The 'partygate' scandal is facing more scrutiny than any other event since the Second World War, a minister claimed this morning, after MPs voted to launch a third investigation into the matter.
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, said there will now be "multiple opportunities" for Boris Johnson's "word to be tested" after the House of Commons voted in favour of the Privileges Committee examining whether the Prime Minister knowingly misled Parliament.
The committee's probe will begin once the Metropolitan Police has completed its investigation into lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street and after Sue Gray has published her full report.
Mr Burns told Sky News: "This is going to be the most looked at event possibly since the Second World War.”
The Government had initially planned to try to delay the investigation by the committee but it was forced into a humiliating U-turn after a Tory rebellion.
Mr Johnson's premiership continues to be rocked by calls from Conservative MPs for him to quit, with Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the Defence Select Committee, today claiming it is a matter of "when not if a vote of confidence takes place".
？？Follow the latest updates below.
Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chairman of the Defence Select Committee, said it is time for Tory MPs to "stop drinking the Kool-Aid” by supporting Boris Johnson as leader.
Speaking on Sky News, the former defence minister said: “All MPs are deeply troubled by what the party is now going through and what to do next, given the huge credit you must give to Boris Johnson in bringing the party so far.
“But we must stop drinking the Kool-Aid that’s encouraging us to think this is all going to disappear and that we can all move on."
He added: “You listen carefully to the silence of support, and it’s clear that more and more MPs are privately believing that it’s the time that the leadership baton is actually passed on.”
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, said it is "undeniable that there is a sense among a large part of the population in Northern Ireland the protocol is not working as intended".
He told the BBC: "The people of NI see themselves now as a sort of people set apart, the protocol is gnawing at the foundations of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and we were clear, the PM was clear, as long ago as last July that we believed that the threshold for invoking Article 16 had been reached.
"We said to the European Commission... that we wanted them to take the fact we hadn't triggered it as an act of good faith but we needed to change the way the protocol was working."
Mr Burns said the Government "reserves the right" to trigger Article 16, which would allow the UK to unilaterally ditch parts of the protocol, if the two sides cannot agree a compromise.
A report in today's Financial Times said ministers are preparing to bring forward new legislation to give them sweeping powers to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol which was agreed with the EU as part of the Brexit deal.
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, did not deny the Government is considering the move.
He told the BBC: "I have seen the reports that are in the papers, some of the papers, today. What I can say to you as a minister in the Government, I cannot say what is or not going to be in the Queen's Speech until the Queen's Speech is delivered."
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, was asked during an interview with the BBC why he believes some of his Tory colleagues are calling for Mr Johnson to resign.
Mr Burns claimed that some Conservative MPs "never really supported" Mr Johnson.
He said: "There are a number of colleagues across Parliament including in my own party who have never really supported the Prime Minister.
"If the Prime Minister stepped off Westminster Bridge and walked down the Thames on top of the water they would say he couldn't swim. That is a fact.
"The reality is that it is only just over two years ago since we won a majority of 80 seats, the biggest majority since Margaret Thatcher in 1987."
Boris Johnson is likely to face a vote of no confidence from his own MPs within the next three months, the most senior Tory to call for his resignation has said.
Mark Harper, the former government chief whip, said that he expected the number of no-confidence letters in Mr Johnson to breach the level needed to trigger a vote before MPs break for the summer in July.
Speaking to the latest Chopper’s Politics podcast, which you can listen to here, he said: “Colleagues have got to decide they want to go into the election, with Boris Johnson leading the Conservative Party.
“If they do, they can just sit on their hands. But if they don’t, they’ve got to send a letter to Sir Graham Brady. And if there’s a vote of confidence, they’ve got to be prepared to vote against it.”
You can read the full story here.
Peter Kyle, Labour's shadow Northern Ireland secretary, has claimed Boris Johnson's “character flaws” are damaging the way the country is being run.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Kyle said: “This (partygate) fundamentally speaks to his character flaws as a leader: he lies, he is untrustworthy and he is incompetent.
“Those same character flaws are the same reason why we have a low-growth economy and a high-tax economy, we have crime at the record levels it is now, and we have seven million people waiting for NHS treatment.
“It’s all down to his character flaws, exposed by partygate.”
Concluding his remarks in New Delhi, Boris Johnson said: "I am filled with optimism about the years ahead and the depth of the friendship between our countries and the security and the prosperity that our partnership can deliver for our people for generations to come."
We are expecting the Prime Minister to hold a press conference later this morning.
Boris Johnson has said he wants a free trade deal between the UK and India to be completed by October this year.
Speaking in New Delhi, the Prime Minister said "perhaps most significantly for the long term we are making full use of the freedom that we now have to reach a free trade agreement".
He said: "As the next round of talks begins here next week, we are telling our negotiators, get it done by Diwali in October. Get it done by Diwali.
"This could double our trade and investment by the decade, widening that living bridge into a multi-lane motorway pullulating with beautiful jointly made electric vehicles and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in both our countries."
Boris Johnson said: "We are also taking big steps together on energy security, helping each other to reduce our dependence on imported hydrocarbons and adopt cheaper more sustainable homegrown alternatives."
The Prime Minister told Narendra Modi that "you have a lot of solar power here in India, the sun is putting on a fantastic performance today, but we have quite a lot in Britain as well".
The premier also hailed the "living bridge" between the two countries following Mr Modi's comments earlier (see the post below at 08.50).
He said that "these partnerships form the super structure of the living bridge that Narendra describes between our countries and today that bridge is humming with goods and services and people and capital, whizzing back and forth, from east to west".
Boris Johnson said the relationship between India and the UK is "one of the defining friendships of our times".
The Prime Minister said he and Narendra Modi had agreed a "new and expanded defence and security partnership, a decades long commitment that will not only forge tighter bonds between us but support your goal, Narendra, of make in India".
Delivering a statement to the press in New Delhi, Boris Johnson said he had been given an "amazing reception" by the Indian people.
Mr Johnson's face was on numerous billboards after he arrived and he said he "felt a bit like [Indian cricket legend] Sachin Tendulkar" because he was "everywhere to be seen".
Mr Johnson said he and Narendra Modi had "wonderful talks and I think that they have strengthened our relationship in every way".
Narendra Modi said that during talks with Boris Johnson in New Delhi "we emphasised on an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and on the use of dialogue and diplomacy for resolving issues".
The Indian Prime Minister said "we reiterated the importance of respect for the regional integrity and sovereignty of all nations".
Narendra Modi hailed the contribution made by Indians who are living in the UK and he said he "would like to further strengthen this living bridge".
The Indian Prime Minister also said he has agreed with Boris Johnson to "further deepen our climate and energy partnership" following the commitments made at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow last November.
Narendra Modi told reporters in New Delhi that "we have also agreed to increase our cooperation in the defence sector, we welcome UK support for a self-relaint India in all sectors".
Mr Modi said he also welcomed the "increasing investments by UK companies in India".
Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson are delivering statements to the press in New Delhi after meeting for formal talks.
The Indian Prime Minister said there has been "good progress in our negotiations" on hammering out a free trade deal between the two countries.
He said the two sides will "make all efforts to conclude the FTA by the end of this year".
Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chairman of the Defence Select Committee, told the BBC that the war in Ukraine must not be used as a "fig leaf" when it comes to discussing whether to oust Boris Johnson.
Some MPs have argued against changing leader now because of Russia's ongoing invasion.
But Mr Ellwood said: "Let’s just park this Ukraine fig leaf because the capability that is offered to any prime minister, the MOD machine of options, of risk assessments, of recommendations, will remain the same.
“We actually changed the head of the Armed Forces… last December when there was a build up, we knew an invasion would take place.
“We can do that simply because we have a very profession, Rolls Royce machine of advice supporting the National Security Council and indeed any prime minister of the day.”
He repeated his call for Mr Johnson to "offer his own timetable” to submit to a confidence vote.
Tobias Ellwood, the senior Tory MP, has warned the "partygate" scandal is causing "long term damage" to the Conservative Party's "brand".
He told the BBC: “I fear it is now when not if a vote of confidence takes place. Sadly the absence of discipline, of focus, of leadership in No 10 has led to this breach of trust with the British people and it is causing long term damage to the party’s brand and that is proving difficult to repair, despite good people now coming into No 10.”
Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chairman of the Defence Select Committee, has been one of Boris Johnson's most vocal critics in recent months and has already said he believes the Prime Minister should step down.
He was asked this morning during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme if he believes Mr Johnson should resign now.
He replied: “Well, that would be an easy solution but I have to say all MPs are deeply troubled by this problem of what to do given where he himself has brought the party over the last couple of years.
“But the issues, the challenges just won’t go away. I predicted a steady trickle of letters, of resignations and that is now happening.”
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, said he believed Boris Johnson has been "faithful and genuine and true" in what he has told Parliament about "partygate".
He told Sky News: “I do not believe the Prime Minister has lied and I believe that when the full facts are seen, when the context comes out, that it will be clear that the Prime Minister at every time that he came to Parliament was faithful and genuine and true in what he believed.
“What I believe is that the Prime Minister told the House what he believed to be the truth in good faith at each stage and when there has been a development subsequent to that, new information, he has corrected the record.”
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, said Boris Johnson is "looking forward to this ending", in reference to the "partygate" investigations.
He told Sky News: “The Prime Minister said on Tuesday it will be for the House to decide, the Prime Minister has said from India he has nothing to fear, nothing to hide, he looks forward to that process, he looks forward to the full facts and crucially the context coming out.”
He added: “He is looking forward to this ending. I think he is looking forward to drawing this to a conclusion, for it to be examined fully, so that we can move onto the things that people are genuinely concerned about in terms of cost of living, energy price rises, all those other things, the situation in Ukraine.”
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, said Boris Johnson is "confident" when the "full context" surrounding "partygate" is set out, people will see that he has been "straight forward" in the comments he has made.
He told Sky News: “The Prime Minister has been very clear that the House can look at this, the House will look at this and he is confident that when the full context, one of the other things he said in the House on Tuesday is that he was frustrated that he couldn't speak about the context of all of this, put the full facts into the public domain while these various processes are ongoing, particularly the Met.
“He remains confident that when people can see the full context of what happened it will be clear that he was straight forward, he said to the House in good faith that he believed the rules were followed.”
Conor Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, is on the morning broadcast round for the Government.
He told Sky News he believes “partygate” will be the “most looked at event” since the Second World War after MPs voted to launch a third investigation into the scandal.
He said: “We are going to have multiple opportunities for the Prime Minister’s word to be tested.
“We have got the Met investigation ongoing, we have committed that when that is finished Sue Gray will complete her report, update her report, the Prime Minister will come back to Parliament.
“And we have now got the Privileges investigation. This is going to be the most looked at event possibly since the Second World War.”
Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.
Westminster is still processing the chaotic events of yesterday after MPs voted in favour of the Privileges Committee launching an investigation into claims Boris Johnson misled the House of Commons over "partygate".
The Government had wanted to delay the investigation by the committee but it was forced into a humiliating U-turn after a Tory rebellion.
The debacle in Westminster happened as Boris Johnson tried to focus on his trip to India which concludes today with talks with Narendra Modi.
There is a busy morning ahead and I will guide you through the key developments.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.