“Boris Johnson is set to announce the lifting of ‘Plan B’ COVID restrictions on Wednesday as a plot to oust him by Tory MPs first elected in 2019 emerged.
The news also mentioned UK Prime minister Johnson to have appeared forlorn in a television interview while apologizing for misjudgments ‘that I have made… whether in Downing Street or throughout the pandemic’.
Main Quotes From The UK Telegraph Newspaper
The Cabinet is expected to sign off scrapping work from home guidance and Covid passports at a meeting on Wednesday morning, although some face mask rules could remain.
The Prime Minister gave his first public comments in six days on Tuesday, issuing a “categorical” denial that he was warned that a Downing Street garden drinks event on May 20, 2020, was “against the rules”.
Yet as he laid out his defense, a group of 20 recently elected Tory MPs, many representing former Labour heartland “Red Wall” seats, met to discuss his fate in a gathering described as the “pork pie plot”.
Those present told The Telegraph the group discussed submitting letters of no confidence together – a move that would markedly increase the political danger for Mr. Johnson. If 54 Tory MPs submit letters to the 1922 Committee, an automatic leadership vote is triggered.
Tory whips believe the number submitted is in the 20s, but one 2019 rebel claimed the 54 threshold could be triggered as early as Wednesday.
As for market reaction, and given the mixed news, mostly negative for the GBP/USD prices, coupled with the broad US dollar strength, the prices stay pressured around 1.3600 as in early Wednesday morning in Asia, partially due to the firmer UK jobs report on broad US dollar gains.