UK govt demands changes to opposition confidence vote plan

The British government will only allow the opposition Labour Party to call a confidence vote if they remove reference to outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson from the motion to be voted upon, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

Labour said earlier the government had blocked its plan to call a confidence vote, calling it an "abuse of power". Labour wants to prevent Johnson remaining in power while his successor is chosen - a process expected to take until Sept 5.

Some of Johnson's own Conservative lawmakers have also previously expressed doubts about him remaining in power, saying they had lost faith in his honesty and integrity following a series of scandals.

By convention the government, which controls the allocation of parliamentary business, would normally free up time for a confidence vote called by the main opposition party.

But, a government spokesman said Labour had been given the opportunity to propose a "straightforward" confidence vote in the government.

"They have chosen to play politics by tabling a vote of no confidence in the government and the prime minister," the spokesman said. "As the prime minister has already resigned and a leadership process is underway, we do not feel this is a valuable use of parliamentary time."