Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said he will call in police over “deeply concerning” allegations of drug use in the Palace of Westminster.
The Speaker said he was treating the matter as a priority and wanted to see “full and effective enforcement of the law” with serious sanctions for those flouting the rules.
Sir Lindsay’s move comes after the Sunday Times reported that an investigation found evidence of cocaine in 11 out of 12 locations tested in the building.
The intervention from the speaker also comes as the Prime Minister will this week launch a 10-year plan to tackle illegal drug-related crime which will include removing passports and driving licences from offenders, it has been reported.
The crackdown will also include football-style travel bans, harsher sentences for drug dealers and measures to break up county lines gangs.
The Sun reported Boris Johnson will outline “record” funding for addiction treatment and recovery services, with more money promised for the 50 local authorities with the worst drug issues including Middlesbrough, Blackpool and Liverpool.
Follow updates below.
Justice secretary wants to ‘correct’ drift towards privacy rights
Dominic Raab has said he wants to “correct” the drift towards the principle of free speech being outweighed by protection of privacy.
The justice secretary’s intervention comes just days after Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, won an appeal court battle over a newspaper’s publication of extracts of a letter to her father.
Court of appeal judges ruled that the duchess had a “reasonable expectation of privacy” in the contents of the letter which were “personal, private and not matters of legitimate public interest”.
Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, has the full story below:
Commons Speaker goes to police over claims of cocaine use at Westminster – further updates
The Speaker said: “The accounts of drug misuse in Parliament given to the Sunday Times are deeply concerning – and I will be raising them as a priority with the Metropolitan Police next week.
“I expect to see full and effective enforcement of the law.”
Sir Lindsay added: “While parliament provides extensive support services for any staff or members who may need help with drug misuse – and I would encourage anyone struggling with such issues to take up such help – for those who choose to flout the law and bring the institution into disrepute the sanctions are serious.”
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full story below:
BREAKING: Commons Speaker goes to police over claims of cocaine use at Westminster
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said he will raise “deeply concerning” allegations of drug use in the Palace of Westminster with police.
More to follow on this developing story.
‘Too late’ to effectively halt the spread of the omicron variant in the UK, warns government science adviser
On Saturday, it was announced all travellers arriving in England will be required to take a covid-19 pre-departure test from Tuesday – while Nigeria is being added to the government’s travel red list.
Ministers said the extra test was intended to be a temporary measure following new data showing an increase in the number of cases of the new strain linked to foreign travel.
But Professor Mark Woolhouse, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) which advises the government, said the measures would not make a “material difference” as the variant is already “spreading pretty rapidly”.
He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “I think that may be a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
“If omicron is here in the UK, and it certainly is, if there’s community transmission in the UK, and it certainly looks that way, then it’s that community transmission that will drive a next wave.
Government legacy plans ‘morally, constitutionally and legally offensive,’ says prominent lawyer
The UK Government’s proposals for an end to legal cases relating to Northern Ireland’s Troubles are offensive “morally, constitutionally and legally”, a prominent lawyer has said.
Kevin Winters, whose legal firm deals with a large number of legacy cases, said that he believed the Government was trying to shut down court examinations of allegations of state collusion with both loyalist and republican paramilitaries.
In July, the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis announced plans for a statute of limitations which would end all prosecutions for Troubles incidents up to April 1998 and would apply to military veterans as well as ex-paramilitaries.
The proposals, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson said would allow Northern Ireland to “draw a line under the Troubles”, would also end all legacy inquests and civil actions.
The package of measures also included a new truth recovery body and an oral history initiative.
But the move has been condemned by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland as well as the Irish Government and a range of victims’ and survivors’ groups.
Additional reporting by PA
Billionaire Tory donor’s firm claimed millions in furlough cash – after making £75m profit
A billionaire Tory donor’s firm continued to claim millions of pounds’ worth of taxpayer-funded furlough money after recording a £75.3m profit, The Independent can reveal.
Malcolm Healey’s company, Wren Kitchens, used public funds to help bankroll its staff costs during the Covid pandemic even though it banked tens of millions of pounds’ worth of pre-tax profits in its 2020 accounts.
It came as Healey personally donated £500,000 to Boris Johnson’s party in December 2020, meaning he has given the Tories over £2.3m since 2017, according to Electoral Commission records.
Our chief reporter, Simon Murphy, has the full story below:
Revealed: Royal Mint dropped National Trust coin after charity judged ‘troubled and political’
A plan to issue a commemorative coin marking the 125th anniversary of the National Trust was dropped by the Royal Mint after the conservation charity was judged to be a “troubled and political organisation”, it can be revealed.
Official papers obtained by The Independent using Freedom of Information laws disclose that the Royal Mint ditched the idea in early 2018 following rows over volunteers at the Trust being asked to wear gay pride badges and the word “Easter” being removed from its annual egg hunt.
Our chief reporter Simon Murphy has the full story below:
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Government confirms review into six-year-old’s murder
The government has announced a major review into the circumstances which led to the murder of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.
It aims to determine what improvements are needed by the agencies that came into contact with Arthur in the months before he was murdered by stepmother Emma Tustin at their home in Solihull.
The National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel will lead the review and will provide additional support to Solihull Children’s Safeguarding Partnership to “upgrade” the already existing local review which was launched shortly after Arthur’s death in June 2020.
The action comes after it emerged in court the boy had been seen by social workers just two months before his death, but they concluded there were “no safeguarding concerns”.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “Arthur’s murder has shocked and appalled the nation.
“I am deeply distressed by this awful case and the senseless pain inflicted on this poor boy, who has been robbed of the chance to live his life.
“I have taken immediate action and asked for a joint inspection to consider where improvements are needed by all the agencies tasked with protecting children in Solihull, so that we can be assured that we are doing everything in our power to protect other children and prevent such evil crimes.”
Dominic Raab scales back Christmas party plans because of omicron
Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab has revealed he has cancelled the Ministry of Justice Christmas party, and will instead be holding “appropriate drinks at a smaller scale” because of the threat of the omicron variant of coronavirus.
Mr Raab is the latest government minister to suggest that party plans for the festive season should be scaled back, after cabinet colleague Therese Coffey said people should avoid kissing under the mistletoe this year.
And UK Health Security Agency chief Jenny Harries, a senior adviser to the prime minister, has said people should not socialise “when we don’t particularly need to”.
Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock has the full story below:
Boris Johnson faces backbench revolt over military rape trials
Boris Johnson is facing a backbench revolt against the government’s rejection of calls for cases of rape in the armed forces to be taken out of the military courts system, where defendants are five or six times less likely to be found guilty.
Prominent Tory MPs Johnny Mercer – a former Army officer who was in charge of legislation on the issue before resigning as a defence minister earlier this year – and Commons defence committee chair Tobias Ellwood are among those expected to break party ranks in a crunch vote on Monday.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full report below:
