BRITISH prime minister Boris Johnson suffered four staff defections on Thursday (3) as pressure intensified on the embattled leader over lockdown parties and his loose-lipped style of politics.
One of the departures – that of the head of policy Munira Mirza - was linked to an inflammatory remark made by Johnson, attacking opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer over a notorious paedophile.
"Being honest, I wouldn't have said it and I'm glad the prime minister clarified it," finance minister Rishi Sunak said in an extraordinary rebuke of his boss during a televised news conference.
Also Read | 'Boris Johnson has lost the support of his party'
Sunak is tipped as a leading contender to replace Johnson if a brewing Conservative revolt against the prime minister develops further.
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Downing Street confirmed that chief of staff Dan Rosenfield was leaving, just over a year after he took on the role with a brief to professionalise Johnson's chaotic operation.
His resignation comes after a top civil servant, in a long-awaited inquiry, this week condemned "failures of leadership" in Downing Street over a series of parties held in violation of Covid restrictions.
Also going is Johnson's "principal private secretary", Martin Reynolds, who sent a now-notorious email in May 2020 urging Downing Street staff to "bring your own booze" to one lockdown gathering.
Johnson "thanked them both for their significant contribution to government and No 10, including work on the pandemic response and economic recovery", a spokesperson said.
Their departures were confirmed not long after those of two other top advisors - Mirza and director of communications Jack Doyle.
According to the Daily Mail, Doyle told colleagues as he left: "It was always my intention to do two years. Recent weeks have taken a terrible toll on my family life."
Doyle was implicated in the "partygate" affair after attending at least one Downing Street event that is under investigation by police.
Johnson's long-term ally Mirza quit after the prime minister tried to link Labour's Starmer to the failure by UK authorities to prosecute veteran TV host Jimmy Savile, who died in 2011 aged 84.
While alive, Savile was seen as a widely loved presenter. But after his death, accusations emerged that he had been a serial abuser of hundreds of children, without facing prosecution.
In parliament on Monday (31), Johnson shocked many on his own side when he aired a conspiracy theory prevalent among far-right groups that Starmer had personally failed to prosecute Savile when he was director of state prosecutions in England and Wales from 2008 to 2013.
“Scurrilous accusation”
Under Starmer's watch, police decided not to press charges against Savile despite widespread suspicions about his behaviour.
Starmer was not personally involved in the decision, and he accused Johnson of "parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try to score cheap political points".
Johnson belatedly tried to backtrack late Wednesday (2), after strong criticism from some Tory MPs, sections of the media and a lawyer representing victims of Savile.
But Mirza said that did not go far enough, according to her resignation letter reported by the Spectator magazine.
Johnson's remark in parliament "was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse", she said, noting that the prime minister had yet to apologise.
"You are a better man than many of your detractors will ever understand, which is why it is so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition."
Mirza, who was once a member of the now-defunct Revolutionary Communist Party, worked with Johnson when he was mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, joining him in Downing Street from 2019.
Speaking to Channel 5 News on Thursday (3) before news broke of the other resignations, Johnson said he was "sorry to lose" Mirza, crediting her for "an outstanding job".
Dominic Cummings, Johnson's former chief aide turned bitter foe, said Mirza's resignation was an "unmistakable signal the bunker is collapsing" as the "partygate" allegations swirl.
(AFP)
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)