Liberal Democrat MPs have tabled a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson and have written to Jacob Rees-Mogg to ask that it is given parliamentary time.

The motion been so far been signed by 18 MPs from four parties. These include all thirteen Liberal Democrat MPs, two Labour MPs, two from Plaid Cymru and Stephen Parry from the Alliance Party.

The Liberal Democrats have also written to Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, demanding he put the motion to a vote within the next week. Labour Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting says that Labour would back it in a Commons vote.

Shadow health secretary @wesstreeting told Times Radio that Labour would back the motion https://t.co/g3CEW4jm8V

— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) January 16, 2022

The question is, would enough Conservatives? And what would the public think if their Conservative MP backed a PM who has had such a chaotic approach to government and treats the laws of the land as an optional extra?

Ed Davey said:

It’s time for Conservative MPs to show where they stand. Are they going to continue to put up with a Prime Minister who lied to Parliament and to the public, who admitted he broke lockdown rules and refuses to hold himself accountable?

By remaining in Number 10 Boris Johnson is a threat to the health of the nation – no one will take anything he says seriously and that is simply unacceptable during a pandemic.

Conservative MPs should not only support our motion of no confidence but they should pressure Jacob Rees Mogg to give the motion time for a vote and soon. The country deserves a chance to move on from this deceitful Prime Minister.

The full text of Wera’s letter is below.

Dear Jacob,

Today I have tabled a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister. I am writing to urge you to make government time available as soon as possible in the House of Commons for MPs to debate it – certainly within the next week.

People across the country are rightly appalled by the revelation that the Prime Minister attended a garden party at Number 10 in May 2020, during the first national Covid lockdown.

The vast majority of the British people followed the rules to keep others safe, even when it meant not being able to see our loved ones – let alone having a few drinks in the sun with our friends.

Millions of people made huge personal sacrifices: missing funerals, cancelling weddings, and saying goodbye to dying loved ones on video calls – some on the very same day that Number Ten illegally hosted a garden party. People who broke the rules have been fined by the police under the laws that your government introduced.

It is completely unacceptable for the Prime Minister to act as if there is one rule for him  and another rule for everyone else. It is also unacceptable for the Government to hide behind Sue Gray’s investigation, refusing to answer questions or take responsibility.

It is now clear that most people have no confidence in the Prime Minister – including many of your Conservative colleagues in Parliament. That is not a sustainable position, especially in the midst of a pandemic, when the trustworthiness of the government is so critical.

The question of whether the Prime Minister commands the confidence of the House is of crucial importance. MPs should have the opportunity to debate and vote on it as soon as possible, and it would be wrong for the Government to shield the Prime Minister from accountability by refusing to make time for that debate.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the House

I can’t imagine that Jacob Rees-Mogg will grant the request, but that in itself tells its own story.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings