Markus Andrews

Shaun Bailey has apologised “unreservedly” after a video emerged of his Tory campaign team drinking and dancing at a gathering during lockdown in December 2020.At the time, lockdown rules meant that six people were allowed to meet socially distanced outside.The video emerged after the former London mayoral candidate was offered a peerage by former prime minister Boris Johnson, who was found by the Privileges Committee to have misled Parliament over parties at Downing Street during Covid lockdowns.Mr Bailey said the event “obviously turned into something once I left and I didn’t realise that.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Watch live as George Osborne gives evidence to the Covid inquiry on Tuesday, 20 June. The former chancellor must be “taken to task” over austerity-era cuts that left the country “so unprepared” for […] More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Boris Johnson has endured a final humiliation over the Partygate scandal in parliament as MPs backed the scathing report which found he deliberately lied to the Commons and just seven Tories voted in […] More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email The chair of the Commons privileges committee Harriet Harriet has defended the work of her panel and condemned Boris Johnson’s Partygate lies – saying all prime ministers “must tell the truth”. The senior […] More

David Cameron was heckled as he left the Covid Inquiry on Monday, 19 June, after giving evidence.Shouts of “shame on you” were heard as the former prime minister made his way out of the hearing in London.The former Conservative leader told the inquiry it was a “mistake” for his government to focus too heavily on preparations for combating a wave of flu rather than a coronavirus-like pandemic.Mr Cameron his government’s austerity cuts which have been blamed for leaving the NHS in a “parlous state” before the pandemic hit. More

Sir Ian McKellen was spotted in the House of Commons watching MPs through opera glasses as MPs debated the Partygate report by the Privileges Committee which found that Boris Johnson misled Parliament over rule-breaking parties at Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns.The Oscar-nominated actor was seated in the MPs’ guests gallery, occasionally using the glasses to observe proceedings.Sir Ian observed a debate in which former prime minister Theresa May urged all MPs to back the privileges committee’s findings that her successor lied to parliament. He declined to comment on leaving the House. More

Sir Peter Bottomley, the father of the House of Commons, has said that he will support the Privileges Committee’s report which found that Boris Johnson misled Parliament over rule-breaking parties at Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns.The Conservative, who is the longest-serving MP in the Commons, recalled a time where he had the words “I made a mistake, I apologise” into Hansard in the 1980s and reccommended that the former prime minister should have done the same.Sir Peter’s comments came as Mr Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, urged all MPs to back the privileges committee’s findings. More

Theresa May has urged MPs to consider their constituents during a debate on the Partygate report by the Privileges Committee which found that Boris Johnson misled Parliament over rule-breaking parties at Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns.Many Tory MPs were not in the House of Commons during a free vote and debate on the report’s findings on Monday, 19 June.The former prime minister told her colleagues in the house that they are leaders in their communities and their jobs come with responsibility – and that it is important to punish MPs that break the rules. More