Steerpike Steerpike

Peter Bone’s sly pop at Boris

Photo by JORAS/Getty Images

Peter Bone was up at PMQs today, asking a rare, non-partygate question to our beleaguered Prime Minister on whether he’d abolish the BBC licence fee (answer: no). But not all the Wellingborough backbencher’s maneuverings in Parliament this week seem designed to be so helpful to Boris, as he battles to save his premiership.

For Mr S has spotted that Bone has a Private Members’ Bill up in the House of Commons on Friday on… how to replace an incapacitated Prime Minister. As speculation heats up over who could and should replace Johnson, Bone’s timely move seeks to tidy up the question of succession to the post of First Lord of the Treasury. His Bill, which is up for Second Reading, aims to:

Make provision for the carrying out of the functions of the Prime Minister in the event that a Prime Minister, or a person temporarily carrying out the functions of the Prime Minister, is incapacitated.

Would being drunk in the Downing Street garden constitute being incapacitated, perhaps? 

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