Prime minister Boris Johnson has failed to deny reports that he attended two Downing Street parties during Covid lockdowns in the run-up to Christmas last year.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson insisted that “all guidance was followed” but did not dispute claims in the Daily Mirror that he and 40 or 50 staff held gatherings at the end of November and in December when restrictions were in place.
Elsewhere, an investigation has been launched by the parliamentary standards commissioner into cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg over an alleged breach of the MPs’ code of conduct.
The announcement comes weeks after the Labour Party called on the independent commissioner, Kathryn Stone, to investigate the leader of House of Commons over claims that he failed to declare £6 millions in cheap loans from one of this own companies.
Mr Rees-Mogg insisted at the time that the loans were declared in the proper way. “Saliston is 100 per cent owned by me,” his spokesman said. “This is declared clearly in the Commons register and to the Cabinet Office.”
New poll: 55 per cent in favour of Scottish independence
More than half of voters in Scotland are in favour of independence from the UK, according to a new poll.
An IpsosMori survey found 55 per cent of respondents said they would vote “Yes” in any future referendum against 45 per cent who would not.
Ipsos said support for breaking away from the UK is 5 percentage points higher than it was in early May.
Ministers risk ‘endangering’ civil servants unless home working becomes default, union warns
Ministers risk a “dereliction of duty” unless they move to make working from home the default position for civil servants where they can in a bid to combat the spread of the omicron Covid variant, Whitehall’s biggest union has warned.
My colleagues Simon Murphy and Anna Isaac report:
PM: Pushback plans branded unlawful will go ahead despite drownings
Controversial plans to “push back” refugee boats in the Channel will go ahead, despite 27 deaths last week and mounting legal challenges, Boris Johnson has vowed.
Our deputy politics editor Rob Merrick reports:
Scottish Tory leader hit by standards probe
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has also been added to the list of MPs that are under investigation by Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone.
The MP for Moray revealed last month that he had referred himself to the commissioner after failing to declare thousands of pounds in outside earnings from his second job as an MSP and third job as a football referee.
Like cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mr Ross is now being investigated over “registration of an interest under category one of the Guide to the Rules (Employment and Earnings)”.
Rape victims demoralised by ‘distressing’ justice system delays
Rape victims are “lucky” if their case is heard in court within four years, lawyers have warned MPs.
MPs were told complainants get demoralised and “drop out of the system” as they wait for police to charge suspects.
Senior barristers and solicitors told the Commons Home Affairs Committee today that a lack of resources could be major factors behind the low prosecution rates for rape.
Kirsty Brimelow QC, vice chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “There are increasing delays which, I have to say, is very depressing and distressing.
“Having seen – in certainly my early years of practice – how cases involving complainants and sexual offences will be expedited, now you’re lucky if the case is heard within four years between complaint and trial. And it’s not all due to do with backlog.”
Figures published earlier this month showed police forces in England and Wales had recorded the highest number of rapes and the second highest number of sexual offences in a 12-month period.
But separate data shows the proportion of suspects being taken to court had fallen to a record low, and remains the lowest for rape cases.
France urges EU to act against Britain in fishing dispute
France’s minister for Europe has called on the EU to take “European measures” against Britain if there is no resolution to the post-Brexit row over fishing licences by 10 December.
The European Commission has said the dispute must be settled by that date as it upped the pressure on the UK in the negotiations.
Clement Beaune said today that it was not a Franco-British dispute, but one between the whole of the EU and the UK.
Mr Beaune said that French punitive measures – such as a ban on British trawlers landing their catches in French ports and tighter customs checks to hamper cross-Channel trade – remain “on the table” if a deal cannot be reached.
On the potential ban by the French, he added: “It’s one of the possible options but it’s better, to be honest, to have European measures.”
France’s maritime minister Annick Girardin also warned of European retaliatory measures, telling the Ouest France newspaper on Tuesday that “London is testing the solidarity of the European Union.”
Schools to remain open for rest of term, says minister
The government plans to keep schools open until the Christmas holidays, an education minister has said.
Children’s minister Will Quince said it was “deeply regrettable” that some school nativity plays have been cancelled but that the government wants to “see schools stay open.”
The minister told MPs in the Commons Education Committee: “That is certainly our plan.”
His comments came after Justin McCamphill – NASUWT teaching union’s national official for Northern Ireland – called on schools to cancel mass gatherings over Christmas amid staff shortages caused by Covid.
Mr McCamphill had also said that the government may need to consider a circuit-breaker closure of Northern Ireland’s schools to stop the spread of the virus.
Face masks are now being recommended in communal areas of England’s secondary schools and colleges following the emergence of the new omicron variant of Covid.
Low-income Scots could get blanket winter payment from 2022
About half a million households in Scotland will be given “certainty” in being able to pay for heating with a £50 payment every winter.
The Scottish Government is aiming to replace the current UK-wide Cold Weather Payment from next winter.
The current UK benefit pays £25 for each seven-day period where the temperature is forecast to be below freezing.
Under the new scheme, households receiving income-related benefits would automatically receive £50 every winter regardless of whether temperatures drop below zero for a set amount of time.
Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said: “Although Cold Weather Payments have been a valuable support for some during periods of very cold weather, there have been some years when hardly any payments have been made at all by the UK Government.
“If winters, as predicted, are due to become generally wetter and warmer then this may also reduce the numbers of Cold Weather Payments in the future. We want people to have certainty about receiving a payment.”
Last week, experts told MSPs that around 100,000 more households are expected to go into fuel poverty – and that more than 600,000 households are currently estimated to be struggling to pay for heating.
Full report: PM refuses to deny No 10 held Christmas party during lockdown last year
Boris Johnson has refused to deny there was a Christmas party held at No 10 last year while lockdown curbs were in place – but claimed all Covid rules were followed.
My colleague Adam Forrest has more details below:
