Boris Johnson said he was 'sorry', but by the end of a raw day in the House of Commons it was the UK prime minister’s own supporters who were in despair as the 'partygate' scandal again enveloped his premiership https://t.co/YIujfQcbsr
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) January 31, 2022
Starmer demolishes Johnson in front of Tory MPs stunned into silence: worth watching every minute pic.twitter.com/Xrv8jidjoS
— Lionel Barber (@lionelbarber) January 31, 2022
This is what truth to power looks like at Westminster. A liar is allowed to keep his place- I am forced to leave for telling the truth. He misled the house, he must go. Tories must look themselves in the mirror and ask if they can allow this to go on much longer? Remove him now. pic.twitter.com/IyqlQO7xER
— Ian Blackford (@Ianblackford_MP) January 31, 2022
Week after week they do this to Blackford. The disdain is clear. English exceptionalism party. https://t.co/mP8NmM4q6l
— Shown (@northernlad18) January 31, 2022
Snap poll by Opinium finds:
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) January 31, 2022
– Two thirds of voters (64%) want Boris Johnson to resign following the Sue Gray report.
– 83% believe he broke lockdown rules
– 75% believe he is not telling the truth.
Conservative MPs now know that when the final Sue Gray report is published it will be damning. They don't need to wait any longer to act. https://t.co/3sAbOtg2oS
— David Gauke (@DavidGauke) January 31, 2022
Michael Gove's PPS becomes first to quit Government over Partygate row… https://t.co/my1ptEDMCX
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) January 31, 2022
Key to understanding what's happening here. The problem does not lie simply with Johnson. It lies with the party. They couldn't give a damn about honesty, trust or the rule of law. All that matters is electoral viability. https://t.co/Me3oX9NVl3
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) January 31, 2022
On 1 December @BorisJohnson told the Commons ‘all the guidelines were observed.’ Sue Gray’s ‘update’ may be short on details but she’s already proved he lied. That is and always has been an automatic resignation issue.
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) January 31, 2022
The point is that events have confirmed that people who have never liked him have excellent judgement. https://t.co/vC2hCVz1rE
— Steve Peers (@StevePeers) January 31, 2022
“I only have your word for it.“ A classic post-truth manoeuvre, dismissing documented facts as subjective opinions. Stupid, but also sinister pic.twitter.com/QSYRqpg0cm
— Jonathan Freedland (@Freedland) January 31, 2022
Critic of the PM sums up his address to 1922:
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) January 31, 2022
“It’s all a joke & brazenly defiant, saying its the civil servants, it’s the advisers…And apparently any new exposes are ‘irrelevant’ & ‘we got through it’. Smattered with Chocolate orange jokes, Shakespeare & some French bluffing.”
Liz Truss has tested positive for covid. She attended the packed meeting of Tory MPs and ministers in Portcullis House this evening, leaving before it finished. She was not wearing a mask.
— Kate McCann (@KateEMcCann) January 31, 2022
“The prime minister is certainly a bad apple, but the whole tree is rotten and the whole country wants reform,” Green Party MP Caroline Lucas says
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 31, 2022
“The police do an outstanding job… we should await their conclusions,” Boris Johnson replieshttps://t.co/0smSE5gB1n pic.twitter.com/AenaH4K5lt
I think it’s fair to say Boris Johnson’s Jimmy Saville reference is not going down well with Tory MPs. “Totally outrageous” one says.
— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) January 31, 2022
"I'm upset."
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 31, 2022
Former Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson is in tears as she explains how she feels let down by Boris Johnson's leadership. pic.twitter.com/0UO5YjBq4M
Asked in the Commons whether he can confirm that Putin call has been cancelled, PM says: "I will be speaking to President Putin as soon as I can"
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) January 31, 2022
I’ll say it again:
— Dr Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) January 30, 2022
Right at the moment NATO is facing down Russia…
…Johnson is going to start a big fight with the EU, purely to try and save himself at home. What a gift to Putin.
Boris Johnson is an incredibly dangerous idiot. #JohnsonOut6
The UK has become the laughing stock of the world! Since the referendum in 2016 & since everything that has come to pass! It's got far worse with Johnson. It was always going to get worse before it gets better! Hang in there & fight for better! We demand better! #CorruptToriesOut https://t.co/ra2bac9dhT
— Steve Bray "Viva la revolution" (@snb19692) January 31, 2022
On one hand, keeping Johnson could see polls and approval ratings tank until he takes a battering at the ballot box in May. Then there is at least a solid electoral reason to get rid of him that might pull out the nervous rebels.
— Luke McGee (@lukemcgee) January 31, 2022
Boris Johnson's "partygate" is a serious scandal and he deserves to go because of it. But it's quite a depressing reflection of American democracy that he's likely to be ousted for violating lockdown rules, whereas Trump might get elected again after orchestrating a coup attempt.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) January 31, 2022
***
Trump says the quiet part out loud
“He could have overturned the election.” This is an admission, and a massively un-American statement. It is time for every Republican leader to pick a side… Trump or the Constitution, there is no middle on defending our nation anymore. pic.twitter.com/Bp3dfn7cBe
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) January 31, 2022
Mr. Trump’s public confession last night, all but daring the Attorney General to seek a grand jury indictment against him for seditious conspiracy and for giving aid and comfort to an insurrection to “overturn the election,” is the last straw. The Government must call his bluff.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) January 31, 2022
Trump's inflammatory speech was not only a blatant act of obstruction of justice — attempting to silence witnesses by promising pardons and threatening retaliation if he's charged — it was also an overt act in his ongoing conspiracy to commit sedition against the United States. https://t.co/S0ub4hyC6k
— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Delavegalaw) January 31, 2022
Trump uses language he knows caused the Jan 6 violence; suggests he’d pardon the Jan 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy; threatens prosecutors; and admits he was attempting to overturn the election.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) January 31, 2022
He’d do it all again if given the chance.
NBC News confirms: Fulton County DA Fani Willis is asking the FBI for security help a day after Trump told his supporters to hold 'the biggest protests we've ever had' in cities with prosecutors who are investigating him. @NBCNews
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 31, 2022
In vernacular, former president Donald Trump is a traitor, someone who betrayed our Constitution. And still the GOP cannot bring itself to part with him. Even so-called moderate Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) cannot rule out supporting him https://t.co/8HhkzVZCa5
— Jennifer 'pro-voting' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) January 31, 2022
Asked why she can’t rule out supporting former Pres. Trump in 2024, GOP Sen. Susan Collins tells @GStephanopoulos that “it's not likely given the many other qualified candidates that we have that have expressed interest in running.” https://t.co/ljjCWevQ5o pic.twitter.com/3iFANFIYgD
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022
Miller: If someone asks you would you support someone who tried to end our democracy for President in 2024, you say no. That was an easy question for her to answer pic.twitter.com/POdh9dlu8r
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 31, 2022
“Trump can’t be killed because the rest of the GOP is unwilling to take on the political pain required to kill him… Cancer doesn’t get removed without surgery and chemo”
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) January 31, 2022
My latest on Susan Collins & year 7 of “concerned” Republicans unwillingness to act https://t.co/lmWMQuA30h
I'm told Pence may respond to Trump's "overturn" statement at a Federalist Society speech on Friday in Fla. Here's what he said last year https://t.co/cWEi8h98Bn
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 31, 2022
The Overnight Note 