The Labour leader has said the prime minister's apology for attending what he claimed he thought was a 'work event' in the garden at No 10 in May 2020, when the country was in full lockdown, was 'offensive to the British public'. Keir Starmer called for Boris Johnson to 'do the decent thing' and resign before either his party or the public drove him out of office
Continue reading...Category Archives: Politics
Russia’s belief in Nato ‘betrayal’ – and why it matters today
The idea that the Soviet Union was tricked in 1989-90 is at the heart of Russia’s confrontation with the west
The current confrontation between Russia and the west is fuelled by many grievances, but the greatest is the belief in Moscow that the west tricked the former Soviet Union by breaking promises made at the end of the cold war in 1989-1990 that Nato would not expand to the east. In his now famous 2007 speech to the Munich Security Conference, Vladimir Putin accused the west of forgetting and breaking assurances, leaving international law in ruins.
Continue reading...Ditching the hard shoulder proved too hard a sell to MPs and motorists
Analysis: the UK government has bowed to the inevitable and shelved the expanded rollout
Pausing the rollout of smart motorways suggests the government has finally bowed to the inevitable, faced with the collective outrage of motoring groups, bereaved families, newspapers, MPs – and indeed a former minister who signed off the schemes.
Not, though, that the small print guarantees drivers have in any way seen the end of the hard shoulderless highways: ongoing major works will be completed, and even design work will go ahead for more stretches, in case the mood changes by 2025.
Continue reading...Furious Tories pile pressure on Boris Johnson over No 10 parties
Former ministers and MPs call on prime minister to fully address issue in Commons after latest revelation
Boris Johnson is facing intense pressure from senior Conservatives to publicly confess he attended a rule-breaking garden party in Downing Street, with the Scottish Tory leader suggesting the prime minister should resign if he broke Covid rules.
A string of Conservative MPs openly expressed anger and humiliation about the “bring your own booze” gathering for up to 40 people on 20 May 2020 after it emerged in a leaked email. Others called on him to come clean and apologise on Wednesday in the hope of stemming rising fury.
Continue reading...UK Covid live: party revelations show PM has done ‘incalculable damage’ to trust in health measures, Labour says
Latest updates: health minister Edward Argar says he can understand why people are ‘upset and angry’ about reports
- Seven occasions when Boris Johnson denied No 10 broke Covid rules
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- Global coronavirus updates – live
The Conservative mayor for the West Midlands, Andy Street, whose mother died of Covid last year, has said news of a party at Downing Street during the first lockdown is “pretty incredible” and that he is “very hungry” to find out what happened.
Speaking to BBC Radio West Midlands, Street said he was shocked when he read the news. He said:
When I saw this I thought, I can’t really believe this, if I’m honest. It was May 2020, a time when we were all restricted. My idea of going out was to walk along the canal with one friend, frankly, and I’m sure there’s lots of people in the West Midlands who have their own recollections of what they were doing in May 2020. So yes, it is very difficult to believe.
What we don’t know is whether the prime minister was there. I obviously can’t possibly comment on that, but that’s why the inquiry has got to come.
And I’m sure that when the inquiry finds out the facts, then the conclusions and the consequences will be acted upon.
Continue reading...Health minister admits public will be ‘angry’ over No 10 lockdown party
Ed Argar says he understands public anger after email unearthed inviting staff to drinks in the garden
A health minister has admitted the public will be “upset and angry” at revelations that a senior official invited more than 100 Downing Street staff to a “bring your own booze” party during the first lockdown.
In a tacit acknowledgment of the strength of feeling at the latest revelations, Ed Argar said he had personally not attended any parties and had been aware of the regulations, “not least because I was a health minister who’d helped draw them up”.
Continue reading...Email shows Boris Johnson aide invited No 10 staff to lockdown ‘BYOB’ party
Police investigating reports that Martin Reynolds invited 100 employees and PM attended at time when social mixing was banned
Boris Johnson was accused on Monday night of an “utterly outrageous” breach of lockdown rules as a leaked email showed one of his top officials invited more than 100 Downing Street staff to a “bring your own booze” party during the first lockdown. The police are now investigating.
The prime minister is believed to have attended the No 10 garden party on 20 May 2020 along with Carrie Johnson, then his fiancee, after it was advertised by his principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds.
Continue reading...20 May 2020: what was UK doing while No 10 aide organised a party?
At the time, there was no mixing indoors, non-essential shops were shut, and hospitality businesses remained closed
To many, May 2020 may feel like a lifetime ago, so much has happened in the last 20 months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On 20 May 2020, when the prime minister’s private secretary was inviting colleagues to bring their own booze for socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden to “make the most of this lovely weather”, the rest of the country was in a very different position.
Continue reading...France to push for EU-wide UK migration treaty over Channel crossings
French government wants whole bloc to act despite warnings other member states have no appetite
France will press the EU to negotiate an asylum and migration treaty with the UK in an attempt to deter people from making the dangerous Channel crossing.
The French government, which last week took up the six-month rotating presidency of the EU council of ministers, wants the whole bloc to act, despite warnings that other member states have no appetite for a migration treaty with Britain.
Continue reading...Brexit changes will add to soaring costs in 2022, warn UK manufacturers
Make UK says two-thirds of companies fear customs delays and red tape from new rules will further hamper supply chains
Manufacturers have warned that Brexit will add to soaring costs facing British industry, amid concerns that customs delays and red tape will rank among the biggest challenges for firms this year.
Make UK, the industry body representing 20,000 manufacturing firms of all sizes from across the country, said that while optimism among its members had grown, it was being undermined by the after-effects of the UK’s departure from the EU.
Continue reading...Nadhim Zahawi: UK should lead move from pandemic to endemic Covid – video
The education secretary has called for the UK to show the rest of the world how to move from 'pandemic to endemic' Covid, as he suggested it would be helpful to cut the isolation period to five days to ease workforce shortages. Nadhim Zahawi also played down suggestions that the government was about to start charging for lateral flow tests, which would lead to fewer infections in the community being identified
- Nadhim Zahawi wants UK to be leader in move from ‘pandemic to endemic’ Covid
- End mass jabs and live with Covid, says ex-head of vaccine taskforce
Nadhim Zahawi denies there is plan to end free lateral flow Covid tests
Education secretary ‘puzzled’ by reports government will start charging for tests in England in few weeks
Ministers are “absolutely not” planning to scrap free rapid Covid tests, amid reports the government will start charging for them in England in the next few weeks.
The Sunday Times reported free lateral flow tests (LFTs) could be limited to high-risk settings – such as care homes, hospitals and schools – and to people with symptoms.
Continue reading...Brexit decision left UK firms paying 10% more than EU rivals for emissions
Government refusal to link carbon market to EU’s has led to higher cost for British businesses
British businesses are paying substantially more to produce carbon dioxide than their EU rivals because of the government’s refusal to link the UK carbon market to the bigger European market after Brexit.
The difference is putting UK industry at a significant competitive disadvantage to European rivals, at a time of soaring energy prices, but does not result in any additional benefit to the environment.
Continue reading...Requiring PCR tests for isolation funds may fail legal test, UK officials told
Legal advice says any challenge under equalities law would have reasonable chance of success
Government lawyers have said any legal challenge against making low-paid people take confirmatory PCR tests to get financial support during isolation would stand a high chance of success, the Guardian has learned.
Legal advice circulated within the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) is understood to warn that there is a risk of a challenge under equalities law.
Continue reading...‘Funds for favours’: Geidt pressed to reopen investigation into PM’s flat
Emergence of ‘great exhibition’ messages seems to undermine ethics adviser’s finding, says Labour
Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser has been accused of failing to investigate a potential “funds for favours” scandal after the prime minister was cleared of rule-breaking over his Downing Street flat refurbishment.
Christopher Geidt shut his investigation without commenting on Johnson seeking funds for the works from a Conservative donor while promising to consider plans for a “great exhibition”. Expectations also faded that another inquiry, led by parliament’s standards commissioner Kathryn Stone, would go ahead.
Continue reading...Dominic Cummings makes new claim of party in No 10 garden in lockdown
Former aide says he put in writing that event – five days after photographed gathering – should not happen
Boris Johnson’s former top adviser Dominic Cummings has alleged there was a lockdown-breaking party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 after an emailed invitation to “socially distanced drinks”.
Cummings, who left No 10 in November that year, said people were invited to the gathering by a senior Downing Street official who he said should have been removed from their job because of failings over Covid.
Continue reading...UK and Irish foreign secretaries meet over Northern Ireland Brexit impasse
Liz Truss and Simon Coveney meetup comes before talks on protocol with EU Brexit negotiator
The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, and her Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney, have had a “good and friendly” first meeting over the vexed issue of the Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland, Irish government sources have said.
They met for the first time over dinner in London on Thursday night and discussed the Northern Ireland protocol, the wider relationship with the EU, and UN security matters including the crisis in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Continue reading...Military deployed at London hospitals due to Omicron staff shortages
Support, which includes 40 army doctors, shows ministers can no longer ignore scale of understaffing, union leaders say
The armed forces are being deployed to help hospitals in London deal with a surge in Covid patients because the Omicron variant is leaving so many staff sick and unable to work.
Of the 200 military personnel involved, 40 are doctors who will help NHS staff look after patients. The other 160 personnel, who have no medical training, will check in patients, ensure stocks are maintained and would also be “conducting basic checks”, the Ministry of Defence said.
Continue reading...Steve Bell on the legacy of the Iraq war for Julian Assange and Tony Blair – cartoon
Boris Johnson accused of corruption after ‘great exhibition’ text emerges
PM sought funds for flat refurb from Tory donor while promising to consider plans for mystery event
Boris Johnson has been accused of corruption after it emerged that he sought funds for his flat refurbishment from a Conservative donor while promising to consider plans for a mystery “great exhibition”.
The prime minister is facing fresh questions after newly published WhatsApp messages with the Tory peer David Brownlow show Johnson called parts of his Downing Street residence a “tip” and asked for “approvals” so his decor designer, Lulu Lytle, could “get on with it” in November 2020.
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