Boris Johnson has ‘huge role to play’ in Conservative Party – cabinet minister

Published

2 years ago

May 28, 2023

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Boris Johnson has a “huge role to play” in the future of the Conservative Party, according to one cabinet minister, while a staunch ally of the ex-prime minister urged “the left” to leave him alone.

The Conservative MPs were speaking following last week’s revelation that Mr Johnson’s diaries from when he was in Number 10 have been passed to the police by the government due to concerns about further breaches of lockdown rules.

Mr Johnson paid a fixed penalty notice last year after the police determined he had broken his own COVID laws.

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Lawyers defending the government at the official COVID inquiry recently examined Mr Johnson’s itinerary from the time, and were later referred to law enforcement, with reports his meetings showed people visiting Chequers while restrictions were in place.

Mr Johnson described the claims he broke the rules as “nonsense” when speaking to Sky News.

Asked if Mr Johnson’s time as a politician was over, Health Secretary Steve Barclay told Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “No, I think Boris has a huge role to play.”

He cited the former prime minister’s leadership on Ukraine and the COVID vaccine rollout as examples of his good qualities.

Mr Barclay added that he “of course” wants to see Boris Johnson return as a member of parliament after the next election, as with all his Conservative colleagues.

Andrea Jenkyns, who was seen wiping away tears when Mr Johnson resigned from Downing Street, defended him on the same programme.

“There’s a real hatred from the left of Boris Johnson, which I haven’t seen since Thatcher’s funeral, to be honest,” she said.

The MP accused Mr Johnson’s opponents of an “orchestrated” effort to topple him as prime minister.

Ms Jenkyns also sought to blame the Civil Service, saying “more transparency” is needed from civil servants – calling for them to publish a register of interests and “relations with not only the media, but the shadow cabinet as well“.

She said people should “leave Boris alone now” – pointing out that his wife, Carrie, is “heavily pregnant“.

Ms Jenkyns also defended a message she sent to Conservative colleagues in which she called for less “sanctimony and hypocrisy” – adding that “those at the top are not doing anything about this to bring people together”.

She told Sky News she was talking about people like Simon Hoare, who she said was “quite vitriolic” when Theresa May was prime minister.

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Ms Jenkyns revealed that at one point she blocked messages from the current chief whip, Simon Hart, due to his actions.

But she added she does not want a change in leadership, despite criticising Rishi Sunak.

She thinks it would harm the chances of the Conservatives winning the next general election – scheduled for next year.

This comes despite her tweeting the hashtag “BBBJ” – bring back Boris Johnson – last week.

‘Whole system not fit for purpose’

Sir Chris Bryant, a Labour MP who is also chair of a Commons standards committee, called for a rethink of how MPs and ministers are investigated for their conduct.

The Commons privileges committee is currently investigating whether Mr Johnson deliberately misled MPs about partygate.

Sir Chris has recused himself from the probe, as he believes the former prime minister is guilty.

His concerns come following Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he would not launch an investigation into Suella Braverman for the way she handled a speeding ticket.

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Sir Chris said: “My worry is that we have so many organisations and so many different rules that it’s actually very difficult for the public – and for that matter politicians – to understand who’s who, who governs, who regulates what particular bit of the ministerial code, the civil service code.

“And I think all of this is ripe for reform – the whole system is simply not fit for purpose anymore.”

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

Published

6 hours ago

July 14, 2025

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.

Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.

The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.

It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.

The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.

Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.

But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.

It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.

Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.

Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.

That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.

The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.

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Meredith Kercher’s killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

Published

19 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Meredith Kercher's killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.

Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.

He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.

Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.

Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.

Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.

The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.

Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.

The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.

Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.

Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.

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IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike

Published

22 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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IDF blames 'technical error' after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike

The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.

Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.

The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.

Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.

Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.

When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.

In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.

Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.

Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.

The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.

The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.

The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.

More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.

But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.

Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.