London. Despite sharp criticism from within his own ranks, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly won a parliamentary vote on a controversial social reform. However, the Tories brought the law through the House of Commons with a majority of 26 votes late on Monday evening – they actually have a plus of 77 seats.
The reform puts an upper limit of 86,000 pounds (a good 102,000 euros) that people have to raise for their own care. In the opinion of the opposition, but also of many Tory MPs, this puts poorer people in a significantly worse position than wealthier ones. Many would probably have to sell their houses – Johnson had always ruled that out.
Expensive dinner with Tory donors just before voting
The Daily Mirror reported that some MPs from Johnson’s Conservative Party drank champagne at a dinner with Tory donors shortly before the vote. To book a table at the event, £ 15,000 had been called. The always well-informed Sun reporter Harry Cole tweeted that a dinner with Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak had been auctioned for £ 35,000 and a karaoke evening with Secretary of State Liz Truss for £ 22,000.
Johnson has been under heavy pressure anyway since he gave a speech on Monday that was extremely bizarre for his standards. In front of business representatives he compared himself to Moses, praised a Peppa Pig theme park for minutes and temporarily lost the thread. In a TV interview, Johnson was later asked if he was okay. Tory MPs condemned the speech as “embarrassing” and “chaotic.”
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