With a government semi-paralyzed and unable to execute strategic policies, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnsontries to cling to power in the midst of two investigations, one internal and the other police, in the biggest scandal of his management, known as the ‘partygate‘, which has one foot out of power.
(In context: What’s up with the report on Boris Johnson’s controversial parties?)
10 Downing Street, the office and residence of the charismatic and unbridled Conservative ruler, has become something of a crime scene, at a time when the powerful Scotland Yard (British police) is conducting a police investigation about the violations of the confinement rules during the pandemic, which would have been committed by the prime minister himself and other officials.
“Downing Street is in chaos, nothing can be done,” an official who asked to keep his identity revealed to EL TIEMPO, commenting on the investigations that are being carried out and that have nervous administrative employees, whose names could come to light and receive sanctions, ranging from fines to losing their jobs.
(Read here: Boris Johnson refuses to resign under pressure for illegal parties)
The tension has to do not only with the long-awaited report by the senior official of the cabinet office, Sue Gray, but also with the police investigation opened this week at the seat of government itself, where police detectives have been checking official email accounts. , CCTV images and WhatsApp messages to collect incriminating evidence in the official offices of the fifth most powerful country in the world.
The administrative report includes the infractions committed by Johnson and other public employees with downing street parties carried out between 2020 and 2021, when strict laws were in force in the United Kingdom that prohibited meetings of more than two people in closed places, under penalty of fines of up to 10,000 pounds sterling (53 million Colombian pesos).
(Also: Requirements to travel to the European Union will change on February 1)
The public have had enough.
Labor will build a new Britain out of the pandemic that gives families, businesses and pensioners the security, prosperity and respect they deserve. pic.twitter.com/5WR89JR8a2
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 26, 2022
The stoppage of the publication of the internal report was given by the head of the New Scotland YardPolice Commissioner Cressida Dick, who acknowledged on Friday that “serious indications of criminal infractions” were identified and that she had contacted Gray to ask him to make minimal references to his internal findings, fearing that it could affect the criminal investigation that ahead in Downing Street.
Major Catherine Roper, who is overseeing the investigation, added that the cabinet office, under which Sue Gray is conducting her investigation, had provided relevant “material” to law enforcement, including hard evidence such as witness statements, photographs or text messages about the facts under investigation.
Scotland Yard also revealed that in the coming days it will begin sending letters to officials in Downing Street suspected of violating confinement rules, and mentioned in Sue Gray’s evidence file, a copy of which is in the hands of police investigators.
Indeed, those who violated pandemic laws by attending government parties will have to provide a “reasonable excuse” or be fined. It is speculated that Johnson himself and his closest advisers are among those who will receive the police notifications.
The delay in the release of the Gray report and the police investigation have been interpreted by some analysts as “a breather for Johnson”, who would be playing for time, while calls grow for him to resign from office, both from opposition parties and from his own. conservative awning.
“Boris knows his days are numbered, but he will fight to the last minute and the delay in the release of Gray’s report and the police investigation gives him an edge he needs at this time,” said Christopher Field, a veteran journalist.
Meanwhile, Johnson is said to have spent the last few days trying to save his skin, and lobbying to win back rebels from his Conservative party who are calling for him to resign, amid the worst drop in British support for the government. at 23 percent compared to the opposition Labor party, which is at 56 percent.
“The prime minister is promising heaven and earth to the conservative rebels to avoid a no-confidence vote in Parliament,” said Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s political editor, recalling that there are already at least a dozen letters asking for the motion in the so-called 1922 committee, which is the regulatory body of the Conservative party in Parliament. It takes 54 such cards to officially challenge the leadership of Boris Johnson and his possible exit from power.
New scandals dot Boris Johnson
When it was believed that parliamentary anger against the British prime minister had subsided, revelations came to light in which it is claimed that Johnson had lied to members of the House of Commons in Parliament over allegations that the Prime Minister himself had authorized the evacuation of pets from an animal shelter in Kabul, leaving hundreds of Afghan allies on the ground, while the Taliban military seized power in Afghanistan after 20 years of Western control.
After the serious Afghan withdrawal crisis, it was denounced that the British Prime Minister had authorized a military plane to remove dogs from a shelter that operated in Kabul, while thousands of people from that country, who worked cooperating with the British embassy.
At the time, Johnson had denied such authorization, but this week a series of official emails from the Foreign Office at the time were revealed, which reported the prime minister’s order to evacuate the pets.
The opposition, led by Labor’s Keir Starmer, accused Johnson of “lying”, renewing calls for him to step down. Some warn that Johnson’s hands are “tied” on sensitive issues, which could directly affect British pockets.
According to economists, a very delicate point to resolve has to do with the effects of the worst inflation in decades that the United Kingdom is experiencing, which could be at 7 percent at the end of 2021, well above 2 percent, which is had been proposed by the Bank of England, the British issuer.
The government team will have to decide between giving in to political pressure or applying fiscal measures to balance the accounts after the crisis in the pandemic which holds the coffers with public sector net borrowing at 96.1% of GDP in the UK, the highest since the early 1960s.
To cushion the inflationary effect, there are calls from his own party to roll back a plan to increase the 1.25% tax on social security, hit during the pandemic. Such a move will cost workers an additional £255 a year.
In fact, official spokesmen assure that, on the agenda for the coming week, Johnson will try to refocus on daily work, which will include a series of internal political announcements on the post-brexit and so-called ‘catch-up’, which refers to measures to support the poorest regions of the UK.
MARIA VICTORIA CRISTANCHO
For the time
LONDON
On Twitter: @mavicristancho
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