Zahawi backs ‘Boris 2.0’ weeks after telling him to ‘go now’ – who else has changed their mind?
Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said he is backing Boris Johnson to return as prime minister despite having previously called for him to resign in the summer.
“I’m backing Boris. He got the big calls right, whether it was ordering more vaccines ahead of more waves of Covid, arming Ukraine early against the advice of some, or stepping down for the sake of unity,” Mr Zahawi tweeted. “But now, Britain needs him back. We need to unite to deliver on our manifesto.”
He added: “When I was chancellor, I saw a preview of what Boris 2.0 would look like. He was contrite & honest about his mistakes. He’d learned from those mistakes how he could run No10 & the country better. With a unified team behind him, he is the one to lead us to victory & prosperity.”
But less than two days after Mr Johnson made Mr Zahawi his chancellor, he called on the prime minister to resign, telling him: “Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative party and most importantly of all the country. You must do the right thing and go now.”
Mr Zahawi joins a list of MPs who appear to have changed their mind on Mr Johnson since his resignation.
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Priti Patel, the former home secretary, has said she will back him, but in July Ms Patel told Mr Johnson he had lost the support of the Tory party and should not go on.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, who has tweeted his support for Mr Johnson, is also reported to have been present at the meeting.
Simon Clarke, the levelling up secretary, also declared he wants Mr Johnson to replace Ms Truss, despite previously saying his resignation as prime minister was the “right decision”.
Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, formally announced her bid on Friday afternoon.
Amanda Milling, MP for Cannock Chase, also tweeted her support for Mr Johnson, saying he has a “proven track record of delivery for the British people”. But when he resigned Ms Milling said it was the right move “as the damage to our party and country was getting too much”.
Similarly, Shaun Bailey, MP for West Bromwich West, tweeted it was “time to #BringBackBoris”, but had said he could no longer support him when he was prime minister and called for “fresh leadership”.
Anthony Higginbotham has also come out for Mr Johnson, but had previously urged him to resign, saying: “Loyalty matters. But as the Member of Parliament for Burnley my first loyalty is, and always will be, to the public. It’s for that reason that I can no longer in good conscience continue supporting the current leader of my party.”
John Whittingdale, MP for Maldon, who has indicated he would back Mr Johnson, previously said there was “absolutely no alternative” to him resigning as prime minister and said it was clear he “simply couldn’t continue”.
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Jonathan Gullis, who resigned his role as parliamentary private secretary to the Northern Ireland secretary, has also indicated he will support Mr Johnson. The MP for Stoke-on-Trent North reportedly said he had lots of people from across his constituency telling him to “bring back Boris”.
Karl McCartney, the MP for Lincoln, backed Mr Johnson’s return but before his resignation said: “It has become clear to the prime minister, Boris Johnson MP, that he no longer has the confidence of a growing number of his colleagues in the Conservative Parliamentary Party.
“Therefore, the time has come for the prime minister to take the decision to resign and allow the Conservative Party the opportunity to select and elect a new leader.”
Lee Anderson has also performed somewhat of an about-turn by saying he would back Mr Johnson in the leadership race. The MP for Ashfield previously withdrew his support for the prime minister and said “integrity should always come first and sadly this has not been the case over the past few days”.
Dr Caroline Johnson, MP for Sleaford, previously resigned as Tory party vice chair, saying Mr Johnson’s “errors of judgement and domestic actions” had “squandered the goodwill of the party”. At the time she said he would “only damage our party and therefore our country” if he stayed on as prime minister, but she has since said she is backing Mr Johnson’s return.
Though he is yet to formally declare he will run, Mr Johnson has the public support of several cabinet ministers and about 60 MPs.
Mr Johnson returned to the UK on Saturday morning from the Dominican Republic, where he was said to be “taking soundings” about a potential return to No 10 after Ms Truss’s dramatic resignation on Thursday.
He is likely to be opposed by his former chancellor Rishi Sunak, whose resignation was key in forcing Mr Johnson’s departure from Downing Street in the summer.
On Monday Tory MPs will vote on which two candidates should be put forward to the party membership. Candidates have until 2pm to secure 100 nominations.
The membership will then vote on who should become leader of the party and the prime minister, with the result announced on Friday.
Canadians “weren’t impressed” by the decision of the UK government to offer Donald Trump an unprecedented second state visit to the UK, the country’s prime minister has told Sky News.
Sir Keir Starmer handed the invitation to the US president during a visit to the Oval Office.
The newly elected Liberal leader Mark Carney said that the invitation “cut across clear messages” that the Canadian government was trying to send to the White House in response to their threats against Canada’s sovereignty.
“I think, to be frank, they [Canadians] weren’t impressed by that gesture… given the circumstance. It was at a time when we were being quite clear about the issues around sovereignty.”
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Mark Carney speaking to Sky News’ Sam Washington
It comes as the Canadian prime minister has invited the King, who is Canada’s head of state, to open its parliament later this month in a “clear message of sovereignty”.
It is the first time the sovereign has carried out this function in nearly 50 years and Mr Carney says it’s “not coincidental”.
“All issues around Canada’s sovereignty have been accentuated by the president. So no, it’s not coincidental, but it is also a reaffirming moment for Canadians.”
The former Bank of England governor was re-elected after a campaign fought on the promise of standing up to American threats to Canadian statehood. He had refused to speak to Mr Trump until Canadian sovereignty was respected.
It followed Mr Trump threatening to make Canada the 51st state of the US.
Mr Carney justified making his first trip after winning re-election to the White House by stating Mr Trump had changed his intentions to annex Canada from an “expectation to a desire”.
“He was expressing a desire. He’d shifted from the expectation to a desire. He was also coming from a place where he recognised that that wasn’t going to happen.
“Does he still muse about it? Perhaps. Is it ever going to happen? No. Never.”
The high-stakes meeting in the Oval Office was not confrontational, with Mr Carney praising the president’s approach as “very on top of the essence of a wide range of issues” and “able to identify the points of maximum leverage, both in a specific situation but also in a geopolitical situation”.
A King’s tension between allies
Fractured geopolitical relations have produced an interesting phenomenon: two Commonwealth nations both deploying their head of state, King Charles, to manage the vagaries of Donald Trump.
For Canada, and its new prime minister, Mark Carney, the King is being unveiled at the opening of Parliament in Ottawa later this month as an unequivocal spectacle and symbol of sovereignty.
For the UK, Sir Keir Starmer is positioning the monarch as a bridge and has proffered a personal invitation from King Charles to the president for an unprecedented second state visit in order to facilitate negotiations over trade and tariffs.
This instrumentalisation of the crown, which ordinarily transcends politics, has created tension between the historically close allies.
Canadians view the UK’s red carpet treatment of a leader who is openly threatening their sovereignty as a violation of Commonwealth solidarity, while the British seem to have no compunction in engaging in high-level realpolitik.
The episode is emblematic of how pervasive disruptive American influence is and how extreme measures taken to combat it can aggravate even the most enduring alliances.
Since the meeting, tensions between the two countries have abated.
Further negotiations on trade and security are expected soon.
Given the deep economic integration of the two nations, neither side expects a deal imminently, but both sides concur that constructive talks have led to progress on an agreement.
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With greater goodwill between the two North American neighbours, Mr Carney also expressed optimism about Mr Trump’s efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia.
The prime minister confirmed his view that the president was an “honest broker” and that his counterpart had been “helpful” in bringing momentum to a 30-day ceasefire between the warring nations.
Despite a reset in relations between the United States and Canada, Mr Carney remained circumspect.
His motto is: “Always plan for the worst.”
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And to that end, nothing is being taken for granted: “We do plan for having no deal, we do plan for trouble in the security relationship. We do plan for the global trading system not being reassembled: that’s the way to approach this president.”
World
‘Sixteen killed’ in strike on Gaza hospital as Israel says it hit ‘Hamas command centre below’
At least 16 people have been killed and 70 others were injured at a hospital in Gaza following an Israeli strike, according to the health ministry.
Nine missiles hit the European Hospital and its courtyard in the south of the Palestinian territory, officials said.
Israel said it had hit a “Hamas command centre” beneath the hospital in Khan Younis.
Hamas denies exploiting hospitals and civilian properties for military purposes.
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The scene after the European Hospital was partially damaged following Israeli airstrikes. Pic: Reuters
Earlier, a well-known Palestinian photojournalist died following a separate attack on the Nasser Hospital, also in Khan Younis, said the ministry.
Hassan Aslih had been accused by Israel of working with Hamas and was recovering from an earlier airstrike.
Aslih, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, was said by the Israelis to have recorded and uploaded footage of “looting, arson and murder” during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack into Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Aslih was one of two patients who died in Tuesday’s strike on Nasser Hospital, said the health ministry. Several others were wounded.
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian journalist Hassan Aslih. Pic: Reuters
Dozens of people were being treated on the third floor of the hospital building, where the missiles struck, Reuters said, quoting Ahmed Siyyam, a member of Gaza’s emergency services.
The Israeli military said it “eliminated significant Hamas terrorists” in Nasser Hospital, among them Aslih, who it said had “operated under the guise of a journalist”.
Footage showed heavy damage to one of the hospital buildings, including to medical equipment and beds inside.
At least 160 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the International Federation of Journalists.
Gazan officials accuse Israel of deliberately targeting journalists. Israel denies this and says it tries to avoid harm to civilians.
Aslih, who headed the Alam24 news outlet and had previously worked with Western news outlets, was recovering after being wounded last month in a deadly strike on a tent in the Nasser Hospital compound.
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Meanwhile, President Trump has spoken on the phone to Edan Alexander after he was released by Hamas on Monday, as part of ongoing efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire with Israel.
The 21-year-old was believed to be the last living American hostage in Gaza.
Some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the 7 October attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s response has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and destroyed much of the coastal territory. Gaza’s health ministry records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
An aid blockade since March has left the population at critical risk of famine, according to the World Health Organisation, which warned on Tuesday that hunger and malnutrition could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation”.
Donald Trump has said the US will lift long-standing sanctions on Syria and signed a $600bn (£450bn) deal with Saudi Arabia as he visited the nation as part of a tour of the Middle East.
The US president revealed the US plans to lift sanctions on Syria following talks with Saudi Arabia‘s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr Trump was speaking at the US-Saudi investment conference during a four-day trip to the region.
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The comments follow Air Force One being escorted by Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s as it approached the kingdom’s capital, with Mr Trump welcomed by the crown prince, Saudi’s de facto ruler, as he stepped off the plane.
President Trump said the relationship between the were nations were “stronger and more powerful than ever before”, adding it would “remain that way”.
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How Trump’s Saudi visit unfolded
‘Largest defence cooperation agreement’
Mr Trump and Prince Mohammed signed several agreements aimed at increasing cooperation between their governments, including a commitment to $600bn in new Saudi investment in the US – though Mr Trump said a trillion dollars (£750bn) would be even better.
The US also agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142bn (£107bn), which the White House called “the largest defence cooperation agreement” Washington has ever done.
Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provide an honorary escort for Air Force One. Pic: AP
In his speech, President Trump also urged Iran to take a “new and a much better path” and make a new nuclear deal with the US.
Speaking at the conference, Mr Trump said he wants to avoid a conflict with Iran but warned of “maximum pressure” if his olive branch was rejected.
Pic: AP
“As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound,” he said.
“If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch… we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure, drive Iranian oil exports to zero.”
He added: “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. But with that said, Iran can have a much brighter future, but we’ll never allow America and its allies to be threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack. The choice is theirs to make.”
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Pic: Reuters
Normalising relations with Syria
Mr Trump said he would ease US sanctions on Syria and move to normalise relations with its new government ahead of a meeting with its new leader Ahmad al Sharaa on Wednesday.
The Syrian president was formerly an insurgent who led the overthrow of former leader Bashar al Assad last year.
Mr Trump said he wants to give the country “a chance at peace” and added: “There is a new government that will hopefully succeed. I say good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”
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The US leader also said he hoped Saudi Arabia would soon join the Abraham Accords and recognise Israel “in your own time”.
Saudi Arabia has argued its recognition of Israel would be tied to the establishment of a Palestinian state along the lines of Israel’s 1967 borders.
Mr Trump will travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over the next three days.
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