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Boris Johnson has said he regrets apologising for the so-called partygate scandal over lockdown-era gatherings in Downing Street in a new interview.
Facing a grilling on ITV tonight, the former prime minister claimed the move had “inadvertently validated the entire corpus” as accusations were also levelled at officials who were “working very hard”.
He went on to defend the revellers, insisting that he does not think officials involved in the Westminster scandal “thought they were setting out to break the rules”.
Meanwhile, Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby announced she has pulled out of an interview with Mr Johnson at the Cheltenham Literature Festival after being told she could not make a recording or transcript of the talk, marking the second interview the former Tory MP has lost this week.
It comes as a group of indigenous Chagossians, Chagossian Voices, planned to stage a protest in Westminster, claiming they have been “consistently and deliberately ignored” by the UK government over discussions surrounding the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, The Independent understands.
Sir Keir Starmer has defended the government’s decision in the face of significant backlash, claiming that the UK-Mauritius deal ensures continued security of the US-UK Diego Garcia military base.
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Bill to give ‘choice at end of life’ to be introduced to Parliament this month
Proposals to change the law to give terminally ill people “choice at the end of life” are to be introduced in parliament this month.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater said she hoped for “honest, compassionate and respectful debate” when her Bill, which will be tabled on 16 October, is considered in the Commons.
The conversation around legalising assisted dying has been increasingly in the spotlight for the past year, with high-profile figures including broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen calling for a parliamentary debate and vote on change.
Dame Esther said she is “thrilled and grateful” at the news, which she said could mean “terminally ill people like me can look forward with hope and confidence that we could have a good death”.
She said: “I never thought I might live to see the current cruel law change.
“But even if it is too late for me, I know thousands of terminally ill patients and their families will be given new hope.
“All we ask is to be given the choice over our own lives.”
Ms Leadbeater said her private member’s bill (PMB) would establish in law the right for terminally ill eligible adults to have choice at the end of life to shorten their deaths and ensure stronger protections for them and their loved ones in the aftermath.
She said: “Parliament should now be able to consider a change in the law that would offer reassurance and relief – and most importantly, dignity and choice – to people in the last months of their lives.”
Blame Sunak for Tory election drubbing, not me, says Johnson
Watch: Boris Johnson refuses to rule out return to politics
Tom Bradby slams Boris Johnson over Partygate in heated confrontation
Tom Bradby slams Boris Johnson over Partygate in heated confrontation
ITV News presenter Tom Bradby slammed Boris Johnson over the Partygate scandal during a heated confrontation. The former prime minister and presenter clashed as the latter described it “madness” that Mr Johnson was hosting Downing Street garden parties with 100 people present, while people died alone in hospital during the Covid pandemic. In the interview, which aired on Friday (4 October) Mr Bradby told him: “People are dying alone, and here is your private secretary writing to over 100 people inviting them to a party. “People cannot understand why you are not apologetic over that.” Mr Bradby added: “You were inviting 100 people to a garden, it’s madness.”
Review: Unleashed – A memoir that’s twisted, sour and full of more lies
“Shameless, sour, predictable, self-exculpatory stuff”: Enjoy Sean O’Grady’s review of Boris Johnson’s memoir:
Argentina says it will take ‘full sovereignty’ of Falklands after Chagos Islands return
Argentina has vowed to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falkland Islands after the UK gave up control of a remote archipelago.
The country’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, welcomed the step taken by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government on Thursday towards ending “outdated practices” after Britain returned the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
She promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands – the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own – are handed to Buenos Aires.
You can read the full story below:
Boris Johnson reveals his Covid battle was worse than public knew
Boris Johnson reveals his Covid battle was worse than public knew
Boris Johnson has revealed his Covid battle was worse than the public knew. In an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby on Friday (4 October), the former prime minister explained more about the impact Covid had on him. Mr Johnson admitted he was “groggier” than he let on after returning home from the hospital, but was conscious he had a job to get on with during the pandemic in 2020. The former Conservative leader said: “My oxygen levels went down to 72 or something which is pretty bad. “I know how terrible a disease Covid is. I was groggier than I let on.”
ICYMI: Starmer declares carbon capture investment as ‘national renewal in action’
Sir Keir Starmer hailed today’s investment announcement as a demonstration of “the politics of renewal in action”.
Addressing an audience at a glass manufacturing facility, he emphasised that the government is “fixing the foundations and providing a long-term industrial strategy”.
Reflecting on his past work as a lawyer for coal mining families during the industry’s decline under the Conservative government, he said: “I worked with families and communities who were going to lose their jobs in a really important industry, and I therefore know first hand what this country lost when we ended coal in that way.
“Because we lost jobs, we lost communities, we lost a way of life. I think we lost dignity, and we also, I think, lost identity.”
He added: “We are the first industrial nation. That’s who we are as a country. It’s our story. A source of pride that this country, our country, communities like here, changed the world. And that what is made here matters.
“You can’t take that away from people without a plan to replace it. It’s like losing a part of yourself, a missing limb, an open wound, a heart ripped out of the nation.”
Full story: Broadcaster pulls out of Boris Johnson interview after no recording allowed
Sky News political editor Beth Rigby said she has pulled out of an interview with former prime minister Boris Johnson at the Cheltenham Literature Festival after being told she could not make a recording or transcript of the talk.
Mr Johnson had promised to “reveal what really happened during my time as Mayor, Foreign Secretary and PM” during the interview, as he promotes his new memoir titled Unleashed to be published next week.
It comes after an interview with the BBC was dropped earlier in the week after presenter Laura Kuenssberg mistakenly sent him her briefing notes.
Ellie Iorizzo reports:
