Shocking revelation: Rishi Sunak turns his back on fiction – agreement reached with Boris Johnson!

Good morning. A fight broke out between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson. In the blue corner, Sunak insists Johnson asked him to overrule the independent body that monitors peerage nominations. In the other blue corner, Johnson he insists he did no such thing.

The confrontation raises tough questions, such as, is there any British politician, dead or alive, that I trust less than Boris Johnson? A few more thoughts on their “war of words” and what it means below.

Sunak from scratch

The Labor Party has a lot to offer in the upcoming election. The UK economy is in a bad way: the Bank of England may now feel more pressure to raise interest rates, this morning’s data show average private sector wage growth accelerated in the three months to April, the fastest pace of growth on record outside the coronavirus period. The country’s public services, especially the NHS, are in a state of crisis. And the Conservative Party will have been in power for at least 14 years by the time of the next election. If you’re an opposition party, these are near-perfect conditions for fighting an election (although perhaps not the conditions you hope to inherit, like Brilliant piece by Chris Giles clarifies.)

There is not much Rishi Sunak can do about it between now and January 2025, the latest ever in which the next elections can take place. But one thing him Candies to do is try to smooth over the general perception that drives a tired and aged government, and that the only way to vote for change is to vote for one of the opposition parties.

This was the big trick that Boris Johnson pulled in 2019 and John Major in 1992. They were able to stand as candidates for change, and not just as heirs to tired administrations. Sunak is well placed enough to do the same. He physically embodies the change, because he is the first British-Asian to become prime minister. And he could, if he wishes, embody it politically, because he sharply disagreed with the way Johnson conducted himself in office and with many of the policy decisions made by his two immediate predecessors.

One reason Sunak has chosen to minimize these differences is because his big priority has been to keep his party united and to pass legislation with Tory votes alone. Something he clearly understands is that Johnson and his allies will never stop giving him trouble and therefore he has little to gain by trying to keep them in the game.

Whether or not he will take the opportunity to further present himself as a real change from what has come before remains to be seen. But the major political consequence of Sunak’s row with Johnson remains that Sunak, both through his actions and those of others, has abandoned his earlier approach of downplaying disagreements between himself and Johnson.

Now try this

This week I mainly listened to Daniel Pemberton’s soundtrack Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse while writing my column. It’s a really good film that deserves to be seen on the big screen. Go!

Today’s best stories

• Britain’s swollen upper house | With nearly 800 members, the House of Lords is the second largest legislative chamber in the world, behind only the National People’s Congress of China. Boris Johnson’s peer list has has turned the spotlight on the process by which people legislators are appointed.

• Sturgeon saved from suspension | The Scottish first minister has said he won’t suspend his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon by the Scottish National Party the day after she was arrested in a lengthy police investigation into the party’s finances.

• Slap repression | Judges in England and Wales must be given more powers to dismiss strategic lawsuits against public participation, designed to intimidate critics of the super rich silently, under the legislation carried out by the government.

• Things can only get worse | Trade the barriers between the UK and the EU are likely to deepen although the resolution of a diplomatic deadlock over Northern Ireland has created a “new spirit” in relations, the EU’s Brexit negotiator warned yesterday.

• Bad look for Boris | Steven Swinford of the Times reports that the privileges committee will find out Johnson deceived parliament when he claimed he had been assured by officials that social distancing guidelines had been followed at number 10. The committee’s report is expected tomorrow.