UK's Johnson faces heat for silence on Iran while on holiday

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to return Sunday to the U.K., where he faces criticism for not cutting short his holiday to deal with soaring Mideast tensions.

Johnson, who celebrated the New Year on the Caribbean private island of Mustique after leading his Conservative Party to a strong majority in the Dec. 12 election, has been silent over the U.S. slaying Friday of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike.

Soleimani’s death stoked fears that heightened world tensions could spiral into war after Iran threatened revenge against the U.S, which has sent 3,000 more soldiers to Kuwait.

In this screen grab image issued by the Prime Minister's Press Office, showing Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his New Year's message to be broadcast Tuesday Dec. 31, 2019. Johnson has said Britain can look forward to a decade of "prosperity and opportunity", as it finally ends the "rancour and uncertainty" of Brexit. (Prime Minister's Press Office via AP)

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has defended Johnson, saying the two have been in constant contact during this time.

The British government has upgraded its travel warning for the Middle East and dispatched two warships to escort U.K.-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipment corridor for world oil supplies.

Jeremy Corbyn, the outgoing leader of the opposition Labour party, said Johnson “should have immediately cut short his holiday to deal with an issue that could have grave consequences for the U.K. and the world.”

In an op-ed in The Observer, Labour’s foreign policy spokeswoman Emily Thornberry, who is in the race to take over from Corbyn, said she was astonished Johnson hadn't said anything 48 hours after the strike and wondered if he was afraid of angering U.S. President Donald Trump, who ordered the slaying.

Ed Davey, the leader of a smaller party, the Liberal Democrats, tweeted that Johnson's silence was “deafening.”

Raab, appearing Sunday morning on British news shows, dismissed the criticism, telling Sky News that “the whole government is working closely together. We’re very clear on strategy.”

“Johnson has been in charge from the outset," he told the BBC. “In fact, I've been in constant contact with the PM over the Christmas break on a whole range of foreign policy issues."

Later this month, Johnson aims to fulfil his major campaign promise and “get Brexit done," taking Britain out of the European Union as scheduled on Jan. 31. The U.K. then embarks on intense negotiations to hash out a trade deal with the EU, Britain's top trading partner.

The Labour Party, meanwhile, is casting about for a new leader a fter the worst showing since 1935 in December's general election. A raft of contenders are vying take over, with five candidates so far declaring their intention to run, including Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer, who's seen as the frontrunner, high-profile lawmaker Jess Philips and Thornberry.

The party's executive committee will meet Monday to set the timetable for the leadership contest, which is expected to formally open Tuesday. The new leader is expected to be in place by the end of March.

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit and British politics at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

British lawmakers looked likely Thursday to order an investigation into Prime Minister Boris Johnson for allegedly lying about whether he broke coronavirus restrictions by attending illegal gatherings during the pandemic.

The opposition Labour Party has called a House of Commons vote that, if passed, would trigger a watchdog committee probe of Johnson for allegedly misleading Parliament. Ministers found to have knowingly misled Parliament are generally expected to resign.

Johnson’s Conservatives have a substantial majority in Parliament, but many are uneasy with the prime minister’s behavior and could support the opposition move. The government initially said it would order Conservative lawmakers to oppose Labour’s motion, but later backtracked in the face of party disquiet and gave them a free vote — significantly raising the chances the measure will pass.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said his measure sought to uphold “the simple principle that honesty, integrity and telling the truth matter in our politics.”

Johnson wasn't attending the vote on a scandal that has rocked his leadership of the country and the Conservative Party. He was more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) away in India, insisting he wanted to “get on with the job” of leading the country.

Johnson was fined 50 pounds ($66) by police last week for attending his own birthday party in his office in June 2020, when people in Britain were barred from meeting up with friends and family, or even visiting dying relatives. Johnson is the first British prime minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.

He has apologized, but denied he knowingly broke the rules. Johnson’s shifting defense — initially saying there were no illegal gatherings, then claiming it “did not occur to me” that the birthday event was a party — has drawn derision and outrage from opponents, who have called for him to quit.

It has also made some Conservatives uncomfortable about defending a leader who broke rules he imposed on the country. Until now many have indicated they will wait and see whether public anger translates into losses for the party at local elections across the country on May 5.

Senior civil servant Sue Gray is investigating 16 events, including “bring your own booze” office parties and “wine time Fridays” in Johnson’s 10 Downing St. office and other government buildings. Police are probing a dozen of the events and so far have handed out at least 50 tickets, including those to Johnson, his wife Carrie and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, and Johnson could still face more police fines.

As he flew out to India for a two-day visit official focused on boosting economic ties, Johnson again denied knowingly misleading Parliament.

And he insisted he would lead the Conservatives into the next national election, due by 2024. He said aboard his plane to the western Indian state of Gujarat that there might be “some imaginary circumstances in which I might have to resign, but I don’t propose to go into them. I can’t think of them right now.”