Markus Andrews

The Metropolitan Police has announced that the number of fines handed out to government staff for law-breaking parties held during the Covid-19 pandemic has doubled to more than 100.Scotland Yard said last month that 50 referrals had been made to the criminal records office for fixed penalty notice (FPN) fines over parties in Downing Street and Whitehall.In an update on Thursday, the Met police said its Operation Hillman team had now recommended 100 fines. The force said its investigation, into 12 separate events, remains ongoing.No 10 said Boris Johnson has not been issued with another fine, after he was punished last month over his rule-breaking birthday party in June 2020. The Liberal Democrats said the new fines showed the “shocking scale” of rule-breaking in government.“Boris Johnson stood up in parliament and said Covid rules were followed in No 10 at all times,” said leader Sir Ed Davey. “Now 100 fines have been issued … it shows the shocking scale of the law-breaking in Johnson’s Downing Street and the extent of his lies.”Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said the government had “racked up the dubious distinction of receiving more fines on the prime minister’s watch than any other location.”She added: “Boris Johnson made the rules, and then broke them at record-breaking scale. Britain deserves better.”Dominic Cummings suggested that junior No 10 staff bitter at being fined for attending events they were told were lawful may get their revenge at the Covid inquiry.The former No 10 strategist tweeted: “Am getting lots of texts today like ‘I can’t WAIT for the inquiry, I took lots of notes’.” Police are believed to have issuing fines to Downing Street staff over a Christmas party held at No 10 on 18 December 2020 in recent days.The festive bash – held while London was in strict Tier 3 measures – was said to have been attended by dozens of the prime minister’s staff.Mr Johnson was forced to address the issue of the December 2020 bash after the explosive leak of a video showing staff holding a mock press conference and making jokes about a Christmas party.It led to the resignation of government aide Allegra Stratton and the eventual announcement of an investigation by top civil servant Sue Gray’s investigation.Scotland Yard would not confirm if fines had yet been issued over the Christmas gathering, or any other particular party, but the 18 December 2020 event is one of 12 that Operation Hillman detectives are investigating.Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and chancellor Rishi Sunak were all hit with fixed penalty notices in April over a birthday party held for the prime minister in Downing Street’s Cabinet Room.The PM previously said it “did not occur” to him the gathering to mark his 56th birthday was a violation of his Covid rules – but that he “now humbly accepts” he did breach the laws.It was previously reported that some government staff had received new questionnaires from the force in relation to a leaving party for the PM’s former communications director, Lee Cain, on 13 November 2020.But Mr Johnson indicated earlier this month that he was not among those to be sent one, telling Times Radio, “I am not commenting on this stuff generally, but the answer to that is no, not so far, or certainly not to my knowledge.”A Cabinet Office leaving do in June 2020 is also believed to have attracted fines. Former ethics chief Helen MacNamara admitted she had received a fixed penalty notice over the event.Scotland Yard are also thought to have issued fines to government staff who attended a party at No 10 on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral last April.Downing Street is braced for the full, damning report into the scandal from Ms Gray once the Met police inquiry is concluded, after only a short summary was published in January.Mr Johnson also still faces an investigation by MPs on the Commons privileges committee into whether he misled parliament with remarks saying “all guidance was followed” at No 10. More

Boris Johnson is “sickened and appalled” by plans for serial killer Levi Bellfield to marry in jail, Downing Street has said.The government has launched an urgent review into whether it can stop “evil monster” Bellfield from marrying his fiancee, who is described in The Sun newspaper as a “besotted” blonde-haired woman in her 40s.But the prime minister’s official spokesperson said that a decision on whether such a wedding can go ahead is one for the prison governor rather than ministers.Bellfield is one of a handful of prisoners currently serving a whole-life term, meaning he will never be released, after being convicted of the murders of schoolgirl Milly Dowler, 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell, and French student Amelie Delagrange.Prisons minister Victoria Atkins said: “This man is an evil, evil monster who has left a trail of despair and grief in his wake.”The prime minister’s official spokesperson told reporters: “Like the rest of the country, the prime minister is sickened and appalled by this, and his thoughts are with the families and loved ones of his victims.“They are at the forefront of his mind following this difficult and no doubt distressing news.”The spokesperson said that applications to marry of this kind are “very rare” and are made under Article 12 of the Human Rights Act which the government intends to replace with a new British Bill of Rights.He was unable to say whether such applications would be barred under the new regime envisaged by justice secretary Dominc Raab, but added: “Certainly the sorts of abuses we have seen of the Human Rights Act are exactly what this is designed to address.”Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Ms Atkins was unable to say whether the government would be able to prevent the marriage going ahead.“My heart goes out to the families because, yet again, this appalling human being is on the front pages (of newspapers) and they’re having to think about him,” she said. “I’m appalled that someone like this can make an application to get married – we’re looking into it very carefully. Watch this space please.”The 53-year-old killer would need the permission of the governor at HMP Frankland to marry at the category A prison.Rules state the prison governor can raise an objection to the facility being named on the notice of marriage as the place where the service is carried out.The governor must discuss with the National Offender Management Service if there are concerns that any security risks cannot reasonably be overcome, or if there are concerns that either party is getting married under duress. More

Boris Johnson has taken his cabinet on an “away day” trip to Stoke-on-Trent to discuss the cost of living crisis, hoping to inspire a few new ideas among his ministers.The prime minister and his top team are making a 300-mile round journey to the Staffordshire town on Thursday as they come under increasing pressure to help hard-pressure families.But there will be no fact-finding missions to food banks or team-bonding exercises in the Potteries. Ministers are simply staging one of the regular cabinet meetings usually held in Downing Street.So why Stoke? According to No 10, Mr Johnson is hoping the new environs outside the meeting room window will prompt cabinet members to “bring the benefits of the Queen’s Speech to life”.Downing Street said ministers discussed how the government’s new legislation agenda can boost the economy and help “level up” the country – highlighting recent funding already given to Stoke.The symbolic gesture – aimed at reminding voters in “red wall” areas in the north and Midlands that the government cares about them – does at least allow Mr Johnson to avoid the glare of Westminster for an afternoon, as yet more fines are handed out over Partygate.But getting outside of the SW1 bubble doesn’t mean any new financial help is on the way for those struggling with soaring bills, in Stoke or anywhere else.The PM had previously asked called on cabinet colleagues to find cost-free ways to ease pressures on household finances – whether through the promotion of benefits not widely taken up, or easing MOT tests.Ministers will discuss these cheap alternatives to fiscal firepower, as chancellor Rishi Sunak keeps his cards close to his chest about any big plans he has ahead of the Autumn Budget.In his opening remarks during Thursday’s meeting, the PM urged ministers to “make sure we use all our ingenuity” and “all our compassion” to help people struggling with living costs – saying he was keen on “cutting the cost of energy”.There are signs No 10 and the Treasury are changing their tune on a windfall tax on oil and gas company profits, with the idea reportedly “back on the table”.Prior to the big trip to Stoke, Mr Sunak told the BBC on Thursday was “pragmatic” about the idea as a possible way to raise money despite being “not naturally attracted” to the concept.“There’s some people who think windfall taxes can never be the answer, and then there are other people who think windfall taxes are an easy, quick, simple answer to solve every problem,” he said. “I’m not in either of those schools of thought, I’m pragmatic about it.”And Mr Johnson refused to rule out a levy on the profits of fossil fuel companies. It follows an admission by BP chief executive Bernard Looney, who said his firm’s investment plans would not be affected by a windfall tax.The prime minister suggested during an LBC interview that while he still does not “like” such taxes because of the impact on investment, it is something that will have to be considered.Pressed on Mr Looney’s comments by host Nick Ferrari, Mr Johnson said: “Well, you know, then we’ll have to look it.”The PM added: “I don’t like them. I didn’t think they’re the right thing. I don’t think they’re the right way forward. I want those companies to make big, big investments.”Mr Johnson also suggested on Thursday that the government will be coming forward with more assistance for hard-pressed families in July. “There is more coming down the track. July and so on,” he said.Extra financial help on the way, or only the cost-free initiatives from various departments?The prime minister did not say – though he urged people to checks which benefits they might be eligible for. “What people don’t realise is that actually there is some help that is not being taken up.” More

Labour MP Stella Creasy has revealed that she was threatened with gang rape during a two-year campaign of sexual harassment at Cambridge University.The Walthamstow MP said college authorities “admonished” her instead of punishing the abusers when she made the complaint after running for a student council role at Magdalene College in the 1990s.She said a culture of “privilege and entitlement” is behind the string of allegations of misconduct that politicians have been sharing, and warned it is not unique to parliament.Ms Creasy, now 45, said she remains “terrified” of seeing the men, who have gone on to become doctors, civil servants and “high-fliers”.The MP said her first experience of sexual harassment was during her first year at Magdalene College. She said it lasted from 1996 to 1998 and included a campaign of abusive posters when she ran for the role of president of the college’s student council.Ms Creasy told GB News: “I’ll never forget the night that I was in a room with them all and they threatened to gang rape me, let alone the posters that they put up around the college when I had the temerity to stand for a position in the student union, telling people not to vote for me because of who I’d slept with, and that happened at a Cambridge college.” More

A Conservative MP has defended his comments on food banks after saying people use them because they “cannot cook properly” and “cannot budget”.Lee Anderson invited “everybody” on the opposition benches in the Commons to visit a food bank in his Nottinghamshire constituency where, when people come for a food parcel, they now need to register for a “budgeting course” and a “cooking course”.Asked by a Labour MP if it should be necessary to have food banks in 21st century Britain, the MP for Ashfield said there is not “this massive use for food banks” in the UK, but “generation after generation who cannot cook properly” and “cannot budget”.His comments during the second day of the Queen’s Speech debate in the Commons were harshly criticised, with some urging him to apologise.However, Mr Anderson hit back at the reporting of his comments, writing on Facebook: “Gutter Press Again.“I did not say poor people cannot cook or there is no need for food banks. I said there is not the need currently being parrotted out by the MSM (mainstream media).“Today I challenged the whole Parliamentary Labour Party to come to Ashfield to visit the food bank I work with. The give food parcels away on the condition the enrole for cooking and budgeting lessons.“I have done several events at the foodbank where we batch cooked food on a budget. My offer stands. Come to Ashfield.”

Cooking meals from scratch won’t help families keep the lights on or put food on the table, if they don’t have enough money in their pocketsThe Trussell TrustHe was backed by Conservative MP for Mansfield Ben Bradley, who said there is a problem with “basic education” and numeracy skills.Mr Bradley told Nottinghamshire Live: “People take Lee’s comments about a small group of people, and there is a cycle, he is absolutely right, about a small number, or a large number really, but a minority, of families and generations of poor education, poor basic skills around cooking and budgeting, if you don’t know as a parent how to do things and you find that cycle of poverty and it is important to break into that at some stage with the kind of education Lee is talking about.”Labour branded Mr Anderson’s remarks “beyond belief”, and the Liberal Democrats described them as “disgraceful” and the SNP said they were “crass”.The Child Poverty Action Group claimed politicians “would do better to back real-world solutions, like bringing benefits in line with inflation this autumn” and the Trussell Trust charity insisted “cooking meals from scratch won’t help families keep the lights on or put food on the table, if they don’t have enough money in their pockets”.

The idea that the problem is cooking skills and not 12 years of Government decisions that are pushing people into extreme poverty is beyond beliefKaren BuckThe Trades Union Congress insisted the comments showed “how out of touch Conservative MPs and ministers are with the cost-of-living emergency”.SNP MP Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West), the subsequent speaker in the Commons debate, told Mr Anderson people do not use food banks because they do not know how to cook, but because “we have poverty in this country at a scale that should shame his Government”.Shadow work and pensions minister Karen Buck said: “In the world where people actually live, we now hear daily stories of families going without food and others unable to turn their ovens on in fear of rising energy bills.“The idea that the problem is cooking skills and not 12 years of Government decisions that are pushing people into extreme poverty is beyond belief.“Out of touch doesn’t even cover it.”

Rather than being condescending, Conservative politicians should be putting pressure on the Chancellor to call an emergency budgetFrances O’GradyLiberal Democrat work and pensions spokeswoman Wendy Chamberlain said in a statement outside the Commons: “These comments are disgraceful and an insult to millions of hard-working people who are struggling to put food on the table for their family through no fault of their own.“Lee Anderson should apologise straight away for his shameful remarks.”SNP work and pensions spokeswoman Kirsty Blackman said: “These comments from a Tory MP that people who use food banks do so because they don’t know how to cook or budget are reprehensible, but they also highlight how out of touch this broken Tory Government is with ordinary people.”TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said that “rather than being condescending, Conservative politicians should be putting pressure on the Chancellor to call an emergency budget”. More

A senior Labour MP has been suspended from the House of Commons for two days for bullying a member of staff.Ex-cabinet minister Liam Byrne was found to have ostracised former staff member David Barker between March 20 and the end of July 2020.This followed a dispute between Mr Byrne and Mr Barker at the Birmingham Hodge Hill constituency office which prompted the MP to send the complainant home.Parliamentary commissioner for standards Kathryn Stone upheld a single allegation of bullying against Mr Byrne following a complaint made under Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).Mr Byrne later said he was “profoundly sorry” and had apologised.On Wednesday evening, MPs approved a motion to suspend Mr Byrne from the Commons on Thursday and Monday May 16.Mr Byrne’s salary will also be withdrawn for two days, the motion added. More

Foreign secretary Liz Truss has been urged to pull back from the brink over the Northern Ireland protocol, amid warnings that a trade war with the EU would put peace at risk and deepen the cost of living crisis by driving up inflation.As Ms Truss prepared for crunch talks with European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič on Thursday, the White House issued a stern warning to both sides to keep talking.And in a sign of the heightened attention being paid to the crisis by President Joe Biden, it emerged that the US is on the brink of appointing an envoy to Northern Ireland.Boris Johnson on Wednesday fuelled expectations that the government will next week table legislation to override the protocol, saying that the 2019 deal – which he negotiated as part of his Brexit agreement – was failing and “we need to sort it out”.Briefings that London is set to tear up the painstakingly negotiated agreement “haven’t gone down well” in European capitals, said Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney, who warned that unilateral action would trigger “counter-measures” from Brussels, including legal action.Whitehall sources stressed that if legislation was laid it would take a long time to pass through parliament, not least because of what is expected to be strenuous opposition in the House of Lords, pushing the ball into the EU’s court.But the prospect of Britain bringing the curtain down on talks with Brussels triggered alarm among Tory MPs, with the chair of the Commons Northern Ireland committee Simon Hoare denouncing “sabre-rattling” by the foreign secretary and defence committee chair Tobias Ellwood warning that binning the protocol would be “bad for Irish peace, bad for British influence and bad for jobs and living standards”.Mr Ellwood told The Independent: “Abandoning the protocol is self-defeating. It plays into Sinn Fein’s narrative that a united, peaceful Ireland is better for Northern Ireland. It will provoke a trade war with the EU at a time when the UK has done so well in leading the European response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“And it will mean fewer movements of goods and higher inflation. The EU will respond by imposing tariffs on UK exports which will further reduce trade with continental Europe.”Ms Truss is set to tell Mr Šefčovič that compromise proposals put forward by the EU would “take us backwards” and fail to resolve post-Brexit disruption to trade between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.According to The Telegraph, Ms Truss will warn the EU it has a 72-hour deadline to budge in talks over border checks.But her mooted plan to bypass the deal and unilaterally ease controls on goods crossing the Irish Sea was branded “crazy, frankly” by the head of one of Northern Ireland’s most influential business groups.Manufacturing NI chief executive Stephen Kelly said that trade with the Republic has jumped 60 per cent since Brexit and investment risen sharply thanks to the protocol, which gives firms in Northern Ireland unique access to the EU single market which mainland counterparts do not enjoy.“If the aim of these plans is to facilitate more trade between the Great Britain and Northern Ireland it will certainly fail,” Mr Kelly told The Independent. “All it will do is create huge economic harm, deep instability for businesses and further uncertainty. Businesses do not need a potential trade war with the EU.”In the US, a White House spokesperson left no doubt of Mr Biden’s disapproval of any move to bring down the protocol arrangements.While recognising that the implementation of the deal has created “challenges”, the spokesperson said: “The best path forward is a pragmatic one that requires courage, cooperation, and leadership. We urge the parties to continue engaging in dialogue to resolve differences and bring negotiations to a successful conclusion.”And a group of senior US congressmen sent a strongly worded letter to Ms Truss, voicing “alarm” at suggestions she will break off negotiations with Mr Šefčovič in Thursday’s phone talks and warning that this would “be in direct violation of international law and squarely threaten the Good Friday Agreement”.In the joint letter, the chair of the congressional Europe subcommittee Bill Keating and co-chair of the House of Representatives EU caucus Brendan Boyle said the majority of those elected to the Northern Ireland assembly last week want to work within the protocol.The congressmen said the “worst outcome of Brexit would be one that lead to violence and upheaval in Northern Ireland”.They urged Ms Truss and the British government to “uphold your end of the deal and act in good faith, within the parameters of international law, to maintain peace and stability in Northern Ireland”.US secretary of state Antony Blinken told a congressional committee last week that Biden will “be moving forward soon on naming an envoy” in order to help Washington to play its role as a “good faith arbiter” in Northern Ireland, they said.In talks on Capitol Hill, Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns is understood to have pressed London’s argument that stalemate over the protocol is itself putting the Good Friday Agreement under threat, by preventing the restoration of the power-sharing executive at Stormont.Failure to form an executive could force a rerun election within 24 weeks’ time, with little prospect of a change in outcome.Mr Burns, who has been appointed the PM’s special representative to the US on the protocol, said that the UK government had “a moral obligation” to break the deadlock.“We still want a negotiated solution,” he said. “But if your negotiating partners are at the point of saying there’s nothing to talk about, then we have a moral obligation to take action to protect our citizens in Northern Ireland.”But Irish prime minister Micheál Martin insisted that there was still “a pathway to resolving this issue in a pragmatic way” through talks.“Significant” concessions from Brussels on medicines and veterinary checks had not been reciprocated by London, he said, adding: “There needs to be political will now on all sides to get this issue resolved. There can’t be any unilateral actions – that will not be helpful.”Stephen Farry, deputy leader of the non-sectarian Alliance Party, which gained a record 17 seats in last week’s assembly elections, said that any unilateral move to scrap the protocol would be “grossly irresponsible on the part of the UK government”.“They would add to instability in Northern Ireland, not solve things,” he said. “They would leave the UK government in breach of its international obligations and send a terrible message to the international community.”Trade expert Sam Lowe, of Flint Global, said that a unilateral bid to tear up the protocol would not deliver a quick resolution to the problem.Legislation to override the deal would not come into effect until late this year, creating uncertainty and holding back investment in Northern Ireland. “To take advantage of the opportunities the protocol provides, businesses need to know that the arrangements are going to endure for a long time,” Mr Lowe told The Independent. “You just don’t have that at the moment and the latest intervention adds more uncertainty. This is going to run and run.” More

Boris Johnson has signed security pacts with Sweden and Finland that could see British troops sent to the Nordic nations in the event of a Russian invasion from “21st century tyrant” Vladimir Putin.The prime minister said the parallel agreements would help defend each country should it come under threat as he met with leaders in both nations over a whirlwind 24 hours on Wednesday.Mr Johnson said the UK would come to Finland’s assistance, including with military support, in the event of an attack on the country.Asked during a press conference in Helsinki alongside Finnish president Sauli Niinisto if there would be “British boots on the ground” on Finnish territory during a “possible conflict with Russia”, he said: “I think the solemn declaration is itself clear.“And what it says is that in the event of a disaster, or in the event of an attack on either of us, then yes, we will come to each other’s assistance, including with military assistance.“But the nature of that assistance will of course depend upon the request of the other party.“But it’s also intended to be the foundation of an intensification of our security and our defence relationship in other ways as well.” More