Boris Johnson ‘calling off the dogs’ from attacking privileges committee report

Published

2 years ago

June 17, 2023

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Boris Johnson has dramatically made a double retreat from all-out verbal war with Rishi Sunak over the damning report which concluded he lied to MPs over partygate.

First, he has ordered his closest allies in the Commons not to vote against the privileges committee report that proposed a 90-day suspension if he had still been an MP.

In a major U-turn, the former prime minister has told his supporters “it’s time to come together and move on” and “turn down the temperature and calm down”.

Partygate report: The key findings of privileges committee that sealed Boris Johnson’s fate

Secondly, Mr Johnson appears to have steered clear of political controversy in his new Daily Mail column by writing – bizarrely – about his battle to lose weight and trying a slimming “wonder drug”.

With MPs braced for another blistering attack on the privileges committee, Mr Johnson has chosen instead to write about using injections to stifle his cravings for cheddar and chorizo.

Mr Johnson does, however, write that when middle-aged MPs lose weight they may be about or launch a leadership bid, a bid close allies have told Sky News he may launch after the next election.

His decision to “call off the dogs” – as MPs are calling it – and avoid a bruising confrontation in a Commons debate on Monday was revealed to Sky News by his close ally Sir James Duddridge MP.

“Boris’s view has changed,” said Sir James. “I spoke to him and he said the vote is not going to make any difference and it’s time to come together and move on.

“We want to turn down the temperature and calm down. I don’t think there’s going to be a vote. Very few people are going to turn up because it’s only a one-line whip.”

But another close ally told Sky News: “Don’t rule out Boris going for leader of the Opposition after the next election. He’s going to go submarine for now. For now, he wants to regain the reputation as the columnist everybody loves.”

Mr Johnson’s Daily Mail column, which the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments complained it was not told about until 30 minutes before the paper announced it, in a “clear breach” of the ministerial code, is rumoured to be worth a big six-figure sum.

The column began: “I first thought that something was up when I saw that a certain member of the cabinet had miraculously changed his appearance. He had acquired a new jawline. His neck emerged without effort from his collar.

“When he rose from his chair at the cabinet table, that chair no longer tried to cling longingly about his hips. I got it! He had lost weight, stones and stones of belly…”

Beth Rigby analysis:
Johnson verdict a blow to Sunak’s hopes of maintaining peace in the Tory civil war

Though the ex-prime minister did not name the cabinet minister, it is understood to be Nadhim Zahawi, who was education secretary and then briefly became chancellor under Mr Johnson after Mr Sunak resigned.

But in what could have been a jibe at the slender Mr Sunak, who the ex-prime minister’s allies accuse of stabbing Mr Johnson in the back when he quit, he said he thought of Julius Caesar and wrote: “Let me have men about me that are fat,’ said the Roman dictator, shortly before his assassination. ‘Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look’.”

Mr Johnson added: “If an otherwise healthy middle-aged man displays sudden weight loss, I reasoned, there are only two possible explanations. Either he has fallen hopelessly in love, or else he is about to mount a Tory leadership bid.

“Then one of those colleagues came up and whispered the truth – that there was an entirely separate explanation. He had access, he said, to a wonder drug. ‘It stops you wanting to eat,’ he said.

The second colleague is understood to be Mr Johnson’s close ally and former Cabinet Office fixer ally Nigel Adams, who he attempted to send to the House of Lords and who, like the former prime minister, has resigned as an MP, forcing a by-election in his Selby and Ainsty constituency.

Mr Johnson wrote: “I consulted the doctor, and he told me that I was an ideal candidate for these appetite-suppressing drugs.

“It’s a cinch, said the doctor. All you need to do is inject a tiny dose of clear Ozempic fluid into your abdomen, once a week, and hey presto – no more raiding the fridge at 11.30pm for the cheddar and chorizo washed down with half a bottle of wine.

“He wrote out the prescription, I zoomed to the chemist’s; and though I was frankly a bit taken aback by the cost, what the hell, I said to myself, think of the benefits to health.

“So for weeks I jabbed my stomach, and for weeks it worked. I must have been losing four or five pounds a week – maybe more – when all at once it started to go wrong.

“I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe it was something to do with constantly flying around the world, and changing time zones, but I started to dread the injections, because they were making me feel ill.”

And perhaps revealing too much information, he added: “One minute I would be fine, and the next minute I would be talking to Ralph on the big white phone; and I am afraid that I decided that I couldn’t go on.

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“For now I am back to exercise and willpower, but I look at my colleagues – leaner but not hungrier – and I hope that if science can do it for them, maybe one day it can help me, and everyone else.”

Mr Johnson’s column will reinforce the view of many Conservative MPs that he aims to return to the Commons at the next election – and indeed mount a new leadership bid, whether he is leaner and fitter or not.

World

Trump gives Hamas peace deal deadline – as key allies including Qatar urge it to accept

Published

4 hours ago

October 1, 2025

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Trump gives Hamas peace deal deadline - as key allies including Qatar urge it to accept

Donald Trump has said Hamas has “three or four days” to respond to his Gaza peace plan – with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey reportedly urging the group to accept.

The US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled the 20-point proposal at the White House on Monday.

Hamas has said it needs time to look at the details and consult with other Palestinian factions.

Israel has agreed to the terms, which include an immediate ceasefire; the release of all hostages; Hamas disarming; a guarantee no one will be forced to leave Gaza; and a governing “peace panel” including Sir Tony Blair.

Key mediators such as Qatar and Egypt have urged Hamas – who murdered more than 1,200 Israelis two years ago – to accept the deal, reported Axios.

Other influential Muslim nations such as Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have also publicly backed it.

Speaking outside the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said they were “just waiting for Hamas” and it would be a “very sad end” if the deal was rejected.

One Hamas leader, Mahmoud Mardawi, was quoted in Middle Eastern outlets as saying the group will not agree a deal that does not include “self-determination for the Palestinian people”.

Mr Netanyahu has warned he will “finish the job” if Hamas refuses, while Mr Trump said he would “let Israel go and do what they have to do”.

However, the plan is seen as heavily favouring Israel and makes no commitment towards a two-state solution – something the Israeli leader has vowed will never happen.

Other details, such as the inclusion of former UK prime minister Sir Tony, have also been criticised due to his pivotal role in the invasion of Iraq.

Human rights activist Ashish Prashar – who said he worked with Sir Tony when he was a Middle East envoy – told Sky News’ The World programme it was “like putting the arsonist in charge of rebuilding the house he put on fire” and “there is no way Palestinians trust him”.

However, President Trump called Sir Tony a “good man” – and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky’s Sophy Ridge that Sir Tony had a “record on a lot of international things”.

Other members of the planned governing board are set to be announced in the coming days.

More than 66,000 people in Gaza have now been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The total does not differentiate between the number of fighters and civilians but the ministry has said about half are women and children.

At least another 31 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday, local hospitals said.

Seventeen of them died in Netzarim, an Israeli-controlled corridor, while trying to get humanitarian aid. Another 33 were reportedly wounded in the incident, said al Awda hospital.

Israeli strikes which hit tents in the region of Muwasi, previously deemed a safe zone, are said to have killed 10 people.

Al Aqsa hospital said seven of the victims died near Deir al Balah after earlier this month fleeing Gaza City, where Israel has launched a renewed offensive.

The three others killed were from the same family; a man, his pregnant wife and their child. They were killed when an airstrike hit their tent west of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports, but said it had struck more than 160 targets of Hamas infrastructure in the past 24 hours.

It has repeatedly stressed it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties but that Hamas deliberately embeds itself among the civilian population.

Hamas is still believed to be holding 48 of the 251 hostages kidnapped during the 7 October attack, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

World

Princess Anne makes surprise Ukraine visit – and leaves a personal tribute

Published

4 hours ago

October 1, 2025

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Princess Anne makes surprise Ukraine visit - and leaves a personal tribute

Princess Anne has placed a toy bear as a poignant tribute at a children’s memorial in Ukraine, during an unexpected visit to the war-ravaged country where she also met Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The King’s sister travelled to the capital Kyiv on Tuesday, at the request of the Foreign Office, in a show of solidarity with children and families facing the horrors of the Russian invasion.

The Princess Royal met Mr Zelenskyy to discuss the UK’s support for Ukraine and its ongoing resistance.

Anne’s secret visit, which was not publicised beforehand for security reasons, came just two days after a Russian aerial bombardment killed at least four people in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old girl, and injured at least 70 others.

The attack, which lasted more than 12 hours, was one of the heaviest in recent months.

The purpose of her trip was to highlight the traumatic experiences of children living on the frontline, Buckingham Palace said.

Joining First Lady Olena Zelenska at the children’s memorial, Anne left the teddy in tribute to youngsters killed in the conflict, saying her daughter Zara Tindall had the same bear.

As the 75-year-old princess stepped back after placing the traditional-looking teddy at the base of the memorial alongside scores of other cuddly toys, she told Mrs Zelenska: “That was one that my daughter had.”

Mrs Zelenska also left a bear in tribute.

The site commemorates more than 650 children who have died since the start of the conflict in 2022.

In Kyiv, she also met female police and armed forces representatives and heard about their key role protecting women and children.

Visiting the Child Rights Protection Centre, she spoke to families and children who have been returned and reintegrated, and met some of those working to return more Ukrainian children.

More than 19,500 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred or deported by the Russian authorities to Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Princess Anne is the second working royal to visit Ukraine.

In April last year, the Duchess of Edinburgh was the first to go and bring a letter of support from the King.

Anne’s trip also follows that of her nephew Prince Harry, who made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital just over two weeks ago with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation.

Anne also visited a rehabilitation centre, where she met Ukrainian veterans returning from the frontline.

The King has met Mr Zelenskyy a number of times and marked the country’s independence day in August by sending a message of solidarity.

During Donald Trump’s recent state visit to the UK, Charles also took the opportunity to stress the importance of supporting Ukraine.

He told the US president in his banquet speech: “Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”

World

Praise and fury for Trump’s Gaza peace deal – but Hamas’s first reaction is telling

Published

13 hours ago

September 30, 2025

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Praise and fury for Trump's Gaza peace deal - but Hamas's first reaction is telling

When Benjamin Netanyahu lands back in Israel, he will be hit by a wall of opinions. Some people are full of praise for the deal he has helped to construct, others hate it. Nobody is indifferent.

Among those who are spitting fury are members of his own cabinet.

As it happened: Trump reveals Gaza plan

Netanyahu will attend a cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, and he will be faced by the anger of his two most outspoken ministers – Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Both come from the uncompromising political far right; both think that compromise is a sign of weakness; both were utterly outraged at the idea of the prime minister apologising to Qatar for the attack on Doha.

Ben-Gvir said that, far from being a source of shame, it had been “an important, just and supremely moral attack… Qatar is a state that supports terrorism, funds terrorism and incites terrorism”.

Smotrich, as if ever worried at being outdone, compared Netanyahu with Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of the Nazis, saying his “grovelling apology” was a “disgrace”.

Can either of these men really keep serving in a cabinet with Netanyahu? And if not, how long before the government collapses?

That wouldn’t imperil the peace plan – if it survives – because it will have the support of enough opposition parties to be passed into law.

But it would hasten a new general election, where Netanyahu would try to portray himself as the statesman who brought back the hostages (if he does) while his rivals would paint him as the man who let October 7 happen on his watch.

But in the short term, Netanyahu’s plan has plenty of fans in Israel. President Isaac Herzog applauded it and so did the forum representing the families of the hostages.

Leaders from Arab countries have all said they welcome it, albeit they have, unanimously, given the credit to Donald Trump, rather than the Israeli prime minister.

But then the applause dwindles. From Hamas, the initial reaction was telling – the plan hadn’t even been sent to them before it was announced to the world. And without their buy-in, what does a deal look like? Can it even work?

They say they can’t sign up to anything that does not include Palestinian self-determination. Which this, pointedly, doesn’t.

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And remember – Hamas have the hostages. For all the implicit threats made by Trump about what would happen if Hamas don’t sign up to this deal, the return of the hostages is the point that most loudly resonates with the Israeli public.

If Hamas don’t like the deal, they won’t return the hostages.

As for the governance of Gaza – there is precious little support among Palestinians for a Trump/Blair leadership team.

“Tony Blair is a war criminal who should be in The Hague, not Gaza,” said Mustafa Barghouti, the veteran politician who has been on the Palestinian Legislative Council for nearly two decades.

And that’s an opinion I’ve heard echoed more than once.

There are more negotiations to come. “I’ll believe it when it happens,” one military figure said to me, wearily. “I’m more confident than before,” said another source, “but before I wasn’t confident at all.”

Nobody is getting too excited, too early, and there are hurdles to overcome and concessions to be made. But there is a chance that things might happen, and if they do, they might happen fast.