Today in Parliament 18th July

Is he sober?

Are we any further forward with the KGB associate?

Yes, I’ve heard about this, but I’ll be blowed if I can understand what on earth is going on and why.
Can one of you explain please?
Thank you!

Fanny as far as I understand it - which may not be very far: last week, Labour wanted to propose a motion of no confidence in the government and the Prime Minister. Convention says the government always permits these motions to be debated and voted on.

But, presumably because there was a real risk that Tory MPs would vote to show no confidence in Johnson (and by default, the government), this time the government did not allow the debate and to weasel out of the uproar this caused, have tabled their own motion which excludes Johnson.

Ah, thank you Zonne
As Maizie says bizarre

To those of you who haven’t seen this it is worth a read. A journalist’s account of a chance meeting with Rachael Johnson on a plane who along with her unnamed travel companion confirmed details of Boris Johnson’s trip to Italy. And a revelation that Lebedev’s father also attended the party.

twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1548686479592939524?t=1PAb7utUdciL2Uz90suvaQ&s=08

And a revelation that Lebedev’s father also attended the party.

It isn't a revelation at all! It has been pointed out time and time again over the past 2 - 3 years.

I do not understand what the security services have been doing; why May didn't sack him from the foreign sec. post and why he isn't in prison for being a traitor...?

We even know that he was regarded as a security risk when he was Foreign Sec. and that some briefings were withheld from him because of this.

What the hell is going on?

This

@alexhallhall
In my last few months as Ambassador in Tbilisi a senior British colleague privately told me “we have a problem with the Foreign Secretary (ie Johnson) over Russia….he wants a reset”. This was after Russia’s seizure of Crimea, and while war in Donbas was ongoing. No excuse.

I wonder if he'll turn up to this one?

It's all just keeping the Conservatives in government.

Boris Johnson says he has no idea why Labour wants to debate a confidence motion in the government.

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle points out to the PM that the government tabled the motion.

He’s actually delusional.

twitter.com/bestforbritain/status/1549064476909092865?s=21&t=VOq-HctS7CRt2CAY8p-olA

How the dickens did such a person deceive so many to vote for him and government.

He also rambled on: " The Leader of the Opposition and the deep state will prevail in its plot to haul us back into alignment with the EU as a prelude to our eventual return". Bizarre that he should mention the "deep state' at the dispatch box.

He sounds like he’s been on the pop.

He was red in the face. Is he a substance user ?

Zonne

He’s actually delusional.

twitter.com/bestforbritain/status/1549064476909092865?s=21&t=VOq-HctS7CRt2CAY8p-olA

Thanks Zonne. Didn’t know how to do a link to that. It was so bizarre I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Was Dorries drunk? Her behaviour was bizarre.

This

Laura Kuenssberg Translator
@BBCLauraKT

BREAKING: After Boris Johnson blocked Labour from tabling a vote of no confidence in him and then tabled a vote of no confidence in his own government and forgot and assumed it was Labour's VONC until the speaker reminded him, the government has now voted confidence in itself x

He is either a substance abuser or well on the road to senility. How old is he?

58 - would be early onset, then. More likely takes a stiffener, alcohol or chemical, before facing another day at work.

I think it's because he genuinely doesn't care, never has, doesn't prepare and has no concern for fact let alone details. He's totally self absorbed and nothing, however serious to other people, matters to him.

If you look back at every single thing he's ever done in his life he approaches it in the same way - careless, thoughtless, damaging, failure, move on.

Spot on RP

The Good Law Project
We won: Government’s Net Zero Strategy is unlawful

Government’s strategy for getting to Net Zero is inadequate and unlawful, the High Court has found, following a successful legal challenge brought by Good Law Project, Joanna Wheatley, Client Earth and Friends of the Earth.

The Climate Change Act requires Government to hit Net Zero by 2050, to make proposals as to how it will meet that target, and to place a report before Parliament.

In a detailed judgment published today – amid the first ever red alert for extreme heat – the High Court held that the proposals for achieving Net Zero approved by the Secretary of State were too vague to enable him to be satisfied that the statutory targets would be met. And that the report placed before Parliament lacked the specificity necessary to meet the Secretary of State’s duty to inform Parliament and the public of his plans.

The illegality of its landmark climate change strategy is a huge political embarrassment to the Government. On launch in October 2021 the Net Zero Strategy was hailed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a foreword “Our strategy for net zero is to lead the world in ending our contribution to climate change.” And by the Secretary of State, Kwasi Kwarteng: “This strategy demonstrates how the UK is leading by example, with a clear plan for the future.”

The Court has ordered that the existing Strategy be fleshed out with the detail necessary for Parliamentary – and public – scrutiny within the next 8 months. And the Government has been ordered to pay our costs.

The dangerous heatwave this week is a stark reminder of the very real threat we face. Our infrastructure and homes were designed for a climate that no longer exists. This cannot wait. The Net Zero target must be a road map to a sustainable future – not a lie we tell our children.

We are thrilled to have worked alongside our friends at Client Earth and Friends of the Earth to deliver this landmark victory. And we are hugely grateful to Baker McKenzie and Jason Coppel QC and Peter Lockley of 11 Kings Bench Walk who worked pro bono or at hugely discounted rates.