Boris Johnson’s new chief of staff has pledged it is now a “priority to restore a smaller state” as the Prime Minister strives to keep Conservatives on side while facing questions from police investigating alleged lockdown breaches. But the trip comes in the seven days Mr Johnson has to avoid a fine by answering a legal questionnaire from Scotland Yard officers investigating whether he broke his own Covid laws. The calls for the Prime Minister to go will only grow louder and more widespread if he cannot convince police he was not in breach of regulations at up to six events. Fifteen Tory MPs have publicly called for Mr Johnson to quit, while more are thought to have privately written to the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories calling for a no-confidence vote. More are poised to do so if the Prime Minister is found to have broken his own coronavirus laws, or further damaging details emerge from the Sue Gray inquiry.

Source: The Times February 12, 2022 22:59 UTC