Early evening summary Boris Johnson has claimed “nobody warned me it was against the rules” for a drinks party to be hosted in Downing Street during the first lockdown, but also refused to deny the possibility he could resign should he be censured by the inquiry into rule-breaking. Responding to Johnson’s interview, Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has said it shows he knows he’s at “the end of the road”. (See 1.53pm.) Sue Gray, the civil servant investigating the partygate scandal, has said she will interview Dominic Cummings, the former No 10 aide who says he is willing to give evidence on oath that Johnson has lied about the Downing Streeet drinks party on 20 May 2020. (See 5.42pm.) Christian Wakeford has become the seventh Tory MP to publicly call for a no confidence vote in Johnson. (See 5.40pm.) MPs have been meeting to discuss their next steps, and there is increasing speculation that 54 letters demanding a confidence vote will soon be with the 1922 Committee chairman, Sir Graham Brady, meaning the threshold for a ballot would have been met. Dominic Raab has admitted that lying to parliament is “normally” a resigning matter, amid claims that the prime minister deliberately misled MPs over his knowledge of a Downing Street party. Restrictions brought in before Christmas to stem the Omicron surge across Scotland are to be lifted from next Monday, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said. Controversial measures including police powers to stop noisy protests could be brought back to the Commons by the government after a series of late-night defeats in the Lords, the justice secretary has said. The court of appeal has overturned a ruling that found that a government contract given to a polling company with links to Dominic Cummings was unlawful. Labour has called on the government to immediately withdraw a proposed law that would allow the Democratic Unionist party leader to “double job” at Westminster and Stormont. That’s all from me for today. But our Covid coverage continues on our global live blog. And this is from the Times’ Steven Swinford, reporting the response of a Boris Johnson supporter in cabinet to news that “red wall” Tories are plotting against him. Sue Gray, the civil servant investigating partygate, will interview Dominic Cummings as part of her inquiry, the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar reports. The Conservative MP Christian Wakeford says he has submitted a letter calling for a no confidence vote in Boris Johnson, Yahoo News’s Nadine Batchelor-Hunt reports. He is the seventh Tory MP to publicly say a contest is needed. Tory MPs criticise plan for military to take charge of dealing with Channel crossings Tory MPs have warned the Royal Navy will be operating a “taxi service” for people crossing the Channel in small boats under “Operation Dog’s Dinner”, PA Media reports. In a Commons urgent question earlier ministers came under fire from some on their backbenches for not seeking to push back small boats trying to reach England from France. PA says: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to take over command of the operation from Border Force by the end of the month in a move signed off by Boris Johnson. Defence minister James Heappey said military involvement is part of a wider plan from the government, which will be announced in the coming weeks. The current details are believed to have been announced as part of a government bid to offer “red meat” to Tory MPs in a bid to drive attention away from Downing Street party allegations. But Conservative former minister Sir Edward Leigh warned: “In the absence of ministers having the political will to use pushback, what is the point in appointing a Royal Naval admiral to help Border Force to be a more efficient taxi service so that the migrants will know that now ‘we have got the Royal Navy going to pick us up and we will be taken safety to the UK, and we will be put in a hotel and we will never ever be sent home’? This is just an embarrassment.” “Will the minister now coordinate with his colleagues to do what we have been suggesting for months now and that we get rid of the pull factors, namely we reform any piece of legislation that is necessary, including the Human Rights Act, and people who do this illegal crossing are arrested, put in a prison, and then deported?” Heappey replied: “His exhortations and those of colleagues have been heard.” Conservative MP Philip Hollobone added: “This isn’t Operation Red Meat, it’s Operation Dog’s Dinner. This is going to incentivise people traffickers, they’ll see the Royal Navy ship on the horizon and they’ll say ‘point your dinghy in that direction, you only need to get halfway’ and the Royal Navy will pick them up. The only way this will work if the Royal Navy intercepts asylum seekers and returns them back to France. Without the second bit, this simply won’t work.” Heappey replied: “The last bit would be impossible without French permission and French permission has not been given. But I don’t accept his characterisation of what is being spoken about today. The MoD’s mission is to make sure nobody arrives in the UK on their own terms.” Tobias Ellwood, Conservative chairman of the defence committee, warned: “There is a real danger of mission creep here, with further naval assets being sucked into this challenge.” Gavin Barwell, chief of staff in Downing Street under Theresa May, and a regular critic of Boris Johnson’s, says his latest excuse for attending the party in the Downing Street garden is “absolutely hopeless”. My colleague Jessica Elgot also reports that among Conservative MPs patience with Boris Johnson is running out. And Sky News’s Mollie Malone says Tory MPs may be closer than people think to getting the 54 letters needed to trigger a confidence vote in the prime minister. At the weekend there were reports that around 35 letter might already have been submitted to the 1922 Committee chairman, Sir Graham Brady, but the real figure is a closely-guarded secret, and so most estimates involve an element of guesswork. Tory MPs from the 2019 intake have been meeting to discuss getting rid of Boris Johnson, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports. Here is my colleague Jessica Elgot’s analysis of Dominic Cummings’ claims about Boris Johnson. Ten more universities have voted to join industrial action on UK campuses, taking the total to 68 institutions expected to go on strike later this year. The University and College Union (UCU) said that after reballoting, universities including Newcastle, Queen Mary London, Strathclyde and Swansea all passed the 50% thresholds required to support strikes. In early December 58 universities saw UCU members strike for three days over a variety of causes, after two ballots. One ballot was on pay and employment conditions, while the other was against proposals for the Universities Superannuation Scheme that UCU says would result in substantial pension cuts. Jo Grady, UCU’s general secretary, said: We truly hope that further disruption can be avoided - that is what staff and students alike all want. But this is entirely in the gift of employers who simply need to revoke their devastating pension cuts and take long-overdue action over deteriorating pay and working conditions. Raj Jethwa, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, said there would be “widespread dismay” at the prospect of further strikes six months after agreement on a 1.5% pay increase. And here is Dominic Cummings replying to the interview in which Boris Johnson responded to claims from Cummings that he lied to MPs about the Downing Street party. Like many of Cummings’ tweets, it need translating. OODA is OODA loop, a US miliary concept highlighting the importance of the “observe, orient, decide, act” cycle. Fkd probably needs no explanation. For your OODA loop to be fkd is not good, at least, in Cummings’ book.