In the headlines
A “pork pie plot” is afoot in Westminster. Up to 20 Red Wall Tories – including the MP for Melton Mowbray, home of the pork pie – are planning to submit letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson. The “magic number” of 54 letters, which would trigger a confidence vote in the PM, could come as soon as today, says the Telegraph. Bury South MP Christian Wakeford has defected to Labour – the first Tory MP to do so for 15 years. Britain’s “cost of living crisis” has deepened, says the FT, with inflation hitting 5.4% in December, its highest rate in 30 years. Matt Hancock has been ticked off by the Serpentine Swimming Club after taking an icy – and topless – plunge in the Hyde Park lake without first becoming a member. Who does he think he is, said one member. Vladimir Putin?