Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson has dismissed the furore over Christmas parties in No 10 as “trivia”, despite launching an investigation into whether Covid rules were broken.Under fire from Keir Starmer, the prime minister also denied he needed Labour votes to pass his Plan B restrictions – even though a revolt by 100 Tory MPs wiped out his Commons majority.The comments came as the Labour leader called Mr Johnson “weak” and told him to “get his house in order”, warning rebel Tories are undermining the fight against omicron.Mr Johnson also faced a call to “resign”, but told a Scottish National Party MP: “No, I am going to carry on protecting the public of this country.”The controversy over lockdown-busting parties, a year ago, has triggered a collapse in public support for the prime minister – threatening him with a by-election defeat in the rock-solid Tory seat of North Shropshire.Polls have given Labour leads of up to 11 per cent – while Mr Johnson’s favourability rating has plunged to -42 per cent – leading the leading pollster John Curtice to warn even Tory supporters “no longer believe” him.In the Commons, Sir Keir said his own MPs loss of trust in their leader had led them to “vote against basic public health measures”, on Wednesday evening.He quoted leading rebel Mark Harper, a former chief whip, who asked last week: “Why should I shouldn’t tell my constituents to treat these rules the same way that Downing Street treated these rules last year?”But Mr Johnson switched the subject to the extension of booster jabs, claiming: “That is what the people of this country are focused on. This is bigger than the partisan trivia that he continually raises.”Sir Keir told him: “His own MPs have had enough. They won’t defend him, they won’t turn up to support him and, if he proposes them, they won’t vote for basic public health measures.“The prime minister is so weak that, without Labour votes last night, vital public health measures wouldn’t have got through.“We can’t go on with a prime minister who is too weak to lead. So will the prime minister take time this Christmas to look in the mirror and ask himself whether he has the trust and authority to lead this country?”Mr Johnson claimed it was “not true” that Labour votes were needed to pass Plan B – apparently based on the fact that there was a much smaller backbench rebellion against the extension of mask-wearing.However, the revolt against the use of Covid passes to enter crowded venues would have been defeated if Labour had opposed the measure.The disillusionment with the prime minister has cut the odds on a vote of no confidence, in an attempt to topple him, but not until the New Year at the earliest. More

The Liberal Democrats are paying to promote a leaked Conservative Christmas party picture into the social media feeds of voters in the North Shropshire by-election.The shock image shows 24 Tories posing with drinks during an apparent festive shindig in the party’s Westminster HQ last December – when coronavirus restrictions were in place. So brazen is the bash that a buffet can be seen and guests are wearing party hats.Key within it are Shaun Bailey – the Conservative’s former London mayoral candidate – and billionaire party donor Nick CandyNow, after the picture was published by the Daily Mirror, the Lib Dems have splashed out to have it appear in the timelines of constituents preparing to go to the polls on Thursday.They hope the push will persuade voters in the traditionally safe Tory seat to give the government a bloody nose.“The Conservatives think the rules don’t apply to them,” the accompanying post states. “Tell them the party’s over.”Bookies have already made yellow candidate Helen Morgan favourite to win the seat following a series of government missteps and scandals over the last four weeks – including ongoing revelations about another Christmas Party at 10 Downing Street itself.Tory campaigners say they have had to spend significant amounts of time listening to disquiet about the government – and about Boris Johnson himself – before they can begin presenting a positive case for their own candidate Neil Shastri-Hurst.“I would say, if we do lose this, he [Mr Johnson] would have to reflect on his position,” Roy Aldcroft, the Conservative Mayor of Market Drayton previously told The Independent. “I would like to see the whole issue of who leads us through future elections looked at if we lose. I think that applies even if we win but it’s with a largely reduced majority.”By rights, the by-election – called after previous Tory MP Owen Paterson resigned amid a lobbying scandal – should have been a blue stroll. The party has a 23,000 majority and has held the area for almost 200 years.Yet, while local activists remain confident of seeing off the strong Lib Dem challenge, they say the job has been made intractably more difficult by events in London. More

Metropolitan Police have been asked to investigate the Christmas party held at Conservative headquarters last December when London was still under Covid curbs which banned households from mixing indoors.Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Party politicians on the London Assembly have written to commissioner Dame Cressida Dick to probe the 14 December gathering’s apparent breach of tier 2 rules.Tory London Assembly member Shaun Bailey quit as chair of a police and crime committee after a photo emerged of his team partying at Tory HQ – but he remains on the assembly and a member of the committee.Labour’s Leonie Cooper, Lib Dem Caroline Pidgeon and the Green Party’s Caroline Russell – all London Assembly members – said the drinks and buffet attended by 23 Tory staff must be investigated “swifty”.In their letter to Dame Cressida, the opposition politicians wrote: “These latest images and reports regarding the alleged party at Conservative HQ seem to indicate a clear breach of the regulations … and it is essential these alleged breaches and all involved are fully investigated by the Met.”On Mr Bailey’s attendance, they added: “It is essential that all those who breach the rules are held to account, not least of us who are in public life and should be setting an example for our country and our city at this difficult time.”A Conservative Party spokesman said formal disciplinary action was taken against four CCHQ staff who were seconded to Mr Bailey’s campaign following the “unauthorised social gathering”.Transport secretary Grant Shapps condemned scenes of Mr Bailey partying with staff last Christmas in a breach of coronavirus guidance at the time.“That scene is absolutely unacceptable,” the cabinet minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “It is unacceptable for people to be breaking the rules. That was not authorised by the Conservative Party.”He added: “Those Conservatives who were on secondment from the party have already been disciplined and whatever further action needs to be taken will be taken.”Although Mr Bailey is yet to apologise personally for the party, a campaign spokesperson said: “This was a serious error of judgement and we fully accept that gathering like this at that time was wrong and apologise unreservedly.”Mr Bailey’s resignation as police and crime committee chair came shortly before The Mirror published a photograph of him and about 23 staff at a party with drinks and a buffet.A spokesperson for the Greater London Authority Conservatives said Mr Bailey stepped down to prevent the “unauthorised social gathering” distracting from the committee’s work.Cabinet secretary Simon Case has been tasked with investigating a series of gatherings held at Downing Street and the Department for Education in the run-up to last Christmas.Although the Metropolitan Police have declined the chance to investigate government parties, Downing Street staff have been told not to “destroy any relevant information” during internal probe into gathering.No 10 staff have been not to dispose of any potentially incriminating material and that any evidence which suggests possible law-breaking would be handed to police, according to ITV News. More

The omicron variant of Covid-19 is “probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic” and could place the NHS in “serious peril”, the head of the UK Health Security Agency Jenny Harries has warned MPs.Dr Jenny Harries told a parliamentary committee that “quite staggering” numbers of infections can be expected in the coming days due to the highly contagious nature of the new strain.And she warned that the speed of spread was accelerating, with infections now doubling in less than two days in most parts of the UK, compared to an estimated four or five days when the threat first emerged.The multiple variations seen in the omicron virus means it “runs the risk of evading our natural and/or vaccine immunity”, warned the UKHSA chief executive.The strain – first detected in South Africa – could have “very significant impact on our health services”, she said.Dr Harries was speaking a day after chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty told Boris Johnson’s cabinet that hospitalisations from omicron can be expected to increase “significantly” over the Christmas period.With the UKHSA estimating daily infections at 200,000 on Monday this week, Dr Harries’ estimate of a doubling time of less than two days suggests that more than a million Britons a day could be catching the virus by the weekend, with millions infected by Christmas Day.But she said it was too early to say whether high infection rates will translate into hospitalisations, severe illness and death.Dr Harries told the House of Commons Transport Committee: “I’m sure … the numbers that we see on data over the next few days will be quite staggering compared to the rate of growth that we’ve seen in cases for previous variants. “The real potential risk here – and I would underline that because we are still learning a lot about the variant – is in relation to its severity, clinical severity, and therefore whether those cases turn into severe disease, hospitalisations and deaths. “We’re still at too early a stage for that, in fact the world probably is still at too early a stage to be clear.”But she said it was clear that protection against infection was “much reduced” from two doses of vaccine and even with a booster jab was lower than had been the case with the earlier delta wave.“We have early studies looking at immune serum from patients who’ve been ill and been vaccinated, to see that two doses of vaccine against symptomatic infection – so we don’t know yet about severe disease but about symptomatic infection – is much reduced,” she told MPs. “We do know that the booster dose will push that right back up but it still comes back to a level below that that we’ve had with the booster effect for delta, our previous wave.”Dr Harries said that the speed of the spread of omicron was much faster than the original coronavirus in the spring of 2020 or the later alpha and delta variants, meaning that large numbers of people are becoming infected before scientists have a clear idea of the likely outcome.“The difficulty is the growth of this virus,” she said. “It has a doubling time which is shortening … it’s doubling faster, growing faster. “In most regions in the UK it is now under two days. When it started we were estimating about four or five.”While infection rates were particularly high in hotspot London and were rising fast on Tuesday in Manchester, the UKHSA was now “very sure there are levels growing across most communities in the UK now, although there is quite a lot of regional variation still”, she said. Dr Harries’ appearance before the committee came as 11 countries in southern and western Africa were removed from the UK’s travel red list, in a sign that ministers accept that omicron is here in such quantities that there is no longer any point trying to keep it out.She told MPs that travel restrictions played an important role, “particularly when we can foresee a very large wave of omicron coming through and our health services potentially being in serious peril”.But she said the curbs “have a time and place” and it was important to free countries from restrictions as soon as it becomes clear they no longer serve a purpose.“Very early restrictions were placed on countries where we had good evidence of high rates of omicron at a time where we had low knowledge of rates in the UK, as a delaying tactic,” she explained. “That gives us time to prepare, to understand, to boost particularly our population, but actually it’s really important that where there isn’t a benefit, countries are clearly freed from those restrictions. “At the moment the rate of growth in the UK … is now significant, and the benefit of those border controls against particular countries is reduced. “However, because we now have widespread global cases of omicron there is still value in preventing that variant or other cases coming into the country when we don’t need it to be there, not least because we don’t want hospitals to be under any increased pressure than they are currently.”MPs heard that there have been “unprecedentedly high rates” of positive Covid cases among travellers quarantined from the red list countries, including South Africa and Nigeria.UKHSA official Jonathan Mogford told the committee: “The latest figures are suggesting that nearly 5 per cent of people in the hotels are positive.”Of those, “at least 1 per cent are omicron-positive but probably as much as 3 per cent”.With around 5,000 passengers staying in quarantine hotels during the latest round of restrictions, Mr Mogford’s figures suggest around 250 of them were infected with Covid-19, including 50-150 with omicron. 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The possibility that the NHS could be overwhelmed due to the rise of the omicron variant of Covid is “one of the more likely things” to happen, a leading government scientist has said.Professor Graham Medley, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said he was worried the number of people being admitted to hospital could “get very large” if omicron infections continue to soar and spill into older age groups.Pressed on the possibility of the NHS being overwhelmed next month, the expert told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think so, there is that possibility.”Prof Medley added: “It’s very hard to be certain about these things. You certainly can’t put a risk or probability on them – but that is one of the more likely things that could happen.”England’s chief medical office Professor Chris Whitty has warned a “significant increase in hospitalisations” is coming from omicron, with Boris Johnson telling his ministers to expect a “huge spike” in infections.UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief Jenny Harries warned on Wednesday that omicron was “probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic” and the NHS could be in “serious peril” because of the new wave.Prof Medley said omicron would likely cause Covid case numbers to go beyond the peak of seen last winter. “We’re probably now at the level that we have been at the past, sort of back in January, and it does look as though it’s going to continue beyond that and go over it.”The Sage expert, who was speaking in a personal capacity, said there was not currently any good information on the severity of omicron, but added: “The fact that we are much more immune than we were generally means that the virus will appear to be much less severe.”Prof Medley, who is also chair of the government’s Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M), said it was a “million-dollar question” over how this would affect the health service.But he warned there could soon be up to 2,000 hospitalisations a day – more than the number seen at the height of the delta variant outbreak. Asked if hospitals could end up overwhelmed, he said: “I think that that is a very real possibility.”Prof Medley said: “If the numbers of infections increasing continues in the way that it has done, and it spills out into older age groups, then we could see numbers of people being admitted to hospital getting very large and certainly going over the 1,000 – maybe up to 2,000 a day – that we’ve managed to keep the delta variant below.”The expert said there have been around 800 hospital admissions per day for the past five months but “if we’d had all those in one month then … the NHS would have been extremely taxed”. He added: “And that is the fear – that we end up with the next four months of the epidemic in one month.”Meanwhile, Professor Tim Spector, who helped found the Covid Zoe app, said Covid cases in London are accelerating more than was seen during the very first wave of the virus.He told the Today programme the “majority of symptoms” of the omicron variant are like a common cold, including headaches, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue and sneezing. “In London, where Covid is increasing rapidly, it’s far more likely to be Covid than it is to be a cold.”On Tuesday evening, new restrictions were approved in parliament for face coverings at more indoor spaces in England and the introduction of NHS Covid passes for nightclubs and large venues.In Scotland, people have been urged to limit their mixing by socialising with only up to two other households indoors, while in Northern Ireland, politicians backed mandatory Covid certification for access to nightclubs, pubs, restaurants and other licensed premises. More

The last phase of the UK government’s current “Plan B” social restrictions for England to tackle the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus is due to come into effect on Wednesday when NHS Covid passes become mandatory in certain settings. Following the return of mandatory mask-wearing in shops, cinemas, theatres and places of worship and on public transport and orders to work from home, members of the public will, from 15 December, be required to produce an NHS Covid Pass in exchange for entry to crowded venues.The pass, presenting proof of your vaccination status and/or proof of a negative test result, will be required in unseated indoor venues with more than 500 people in attendance and in unseated outdoor spaces with more than 4,000 people present – and in any venue with more than 10,000 such as sports stadia.It may also be required as a condition of foreign travel.“The NHS Covid pass can still be obtained with two doses but we will keep this under review as the boosters roll out,” the prime minister, Boris Johnson, said when he announced the further tightening of restrictions on 8 December.“And having taken clinical advice since the emergence of omicron, a negative lateral flow test will also be sufficient.“As we set out in Plan B, we will give businesses a week’s notice, so this will come into force in a week’s time, helping to keep these events and venues open at full capacity while giving everyone who attends them confidence that those around them have done the responsible thing to minimise risk to others.”The NHS Covid pass rules are by no means popular with all of Mr Johnson’s fellow Conservatives, some of whom consider them an infringement of civil liberties, a stance Tory MP Marcus Fysh took to extreme lengths this week when he compared their introduction to Nazi Germany.A backbench rebellion is expected when MPs vote on the Plan B restrictions in the House of Commons on Tuesday, also in part a protest against the prime minister’s increasingly frazzled and scandal-ridden leadership.The Liberal Democrats have likewise raised objections to the passes, accusing the government earlier this year of introducing ID cards “by stealth” when the app was updated and have since labelled them “illiberal and destructive”, warning they “represent a massive change in the relationship between everyday people and their government”.However, given that Sir Keir Starmer’s opposition Labour Party has signalled it will support the government’s position in the national interest, any such mutiny is not expected to hinder the measures’ adoption.To access your digital NHS Covid Pass, you need to have the free NHS app downloaded to your smartphone – and to be registered with a GP in England to be able to access it.By simply signing into the app, you will be able to show proof of your Covid-19 vaccination or negative test status upon request, the information presented along with a QR code for scanning.The code proving your vaccination is valid for 30 days from the moment you access it or download it as a PDF, after which you will need to refresh to obtain a new version.A Covid Pass secured via a negative test result will meanwhile only last for 48 hours before a new version is needed (obtained via the same simple means).If you are unable to use the app for any reason, you can also view your vaccination status on the NHS website or print a paper version at home before heading to your destination.Those unable to access online services can also call 119 to request a letter to serve as evidence of their vaccination status instead.Those unable to get vaccinated or tested for medical reasons can apply to the NHS for an exemption to stand in its place.You can find more information on the government’s website. More

Parliament will be recalled if there is a need for any further Covid restrictions over the Christmas holidays, Grant Shapps has insisted.The transport secretary said, however, that he hoped the “plan B” measures – approved last night by MPs despite almost 100 Tories rebelling – will “see us through to the New Year”.“The one thing I can say for certain is if we did need to do anything else Parliament would be recalled too in order to vote on doing that — it wouldn’t just be an automated thing,” he added, after the demand was made by backbench Tory MPs.In a separate interview, the cabinet minister also said he believed “with some confidence” that no further Covid restrictions will be required in England before Christmas.“We want people to be able to enjoy Christmas this year. We are certainly in a better position than we were this time last year. We want people to be sensible but to enjoy their Christmas,” he told Sky News.“I think that, with some confidence, that we can say that people are going to be able to enjoy their Christmas get-together with their friends and families with only what has already been (announced).”However, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Graham Medley, a professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said Covid hospital admissions could reach 2,000 a day.“Most of the infections at the moment are in young adults, so these are people who are far less likely to need hospital treatment in any case,” he said.“But in the past, in previous waves, we’ve seen that move out into more older and more vulnerable generations and there’s no reason to suspect that won’t happen during this wave. And then the numbers of people who end up in hospital is some combination of when people get infected, their vaccination status, as well as what Omicron is doing.The member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) added: “I think it is a very real possibility that if the numbers of infections increasing continues in the way that it has done and it spills out into older age groups than we could see the number of people being omitted to hospital getting very large and certainly going over the thousand, maybe up to 2,000 a day.”Mr Shapps’ comments came after Boris Johnson suffered a revolt of almost 100 Tory MPs as the government introduced “plan B” measures, including the extension of the mandatory use of face masks and Covid passes for large venues, on Tuesday evening.During the debate, the former Conservative chief whip Mark Harper also pressed Sajid Javid, the health secretary, to commit to giving MPs a say in the event of further restrictions being brought in during recess.The House of Commons is scheduled to stop for Christmas at the close of business on Thursday and return on January 5.Mr Harper asked: “Is he able now at the despatch box to commit that if the government were to take further measures to deal with omicron during the recess, that the government would recall the House of Commons so that we’re able to have all of the evidence and participate in taking those decisions on behalf of the constituents we represent?”Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told MPs he would back the move and joked he and a Labour frontbench colleague have already agreed who will bring the Christmas dinner and who will provide the pudding for any festive sitting. More

A former Tory mayoral candidate has quit as chair of a police and crime committee after allegations emerged that he attended a Christmas party last year when London was under tier 2 Covid restrictions.Shaun Bailey’s team organised the gathering in the basement of the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) in December 2020.Tier 2 restrictions meant that separate households were not allowed to mix in order to limit the spread of the virus.Four of Mr Bailey’s campaign staffers were disciplined last week by CCHQ for holding the “raucous” event.Since then, calls for Mr Bailey to step down had intensified.Mr Bailey, who has yet to comment, has now quit as chair but remains a member of the committee and the London Assembly.His resignation came shortly before The Mirror published a photograph of him and about 23 staff at a party in CCHQ with drinks and a buffet.A spokesperson for the Greater London Authority Conservatives said Mr Bailey stepped down to prevent the “unauthorised social gathering” distracting from the committee’s work of holding Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to account.An email from the Assembly, seen by news website MyLondon, says that City Hall Conservative leader Susan Hall AM will take over as interim chair.Meanwhile, No 10 staff who stayed in Downing Street to take part in a Christmas quiz were told to “go out the back”, it has been alleged.The Mirror reported that the quiz on 15 December – which the PM Boris Johnson helped to host – had been held virtually, but with many taking part from the office. London was in tier 2 at the time of this event too.The newspaper quoted a source who said many staff were huddled by computers in their Downing Street offices, conferring on questions and drinking alcohol while the quiz was taking place. An image that had been published by the Sunday Mirror showed Mr Johnson flanked by colleagues – one draped in tinsel and another wearing a Santa hat – in the No 10 library.No 10 previously said that Downing Street staff were “often required to be in the office to work on the pandemic response” during the various lockdowns, and therefore “those who were in the office for work may have attended virtually from their desks”.But the Mirror said a message sent by No 10’s head of HR on the night advised that those who had stayed behind to take part “go out the back” when they left.A government spokesperson said: “Given there is an ongoing review, it would be inappropriate to comment while that is ongoing.”Cabinet secretary Simon Case is set to investigate alleged gatherings or parties held in government buildings during Covid restrictions. More