Boris Johnson’s authority appears to have been restored after a defiant Prime Minister’s Questions performance with his party seemingly behind him, shouting their support.
The Conservative rebellion has apparently been halted for now after a shadow whipping operation led by senior allies of Mr Johnson restored loyalty following failures by the official whips to enforce party discipline.
The turnaround for the British prime minister has come at a critical moment as he awaits publication of Sue Gray's report into Downing Street’s lockdown parties.
The tension was palpable, only to be replaced with the din of cheering when Mr Johnson entered the arena.
Mr Johnson's official spokesman confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that he had not yet received the senior civil servant's report, the conclusions of which could yet trigger a leadership contest.
It is understood that lawyers are carefully examining the report before agreeing to its publication.
When that happens, the prime minister will be given a few hours to read its findings and formulate a response before appearing before the Commons to make a statement and answer questions.
Key among his interrogators will be Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, who will come from a “lock-in” with the Gray report, attempting to land a knockout blow.
But his attack on Wednesday at PMQs appeared to diminish from the moment Mr Johnson entered the Commons chamber to cheers from his MPs.
That support appears to have been orchestrated by a subtle shadow whipping operation conducted over the last week by Chris Heaton Harris, Chis Pincher and former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.
The trio, who have all formerly been government whips, cajoled and persuaded wavering MPs into giving full-throated backing for Mr Johnson, arguing that their disloyalty was destroying the government and helping Labour.
Given what has occurred in the past seven days, this PMQs was a turnaround for Mr Johnson.
During his previous appearance last Wednesday he was wounded by Mr Starmer’s rapier strikes, floored by an MP's defection to Labour and lanced by fellow Brexiteer David Davis’ call of “in the name of God, go”.
But he clung on, his detractors still without the 54 letters from MPs required to trigger a Conservative Party leadership election.
Downing Street’s firefighting continued, dealing with reports of MPs being blackmailed to support Mr Johnson, and on Sunday, when Nusrat Ghani said she had been sacked as a minister for her “Muslimness”.
That was followed on Monday by yet another report of a Downing Street birthday party for Mr Johnson that broke the rules.
Unsurprisingly, the media and political attendance at PMQs was high, with the press gallery that overlooks the chamber packed with more than 100 journalists. The Commons benches overflowed with MPs, too, and for the first time this year people were allowed to return to the public gallery.
The Labour benches opposite, perhaps lulled by the previous week’s PMQs, momentarily wavered at the tide of encouragement.
Mr Johnson waded straight in, drawing cheers from his party every time he spoke of success fighting Covid-19, addressed the backlog of medical operations, or emphasised Britain’s support for Ukraine. “We got all the big calls right,” he told Mr Starmer, before taking a sip of water from a glass placed next to the Dispatch Box.
The combative atmosphere grew so much that Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had to intervene four times, warning finally that the next infraction would result in the perpetrator being ejected from the chamber.
Following Mr Starmer’s lead, opposition MPs took turns in calling for Mr Johnson’s resignation over the “shameful spectacle of the prime minister being investigated by the police”.
But in what appeared to be orchestrated support, every time the prime minister stood to reply he was met with cheers.
The opposition appeared to have run out of ammunition, the calls for resignation becoming monotonous.
They may well restock and rearm once Mrs Gray’s report is released, but there is a suggestion that Mr Johnson may already know he can ride out its conclusions, which would explain his bravura performance.
He may also be clinging on to the aphorism of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger".
For some, that could prove uncomfortable. A subtle suggestion of the ghost-whipping operation was the positioning of Chancellor Rishi Sunak three places to the left of Mr Johnson, rather than in his usual position at the prime minister’s right-hand side. Mr Sunak, a leadership contender, has been noticeably reticent in his support.
Spasm of regret
Throughout the stamping of feet, braying and thumping of hands, former prime minster Theresa May sat in a eye-catching duck-egg blue trouser suit, hands folded on her lap, utterly unmoved by the fray.
At one point her hands unclasped, perhaps dismayed that the moment of her political assassin’s own downfall had not yet come to pass.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
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Rating: 4/5
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Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
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- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
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- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
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German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
RESULT
Fifth ODI, at Headingley
England 351/9
Pakistan 297
England win by 54 runs (win series 4-0)
Rajasthan Royals 153-5 (17.5 ov)
Delhi Daredevils 60-4 (6 ov)
Rajasthan won by 10 runs (D/L method)
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6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes – Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
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9.30pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
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The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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