Boris Johnson’s agenda gripped by paralysis as he fights to survive
Faced with the fight of his political life, Boris Johnson now risks being held hostage by assertive Tory backbenchers making demands on a range of fronts including national insurance and vaccine mandates.
Other policies are also now stuck in paralysis while the shadow of the Sue Gray report – and a Scotland Yard investigation – hangs over the government, with senior Tory backbencher Roger Gale describing Johnson as a “lame duck” prime minister on Friday. Here are the policies at the mercy of the political storm.
The Treasury became increasingly alarmed at signs Johnson may be preparing to scrap the national insurance rise in the face of pressure from rightwing Tories.
The Guardian reported on Thursday Rishi Sunak had been privately stressing to MPs that the tax rise must go ahead as planned. On Friday No 10 insisted there was no policy change.
Faced with a potential rebellion, Johnson signalled this week that he was prepared to drop plans to tighten regulations on the promotion of unhealthy food and drinks.
The plans were part of an anti-obesity strategy that the prime minister himself had promoted in 2020 to prevent supermarkets from displaying unhealthy food and drinks at checkouts or using them in buy one, get one free offers.
There was no noise from the prime minister when the chief whip, Mark Spencer, suggested the animal sentience legislation should be watered down to avoid rows with his backbenches.
Senior Tory sources have confirmed to the Guardian that a series of policies including a ban on trophy hunting imports, stricter sentences for puppy thieves and a ban on live exports of livestock have been put on pause after a campaign led by Spencer, a farmer.
Johnson and Sunak had reportedly been due to meet this week to
Read more on theguardian.com
