U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being accused of going after the BBC in order to save his premiership.
Labour leader Keir Starmer insists that Johnson broke the law by attending lockdown parties and lying about it, according to the news outlet. Johnson last Wednesday apologized for the way he handled the event in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 and said he understood the public's "rage" over it.
But some Tory MPs are reportedly set to demand the prime minister’s resignation, with possibly 35 of the 54 letters needed to trigger a vote of no confidence already in, the Guardian reports.
In an attempt to contain the fallout from Johnson’s scandal, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, a loyal Johnson ally, stated Sunday that the BBC license fee will be abolished in 2027 and its funding will be stopped for the next two years.
Freezing funding for the BBC will possibly be popular with Conservative party members and supporters. However, it will force the corporation to potentially close and lay off many employees. Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, said that "the prime minister thinks those reporting on his rule-breaking should pay consequences, whilst he gets off free," and Ian Murray, the shadow Scottish secretary, explained Dorries’ announcement as "a last-ditch attempt [by Johnson] to save his failing premiership."
Although Johnson had said in the 2019 election campaign that he would consider abolishing the BBC’s license fee, that announcement had not been expected this weekend, one government insider told the Guardian.
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