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Boris Johnson says he is ‘not worried’ by MPs plotting against him while at G7
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has set a date for the second proposed Scottish independence referendum.She told MSPs it will be held on October 19 2023, with the question to be asked the same as in the 2014 vote “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Ms Sturgeon said she would be writing to Boris Johnson to inform him of her plans.She added she would make clear she is “ready and willing” to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order with him, which would give Holyrood the power to hold a referendum. Mr Johnson has previously refused her calls for another referendum to be held.Meanwhile, the Conservative MP who organised the campaign that toppled Theresa May is running in party elections to prepare for a fresh push to bring down Boris Johnson. Steve Baker hopes a seat on the executive of the powerful 1922 Committee of backbenchers will allow him to change the rules to allow another no-confidence vote – if necessary.The serial rebel described the prime minister’s position as “intolerable” if he is found to have lied to parliament over the scandal of the No 10 parties, many of which he attended.Show latest update

1656427335Civil service chief says PM’s decision on Partygate inquiry put Sue Gray in ‘genuinely difficult’ positionThe head of the civil service has said that putting officials like Sue Gray in a position of judging on the behaviour of ministers including Boris Johnson is a “challenge” and should be “avoided whenever possible”.Simon Case told a Commons committee that Ms Gray was put “in a genuinely difficult position” when Mr Johnson chose her to head the Partygate inquiry.He said that the post of independent adviser to the prime minister – held by Christopher Geidt until his resignation this month – was created precisely to avoid the “tension” which saw the career civil servant put under intense pressure ahead of the publication of her bombshell report in May.Andrew Woodcock reports.Joe Middleton28 June 2022 15:421656426114Nicola Sturgeon sets date for proposed Scottish independence referendumScottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs the Bill will set out for a referendum to be held on October 19 2023, with the question to be asked the same as in the 2014 vote “Should Scotland be an independent country?”Ms Sturgeon said she would be writing to Boris Johnson to inform him of her plans.She added she would make clear she is “ready and willing” to negotiate the terms of a Section 30 order with him, which would give Holyrood the power to hold a referendum.But with the prime minister having repeatedly refused her calls for another referendum to be held, Ms Sturgeon added “What I am not willing to do, what I will never do is allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any prime minister.”The First Minister stated: “My determination is to secure a process that allows the people of Scotland, whether yes, no or yet to be decided, to express their views in a legal, constitutional referendum so the majority view can be established fairly and democratically.“The steps I am setting out today seek to achieve that.”Joe Middleton28 June 2022 15:211656424771Boris Johnson says he does not expect direct war with RussiaBoris Johnson says he does not expect direct war with RussiaJoe Middleton28 June 2022 14:591656421852Government under investigation over ‘appalling’ handling of sewage dumped in riversAn environmental watchdog has announced it is to carry out an investigation into the enforcement of rules on untreated sewage being pumped into rivers and seas in England.The recently formed Office for Environmental Protection will investigate the environment secretary George Eustice, as well as the Environment Agency and Ofwat – the water services regulation authority – in how they regulate the use of combined sewer overflows (CSOs), as concerns about deteriorating water quality mount.The investigation will seek “to determine whether these authorities have failed to comply with their respective duties in relation to the regulation, including the monitoring and enforcement, of water companies’ own duties to manage sewage”, the OEP said in a statement.Harry Cockburn reports.Joe Middleton28 June 2022 14:101656420052Liz Truss can’t name single occasion she has raised human rights with a Gulf stateLiz Truss can’t name single occasion she has raised human rights with a Gulf stateJoe Middleton28 June 2022 13:401656418716Sunak will consider calls for ‘more substantial’ fuel duty cutChancellor Rishi Sunak has insisted he will carefully consider calls for a “more substantial” fuel duty cut.Tory MP Philip Davies, who is married to party colleague Esther McVey, who represents Tatton, said: “Further to the question from my right honourable friend, the member for Tatton, can I urge the chancellor to think again about the cut in fuel duty?“Although the one he introduced was welcome, it hasn’t really been noticed by many people and therefore can I urge him to think again about a much more substantial cut in fuel duty, on a temporary basis, just as they’ve done in Germany?”Mr Sunak replied in the Commons: “I thank my honourable friend for supporting the right honourable member for Tatton, and I’m glad he did.“What I will say to him is of course I will take all his recommendations under advisement. It is, as my honourable friend pointed out, a £5 billion cut to go with the freeze in fuel duty so it is significant, but we appreciate it is not being felt at the pumps because of the rise in wholesale prices.“I want to reassure him that the Energy Secretary is in dialogue with the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) to make sure that fuel duty cut is being passed on as well.”Joe Middleton28 June 2022 13:181656418242Boris Johnson set to ditch Tory manifesto promise on increased defence spendingBoris Johnson is set to ditch a manifesto promise to increase the annual defence budget above inflation, putting the PM on a collision course with his defence secretary Ben Wallace.A senior government source admitted that the Conservative commitment to hike annual military spending by 0.5 per cent above inflation could no longer be met because of the Covid pandemic.In their 2019 Tory manifesto, the party pledged to exceed the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence, and increase the budget by at least 0.5 per cent above inflation every year.Adam Forrest reports.Joe Middleton28 June 2022 13:101656417423Boris Johnson says he ‘doesn’t think’ Britain is facing war with RussiaBoris Johnson has poured cold water on the prospect of a significant hike in military spending, as he insisted he does not believe that the UK is heading towards war with Russia.Defence secretary Ben Wallace is understood to have asked the prime minister for an increase in the defence budget from around 2 to 2.5 per cent of GDP – the equivalent of an additional 20 per cent per year.The call came as the head of the British Army warned that Britain and its Nato allies are facing a “1937 moment” and must be “unequivocally prepared to fight” if Russia attacks any of their territory.Andrew Woodcock reports.Joe Middleton28 June 2022 12:571656416488Keir Starmer says he is scrapping Labour’s manifesto and ‘starting from scratch’ on policyKeir Starmer has said he will scrap Labour‘s last election manifesto and is “starting from scratch” on policies.Speaking on Tuesday the Labour leader said he was putting the existing set of policies “to one side” and that “the slate is wiped clean”.His comments represent a reversal of a previous pledge. During the 2019 leadership election Sir Keir described the 2017 election manifesto as Labour’s “foundational document”, praised its “radicalism” and said: “We have to hang on to that as we go forward”.Jon Stone reports.Joe Middleton28 June 2022 12:411656416029No 10 defends government’s record on defence spending amid reports Ben Wallace calls for 20 per cent increase in fundingNo 10 has defended the government’s record on defence spending saying it was responsible for the biggest increase since the end of the Cold War.Defence secretary Ben Wallace has reportedly written to Boris Johnson calling for a 20 per cent increase in defence spending to meet shortfalls in military capabilities.A Downing Street spokesperson said: “In 2022, the PM announced the largest increase in defence spending since the Cold War. That cemented our position as the biggest defence spender in Europe.“That was a £16.5 billion increase over four years. That meant we could continue to provide crucial military support to Ukraine as well as allowing us to invest in a range of capabilities such as vehicles and drones and other areas of defence capability.“Departmental spending on matters like that are for the Chancellor and are part of fiscal events. The Prime Minister has always said we would respond to any changes in terms of threat which is why we announced the extra funding for the Ministry of Defence.”Joe Middleton28 June 2022 12:33 More

The head of the civil service has said that putting officials like Sue Gray in a position of judging on the behaviour of ministers including Boris Johnson is a “challenge” and should be “avoided whenever possible”.Simon Case told a Commons committee that Ms Gray was put “in a genuinely difficult position” when Mr Johnson chose her to head the Partygate inquiry.He said that the post of independent adviser to the prime minister – held by Christopher Geidt until his resignation this month – was created precisely to avoid the “tension” which saw the career civil servant put under intense pressure ahead of the publication of her bombshell report in May.Mr Case told the Commons Public Administration Committee that no decision has yet been taken by Mr Johnson on whether to replace Lord Geidt with a new adviser on ministerial interests, or to create a different process for investigating alleged ethics breaches in government.He pointed out that the original terms of reference for the Gray report said that it was for Lord Geidt to determine whether any behaviour uncovered constituted a breach of the ministerial code of conduct. Her report did not include findings on the code, and no subsequent inquiry was launched by the independent adviser.Committee chair William Wragg said that Ms Gray had been put in an “invidious” position by being asked to investigate someone with power to decide on the future of her career, and demanded to know who had decided the job should go to her.Mr Case – who had himself initially been given the Partygate job, only to stand down after allegations that he had hosted a lockdown-breaching gathering – responded: “In the end, these are decisions for ministers, and ultimately the prime minister, to take.”Mr Wragg asked Mr Case how difficult it was for civil servants to conduct investigations into the conduct of the prime minister.The cabinet secretary replied: “Very difficult and to be avoided whenever possible”.He added: “The role of the civil service is there to support the government of the day, whilst upholding values. Its function is not to provide some sort of judicial function over ministers.“The role of independent adviser was actually created in part to deal with that tension.”And, in an apparent sign of discomfort at the choice of a civil servant to head the inquiry, he told MPs: “When decisions are taken we have to do our utmost to implement these decisions…“Asking civil servants to do these investigations puts civil servants into a genuinely difficult position.”Cabinet Office director general of propriety and ethics Darren Tierney told the committee that the department’s permanent secretary Alex Chisholm had asked Ms Gray to remove one individual’s name from her report.He said that the request was made because of “staff welfare concerns” and that Ms Gray had agreed to remove the name. No other individuals asked to have their identities concealed, he said. More

Matt Hancock was filmed dancing into the early hours at an Oxford nightclub over the weekend as he continues to enjoy time away from the stresses of Boris Johnson’s government.The Tory MP, forced to quit in June last year after breaking social distancing guidelines by kissing a colleague, was seen dancing with old university friends at the Atik nightclub in the city where he studied.The former health secretary is see beaming and waving his arms in the short clip, posted with the message ‘Meet Matt Hancock’ and a pair of emojis. Mr Hancock danced to songs including I Want You Back by the Jackson Five and stayed at the nightclub – which describes itself as a “superclub” with five “incredible” rooms, exclusive VIPs, star DJs and has a capacity of 1,200 – until 2am on Sunday morning.“Matt was clearly having a great time in there, reliving his old uni days,” a source told the The Sun.The 43-year-old made national and international headlines after a previous video emerged showing him in a passionate embrace with Gina Coladangelo, who at the time was non-executive director at the Department of Health.The clip sparked outrage and exposed the pair’s secret affair and Mr Hancock, married with three children, later left his wife of 15 years. Ms Coladangelo parted ways with her husband and the former colleagues are now said to be in a committed relationship.They first met through their involvement with student radio at Oxford, where Mr Hancock studied politics, philosophy and economics before going on to work at the Bank of England as an economist and later into politics. More

Police have seized amplifiers and speakers used by a long-running anti-Brexit protest outside the House of Parliament, under a new anti-protest law pushed through by Priti Patel.Steve Bray and his campaign group have been a long-running fixture on the pavement on Parliament Square – blasting protest songs and confronting Tory MPs. But on Tuesday police confiscated Mr Bray’s equipment using new powers in the government’s controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act – which took effect from midnight.Around 15 officers this morning descended on the long-running demonstration, warning the protesters that if they resisted they would be arrested.Home Secretary Priti Patel’s new law extended a “controlled area” around parliament to include Parliament Square and other side streets, where the protest has based itself.Police wasted no time to crack down on the dissenters, confiscating the equipment just 10 hours after they gained the powers to do so.Speaking after the incident, Mr Bray told The Independent: “They are just about to arrest me if I put the amp on again.”The demonstrator said the clampdown was “absolutely illegal”. “Human rights have been superseded by crass Tory laws. A lot of this law was aimed at people like me, XR (Extinction Rebellion). It’s shocking in a democracy when it comes to this but it needs to be tested,” he said. And he added: “We’ll be going back on again. We have had two warnings already. They have said a third time they’re going to arrest me … (they have warned of) seizure of equipment and arrest… If I put the amplifier back on. So I’m gonna go with an anti fascist song called Bella Ciao.”Asked if he was prepared to be arrested, he said: “Yes.” He added: “It’s not just sleepwalking into a fascist state. It’s here. It’s here now.”He said his message for the home secretary was: “Up yours, Priti Patel. You’re a fascist. Go to hell Priti.”It is understood officers warned Mr Bray that if he continued to use the equipment it would be seized, and that if he resisted, he would be arrested.The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Act is a sprawling piece of legislation which human rights group Liberty has described as “a concerted attack on the right to protest”.Jun Pang, policy and campaigns Oofficer at Liberty, said: “Protest is not a gift from the state, it is a fundamental right. Being able to choose what, how, and when we protest is a vital part of a healthy, functioning democracy, and nowhere is this more important than at sites of power like Parliament – especially at a time when the Government is bringing in laws that make it harder to challenge them,“Protests are by nature ‘noisy’ and ‘disruptive’. It is very worrying the police have already started enforcing the broad powers within the Policing Act in such a heavy-handed and punitive way.“As the Government tries to push through further attacks in the Public Order Bill and the Rights Removal Bill, we must all oppose these measures that will make it much harder for us all to stand up for what we believe in.”As well as extending the buffer zone around parliament, the bill also restricts traveller encampments, gives police powers to disperse noisy protests, and cracks down on protesters taking direct action.One clause also gives police powers to ban disruptive one-man protesters, a clause which raised suspicions that the Home Secretary was specifically targeting Mr Bray. More

Boris Johnson is set to ditch a manifesto promise to increase the annual defence budget above inflation, putting the PM on a collision course with his defence secretary Ben Wallace.A senior government source admitted that the Conservative commitment to hike annual military spending by 0.5 per cent above inflation could no longer be met because of the Covid pandemic.In their 2019 Tory manifesto, the party pledged to exceed the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence, and increase the budget by at least 0.5 per cent above inflation every year.However, a senior government official said the country’s post-Covid finances meant there had to be “a reality check on things that were offered in a different age”.The source said: “The manifesto was written before £400bn had to be spent locking people up for their own safety because of the global pandemic.”“The intention is always to honour manifesto commitments, but they were made before £400bn was spent coping with a global pandemic that none could have possibly foreseen,” they added.Mr Johnson is at odds with his defence secretary on military spending as the PM prepares to join other Nato leaders in Madrid on Tuesday.Mr Wallace has asked the PM to increase the country’s military spending from 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP – an additional 20 per cent a year – by 2028 in the face of the growing threat from Russia.In a letter to the PM, the cabinet minister also urged him to call on fellow Nato leaders to raise their own spending from the current minimum target of 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent of national income, according to Talk TV.The defence secretary issued his call for a boost in spending following Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine at the Royal United Services Institute think tank on Tuesday.The former Commander Joint Forces Command General Sir Richard Barrons said that he supported Mr Wallace’s latest demands. “I back him 100%, as will all the service chiefs and every serving officer … we have to raise our game,” he said.New figures shared by Nato this week showed that the proportion spent by Britain on its military has declined to 2.12 per cent – falling for the second year in a row.Nato leaders are heading to a crucial Madrid summit at which they are expected to agree the biggest overhaul of the Western alliance since the end of the Cold War.The alliance will hugely increase the number of troops placed on “high readiness” in its rapid response force from 40,000 to over 300,000, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday.The UK will boost the number of troops committed to Nato’s response force as part of a “high alert” standby force, and reportedly ready to send thousands more troops to the Nato battlegroup it leads in Estonia, where 1,700 British soldiers are already deployed. More

Boris Johnson has poured cold water on the prospect of a significant hike in military spending, as he insisted he does not believe that the UK is heading towards war with Russia.Defence secretary Ben Wallace is understood to have asked the prime minister for an increase in the defence budget from around 2 to 2.5 per cent of GDP – the equivalent of an additional 20 per cent per year.The call came as the head of the British Army warned that Britain and its Nato allies are facing a “1937 moment” and must be “unequivocally prepared to fight” if Russia attacks any of their territory.In a speech in London, chief of general staff General Sir Patrick Sanders said that Russia was likely to emerge from the Ukraine war as an even greater threat to European security and the West must be ready to “meet strength with strength”.But asked whether the UK was preparing for war with Russia, Mr Johnson replied: “I don’t think it will come to that. We’re working very hard to make sure that we confine this to Ukraine.”On defence spending, Mr Johnson said that the UK must “respond to the way that threats continue to change”.But he declined to voice backing for additional spending, pointing instead to the significant extra sums already committed to the military for the coming years.“We’ve now got a defence budget that’s £24bn bigger under the spending review – the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War,” said the prime minister. “Last year, the UK was a third biggest defence spender in the world. We’re making massive commitments.”Mr Johnson said the UK had “more than met our pledge” to exceed the Nato target of 2 per cent of GDP for defence, and had been instrumental in encouraging other member states to increase spending.Speaking in Germany on the final day of a G7 summit which has been overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, Mr Johnson said that Russia’s missile attack on a shopping centre in the city Kremenchuk was an act of “utter barbarism”, which had helped persuade wavering Western states to unite in their robust support for the Ukrainians.“I think people are just shocked by what Putin is capable of doing,” he said. “If anything, it helped those of us who are making the case for helping to protect the Ukrainians to get that message across to some of those people who are more ‘swing voters’ in the argument.“They can see that this is utter barbarism. And I think one of the things we’ve seen in this G7 today is a really, really powerful sense of unity, of resolve and purpose and absolute determination to keep giving the Ukrainians the help, the support, the wherewithal to keep going.”Mr Johnson, who was today flying to Madrid to join a summit of Nato leaders, denied that the war in Ukraine was in reality a conflict between Russia and the Western military alliance.“Putin and the Kremlin are going to try to widen the conflict and say that this is something to do between Nato and Russia – that is not it at all,” he said.“This is about an invasion of an independent sovereign country. It is about the West and the friends of Ukraine giving them the support they need to protect themselves.” More

Keir Starmer has said he will scrap Labour’s last election manifesto and is “starting from scratch” on policies. Speaking on Tuesday the Labour leader said he was putting the existing set of policies “to one side” and that “the slate is wiped clean”.His comments represent a reversal of a previous pledge. During the 2019 leadership election Sir Keir described the 2017 election manifesto as Labour’s “foundational document”, praised its “radicalism” and said: “We have to hang on to that as we go forward”.But speaking at an event organised by the New Statesman magazine today Sir Keir said: “What we’ve done with the last manifesto is put it to one side. We’re starting from scratch. The slate is wiped clean.”The U-turn is likely to anger some Labour members, who voted for him to be leader on a different prospectus. Left-wingers leapt on the comments and said he was taking “a tepid, unprincipled approach”.Sir Keir, who promised during the 2019 leadership election to abolish tuition fees if he became prime minister, suggested that the pandemic meant he could break the pledge.Asked whether he stood by the free education policy, he said: “What we do have to recognise is that having come through the pandemic, we need to look at everything in the round, and make choices about where we want to put our money.”But suggesting he was open to reform he said the current system did not “really work for students” or universities. “So of course, we’re going to have to look at that,” he said, without committing to a specific approach.The opposition leader also declined to stand by his promise to raise taxes on teh top five per cent of earners.After cementing his position at the top of Labour and taking control of the party’s executive, Sir Keir has jettisoned many of his leadership election pledges.The party leader has not in practice campaigned on pledges he made about tax, free movement, and public ownership of utilities, among other accusations of broken promises.Responding to Sir Keir’s comments, spokesperson for left-wing campaign group Momentum said: “Our country faces huge challenges, from the cost-of-living crisis to the existential threat of climate breakdown. The status quo is failing millions of people – and socialist solutions like public ownership and raising the minimum wage enjoy widespread support amongst the British public.“But the truth is that the Starmer leadership is avoiding facing these challenges in favour of a reheated and deeply unpopular Blairism. Whether it’s abandoning transport workers fighting for their livelihoods, or offering a windfall tax less ambitious than that of the Tories, Starmer’s tepid, unprincipled approach will neither tackle today’s challenges, nor invigorate a winning electoral coalition.”Labour has enjoyed a variable but persistent lead over the Conservatives since last year, with Boris Johnson’s personal popularity and the cost of living crisis appearing to drag down the Tory vote share. More

Liz Truss has failed to name a single occasion when she has challenged a Gulf state on human rights abuses – despite promising to hold its leaders “to account”.Challenged by MPs – as the UK seeks a controversial trade deal with a six-nation bloc including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain – the foreign secretary was unable to back up a claim that she raises concerns.Ms Truss told the foreign affairs committee she would have to provide details later of the “precise timing” of when Gulf leaders have been challenged about human rights violations.“You can’t remember a single human rights issue you have raised with a Gulf States leader?” asked Chris Bryant, a Labour member of the committee, suggesting the government believes it is “fine to do business” provided a country has not invaded another.But Ms Truss defended opening talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), arguing the need for “alternative energy sources” to counter Russia must be the priority.“We are not dealing in a perfect world. We are dealing in a world where we need to make difficult decisions,” she told the committee.Mr Bryant pointed out that Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, was held responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and that the country recently executed 81 people in a single day.But Ms Truss described Saudi Arabia as “an important partner of the UK”, adding: “I think it is right that we build that closer trading relationship with Gulf states.”She added: “Is every country that we work with exactly in line with United Kingdom policy on everything? No, they are not. But they are important allies of the United Kingdom.”Ms Truss also confirmed the primary aim of UK overseas aid spending has shifted from alleviating poverty to “geo-politics” and challenging the rising threat of China.Her new strategy is focused on “promoting freedom and democracy around the world” to “challenge the Chinese Belt and Road initiative”, the foreign secretary said.Ms Truss also rubbished French claims that the UK is interested in joining a loose new “European political community” grouping, being pursued by Emmanuel Macron.The French president claimed Boris Johnson was enthusiastic in their weekend meeting, but she told the committee “That’s not true. We have not agreed to that.”The UK is instead striking bilateral agreements with EU countries and views the G7 as the key economic alliance for Britain after Brexit, she said.Ms Truss said the government is still considering seizing the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs – an idea first put forward in February – with the proceeds going towards victims of the Ukraine invasion.She said she agreed with “the concept” but was still working on how to “get the specifics of it right”. More