Markus Andrews

MPs spent nearly £100,000 on a temporary bonging mechanism for Big Ben so the bell could be sounded less than a dozen times during renovations, The Independent has learned.The striking mechanism, which was used on just 10 occasions at a cost of around £10,000 per bonging, was commissioned because MPs wanted the bell to ring at New Year and for Remembrance commemorations. The cost included “commissioning, out of hours attendance, set up and testing of the temporary mechanism”, with the bill running to a total of £96,000.The Elizabeth Tower, the official name for parliament’s clock tower which includes Big Ben, has been under renovation since 2017 and covered in scaffolding.The refurbishment programme, the most extensive in the tower’s history, is expected to be completed this year, with scaffolding already being removed from the building. “The approximate cost of commissioning, out of hours attendance, set up and testing of the temporary mechanism for all the occasions during the project when Big Ben has sounded is £96,000,” said Charles Walker, a senior Conservative MP who sits on the House of Commons Commission, in response to a written parliamentary question.”The overall contract value for the project includes all the costs of initial commissioning of the temporary mechanism used for this purpose and testing and operating it on each occasion it has been used since the project started in 2017. “The mechanism was used on 10 occasions, with Big Ben also being sounded several times in the run-up to each New Year’s Eve, as well as for testing in advance of each occasion that was marked.”Sir Charles said that arrangements were striking Big Ben “were coordinated round the planned works so as to minimise the impact on the project costs and to ensure there was no delay to the project”.He added that the temporary striking mechanism would be kept as a “contingency arrangement” to act as a backup in case something should go wrong with the main striking mechanism in future.The decision to build a temporary striking mechanism was taken in 2017 by the House of Commons Commission, which also cited that Big Ben needed to sound on Remembrance Sunday, Armistice Day and New Year’s Eve during the renovation project, even though the striking mechanism had been removed for refurbishment. The Commission reconfirmed the decision 2018, despite a campaign by some newspapers and politicians that Big Ben should “bong for Brexit” when Britain left the EU. However, the occasions were restricted “to allow the project team to schedule works around those occasions”.A House of Commons spokesperson said: “The temporary striking mechanism has been specially designed to ensure it fits within the unique constraints of the Elizabeth Tower, powering the hammer to strike Big Ben in the precise way needed to create its authentic sound. “Use of the mechanism on pre-planned occasions during the works represents significantly better value for money, compared to striking Big Ben on an ad-hoc basis at short notice. The cost of the mechanism is included within the overall budget for the Elizabeth Tower project. It will be retained by parliament as a back-up striking mechanism for the future.” More

Boris Johnson will hold a call with Russian president Vladimir Putin in the coming days in a last-ditch bid to persuade Moscow to “step back” from an invasion of Ukraine.The prime minister will also make a trip to the region in the coming days, The Independent understands, as he tries to ramp up a strategy of “deterrence” among Western allies.Mr Johnson is also expected to consider a series of options from the UK’s top military officials this weekend – including fresh troop deployments and further bolstering of Nato’s defences.A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “He will reiterate the need for Russia to step back and engage diplomatically when he speaks to president Putin this week.”No 10 added: “The prime minister is determined to accelerate diplomatic efforts and ramp up deterrence to avoid bloodshed in Europe.”Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that he did not rule out a full-blown war with Russia, but accused the US and Western media of fuelling panic while there were “no tanks in the streets”.Mr Putin said the West has not met Moscow’s main security demands in the crisis over the former Soviet state – but he said that it was ready to keep talking, offering some hope that an attack is not imminent.The US, the UK and allies have not accepted any of Moscow’s demands, which include a call for Nato to promise it will never allow Ukraine to join its defensive alliance – categorically ruled out by the west.It comes as Russia’s foreign minister claimed foreign secretary Liz Truss had “agreed a date” to visit Moscow for talks within the next two weeks, amid high tensions with the Kremlin over the threat to Ukraine.Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Ms Truss will visit in the next fortnight. “We have already agreed on the date – it’ll happen in the next two weeks” he said, according to Russian news agency Tass.Earlier this week defence secretary Ben Wallace admitted he is “not optimistic” that a Russian mobilisation into Ukraine can be stopped.However, he confirmed on Thursday that he is due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Moscow soon to discuss the stand-off.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is expected to set out plans to toughen the UK’s sanctions regime on Monday in a bid to target Russia’s financial interests.Top US officials have expressed “dismay and frustration” at the UK government’s failure to take tough-enough action against the flow of Russian money into London, The Times reported, citing diplomatic officials.A report from a think-tank close to Joe Biden’s administration this week warned the US will have to take the lead in countering “Russian kleptocrats” because the UK cannot do so.British officials are expected to attempt to apply further pressure on Russia at discussions at the United National Security Council in New York on Monday. More

Boris Johnson should resign in the wake of the Partygate scandal, an overwhelming majority of readers of The Independent have said.A readers’ poll found that around 90 per cent believe the prime minister should go after admitting to attending a gathering in the garden of Downing Street during the first lockdown in May 2020.The poll was launched two days after the prime minister apologised in the House of Commons for attending the gathering has been running for a fortnight.The question put to readers was: “Should Boris Johnson resign?” The options given were Yes, No and Not sure. Details of the Partygate revelations were given above.Of 891 respondents, 797 said Yes, giving a majority of 89.5 per cent.Since the poll launched details of more parties in Downing Street have emerged, including a birthday party for Mr Johnson during lockdown restrictions in June 2020.Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into several events in No 10 over potential breaches of coronavirus laws.Several Conservative MPs have joined opposition parties in calling for the prime minister to resign, with one former minister saying “a serving prime minister investigated by the police is a national embarrassment”. His cabinet has backed him and say questions over his position must wait until the publication of a report into party allegations by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant.Mr Johnson said he would publish Ms Gray’s report when it is completed and would make a statement to MPs about its contents.But key details of the report will be redacted as police have asked Ms Gray to remove key details of potential illegality – citing a need not to prejudice their investigation.The negative effect of party relevations on the public perception of the prime minister and his government have been reflected in severa polls since December, when details first came to light.Days before The Independent’s poll was launched, a separate Savanta ComRes poll found that two-thirds of voters thought Mr Johnson should resign. More

Police have been heavily criticised for ordering a Whitehall report on the Partygate scandal to be stripped of references to the most serious alleged Downing Street breaches of Covid lockdown rules before publication.A heavily censored version of Sue Gray’s report is set to be handed to Boris Johnson within days, after the senior civil servant decided not to wait until after the completion of a separate criminal inquiry by Metropolitan Police.Downing Street is likely to publish within hours and the prime minister will face MPs soon afterwards.But rebel Tories pushing for the PM’s removal fear that the last-minute police intervention will take the sting out of Ms Gray’s findings and persuade wavering MPs to hold back from submitting letters demanding a vote on his future.One former director of public prosecutions blasted the decision to demand redaction of the document as “disproportionate”, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it raised the spectre of an establishment “stitch-up” to save Mr Johnson.Veteran backbencher Sir Roger Gale, who was the first to declare he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson, described the situation as a “monumental cock-up”, arguing that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick should not be able to “censor a factual civil service report”.Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afsal said it was “absolute nonsense” for the Met to claim that the contents of Ms Gray’s report could prejudice their inquiry if made public.And former director of public prosecutions Ken Macdonald said that, in a case involving relatively minor breaches likely to attract fixed penalty fines of £100, it was a “mistake” for police to interfere unless they had uncovered potential crimes of a more serious nature, such as the destruction or withholding of evidence.“To take the grave step of delaying a report which is going to shed public light on the subject matter of what may be a major public scandal, I think is undesirable and I think it may be a misjudgement,” said Lord Macdonald, now a crossbench peer. “If we are simply talking about lockdown breaches and fixed penalty notices, this move by the police seems to be disproportionate.”Scotland Yard last night denied delaying the report, saying the timing of its release “is a matter for the Cabinet Office.”It pledged to complete its investigation “promptly” after receiving “material” it requested from Ms Gray’s team.“My officers will now examine this material in detail to establish whether individuals attending the events in question may have breached the regulations,” said Commander Catherine Roper.The senior officer – who leads the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command – said the force would conduct inquiries “without fear or favour” and would be writing to those identified by Ms Gray’s team “as having potentially breached these regulations”.The Independent understands that officers raised concerns in discussions with Ms Gray’s investigatory team that interviews with witnesses or suspects may be impacted by what they have seen in her report.They are worried that an effective investigation may be hampered if interviewees are aware of information held against them, including photos and documents, and of the evidence given by others involved.The police inquiry relates only to a restricted number of gatherings in No 10 and other government departments where the most “serious and flagrant” breaches of rules may have taken place.In a surprise announcement on Friday morning, the force said that “for the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report”. Scotland Yard added that it was not asking for “limitations” on the report’s discussion of other events or for a delay in publication.The announcement threw the Gray inquiry into disarray, and after a day of emergency discussions it was decided to press ahead with a slimmed-down report with considerable content removed in line with the police request.No date has been fixed for the presentation of the report to Mr Johnson, but staff are working through the weekend to finalise it as quickly as possible. Sources said it would be handed over as soon as it is ready, with expectations in Westminster that release will come early next week.Publication of the report had already been derailed by Dame Cressida’s suprise announcement on Tuesday of a police probe. With many Tories saying they were waiting for Gray before submitting confidence letters, Westminster was braced for publication to push the total beyond the threshold of 54 needed to force a vote on Mr Johnson’s position, in which he would need the backing of 180 MPs to survive. News that the document will come out in severely truncated form has cast doubt on whether the trigger point will be reached this week.One firm opponent of Johnson’s continued leadership told The Independent: “If it doesn’t come out in full, I think some will put letters in, but others will say, ‘Let’s kick the can down the road and wait for the police’.”The developments came as a new YouGov poll suggested that, with a satisfaction rating of -52, Mr Johnson is now significantly less popular with voters than the Conservatives as a whole (-41), heightening MPs’ concerns that he will prove a drag on the party’s performance in the May local elections.And Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May broke her silence on the Partygate affair, telling the Maidenhead Advertiser she was “angry” over reports of lockdown-breaching parties in No 10, and adding: “Nobody is above the law… If there is evidence of deliberate or premeditated wrongdoing, I expect full accountability to follow.”One backbencher who wants to see Johnson replaced before the local elections told The Independent he feared that a redacted report would give wavering Tories “an excuse to wait before making a decision”.The backbencher said: “We could still get to 54 letters if some redacted version of Sue Gray report comes out. Her conclusions might be damning.“But we won’t know the full facts of what the prime minister has done. That’s the problem. So we may need to get the full, unredacted version, or wait for the end of the police investigation, to get to 180 MPs who would oppose him continuing.”Another Tory, who had been waiting for the Gray report before deciding whether to send a letter, said that the mood among wavering backbenchers had already “softened”.“Quite a lot of MPs are beginning to hope we can somehow move on,” said the backbencher. “It’s not Watergate. The chaotic s***show at No 10 will have to change – there needs to be clear-out. We all know that.“I’d like to see Sue Gray report in full. But I think the report, whatever it says, will not now be enough on its own to put me and others over the line. By the time the police finish, the mood could have changed even more. I’m getting a lot of emails saying, ‘I’m bored of hearing about this.’”Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “The government is paralysed because of the prime minister’s behaviour in Downing Street and the attempts of his cabinet to save his skin.“The Gray report must be published in full as soon as possible and the police have to get on with their investigation. But Britain faces huge challenges as we emerge from the pandemic and it is offensive that the government’s sole focus is on cleaning up after themselves.“The country deserves better. Boris Johnson is unfit for office and must resign.”Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “A stitch-up between the Met leadership and No 10 will damage our politics for generations and it looks like it is happening right in front of our eyes.”And the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: “No one will accept a Westminster cover-up. “If the UK government refuses to publish the full unredacted report it will prove, yet again, that Westminster is utterly corrupt and broken beyond repair. “It won’t save Boris Johnson’s skin. It will only add to the calls for him to go.” More

A heavily-censored version of the Sue Gray report into allegations of lockdown-breaching parties at 10 Downing Street is to be presented to Boris Johnson “shortly”, The Independent has learnt.A source close to the investigation team said that, in line with the requests of Scotland Yard, the report will be stripped of details which the Metropolitan Police fear could compromise their separate inquiry into potential criminal behaviour.Police this evening promised they will complete their investigations “promptly” and will be writing to all those identified by Ms Gray’s team “as having potentially breached (Covid) regulations”.No date has been set for the redacted report to be passed to the prime minister, but it is understood that members of the Cabinet Office inquiry team are working through the weekend to finalise the document. It will be handed over as soon as the process is complete, and almost certainly within the next week.Downing Street has promised to publish the report “as soon as possible”, in the form it receives it from Ms Gray. And Mr Johnson will then make a statement to the House of Commons and face a grilling by MPs.The decision not to delay the report revives the prospect of an imminent confidence vote to remove Mr Johnson as Conservative leader, which would be triggered by letters from 54 Tory MPs. Many MPs have said they are waiting for Ms Gray’s report to decide whether to submit a letter to 1922 Commitee chair Sir Graham Brady.The PM would then need the votes of half the parliamentary party – some 180 MPs – to retain his position.However, rebel Tories fear that the removal of references to the most contentious Downing Street gatherings may take the sting out of the Gray report, prompting wavering MPs to withhold their judgement on the PM’s behaviour until the police probe is completed.There was fury on Friday morning when police announced that they had asked Ms Gray’s team to remove all but “minimal” information about the events covered by the criminal inquiry. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick announced on Tuesday that she was launching an investigation into what appeared to be “serious and flagrant” breaches of lockdown rules for which there was little likelihood of a persuasive defence. She made clear that the inquiry would not include all 15 reported events considered by Ms Gray, but has not identified which will be investigated.Liberal Democrats warned of an “establishment stitch-up”, while the Scottish National Party said that the Partygate scandal must not be covered up with “Whitehall whitewash”.In a statement on Friday evening, the Met insisted it had “not delayed” the Gray report and said the timing of its release was a matter for the Cabinet Office.Commander Catherine Roper said officers will now examine all the material from Ms Gray “in detail to establish whether individuals attending the events in question may have breached the regulations”.The senior officer – who leads the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command – said the force would conduct inquiries “without fear or favour” and would be writing to those identified by Ms Gray’s team “as having potentially breached these regulations”. More

The Metropolitan Police pledged to complete its investigation into alleged breaches of Covid rules at government gatherings “promptly” after receiving material requested from Sue Gray’s team on Friday.Scotland Yard also insisted it had “not delayed” the report by the senior civil servant into the partygate scandal, and said the timing of the Gray report’s release was a matter for the Cabinet Office.The statement came as it emerged said that a heavily-censored version of the Gray report into allegations of lockdown-breaching parties at 10 Downing Street will be presented to Boris Johnson “shortly”.A source close to the investigation team told The Independent that – in line with the requests from Scotland Yard – the report will be stripped of details that officers fear could compromise their separate inquiry.Commander Catherine Roper said officers would now examine all the material from Ms Gray “in detail to establish whether individuals attending the events in question may have breached the regulations”.The senior officer – who leads the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command – said the force would conduct inquiries “without fear or favour” and would be writing to those identified by Ms Gray’s team “as having potentially breached these regulations”. Ms Roper also confirmed that the offences under investigation, where proven, would normally result “in the issuing of a fixed penalty notice” – ruling out speculation officers could be looking at more serious offences.Explaining why the Met had asked Ms Gray’s team for “minimal reference” to events subject to its own probe, Ms Roper said it was necessary “in order to protect the integrity of the police investigation” and “to be as fair as possible to those who are subject to it”.The senior Met figure added: “This will only be necessary until these matters are concluded and is to give detectives the most reliable picture of what happened at these events. We intend to complete our investigations promptly, fairly and proportionately.”The force previously argued the constraints on the Cabinet Office report into “partygate” were necessary to “avoid any prejudice to our investigation”. The new statement, issued on Friday evening, contains no mention of the term “prejudice”.Ms Roper added: “We have not delayed this report and the timing of its release is a matter for the Cabinet Office inquiry team.”Officers leading the probe are understood to be concerned that they will not be able to investigate effectively if key details and pieces of evidence, such as photos, are released to the general public.Met chief Dame Cressida Dick announced the investigation on Tuesday, after weeks of pressure, as the force insisted it would only investigate if it received evidence of potential criminal offences from the Cabinet Office.In the latest statement, Ms Roper said that “where there is sufficient evidence that individuals have breached the regulations without reasonable excuse, officers will decide if enforcement action is appropriate”.She added: “If the decision is to take enforcement action then a report will be sent to the ACRO Criminal Records Office which will issue the fixed penalty notice. Recipients can pay the fixed penalty and the matter will be considered closed.” More

UK arms manufacturers have been hit by long delays in attempts to export weapons overseas because of Brexit red tape, a leading trade body has told MPs.The Engineering and Machinery Alliance (EMA) said some firms are “waiting for up to six months” for government licences to export into the EU – despite the target time for approval being two weeks. Jack Semple, director of policy at the alliance, told MPs on the international trade committee that the industry blames the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) for failing to anticipate time-consuming Brexit red tape. “The ECJU’s target for granting or rejecting license applications is two weeks, but firms report waiting for up to six months,” he said in written evidence. “Firms have lost not only specific orders but also suffered reputational damage, undermining their export potential.”Mr Semple called on the government to introduce “new, more efficient systems”, adding: “We are a smart nation, full of smart people – we can do better.” The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Angus MacNeil, chair of the international trade committee, said the shipment delays was “symptomatic of the lack of preparedness” for Brexit.Calling the UK’s exit from the EU “a project of bluster”, Mr MacNeil added: “There’s almost no sector untouched … Brexit is an economic disaster affecting everybody.”Labour MP Nick Thomas-Symonds, shadow international trade secretary, said that “given how much time, public money and preparation went into our withdrawal from the EU, you would have thought that ministers would have had some more foresight and planned for this.”The frontbencher added: “It’s staggering that the government’s export unit did not anticipate that extra resources would be needed to process licences for exports to the EU from the UK.“Ministers need to get a grip and ensure they get export licenses out to business as soon as possible.”A trade department spokesperson told Politico – which first reported on the hold-ups – that the ECJU “processes license applications as quickly as possible, striving to conclude 70 per cent of standard individual export license applications within 20 working days and 99 percent within 60 working days”.The spokesperson added: “Due to the robustness of our export controls regime, some destinations remain more challenging and will take longer than our target times to complete.”It comes as retailers and hauliers warned that British shoppers could see less choice of food and steep price increases as EU suppliers shun the UK over customs controls brought into force on 1 January.James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink, said export controls introduced in 2021 had been “terminal” to some UK food businesses’ EU sales. “The same may happen under the new UK import controls brought in this year. Some EU businesses may decide there are just easier places to do business than the UK,” he said.Meanwhile, the Unite union said this week that the Brexit customs controls were causing significant delays at the port of Dover – with each driver taking 10 to 20 minutes to clear checks.Adrian Jones, Unite’s national officer for road transport, told The Independent: “The queues and the delays are only going to get longer as both tourism and commercial trade pick up in the weeks ahead.”Greater disruption has been reported at the French port of Calais because of additional red tape needed for imports from the EU into the UK since the start of January. More

The government is to hike student loan repayments by around £150 a year in real terms, by freezing the repayment salary threshold. The announcement means graduates with student loans will see more cash taken out of their payslips every month – on top of other planned tax and bill rises.Michelle Donelan, the higher education minister, said the change would make sure the university funding system was providing “value for money for all of society at a time of rising costs”.The announcement was made in a written statement slipped out to parliament on Friday after MPs had gone home from Westminster to their constituencies. The practice is common for government announcements where ministers want to avoid parliamentary scrutiny.Under the changes the repayment threshold for plan 2 students will be frozen at the previous 2021-22 level of £27,295 per year, £2,274 a month, or £524 a week.For plan 3 students the threshold will also be unchanged at £21,000 per year, £1,750 a month or £404 a week for financial year 2022-23. The thresholds freeze sits against annual inflation soaring to 5.4 per cent in December. Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, said the policy announcement amounted to a “6 or 7 per cent real terms reduction and hence a real terms increase in repayments of circa £150 a year on graduates with student loans”.The freeze will hit around the same time as the government is planning to hike national insurance contributions (NICs) and raise rail fares by record levels – the latter linked to inflation.It will also follow a controversial cut to universal credit (UC) and skyrocketing winter heating and energy bills.Announcing the change in the written statement, Ms Donelan said: “Maintaining the repayment threshold at its current level, alongside the ongoing freeze in fees, will help to ensure the sustainability of the student loan system, while keeping higher education open to everyone who has the ability and the ambition to benefit from it, including the most disadvantaged.” More