Spokesman says investigations to continue but further information will not be released until after 5 May
No further updates on Partygate fines will be issued by the Metropolitan police until after May’s local elections, the force has said.
A Met spokesman said: “Whilst the investigation will continue during the pre-election period, due to the restrictions around communicating before the May local elections, we will not provide further updates until after 5 May.”
Continue reading...Dramatic Downing Street U-turn comes as two more Tory MPs call for PM to quit from floor of Commons
Boris Johnson is expected to face a Commons inquiry over whether he lied to parliament, after Downing Street dramatically pulled an amendment aimed at forcing Conservative MPs to delay the new Partygate investigation.
Two more Tory MPs called for Johnson to quit from the floor of the Commons, including the influential Brexiter Steve Baker. “The prime minister now should be long gone,” the former minister said. “Really, the prime minister should just know the gig’s up.”
Continue reading...Analysis: Deal is seen by some as single most important UK negotiation, but agreement will take time
Of all the deals that Boris Johnson could sign with countries outside the EU to lift UK trade, one with India is the among the biggest prizes.
After landing in the country on Thursday morning, the prime minister must be hoping his two-day trip – taking in his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujurat and then New Delhi – will add impetus to talks already under way to reach a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Continue reading...Billionaire oligarch steps down from Russia’s second-largest oil firm after being hit with EU and UK sanctions
The multibillionaire Russian oligarch Vagit Alekperov has stepped down as the president of the London-listed firm Lukoil after sanctions were imposed on him by the UK and EU.
In a statement to the stock market, Russia’s second-largest oil company said Alekperov, who is on good terms with Vladimir Putin, had formally notified the company of his decision to resign on Thursday.
Continue reading...Row over breaching of lockdown rules rumbles on as PM begins two-day visit to discuss trade and security
Boris Johnson has insisted MPs should wait for the “full facts” before deciding whether to trigger a fresh investigation into Partygate, as he kicked off a two-day trip to India.
Johnson will discuss trade and security with India’s premier, Narendra Modi, on his first visit to the country since becoming prime minister in 2019. He landed in Ahmedabad and was greeted warmly with multiple bunches of roses. The road into the city centre was lined with billboards featuring large photographs of Johnson.
Continue reading...Government changes tack and attempts to delay investigation until after the full publication of Sue Gray report
Boris Johnson has been forced to abandon efforts to block an inquiry into whether he misled MPs over Partygate lockdown breaches, instead urging rebellious MPs to delay any investigation.
Government whips scrambled on Wednesday night to derail a Labour motion designed to trigger a Commons inquiry into whether Johnson lied about rule-breaking in Downing Street – including the potential release of hundreds of damaging messages and photographs.
Continue reading...Brexit opportunities minister raises possibility of dramatic intervention after Stormont assembly elections
The UK will “reform” the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol if the EU will not, Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned, raising the possibility of a dramatic intervention after the assembly elections in a fortnight’s time.
The Brexit opportunities minister said he could not reveal any more due to the sensitivities of the Stormont election in Northern Ireland, where tensions have flared over the protocol.
Continue reading...Former Labour leader does not blame Nato for Russian invasion but questions role of military alliances
The former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he hoped military alliances like Nato could be ultimately disbanded, saying they could create “greater danger” in the world.
In comments that are likely to inflame further tensions with Labour HQ, Corbyn said he did not blame Nato for the Russian invasion of Ukraine but that it had to be looked at in historical context.
Continue reading...Prime minister refuses to apologise for reported comments about archbishop and denies criticising BBC’s Ukraine coverage
Asked if the House of Lords Appointments Commission ever approves people for a peerage, only for a peerage not to be awarded, Bew says this has happened, but that it is very rare.
He also says that, under his chairmanship, the commission for the first time rejected a nominee who was subsequently appointed by Downing Street.
Continue reading...Downing Street refuses to deny PM told MPs archbishops were being unfairly critical as church figures defend Justin Welby
Downing Street has gone into open battle with the Church of England over its condemnation of the Rwanda deportation scheme, with No 10 officials doubling down on Boris Johnson’s claim that archbishops were being unfairly critical.
The prime minister reportedly told Conservative MPs on Tuesday evening that senior clergy had criticised plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda more than they had condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was not denied by No 10.
Continue reading...Latest updates: the prime minister apologises for breaking Covid lockdown rules but Labour says the public ‘don’t believe a word he says’
Boris Johnson must have known parties were taking place in Downing Street in breach of lockdown rules, Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, told the Today programme this morning. Asked to justify Labour claims that Johnson was lying when he told MPs that the rules had always been followed and parties had not taken place, she replied:
The sheer number of parties going on at Number 10 on a regular basis make it perfectly clear to any reasonable person, let alone the person who made the rules, that those rules were being broken and they were being broken consciously.
The fact that Dominic Raab said that when he was in charge there weren’t any parties shows that people knew there were parties going on and he made sure that, when he was in charge of Number 10, when the prime minister was in hospital, that those sorts of things stopped, I think, again makes it clear.
Whatever means we take, the difficulty we will always have is that, since the 2019 election, the Conservatives have an 80-seat majority when there is a vote.
Unless Conservative MPs can look at their consciences and vote the right way, we are not going to get the sort of result that we should get.
The Stormer vehicle launches Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles which can be used to target planes and helicopters.
Boris Johnson is expected to speak to allies including the US president, Joe Biden, today to discuss western support for Ukraine as Russian forces focused on capturing the Donbas region.
Continue reading...Labour leader accuses prime minister of dishonesty, as senior Tory joins those urging him to quit
Keir Starmer called the prime minister “a man without shame” during furious exchanges in parliament as MPs prepared to vote on whether Boris Johnson should be investigated for lying about the Partygate scandal.
Addressing MPs for the first time since receiving a fixed-penalty notice for attending a party thrown for his birthday in June 2020, Boris Johnson spoke of his humility but said it had not occurred to him that the gathering was a breach of Covid rules.
Continue reading...Experts site Scottish example, with turbines along roads and rail lines, as a way to make better use of ‘cheap, clean’ energy source
Onshore windfarms need not blight the most beautiful parts of England because there is plenty of room for them next to rail lines and on brownfield land, leading scientists have said.
The government decided to keep the curbs on onshore wind, introduced by David Cameron, in the recent energy strategy. This means that it will be difficult to expand onshore wind in England.
Continue reading...The UK prime minister leaves a trail of scandals, U-turns and law-breaking as he reaches his milestone
Tuesday marks 1,000 days since Boris Johnson first began working in Downing Street on 24 July 2019. When he came to power, many warned that UK was in for a bumpy ride. He promised to defy the “the doubters, the doomsters and the gloomsters”, but since then his premiership has exceeded even the gloomiest, most doom-laden fears of his doubters and detractors.
Here is a list of some of the most notable scandals, U-turns and examples of law breaking.
Continue reading...Ed Miliband says move will ease energy price crisis and reduce dependence on Russian gas
Labour has said it would insulate 2m houses within a year to slash bills and reduce reliance on Russian gas, accusing Boris Johnson of a “shameful” failure to stop Britain’s homes leaking heat.
The government put major nuclear and onshore wind projects at the heart of its energy security strategy announced earlier this month, but faced criticism for failing to include any new measures on insulation despite the UK having some of the draughtiest housing in Europe.
Continue reading...Unhappy MPs feel poor results would help their cause, but No 10 believes he has ‘crossed Rubicon’ and will cling on
Tory MPs are eyeing the aftermath of dire local election results as their next chance to oust Boris Johnson, with the prime minister preparing to apologise for his Partygate penalty.
However, Downing Street is feeling bullish that Johnson has “crossed the Rubicon” after receiving his first fixed-penalty notice earlier this month, and will cling on in the face of further charges.
Continue reading...UK home secretary attacks critics of plan to give unauthorised asylum seekers one-way tickets to African country
Priti Patel has defended plans to send unauthorised asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda, saying critics of the scheme have failed to offer any alternative solution to the migration crisis.
The proposal, announced last week, has been widely condemned as inhumane, illegal, unworkable and prohibitively expensive. Critics have included Conservative MPs and peers, the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) and a former and the current archbishop of Canterbury, who said, in his Easter Sunday sermon, that the scheme “does not stand the judgment of God”.
Continue reading...Private providers accused of making ‘obscene’ profits out of some of society’s most vulnerable children
Councils in England are paying more than £1m a year for a single place in privately run children’s homes, with operators citing the cost of living crisis as a reason for raising their prices, the Guardian has learned.
Private providers have been accused of making “obscene” profits out of some of society’s most vulnerable children, as local authorities reveal they are being quoted as much as £50,000 a week (£2.6m a year) for one child.
Continue reading...A worker in the sector claims local authorities cost taxpayers money by going for the cheap option first
Council bosses in England are sometimes having to pay seven-figure sums annually in order to house a child with complex needs. Many local authorities currently have at least one child whose care costs £10,000 a week or more, with providers increasing their prices further in recent weeks and blaming the cost of living crisis. Here, a care home manager* explains how care can cost £1m a year:
“When we meet with local authorities, they ask us to give a breakdown of costs. When they realise how we have to cost our services, they start to understand. The high costs are almost always for placements that are made in an emergency after a child has gone through 10+ other placements which have been bought on the cheap and haven’t been able to meet their needs. The biggest scandal is that local authorities always try and use the cheapest placement first. When children’s needs aren’t met, that’s what ends up costing the taxpayer a fortune.
Continue reading...No 10 subjected to UAE-linked spyware attack, says report, but Israeli firm suggests allegations are false
Boris Johnson has been told his Downing Street office has been targeted with “multiple” suspected infections using Pegasus, the sophisticated hacking software that can turn a phone into a remote listening device, it was claimed on Monday.
A report released by Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said the United Arab Emirates was suspected of orchestrating spyware attacks on No 10 in 2020 and 2021.
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