Markus Andrews

Northern Conservatives have warned Boris Johnson that voters must see action on his promise to “level up” the country or face “annihilation” in the red wall at the next general election.Red wall Tory MPs told The Independent they are worried about the sluggish pace of infrastructure and improvement projects – saying they need be able to “point” to visible signs of progress before voters go to the polls.“There isn’t a single spade in the ground yet,” one Tory MP said on work planned in his constituency. “We need to get spades in the ground and deliver more, because people need to see they’re not going to be ignored.” More

Boris Johnson has insisted Ukraine should be given the opportunity to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, despite the country’s ongoing conflict with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.Returning from a surprise trip to Kyiv, the prime minister said the Ukrainians won the 2022 contest “fair and square”, and suggested that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) should reconsider its proposal that next year’s contest be hosted elsewhere.In statement on Friday, the EBU revealed it had started “discussions” with the BBC about hosting the annual contest in the UK after concluding that Ukraine would not be able to fulfil “security and operational guarantees”.Speaking at RAF Brize Norton on Saturday, Mr Johnson said he believed it should be possible for the music contest to go ahead in Ukraine despite intense fighting in the country’s eastern regions.“I have just been to Kyiv. I won’t say it is completely jiving and buzzing and popping, but it is far, far more lively. People are much more confident,” the prime minister told reporters.“People are out in the streets, eating in cafes and restaurants, in a way that they weren’t a even few weeks ago.”He added: “The Ukrainians won the Eurovision Song Contest. I know we had a fantastic entry, I know we came second, and I’d love it to be in this country. But the fact is that they won, and they deserve to have it. “I believe that they can have it, and I believe that they should have it. I believe that Kyiv, or any other safe Ukrainian city, would be a fantastic place to have it.“I hope the European Broadcasting Union will recognise that. It’s a year away; it’s going to be fine by the time the Eurovision Song Contest comes round.”The Ukrainian entry by Kalush Orchestra won the competition in Turin, Italy this year, and it is traditional that the winning country hosts the event the following year.However, the EBU has stated that following a “full assessment and feasibility study” it has concluded that the “security and operational guarantees” required to host the event cannot be fulfilled by Ukraine’s public broadcaster, UA:PBC.Mr Johnson also told reporters on Saturday that he was concerned that Ukraine “fatigue” was starting to set in around the world, with Russia’s invasion now in its fifth month.“We’ve got to understand Ukrainians are suffering terribly in the east of their country,” the prime minister said.“The Russians are grinding forward inch by inch, and it’s vital for us to show what we know to be true, which is that Ukraine can and will win.” More

The government has broken its promise to deliver 100 million surplus Covid vaccines to poor countries, after sharply cutting international aid spending.At a G7 meeting in June last year, Boris Johnson pledged to send the vaccines to developing countries within a year to help close the global vaccine gap and “vaccinate the world”.But a year later the government has delivered barely a third of the number of promised jabs, with just 36.5 million deployed as of the end of May – a deficit of 63.5 million doses.Figures published by the government also show that ministers have effectively charged developing countries for the leftover jabs by deducting them from existing aid, and even added a mark-up on the UK’s original purchase price.The backdrop to the failure to deliver is a stark vaccine divide across the world, with just one in five Africans having received a single dose compared to 65 per cent of all people worldwide. The World Bank expects 198 million people to be pushed into poverty across the globe this year as a result of the pandemic.The prime minister pledged to parliament last year that the vaccines would not be funded by taking money from the existing aid budget – a vow he appears to have broken. Statistics for aid spending in 2021 show that £100.4m was taken out of the UK aid budget to cover the cost of the surplus coronavirus vaccines sent abroad.Labour accused the government of “profiteering” from the pandemic because ministers have counted each vaccine as £4.50 of aid spending, despite paying just £2.30 for doses in the first place, according to the British Medical Journal – a mark-up of 95 per cent.As a result of this accounting, the government has been able to mark down more than £100m from the aid budget by donating the vaccines the UK had no use for.Preet Kaur Gill, Labour’s shadow international development secretary, said it was “indefensible” for the government’s cuts to be landing on the world’s poorest. “Once again, this prime minister chases headlines then drastically under-delivers,” she told The Independent.“Last year Boris Johnson stood up in parliament and promised his government would share vaccines with poorer countries to help us beat the pandemic as quickly as possible, and that he wouldn’t raid the aid budget to pay for vaccines we had going spare.“Now we learn that not only has he broken his promise, but his government has also profiteered off the pandemic by doubling the price of vaccines for the poorest countries in the world. In the middle of a global crisis, with food prices skyrocketing, it is indefensible for the government to balance the books on the backs of the world’s poorest people.”The government has claimed that vaccine supply is outstripping demand and said the pledge is no longer important. But aid charity Oxfam said the government was effectively charging poor countries for its “leftovers”.“The UK government has repeatedly broken its promises to deliver vaccine donations to poorer countries and it’s an outrage that they are recharging the leftover doses they have given to an already depleted aid budget, depriving poor countries of other life-saving aid,” Anna Marriott, health policy manager at the NGO, told The Independent.She added the UK had also repeatedly “disrupted negotiations” for a waiver of intellectual property for Covid vaccines, which would allow developing countries to make their own doses, meaning they wouldn’t be reliant on donations.On his return from the G7 summit in June last year, the prime minister was asked by Tory MP Damian Green during an exchange in parliament whether he could guarantee that the doses sent in 2022 would be “be in addition to our existing aid budget”. Mr Johnson replied: “Yes, I can.”In November last year, The Independent revealed that the UK threw away more than 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine after the life-saving jabs were allowed to pass their expiry date. But developing countries have also criticised the short shelf life of surplus vaccines they have been given by international donors. Tens of millions of doses have been rejected.Conservative international development minister Amanda Milling said more doses had been earmarked to meet the missed 100 million target, even though they had not actually been delivered on time. “As of 26 May, the UK had donated 82.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, of which 36.5 million had already been deployed in-country and the rest were with Covax in the process of being allocated and delivered,” she said.“The UK has made available 100 million doses. However, global supply now far outstrips demand and countries around the world have greater access to and choice of vaccines. Dose donations are no longer critical. The challenge now is to ensure that developing countries can effectively administer vaccines and the UK supports the work of the Covid-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership to deliver on this.”Despite the minister’s claims, under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development rules donations can only be recorded as international aid disbursements “when the beneficiary country has taken delivery of doses”, to prevent countries making spurious claims about theoretical donations.A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which oversees international aid spending, said: “The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to Covid-19, spending over £2.1bn since 2020 to help end the pandemic. We have donated over 80 million life-saving vaccines to nearly 40 countries and have made a further 20 million available to meet the 100 million target.” More

Cost of living crisis protest underway in LondonThe head of the TUC, which has organised thousands of people to rally against the cost-of-living crisis, has warned the prime minister not to put responsibility for it on workers.“Let me say this to Boris Johnson – don’t you dare shift the blame for inflation on to working people,” she told crowds.“Don’t you dare, not after a decade of austerity, privatisation and pay cuts. Don’t you dare tell working families we have to put up with more pain.”Earlier, Mr Johnson said Britain would get through the crisis and “come through on the other side strongly” as he said he sympathised with people facing pressure.The TUC says workers have lost almost £20,000 since 2008 because pay has not kept pace with inflation.Meanwhile, home secretary Priti Patel said the “absolutely scandalous” European court decision that effectively grounded the first flight to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda was politically motivated.Mr Johnson said the government would press ahead with its Rwanda plan, and defended Home Office plans to electronically tag some asylum-seekers arriving in the UK.Show latest update

1655583008Boris Johnson’s former ethics adviser quit ‘over PM’s readiness to break law’Former Downing Street ethics adviser Christopher Geidt has prompted fresh calls for Boris Johnson’s resignation, by declaring that his decision to quit his post was prompted by the prime minister’s willingness to deliberately breach international law.In a second letter to explain his shock resignation on Wednesday, Lord Geidt said that the details of the row over steel tariffs which finally provoked his departure were a “distraction” from his real motivation. Andrew Woodcock reports:Jane Dalton18 June 2022 21:101655581208Opinion: Return power to the people to tackle twin challengesWe face the twin challenges of building a country that fires on all cylinders and the climate emergency, writes Lisa Nandy for The Independent.The solution must be tilting the balance of power back in favour of the people who have stake in the outcome We have to ensure every area has a local growth plan and the powers to deliver on it, and we must smash up a century of centralisation and restore power to people who can use it to rebuild their parks, libraries, high streets and youth clubs that make up the social fabric of a place:Jane Dalton18 June 2022 20:401655580008Tory rebels to pile pressure on PM as by-election ‘disaster’ loomsTory MPs warn a double by-election defeat on Thursday will pile further pressure on Boris Johnson’s leadership as the embattled prime minister tries to move on from the Partygate scandal:Jane Dalton18 June 2022 20:201655578808Four-day week may work well, government admits, as pilot startsGovernment officials have accepted that a four-day week “may work” for some businesses, as the world’s largest trial of shorter working hours kicks off in the UK, writes Jon Stone.The Independent understands that officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are keeping a close eye on the pilot programme and have already met the study’s organisers to find out more. Jane Dalton18 June 2022 20:001655576408Beware Ukraine fatigue setting in, warns JohnsonBoris Johnson has said the West must continue to support the Ukrainians as they seek to recover territory seized by Russia, saying it would be a catastrophe if President Vladimir Putin was able to claim victory.After visiting Kyiv yesterday, the Prime Minister warned that Ukraine should not be encouraged to accept a “bad peace” which would simply be the prelude to a renewed Russian offensive.Mr Johnson also defended his decision to pull out of a conference of northern Tories on Friday so he could meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.The timing of the visit led to accusations that he was snubbing the north ahead of a crucial by-election in Wakefield in West Yorkshire which the Tories are widely expected to lose.However, speaking to reporters at RAF Brize Norton on his return, Mr Johnson said it was important to demonstrate the UK’s support at a time when the Ukrainians were “suffering terribly” in the face of the ongoing Russian offensive in the Donbas.“I think it is very important to go to Ukraine at a particularly critical time. The worry that we have is that a bit of Ukraine-fatigue is starting to set in around the world,” he said.Jane Dalton18 June 2022 19:201655573408Opinion: Trade war with Europe is the latest in PM’s string of deflections and deceptionBoris Johnson is trying to bait the EU into a trade war as he also trashed the UK’s international reputation by breaking international law and amplifying division in Northern Ireland, writes Caolán Magee. Other recent deflections include imperial measurements on pint glasses, a smoking ban, and sending refugees to Rwanda:Jane Dalton18 June 2022 18:301655570408Judges who blocked Rwanda flight racist, claims Priti PatelThe European judges who stopped the Rwanda deportations on Tuesday are racist, home secretary Priti Patel has claimed.Rwanda has a recent history of genocide and human-rights abuses, she said, but it was rebuilding.“If it was France, if we were sending people to Sweden, New York, Sydney, would they [the critics] change their mind?” she asked. “That actually speaks of inbuilt prejudice and, I would even go as far as to say, racism,” The Times reports.Jane Dalton18 June 2022 17:401655567408Angela Rayner joins London demonstratorsLabour deputy leader Angela Rayner has joined protests in London calling for action on the cost-of-living crisis. More

Boris Johnson has defended “draconian” Home Office plans to use electronic tags on asylum seekers arriving in Britain across the Channel on small boats or in lorries. Despite campaigners warning that the policy would see people who have fled conflict treated as “criminals”, the prime minister said it was essential that people could not simply “vanish” after arriving in the UK.Mr Johnson also insisted that the government would press ahead with its contentious policy of deporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda, after ministers were forced to abandon the scheme’s inaugural flight on Tuesday evening when last-minute legal injunctions were issued following an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights.The Home Office said that the 12-month tagging pilot – which will apply to adults who have travelled to the UK via “unnecessary and dangerous routes” – will test whether the scheme helps to maintain regular contact with asylum claimants, and whether it results in their claims being processed more efficiently. It will also collect data on how many people abscond. If the conditions are breached, asylum seekers may be considered for detention and removal, become subject to administrative arrest, or be prosecuted. Those tagged will have to report in person to the authorities on a regular basis, and may be subject to other conditions, such as a curfew or an “inclusion or exclusion zone”, meaning they are banned from leaving or entering specified areas. Failure to comply could see them returned to detention or prosecuted.Defending the plans on Saturday, Mr Johnson said: “This is a very, very generous, welcoming country. Quite right, too. I am proud of it, but when people come here illegally, when they break the law, it is important that we make that distinction.“That is what we are doing with our Rwanda policy. That is what we are doing with making sure that asylum seekers can’t just vanish into the rest of the country.”He spoke after it was revealed that the pilot scheme – branded “draconian and punitive” by critics – had begun to be implemented on Thursday.On a visit to Wakefield, ahead of next week’s crucial by-election, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of “chasing headlines” with the policy.“What I want is a serious response, because nobody wants these journeys across the Channel to be made, these perilous journeys,” he said.“Everybody wants to clamp down on the gangs. That requires grown-up work with the French authorities, and upstream work to actually tackle these gangs. You don’t do that if you’re a government that is asking the National Crime Agency to make cuts.”Speaking to reporters at RAF Brize Norton after returning from an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Mr Johnson also said that ministers remain confident that the policy of deporting aslyum seekers is lawful.Earlier this week, the government was forced to abandon the first £500,000 taxpayer-funded flight to Rwanda just minutes before it was scheduled to depart, after a handful of migrants were granted a legal reprieve. Fewer than ten asylum seekers were due to board the aircraft.Mr Johnson said: “Every single court in this country said that there was no obstacle that they could see. No court in this country ruled the policy unlawful – which was very, very encouraging.“There was this weird last-minute hiccup we had with Strasbourg. Let’s see where we get with that. I have read some interesting legal commentary about that. But we are very confident in the lawfulness of what we are doing, and we are going to pursue the policy.”On Wednesday, Priti Patel, the home secretary, said officials at the Home Office were already working on plans for the next flight, but the government has declined to give a time frame. More

Thousands of people are set to join a mass demonstration in London urging Boris Johnson’s government do do more in the cost of living crisis and provide a better deal for workers.The Trade Union Congress, which is organising the event on Saturday, said workers are suffering the “longest and hardest” squeeze on their earnings in modern history. Frances O’Grady, the head of the TUC, said millions had been left “without a safety net as bills and prices skyrocket”, with the Bank of England forecasting that inflation could reach 11 per cent in the autumn. More

Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have returned questionnaires to Durham police in relation to their investigation into whether they broke lockdown rules, a Labour spokesperson has said.The Labour leader and his deputy were caught on camera drinking a beer in an MP’s office after a day of campaigning for the local elections in Durham last spring.Both Sir Keir and Ms Rayner have said they will stand down if fined by police.The pair were asked by Durham Constabulary to explain their attendance at the 30 April gathering, at which takeaway curry was also consumed.At the time of the gathering, non-essential retail and outdoor venues including pub gardens were open, but social distancing rules, which included a ban on indoor mixing between households, remained in place.Labour argues the gathering was acceptable because food was consumed.Sir Keir said his team had “got on with their work” as they ate. “I simply had something to eat while working late in the evening, as any politician would do days before an election,” said the Labour leader.Ms Rayner added: “Eating during a long day’s work was not against the rules.”Last month, Durham Constabulary announced they had reversed an earlier decision that no offence had been committed, after receiving “significant new information”.A leaked memo suggested the takeaway was planned as part of the itinerary for the day, with no further work apparently scheduled after dinner.After police began investigating the event, the Labour leader and his deputy were accused of hypocrisy for calling for Boris Johnson to resign over lockdown breaches in Downing Street. More

Priti Patel has reportedly called the last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) that grounded the government’s first deportation flight to Rwanda “scandalous”.The flight was halted minutes before its scheduled take-off on Tuesday after the ECHR ruled two of the asylum seekers due to be on board should not be removed from the UK until their appeals had been heard.The home secretary said soon after that the new deportation scheme would continue despite the false start. “Many of those removed from this flight will be placed on the next. Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now,” she said, though she withheld direct criticism of the ECHR.But on Friday, in an interview with The Telegraph, Ms Patel said: “The opaque way this court has operated is scandalous.”She added: “The’ve not used this ruling previously, which does make you question the motivation and the lack of transparency.”Tuesday’s late intervention led some in the Conservative Party to call for Britain to pull out of the ECHR, a Strasbourg court which enforces a convention drawn up in 1956 and ratified by 47 member states. It is unaffiliated with the European Union.Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, said on Thursday the government had no plans to leave the court but said it had overstepped its powers in blocking the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda.He said Britain could bring in new laws to ensure the court’s interim measures, such as the last-minute Rwanda intervention, could be ignored. More