I think support for Boris has melted away. He apparently called for a meeting of his many followers after his opposition to the Windsor Framework was largely ignored. Only one turned up.
Charlotte Owen: Who is ex-Boris Johnson aide nominated as youngest-ever life peer?
Johnson is believed to have nominated 18 people, including his own father and four sitting MPs, but had some of them blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) who said that eight nominations "were not supported by the commission".
Scottish secretary Alister Jack is thought to have removed himself from the process as it would have meant stepping down as an MP.
Posting on Twitter, political journalist Olivia Utley - who attended York University at the same time as Owen - wrote: "Charlotte Owen has gone from parliamentary intern to Baroness in 6 years, a record? (incidentally we were at uni together and no one remembers her showing any great prowess for legislative scrutiny)."
Other controversial appointments include Martin Reynolds, Johnson's former principal private secretary, who later earned the nickname "Party Marty" for his role in a "bring your own booze" party during the pandemic.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
As far as I understood from everything that has been said, and the Tim Shipman article it seems crystal clear that Rishi Sunak was not guilty of anything. There appears to be a rule that applies to sitting MPs that are about to receive a peerage, which is that they must have already resigned, or notified HOLAC that they would be resigning within 6 months. None of the three did so, and were therefore removed from the list by HOLAC. This obviously came up in conversation at the Sunak/Boris meeting, because Boris asked for a guarantee from Sunak that they would be nominated in the future. Which Sunak declined. It is clear that the two that resigned were not aware of the rule, as they immediately resigned after the list was published. Alistair Jack certainly was, as he removed himself from the process, as he didnt wish to resign as an MP. The Cabinet Office apparently made it clear to Boris that there was no re-vetting process. The trouble with Boris is that he never seems to think that rules apply to him, and constantly blames everyone else.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
If Boris did not know this, then the below couldnt have happened. The whole point of the Peerage discussion from the Boris point of view is that he did know this. and was intent as usual on getting his cake and eating it. Boris supporters all want to have a pop at Sunak. Dorries is probably the worst of them, she sl ags him off at every opportunity. Why on earth would Boris, in his wildest dreams think that Sunak would have any interest in going out of his way to nominate her at some point in the future.
There are 2 sides to this story. Sunak wouldnt be keen on 3 by-elections in respect of the sitting MPs. Boris knew this and wanted to bend the rules again. He definitely knew this. Sunak stuck to his word, and approved the list that was put in front of him. Apparently HOLAC will only approve sitting MPs if we are within 6 months of a general election, or if they promise to resign within 6 months.
Then Johnson raised the issue of peerages and the atmosphere chilled. No 10 had made clear to Johnson in advance that Sunak did not want to discuss honours, a point also made publicly when news of a possible meeting first emerged. “I don’t want to talk about that,” Sunak said.
“We must talk about it,” Johnson replied. He proceeded to press for assurances that MPs who had been submitted for peerages — Nadine Dorries, Alok Sharma and Nigel Adams — could wait and join the Lords later, noting how undesirable by-elections would be now. The No 10 claim is that Sunak said it was “their decision” whether to go or not.
What seems to have transpired is Sunak signalled he would approve the list put in front of him by officials. To the prime minister, this meant he would leave the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) to vet the list and then nod it through without intervention. Johnson’s camp say he took that to mean Sunak would sign off on his original list. The PM was, they claim, “Sphinx-like, not saying much, not giving much away.”
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
If Johnson didnt know this, why would he wish to discuss Peerages. Other than to confirm that the list was going off to HOLAC unedited, which it did.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope However Holac ruled it was not allowed to approve peerages for sitting MPs outside of the normal time limit of six months before a general election. Any vetting carried out now would be deemed to be out of date by the time of the next election in 18 months' time, it said. 2/4
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 9 Jun A note from Holac chairman Lord Bew was submitted to this effect to 10 Downing Street. The ruling meant that the four names were not on the list which was given to Mr Sunak a week ago. It was left then for Mr Sunak to clear the list in its entirety. 3/4
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope However Holac ruled it was not allowed to approve peerages for sitting MPs outside of the normal time limit of six months before a general election. Any vetting carried out now would be deemed to be out of date by the time of the next election in 18 months' time, it said. 2/4
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 9 Jun A note from Holac chairman Lord Bew was submitted to this effect to 10 Downing Street. The ruling meant that the four names were not on the list which was given to Mr Sunak a week ago. It was left then for Mr Sunak to clear the list in its entirety. 3/4
I couldnt possibly explain why the above happened, unless Sunak hadnt at least made some enquiries.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
I would agree that Nadine Dorries didnt know this, neither did Nigel Adams. Alistair Jack did. I would assume Alok Sharma probably did.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
I would agree that Nadine Dorries didnt know this, neither did Nigel Adams. Alistair Jack did. I would assume Alok Sharma probably did.
Agreed, other than not a clue about Sharma.
Holac appear to have been acting purely out of spite. Simply because Boris ignored them over Cruddas. Or because Rishi asked them to.
Why were Boris and Dorries never given options, as opposed to waiting months, and then secretly blackballing them? It is simply insufficient to refuse their elevation on the sole ground that they had not resigned as MPs, having never been told that that would be necessary. Nadine Dorries doesn't do devious. She's too loyal. And too stupid.
Boris could have given all 4 Knight/Damehoods, as opposed to nothing. Dorries in particular would have resigned immediately, had she been given the option. Adams too, probably. All of the Members of Holac have been given peerages in the past. They know how all this works.
This is just Holac and Sunak riding roughshod over procedure out of pettiness and spite.
I sincerely hope that Liz Truss recommends Dorries and Adams for Peerages.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
I would agree that Nadine Dorries didnt know this, neither did Nigel Adams. Alistair Jack did. I would assume Alok Sharma probably did.
Agreed, other than not a clue about Sharma.
Holac appear to have been acting purely out of spite. Simply because Boris ignored them over Cruddas. Or because Rishi asked them to.
Why were Boris and Dorries never given options, as opposed to waiting months, and then secretly blackballing them? It is simply insufficient to refuse their elevation on the sole ground that they had not resigned as MPs, having never been told that that would be necessary. Nadine Dorries doesn't do devious. She's too loyal. And too stupid.
Boris could have given all 4 Knight/Damehoods, as opposed to nothing. Dorries in particular would have resigned immediately, had she been given the option. Adams too, probably. All of the Members of Holac have been given peerages in the past. They know how all this works.
This is just Holac and Sunak riding roughshod over procedure out of pettiness and spite.
I sincerely hope that Liz Truss recommends Dorries and Adams for Peerages.
There is no doubt that Dorries and Adams would have resigned given the opportunity because they did anyway. There is another option, and I could just about see it happening. The list is a year old. I have had a rethink on whether they both new. I believe they almost certainly did. The list was leaked last year. It was common knowledge that they were on it. In the intervening year, they have both been mixing with other MPs, Civil Servants, and possibly members of the HoL. I would find it really difficult to believe that nobody pointed out that they would have to resign, or just ask them when they intended to resign. Nobody said a word? I just cant believe that. Neither of them would approach Sunak, but they would have a word with Boris. So they say to Boris do we have to resign? I can very easily visualise the next bit. Boris has always been a penny and the bun person. This is the bit where Boris says, no you dont, leave it to me, I will sort it out. Then he arranges to meet Sunak, and in his own mind sorts it out. It may well be a case of there will be no border in the Irish Sea, all over again. I am sure that Sunak must have questioned the list he received from HOLAC, otherwise why would they have sent him the note. I think the only person that thought it had been sorted out was Boris.
Any vetting carried out now would be deemed to be out of date by the time of the next election in 18 months' time, it said. 2/4 A note from Holac chairman Lord Bew was submitted to this effect to 10 Downing Street.
Dangerous to write off BoJo. He's been written off several times before, only to reappear.
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
An honest man would have informed the three that they were nominated for Peerages, but would have to resign. End of.
Exactly this.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
Just been watching NewsNight. They made it clear that a sitting MP has to make a public statement within 6 months of being nominated that they intended to resign. So that expired long ago. Long before the Sunak/Boris meeting. The Cabinet Office has made a statement saying that HOLAC did not support some of the nominations put forward by the former PM, and that it is unprecedented for a sitting PM to invite HOLAC to reconsider the vetting of individual nominees on a former PMs resignation list, it is not therefore a formality.
NADINE DORRIES: The sinister forces that stopped me, a girl born into poverty in Liverpool, from reaching the House of Lords
NADINE DORRIES: When our former PM Boris Johnson told me I had been included in his resignation honours list, I was overwhelmed - and immediately suffered another bout of the imposter syndrome. I have always been in awe of the House of Lords. It is where the heavy lifting of properly scrutinising legislation takes place, while the elected chamber, the Commons, is the stage for set pieces such as Prime Minister's Questions and, of late, little else. Since Boris was removed, Parliament appears to have ground to a halt. But I am used to seeing off imposter syndrome, just as I am used to facing down the people who, over the course of my life, have told me I am not up to it. I grew up on a Liverpool council estate and I knew what hunger pains felt like. I had to borrow shoes in order to attend school.
Asked to explain her understanding of what had happened, she said the House of Lords appointment commission (Holac) had told No 10 she would need to announce her departure as an MP in order to enter the Lords.
She said she was aware of this rule, but that she had been urged “via back channels” not to prompt a by-election so held off. A plan was devised by the Cabinet Secretary whereby she would stay on the list until a general election, but “we found out that suddenly that wasn’t allowed”, Ms Dorries claimed.
Detailing the chain of events on Friday, the former minister said she only learned that her name was not on the list half an hour before it was published.
The Chief Whip spoke to her in the morning to say “everything’s fine” before contacting her hours later to reveal she was not included, she said.
On the reason behind her shock resignation, she said: “It was the sheer audacity of the Chief Whip thinking that at my age having worked in Parliament for 21 years, serving 18 years on the back benches, having been a minister during Covid… having been a secretary of state, that he can dangle out to me some kind of stick and carrot, like ‘be a good girl and we’ll make sure something’s sorted for you in the future’, which is basically what he was saying to me. That for me, and that moment, was what made me change my mind.
“I think you come to a point in life when you have to stop, when you can’t just be pushed around, when you can’t allow people to bully you, as I’ve just been bullied by No 10. You can’t allow that to happen, you have to stand up for yourself, and that’s what I did.”
“To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality,” Mr Johnson said.
One Downing Street source said the Cabinet Office had made it clear to Mr Johnson that there is no re-vetting process, while the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said it is “entirely untrue to say that anyone from No 10 attempted to remove or change” to Holac-approved list.
Comments
He apparently called for a meeting of his many followers after his opposition to the Windsor Framework was largely ignored.
Only one turned up.
Johnson is believed to have nominated 18 people, including his own father and four sitting MPs, but had some of them blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) who said that eight nominations "were not supported by the commission".
Scottish secretary Alister Jack is thought to have removed himself from the process as it would have meant stepping down as an MP.
Posting on Twitter, political journalist Olivia Utley - who attended York University at the same time as Owen - wrote: "Charlotte Owen has gone from parliamentary intern to Baroness in 6 years, a record? (incidentally we were at uni together and no one remembers her showing any great prowess for legislative scrutiny)."
Other controversial appointments include Martin Reynolds, Johnson's former principal private secretary, who later earned the nickname "Party Marty" for his role in a "bring your own booze" party during the pandemic.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/charlotte-owen-boris-johnson-nominates-youngest-ever-life-peer-140415210.html
But I think this is more about the current PM rather than the last but one.
He can't have it both ways. Cannot force byelections and stop them at the same time. This Holac stuff is nonsense-is anyone seriously suggesting that 3 MPs and former Cabinet Ministers are unworthy to sit in the House of Lords? While some 29-year-old former SPAD with little or no relevant experience gets waved through?
And this nonsense where Sunak claims Boris asked him to do something "improper". Dorries has already publicly stated that she will step down at the next Election. How difficult would it be to give her a peerage then, if he is too spineless to want a byelection now? We've waited nearly a year for these Honours already.
What would really make me laugh is if Liz Truss now puts forward Nadine Dorries for a Peerage in her Resignation Honours list.
Nasty, spiteful little man.
There appears to be a rule that applies to sitting MPs that are about to receive a peerage, which is that they must have already resigned, or notified HOLAC that they would be resigning within 6 months.
None of the three did so, and were therefore removed from the list by HOLAC.
This obviously came up in conversation at the Sunak/Boris meeting, because Boris asked for a guarantee from Sunak that they would be nominated in the future.
Which Sunak declined.
It is clear that the two that resigned were not aware of the rule, as they immediately resigned after the list was published.
Alistair Jack certainly was, as he removed himself from the process, as he didnt wish to resign as an MP.
The Cabinet Office apparently made it clear to Boris that there was no re-vetting process.
The trouble with Boris is that he never seems to think that rules apply to him, and constantly blames everyone else.
End of.
Boris did not know this. Dorries did not know this. And Sunak/Holac did not tell them.
Which is exactly why Sunak is not an honest man.
The whole point of the Peerage discussion from the Boris point of view is that he did know this. and was intent as usual on getting his cake and eating it.
Boris supporters all want to have a pop at Sunak.
Dorries is probably the worst of them, she sl ags him off at every opportunity.
Why on earth would Boris, in his wildest dreams think that Sunak would have any interest in going out of his way to nominate her at some point in the future.
There are 2 sides to this story.
Sunak wouldnt be keen on 3 by-elections in respect of the sitting MPs.
Boris knew this and wanted to bend the rules again.
He definitely knew this.
Sunak stuck to his word, and approved the list that was put in front of him.
Apparently HOLAC will only approve sitting MPs if we are within 6 months of a general election, or if they promise to resign within 6 months.
Then Johnson raised the issue of peerages and the atmosphere chilled. No 10 had made clear to Johnson in advance that Sunak did not want to discuss honours, a point also made publicly when news of a possible meeting first emerged. “I don’t want to talk about that,” Sunak said.
“We must talk about it,” Johnson replied. He proceeded to press for assurances that MPs who had been submitted for peerages — Nadine Dorries, Alok Sharma and Nigel Adams — could wait and join the Lords later, noting how undesirable by-elections would be now. The No 10 claim is that Sunak said it was “their decision” whether to go or not.
What seems to have transpired is Sunak signalled he would approve the list put in front of him by officials. To the prime minister, this meant he would leave the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) to vet the list and then nod it through without intervention. Johnson’s camp say he took that to mean Sunak would sign off on his original list. The PM was, they claim, “Sphinx-like, not saying much, not giving much away.”
Other than to confirm that the list was going off to HOLAC unedited, which it did.
@christopherhope
However Holac ruled it was not allowed to approve peerages for sitting MPs outside of the normal time limit of six months before a general election.
Any vetting carried out now would be deemed to be out of date by the time of the next election in 18 months' time, it said. 2/4
Christopher Hope📝
@christopherhope
·
9 Jun
A note from Holac chairman Lord Bew was submitted to this effect to 10 Downing Street.
The ruling meant that the four names were not on the list which was given to Mr Sunak a week ago. It was left then for Mr Sunak to clear the list in its entirety. 3/4
Alistair Jack did.
I would assume Alok Sharma probably did.
Holac appear to have been acting purely out of spite. Simply because Boris ignored them over Cruddas. Or because Rishi asked them to.
Why were Boris and Dorries never given options, as opposed to waiting months, and then secretly blackballing them? It is simply insufficient to refuse their elevation on the sole ground that they had not resigned as MPs, having never been told that that would be necessary. Nadine Dorries doesn't do devious. She's too loyal. And too stupid.
Boris could have given all 4 Knight/Damehoods, as opposed to nothing. Dorries in particular would have resigned immediately, had she been given the option. Adams too, probably. All of the Members of Holac have been given peerages in the past. They know how all this works.
This is just Holac and Sunak riding roughshod over procedure out of pettiness and spite.
I sincerely hope that Liz Truss recommends Dorries and Adams for Peerages.
There is another option, and I could just about see it happening.
The list is a year old.
I have had a rethink on whether they both new.
I believe they almost certainly did.
The list was leaked last year.
It was common knowledge that they were on it.
In the intervening year, they have both been mixing with other MPs, Civil Servants, and possibly members of the HoL.
I would find it really difficult to believe that nobody pointed out that they would have to resign, or just ask them when they intended to resign.
Nobody said a word?
I just cant believe that.
Neither of them would approach Sunak, but they would have a word with Boris.
So they say to Boris do we have to resign?
I can very easily visualise the next bit.
Boris has always been a penny and the bun person.
This is the bit where Boris says, no you dont, leave it to me, I will sort it out.
Then he arranges to meet Sunak, and in his own mind sorts it out.
It may well be a case of there will be no border in the Irish Sea, all over again.
I am sure that Sunak must have questioned the list he received from HOLAC, otherwise why would they have sent him the note.
I think the only person that thought it had been sorted out was Boris.
Any vetting carried out now would be deemed to be out of date by the time of the next election in 18 months' time, it said. 2/4
A note from Holac chairman Lord Bew was submitted to this effect to 10 Downing Street.
They made it clear that a sitting MP has to make a public statement within 6 months of being nominated that they intended to resign.
So that expired long ago.
Long before the Sunak/Boris meeting.
The Cabinet Office has made a statement saying that HOLAC did not support some of the nominations put forward by the former PM, and that it is unprecedented for a sitting PM to invite HOLAC to reconsider the vetting of individual nominees on a former PMs resignation list, it is not therefore a formality.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/privileges-committee-finds-boris-johnson-deliberately-misled-parliament-report/ar-AA1csKVI?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=584b4a6deff544cab4ebb5300b7f05df&ei=39
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/johnson-accuses-sunak-of-talking-rubbish-as-rancour-becomes-slanging-match/ar-AA1crPuD?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=584b4a6deff544cab4ebb5300b7f05df&ei=41
NADINE DORRIES: When our former PM Boris Johnson told me I had been included in his resignation honours list, I was overwhelmed - and immediately suffered another bout of the imposter syndrome. I have always been in awe of the House of Lords. It is where the heavy lifting of properly scrutinising legislation takes place, while the elected chamber, the Commons, is the stage for set pieces such as Prime Minister's Questions and, of late, little else. Since Boris was removed, Parliament appears to have ground to a halt. But I am used to seeing off imposter syndrome, just as I am used to facing down the people who, over the course of my life, have told me I am not up to it. I grew up on a Liverpool council estate and I knew what hunger pains felt like. I had to borrow shoes in order to attend school.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12187013/NADINE-DORRIES-sinister-forces-stopped-girl-reaching-House-Lords.html
Asked to explain her understanding of what had happened, she said the House of Lords appointment commission (Holac) had told No 10 she would need to announce her departure as an MP in order to enter the Lords.
She said she was aware of this rule, but that she had been urged “via back channels” not to prompt a by-election so held off.
A plan was devised by the Cabinet Secretary whereby she would stay on the list until a general election, but “we found out that suddenly that wasn’t allowed”, Ms Dorries claimed.
Detailing the chain of events on Friday, the former minister said she only learned that her name was not on the list half an hour before it was published.
The Chief Whip spoke to her in the morning to say “everything’s fine” before contacting her hours later to reveal she was not included, she said.
On the reason behind her shock resignation, she said: “It was the sheer audacity of the Chief Whip thinking that at my age having worked in Parliament for 21 years, serving 18 years on the back benches, having been a minister during Covid… having been a secretary of state, that he can dangle out to me some kind of stick and carrot, like ‘be a good girl and we’ll make sure something’s sorted for you in the future’, which is basically what he was saying to me. That for me, and that moment, was what made me change my mind.
“I think you come to a point in life when you have to stop, when you can’t just be pushed around, when you can’t allow people to bully you, as I’ve just been bullied by No 10. You can’t allow that to happen, you have to stand up for yourself, and that’s what I did.”
“To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality,” Mr Johnson said.
One Downing Street source said the Cabinet Office had made it clear to Mr Johnson that there is no re-vetting process, while the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said it is “entirely untrue to say that anyone from No 10 attempted to remove or change” to Holac-approved list.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/dorries-says-she-was-bullied-by-no-10-and-accuses-sunak-of-blocking-peerage/ar-AA1csPzh?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=6e29ba24fcae4401ad1f0e20c80efb29&ei=56