A Conservative former home secretary has denounced Boris Johnson’s Jimmy Savile smear as “disgraceful” and “Trumpian” and said she does not believe the prime minister can survive the current crisis at 10 Downing Street.
Amber Rudd said that Mr Johnson may even call a no-confidence vote in himself in the hope of securing another 12 months at No 10 by forcing MPs decide before they see the full report into the Partygate scandal.
Under Tory party rules, a PM who gets more than half the votes – currently 180 MPs – in a ballot on his or her leadership cannot be challenged again for another year.
Ms Rudd told ITV’s Peston that Mr Johnson was wrong to try to distract attention from the Partygate row by raising the 2013 apology which Keir Starmer made as director of public prosecutions for the Crown Prosecution Service’s failure to prosecute paedophile Savile.
UK news in pictures Show all 50
1/50UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures 3 February 2022 Kew horticulturists attending to the ‘Rising sun’ display at the Kew Orchid Festival: Costa Rica, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, west London
PA
UK news in pictures 2 February 2022 Protesters campaign against corruption in London
EPA
UK news in pictures 1 February 2022 Lorries queue for the Port of Dover in Kent, as the Dover TAP is enforced due to the high volume of lorries waiting to cross the Channel
PA
UK news in pictures 31 January 2022 Nelson Beaumont-Laurencia applies finishing touches to a sculpture of a tiger, commissioned by Manchester Business Improvement District to celebrate the Chinese New Year, is unveiled in St Ann’s Square
PA
UK news in pictures 30 January 2022 A house on Overhill terrace in Gateshead, lost its roof on 29 January after strong winds from Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK
PA
UK news in pictures 29 January 2022 A newly painted bicycle sign is seen on the middle of the road at Westminster Bridge, as the new Highway Code rules start today together with giving pedestrians priority at junctions
Reuters
UK news in pictures 28 January 2022 School children take part in a rally in support of British Sign Language becoming a recognised language in the UK, outside the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, as the British Sign Language Private Members’ Bill, introduced by Rosie Cooper MP, reaches its second reading in the House
PA
UK news in pictures 27 January 2022 A rare six-week-old southern white rhino calf called Zawadi, explores her paddock for the first time at Africa Alive! in Lowestoft
PA
UK news in pictures 26 January 2022 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson jogs with his dog Dilyn, in London
REUTERS
UK news in pictures 25 January 2022 A member of staff looks at Francis Bacon’s work ‘Second Version of Triptych 1944’ on display in the Francis Bacon: Man and Beast exhibition at the the Royal Academy of Arts in London
PA
UK news in pictures 24 January 2022 Rowers (front to back) Charlotte Irving, Kat Cordiner and Abby Johnston, on their way to shatter the world record for rowing across the Atlantic
PA
UK news in pictures 23 January 2022 A grey seal pup on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as the pupping season draws to a close at one of the UK’s most important sites for the mammals
PA
UK news in pictures 22 January 2022 Participants prepare to take part in the Crisis icebreaker cold water challenge at Tooting Bec Lido in London
EPA
UK news in pictures 21 January 2022 Willesborough Windmill, a white smock mill built in 1869 is bathed in the morning sunshine as the moon sets behind in Ashford, Kent
PA
UK news in pictures 20 January 2022 A jet skier jumps the waves off the coast at Blyth in Northumberland
PA
UK news in pictures 19 January 2022 Britain’s Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, participate in a therapy session with individuals who have experienced the care system, during a visit to the Foundling Museum in London
REUTERS
UK news in pictures 18 January 2022 Surfers enter the sea as the sun rises over Tynemouth on the North East coast
PA
UK news in pictures 17 January 2022 Bonhams’ Danny McIlwraith holds a Nigerian polycrome carved wood mask during a photocall for the sale of the Jim Lennon Collection at Bonhams in Edinburgh
PA
UK news in pictures 16 January 2022 The moon rises above the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, Hampshire
PA
UK news in pictures 15 January 2022 Demonstrators outside Downing Street during a ‘Kill The Bill’ protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in London
PA
UK news in pictures 14 January 2022 Ecologist Emma Smart (left) and retired GP Dr Diana Warner outside HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey, following their release from the prison where Emma undertook a 26-day hunger strike during her incarceration. Ms Smart was sentenced in November, along with other members of Insulate Britain, to serve four months for breaking a High Court injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 motorway during the morning rush hour on 8 October last year
PA
UK news in pictures 13 January 2022 A TV presenter holds a copy of a newspaper outside 10 Downing Streetafter the Prime Minister apologised for attending a gathering of colleagues in the Number Ten garden in May 2020, while the UK was in strict lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic
Getty
UK news in pictures 12 January 2022 Fitness guru Derrick Evans after receiving an MBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle
PA
UK news in pictures 11 January 2022 A couple walk underneath an umbrella during wet weather on Westminster Bridge in central London
PA
UK news in pictures 10 January 2022 A jogger passes the Covid Memorial Wall in London
AP
UK news in pictures 9 January 2021 The sun rises over horses at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland
PA
UK news in pictures 8 January 2022 Riders compete during the Veterans Men's race at the UK Cyclo-Cross National Championships 2022 in Ardingly, south of London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 7 January 2022 A dog looks out of a car window at the wintry conditions in Killeshin, Co. Laois
PA
UK news in pictures 6 January 2022 People walk through frost and mist alongside a frozen lake during sunrise in Bushy Park, London
REUTERS
UK news in pictures 5 January 2022 A skier jumps on the slopes at Allenheads in the Pennines to the north of Weardale in Northumberland
PA
UK news in pictures 4 January 2022 Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland
PA
UK news in pictures 3 January 2022 Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque
PA
UK news in pictures 2 January 2022 Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelsea’s Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge
Liverpool FC/Getty
UK news in pictures 1 January 2022 New Year’s Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London
EPA
UK news in pictures 31 December 2021 Competitors in fancy dress run across the Pennine tops near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the annual Auld Lang Syne Fell race which attracts hundreds of runners every year
PA
UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland
PA
UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket
PA
UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queen’s Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London
PA
UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London
Getty
UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham
PA
UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip
PA
UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London
Reuters
UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester
PA
UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge.
Getty
UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year
PA
UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton
PA
UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux
Getty Images
UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent
PA
UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election
PA
UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire
PA
Recommended Boris Johnson suffers another resignation from No 10 team Minister claims PM ‘taking charge’ as fifth aide leaves No 10 - live Johnson plots reshape of his inner circle but more resignations could follow
An official report at the time said Starmer played no part in the decision, but Mr Johnson told the Commons that the Labour leader had failed to take action.
Ms Rudd said: "I thought that was a disgraceful thing to say, and I think you’re absolutely right that there are a lot of Conservative MPs to whom that was a step too far and are thinking that he can’t reform if he’s going to carry on behaving like that.
“That is a Trumpian response to try and deflect from himself and use something so outrageous that people will talk about that rather than the big issue.”
Ms Rudd said the delay in publication of senior civil servant Sue Gray’s full report while police complete inquiries had won Mr Johnson time.
But she added: “In the end that may or may not be a good thing.”
Asked if the PM can survive the Partygate scandal, she replied: "I don’t think he can.
She said Mr Johnson would now be thinking “strategically” about moves he can make in the coming weeks to increase his chances of remaining leader after the release of the full report and any -penalties imposed by the Metropolitan Police over 12 allegedly lockdown-breaching events.
But she said whatever the outcome, voters and MPs have largely made up their minds already whether they want him to stay.
“Most people have already made up their mind,” she said. “I think MPs have kind of made up their minds, but they’re waiting - because they’re allowed to wait - for the Sue Gray report or the Met report.
“So I think that Boris Johnson will be thinking about whether he should bring forward that no confidence vote."
Recommended Who is eligible for help with energy bills and council tax and how to claim Why gas and electric prices are going up - the rise in energy bills explained Where did Boris Johnson’s false claim about Keir Starmer and Jimmy Savile come from?
She added: “When I talk to MPs, Conservative MPs, they are getting a lot of letters, and they’re not the normal standard letters. And also one MP said to me they’re the letters from church wardens: ‘I’ve always voted Tory, but I’m not voting Tory, I can’t vote for you - you’re a lovely MP but I can’t vote for you while that man is in’.”