Markus Andrews

Conservationists are up in arms over a UK government decision to sign a new deal with the Faroe Islands following a record mass dolphin slaughter.Ministers have been accused of being “an absolute disgrace” and of “flying in the face of public opinion” after announcing the £5.5m agreement allowing UK and Faroe vessels to fish areas of each other’s waters.It comes after there was a worldwide uproar in September when Faroese hunters caused a bloodbath with the killing of 1,428 dolphins in one go, and dozens of pilot whales just days later.Since then, calls for the government to suspend its 2019 trade agreement with the islands until whale and dolphin hunts end have gathered pace, with 73,000 people signing a petition, and supermarkets being urged to stop selling seafood from the Faroes.UK animal welfare minister Zac Goldsmith wrote to the Faroese and Danish governments condemning the massacre.But fisheries minister Victoria Prentis said on Tuesday she was “pleased to announce” the deal that allows the UK to fish 1,000 tonnes of cod and haddock, worth £2.2m, as well as other species.Fish consumption has risen in the UK as people have stopped eating meat in recent months and years.Responses from the public on social media overwhelmingly condemned the deal when Ms Prentis announced it, some asking whether it was a joke, and others accusing the government of turning a blind eye to mass torture for money. Wildlife-protection lobbyist Dominic Dyer, who launched the petition on the government website calling for a suspension of trade, said he was very angry about the agreement, which showed how “out of touch” ministers were with public views in the UK and Europe.“It’s really badly timed. They’re giving the islanders more access to enriching the economy at a time when international opinion is definitely turning against these horrible hunts,” he told The Independent.“We need to restrict tourism to the islands and trade – we need to hurt them in their pockets and make Denmark feel the pinch so that if they lose more trade, the Danes have to pick up the bill.”The Sea Shepherd and Born Free conservation organisations are carrying out polling in Germany Denmark and Britain on the hunts – called “the grind”, which Mr Dyer was confident would show widespread opposition.The campaigners are aiming to take a delegation of leaders, politicians, naturalists and broadcasters to the islands in the spring to draw the attention of the Faroese government and Danish governments to the “cruelty that has no justification”.Mr Dyer, who said the government argued this deal was a separate strand from other post-Brexit trade, said pressure must also be put on retailers over where they source fish. If the petition reaches 100,000 names, it will be considered for debate by MPs.One commenter tweeted to Ms Prentis: “The UK had an opportunity to state its opposition to the mass #slaughter of #whales and #dolphins. This is nothing to be proud of.”Another said: “Did you by any chance bring up the subject of how they hack dolphins and whales to death in front of their terrified and struggling families? Thought not. Not one moral fibre between the lot of you!”A third told her: “Worldwide condemnation yet you choose to reward them. Shameful.”The government says the Faroe Islands are in no doubt as to the UK position on cetacean hunts, which it raises “at every relevant opportunity”.Immediately after September’s bloodbath, Sea Shepherd said it believed the slaughter had been the largest single hunt in Faroese history, and was possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide. It said footage showed dolphins suffered prolonged suffering before being killed.The Blue Planet Society said the EU Commission could not “sit back and let the Faroe Islands devastate Europe’s protected dolphin and small whale populations”.A government spokesperson said: “The UK is strongly opposed to the hunting of any cetaceans and continues to call on all whaling nations, including the Faroe Islands, at every relevant opportunity to cease their whaling activities in favour of well-managed, responsible tourism, such as whale-watching.” More

The police investigation into alleged lockdown-breaching parties at Downing Street could be extended to include a 13th event, after a picture emerged of Boris Johnson with an open bottle of bubbly, a colleague wearing tinsel and another in a Santa hat.The photograph – obtained by The Daily Mirror – is understood to show a virtual Christmas quiz staged in No 10 in December 2020, which had previously been ruled out of the Metropolitan Police inquiry because of a lack of evidence that rules had been broken.But within hours of its publication, Scotland Yard said that its assessment was under review, raising the possibility that it will join the 12 Downing Street and Whitehall events currently being probed.It then revealed that detectives will begin contacting more than 50 people “believed to have taken part in the events” within days, to “get their accounts”.“This document, which asks for an account and explanation of the recipient’s participation in an event, has formal legal status and must be answered truthfully,” the Met said.Policing sources told The Times that Mr Johnson is expected to be among the dozens contacted over his involvement in the events. The Met’s first statement raises doubts over Mr Johnson’s claim in the House of Commons that the picture of him at the quiz had “already been submitted” to civil servant Sue Gray’s inquiry into the Partygate scandal.It will raise fears among the prime minister’s supporters over the danger of a further “drip drip” of damaging evidence emerging as the Met investigation proceeds.Mr Johnson’s former top adviser Dominic Cummings suggested that further pictures exist of an alleged “Abba party” held in Mr Johnson’s 11 Downing Street flat on the evening of his resignation in November 2020. And he argued that even a clean bill of health for the PM from the Met inquiry will not be enough to win over voters who have seen photos of apparent revelry in No 10 while they were confined to their homes.”There’s waaaaay better pics than that floating around, incl[uding] in the flat,” tweeted the former Vote Leave supremo.”Doesn’t matter if Cabinet Office stitch up Met like they did [the PM’s ethics adviser Lord] Geidt, the pics will come out and the public will think ‘Met lying’, not ‘Oh PM innocent after all’. Penny dropping with MPs…”The new photograph shows the prime minister with three members of staff around a table with what appears to be an open bottle of champagne and crisps. One staff member has a garland of tinsel round his neck, while another is sporting a red and white Santa hat.Downing Street previously said the quiz, held on 15 December 2020, took place virtually but with some members of staff taking part in the office.It took place during a period when indoor social mixing was banned in London, which was under tier 2 Covid restrictions.Official guidance also stated: “You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier.”Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, previously suggested no rules were broken because “no alcohol” was consumed.”He’s on a virtual call, no alcohol, thanking his staff for 10 minutes before he goes back to work, is that really a terrible crime?” the minister asked in a TV interview last December.And the prime minister himself said at the time: “I can tell you once again that I certainly broke no rules.”Confronted over the photo in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Johnson was told it looked like “one of the Christmas parties” that he had denied took place – but insisted the claim was “completely in error”.The PM was urged to “refer the matter to the police”, but replied: “That’s precisely the point – it already has been submitted for investigation.” And his press secretary later insisted that Ms Gray had been given access to “all evidence that she needed”. However, just a few hours later, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “The Met previously assessed this event and determined that on the basis of the evidence available at that time, it did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation. That assessment is now being reviewed.”The statement suggests that the picture was not included in the dossier of more than 300 photos and 500-plus pages of written evidence passed by Ms Gray to the police.Her interim report, published last month, indicated that the Met had excluded Downing Street’s festive quiz from its criminal investigation into 12 Downing Street and Whitehall events. but was looking at a Cabinet Office Christmas quiz held two days later.Other gatherings under investigation include the prime minister’s birthday celebration on 19 June 2020, a “bring your own booze” event in Downing Street’s garden, an alleged Christmas party and several leaving dos for No 10 and Cabinet Office staff.The Metropolitan Police will be writing to people suspected for breaching Covid restrictions in writing and asking whether they had a “reasonable excuse” in law for the gathering. If they do not, it can issue fines of between £100 and £10,000, depending on the law that was in force at the time, and the size of the gathering and the person’s role. Downing Street said on Wednesday that Mr Johnson had not yet been contacted.Meanwhile, Mr Johnson pressed ahead with his shake-up of Downing Street, appointing a former private healthcare boss to be the first civil service head of the Office of the Prime Minister, which is being created in an effort to show restive backbenchers he has reasserted his grip on the centre of power.Samantha Jones, who takes the title of permanent secretary and chief operating officer on an interim basis for six months, was chief executive of Operose Health before being appointed Mr Johnson’s expert advisor on NHS Transformation and Social Care in 2021. Operose is the UK arm of US health insurance giant Centene, which has sparked controversy by buying up GP services. Prior to that post, Ms Jones was a director at NHS England and chief executive of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust.Announcing her appointment, Mr Johnson said: “I promised to make changes to my senior team so that we can get on with better delivering for the British people.“That is what we are now doing by bringing in the very best skills and management experience with a clear vision to unite and level up our country.” Earlier reports had suggested he favoured NHS vaccines boss Emily Lawson or Home Office permanent secretary Antonia Romeo for the role. More

Boris Johnson’s surprise decision to end all domestic Covid restrictions in England one month early is either “very brave or very stupid”, scientists have warned.The prime minister told MPs on Wednesday that the legal requirement to self-isolate could be scrapped by the end of this month, instead of at the end of March as originally planned.But the move has been met with unease by the scientific community, with national Covid cases once again on the rise.Mr Johnson was accused of playing “fast and loose with people’s health” in an attempt to placate restive Tory backbenchers as the fallout from Partygate continues.Labour’s West Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said the announcement at the start of PMQs was “designed to dig [the prime minister] out of a political hole, with no plan to back it up”.As well as ending the legal requirement to isolate, legal powers for councils to shut down premises linked to outbreaks will be removed. But no changes are expected to international travel restrictions, and the supply of testing kits free of charge will continue, said Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson.One member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said that no consideration had been given to the prospect of lifting self-isolation rules during the most recent meeting. Another scientific adviser to the government said the PM’s announcement “doesn’t seem very cautious”, adding that he was “very concerned that the number of cases remains very high”.Dr Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, called the move “an experiment which will either be shown to be very brave or very stupid – but nobody knows for sure what the result will be”.Guidance will remain in place to stay home after a positive Covid test – as with any infectious disease – but it will not be legally enforceable. No 10 declined to say whether the £500 support payment for those isolating would be withdrawn.“Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions – including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive – a full month early,” the PM said.He said he would present the government’s “Living With Covid” strategy when the Commons returned from recess on 21 February. Aides said remaining restrictions were expected to be lifted by 24 February at the latest.The surprise policy announcement came as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed infection levels had risen in most parts of the UK, with only Wales experiencing a clear week-on-week decline.In England, around one in 19 people was estimated to have had the virus in the week to 5 February, equating to 2.8 million people – up from one in 20 in the previous week. However, the ONS described the trend as “uncertain”.Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said he “certainly didn’t expect” the government to drop its self-isolation guidance this month.He said there were “grounds for optimism” in the current data, pointing to the example of falling cases among children and declining hospital admission rates, but expressed concern over those who are clinically vulnerable, saying: “There need to be robust procedures in place to ensure infections in this group are diagnosed early and antivirals are provided within hours of any positive result.”Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of Nervtag, a subcommittee of Sage, told BBC Radio 4 that “it would be wholly wrong to say that the pandemic is in any way over”, and suggested that the population had “become rather used” to the country’s high infection and death rates.On Wednesday, 68,214 new cases were reported, along with 276 further deaths and 1,196 hospitalisations.“I think we’re all really looking forward to being able to get back to some sort of normality, and we know Omicron is generally fairly mild in people who have immunity, and most adults have immunity now, either because we’ve been vaccinated or because we’ve been infected or both.“So, we’re going in the right direction, but this doesn’t seem very cautious.”Under the current Covid rules, individuals who test positive for the virus are required to self-isolate for at least five days and can face considerable fines for non-compliance.Regulations mandating the wearing of face masks in certain settings, however, along with guidance to work from home to contain the spread of the virus, ended in January.Mr Johnson’s spokesperson said the publication of the plan would be dependent on last-minute approval by the cabinet.Dr James Gill, an honorary clinical lecturer at Warwick Medical School, said: “Frankly I see no justifiable reason for the scrapping of this law, certainly not from the perspective of patients, nor from a business case either, as the Omicron variant is highly contagious.”Devolved nations will make their own decisions on whether to move at the same time as England, and cities like London, which still require face-coverings on public transport, will be allowed to continue to do so.Last month, Mr Johnson told the Commons that the government would replace legal requirements with advice and guidance, saying he expected “not to renew” the self-isolation rules after they expire on 24 March.The move to bring forward the date by a month will inevitably be viewed as an attempt to bolster his support among Conservative MPs, and was immediately welcomed by the former Brexit secretary Lord David Frost. “The PM’s plan to end all Covid restrictions a month early is the right thing do,” he said.The Liberal Democrats’ Layla Moran, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, said the decision was “foolhardy”, saying: “As they have repeatedly done throughout this pandemic, this government is preparing to make a serious public health decision for short-term political expediency.“Ministers must not play fast and loose with people’s health in an attempt to meet political demands.” More

Scotland Yard is considering a call to investigate Boris Johnson under anti-bribery laws, after he appeared to back a “Great Exhibition” plan put forward by the Tory donor who funded his luxury flat redecorations.Labour’s lawyers wrote to the Metropolitan Police to call for the probe following the release, last month, of WhatsApp messages the prime minister exchanged with Lord Brownlow.They revealed Mr Johnson told the donor he was “on the great exhibition plan”, as he described his Downing Street rooms as “a bit of a tip” – and pleaded for more money for the £142,000 refurbishmentTwo months later, Lord Brownlow joined a meeting with the culture secretary “to discuss plans for Great Exhibition 2.0”, a showcase of British innovation later renamed “Festival UK”,Lawyers, from the firm Edwards Duthie Shamash, argued the Met is “duty-bound” to begin a formal investigation into whether Mr Johnson has broken the Bribery Act.They said the prime minister may have acted improperly by having “linked” a request for funds to cover the refurbishment works with a promise to “promote a project” backed by the benefactor.A Met spokesperson said: “A letter was received and acknowledged on Friday 4 February. It is being considered by officers from the Met’s central specialist crime [unit]. No investigation has been opened.”The link was exposed after Mr Johnson’s ethics adviser demanded to know why WhatsApp exchanges were kept secret in his probe into the controversial flat refit.In January, Christopher Geidt attacked the failure to pass on the messages – blamed on a change of mobile phone – as “extraordinary”, warning public faith in government had been dented.He continued to conclude there was no breach of the ministerial code, but did not fully exonerate Mr Johnson.Labour said investigations by Lord Geidt and the Electoral Commission had not looked at potential corruption or bribery by the prime minister.An inquiry was needed into whether further messages were exchanged between the pair and what action Mr Johnson took when he promised to “revert” in relation to the great exhibition idea.Gerald Shamash, from the law firm, argued in the letter to the Met, there was “reasonable suspicion that, were the suspect anyone other than the prime minister, the Metropolitan police would rightly consider itself duty-bound to investigate”“Indeed, if anything, the fact that the suspicion arises in relation to someone in such a high office makes it more, not less, important in the public interest that these matters are investigated,” he wrote.A No 10 spokesperson said: “These allegations are categorically untrue and a clear misrepresentation of the facts.“Lord Brownlow, separate to his work for the emerging Downing Street Trust, put proposals from the Royal Albert Hall, the national institution and charity, to the prime minister.“This was passed to the lead department, DCMS [the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport]. It is a matter of public record that no project was taken forward by the government.” More

Detectives investigating lockdown parties in Downing Street are to send out questionnaires to people believed to have taken part, Scotland Yard has said.Before the end of the week, officers from what has been named Operation Hillman will begin contacting more than 50 people thought to have been involved in events which are the subject of police inquiries.The announcement came after the MetropolitanPolice said they would be widening their inquiries to cover a quiz night in No 10 on December 2020 after a photograph emerged of Boris Johnson and colleagues near an open bottle of sparkling wine.In a statement the Met said the questionnaire would ask for “an account and explanation of the recipient’s participation” in an event which is the subject of police inquiries.Recipients will be advised that the questionnaire has “formal legal status” and that their response is required within seven days. In most cases the contact will be by email.“It should be noted that being contacted does not mean a fixed penalty notice will necessarily be issued to that person,” the statement said.“Nevertheless, if following an investigation, officers believe it is appropriate because the Covid regulations have been breached without a reasonable excuse, a fixed penalty notice will normally be issued.“We understand the interest in and impact of this case, and are progressing the investigation at pace. We are committed to completing our investigations proportionately, fairly and impartially.” More

Corruption experts have said said they have concerns about Jacob Rees-Mogg’s appointment as Minister for Brexit Opportunities because of potentially “serious” conflicts of interests.Boris Johnson on Tuesday appointed the Tory MP to the new role with a remit to slash EU regulations and turn Britain’s trade policy towards emerging markets – but there are worries that he could “stand to benefit personally” from his portfolio. The MP is a major shareholder and founder of Somerset Capital, an $8 billion (£5.91 billion) investment fund which could benefit financially from Brexit trade deals. The investment firm specialises in “emerging markets” and major economies outside Europe, which the government’s Brexit trade deals are focused on and which Mr Rees-Mogg will be steering policy around.The concern comes after as series of sleaze and corruption scandals related to lobbying and business access to ministers have rocked the Tory government – including the Greensill Capital and Owen Paterson scandals.“Rees-Mogg’s vast investment portfolio in dozens of sectors across several continents could pose a serious conflict of interest with his reported intention of axing a thousand regulations when he could stand to benefit personally from the process,” Susan Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, told the website openDemocracy.“Worryingly, the government’s hurried announcement of his new ministerial role fails to even spell out his specific responsibilities, and so the public will be left in the dark as to what exactly Rees-Mogg will be doing on taxpayers’ time, and whether he will stand to benefit personally from any recommendations he makes.”Meanwhile Steve Goodrich, of Transparency International, told the same outlet: “It’s risky business when ministers hold briefs relating to their personal financial affairs, and even more so when there’s a lot of money at stake.“In theory, there are rules in place to stop them blurring the lines between their public roles and private interests, yet in practice these have proven to be no more than just words on paper.”Mr Rees-Mogg, who is thought to be worth “well over £100 million”, is said to draw a six-figure dividend from the company and remains a major shareholder.According to ministerial code “ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or appears to arise, between their public duties and their private interests”.But the code is ultimately enforced by the prime minister, and Boris Johnson has so far shown little interest in sanctioning ministers for their behaviour – including when his ethics advisors say they should be.Former advisor Alex Allan quit in 2020 after Mr Johnson ignored his advice that the home secretary’s conduct “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying” and that she had therefore broken the code.Experts at the University of Sussex Centre of the Study of Corruption warned last month that Boris Johnson’s administration was more corrupt “than any UK government since the Second World War”.A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “Policy related to the financial services sector is the sole responsibility of the Treasury, and as Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg will not be involved in decision-making in respect of financial services.“The Ministerial Code sets out the process by which, following appointment, ministers should declare their interests, and take advice from their permanent secretary and the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, on any necessary steps to avoid or mitigate a conflict of interest.“That process will take place as with any other ministerial appointment.”Oliver Crawley, a Partner at Somerset Capital Management LLP, said: “Jacob Rees-Mogg no longer works at Somerset Capital and has had no role in any of the firm’s investment decisions for over a decade. “Any partnership interest in Somerset is held in abeyance, in accordance with the Ministerial Code. Somerset Capital’s funds, including the Somerset Asia Income Fund and Somerset Emerging Markets Dividend Growth Fund, are solely mandated to invest in Asian and Emerging Markets equities.” More

The union representing civil servants is set to withdraw from the Cabinet Office’s internal review into racism over concerns that it isn’t taking the process seriously.PCS said there would have to be “major changes” to the “flawed” Respect and Inclusion review, which was launched in November following mounting complaints from staff about racism.It comes after The Independent revealed concerns about systemic problems within the department from a top civil servant.Kay Badu, a Black civil servant who worked within Government Digital Service, was handed a six-figure payout by the government over allegations he faced racial discrimination in Whitehall, we reported, though the Cabinet Office said it did not admit liability and does not accept a number of the claims which have been made.Politicians and campaigners including the Labour Party, Green Party, Stand Up To Racism and Black Lives Matter have called for ministers to carry out an investigation into the department’s approach to race issues.A spokesperson for PCS said: “The revelations from Kay Badu show just how serious racial discrimination is within the Cabinet Office.“PCS supported Mr Badu while he was employed at the Cabinet Office and the settlement, he reached in no way undoes the damage his treatment caused. “We have always been sceptical of the flawed Respect and Inclusion review into racism in the Cabinet Office and it is regrettable that PCS will have to withdraw from the process, unless the Cabinet Office commits to being open and transparent, including providing the union with the full report.” The union said the review’s process lacks transparency and openness, alleging that it has been shut out of the group that is managing the review process and arguing that the timeline on the review is “ridiculously short” and should have been reported by now.Moreover, the Cabinet Office is refusing to share the full report with the union, PCS said, preventing it from confirming that the scope is robust enough. “As a consequence, we are unable to say to members that we can trust the employer to seriously tackle racism and other forms of discrimination,” the spokesperson explained.PCS also referred racism concerns of Cabinet Office staff members to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.The EHRC is awaiting the outcomes of employment tribunals, The Independent understands.The union wrote to Sarah Harrison, the chief operating officer, on Wednesday advising that it will be withdrawing from cooperation in the review in five working days unless the department agrees to the following:The final report of the respect and inclusion review to be published in full.The number of employees given a personal meeting with IPSOS MORI to be increased to an agreed level to properly capture the lived experience of racism and other discrimination of staff. More

Pupils should not be criticising Boris Johnson as part of their coursework, the education secretary has said.Tories reacted with anger on Wednesday after it emerged that children at a school in Nottingham had been writing letters critical of the PM’s behaviour as part of an exercise. The students had written to their local MP criticising Mr Johnson’s rule-breaking during lockdown.The school says pupils were shown an edition of children’s television programme Newsround covering the Partygate affair – and then asked to present their opinion in letter form.But the outcome of the simple exercise provoked anger among sensitive Conservatives, who accused the school of political bias. Furious Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, a former teacher, told his local newspaper the Nottingham Post that “it looks like they have done some sort of lesson about the PM breaking rules”.He said it was “very, overtly political” and “very, very one-sided” to explain the PM’s rule-breaking to the children in this way.The education secretary Nadhim Zahawi told the Daily Mail that the exercise and others like it should be off-limits.“While there is a clear need for schools to address political issues in the classroom from time to time, this must not be done in a partisan way,” he said. “No school should be encouraging young people to pin their colours to a political mast.”Welbeck Primary School was rated outstanding by Ofsted at its last inspection. Following the news article and the minister’s intervention, the school closed down its social media account – citing abusive responses.Rebecca Gittins, the headteacher of the school, said in a statement: “As part of a democracy topic, the Year Six class has been looking closely at national politics, our leaders and decision-makers, while discussing fact and opinions.“There is no ‘teaching’ of politics. We explain processes and structure, with the children encouraged to express their thoughts.“Year Six pupils watched recent coverage on Newsround about Downing Street and some of them asked to write to their local MP to share their views. “This lesson was linked to the English curriculum where children constructed letters using their skills to form arguments, assess evidence and develop their critical thinking.“A tweet displaying the work received five abusive responses, which was really disappointing. The decision was quickly taken to remove it before these were seen by the pupils.” More