Markus Andrews

Huge lorry queues building up at the Port of Dover have been blamed “entirely” on extra controls which have come into force from Brexit.It comes as port chiefs urged the UK government to hold talks with the EU on ways to ease further checks set to come in later in 2022 which could cause “disastrous” disruption to trade.One courier told The Independent he had been caught up in queues of up to 15km since full customs controls came into force at beginning of January.The British haulier said it was taking 15 to 20 minutes for each driver to clear checks needed for the UK government’s new Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) system and other export paperwork at Dover.“It’s entirely Brexit – you can’t blame it on anything else but Brexit,” said the driver, who has had to push back some deliveries.The haulier added: “People will get to grips with GVMS and the new paperwork in the weeks ahead. But even if they don’t take as long, checks still take time. So the queues are bound to get worse when traffic flows pick up next month.”Recent disruption has been even more significant around the French port of Calais since new customs controls were introduced on goods imported into the UK at the start of January.Lorry drivers have reported queueing for up to eight hours to get through controls, partly because UK firms have struggled with complex new customs declarations and rules-of-origin forms.But the GVMS system is also creating longer checks for lorries heading to the EU at Dover. There was a queue of 7km leading up to Dover port on Friday morning, according to the Sixfold traffic tracker used by the logistics industry which has record “high than usual” build-up this week.The congestion at Dover in recent days has seen the Operation TAP temporary traffic system being implemented – with all vehicles restricted to 40mph and lorries asked queue in one lane until there is space.A cross-party group of MPs on the transport select committee visited Dover earlier this week to hear the concerns of port chiefs and assess overflow space.Labour MP Ruth Cadbury, a member of the committee, told The Independent: “There are clearly issues with congestion at Dover. There is no doubt the regulatory changes from Brexit are causing delays.”She echoed a call from the British Chambers of Commerce for the government to streamline some of the new red tape required. “The government has an opportunity to smooth things out,” she said.Doug Bannister, chief executive at Port of Dover, has called on the government to start urgent talks with EU authorities over the biometric checks set to come into force in September.The port chief said the new checks on non-EU citizens – which could involve body or facial scanning similar to those seen at airports – may involve car drivers being asked to step out of their vehicle.“If it is forcing people to get out of their vehicles inside of a busy port, that is just unsafe. We couldn’t allow that to happen. That will lead to increased queues, no doubt.”Logistics UK warned at the end of last year that the new biometric checks to travel into the EU could lead to 27km (17 miles) tailbacks.Transport select committee chair Huw Merriman said the potential for significant traffic delays could be a “disaster” for trade if it were to impact on supply chains.“That per-vehicle movement will end up causing a 17-mile delay back into Kent and that would be a disaster for the local economy and a disaster for trade as well,” said the Tory MP.A spokesperson the Home Office said: “The UK is continuing to engage with our European partners at an operational level and, in particular, where we operate juxtaposed controls, to ensure our respective border arrangements work and interact as well as possible.”Meanwhile, the head of Dublin Port said the route through Dover that once offered Irish traders the fastest means of getting between the Republic of Ireland and the European continent will not “re-emerge” as a preferred option for moving goods.“I don’t see [the route] recovering,” Dublin Port chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly told the Irish Times. More

Downing Street is refusing to conduct an inquiry into allegations of intimidation and blackmail by government whips, despite a cabinet minister’s call for an investigation.Asked repeatedly at a Westminster media briefing on Friday whether No 10 was looking into allegations from senior Tory William Wragg, a Downing Street spokesperson said only that evidence would be considered “if it comes forward”.No 10’s refusal to mount an inquiry may encourage rebel Tories to publish evidence which they have been gathering of what they regard as unacceptable behaviour by whips.One of those involved in discussions among Red Wall MPs who entered parliament in 2019 told The Independent: “There is an increasing level of evidence that MPs have collated in order to be able to share if it becomes necessary to do so.”Evidence which has been collected is reported to include a secretly recorded conversation with chief whip Mark Spencer as well as text messages sent to MPs thought to be preparing to send letters of no confidence in the PM over the partygate affair.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today said there should be an investigation into “completely unacceptable” allegations that MPs have been threatened with withdrawal of funding from their constituencies if they declare no confidence in Boris Johnson as prime minister.Mr Kwarteng said ministers “need to get to the bottom of the matter” but that he believes it is “very unlikely” the claims are true.But under sustained questioning, the Downing Street spokesperson was unable to point to any efforts by No 10 proactively to investigate the claimsAnd he repeatedly refused to comment on the alleged behaviour of whips, insisting that this was a matter for the Conservative Party despite the fact that they are employed by the government and paid with taxpayers’ money and are subject to the ministerial code of conduct.Mr Wragg sensationally claimed on Thursday that Tory MPs considering triggering a no confidence vote in the PM had received threats to “withdraw investments” from constituencies, as well as “intimidation” from No 10 staff.The chair of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee said the threats could amount to “blackmail” and urged colleagues to report them to the police.Christian Wakeford, the Bury South MP who defected from the Tories to Labour, said he was threatened with funding for a new school in his constituency being withheld if he did not vote with the government over free school meals.Mr Kwarteng told Sky News: “As far as the specific allegation about whips withholding funds, I think that’s completely unacceptable. Any form of blackmail and intimidation of that kind simply has no place in British politics.“We need to get to the bottom of the matter. But I find it very unlikely that these allegations are true.”Mr Johnson said on Thursday that he had neither seen nor heard any evidence of intimidation of MPs, while a Downing Street source said: “If there is any evidence to support these claims we would look at it very carefully.”The row has sparked debate over the role of the whips, renowned over decades for their sometimes ruthless enforcement of discipline among MPs.By convention, official Downing Street press spokespeople do not comment on the instructions given by whips to party MPs. But No 10 today suggested that this code of silence also extended to allegations of misbehaviour.The No 10 spokesperson said only that he “can’t get into matters of whipping”.Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said on Thursday it could be a contempt of Parliament to obstruct MPs in their work, adding that MPs and their staff are “not above the criminal law”.“While the whipping system is long-established, it is of course a contempt to obstruct members in the discharge of their duty or to attempt to intimidate a member in their parliamentary conduct by threats,” he said. More

Boris Johnson says ‘no evidence’ on ‘blackmail’ allegationsThe government is not investigating claims that some Tory MPs were “blackmailed” by its whips, despite a minister’s call for an inquiry into the claims. After business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the allegations were “completely unacceptable” and should be investigated, Downing Street distanced itself from his position, saying evidence would only be looked at “if it comes forward”.This stance comes as Tories clash over Boris Johnson’s future, with Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford likening the infighting to “ferrets in a sack”. The Conservative politician William Wragg first suggested on Thursday that Tory whips were guilty of blackmailing MPs. Christian Wakeford, who defected to Labour on Wednesday, then alleged that he had been forced to toe the government line as a Conservative MP or risk losing school funding in his constituency. The prime minister has denied such allegations, saying he had “seen no evidence, heard no evidence” to support them. However, rebel MPs are said to possess a secret recording and texts that supposedly back up their claims. Show latest update

1642776356History ‘catching up’ with PM, says Drakeford It is not just Holyrood that is sensing weakness at Westminster over partygate – so is the devolved Welsh administration.Speaking on Friday afternoon, Mark Drakeford attacked Boris Johnson for his relationship with the truth. “If I’m truthful about it, the prime minister is someone who’s been sacked from two previous jobs for not telling the truth,” the country’s first minister said. “I think what you see is his history catching up with him,” he added.Mr Drakeford also suggested that Westminster was fully distracted, seeing everything “exclusively through the lens of ‘how does this make a difference to the efforts that are being made to shore up the position of the prime minister?’”. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 14:451642775156PM’s position ‘untenable’, SNP reiterates The SNP has reiterated that Boris Johnson’s position is “untenable” after a series of “boozy lockdown Downing Street parties”. Kirsten Oswald, the party’s deputy leader at Westminster, said the public and his own MPs know that he should step down.“The reality is that getting rid of Boris Johnson alone won’t fix the problem. Corruption and scandals are part of a wider culture of Westminster entitlement and contempt for the rules,” she added. Referring to a recent survey showing partygate had damaged the Union in the eyes of Scots, Ms Oswald said: “This new poll – highlighting the scale of public opposition to the corrupt Tory government and movement in favour of independence – is another reminder that only with independence will we be able to escape the broken and corrupt Westminster system.” Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 14:251642773956Government hopes to ban opioid 500-times stronger than morphine The governnment wants to tighten drug legislation on an opioid 500 times stronger than morphine. Isotonitazene, a synethic opioid, has been connected to 25 deaths as of September last year, according to the Home Office.Although it is illegal to supply this drug, possessing it does not break the law. Home secretary Priti Patel has sought advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). “Reports of fatal overdoses linked to this dangerous substance have been deeply disturbing, and I want to act now to ensure no further lives are lost or families torn apart,” she said. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 14:051642772756Does Johnson have ‘bat out of hell’s chance’ of still being PM in two years? A lobby journalist asked a No 10 spokesperson today whether Boris Johnson thinks he has “a bat out of hell’s chance” of being the incumbent prime minister at the next general election. “Does the PM think he has a bat out of hell’s chance of leading the Conservative party into the next election or will he be gone, gone, gone?” they asked. The Downing Street spokesperson did not respond directly. “I will point you to the PM’s remarks during PMQs earlier this week,” they said.In the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Johnson ruled out resigning – at least for the time being. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 13:451642771496UK trade deal benefits wiped out by duty changes, Australian wine producers sayAustralian wine producers have complained that any benefits from their country’s trade deal with the UK will be undone by changes to wine duties in Britain. They warn that the £26 million uplift suggested by British foreign secretary Liz Truss will be wiped out through £70 million in extra costs.Britain is planning on increasing its wine duties from next February for drinks with an alcohol content of 11.5 per cent and above. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 13:241642770356Sue Gray report: When will she publish findings of Downing Street party probe?Sue Gray, who is investing the No 10 lockdown parties, became a household name overnight. But when is her report likely to be published? What might it contain? And does this bode badly for the prime minister? Matt Mathers takes a look: Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 13:051642769651No Downing Street investigation into blackmail claims, despite minister’s call for probeDowning Street is not conducting an inquiry into allegations of intimidation and blackmail by government whips, despite a cabinet minister’s call for an investigation.Asked repeatedly at a Westminster media briefing on Friday whether No 10 was looking into allegations from senior Tory William Wragg, a Downing Street spokesperson said only that evidence would be considered “if it comes forward”.No 10’s refusal to mount an inquiry may encourage rebel Tories to publish evidence which they have been gathering of what they regard as unacceptable behaviour by whips.Andrew Woodcock 21 January 2022 12:541642769456Households will not receive help with energy bills until March, says business ministerThe public will not be given extra support with energy bills until March, a minister has said.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s comment comes as household bills are expected to soar later this year when a new energy price cap comes into force. Households will not receive help with energy bills until March, says business ministerRory Sullivan21 January 2022 12:501642768256Another former Tory MP claims party’s whips blackmailed him Another former Conservative MP has gone on the record to suggest he was blackmailed by the party’s chief whips.Mr Howlett, who represented Bath between 2015 and 2017, said he was told that a project he backed in his constituency would not get off the ground unless he toed the party’s Brexit line. “There were some very dicey votes for the government and I was campaigning to receive government funding, and of course one of the tactics used to make sure I fell into line on some of the Brexit rebellions was to threaten the withholding of money to pay for an investigation into whether or not this link road would have been built,” he told the BBC. Rory Sullivan21 January 2022 12:301642767176Watch: Truss defends PMBoris Johnson is “doing a fantastic job”, Liz Truss has told reporters in Australia.Hear more about what she had to say:Boris Johnson ‘doing a fantastic job’, says Liz Truss as she pledges full supportRory Sullivan21 January 2022 12:12 More

Boris Johnson’s future hangs in the balance as Tory MPs await the findings of a inquiry by Sue Gray into Downing Street parties during Covid restrictions.The investigation into the gatherings reportedly obtained an email yesterday showing that an aide to the PM was warned that the now infamous garden gathering of 20 May 2020 was against the rules.The email, and reports of at least 12 other alleged rule-breaking gatherings, are being investigated internally by a senior civil servant who has been tasked with establishing the facts of what happened at each.On 8 December last year, the prime minister, who is facing calls to resign over the matter, appointed Sue Gray to look into the reports after Simon Case, the cabinet secretary and the UK’s most senior mandarin, recused himself from the investigation as it emerged a gathering had taken place in his office.Ms Gray, the second permanent secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities who previously worked in Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team, has a fearsome reputation for pulling no punches when it comes to wrongdoing.Her probe does not have the same powers as a judge-led or public inquiry. Some believe the conclusions in the former pub landlord’s report could be written in such a way as to suggest to Mr Johnson, who is fighting for his political life over the ‘partygate’ scandal, that it is last orders and he should resign.According to the Institute for Government thinktank, it is unlikely she will explicitly call for Mr Johnson to quit or rule on whether or not he breached the ministerial code in his responses to the party reports in the House of Commons.When the terms of reference for the investigation were set (by the prime minister) there was no concrete date for its publication and it has apparently been delayed on at least one occasion after fresh allegations emerged and the scope of the investigation widened.Sources told The Daily Telegraph it could be published this week. Reports now say it will be released in the first half of next week. The Independent has contacted the Cabinet Office for comment.Allies of the PM, including Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, have repeatedly called for patience from colleagues calling for the PM to resign over the affair, saying MPs should give the PM space until Ms Gray’s report is published. Mr Johnson has himself repeatedly referred to the investigation when being asked to answer further questions on partygate.Government whips have this week been frantically trying to delay a potential no confidence vote in Mr Johnson as back bench Tory MPs become increasingly restless over his handling of the affair.The PM appeared on Sky News on Tuesday to defend himself against claims by Dominic Cummings, his former chief aide, that he was in fact made aware that the 20 May 2020 party broke the rules. Mr Cummings also accused the PM of lying to parliament, which would be a breach of the ministerial code and therefore usually a resigning matter.”I’m saying categorically that nobody told me, nobody said this was something that was against the rules, doing something that wasn’t a work event because frankly, I can’t imagine why it would have gone ahead, or it would have been allowed to go ahead if it was against the rules,” Mr Johnson said in his response.But the prime minister was then criticised for refusing to accept responsibility for the rules he had set and the response reportedly triggered a fresh wave of no confidence letters going in to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the powerful 1922 Committee.Some rebel MPs claimed that the no confidence vote threshold of 54 letters would be reached by the end of Wednesday, but this never transpired. Allies of the PM subsequently briefed news outlets that the defection of Christian Wakeford to the Labour party earlier in the day had “calmed” the party and made rebels “think twice” about submitting letters.Infighting over Mr Johnson’s future broke out into the Commons on Thursday as MPs plotting to topple the PM accused whips of “blackmailing” them to vote with the government.William Wragg, a senior Tory MP, chair of the public administration committee — and one of those calling for Johnson to resign over the partygate scandal — was first out of the blocks to make the incendiary claims, saying that some of his colleagues had been threatened with funding cuts if they didn’t vote in a specific way. Just a few hours later Christian Wakeford, who defected to the Labour Party on Wednesday and is also calling for the PM to go, stepped forward to tell the BBC that whips had threatened to axe funding for a school in his constituency if he did not support the government on voting against free school meals. More

Rory Stewart has warned it is “very disturbing” that Boris Johnson was ever elected as prime minister when he has a record as a proven liar.The former Conservative cabinet minister said it should be no surprise to anyone that the prime minister has been tripped up by allegations of dishonesty over the No 10 parties.It was also “ironic” that the controversy now seemed likely to topple him – not “one of the worst Covid death threats in the developed world”, he said.Mr Stewart – who was defeated by Mr Johnson in the 2019 leadership race – said, of the partygate scandal: “We should all have expected this.“He has been a very famous public figure for 30 years. The British public has spent 30 years focusing on the fact that he lies, that he’s disorganised, that he betrays almost every personal commitment that he has.“He was manifestly unsuited to be prime minister from the beginning, so it’s very, very disturbing that a great country like Britain should have chosen somebody so unsuitable for the role.”Mr Johnson has twice been forced out of jobs because of dishonesty, once for fabricating a quote when a journalist and then as a shadow minister when he lied to Tory leader Michael Howard about an office affair.But he won the Tory leadership convincingly, as the party’s MPs swallowed their concerns about his character in the belief he is an election winner.That judgement was proved correct when Mr Johnson secured a triumphant landslide at the 2019 general election, as voters backed his promise to “get Brexit done”.Mr Stewart told Sky News he expected the partygate scandal to be “the last nail in the coffin” – ahead of the crucial report by civil servant Sue Gray, next week.But he added: “This is a country which has had one of the worst Covid death threats and one of the poorest economic performances in the developed world.“In a way it’s ironic that what seems to be bringing down the prime minister is the Downing Street party, rather than the record of bad government over the last year and a half.”Mr Stewart said: “I can’t see what future that he has. He may be able to survive for another few months, but he is badly wounded.“And, essentially, in order to be a leader, you need credibility, you need supporters, you need energy, you need enthusiasm, you need confidence.“And those are things that Boris Johnson had in great excess over the last few years and he’s lost it – and it’s very, very difficult to see that returning and very difficult to see him being a credible leader again.” More

A cabinet minister has attempted to rubbish an MP’s claim that he was told a new school would be blocked in his constituency if he defied Boris Johnson, saying he wants to “discredit” the government.The incendiary allegation from Christian Wakeford – who defected from the Conservatives to Labour – came after a senior Tory accused government whips of “blackmail” and said the police should be called in.But Kwasi Kwarteng said he did not believe the claims of threats and intimidation – and turned on Mr Wakeford, calling him a “turncoat”.“I don’t know what his motivations were and, as you’ll appreciate, he’s a Labour MP now and, of course, part of his job is to try and discredit the government,” the business secretary said.But other rebel Tories, considering joining moves to topple the prime minister, have also reported threats, including that damaging stories about them will be planted in newspapers.The Times reported that some are considering publishing private text messages and a secretly recorded conversation with the chief whip, to back up their claims.Mr Wakeford is believed to have been threatened that the new school would not be built in his Bury South seat if voted with Labour in favour of free school meals, in October 2020.“I was threatened that I would not get the school for Radcliffe if I did not vote in one particular way.” he said, on Thursday.“This is a town that’s not had a high school for the best part of 10 years, and how would you feel when holding back the regeneration of a town for a vote?“It didn’t sit comfortably and that was when I was really starting to question my place at that time.”Mr Kwarteng, speaking on Sky News, said the government wanted to “get to the bottom” of the allegations – a day after No 10 said there would be no investigation.But he added: “I’ve been an MP for 12 years now, and I’ve never heard of the kind of allegations that are being made.“Blackmail, the idea that somehow money is being withheld from communities that need it on account of the behaviour of the MPs, I’ve never heard of anything like that.“I find it strange because the whip’s office doesn’t actually have the power over spending in that way.” Mr Kwarteng added: “I don’t think that this is happening.”The bitter Tory infighting is growing as the party awaits Sue Gray’s report into the partygate scandal, which will determine whether Mr Johnson faces a no-confidence vote.Government nerves are fraying after an email central to the charge that the prime minister “lied to parliament” over the No 10 party he attended was “found”.Ms Gray is poised to quiz the senior official who sent the email – warning the prime minister’s aide Martin Reynolds to cancel the “bring your own booze” event – it is believed. More

For Boris Johnson facts have always been flexible.The British prime minister’s career is littered with doctored quotes, tall tales, exaggerations and mistruths. When called out, he has generally offered an apologetic shrug or a guilty grin, and moved on. Plenty of people were willing to forgive him.At least until now. Revelations that the prime minister and his staff partied while Britain was under coronavirus restrictions have provoked public outrage and prompted many in the Conservative Party to consider dumping their leader. The Conservatives picked Johnson because his image as a cheerful rule-breaker — the naughty schoolboy of British politics — gave him a rare ability to connect with voters. Now, many are having second thoughts.“His fans would say he’s a force of nature — he doesn’t let things get in his way,” said Steven Fielding professor of political history at the University of Nottingham.“Sometimes he’s been caught out, but mostly he’s got away with it,” Fielding added. “Now the reality is becoming more apparent to more and more people.”Johnson has often been able to talk his way out of crises. The Oxford-educated politician has used words to create the image of a rumpled jokester with a mop of blond hair who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Quips and jokes tumble out of him, sometimes in Latin or ancient Greek. That persona made Johnson a popular guest on the humorous TV show “Have I Got News for You” from the late 1990s onwards, and brought him global fame as London’s boosterish mayor between 2008 and 2016. Many people thought he was too lightweight ever to become prime minister, and Johnson didn’t contradict them. He disguised his ambition with jokes, saying he had as much chance of becoming prime minister as of “finding Elvis on Mars” or being “reincarnated as an olive.” In fact, he had long dreamed of power. His sister Rachel Johnson has said his childhood ambition was to be “world king.” But his route to the top was haphazard. As a young journalist at The Times of London he fabricated a quote about King Edward II from a historian, who also happened to be his godfather. He was fired, but that didn’t stop him becoming Brussels correspondent for the Daily Telegraph in the early 1990s, filing exaggerated stories of EU waste and red tape. Those “Euromyths” about one-size-fits-all condoms and plans to ban “bendy bananas” helped turn British opinion against the bloc, and ultimately lead to Johnson becoming the Brexit champion who would years later bring the U.K. out of the EU.Brexit was won in a 2016 referendum campaign that contained many questionable claims, notably the allegation — often repeated by Johnson — that Britain gave the EU 350 million pounds a week that could instead be spent on the U.K.’s health service. Johnson suffered an early political setback when then-Conservative leader Michael Howard fired him in 2004 for lying about an extramarital affair. A month earlier, Howard forced him to apologize to the city of Liverpool for accusing its residents of “wallowing” in victimhood.Opponents long argued that Johnson’s loose grasp of facts — and history of glibly offensive comments — made him unfit for high office. Over the years Johnson has called Papua New Guineans cannibals, claimed that “part Kenyan” Barack Obama had an ancestral dislike of Britain and compared Muslim women who wear face-covering veils to “letter boxes.”Johnson has usually responded by dismissing offensive comments as jokes, or by accusing journalists of dredging up long-ago remarks. Attacking the media — along with “lefty London lawyers” — is a longstanding populist tactic of Johnson. His biographer Andrew Gimson has called him the “Merry England PM” who depicts his opponents as joyless puritans.Now, though, Johnson’s allies worry that the tide has turned. Johnson has apologized for the lockdown-breaching parties in uncharacteristically subdued and carefully worded statements. He has stopped short of admitting personal wrongdoing, saying he believed he acted within the rules.But many Britons who stuck to lockdown rules imposed by the government — cut off from friends and family, unable to visit relatives in nursing homes and hospitals — have scoffed at Johnson’s “partygate” excuses, including his claim that he thought a “bring your own booze” garden party was a work event.Chris Curtis, head of political polling at Opinium Research, said public trust in the prime minister had plummeted and Johnson’s personal approval ratings were now “pretty dire.”“It has always been true that the public would prefer to have a pint with Boris Johnson but wouldn’t necessarily trust him to look after their kids,” Curtis said. “But what we’ve seen happen with this crisis is that now people say they would be less keen to have a pint with him — and people really wouldn’t trust him to look after their kids.”Next week, senior civil servant Sue Gray is expected to conclude an investigation into the partying allegations. If she does not find that Johnson knowingly broke the rules, Conservative lawmakers may hold back from a no-confidence vote to topple him.But Fielding said Johnson’s brand has now been irrevocably tarnished, even if the immediate crisis passes.“It will recede, but I don’t think it will recede to the level that makes him a viable leader for the Conservative Party going into the next election,” Fielding said. “He’s a dead duck.” More

Officers have not had enough manpower to investigate alleged past violations of Covid laws, police chiefs have said.The Metropolitan Police has faced demands to explain how officers guarding Downing Street could have been unaware of the “bring your own booze” garden gathering on 20 May 2020, while the rest of the country was under strict lockdown.Yesterday, police and crime commissioners did not comment on the scandal embroiling Boris Johnson, but said forces had not launched any retrospective investigations into any alleged violations of emergency coronavirus laws due to lack of capacity.National policy for police forces in England and Wales was drawn up at the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, to focus on breaches that pose the highest risk to public health.During the first lockdown, Mr Johnson’s then-chief adviser Dominic Cummings sparked fury for having driven from London to Durham with his family while it was forbidden to leave your local area.He had claimed the reason he then driven to Barnard Castle was to “test his eyesight” before he drove back to London. Police clarified the national policy after the widespread uproar led to Mr Cummings making a statement on the matter filmed in the Downing Street garden.Durham Constabulary concluded that Mr Cummings may have committed “a minor breach of the regulations” and said there was “no intention to take retrospective action since this would amount to treating Mr Cummings differently from other members of the public”.Commanders in charge of the policing response to Covid issued a direction to all forces, saying that retrospective investigations could be carried out for egregious breaches, if they were merited, proportionate and in the public interest.At the press conference on Thursday, Joy Allen – Labour PCC for Durham – said that Mr Cummings’ lockdown breach in her area of authority happened before she was elected in May 2021.But she said it was right that decisions on how allegations should have been treated were made on a case-by-case basis rather than “just making one decision for everything”.Alison Hernandez – Conservative PCC for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – said: “[The guidance] was created in a pandemic, it would have been created at speed. “Locally, decisions – absolutely – were made to not to do retrospective investigations because there was not the capacity and we didn’t know what was coming. “Business as usual was stopped as much as possible in order to manage this crisis. “There was also still domestic violence, rapes and sexual offences happening that needed to be investigated. “The aim of using resources to do retrospective investigations on Covid was just not going to be an option. “I supported that [decision] locally because, this about being in a pandemic, we’re just going to deal with what’s happening in the here and now, the day to day.”Stephen Mold – Conservative PCC for Northamptonshire – said: “There is only a finite amount of policing resources that are better directed to domestic violence as a consequence of people being cooped up in their houses, that was a real risk and focus.”Earlier this month, Green peer Baroness Jones told The Independent that she would be writing to the Met Police and national police watchdog IOPC to ask whether officers witnessed or known about the Downing Street garden event.Mr Johnson has insisted that the gathering that he and his wife Carrie attended was a “work event”.It is one of a number of events allegedly held in Downing Street that are currently being investigated by senior civil servant Sue Gray.Police officers, who were called to these events and gatherings held by the general public, handed out fines when social distancing laws were seen to have been broken.More than 800 fines were handed out during the week that the Downing Street party was held. The default fine had recently rose from £60 to £100, and to a maximum of £3,200 for repeat offences.The penalties totalled nearly £1.2 million in London alone, from the beginning of lockdown up until last month, according to a report by the Standard.Campaign groups, including organisation Fair Trials, have said that penalties and prosecutions should be reviewed because current processes – that come to an end are “unjust” and “unfit for purpose”.Griff Ferris, legal and policy officer at Fair Trials, had told The National: “It is also deeply unjust that so many people are being criminalised and financially penalised while those in power appear to receive immunity for the same behaviour. “No one should be fined, prosecuted, or given a criminal record for Covid-related offences while those in power have impunity.” More