UK Lawmakers Urge Focus on Tackling Cost Crunch to End Johnson Crisis

Senior members of Boris Johnson's Conservative Party urged challengers to the prime minister to rein in their ambitions and focus instead on steering Britain through the biggest plunge in living standards in a generation.

Johnson is battling for his political career amid a crisis which has gripped his government over three months, with a growing number of lawmakers calling publicly for a change at the top to rebuild trust with voters.

Johnson has apologized after he and staff held parties during strict coronavirus lockdowns, at a time when many people could not say farewell in person to dying relatives, events that are being investigated by the police.

He further angered colleagues last week when he falsely accused the leader of the opposition Labour party of failing to prosecute a child sex abuser when he was in charge of public prosecutions. That, critics said, shows Johnson is incapable of changing, or showing true remorse.

Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader, told BBC TV that the time was not right for a challenge but said such events had been hugely damaging and Johnson needed to show contrition so he "never ever gets to this point ever again."

Many people were struggling with soaring energy costs and food inflation, which were "the number one priority," he added.

Kwasi Kwarteng, Britain's business minister, said he did not think the party was near the point of deposing Johnson, adding "I don't see what he's seeing" when asked about a formerly loyal lawmaker's assertion that it was inevitable the leader would go.

CHAOTIC LEADERSHIP

Johnson, who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher, has refused to resign over a series of revelations including the parties and the costly refurbishment of his apartment that have raised questions about his often chaotic style of leadership.

The Sunday Times reported that Johnson's wife Carrie had suggested he should think about quitting, but the same newspaper also quoted his allies as saying he had made it clear that he would not go willingly, implying it would take an armored tank division to drag him out of office.

Kwarteng also defended Johnson's assertion that crime had fallen under his watch, saying it was right to remove reference to certain crimes that were rising sharply, such as fraud.

Five senior aides have quit in recent days, including one who condemned his comments about the now dead sex abuser Jimmy Savile. Johnson announced the hiring of new staff on Saturday.

The prime minister has since said he accepts that Labour leader Keir Starmer was not personally to blame for failing to prosecute the television celebrity Jimmy Savile in his former job. But he refused to apologize.

Duncan Smith said Johnson needed to get a grip, impose some discipline and focus on a cost of living crisis that has already led to tensions between the Bank of England, the government, unions and workers.

Andrew Bailey, the central bank governor, drew an icy response in recent days after he said workers should show restraint when asking for pay rises to avoid a 1970s-style wage-price spiral. Inflation is forecast to hit 7% in April, the highest rate since the early 1990s.

John Allan, chairman of Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket and largest private sector employer, said on Sunday he thought Bailey's sentiment was wrong, and his 300,000 staff needed protecting from inflation. "So I think that's the wrong direction for people to go in," he said.

Allan added that economically he expected things to get worse for Britain in the coming months as the full impact of a 54% jump in energy prices flowed through.