Markus Andrews

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that 20 Covid offences in Downing Street and Whitehall have so far resulted in fines, but declined to name the individuals involved.The referrals represent the first penalties to be imposed in relation to a series of 12 gatherings in 2020 and 2021 and the first police confirmation that coronavirus laws were broken.Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner called on Boris Johnson to resign over the breaches, saying: “The buck stops with the prime minister.”In a statement, Scotland Yard said that cases were being referred today to the ACRO Criminal Records Office, which will have responsibility for issuing fixed penalty notices.Police have not confirmed the size of the fines, which ranged between £100 and £10,000 in the period covered, depending the law in place at the time, the size of the gathering and the person’s role.Investigators have not announced whether the 20 fines related to 20 different offenders, or if individual people have racked up a number of breaches, which could result in a significantly stiffer penalty. It also gave no information on the events which the penalties relate to, stating that this might lead to the inadvertent identification of individuals involved.The Met made clear that today’s penalties do not mark the end of the investigation and further notices may follow. It is believed that the initial tranche of notices may relate to more straightforward cases, where officials acknowledged having breached rules and made no attempt to mount a defence.But Ms Rayner said that the finding of law-breaking at No 10 should require the prime minister to resign, even though he has not been named.“After over two months of police time, 12 parties investigated and over 100 people questioned under caution, Boris Johnson’s Downing Street has been found guilty of breaking the law,” she said.“The culture is set from the very top. The buck stops with the prime minister, who spent months lying to the British public, which is why he’s got to go.“It is disgraceful that while the rest of the country followed their rules, Boris Johnson’s government acted like they didn’t apply to them.“This has been a slap in the face of the millions of people who made huge sacrifices.“Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also called for Johnson to go.”If Boris Johnson thinks he can get away with Partygate by paying expensive lawyers and throwing junior staff to the wolves, he is wrong,” said Davey.”We all know who is responsible. The prime minister must resign, or Conservative MPs must sack him.”Announcing today’s penalty notices, a Scotland Yard spokesperson said: “We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed and have completed a number of assessments.“However due to the significant amount of investigative material that remains to be assessed, further referrals may be made to ACRO if the evidential threshold is made.“As it has for all fixed penalty notices issued during the pandemic, the MPS will follow the College of Policing approved professional practice for media relations which states that ‘identities of people dealt with by cautions, speeding fines and other fixed penalties – out-of-court disposals – should not be released or confirmed’.“We will not confirm the number of referrals from each individual event subject to our investigation as providing a breakdown at this point may lead to identification of the individuals.”Angela Rayner says PM’s position is ‘untenable’ if fined over partiesGovernment minister Will Quince today refused to say whether the PM should quit if he is among those fined.The children’s minister told Sky News: “I understand the huge public interest, I completely understand that considerable upset because the events that took place shouldn’t have happened.”But asked if the PM should resign if found guilty, he replied: “As there’s an ongoing live Metropolitan Police question, it’s just not appropriate that I comment. That’s a hypothetical question, you wouldn’t expect me to answer that.”The Met’s Operation Hillman is investigating 12 events, including as many as six which Mr Johnson is said to have attended.Last week it emerged that detectives investigating alleged parties had begun interviewing key witnesses, after 100 questionnaires were sent out to people at the reported gatherings.The punishments for people found to have attended illegal Downing Street and Whitehall parties are governed by the law that was in place at the time.The default fine during the alleged Number 10 garden gathering in May 2020 was £100, but the government then increased penalties.At the time of Downing Street events in November 2020, England was in the grip of a national lockdown that forbade gatherings of two or more people inside unless an exemption applied.By then, the default fine for breaching the law had doubled to £200 and unprecedented £10,000 fines had been introduced for people responsible for organising large gatherings involving 30 or more attendees.Covid laws changed as different “tiers” came into force in December 2020, when a series of alleged Christmas and leaving parties took place, but the same fine scheme was in place and large social gatherings were banned.In April 2021, when a leaving party was held in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, indoor celebrations remained illegal.Default fines were £200 for Covid offences, but a new £800 fine had been introduced for people attending parties of more than 15 people, and organisers of large gatherings could still be fined £10,000.Announcing the new £800 fine in January 2021, Priti Patel had told a press conference they were necessary because there remained a “small minority that refuse to do the right thing”. 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It is “not acceptable” for a trans woman to be asked whether she has a penis or not, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has said.Ms Rayner said it could be appropriate for a trans man to be asked whether he might be pregnant ahead of medical treatment, following reports that some NHS trusts are now including the question for all patients regardless of gender.But she said that discussions relating to an individual’s genitalia are causing “real damage” to vulnerable individuals and “debasing” the debate around trans rights and should not be allowed on social media.The row over gender was reignited on Monday when Sir Keir Starmer declined to say during a radio interview whether a woman can have a penis.The Labour leader has been accused by author JK Rowling of failing to defend women’s rights over access to single-sex space by trans women who retain male genitals.Asked on Sky News whether it was possible for a women to have a penis, Ms Rayner replied: “This really upsets me because I think about a young person who’s struggling at the moment who’s struggling with their identity.“When we’re having a social media (discussion) or a debate around what genitalia someone’s got, I think it really debases the serious issues that people face in their lives. I think we should be taking it off social media, taking it away from commentators.”Ms Rayner said it could be appropriate for a medical professional to ask a trans man if he was pregnant.“If a man was born with the reproductive (organs) because they were born as a female and they’ve transitioned to a male, then if they’re getting medical support because they could be pregnant, then that might be a question that is asked as part of that in those circumstances,” she said.“But it wouldn’t be a reasonable question for me to say `Have you got penis or not?’ because that’s not acceptable.“So when we debase it into what genitalia someone may or may not have, I think that’s a really unhelpful way of looking at the debate to be honest.“It’s doing real damage to people and it’s scaring women who think it’s about men coming women only spaces, which is not that’s not the case. And it’s also not supporting people going through transition who need support.”Ms Rayner insisted that there were protections in place for women in vulnerable positions and that it was essential to provide the right help and support for young people facing crises of identity.“When we debase it to what genitalia you’ve got, I think all that does is damage people and it doesn’t help us go forward on some of the real issues that people are facing,” she said.“It shouldn’t be debased into a debate that’s been held on the media by people who are not qualified to discuss some of these very sensitive issues.”Ms Rayner added: “I think we should be protecting women’s spaces. Of course we should. And we should be supporting people who are going through transition. And that’s always been the case as there are laws in our country that protect people.”And she told interviewer Kay Burley: “I think just to make it about what genitalia someone may have… nobody would ask me or you whether we were a man or what genitalia we have.” More

Boris Johnson should resign as prime minister if he is fined over lockdown-breaching parties at 10 Downing Street, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has said.Ms Rayner told Sky News that the position of Mr Johnson and ministers including chancellor Rishi Sunak would be “untenable” if the Metropolitan Police inquiry concludes they broke the rules they set for other Britons.Her call comes weeks after leader Sir Keir Starmer appeared to back away from his demand for the PM’s resignation, saying that it was important the country showed “unity” during the Ukraine invasion crisis.The first fixed penalty notices from the Met’s Operation Hillman inquiry are expected to be issued today, with as many as 20 individuals thought to be facing fines of £100.Government minister Will Quince today refused to say whether the PM should quit if he is among those fined.The children’s minister told Sky News: “I understand the huge public interest, I completely understand that considerable upset because the events that took place shouldn’t have happened.”But asked if the PM should resign if found guilty, he replied: “As there’s an ongoing live Metropolitan Police question, it’s just not appropriate that I comment. That’s a hypothetical quesiton, you wouldn’t expect me to answer that.”Asked later if Mr Johnson should resign if fined, Ms Rayner replied simply: “Yes.”The Labour deputy leader told Sky News: “They were the rules the prime minister made everyone follow. People couldn’t see their loved ones when they were dying.”If the prime minister’s fined because he’s broken his own rules, I think his position is untenable. “I don’t think he can go to the British public and say ‘I’m acting in your interest’ when he’s been laughing, joking and having parties and then tried to lie about it.”Ms Rayner said that cross-party unity over the Ukraine crisis “doesn’t negate” questions over the prime minister’s behaviour.Describing the allegations against Mr Johnson as “disgraceful”, she said: “The country has to have confidence in our prime minister in doing the right thing and putting the British public and our interests and our security first.”The Met is investigating 12 events, including as many as six which Mr Johnson is said to have attended.Last week it emerged that detectives investigating alleged parties had begun interviewing key witnesses.The Metropolitan Police said more than 100 questionnaires had been sent out to people at the reported gatherings.They include a “bring your own booze” event, details of which were emailed to staff at No 10 by the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds in May 2020, and a surprise get-together for Mr Johnson’s birthday in June 2020. More

Allegations that billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators were poisoned during peace talks with Russia represent a “worrying development”, a UK government minister has said.Education minister Will Quince said that the UK would be “looking to establish the facts” around the claim, though he stressed that a formal investigation was for Ukrainian authorities.Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has advised anyone taking part in negotiations with Russia resuming today in Istanbul over an end to the month-old invasion not to eat or drink anything during the process.Mr Quince said: “As much as there is scepticism globally about whether these peace talks will be successful, I desperately hope that they are.”Abramovich and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian delegation developed symptoms that included red eyes and peeling skin on their faces and hands, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal and investigative news outlet Bellingcat.The Independent understands that the Chelsea FC owner suffered temporary blindness for several hours following the poisoning, but quickly recovered.Mr Abramovich accepted a request by Ukraine at the end of February to help negotiate an end to Vladimir Putin’s invasion just days after it started, and is said to still be interested in mediating despite the incident.A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “The allegations are very concerning.“The UK will continue to assist by implementing tough sanctions on Putin’s regime, and by providing defensive and humanitarian support to help put Ukraine in the strongest possible negotiating position.”The lead Russia investigator at Bellingcat, Christo Grozev said the “most plausible” explanation of the alleged poisoning was that it was meant as a “warning sign” to other oligarchs not to deviate from Vladimir Putin’s line.“That is, by far the most plausible scenario,” Mr Grozev told Times Radio.“Clearly, the dosage was not high enough to kill any of the three. The most likely target would have been Abramovich. “And it kind of makes sense. I mean, he volunteered to play this role of a honest broker, but other oligarchs had previously or at the same time declared certain independence from the Kremlin position and criticised the war. “So it could well be seen as a warning sign to them to not join the ranks of those who dissent and to not be too much of an honest broker.”An adviser to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Mr Abramovich was involved in talks with Russia.Cambridge University professor Alexander Rodnyansky told Times Radio: “He has been playing a role, he’s certainly been talking to the Russian leader. And that’s where the value is potentially.“Just before the war broke out, the Russian negotiator Kozak – who was responsible for talking to Ukraine and for managing the whole talks that were ongoing back then – basically was clueless about the invasion right to the end. He didn’t really know what was coming. “And so when that happened, it was obvious to us that we need to look for other routes, for other possible methods to reach the Russian leader. And so one of those possible solutions could have been an oligarch.“Roman Abramovich basically volunteered, so we have to give peace a chance. So that’s what we’ve been doing. I’m not sure how much it can yield, I’m still pessimistic when it comes to the whole idea of these peace talks for the obvious reasons.” More

A British businessman freed from detention in Iran alongside Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said he blames the UK government for his five-year ordeal.Joint British-Iranian national Anousheh Ashouri, 67, accused the government of “procrastination” over a historic £400m debt to Tehran which was finally paid on 16 March as part of a deal which saw him and Nazanin freed to return to the UK.Mr Ashouri, from south London, had been held since 2017 on charges, which he denied, of spying for Israeli secret service Mossad and “acquiring illegitimate wealth”.His release came on the day when the UK finally settled a debt dating back to the 1970s for Chieftain tanks ordered and paid for by the Shah of Iran but never delivered, after he was deposed in the Islamic revolution in 1979.The UK had long admitted that the debt was owed, and paid money into court as long ago as 2002, but ministers said they faced obstacles in handing the cash over because of long-standing international sanctions against Iran.Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme who he blamed for his long ordeal, Mr Ashouri said: “Most of all my captors, but then again, the British government at the leadership level, for the procrastination that happened.“They could have done this much earlier. Nazanin could see her beautiful daughter much earlier. I could be back with my family.“This was a debt that had to be paid. Why didn’t you do it earlier?” More

A grassroots civic initiative in Hungary, concerned over the integrity of an upcoming general election, has recruited more than 20,000 ballot counters to observe the high-stakes contest in which nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban will seek a fourth consecutive term.The effort to place at least two volunteer ballot counters in each of Hungary’s more than 10,000 polling places came from a belief among many supporters of Hungarian opposition parties that without observers from their side, vote tally irregularities could affect the outcome of the April 3 ballot. “It is not right that in Hungary in a large number of electoral districts … there are no ballot counters representing the opposition,” said Judit Szanto, a volunteer with Szamoljuk Egyutt (Let’s Count Together), one of several civic organizations recruiting and training ballot counters. “This thing was devised to organize people to oversee the cleanliness of the election on the suspicion that if they don’t, there will be fraud,” said Szanto, who provides training for the volunteers. Recent polls show that Orban, whose Fidesz party has held a nearly uninterrupted two-thirds parliamentary majority since 2010, is likely to face his closest election since taking power. United For Hungary, a coalition of six opposition parties spanning the political spectrum from liberal to centrist to right wing, has joined together in an effort to overcome what they see as a political, economic, media and electoral system dominated by the right-wing Fidesz and designed to give it an unfair advantage. Yet while the coalition’s strategy of coordinating its candidates across the country and running a single joint candidate for prime minister is likely to boost its performance on election day, the outcome of the contest in many districts could come down to only a few votes.Such a tight race makes accurate and transparent tallying critical, said Adam Sanyo, a data analyst assisting Let’s Count Together in training the ballot counters.“The counting process is actually quite important because even in those elections where the general public thought that it wasn’t a close election … in some of the constituencies we had very small margins between the candidates,” Sanyo said, adding that several of Hungary’s 106 districts are likely to be decided by fewer than 1,500 votes. On election day, the volunteers, each of which will be officially delegated by one of the six opposition parties, will operate alongside other ballot counters delegated by Fidesz. But in addition to counting ballots once polls are closed, they’ll also monitor the voting process throughout the day in each polling place, and have received training on how to recognize and report irregularities. “It’s not enough just to get people into the polling stations, it’s important that they know what’s going to happen there,” Szanto said. “They must be familiar with the laws and the electoral legislation to do their job properly.” Hungarians with sympathies for the opposition parties aren’t the only ones that will have their eyes on the election. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said it will send a full-scale election observation mission to Hungary, including 18 long-term observers and 200 others on election day — only the second time it has done so in a European Union country. In 2014, the OSCE called Hungary’s parliamentary election “free but not fair,” and noted that the 2018 vote was characterized by a “pervasive overlap between state and ruling party resources, undermining contestants’ ability to compete on an equal basis.”Orban’s critics have also pointed to alleged cases of vote buying and clientelism which they say have distorted the outcome of previous elections.A change to electoral law passed by the ruling party last year allows for Hungarians to vote in districts where they have a registered address even if they don’t reside there. This led the opposition and civic organizations to warn of “voter tourism,” where voters may register addresses in particularly competitive districts with the aim of tipping the result. An interim report by the OSCE released last week drew attention to such amendments to electoral law, which it said were adopted by the ruling party “without a genuine consultative process.” “Most previous … recommendations remain largely unaddressed, including those related to the misuse of administrative resources and the blurring of state and political party roles, and campaign finance transparency,” the OSCE noted in its report.Hungary’s government has insisted that its elections are free and fair, and rejected concerns that the ruling party was at an advantage. A government spokesperson said in an email that the OSCE observers were “very welcome any time,” and that “the procedural management of elections in Hungary has always been considered as one of the best within the EU, and we hope that it will remain so.” According to Sanyo, the data analyst, the election result is likely to be decided by 10 to 15 districts where the vote is expected to be tight, and that even a few misallocated votes can have an effect on the outcome of the election. “That’s basically the message to (the ballot counters),” he said. “‘Your job is really important because this time, really every vote counts.’” More

More than two million EU citizens and their families hold a temporary immigration status that could see them lose their UK residence rights and be removed from the country, Oxford academics have warned. A new report from Oxford University’s Migration Observatory has sounded the alarm on “pre-settled status”, which requires people to reapply within five years or become irregular migrants. The status was given to people who were resident in the UK before the end of free movement in December 2020, but who could not produce evidence that they had been in the country for more than five years by that point.People who do not reapply in time will lose their right to live, work, access housing and claim benefits – and they could be removed by the Home Office.But the researchers say many people are likely to be unaware of their situation and that the design of the scheme presents challenges for stopping people falling under the radar.“People often look at the fact that over five million EU citizens have applied successfully to the EU Settlement Scheme, and assume that the job is basically done. It isn’t,” said Dr Marina Fernandez-Reino, senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and author of the report.“For some of the two million people with pre-settled status, the process will actually be harder than it was the first time around“While most applicants will find the process very straightforward, more vulnerable groups could struggle. Over the past three years, the evidence has become clear that some people find it much harder to engage with the scheme, including such as victims of abuse, people with poor English skills, or those with health problems. “Many of the same groups will struggle to secure permanent status, especially if there is less support available to them in the coming years.” The five-year requirement was imposed by the government for full settled status despite Brexiteers promising that nothing would change for EU citizens during the Brexit referendum. The researchers warn that the second application to move out of pre-settled status is “more onerous” than the initial application because it requires more documentation – and that there is uncertainty about the level of support available to people.Crucially, they point out that unlike under the original settlement deadline, every individual’s deadline will be different under this phase of the scheme – presenting difficulties for public awareness campaigns.“A system with two different status outcomes instead of one inevitably increases the complexity of the scheme and the risk that some people fail to understand the differences between the two statuses, including the need to reapply if they hold pre-settled status,” the report says.It adds: “Some applicants will not be aware of their pre-settled status expiry date nor their settled status eligibility date, however. “In fact, support organisations interviewed for this project expressed concerns that some of those receiving pre-settled status have not properly understood that it was temporary and that they needed to apply a second time to be permanent residents. “Likewise, the ICIBI (Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration) has also provided evidence of vulnerable applicants with limited English proficiency not being able to understand the difference between settled and pre-settled status.”Conservative Home Office minister Baroness Trafford said in response to a parliamentary written question about the scheme: “It has been the UK’s long-standing position that EU citizens and their family members granted pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will have to apply for settled status before their pre-settled status expires in order to stay in the UK. “This will ensure they have the immigration status, and secure evidence of this, which they will need to access their rights and entitlements in the UK for years to come.“Requiring an application for settled status enables us to confirm the person has fulfilled the requisite criteria and passes appropriate criminality and security checks. They will be reminded of the need to make an application before the expiry of their pre-settled status. We will also allow late applications where there are reasonable grounds for doing so.” More

The Metropolitan Police is poised to issue the first set of fines to government officials as part of its investigation into multiple allegations of lockdown-busting parties in No 10, according to reports.It comes two months after the force launched an official probe, examining hundreds of photographs and material from the internal government inquiry carried out by the Whitehall mandarin Sue Gray.A first tranche of fixed penalty notices for the most straightforward of cases will be issued “imminently” as part of the force’s investigation into 12 separate events held in No 10 during strict Covid restrictions, according to reports by The Guardian and the BBC.But The Independent understands the fines will not be issued on Monday night.Between 15 and 20 penalty notices will reportedly be issued in the first tranche of punishments, which are believed to be related to the most straightforward cases, with more expected to follow.The Met police said it would not provide a “running commentary” and instead pointed to its latest statement on 21 March, which said detectives involved in the case had begun to interview people as witnesses and said it would progress the investigation as “quickly as possible”. The Met said last week it had not yet made any referrals to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for the issuing of fixed penalty notices.The force added: “However, every questionnaire response is being assessed alongside all available evidence, and should this reach the evidential threshold, then referrals will be made.”There was no official update from Downing Street on Monday evening.The events being examined include a “bring your own booze” garden party held on 20 May 2020 when laws strictly prohibited gatherings of more than two people outside, and a separate one on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral.More than 100 legal questionnaires were sent to individuals at No 10 and the Cabinet Office over their participation in alleged rule-busting events as part of the Met’s Operation Hillman, including Boris Johnson.The prime minister, who faced calls to resign over the scandal which prompted Tory MPs to submit letters of no confidence in his leadership, returned his questionnaire to Scotland Yard in mid-February.Publishing her interim findings at the end of January, the Whitehall mandarin Ms Gray said she was unable to present a “meaningful report” into the rule-busting parties due to the ongoing Met Police investigation.However, in the heavily censored updated, the senior civil servant blasted the “failures of leadership and judgement” in No 10 and the Cabinet Office, stressing: “A number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did.”She added that some events represented a “serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the hear of government but also the standards expected of the entire British population at the time”. More