Markus Andrews

The son of a Conservative MP has been filmed helping to blow up a Russian armoured vehicle in an operation in Ukraine, according to footage obtained by the i. Ben Grant can reportedly be heard shouting “shoot it now” and “mind the back blast” before an anti-tank missile is launched on a Russian BTR in a woodland in northeast Ukraine.Mr Grant, 30, son of of former minister Helen Grant, Conservative MP for Maidstone and The Weald, is among group of Western volunteer fighters supporting Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion.The footage captures one member of his platoon, made up of special forces, emerge from the trees and aim a Matador missle at a vehicle about 100 metres away, the i reported.The 15-hour US-British operation, supported by a further 14 Ukrainian troops, reportedly succeeded in blowing up the armoured vehicle.About eight Russian soldiers were allegedly killed in the attack.It follows a second round of footage, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, which shows Mr Grant and his comrades helping to save a fellow British fighter injured by a landmine in a Kharkiv forest.Battling relentless machine gun fire, the Tory MP’s son can be heard shouting “we’ve got to move now or we’re gonna die” as he helps drag ex-Grenadier Guardsman Dean Arthur to safety, the newspaper reported.After treating the barely-conscious Mr Arthur’s leg, Mr Grant can allegedly be heard saying: “You’ve got to try and walk or we’re going to die mate.”The fomer Royal Marine told The Telegraph that his platoon – made up 15 foreign fighters – had been ambushed by Russia after their whereabouts had been determined by drones ahead of their operation.As they headed to a key Russia-held target near Kharkiv, the group got caught up in a “mass firefight”, Mr Grant said.He also claims a remote-controlled mine went off near Mr Arthur, blowing “half of his leg off.”“My God it was unreal,” he said, adding: “I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life. We extracted him for 5km through dense woodblock and awful terrain and then get him medevac-ed out of there.”Mr Grant spent more than five years as a commando in the Royal Marines. He was part of group of seven ex-servicemen who arrived in Ukraine in early March to fight invading Moscow forces.Speaking to media following his arrival in Lviv, he said he chose to head to the eastern European country after watching a video of Russian forces bombing a house where a child could be heard screaming. He said at the time: “I thought, I am a father of three, and if that was my kids I know what I would do, I would go and fight. Then I thought I would want another load of people who might be skilled enough to help me come and help me, come and help me, save my family.” More

Rishi Sunak should scrap an estimated £200m “loophole” that allows wealthy owners of second homes to receive multiple energy rebates, the shadow chancellor has said.In an interview with The Independent, Rachel Reeves claimed the system’s design was a result of the chancellor’s support package being “cobbled together at the last minute” and amid damaging Partygate headlines.After the extraordinary U-turn to impose a windfall tax, Ms Reeves also hit out at the inclusion of a tax relief measure for energy companies investing further in fossil fuel extraction – describing it as a “get out of jail card”.The remarks come after ministers bowed to pressure and unveiled a multibillion-pound package aimed at alleviating the cost of living crisis, ditching a £200 loan scheme in favour of a universal £400 rebate on energy bills.But questions have been raised after it emerged individuals who own more than one home will receive multiple payments – one for each property.Labour’s own analysis shows there are just short of half a million second homes (499,763) in England, Wales, and Scotland combined that could be in line for extra support.If all of these properties were to receive a second £400 payment, Ms Reeves said the party’s estimate was that “£200m of money [announced] yesterday will go to people with multiple properties”.She said: “First of all this is borrowing, so all this money the government are borrowing, £10m, that all has to be paid back by future generations, so you could have just not had that in the package. It seems to me this money should be better targeted at those people who need it.“I think the point is, the government were forced into this U-turn, they decided they didn’t need to do anything until the very last minute, and as a result you’ve got a plan that is not as well-thought-through if I would have been designing it and has got these loopholes in it.”Asked whether the government should scrap this element of support, the shadow chancellor told The Independent: “Yeah. You shouldn’t design a system that sees people who are fortunate enough to own multiple properties get multiple payments.“This is about trying to help people, families that are struggling will bills, not putting more money into the pockets of the wealthiest.”Defending the plans on Friday, Mr Sunak said those with second homes receiving multiple grants of £400 will only account for a small proportion of payments across the country. More

Former minister Sir Bob Neill has become the 12th Conservative MP to submit a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s leadership, declaring that he did not find the prime minister’s explanations over lockdown-breaching parties “credible”. The Bromley and Chislehurst MP said that this week’s Partygate report by senior civil servant Sue Gray had uncovered “wholly unacceptable” behaviour within 10 Downing Street which had undermined trust in government.And he said: “Trust is the most important commodity in politics, but these events have undermined trust in not just the office of the prime minister, but in the political process itself. To rebuild that trust and move on, a change in leadership is required.”Within an hour Alicia Kearns, the MP for Melton, rumoured to be a key member of the ‘pork pie’ plot against the prime minister over partygate earlier this year, also said she did not have confidence in the prime minister.She hit out at the “shameful lengths” she said some would pursue to preserve Mr Johnson’s premiership and attacked his call for the public to move on.“To say we just need to ‘move on’ is to treat with contempt and disregard the sacrifices of the people of Rutland and Melton, and our entire country.”The chair of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady must call a vote on Mr Johnson’s leadership if he receives 54 no-confidence letters, with the PM then needing the support of half his MPs – some 180 votes – to hold onto his job.The latest interventions came hot on the heels of the resignation of Eastleigh MP Paul Holmes as ministerial aide in the Home Office.Mr Holmes, who was the first member of the government to quit since Wednesday’s publication of the full Gray report, said that “a toxic culture seemed to have permeated No 10.” But he did not make clear whether he wanted Mr Johnson to go or had written a letter to Sir Graham.Another four MPs – Julian Sturdy, John Baron, David Simmonds and Stephen Hammond – have called for the PM’s resignation since the report’s publication, while another, Guildford’s Angela Richardson, has said that she would resign if she faced similar criticism.Sir Bob, a barrister who currently chairs the Commons justice committee, said: “We cannot have one rule for those working in government and a different one for everyone else. Those of us who set the rules have a particular responsibility to stick to them ourselves.“Sue Gray’s report has highlighted a pattern of wholly unacceptable behaviour, spread over a number of months, by some working in 10 Downing Street, including breaking rules that caused real pain and hardship for many, and which the government, and we as parliamentarians, were telling others to live by.“I have listened carefully to the explanations the prime minister has given, in parliament and elsewhere, and, regrettably, do not find his assertions to be credible. “That is why, with a heavy heart, I submitted a letter of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady on Wednesday afternoon.“Trust is the most important commodity in politics, but these events have undermined trust in not just the office of the Prime Minister, but in the political process itself. To rebuild that trust and move on, a change in leadership is required.” More

Government ministers will no longer be expected automatically to resign or be sacked if they breach their code of conduct, under changes announced by Boris Johnson.An update to the code published today states that it is “disproporationate” to expect heads to roll for every breach of the code no matter how minor, and says ministers could instead be punished by “some form of public apology, remedial action or removal of ministerial salary for a period”.And a foreword to the code, penned by the prime minister, removed previous references to the principles of “integrity, objectivity, accountability, transparency, honesty and leadership” which should guide ministers’ conduct.Instead, the PM said ministers’ duty was to be “innovating, challenging assumptions and striving always to mobilise the power of the state for the benefit of the public”.A review of the terms of reference of Mr Johnson’s independent ethical adviser gives Christopher Geidt new powers to initiate an investigation, and to make it public if an intended inquiry is blocked by the PM.The review was demanded by Lord Geidt in the wake of the row of the refurbishment of Mr Johnson’s flat at 11 Downing Street. The decision to release the long-delayed outcome on a Friday afternoon during parliamentary recess was viewed by many at Westminster as a bid to avoid scrutiny.It comes ahead of an inquiry by the House of Commons privileges committee into whether Mr Johnson lied to parliament over parties at 10 Downing Street, raising the prospect that a guilty verdict from the cross-party panel would no longer be seen as a resigning matter under the new code.Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner accused Mr Johnson of “downgrading and debasing the principles of public life before our very eyes”.“In a week when Boris Johnson’s lies to parliament about industrial rule-breaking at the heart of government were finally exposed, he should be tendering his resignation but is instead watering down the rules to save his own skin,” said Ms Rayner.“Once again, Boris Johnson has demonstrated he is not serious about his pledge to address the scandal and sleaze engulfing his government or the frequent and flagrant breaches of standards and rule-breaking that have taken place on his watch.”And Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: “This is an appalling attempt by Boris Johnson to rig the rules to get himself off the hook.”It seems the Conservatives have learnt nothing from the Owen Paterson scandal.”The prime minister shouldn’t be allowed to decide on his own punishment – with zero accountability. This is making him judge and jury in his own case.”If the privileges committee finds Boris Johnson lied to parliament, surely Conservative MPs will have no choice but to sack him.”Since its introduction by John Major in 1992 and its formalisation by Tony Blair in 1997, it has always been a principle of the code of conduct that ministers found to have transgressed will be expected to resign or be dismissed.Until this year, the ethical adviser could only launch an investigation if ordered to by the prime minister, but following the “Wallpapergate” controversy over the Downing Street flat, Lord Geidt won the right to propose an inquiry.The new changes go further, allowing him to initiate an investigation of an alleged breach of the code. But the adviser is still required to consult the PM, who the code states “will normally give his consent”.It adds: “Where there are public interest reasons for doing so, the prime minister may raise concerns about a proposed investigation such that the independent adviser does not proceed. “In such an event, the independent adviser may still require that the reasons for an investigation not proceeding be made public unless this would undermine the grounds that have led to the investigation not proceeding. “ More

Rishi Sunak Says He Will Give His £400 Energy Rebate To CharityMinisters who are found to have breached the Ministerial Code will no longer be automatically expected to resign or face the sack, according to a new government policy statement.The statement said it would be “disproportionate” to expect a minister to lose their job for “minor” breaches of the code.The prime minister could instead order “some form of public apology, remedial action or removal of ministerial salary for a period”.The statement added: “Reflecting the prime minister’s accountability for the conduct of the executive, it is important that a role is retained for the prime minister in decisions about investigations.”Earlier, Tory MP Paul Holmes resigned as an aide to home secretary Priti Patel, saying the Sue Gray report into Partygate has exposed a “deep mistrust” in government.It is the first resignation since the publication of the civil servant’s final report into Covid rule-breaking parties in Downing Street.The Eastleigh MP said a “toxic culture [seems] to have permeated Number 10”.Show latest update

1653662735‘Extremely urgent’: British MPs push government to help human rights activist jailed in EgyptBritish MPs have demanded Boris Johnson’s government exert “maximum pressure” on Egypt to secure a consular visit for UK citizen Alaa Abdel-Fattah, who is nearly two months into a jail hunger strike, warning his situation is “dire and urgent”.The fresh calls for help come after more than 30 MPs and peers wrote to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss last week urging her to push for his immediate release, claiming his treatment sets a “dangerous precedent” and and doing nothing could impact on the rights of all Britons abroad.Our international correspondent Bel Trew reports:Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 15:451653661835Ministers no longer expected to resign if they break CodeMinisters who are found to have breached the Ministerial Code will no longer automatically be expected to resign or face the sack, according a new Government policy statement.The statement said it would be “disproportionate” to expect a minister to lose their job for “minor” breaches of the code.It said the Prime Minister could instead order “some form of public apology, remedial action or removal of ministerial salary for a period”.It said revised terms of reference for the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on the code, Lord Geidt, include an “enhanced process” to allow him to initiate investigations with the Prime Minister’s consent, although the final decision rests with the Prime Minister.“Reflecting the Prime Minister’s accountability for the conduct of the executive, it is important that a role is retained for the Prime Minister in decisions about investigations,” the statement said.The statement comes as Boris Johnson is facing an investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee into whether he misled Parliament over lockdown parties in Whitehall.Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 15:301653661097Breaking: Changes announced by Boris Johnson mean ministers no longer expected to resign for misbehaviourGovernment ministers will no longer be expected automatically to resign or be sacked if they breach their code of conduct, under changes announced by Boris Johnson.Andrew Woodcock, our political editor, reports:Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 15:181653660995Opinion: The impact of Rishi Sunak’s ‘mini Budget’ has been ruined by Partygate“Rishi Sunak’s “not an emergency Budget” was more significant than expected, both economically and politically. Ignore the claims the timing had nothing to do with Partygate; of course it did. At various points, I was told the cost-of-living package would come in August, then July, then June.“Boris Johnson had every reason to change the music on the day after Sue Gray’s final report. Ofgem, the energy regulator, provided some cover by predicting the hike in domestic bills in October, but Johnson would surely have insisted on a diversion even without it,” writes Andrew Grice. Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 15:161653660188‘Rough justice’: Sunak hands wealthy pensioners £850 while poor families lose out, analysis showsRishi Sunak’s energy bills support will hand wealthy pensioners £850 that they may not need while low-income families miss out, new analysis has shown.The think tank said that the biggest winners are wealthy pensioners while larger families will see their bills rises most steeply but still receive the same flat-rate paynment.My colleague Ben Chapman has more:Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 15:031653659408Tiverton and Honiton by-election: Tory candidate ‘told not to speak to media because of fear of partygate questions’The Conservative candidate for the upcoming Tiverton and Honiton by-election has been ordered not to speak to the media by senior party officials because they fear she will be asked about partygate, insiders say.Parish councillor Helen Hurford has been selected to fight the seat after former Tory MP Neil Parish resigned following revelations that he had twice watched pornography in parliament.But the former headteacher is said to have been told not to speak to press – because CCHQ think she will struggle to deal with questions about Boris Johnson’s lockdown lawbreaking.Colin Drury has more details:Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 14:501653658508Carers ‘facing £200 cut to income’ after being left out from Rishi Sunak’s cost-of-living packageWith the carer’s allowance increasing by just 3.1 per cent from £67.60 a week to £69.70, rocketing inflation means claimants are taking a combined hit of £193m this year, after inflation of 9 per cent is taken into account, the party said.Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 14:351653657635Boris Johnson has said his situation is “different” to Rishi Sunak after the chancellor confirmed he would be donating his £400 energy bill rebate to charity.As part of the emergency cost-of-living package, the chancellor announced each household will get the £400 energy discount that will be partly funded by a £5 billion windfall tax on oil and gas giants.Mr Sunak, who last week appeared on The Sunday Times Rich List with his wife Akshata Murty for the first time with their joint £730 million fortune, was questioned about what would happen to his £400 grant.He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I’m sure you will join me in giving that money to charity.”But when questioned if he would be following suit and donating his grant money, the Prime Minister said it works differently for him.He told reporters during a visit to Stockton-on-Tees: “I think my arrangements are different because I live in a Government flat.“But I think it’s important that people should recognise these payments will not necessarily cover the increased costs fully.“We can’t cover every single cost that people are going to pay, we’ve got to be realistic about that.“However, they will go a long way towards helping people.”Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 14:201653656708Martin Lewis hits back at claims he’s ‘sold out’ over Rishi Sunak cost of living planMartin Lewis has said he just tries to “call it straight” as he hit back at critics who accused him of being a “sell out” after praising Rishi Sunak‘s package of measures to help with the cost of living crisis.The Money Saving Expert has in recent months been highly critical of the chancellor and the government more broadly for not doing enough to help people with rising fuel, food and energy bills.But Mr Lewis said on Thursday that he welcomed the series of measures announced by the chancellor in parliament earlier in the day, which included a £400 cut to energy bills for every household in the UK, Matt Mathers writes. Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 14:051653655821All the cost of living help available and how to get it including £400 energy bill discountThe British chancellor announced a host of new measures this week following criticism the government wasn’t doing enough. My colleague Zoe Tidman has a list of all that is available at the moment to help easy the financial burden:Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2022 13:50 More

Tory MP Paul Holmes has resigned as an aide to Home Secretary Priti Patel, saying the Sue Gray report into Partygate has exposed a “deep mistrust” in government.Mr Holmes’ departure is the third government resignation over the Partygate affair and the first since the publication of the civil servant’s final report into Covid rule-breaking parties in Downing Street.The Eastleigh MP said it was clear a “toxic culture [seems] to have permeated Number 10.” But he did not call for Boris Johnson’s removal as prime minister or indicate that he would send a letter of no confidence in his leadership to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.In a statement on his website, Mr Holmes said the fallout from the Partygate scandal has been “distressing.”“It is clear to me that a deep mistrust in both the government and the Conservative Party has been created by these events, something that pains me personally as someone who always tries to represent Eastleigh and its people with integrity,” he wrote.He said that work done by MPs on behalf of their constituencies had been “tarnished by the toxic culture that seemed to have permeated Number 10”.Mr Holmes’ resignation as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Home Office adds to the pressure on Mr Johnson, after a predicted wave of no-confidence letters failed to materialise in the immediate wake of the Gray report’s publication.Just four Tory MPs – Julian Sturdy, David Simmonds, John Baron and Stephen Hammond – have declared that they no longer support the PM following the report’s finding of a “failure of leadership” at No 10, while a fifth, Angela Richardson, said that she would have resigned if she was the subject of similar criticism.Ms Richardson quit as a PPS in January following Ms Gray’s interim report, while Lord Wolfson resigned as a justice minister in April after Mr Johnson received a £50 police fine for attending a lockdown-busting birthday party in 10 Downing Street in 2020.Mr Holmes entered parliament in 2019 with a comfortable majority in the Hampshire seat of Eastleigh, which had been Liberal Democrat until the 2015 election. More

Boris Johnson has struck a gloomy note on the war in Ukraine, warning that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is making “palpable progress” in his bid to seize the eastern Donbas region.The prime minister said Western states should not be “lulled” by the early Ukrainian successes around capital Kyiv into thinking that the threat from Russia had been overcome.He said it was “absolutely vital” for countries like the UK to keep supporting president Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime with military supplies.Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Mr Johnson said: “I think it’s very, very important that we do not get lulled, because of the incredible heroism of the Ukrainians in pushing the Russians back from the gates of Kyiv.“I’m afraid that Putin – at great cost to himself and to the Russian military – is continuing to chew through ground in Donbas. He’s continuing to make gradual, slow, but I’m afraid palpable progress.“Therefore, it is absolutely vital that we continue to support the Ukrainians militarily.”Mr Johnson told Bloomberg the West should send Ukraine more offensive weapons such as Multiple Launch Rocket Systems that can strike targets from much further away.He played down the prospect of meaningful peace talks with Putin: “How can you deal with a crocodile when it’s in the middle of eating your left leg? The guy’s completely not to be trusted.” More

The Conservative candidate for the upcoming Tiverton and Honiton by-election has been ordered not to speak to the media by senior party officials because they fear she will be asked about partygate, insiders say.Parish councillor Helen Hurford has been selected to fight the seat after former Tory MP Neil Parish resigned following revelations that he had twice watched pornography in parliament.But the former headteacher is said to have been told not to speak to press – because CCHQ think she will struggle to deal with questions about Boris Johnson’s lockdown lawbreaking.One local Tory says that anger about Downing Street shindogs is now so widespread in the rural Devon constituency that it has been decided Ms Hurford’s best chance of victory is to remain largely silent and hope the party’s current 24,000 majority carries her to victory.Strategists are said to have spent time workshopping a response to difficult questions but even the favoured option – to suggest the prime minister got things wrong but it is time to move on – is considered likely to antagonise voters in an area where integrity is expected to come as standard.The result is that Ms Hurford has been all but invisible since being selected as the Tories’ candidate on Monday. Requests to speak to her by The Independent went firstly unanswered and were then declined with no reason given.The order for silence is said to have even been extended to local Conservative councillors who have been informally told not to discuss the by-election with media.Asked in a WhatsApp message if such an instruction had been given, one councillor Colin Slade replied: “I couldn’t possibly comment!”Another, who asked not to be named, added that members had been told they should “button up”.Responding to the revelations, a source with the Lib Dems, who are considered the main challengers here, said: “It’s sad that Tory bosses have now effectively gagged their candidate. How can voters trust her to speak up for them if she isn’t even allowed to speak?”It all comes after Sir Roger Gale, the MP for North Thanet, said Ms Hurford had been chosen as a “electoral sacrifice” amid growing fears the Tories could lose the contest.“I asked in the tea room this morning if we had actually selected an electoral sacrifice to fight…and I’m told that we have,” he told BBC News on Wednesday.Yet how well the tactic of eschewing scrutiny will work is yet to be seen.A similar playbook was used in the Hartlepool, Batley and Spen and North Shropshire by-elections last year when Conservative candidates were labelled invisible for their lack of media engagement.While it worked in Hartlepool, it proved a disaster in Batley and Spen and North Shropshire where the Tories lost despite being favourites.The Conservatives have been approached for comment. More