Is Boris in for a Christmas rebellion?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 December 2021

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Boris Johnson's problems are not going away anytime soon and he is facing extreme pressure on several fronts going into the weekend. Hypocrisy charges from the media and the Labour Party, more scandal regarding the No. 10 flat refurbishment, and a massive Tory rebellion regarding his Plan B measures. Not to mention his recent announcement that it is time to have a serious conversation about vaccine mandates.

'This anger is diffuse across the parliamentary party. It isn't just one ideological faction that are upset with him.' - James Forsyth

Katy Balls breaks down the Prime Minister's many woes with James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.

Subscribe to The Spectator's Evening Blend email, from Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls, for analysis of the day's political news and a summary of the best pieces from our website. Go to www.spectator.co.uk/blend to sign up.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Coffeehouse Shots is sponsored by NatWest, the bank that's helping small businesses build back better and greener.
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0:21.6	Find out more about climate support for businesses at natwest.com slash climate.
0:31.9	Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots and Spectators' Daily Politics Podcast. I'm Katie Balls and I'm joined by Isabel Hardman and James Fusife.
0:42.6	Boris Johnson's problems are not going anywhere anytime soon. The Prime Minister is battling on several fronts as he goes into the weekend.
0:50.3	He may be celebrating his birth of a baby daughter, but he is also facing pressing questions when it comes to the refurbishment on his flat, which members of his team were at a Downing Street party, which some still say doesn't exist.
1:03.2	And then the COVID restriction vote next week, which has a growing Tory rebellion.
1:08.0	Isabel, just to kick us off, the development late last night involves Jack Doyle,
1:12.1	the director of communications. ITV are reporting at this Downing Street party. He gave a speech,
1:19.1	handed out awards. And this is problematic for a few reasons. Can you explain why? Well,
1:24.5	the main one is that Jack Doyle is the head of comms in number 10 and therefore held
1:31.0	responsible, rightly or otherwise, by a lot of Conservative MPs for the comms failures of the past
1:37.5	week and a bit. And for him to have been involved in this party, if there were indeed a party,
1:46.2	suggests that some of the decisions that were taken in terms of comms may have been taken on a sort of personal basis.
1:54.2	And it obviously prolongs the story and brings it much closer to the Prime Minister's current operation as well. There have been
2:03.5	noises off for quite a long time, it's fair to say, long before this Christmas party story broke
2:11.0	about the Downing Street comms operation. But talking to Conservative MPs, they're sort of split
2:17.4	between saying it's personnel
2:18.9	and then saying, well, look, you know, it's Boris Johnson, who's firstly ultimately responsible for
2:24.2	this, but also the person who is making the decisions and often giving the quotes, just to
2:30.5	move to a different issue on mandatory vaccines, for instance, that have so upset the party.
	...

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