Forgive & forget? Johnson readmits 10 Tory rebel MPs kicked out last month for voting against govt

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has readmitted 10 Tory rebel MPs who he’d expelled from the Conservative Party last month in a major purge, after they voted against his government in a crucial Brexit vote.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said Tuesday that 10 of the 21 MPs who’d lost the whip for voting to seize control of the House of Commons timetable from the PM (in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit), have been welcomed back into the party fold.

The spokesperson said Johnson met with the 10 MPs at his office on Tuesday evening. “The expectation of all Tory MPs and candidates standing for an election will be that when we come back we get this [Brexit] deal passed," he said.

The spokesperson said the decision to offer the whip back to the 10 MPs did not mean it would not be offered to the other 11 MPs and that it was not a comment on those who have not been readmitted.

MPs who have continued to vote against Johnson, like former chancellors Philip Hammond and Ken Clarke, have not been offered the whip back.

A Tory source earlier told the Independent that, as far as Downing Street was concerned, some parliamentarians had “done their best” to “get Brexit done” while others have “consistently undermined the necessary measures.”

The return of half of the Tory rebels came shortly before MPs voted in favor of holding an early general election on December 12. Lawmakers voted 438 to 20 in favor of the snap election, which Johnson sees as an opportunity to win a majority in the Commons and finally “get Brexit done.”

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