meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Coffee House Shots

Did Boris's whips go too far?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 β€’ 2.1K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 21 January 2022

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After Christian Wakeford's defection to Labour, Boris Johnson looks to be in the clear – for now. The Prime Minister's backbenchers, though, are still frustrated by the aggressive tactics used by his whips to ensure their support. Is blackmail normal in the Commons, and are their complaints a result of Parliament's generational divide? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth.

'If you had turned up in Westminster in the 1970s, you would find whips pushing people up against the wall. I don't think that goes on today.' – James Forsyth

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The Spectator magazine combines incisive political analysis with books and arts reviews of unrivaled authority. absolutely free. Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher.

0:25.9

Hello and welcome to Coffee Houseshots, the Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast. I'm Cindy

0:30.9

you and I'm joined by James O'Sithe. So James, Brois Johnson has had a pretty torrid start of the new year,

0:37.2

essentially,

0:38.1

with Christmas being a brief respite.

0:40.5

But do you think it's now actually slowing down a little bit

0:43.9

after he managed to foil this pork pie plot early in the week

0:47.6

and the Sue Gray report not yet landed?

0:50.0

I think Tory MPs are now waiting for the Sue Gray report,

0:53.9

which Boris Johnson let slip at PMQ's, is coming next week.

0:57.9

And I think that they are resolved to wait until then.

1:01.3

I think there are, from what one well-connected, long-serving former minister says to me, you know, he thinks there are about two dozen MPs who are basically

1:12.5

ready to write once the report is out, almost pretty much what it says. They think they've heard

1:17.0

enough, but they think it's important to wait for the report to land. I don't think, though, that

1:22.7

tips you to 54 letters. I think that takes you by my maths. I think you're bobbing around 40

1:30.0

old letters at that point. I think if it is worse than that, it could get more interesting.

1:35.2

I think one of the things to remember as well is Tory MPs have been very much guided by the

1:39.9

reaction they are getting. And I think Tory MPs will be looking to see this weekend whether in their

1:45.0

own associations, their own constituencies, you know, the anger has calmed down. One of the people trying

1:49.8

to get Tory MPs not to remove Boris Johnson is they keep trying to say, well, people will calm down.

1:55.4

But as one, Tory MP was not convinced by that, said yes, the emails have stopped, but you generally

1:59.6

tend to write in the first 10 days after something that's happened that doesn't mean that people have forgiven

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright Β© Tapesearch 2025.