Newly appointed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaving No10 Downing Street for his first Prime Ministers Questions at the House of Commons. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Rory Arnold / No 10 Downing Street
Boris Johnson also got into hot water over an expensive refurbishment of his prime ministerial flat which was overseen by his wife Carrie…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his family will be living in a flat above No 10, Downing Street. Rishi Sunak, along with his wife and two daughters had stayed in the flat when he was chancellor to former PM Boris Johnson.
Asked why Rishi Sunak opted for No 10 instead, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “They were very happy there.”
During the leadership contest against Liz Truss- who lived in the flat after Boris Johnson- Rishi Sunak had said that his family would “probably just move back into the flat where we used to live, to be honest” if elected.
“We have already decorated it and it’s lovely,” Rishi Sunak had then said.
The No.10 flat has been the official residence of the UK’s prime minister and several predecessors including Boris Johnson have lived in the four-bedroom flat. Boris Johnson also got into hot water over an expensive refurbishment of his prime ministerial flat which was overseen by his wife Carrie.
The details of expensive rolls of wallpaper, hyper-fashionable soft furnishings and deep-pocketed donors were quite damaging to the former prime minister’s reputation when he was in office. The flat above No.10- where Rishi Sunak will live- has been officially designated for the chancellor but many PMs have chosen to live in it as it is a larger flat.
The number of contenders will be whittled down to two through more rounds of secret ballot, before British parliamentarians break up for the summer recess on July 21…reports Asian Lite News
Eight candidates have been nominated to enter the race to be the leader of the Conservative Party and replace outgoing Boris Johnson as the Prime Minister, the party’s backbench 1922 Committee said.
The eight contenders who successfully enlisted the required backing of at least 20 Conservative lawmakers are: Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak; Foreign Secretary Liz Truss; International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt; backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat; Attorney General Suella Braverman; newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi; former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch; and former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The first round of voting among Tory lawmakers will be held on Wednesday and only those contenders who receive at least 30 votes can enter the second ballot, which is to be held on Thursday, according to the rules set by the 1922 Committee, which runs the leadership contest.
The number of contenders will be whittled down to two through more rounds of secret ballot, before British parliamentarians break up for the summer recess on July 21.
The final two contenders will then go through a postal ballot of all the Conservative members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer and the winner will be announced on September 5, becoming the new Tory leader and the UK’s next Prime Minister.
The Tory leadership race was triggered after Johnson was forced to bow to the inevitable on Thursday by an avalanche of resignations of cabinet ministers and other junior government officials in protest against his scandal-plagued leadership. Johnson continues to serve as caretaker Prime Minister until a new Tory leader succeeds him.
Johnson, who won a landslide victory in the general elections in 2019, lost support after he was caught in a string of scandals, including the Partygate scandal and the Chris Pincher scandal related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Conservative Party deputy chief whip.
Won’t demonise Boris, says Sunak
Meanwhile, Sunak marked the official launch of his Conservative Party leadership bid with a speech in which he pledged a “positive campaign”, which will not participate in demonising outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The 42-year-old UK-born Indian-origin politician, who is married to Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s daughter Akshata Murty, admitted he had disagreements with his former boss but also praised him as someone who has a good heart.
“Boris Johnson is one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met. And, whatever some commentators may say, he has a good heart, Sunak said in his campaign launch speech in London. Did I disagree with him? Frequently. Is he flawed? Yes and so are the rest of us. Was it no longer working? Yes, and that’s why I resigned. But let me be clear, I will have no part in a rewriting of history that seeks to demonise Boris, exaggerate his faults or deny his efforts,” he said.
In an indirect reference to some reports over the weekend of damaging briefings and an alleged dirty dossier doing the rounds of the Tory groups, Sunak said: I am running a positive campaign focused on what my leadership can offer our party and our country.
“I will not engage in the negativity that some of you may have seen and read in the media. If others wish to do that, then let them. That’s not who we are, we can be better.”
On the issue that is seen as central to the leadership race, Sunak reiterated that as a former finance minister he is determined to steer the economy in the right direction but would not be making fairy tale promises on lowering taxes right away.
Boris Johnson hosts the Prime Ministers Business Council alongside the Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer and leading business figures in 10 Downing Street. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street
“We need a return to traditional Conservative economic values and that means honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales. It is not credible to promise lots more spending and lower taxes, he said, as a clear counter-attack to some of his rivals who have promised tax cuts. So, that is my plan: tackle inflation, grow the economy and cut taxes. It is a long-term approach that will deliver long-term gains for families and businesses across the United Kingdom. I am prepared to give everything I have in service to our nation, to restore trust, rebuild our economy, and reunite the country,” Sunak said.
Unlike the more personal touch of a social media video which announced his intention to contest for the post of Tory leader following Johnson’s resignation last week, the campaign speech was more focussed on policy. Sunak laid out his long-term strategy as the future prime minister, underpinned by values of hard work, patriotism, fairness, a love of family and pragmatism.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi both backed the prime minister as they arrived for Thursday’s cabinet meeting…reports Asian Lite News
“Boris Johnson stood up in Parliament and said Covid rules were followed in Number 10 at all times,” said Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey. “Now 100 fines have been issued by the police over partygate. It shows the shocking scale of the law-breaking in Johnson’s Downing Street and the extent of his lies.”
he Metropolitan Police on Thursday have issued more than 50 new fines over partygate at No 10 and other government buildings at Westminster. The Fixed Penalty Notices follow more than 50 handed out last month, including to Boris Johnson, wife Carrie Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Neither the PM nor Mrs Johnson are among those to be fined this time.
The latest penalties are thought to involve a Christmas party in December 2020, which Mr Johnson did not attend, BBC reported. No 10 has promised to reveal any further fines imposed on the prime minister.
The Met has been investigating 12 gatherings, at least three of which Mr Johnson is known to have attended. The Met said the investigation “remains live”. Further fines are expected to follow, but no timescale has been given.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he will quit if given a fine by Durham police for breaking lockdown rules. Deputy leader Angela Rayner also confirmed she would step down if fined.
The opposition leader has been under pressure after police announced a probe into an event in April 2021, when he had curry and beer at an MP’s office during an election campaign visit.
Sir Keir has insisted rules were not broken and Labour says it has evidence showing it was a work event.
Conservatives had previously accused Sir Keir of “rank double standards” as the opposition leader had called for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to resign over attending Downing Street lockdown events.
Durham police launched their inquiry on Friday after the local elections, having previously said they did not believe an offence had been committed. It’s thought the police investigation could last up to eight weeks. The event under investigation took place at the constituency office of City of Durham Labour MP Mary Foy, where Sir Keir drank beer and ate curry, while lockdown restrictions were in place. There was an exemption for “work purposes” – and Labour have said Sir Keir was eating “between work demands”.
The party says it has “documentary evidence” that people worked before and after the meal on the night in question. Allegra Stratton, the prime minister’s former press secretary, resigned in December last year, after the footage was revealed by ITV News. She had not been at the party but was filmed joking with officials who were.
Speaking in the House of Commons on the day Ms Stratton quit, Mr Johnson said he had been “repeatedly assured” that “there was no party” on 18 December 2020 and “no Covid rules were broken”. He later added that guidance and regulations had been “followed at all times”.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi both backed the prime minister as they arrived for Thursday’s cabinet meeting.
Asked if they still had faith in Mr Johnson, Ms Dorries replied: “We do.”
However, they were not able to identify the specific individuals within No. 10 and the Foreign Office who are suspected of having been hacked…reports Asian Lite News
Boris Johnson has been told that his Downing Street office was targeted with “multiple” suspected infections using Pegasus, the sophisticated hacking software that can turn a phone into a remote listening device, The Guardian reported.
A report released by Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said the UAE was suspected of orchestrating spyware attacks on No. 10 in 2020 and 2021.
Pegasus is the hacking software — or spyware — developed, marketed and licensed to governments around the world by the Israeli firm NSO Group. It has the capability to infect phones running either iOS or Android operating systems.
Citizen Lab added there had also been suspected attacks on the Foreign Office over the same two years that were also associated with Pegasus operators linked to the UAE — as well as India, Cyprus and Jordan, The Guardian reported.
The researchers, considered among the world’s leading experts in detecting digital attacks, announced they had taken the rare step of notifying Whitehall of the attack as it “believes that our actions can reduce harm”.
However, they were not able to identify the specific individuals within No. 10 and the Foreign Office who are suspected of having been hacked.
Cyber attack
In a statement, Citizen Lab said: “We confirm that in 2020 and 2021 we observed and notified the government of the United Kingdom of multiple suspected instances of Pegasus spyware infections within official UK networks. These included: the prime minister’s office (10 Downing Street) (and) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office…
“The suspected infections relating to the FCO were associated with Pegasus operators that we link to the UAE, India, Cyprus and Jordan. The suspected infection at the UK prime minister’s office was associated with a Pegasus operator we link to the UAE.”
