Boris Johnson has survived a bruising no-confidence vote, but his victory by 211 to 148 in a ballot of Tory MPs left him badly damaged and exposed the scale of the division and animosity in his party.
The result means that more than 40 per cent of Johnson’s MPs wanted to oust the prime minister, leaving him seriously damaged; the revolt was far more serious than Downing Street had expected.
Johnson told MPs that his victory would end months of speculation about his future and that he would now be able to focus fully on policy delivery, holding out the prospect of future tax cuts.
But the vote of no confidence, triggered after more than 15 per cent of his MPs withdrew their support from him, was accompanied by rancour and withering criticism of the prime minister from his colleagues.
Go deeper: History shows that incumbents struggle to regain their standing once MPs vote against them in large numbers.
To read more on British politics sign up to our Inside Politics newsletter. Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia. Here’s the rest of today’s news — Emily
Five more stories in the news
1. Elon Musk threatens to abandon Twitter takeover The CEO of Tesla has threatened to walk away from his $44bn acquisition of Twitter, accusing the social media company of failing to provide enough information about fake accounts.
2. Global stocks rise as Beijing eases Covid restrictions Stock markets around the world rose on Monday as a series of positive updates from China including the loosening of some Covid-19 restrictions boosted investors’ confidence. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent by mid-afternoon, following solid gains in Europe and Asia earlier in the day.
3. Apple to offer ‘buy now, pay later’ credit The Silicon Valley company is jumping into the “buy now pay later” market. adding another challenge to fintech companies such as Klarna and Affirm that are already grappling with investor pressure, slower ecommerce growth and rising interest rates.
4. US suspends south-east Asia import tariffs on solar panel parts US president Joe Biden will allow solar panel parts to be imported free of tariffs from four south-east Asian nations, offering a cost reprieve to US renewable energy project developers after months of uncertainty. The move by the White House was part of a package of measures designed to boost a transition to clean energy.
5. Australia accuses China of intercepting surveillance plane Australia has accused the Chinese military of a “dangerous manoeuvre” after one of its surveillance planes was intercepted in the South China Sea just days after Anthony Albanese’s election as prime minister.
The day ahead
Reserve Bank of Australia meeting Policymakers meeting today are expected to raise interest rates in order to further central bankers’ goal of tamping down inflation. (FX Street)
China’s gaokao begins Students will take the nationwide university entrance exam. “It is hard to find anyone, even in government, that thinks the gaokao is good for China,” Patti Waldmeier wrote back in 2012.
Address from Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was appointed Sri Lanka’s prime minister this month, will give a speech in parliament to address the country’s debt crisis.
FT View: Sri Lanka’s problems are an alarm call for emerging markets, our editorial board wrote last week.
Don’t miss FT editor Roula Khalaf’s interview with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky at the FT’s Global Boardroom on June 7-9. Register for free today.
What else we’re reading
The great Tokyo exodus Before the pandemic, the Japan’s decades-old working habits had made the idea of leaving Tokyo seem all but impossible because clients, universities and ministries are all concentrated there. Now, that entrenched belief is being dismantled. And being a pioneer of the relocation boom has brought unexpected benefits.
Migrant workers suffer in Singapore’s hidden lockdown Of the roughly 280,000 migrant workers who live in Singapore’s dormitories, a maximum of 25,000 are permitted to travel outside the recreation centres or their workplaces on weekdays — and only on the condition that they tell authorities where they are going and limit their trips to eight hours.
The impact of Russia’s Donbas advance Russian advances have made it “very, very difficult” for Ukraine to win its war with Moscow, Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s chief of the national security council, told the Financial Times. Danilov said Ukraine could win “because we are fighting for our freedom”. But he said a drawn-out war to drive out Russia’s invading army could only succeed if western countries accelerated supplies of advanced weapons.
Opinion: The first cold war ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The second, it seems, began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, writes Gideon Rachman.
Rumours that Xi is losing his grip on power are greatly exaggerated As China enters its version of the political silly season, the commentariat says President Xi Jinping is in trouble. But this proposition is unconvincing because it ignores how Xi has bent China’s one-party system to his advantage, writes Christopher Johnson CEO of China Strategies Group.
How ESG investing came to a reckoning The acronym is less than two decades old, but it may already be coming to the end of its useful life. With allegations of greenwashing at the highest levels, should funds still package together environmental, social and governance factors? Sign up here to receive our ESG newsletter, Moral Money.
Travel
In line with Dubai’s rollercoaster history, the city’s services-and tourism-oriented economy is on the way back up, buoyed first by an influx of wealthy people thanks to the United Arab Emirates’ successful handling of the pandemic and, more recently, a flood of rich Russians seeking a financial haven.
Source: Economy - ft.com
