Is Rishi Sunak turning into Boris Johnson?

Is this the week wherein it could possibly be claimed that Rishi Sunak has turn out to be a main minister like Boris Johnson?

On Monday, Mr Sunak confronted allegations of dodgy declarations of economic pursuits.

On Wednesday, he hurled Johnson-style insults at Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions and caved in to right-wing Tory MPs on small boats and migration.

And now, after delaying a call on the report on bullying allegations in opposition to Dominic Raab till a second day, Mr Sunak faces claims that he is making an attempt to cling on to an in depth ally in hassle and defy calls to sack him.

It all sounds a bit acquainted.

Mr Sunak’s week started with the re-announcement of a maths coverage that was overshadowed by the Commons sleaze watchdog suggesting the PM’s declarations of his spouse’s monetary pursuits did not add up.

The new Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, introduced an inquiry into why Mr Sunak failed to say his spouse’s shareholding in a childcare firm which may benefit from measures in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s March Budget.

The omission got here when Mr Sunak was quizzed by MPs on the Liaison Committee about Koru Kids and particularly requested by Labour’s Catherine McKinnell if he had something to declare. He giggled and mumbled: “No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way.”

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It was a really Johnsonian reply. And his pursuits weren’t declared within the regular method, as a result of the register of ministers’ pursuits hadn’t been revealed for over a 12 months. And, do not forget, Mr Sunak did not appoint an ethics adviser for months.

Mr Greenberg identified that the MPs’ code of conduct says they “must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the house or its committees”.

In different phrases, whereas talking within the Commons chamber or in a committee.

And even when Number 10 revealed the PM’s full record of pursuits on Wednesday they did not embrace particulars of the shareholdings held by his heiress spouse Akshata Murty.

Mr Johnson frequently clashed with the Standards Commissioner: on earnings, property earnings and holidays. In one report, he was accused of an “over-careless attitude towards observing the rules of the house”.

At PMQs, in the meantime, Mr Sunak was no extra Mr Nice Guy as he unleashed a barrage of Johnson-style assaults on the Labour chief, branding him “Sir Softie” on crime throughout his time as Director of Prosecutions and denouncing him as a “leftie lawyer”.

Tory MPs beloved it, yelping and howling with delight, as Labour MPs sat-grim confronted. It was all a reminder of Mr Johnson’s jibes in opposition to Sir Keir, when he frequently known as him “Captain Hindsight” and “Crasheroonie Snoozefest” at PMQs.

Later, Mr Sunak delighted the Tory proper by bowing to their calls for for amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman will get new powers to disregard so-called “pyjama injunctions” by judges on the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, blocking migrant deportation flights to Rwanda.

The cave-in adopted a bacon sandwiches breakfast in Downing Street for MPs on the Common Sense Group of right-wingers on Tuesday morning. Remember how Mr Johnson frequently used to host the pro-Brexit European Research Group in Number 10?

Then, shortly earlier than the Commons rose for the weekend, it emerged that there can be no Raab resolution on Thursday, prompting allegations of “dither and delay” from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

The phrase from inside Number 10 was that the PM, nevertheless, was taking time to undergo Adam Tolley’s report totally and take into account it.

And the longer the look ahead to the PM’s resolution on Mr Raab, the extra it appears to be like like he is making an attempt to save lots of certainly one of his closest allies.

To be honest to Mr Sunak, cupboard ministers Sir Gavin Williamson and Nadhim Zahawi went shortly after they have been in hassle. But Mr Raab lives to struggle one other day.

Mr Johnson was all the time decided to not hand his opponents a scalp. Is Mr Sunak now doing the identical?