Ministers and experts gather at the Cabinet on Saturday afternoon for a Cobra meeting to prepare for temperatures reaching 40C on Monday. However, the Prime Minister will be 30 miles away in Buckinghamshire partying for friends and family before being kicked out of his country retreat in early September. It comes after Johnson and his wife Carrie had to abandon an earlier plan to use Checkers for a delayed wedding reception following heavy criticism. Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “Boris Johnson has gone missing in action again. He’s back to his old tricks of skipping important Cobr meetings. “The public will have no confidence in this Tory zombie government to respond quickly and decisively to this national emergency as this disgraced Prime Minister prepares to party while Britain boils.” A Downing Street source told the Independent that it was “not unusual” for other Cabinet members, in this case Cabinet Secretary Kim Malthouse, to lead Cobr meetings. Johnson’s absence reflects the controversy at the start of his premiership, when he missed a series of meetings over the Covid pandemic, as he arranged his divorce and wrote a book on Shakespeare, it is believed. Cheques, a 16th-century mansion and the official country home of British prime ministers since 1921, has an indoor swimming pool and hundreds of acres of gardens. Official invitations went out earlier this week to the party, it is believed. A Tory source told Sky News: “It’s their farewell party at Checkers this weekend. Partners and children are all invited.” It is the second Cobr meeting chaired by Mr Malthouse on the heat wave threat in Mr Johnson’s absence, following a previous meeting last Thursday. Forecasters estimate an 80% chance the mercury will top the UK record temperature of 38.7C set in Cambridge in 2019 when the hot spell peaks on Tuesday. The Met Office issued its first red warning for extreme heat, covering a swath of England from London to Manchester and York on Monday and Tuesday. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, hosted a special meeting to ensure the NHS, Met Police, London Fire and Rescue Service, London Ambulance Service, councils and Transport for London have a strong plan for the capital . Ms Rayner added, in reference to Mr Johnson’s absence: “Where is the plan for delivering essential services and keeping people safe at work, on transport, in schools, in hospitals and in care homes?” The Prime Minister is also believed to be preparing to miss next Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, which would be his last. He is expected to attend a memorial service for slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in midweek.
