Boris Johnson was placed under general anaesthetic for a routine operation on his sinuses this morning, No 10 has said.
Responsibility for “significant decisions” facing the government was passed over to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab for a 24-hour period from the start of the operation.
It comes as Downing Street has confirmed that members of Boris Johnson’s team intervened following the publication of a story about his wife Carrie in The Times, but denied that the prime minister himself contacted the paper to complain.
Mr Johnson was driven to an NHS hospital in London around 6am on Monday morning and was put under anaesthetic shortly afterwards for the operation, which No 10 described as “minor”.
The op – which had been scheduled for some time and was not an emergency – was described as a success and Mr Johnson returned to Downing Street around 10am, where he is spending the day resting.
‘Total policy failure’: Government less than half way to hitting annual tree planting targe
The government has been accused of overseeing a “total economic and environmental policy failure” on tree planting, with current rates not even halfway to hitting targets set in 2019.
Boris Johnson said the government would plant 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) of new woodland in Britain every year by 2024. But with a year and a half to go, official figures reveal planting is still below 14,000 hectares for the year to 31 March 2022.
The confederation of forest industries (Confor), which represents more than 1,500 forestry and wood businesses around the UK, said that the “woeful” rate of progress meant there was now “zero chance” of reaching the targets.
The organisation has now called on the prime minister to intervene to boost planting rates, our environment correspondent Harry Cockburn writes.
Agencies tell Boris Johnson to drop ‘worrying’ plan to use their staff to break strikes
Recruitment firms have attacked Boris Johnson’s plan to tear up laws to prevent the use of strike-busting agency staff – warning it will break international commitments.
Legislation is expected this week to repeal the ban – introduced in 1973 by Edward Heath’s Conservative government – as a ‘Summer of Discontent’ looms.
Our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, reports:
Britain’s mental health faces ‘threat of pandemic proportions’ from cost of living crisis
Dr Adrian James said pressure on the NHS could reach unprecedented levels as people try to cope with the rising price of food, fuel and other essentials, adding that those who already living with a mental illness “are more likely to suffer the consequences of the looming economic downturn”.
It comes amid warnings that some children have begun to self-harm as a result of the mounting cost of living crisis. According to a survey published by The Childhood Trust, 9 per cent of parents who responded claimed their children had started self-harming.
Samuel Lovett and Saman Javed report:
Carriegate: No 10 admits pressuring The Times to drop Carrie Johnson story
The story, which alleged that Mr Johnson had attempted to install Carrie in a £100,000-a-year job in the foreign office at a time when he was conducting a secret affair with her, appeared in the first edition of the newspaper on Saturday, but vanished from later copies and a version also disappeared from the Mail Online website.
Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson confirmed that No 10 was in contact with The Times before and after the publication of the first edition, but denied that the prime minister himself had contacted deputy editor Tony Gallagher, who was in charge of the paper that night.
Read more here from Andrew Woodcock here:
‘Serious failings’ to protect children from sexual exploitation and grooming in Oldham
There were “serious failings” by police and councils to protect children from grooming and sexual exploitation in Oldham but there was no cover-up by the authorities, a major report has concluded.
The report looked into the alleged grooming of children in council homes, shisha bars and by taxi drivers in the town and concluded there was no evidence of a cover up or “widespread” child sex abuse in those settings.
My colleague Pat Hurst has more:
SNP has ‘significant problems’ in how it handles complaints, admits Joanna Cherry
SNP MP Joanne Cherry has said the party has “significant problems” in how it handles complaints.
Glasgow North MP Patrick Grady was found by an independent investigation to have behaved inappropriately towards a member of staff at a party function in 2016 and suspended from Parliament for two days.
The party also withdrew the whip from the MP until he had served his suspension.
But the handling of the complaint has drawn criticism, most notably from the victim himself, who said he had been made to feel as though it was his fault and his life had been made a “living hell”.
Over the weekend, audio was leaked to the Daily Mail newspaper of a meeting of the SNP group at Westminster, where leader Ian Blackford said he is “very much looking forward to welcoming Patrick back into the group next week”, and encouraging fellow MPs to offer “as much support as possible”.
In a pair of tweets on Monday, Ms Cherry said: “I wasn’t at the SNP Westminster group meeting last week.
“I don’t condone the covert recording or leak. However, for some time the SNP has had significant problems in how it handles complaints.
“My party needs to reflect on the contrast between the treatment of different offenders and to review our arrangements for the pastoral care of complainers.”
British airlines borrowing EU planes to get around Brexit rules
Several UK airlines are borrowing European aircraft as a loophole to get around recruitment issues caused by Brexit.
Carriers including British Airways, easyJet and Tui have adopted the tactic of “wet-leasing” planes from European airlines to dodge post-Brexit rules around staff visas.
Following the Brexit transition, UK airlines require EU staff working on UK-registered planes to hold a British visa. However, leasing an EU-registered plane means it can be staffed by an EU-resident crew.
Read more from Lucy Thackray here:
No 10 urges businesses to consider pay restraint in light of soaring inflation
Downing Street has urged businesses to “take heed” of soaring inflation and to consider pay restraint.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The Government wants a high wage, high growth economy and it’s not down to governments to dictate to private companies what wages they set. Everyone has different circumstances, so a top-down approach is not our position.
“But, clearly, the Government is taking heed of the economic situation in which we find ourselves and we expect private-sector companies will do so as well.
“There is a global challenge we are seeing, particularly around inflation at the moment, and we need as a country to avoid doing anything that would stoke inflationary pressures further.
“I’m not necessarily saying it would be around pay but there are a number of factors that could stoke inflation that people need to be mindful of.”
Pressed if pay is one of those factors, he said: “Certainly pay rises could be one of those areas that could be of detriment.”
Carriegate: No 10 admits pressuring The Times to drop Carrie Johnson story
Downing Street has confirmed that members of Boris Johnson’s team intervened following the publication of a story about his wife Carrie in The Times, but denied that the prime minister himself contacted the paper to complain.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
Boris Johnson put under general anaesthetic for hospital operation as Dominic Raab runs country
Prime minister Boris Johnson was placed under general anaesthetic for a routine operation on his sinuses this morning, Downing Street has said.
Responsibility for “significant decisions” facing the government was passed over to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab for a 24-hour period from the start of the operation.
Mr Johnson was driven to an NHS hospital in London around 6am on Monday morning and was put under anaesthetic shortly afterwards for the operation, which No 10 described as “minor”.
The op – which had been scheduled for some time and was not an emergency – was described as a success and Mr Johnson returned to Downing Street around 10am, where he is spending the day resting.
Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, reports:
