Category Archives: Politics

Boris Johnson accused of lying as emails suggest he approved Afghan dog rescue

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PM called claims he intervened to help evacuation of animal charity ‘complete nonsense’

Foreign Office emails appear to contradict Downing Street’s insistence that Boris Johnson did not personally authorise the controversial rescue of cats and dogs from a British animal charity in Afghanistan.

The release of two emails on Wednesday prompted claims that the prime minister lied, while he faces separate accusations about misleading parliament over the Downing Street parties scandal.

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Boris Johnson braced for perilous 48 hours with release of Sue Gray’s report

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Premiership under threat as MPs see official report that has now triggered police investigation

Boris Johnson is braced for the most perilous 48 hours of his premiership, with exasperated Conservative MPs due to see an official report into Downing Street parties that has now triggered a criminal inquiry.

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, announced on Tuesday that her officers are investigating allegations of law-breaking at the heart of government on the basis of evidence unearthed during an inquiry by the senior civil servant Sue Gray.

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Met’s ‘partygate’ inquiry is latest run-in between police and politics

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Analysis: Cressida Dick has had ringside seat for some of Met’s past painful encounters with politicians

The 48 hours before Cressida Dick’s bombshell announcement of a criminal investigation into “partygate” was intense, busy and momentous for the leadership of the Metropolitan police.

It was only on Sunday that the Met decided it had enough evidence to merit a criminal investigation into claims of parties in Downing Street and Whitehall, attended by those who made the onerous lockdown rules.

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‘Virginity repair’ surgery to be banned in Britain under new bill

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Move to outlaw procedures to reconstruct the hymen welcomed by campaigners and survivors of ‘honour’-based abuse

“Virginity repair” surgery known as hymenoplasty has no place in the medical world, British healthcare professionals were warned today, as legislation to criminalise the practice was introduced by the government.

An amendment added to the health and care bill on Monday will make it illegal to perform any procedure that aims to reconstruct the hymen, with or without consent.

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Boris Johnson faces fresh outrage over lockdown birthday party

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Furious response from MPs and bereaved after revelation of celebration held indoors in contravention of Covid restrictions

Boris Johnson was facing renewed anger from MPs and bereaved families on Monday after the disclosure that his fiancee threw him a surprise lockdown birthday party, as sources said an official inquiry had uncovered “appalling evidence of mismanagement” at the heart of Downing Street.

Sue Gray, the senior civil servant leading the inquiry into Downing Street parties, is expected to make deeply critical recommendations on overhauling No 10’s operation after hearing of repeated failures of leadership, according to a Whitehall source who spoke to the inquiry.

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UK scraps Covid testing after arrival for double-vaccinated travellers

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Requirement to take lateral flow test will end from 4am on 11 February, cheered by airlines as a ‘landmark’

Coronavirus testing for double-vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK will be scrapped from 4am on 11 February.

In a boost for travel firms and families planning trips abroad, eligible passengers will no longer have to take a post-arrival lateral flow test (LFT). The change will save families about £100 a trip. The industry body Airlines UK said it was a “landmark day”.

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HS2 protesters plan ‘nationwide day of action’ over rail expansion

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Activists say bill being presented to parliament sanctions irreversible destruction of environment

A nationwide day of action against HS2 – involving banner drops, solidarity protests and a Twitter storm – is planned for Monday as the bill to expand the line beyond Crewe is presented to parliament.

Environmental activists say the bill will “sanction immense and irreversible destruction to the environment” and want to raise awareness of HS2’s “continuing ecocide, corruption and financial mis-management”.

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Johnson orders inquiry into Nusrat Ghani ‘Muslimness’ sacking claims

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PM has asked Cabinet Office to conduct inquiry into allegations, says spokesperson

Boris Johnson has ordered a formal inquiry into allegations by the Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani that she was sacked as a minister after being told her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable”.

In a brief statement early on Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister has asked the Cabinet Office to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made by Nusrat Ghani MP.

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Covid live: 74,799 more cases reported in UK; Russia breaks daily infection record

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Latest updates: follow all the news and politics developments resulting from the coronavirus pandemic in the UK and around the world

Sturgeon talks about the impact on business. She said she realises that hospitality has been badly affected by the pandemic.

“It’s not about having protective measures and businesses are damaged, or having no measures and everything is fine. It’s having measures than stem transmission, or allowing things to be controlled.”

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Ukraine taking UK claim of Russian invasion plot seriously, says adviser

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Warning greeted with shock and some scepticism in Kyiv but aide says it fits ‘logical chain’

Ukraine is reacting “seriously” to UK Foreign Office allegations that Moscow has plans to invade the country and install a puppet government, a senior government adviser has said, adding that Kyiv is resisting Russian efforts to destabilise its government and economy.

The extraordinary Foreign Office claims that Moscow may topple the government and install Yevhen Murayev, a former MP who controls a pro-Russia television station, were met with shock and some scepticism in Ukrainian political and media circles on Sunday.

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Dominic Raab refuses to confirm full publication of Sue Gray partygate report

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Deputy PM promises ‘full transparency’ but says it is for Boris Johnson to decide how much detail is released to the public

Dominic Raab has refused to confirm that the Sue Gray report on alleged Downing Street parties will be published in full, saying the amount of detail released publicly will be a matter for Boris Johnson.

The prime minister is braced for a critical week, with many Tory backbenchers reserving judgment on his future until they see Gray’s findings and how Johnson responds.

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Change to aid rules needed to prevent famine in Afghanistan, say UK experts

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Former security and diplomatic chiefs warn that country is at risk of economic collapse as Taliban begin talks in Norway

Afghanistan can only be saved from state collapse and widespread starvation if the definition of legitimate humanitarian aid to the country is broadened, some of Britain’s most senior former security and diplomatic chiefs have said.

The group, including two former national security advisers, a former chief of defence staff and a former ambassador to Afghanistan, write in a letter published in the Guardian that the aid that can be sent to the Taliban-controlled country without fear of sanctions is too restricted.

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Brexit leaves furious British citizens stranded in EU countries

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Thousands of people say their rights have been compromised despite government promises

A 67-year-old British woman who planned to return to Britain with her 80-year-old French husband after 30 years in France has told how Home Office delays have left them waiting almost a year for the Brexit paperwork they need to set foot in the country.

Carmel and her husband, Louis, who asked that their real names not be used, sold their house last year and packed up all their belongings having read that it would take 15 days to get a family permit.

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Chief whip comes forward as person behind ‘Muslimness’ sacking claim

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Mark Spencer says accusations are ‘completely false’ after Nusrat Ghani says she was told her faith made colleagues ‘uncomfortable’

Mark Spencer, the chief whip, has said a Conservative MP was referring to him when she accused a member of government of telling her she had been sacked from her ministerial post because her Muslim faith was “making colleagues uncomfortable”.

Boris Johnson faces calls for an inquiry into Nusrat Ghani’s claim in an interview with the Sunday Times that, when she lost her job as a transport minister, she was told that “Muslimness” had been raised as an problem at a meeting in Downing Street.

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No 10 staff have swipe card data logged in probe of ‘partygate’

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Security logs crucial to future of key staff as Sue Gray also ‘has details of new social event’

The senior civil servant investigating allegations of at least nine lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street has been given access to a detailed log of staff movements in and out of the building from security data including swipecards.

Whitehall figures say the inquiry by Sue Gray – who is expected to publish a report of about 25 pages this week – has been “forensic”, looking in “granular detail” at who was in the building for social gatherings, some of which went on into the early hours, and the precise timings of their arrivals and departures.

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From conference highs to the abyss: the swift undoing of Boris Johnson

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Less than four months ago, the PM was riding high and telling jokes in Manchester, a world away from where he is now

It was not meant to fall apart as fast as this. After Boris Johnson won the general election in December 2019, he declared in a victory address: “I, and we, will never take your support for granted.”

The prime minister’s 80-seat majority, a victory for the “get Brexit done” campaign, appeared to leave him impregnable. For 18 months after, Johnson continued to defy political gravity despite repeated missteps, as the pandemic came to Britain’s shores.

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‘More people will die’: fears for clinically vulnerable as England axes plan B

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Coronavirus pandemic’s finishing line has not yet come clearly into focus for millions of people

“We must learn to live with Covid in the same way we have to live with flu,” Sajid Javid told the nation this week. For most people, the parallel with flu is now valid: vaccinations and acquired immunity have defanged Covid to the point that there is no longer much risk of becoming severely unwell.

However, the pandemic’s finishing line has not yet come clearly into focus for a sizeable minority in society. In England, 3.7 million people fall in the clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) category, including those with blood cancers, an organ transplant, kidney disease and other conditions linked to immunosuppression.

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PM facing calls to ensure all evidence is published in No 10 parties inquiry

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Labour and Lib Dems call for full transparency as it emerges Sue Gray’s report may just summarise findings

Boris Johnson is facing calls to ensure all evidence on the Downing Street parties is published with the Sue Gray inquiry, as it emerged the pivotal report is likely to amount to a concise summary of findings.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats called on Friday for the report to be published along with its accompanying evidence – including emails and witness accounts – to give full transparency around more than 15 alleged parties under investigation by Gray, a senior civil servant.

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Mixed messages? How end of Covid plan B could change behaviour in England

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Analysis: Experts say when the rules are relaxed there tends to be a gradual erosion of protective behaviours

All plan B measures in England will be lifted next week, meaning an end to compulsory mask-wearing in shops, vaccine certificates for entering venues, and guidance to work from home. But are the public ready to embrace these freedoms just weeks after Covid cases in the UK hit a record high and with daily deaths higher now than when the measures were introduced?

Some are likely to feel more than ready to cast aside restrictions that have been financially and personally cumbersome, while others may fear things are moving too quickly. Regardless of the range of attitudes, changing the rules will shift behaviour.

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UK government puts animal welfare policies on pause

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Delayed legislation includes ban on trophy hunting imports and stricter sentences for puppy thieves

Some of the government’s most prized new animal welfare policies are being put on pause in what supporters see as a sneaky attempt to ditch the “woke” measures altogether.

Senior sources in the Conservative party have confirmed to the Guardian that a series of policies including a ban on trophy hunting imports, stricter sentences for puppy thieves and a ban on live exports of livestock have been put on pause after a campaign led by Mark Spencer, the chief whip.

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