Boris Johnson could try to force his way back into office if things go sour for his successor, a former minister has predicted as the Tory leadership race reached its final week.
Rory Stewart, who ran against Mr Johnson for the Tory leadership in 2019, likened him to former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and ex-US president Donald Trump, who are both plotting comebacks.
Mr Johnson is entering his final days in office as the Conservative Party prepares to announce its new leader on September 5, who will take office as prime minister the following day.
Voting ends on Friday and polls show Foreign Secretary Liz Truss leading former chancellor Rishi Sunak by a wide margin.
There was little campaigning on Monday, a bank holiday, but Mr Sunak wrote to supporters urging them to make "one final push" to persuade Conservative members.
With the cost of living crunch looming large over the race, Mr Sunak promised that "as your prime minister, I will get our country through this energy crisis".
Conservatives on the campaign trail - in pictures
Ms Truss is promising to fight the fire with tax cuts but there was criticism on Monday of the idea that she might slash VAT to ease the pain for consumers.
One Tory MP, Neil O'Brien, said cutting VAT would do little for frugal pensioners and working-class people since essential spending such as food is not covered by the sales tax in the first place.
The scale of the crisis, after regulators announced on Friday that energy bills were rising by 80 per cent, has already sparked doubts about whether the new leader will be equal to the challenge.
Alistair Darling, the chancellor during the 2008 financial crash, said the lesson was that government had to do "more than people expect" to keep the economy afloat.
Asked whether Mr Johnson might attempt a comeback if the new prime minister flops, Mr Stewart said the outgoing leader had an "extraordinary ego" and believed he bad been badly treated.
“He doesn’t see the reality, which is that he was a terrible prime minister and that he lost his job because of deep flaws of character," Mr Stewart told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
“And yes, I fear we’re going to end up with a second Berlusconi or a second Trump trying to rock back in again.”
Mr Stewart also told The Guardian that Mr Johnson is going to be "hovering around, hoping for a populist return”.
One obstacle could be the Commons Privileges Committee inquiry into whether Mr Johnson lied to MPs over Downing Street lockdown parties, but some of his allies have already denounced the probe as "a witch hunt”.
Mr Stewart, a long-time critic of Mr Johnson, quit the Conservative Party in 2019 after losing the whip for voting to block a no-deal Brexit.
He quit the party the following month and immediately launched a bid for the London mayoralty as an independent candidate but pulled out of the race after the vote was delayed to 2021, saying it was too difficult to sustain a campaign extended by the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Sunday, it was announced that he had been appointed president of the GiveDirectly international aid charity, which seeks to help donors send money straight to the world’s poorest households
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Disposing of non-recycleable masks
Use your ‘black bag’ bin at home
Do not put them in a recycling bin
Take them home with you if there is no litter bin
- No need to bag the mask
KYLIAN MBAPPE 2016/17 STATS
Ligue 1: Appearances - 29, Goals - 15, Assists - 8
UCL: Appearances - 9, Goals - 6
French Cup: Appearances - 3, Goals - 3
France U19: Appearances - 5, Goals - 5, Assists - 1
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MATCH INFO
Scotland 59 (Tries: Hastings (2), G Horne (3), Turner, Seymour, Barclay, Kinghorn, McInally; Cons: Hastings 8)
Russia 0
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
