Downing Street has refused to say whether Boris Johnson will give evidence to a Greater London Authority inquiry into whether he acted with “honesty and integrity” in his former capacity as the capital’s mayor with regards to his relations with businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri
Asked if the prime minister would be willing to provide evidence to the inquiry into whether he had breached these principles while in office, his press secretary Allegra Stratton said the question was “hypothetical”, adding: “Let’s cross all those bridges when they come.”
Ms Stratton also insisted there were “no plans whatsoever” to cut Scotland’s share of UK spending, after first minister Nicola Sturgeon claimed to delegates at the SNP’s online conference that she was “pretty sure” Westminster would “like to” do so, but “probably think they wouldn’t get away with” it due to her party’s “strength”.
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It appears likely this won’t be the last we hear of this particular quote.
At least certainly not if Alastair Campbell has his way.
PM’s press secretary says ‘no plans whatsoever’ to cut spending in Scotland
Addressing the online SNP conference this morning, Nicola Sturgeon cited past comments by Boris Johnson – that a pound spent in Croydon is of “more value” than one spent in Strathclyde – as she claimed she was “pretty sure” the Westminster Tories would “like to” cut Scotland’s share of UK spending, but “probably think they wouldn’t get away with” it due to her party’s strength.
However, the prime minister’s press secretary Allegra Stratton firmly rejected the comments, insisting there are “no plans whatsoever” to cut Scottish funding and that “the direction of travel has been in the opposite direction”.
“There has been an increase in support for the Scottish people to help them through the pandemic,” Ms Stratton said.
Exclusive: Britain has a serious problem with racism, say voters in new survey
An exclusive survey suggests that a significant proportion of the British public believe the UK has yet to face up to its problem with racism, an exclusive survey suggests, our race correspondent Nadine White reports.
From the government and police to the media and royal family, many voters believe these institutions are racist and the number increases markedly among Black, Asian and minority ethnic respondents, according to a poll by BMG Research for The Independent.
Read more details here:
Keir Starmer says shadow chancellor has his ‘full confidence’
Following reports that Sir Keir Starmer was considering moving his shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds in a reshuffle, the Labour leader said: “Anneliese Dodds has my confidence, she has my full confidence, she is doing a fantastic job.
“And we are one team, and we have got really important elections in May.”
The Sunday Times reported that Sir Keir was preparing to demote underperforming shadow cabinet ministers after the local elections in May, with Ms Dodds set to be the highest profile casualty.
Speaking on a local election campaign visit in Milton Keynes, Sir Keir told reporters that “all of the team” was campaigning across the country and was “absolutely focused on those May elections”.
PM’s press secretary ‘repeats misattributed quote nine times’
The Mirror’s Dan Bloom reports that, while defending the prime minister against allegations of misconduct in his alleged relationship with Jennifer Arcuri, Boris Johnson’s press secretary referred nine times to a report by the police watchdog, which she said had found allegations of impropriety against the former London mayor to be “untrue and unfounded”.
However, as our political editor Andrew Woodcock also notes, these words do not appear in the IOPC report, but were instead used by the PM’s spokesman to summarise its findings at the time of its publication.
You can read Allegra Stratton’s comments, and the context, here.
‘Door is not shut’ on international travel this summer, health secretary says
Amid calls from Labour to strengthen the hotel quarantine system to protect the UK from a resurgence of the virus currently hitting the continent, Matt Hancock has refused to rule out foreign holidays this summer.
“The door is not shut, it’s just too early to say,” he told ITV’s This Morning.
Alex Salmond tries to attract female voters with women-only conference
Alex Salmond’s new political party is making an audacious bid to appeal to female voters in Scotland, in an effort to distance the former SNP leader from the saga over sexual misconduct complaints.
The new, pro-independence Alba Party is to stage a women-only conference on 10 April, and has pledged to put women at the “front and centre” of key decisions.
Adam Forrest has the report:
Starmer calls for tighter border measures
The leader of the opposition appears to be having a busy day.
Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated his call for a “comprehensive scheme” of hotel quarantine for all arrivals into the country, in a bid to protect against the third wave of the virus currently in force on the continent.
Urging caution as he welcomed the lifting of restrictions, the Labour leader told reporters: “One of my primary concerns is that, under the government’s scheme, only 1 per cent of those coming from abroad is quarantining. That seems wrong.
“We should have a comprehensive scheme of quarantine because that, it seems to me, is the single biggest threat to the progress that we are making.”
Starmer calls for urgent inquiry into ‘rape culture’ in schools
The government should hold an urgent inquiry into claims of a “rape culture” in some schools, Labour has said.
It comes after the chair of parliament’s education committee said the government need to seriously look into claims made about more than 100 institutions.
Labour leader Keir Starmer backed a call by the chair of the education select committee for an investigation into the allegations.
“I’m really worried about what we are seeing over recent days and I know many parents will be, many school teachers and staff and, of course, young people,” Sir Keir told reporters at lunchtime on Monday.
“There’s got to be an inquiry and it has got to get going very fast, this is serious.”
No 10 refuses to say if PM will give evidence to Arcuri inquiry
Boris Johnson’s press secretary has refused to say if the PM will give evidence to a Greater London Authority (GLA) inquiry into whether he acted with “honesty and integrity” in his relations with Jennifer Arcuri during his time as London mayor.
Press secretary Allegra Stratton insisted that Johnson does conduct himself in line with the Nolan Principles (which require public office-holders to behave with honesty and integrity).
But asked if he would be willing to provide evidence in person or in writing to the GLA inquiry into whether he had breached the principles, she said the question was “hypothetical”, adding: “Let’s cross all those bridges when they come.”
Arcuri has alleged had a four-year affair with Johnson between 2012 and 2016, making fresh claims in The Mirror on Monday that she slept with him at his family home.
