The Prime Minister is to be quizzed by senior MPs over the coronavirus crisis today, as calls for his key adviser to resign continue to grow.
Boris Johnson will be questioned at a Commons committee meeting over Dominic Cummings' decision to drive from London to Durham during the lockdown.
It's the latest in the growing revolt in the PM's party, with at least 30 Conservative MPs now publicly calling for Cummings to be sacked or to resign.
It comes as a YouGov survey for The Times showed the Tory lead over Labour dropped by nine points during the Cummings saga.
READ MORE: Fears over ‘test and trace’ with more than 70,000 'missing' tests over two weeks
Support for the government also fell four points to 44%, while Labour rose five points in the week to Tuesday to 38%.
Senior ministers have expressed public support for the defiant adviser but there are reports a number of Cabinet members have privately called for him to be ousted from No 10.
Mr Johnson’s scheduled appearance via video link at Wednesday’s Commons Liaison Committee hearing has been tinged with controversy over the fact the PM will only briefly be quizzed on the Cummings affair.
It is understood MPs will have a maximum of 20 minutes in a 90-minute session to probe the situation.
Other aspects of the coronavirus crisis will also be discussed in the 20-minute slot.
Asked about the situation regarding Mr Cummings, Liaison Committee chairman Sir Bernard Jenkin told the PA news agency: “I have got no intention of preventing any subject any member of the committee wants to raise.”
The comment follows controversy over Sir Bernard’s appointment to the committee chairmanship, with some MPs saying he is too close to the Prime Minister.
Sir Bernard insisted the format for the session has been agreed by the committee.
The group includes William Wragg, who has said it was “humiliating and degrading” to see ministers put out agreed lines in defence of Mr Cummings, and Caroline Nokes, who has informed her party whips there could not be “wriggle room” for some people when it comes to lockdown rules.
Also among those questioning the PM will be Labour chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee Yvette Cooper, and Tory chairman of the Health Committee Jeremy Hunt.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel