A former government ethics chief has said she is “sorry for the error of judgement I have shown” after being fined as part of a police investigation into No 10 parties.
Helen MacNamara said she has paid the fine she was handed reportedly in connection with a leaving do held in the Cabinet Office on June 18 2020 to mark the departure of a private secretary.
Downing Street has confirmed that Boris Johnson has not yet been informed whether he is to be fined over lockdown-breaking parties he allegedly attended.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer said Boris Johnson has “misled the public” and presided over “widespread criminality” at No 10 – saying again that PM is “unfit for office”.
He also called for the names of all senior officials fined for Downing Street parties to be made public.
However, Downing Street continues to refuse to accept the law had been broken, despite the Met issuing 20 FPNs.
Breaking- Stonewall and 80 LGBTQ organisations pull out of government conference over trans conversion U-turn
LGBTQ charity Stonewall and 80 other organisations have pulled out of a UK government conference over its trans conversion therapy U-turn.
My colleague Joe Middleton reports:
Breaking- Former government ethics chief apologies after being fined over partygate
Ex-deputy cabinet secretary says she has paid fixed-penalty notice.
Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports.
PM presides over ‘widespread criminality’
Sir Keir Starmer said Boris Johnson has “misled the public” and presided over “widespread criminality” at No 10 – saying again that PM is “unfit for office”.
He also called for the names of all senior officials fined for Downing Street parties to be made public.
“We seem to be going through this process where instant by instant, fines are coming out but the public are being left in the dark.
“The public complied with the rules. They are entitled to know who didn’t comply with the rules and what is going on.”
Sir Keir later said: “If the prime minister wants to come to parliament and tell us that he was repeatedly lied to by his own advisers then let him do that.
“The idea that he had no idea what was going on in his home and his office and he only gave answers because he was lied to by his officials is a case he needs to make – I would like to see him make that case because I don’t think he can.”
“He needs to come to parliament to be held to account. He has not only misled the public about this, he has presided over widespread criminality in his home and his office and that is why I am convinced he is unfit for office.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer talks non-disclosure agreements and sexual harassment
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said “nobody” in the party would be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement after making an accusation of sexual harassment.
When asked about reports of the practice within Labour, Sir Keir said: “I cannot comment on the individual cases. What I can say is nobody in the Labour Party is asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement in relation to sexual harassment.
“That is against our policy.”
UK should drill ‘every last drop’ of North Sea oil and gas, says Jacob Rees-Mogg
My colleague Adam Forrest reports.
‘Who cares if wind farms are an ‘eyesore’, Mr Shapps?’
“After business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced a significant push for renewable and nuclear energy, Grant Shapps sounded a note of caution that wind farms are an ‘eyesore’.”
Jude Wilkinson has more:
Sir Keir Starmer says the country needs an ‘energy strategy’- not ‘energy rationing’
Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK needs a proper energy strategy from the Government rather than going “cap in hand” to dictators.
Asked by broadcasters whether his shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds was right to agree over the weekend that the country needed to prepare for energy rationing, Sir Keir said: “We don’t need energy rationing. We do need an energy strategy.
“And going from one dictator in Russia for your oil and gas, cap in hand to another dictator in Saudi Arabia is not an energy strategy.
“We need a strategy that is fast-forwarding on renewables and on nuclear, retrofitting so that we can actually keep our houses and our homes warmer.
“That is the strategy, the security strategy, that we need for this country and we don’t have it from this Government.”
Putin’s ‘barbaric’ actions leave UK ‘in no doubt’ further sanctions needed, No 10 says
Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports:
Average nursery place cost soars by nearly £1,500 in five years – Labour says
The average annual cost of a nursery place for children under two has risen by nearly £1,500 in five years, putting a strain on working families, Labour has claimed.
The Independent has more here:
Energy supplier gives out free electric blankets to customers as heating bills soar
As British households struggle with rising electricity and gas bills, Octopus Energy has been praised for handing out 5,000 free electric blankets to its customers to help them keep warm.
My colleague Joe Sommerlad has more:
