| In Westminster circles Boris Johnson is often described as the "greased piglet", due to his ability to wriggle out of almost any scandal or parliamentary impasse. He has weathered Partygate, a confidence vote, has batted away backbench dissent and shrugged off former Tory leaders Michael Howard and William Hague who have called on him to go. But with the resignation of two of his most senior ministers, Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, the Prime Minister's luck could finally be running out. While the rest of his Cabinet looks steady for now, we've seen a steady stream of more junior ministers walking out the door overnight and this morning. Each resignation only increases pressure further on a Downing Street operation that is now teetering on the edge. 
Today will be another showdown, as Mr Johnson faces Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions at midday and then he is set to be grilled by the powerful liaison committee from 3pm. If he survives those encounters, the man to watch in the coming days will be Altrincham and Sale West MP Sir Graham Brady, who chairs the powerful 1922 Committee representing backbench Tories. The famous "men in grey suits" played a role in the downfall of both Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, but Mr Johnson is no normal Prime Minister and a quiet word in the ear from Sir Graham may not suffice. If Mr Johnson attempts to go on, the 1922 committee may decide on a rule change to allow another vote of confidence in the Prime Minister. Under the party's current constitution, Mr Johnson is protected from a second vote for a year - but with elections to the Committee's ruling executive just weeks away, there will be an opportunity to review the current rules - potentially paving the way for a vote before the Commons breaks for the summer recess. 
Yorkshire MP and and now former chancellor Rishi Sunak dealt a stinging blow last night, telling the Prime Minister that their approaches to public life are "fundamentally too different". Mr Sunak said "the public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously", adding: "I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning." Some of Mr Sunak's Yorkshire colleagues were quick to back the comments. Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake said: "Loyalty to leadership is important, but trust in our leader is vital, sadly I see no way now of the PM rebuilding this." York Outer's Julian Sturdy said it was "brilliant" to see Mr Sunak "follow his principles". However, the majority of Northern Tories chose to remain silent last night and this morning - leaving the field open for criticism. Labour deputy leader and Ashton-under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner said: "This Prime Minister has disgraced his office and let down our country. After all the sleaze, scandals and failure, it's clear his Government is collapsing."
 South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard was elected earlier this summer. Graphic: Carly Holds
He's been in the role for just a few weeks but already Oliver Coppard has experienced the ups and downs of life as an elected politician. The new metro mayor for South Yorkshire, like many local leaders around the North, has been dealing with the impact of devastating bus cuts after it emerged a third of services in his region could be axed in October when the Government's pandemic subsidy runs out. Speaking to the Northern Agenda podcast, Mr Coppard said he feared local bus services going into a "death spiral" despite senior government figures such as Boris Johnson saying they are vital to his 'levelling up' mission. The cuts would mean places like Barnsley will have not a single bus running after 7pm. And when trying to use public money to persuade private operators like First and Stagecoach to cover unprofitable routes the mayor hits another road block. "What we're finding now is even when we go out to the market, so we want services to run and certain routes, bus companies won't even bid for that work, they won't even say 'we will do it for X amount of money'. "And where they are saying they'll do it for a certain amount of money what we found this week was that for the first time in the memory of the officers that have been doing this for quite some time who work in this building [the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority], the prices that were being quoted and this isn't hyperbole, is literally 1,000%, higher than the prices we were paying before." The headache for South Yorkshire's mayor is replicated across the North, with similar cuts planned in the North East and Merseyside as government subsidy runs out with passenger numbers still not high enough to keep services going. In West Yorkshire, a review found that up to 62 routes could be affected from October.
Cumbria coalmine backed by Environment Secretary  George Eustice
Environment Secretary George Eustice has given his backing to a new coalmine in Cumbria on the eve of a Government decision about whether to approve the contentious project. Mr Eustice said the alternative was "outsourcing pollution" to countries where standards would be lower. The proposal for a mine at Whitehaven has the support of local Conservative MPs but is unpopular with environmental campaigners. Developers want to drill underneath the Irish Sea to extract coking coal used for steelmaking. Speaking to The Times, Mr Eustice defended the colliery, saying that coking coal was still needed. "It is with gas as with coal," he said. "If we still need to use it for certain industries, and there's still a role for gas in the transition to net zero, not least to create blue hydrogen — if we do need this coal in order to have a viable steel industry, then we might as well use our own coal and use our own gas rather than be reliant on other countries." Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has been asked to announce whether the mine will go ahead by tomorrow.
Liverpool Council investigation 'to report within six weeks'  The Cunard Building on Liverpool's waterfront
An external investigation into Liverpool Council requested by its own auditors is expected to issue its first stage report within the next six weeks. Law firm TLT LLP has been tasked with leading a scope into the local authority's records to establish whether there is any evidence of "improper influence in the council's decision making arising from the actions of the former Mayor and former senior officers." The investigation was requested by Liverpool Council's auditors Grant Thornton who said they cannot sign off on books for 2019/20 until it had taken place. A meeting of the authority's audit committee heard a contract was confirmed with TLT, headquartered in Bristol, on May 23 and a technical team is now collating data to form the basis of its probe. Partner Jason Cropper said the first stage of the report should be completed "in four to six weeks". The two stage investigation will initially look to obtain and perform "a structured review of the correspondence and other communications data of key decision-making personnel, including heads of departments and senior managers (and those known to be subject to police investigation) to identify indications of the improper exertion of influence of decision-making processes." The role of key management in decision making as well as key areas of risk or opportunity to exert pressure or influence in the decision making process will also come under scrutiny.
Angela Rayner: I won't let Parliament correct my working-class grammar  Angela Rayner
Angela Rayner has revealed she refuses to allow Hansard to correct her grammar in Parliament in order to stay true to her working-class roots. Labour's deputy leader said that although she was "sometimes criticised for her blunt way of speaking" she avoids using "politician speak" and prefers to talk naturally in the Commons Chamber. In a speech at the Institute of Public Policy Research, the Ashton-under-Lyne called for more people from working-class backgrounds to enter politics to stop voters feeling "disconnected" and as if politicians are "not on their side". Ms Rayner revealed she had told Hansard, the official parliamentary record, not to correct grammatical errors in her Commons contributions. "The reporters for Hansard have a bit of a nightmare sometimes transcribing the way I speak in Parliament into their house style," she said. "But I don't compromise on it – because it's who I am. "There are so many colleagues from different parties who have got working-class backgrounds but it almost gets taken out of them – and it's a frustration for me. They just grow up thinking that in order to be something you have to speak a certain way or you have to hide it away." 
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Northern Stories  The remnants of a footbridge in Blackpool
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The remains of a pedestrian bridge in Blackpool town centre will be removed ahead of the launch of the resort's prestigious new museum, town hall bosses have pledged. The concrete stump on Bank Hey Street has been branded an eyesore, with calls being made for it to be removed. The elevated walkway was demolished three years ago as part of the development of the Sands Hotel, but one of the footings was left behind on the pavement outside the TK Maxx department store. Coun Gerard Walsh told a meeting of the council's tourism, economy and communities scrutiny he was concerned the structure was "a monstrosity and an eyesore" -
An angry East Yorkshire resident has slammed a local councillor for making a scarecrow of a local homeless man to enter in a village competition – a decision she says was a "light-hearted gesture he would have liked". Thorngumbald Parish Councillor Chantel Richardson said her scarecrow of the homeless man was a village favourite at the scarecrow festival last weekend. She said she wanted to make light of the man's time in Thorngumbald, which saw him moved on after allegedly defecating in public and given an antisocial behaviour order. But resident Denzle Cooper did not agree and branded the scarecrow "offensive" as he believed the man had mental health issues. -
An MP says Stockton's failure to make the shortlist as the home of a new public body responsible for running Britain's railways is a "missed opportunity". A total of 42 local authorities entered the competition to be the location of Great British Railways new headquarters with the Government stating all had submitted strong applications. But only six have made the shortlist – Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle and York – meaning the likes of Stockton, Darlington and Durham missed out. Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham said: "We're three years away from the 200th anniversary of the first ever passenger-by-steam-locomotive journey from Stockton to Darlington and bringing the headquarters to Stockton would have been a perfect way to celebrate this milestone."
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