservative Party pollster who runs the group, said the allegations were provoking anger among voters.
“It’s the fact that he lied. If he turned round and said 'yep, I’ve done it, I’m sorry', that would have been okay. But he lied. What else has he been lying about?" one Bolton voter told the focus group.
Mr Johnson has asked for time for civil servant Sue Gray to complete a report on the rule-breaking incidents at No 10. The northern voters found that position was evasive. "I think he’s completely lost everyone’s trust,” the Bolton voter said.
That is the raw material that Mr Cummings is pivoting with as he moves to oust the man for whom he was instrumental in bringing to power.
Having laid the traps along the way, Mr Cummings has proved a dangerous foe of the UK leader.
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57%20Seconds
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Four tips to secure IoT networks
Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:
- Keep device software up-to-date. Most come with basic operating system, so users should ensure that they always have the latest version
- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number
- Usually smart devices come with many unnecessary features. Users should lock those features that are not required or used frequently
- Always create a different guest network for visitors
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Spain drain
CONVICTED
Lionel Messi Found guilty in 2016 of of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying €4.1m in taxes on income earned from image rights. Sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined more than €2m. But prison sentence has since been replaced by another fine of €252,000.
Javier Mascherano Accepted one-year suspended sentence in January 2016 for tax fraud after found guilty of failing to pay €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012. Unlike Messi he avoided trial by admitting to tax evasion.
Angel di Maria Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Angel di Maria was fined and given a 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud during his time at Real Madrid. But he is unlikely to go to prison as is normal in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying sentence of less than two years.
SUSPECTED
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's star striker, accused of evading €14.7m in taxes, appears in court on Monday. Portuguese star faces four charges of fraud through offshore companies.
Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager accused of evading €3.3m in tax in 2011 and 2012, during time in charge at Real Madrid. But Gestifute, which represents him, says he has already settled matter with Spanish tax authorities.
Samuel Eto'o In November 2016, Spanish prosecutors sought jail sentence of 10 years and fines totalling €18m for Cameroonian, accused of failing to pay €3.9m in taxes during time at Barcelona from 2004 to 2009.
Radamel Falcao Colombian striker Falcao suspected of failing to correctly declare €7.4m of income earned from image rights between 2012 and 2013 while at Atletico Madrid. He has since paid €8.2m to Spanish tax authorities, a sum that includes interest on the original amount.
Jorge Mendes Portuguese super-agent put under official investigation last month by Spanish court investigating alleged tax evasion by Falcao, a client of his. He defended himself, telling closed-door hearing he "never" advised players in tax matters.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
