Really good article on how this is affecting the government, its plans, whether its properly assessing information and future fall out.
Steven Swinford @steven_swinford
Times read on how Boris Johnson believes Ukraine crisis has saved his Premiership:
* No 10 says there has been ‘paradigm shift’ in public perception
* Lab lead down to 2 points - lowest since Dec
* But No 10 dysfunction remains amid chaotic response
Times read on how Boris Johnson believes Ukraine crisis has saved his Premiership:
Some say scale of Ukraine crisis has masked dysfunction in No 10
They point to internal clashes on sanctions & chaos over refugee policy
No 10 reset has also led to tensions - Steve Barclay cut many senior officials out of key meetings & new COO said to be ‘tin eared’
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/84b8757e-9e2e-11ec-a33b-e5ebed659a52?shareToken=2dff00aa8240717d33ae189d03c6452b
Ukraine has helped Boris Johnson in the polls but he is not out of the woods yet
Allies who feel war has secured the PM’s position may be in for a shock
“His critics are all silent because if they continue to push for the prime minister to go then navel-gazing doesn’t even describe it,” one cabinet loyalist said. “They would look self-interested and obsessed. They would not just be damaging the UK [in triggering a leadership contest] but the entire war effort and the Ukrainian people.”
Even Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, declined to repeat his call for Johnson to go on Sunday, arguing instead that it was a time for unity.
And
There is still significant dysfunction in No 10 and across Whitehall as the government has found itself struggling to match its rhetoric on Russia with concrete action, leading to a series of clashes.
Having pledged to sanction dozens of oligarchs, the government has been left to look flat-footed after the UK was forced to play catch-up with the EU and US sanctions.
Officials have warned it could take months for the government to identify oligarch assets and sanction them, warning about the legal risk involved, particularly of large payouts. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, is said to have branded officials she sees as blocking tougher action as a “bunch of bedwetters”.
And
Johnson’s Downing Street “reset” has caused problems of its own, with the changes to his administration alienating a number of existing Downing Street staffers.
Steve Barclay, the prime minister’s new chief of staff, has cut many No 10 officials out of regular meetings with the prime minister which they used to enjoy in the past.
Meanwhile Samantha Jones, the former NHS executive who was brought in as Downing Street’s chief operating officer, has been accused of taking a “tin-eared” approach to reforming the Downing Street machine.
“People are horrified by her approach to things, which is essentially to go on and on about how you are going to make it a more professional place,” one government source said. “People find it really insulting having spent years thinking they were doing quite a professional job.”
Many officials and political appointees are said to be desperate to get out.
“Previously there were morning meetings that brought together private office, the policy unit, press office and senior people across the building,” one government source said.
“That has all collapsed back to a meeting that is simply of Barclay, Rishi (Sunak) and Guto (Hari, Johnson’s communication director).
“A lot of people who have very senior sounding jobs are wondering whether they have any actual influence.”
And
There are also growing concerns in the Treasury that a geo-political crisis will soon become an economic one. Energy bills are poised to rise by more than £3,000 in October after sanctions helped to push gas and energy prices to record levels.
Inflation could peak at 8.4 per cent in the spring, the highest since 1982, bringing people’s living standards down.
Sunak’s plans to cut income tax by 2p in the pound in the run-up to the next election already look to be at risk; ministers believe that any fiscal headroom will be needed for a far bigger intervention on energy bills than the £9 billion package already announced this year.
The Ukraine crisis has also led to a recalibration of the conversation about who should succeed Johnson as Wallace’s popularity has surged.
The defence secretary has risen to the top of ConservativeHome’s league table of popularity among activists while Truss, who topped it for a year, has slipped to fifth after criticism for interventions such as suggesting Britons head to Ukraine to fight.
And finally
One Conservative opponent of Johnson’s leadership said that those who think the prime minister is now out of the woods are being “hubristic”. They warned that Johnson would face more scrutiny over his associates, adding: “Great dangers lurk with [party chairman] Ben Elliot and the Lebedev peerage.”