Markus Andrews

Dominic Cummings has alleged a Downing Street flat party took place on 13 November when England was in the midst of a second Covid lockdown.It comes after the prime minister ordered an investigation by the cabinet secretary — the most senior servant — into a separate party held before Christmas after footage emerged of No 10 staff joking about the event.Posting on social media, the former senior No 10 adviser Mr Cummings said: “Will the CABSEC [cabinet secretary] also be asked to investigate the *flat* party on Fri 13 Nov, the other flat parties, & the flat’s ‘bubble’ policy…”.The date identified by Mr Cummings was also the same day he left Downing Street with immediate effect after losing a power struggle and just eight days after the prime minister imposed England’s second national lockdown in response to surging Covid rates.Asked by the Labour MP Catherine West whether there was a Downing Street party on 13 November during prime minister’s questions, Mr Johnson replied on Wednesday: “Mr Speaker, no, but I’m sure that whatever happened the guidance was followed at all times”.Earlier, Mr Cummings also suggested the possible introduction of “plan B” Covid measures at a press conference later on Wednesday was to distract from the leaked video showing No 10 officials laughing about a banned Christmas party last December.Addressing the incident in the Commons at prime minister’s questions, Mr Johnson apologised for the “offence” caused by the footage published by ITV News and claimed he shared the “anger of No 10 staff making light of lockdown measures”.“I was also furious to see that clip, I apologise unreservedly for the offence it has caused up and down the country and the impression it gives,” Mr Johnson said.But the prime minister still refused to admit a festive gathering had taken place at No 10. “I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.”Mr Johnson added: “I’ve asked the cabinet secretary to establish all the facts and report back as soon as possible – if those rules were broken then there will be disciplinary rules.”Downing Street later said it hopes the cabinet secretary’s investigation into the events of December 18, following allegations of a No 10 staff Christmas party, would be finalised “as soon as possible”.“That will be an independent process carried out by Cabinet Office staff, under the leadership of the cabinet secretary,” the prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters.Asked about the remit of Simon Case’s review, the spokesman said: “He has been asked to establish the facts on any events on (December) 18, and that’s what he will start work on.”Pressed on how long the probe is likely to take, they added: “It is obviously rightly for them to dictate the timescale. I don’t have a set period but obviously we want it to be as soon as possible.” More

Boris Johnson has agreed to hand over information about potentially illegal Christmas parties in No 10 to the police, opening up a new front in the controversy.Under pressure from Keir Starmer to co-operate with any investigation by “handing over everything that government knows”, the prime minister replied: “Of course we will do that.”The move comes after the Metropolitan Police said it is examining the video of senior Downing Street staff joking about holding a lockdown-breaking party, as part of a review of alleged law breaches.In the Commons, Mr Johnson switched tack – after days of denying any party took place – by condemning the recording and announcing an investigation by the Cabinet Secretary.However, he still refused to admit that any party took place, prompting ridicule from the Labour leader for a week of Downing Street wriggling on the issue.“Last week the prime minister told us there was no party, now he thinks there’s something to investigate,” Sir Keir said.“The justice secretary thinks the police don’t investigate crimes from a year ago – well I rang the Crown Prosecution Service and I can tell him that’s total nonsense.”More than a dozen breaches of Covid restrictions last December were being prosecuted “right now” in Westminster Magistrates’ Court, including for those who hosted parties, the Labour leader said.“Will the prime minister support the police and support the CPS by handing over everything the government knows about parties in Downing Street to the Metropolitan Police?” he demanded.Mr Johnson replied: “Of course we will do that and we will get on with the investigation by the Cabinet Secretary.”The form of the prime minister’s apology was also attacked by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.“Not content with having caused untold amounts of pain and anguish for bereaved families, the prime minister is now trying to gaslight us, by pretending that it’s those who have spoken out who are responsible for ‘undermining public confidence’,” said Matt Fowler, the group’s co-founder.“How can he not see it is the actions of 10 Downing Street that are putting us all at risk?”The clashes came as Mr Johnson came close to confirming that his Covid ‘plan B’ will be triggered later today, after a meeting of cabinet ministers.One Conservative MP, William Wragg, took the extraordinary step of accusing his own party leader of a “diversionary tactic” from the row over the No 10 party which would convince “very few” people.In response, Mr Johnson told MPs: “No decisions will be taken without consulting the Cabinet.” More

MPs are currently debating the Nationality and Borders Bill – a series of proposals, spearheaded by home secretary Priti Patel, which the government says will “fix the UK’s broken asylum system”.The Home Office has said the tragedy in the Channel last month, in which 27 people drowned while trying to cross to the UK on a small boat, demonstrates why it is important that the new legislation is passed.However, the bill has faced fierce criticism and more than 80 pages of amendments have been tabled to it. Many of these amendments were put forward by MPs – including a number of Conservatives – who are concerned about the impact it will have in its current form.But these attempts to make changes to the bill failed on Tuesday evening, and the legislation is now set to complete its passage through the House of Commons on Wednesday.Here are some of the amendments that MPs proposed.Remove clause allowing asylum seekers to be processed offshoreAn amendment tabled by David Davis, and signed by 19 other MPs including prominent Conservatives Andrew Mitchell and Caroline Nokes, sought to scrap the plans in the bill to send people to another country while their asylum claims are processed.The Home Office has already floated proposals to place asylum seekers offshore in Gibraltar, the Scottish islands and Albania – but all of those governments have swiftly responded with anger and stated that they have no plans to agree to such an arrangement.Speaking to The Independent about the plan last month, Mr Davis described the offshoring plan as “unworkable” and accused the government of floating “macho-sounding” policies to appeal to voters, when in fact they are “expensive and ineffective”.New clause to prevent Home Office from charging child British citizenship fees which exceed cost of processing the applicationAn amendment that gained 85 signatories would have prevented the government from charging children the £1,012 fee which it currently costs to register for British citizenship, and abolished such fees altogether for looked-after children until they reach the age of 21.The proposed change, tabled by Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, would have also required the government to produce a report setting out the effect of these fees on children’s human rights.The cost of processing a child citizenship application is £372 – less than half of the fee charged by the Home Office. A freedom of information request submitted by Citizens UK revealed this week that the department made £102.7m profit from these applications between 2017-2020.Ms Ribeiro-Addy MP said it was “shameful” that “government profiteering” was “blocking” children who have grown up British from enjoying their citizenship rights.New clause to allow young Hong Kongers with a British National Overseas (BNO) parent to apply for UK statusAn amendment tabled by Tory MP Damian Green, and signed by 42 other MPs – including 24 Conservatives – would have extended the UK’s settlement route for Hong Kong nationals to include swathes of young people who are currently excluded due to their age.The British National Overseas (BNO) scheme requires that applicants hold a BNO passport – documents that were issued to citizens following the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China in 1997, meaning anyone born after that date does not hold one.The amendment sought to allow those born after 1997 to resettle in Britain on the basis of the BNO status of one or both of their parents, rather than having to travel with them.Speaking to The Independent last month, Mr Green said Britain had a “moral obligation” to the young Hong Kong citizens who are currently excluded from the programme and urged ministers to accept his amendment in order to rectify the “unfair” policy.New clause to grant a physical document for people granted EU settled statusThirty-six MPs, including a number of Tories, signed an amendment to require the government to issue a physical certificate when granting status under the EU settlement scheme, allowing all those with such status to provide documentary proof.The change, tabled by Labour’s Meg Hillier, sought to address concerns about difficulties EU nationals in the UK – who have had to apply for EU settlement in order to remain in the country following Brexit – have faced in proving their immigration status to employers, landlords and others.In September, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments wrote a letter to the immigration minister raising alarm about the issue, warning that denying EU nationals a physical document would lead “at best to confusion and at worst to discrimination”.Amend clause so that use of ‘pushbacks’ in the Channel is bannedAn amendment tabled by chair of the human rights committee Harriet Harman sought to prevent the use of maritime enforcement powers ‘in a manner that would endanger lives at sea”.The government’s pushback proposal, which is set to see Border Force boats physically turning back dinghies heading from France to the UK, is one of a set of hardline measures in Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill designed to make it tougher for asylum seekers to make their claims in Britain.The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) said last week that pushbacks would “create a situation where state actors were actively placing individuals in situations that would increase the risk” of drowning.Remove clause that would enable the Home Office to deprive UK nationals of citizenship without noticeAn amendment tabled by David Davis and co-signed by nine other MPs sought to remove a clause in the bill that would allow the home secretary to strip people in the UK of their British citizenship without prior warning.The Home Office says it would be used if authorities do not have the subject’s contact details or if it is not “reasonably practical” to do so, or is it is “in the public interest” not to notify those deprived of their citizenship.But campaigners say these new powers would make it harder for those who are stripped of citizenship to appeal against the Home Office’s decision. The department insists that those deprived of their citizenship would still have the right to appeal.New clause to allow a person in France to claim asylum in the UK in certain circumstancesAn amendment tabled by Labour MP Neil Coyle would have allowed migrants to seek “humanitarian visas” in France, allowing them to be transported safely across the Channel to claim asylum.Currently, people fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries cannot claim asylum in the UK unless they take an unauthorised, and often highly dangerous, journey to British shores. there is currently nothingMr Coyle told The Independent last week the proposed change would “save lives, help us meet our international obligations and prevent money going to smugglers”, adding that the government’s plans as they stood would cause “more dangerous routes and more risk to people seeking to reach the UK”. More

Dominic Cummings has suggested that Boris Johnson has asked for so-called plan B restrictions to distract from the leaked video showing No 10 officials joking about a banned Christmas party.The prime minister and senior ministers are today expected to agree the introduction of tighter Covid restrictions at an emergency meeting called in response to the rise of the Omicron variant.Mr Johnson’s former top adviser claimed he would have asked for a “dead cat” to take attention away from footage showing No 10 staff joking about holding a festive party during lockdown last December.Mr Cummings tweeted: “Martin need a f***ing dead cat army matey, yeah yeah Plan B great…. [thumbs up run from room] CRASH. Noooooo that will make the party story worrrrrse Martin, need something else. SMASH.”The former adviser also declared that “regime change is coming” and “the fish rots from the head” following the growing row over denied claims of a festive shindig at Downing Street on 18 December.The video shared by ITV, recorded on 22 December 2020, shows then-press secretary Allegra Stratton appearing to joke about an illicit party at No 10 during a rehearsal for televised daily government media briefings. “Is cheese and wine all right? It was a business meeting,” Ms Stratton says, laughing.A backlash over the footage has seen Tory MPs warn the prime minister that he needs to seek and provide clear answers on the claims of a breach in Covid regulations.Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has warned the “game’s up” for Boris Johnson if he deliberately misleads the Commons over any Christmas party held at Downing Street.“I think the chairman of the 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady would have to carry a very clear message to the prime minister under those circumstances … meaning, the game’s up,” Sir Roger told the BBC on Wednesday.Conservative peer Baroness Warsi also called for anyone found to have attended the festive event to resign, while fellow Tory Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Defence Select Committee, called for the cabinet secretary or another “senior figure” to investigate any events held at No 10 over the Christmas period.Conservative MP Peter Aldous said the leaked footage of senior No 10 aides laughing about an alleged Christmas party looks “very bad” and casts “the situation in a different light”.In a highly unusual turn of events no government minister was made available to broadcasters on Wednesday morning to defend Downing Street’s record, despite invitations.Foreign secretary Liz Truss was forced to answers on the Christmas party controversy after giving a major speech on Britain’s role in the world at Chatham House.Asked about claims of festive events held at Downing Street, Ms Truss said: “It’s in everybody’s interests that we follow the Covid rules. As to alleged events at No 10, I don’t know the details of what happened.”Pressed again on whether the public can trust the government if the government doesn’t follow rules, the senior minister said: “We do follow the rules on Covid. On that particular issue, I’m not aware of the precise circumstances.”Senior Whitehall sources said that a meeting of the government’s Covid-O committee has been called to discuss whether to step up restrictions, with a press conference expected later on Wednesday to announce changes.Plan B involves new guidance to work from home if possible, as well as the introduction of Covid passes for crowded venues such as nightclubs. More

Boris Johnson and senior ministers are today expected to agree the introduction of tighter “plan B” restrictions at a meeting called in response to the surge in infections with the omicron variant of Covid.The contingency plan — first outlined by ministers in the summer — includes new guidance to work from home if possible, as well as the introduction of Covid passes for crowded venues such as nightclubs, and is intended for introduction if the NHS is in danger of being overwhelmed.Senior Whitehall sources said that a meeting of the government’s Covid-O committee has been called to discuss whether to step up restrictions, with a press conference expected later in the day to announce changes.Downing Street sources said “no decisions have been made” on plan B ahead of the meeting, suggesting that the possibility remains that Mr Johnson will hold back from imposing new curbs.News of the meeting was greeted by scepticism by Westminster insiders who suspected that the timing may have been calculated to distract attention from damaging headlines over an alleged Christmas party at 10 Downing Street last year.Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s former chief adviser at No 10, described the move towards plan B as a “dead cat” strategy.According to the government’s Covid autumn and winter plan, published in September, the plan B strategy would “only be enacted if the data suggests further measures are necessary to protect the NHS”.It stated the measures include a mandatory vaccine-only Covid status certification in certain settings, such as nightclubs and indoor crowded venues with 500 or more attendees likely to be in close proximity with other households.It also proposed the return of work from home guidance, with the Sage committee stressing the measure had played an “important role in preventing sustained epidemic growth” in the months before Covid restrictions were released.Another key tenant of “plan B” is to legally mandate face coverings in certain settings — a measure that has already been adopted by the prime minister a fortnight ago for public transport and shops, but could be extended to further settings.It comes after a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) today said that a UK-wide lockdown to deal with the threat of omicron cannot be ruled out.Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, whose data was instrumental to the UK going into lockdown in March 2020, said the variant is concerning but it is still unknown what its impact will be on severe disease.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme professor Ferguson said cases of the omicron variant were doubling “at least every days, maybe even every two days at the moment”, adding: “It’s likely to overtake Delta before Christmas at this rate, precisely when is hard to say.Asked whether people should be told to work from home, he said: “It will be up to the Government to decide what to announce in the coming days and weeks.“There is a rationale, just epidemiologically, to try and slow this down, to buy us more time principally to get boosters into people’s arms, because we do think people who are boosted will have the best level of protection possible, but also to buy us more time to really better characterise the threat.“So, if you imagine a kind of Plan B Plus with working from home might slow it down – it wouldn’t stop it but it could slow it down, so it’s doubling rather than every two or three days, every five or six days.“That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it actually is potentially a lot in terms of allowing us to characterise this virus better and boost population immunity.” More

A video has emerged of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg joking about the Christmas party that was reportedly held at No 10 last year. The Conservative MP joked about police investigating the event at this year’s Christmas party for the think tank Institute of Economic Affairs.In a video unearthed by political blog Guido Fawkes, Mr Rees-Mogg told the audience on Monday evening: “I see we’re all here obeying regulations, aren’t we?”He continued: “I mean, this party is not going to be investigated by the police in a year’s time. You are all very carefully socially distanced.. we have moved, I am pleased to tell you, from the metric back to the Imperial system: I notice you are all at least two inches away from each other which is, as I understand it, what the regulations require.”His comments came after a video emerged yesterday of former No 10 press secretary Allegra Stratton practicing answering questions about the party in a mock televised briefing last year. She was asked by Ed Oldfield, a special adviser to the Prime Minister, about “reports” that there had been a Christmas party in Downing Street the previous Friday, to which Ms Stratton asked staff: “What’s the answer?”Prime minister Boris Johnson is facing growing anger about the Christmas party, which would have broken lockdown restrictions at the time if it took place. Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson has repeatedly denied that a party took place while London as in Tier 3 lockdown restrictions and said that Covid rules had been followed at all times. In the video Allegra Stratton jokes about the “fictional” party involving “cheese and wine” and said that “it was not socially distanced”.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called on Boris Johnson to “come clean and apologise”. The Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday that it was examining the video of Downing Street staff as part of a review of the alleged breaches. Tory MP Charles Walker reacted to the video, saying: “The No 10 party means that any future lockdowns will be advisory, whatever the law says.” More

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has warned the “game’s up” for Boris Johnson if he deliberately misleads the House of Commons over a Christmas party held at No 10 during lockdown restrictions last winter.It comes after leaked footage from Downing Street’s multi-million pound press briefing room emerged on Tuesday evening, showing senior aides to the prime minister laughing as they rehearsed potential questions over a banned festive party.The video, which is reported to be from December 22 last year, refers to a party on “Friday” — which would have been December 18, the same day The Daily Mirror reported there was a staff party where food and drinks were served, and revelries went on past midnight.Just last night, however, a Downing Street spokesperson insisted: “There was no Christmas party. Covid rules have been followed at all times”.Asked on the BBC whether he would believe the prime minister if he claims later today there was no Christmas party, Sir Roger said: “If he says that on the record at the despatch box, yes I will have to believe him because to do otherwise would be discourteous and wrong.“If it is then found he has misled Parliament deliberately then that is a hanging offence. Downing Street saying something and the prime minister saying something at the despatch box are two different matters.”Pressed further, the Tory MP said: “I think the chairman of the 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady would have to carry a very clear message to the prime minister under those circumstances… meaning, the game’s up.”Offering his assessment of the situation as news of the footage emerged on Tuesday evening, Sir Roger also told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in a separate interview: “There was first of all incredulity, then hollow mirth, and then I think a feeling of total exasperation”.“There has to be an answer, a clear answer, from Downing Street and it has to happen by lunchtime today,” he said. Asked whether there were changes necessary at No 10, including the prime minister’s chief of staff, he said: “I’m not going to try and scapegoat.“For a start of course the present chief-of-staff was not in post last Christmas when all of this may or may not have happened so I think it would be quite wrong for him to carry the can. The buck actually stops at the top, doesn’t it?”Referring to lockdown trip to Barnard Castle by the former No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings in 2020, which provoked public outrage, the Tory MP added: “I fear that this could be a Barnard Castle moment all over again. It is very serious”.Conservative peer Baroness Warsi also called for anyone found to have attended the festive event to resign. “Every minister, parliamentarian and staffer at the Downing Street party must resign NOW. No ifs no buts,” she posted on social media.The former party chair added: “The rule of law is a fundamental value, the glue that hold us together as a nation. Once that is trashed by those in power the very essence of our democracy is at stake.”Sir Charles Walker, vice chair of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers and lockdown-sceptic, claimed that the leaked clip “makes it almost impossible” for the government to introduce any new lockdowns.“These are the consequences of the video – you have to deal with consequences as they come up,” the lockdown sceptic told Times Radio. “Going forward any measures will be advisory.”Sir Charles added: “It will be very difficult to enshrine them in law. I know behavioural psychologists have said that post-Barnard Castle there was a fall-off in compliances … so I think there will be issues about that.”Another Conservative MP, Anne Marie Morris, said: “Clearly there were rules in place that most of us were diligently following (despite how difficult they were) and they decided to break them. It’s not on an, at the very least, they should admit their blatant error and apologise for breaking the rules they imposed on society”.Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons Education Committee, said that government aides should say sorry – but stopped short of calling for Boris Johnson himself to apologise.“I certainly think that those who were doing the video should apologise for the insensitivity of it when people were suffering and struggling all through that time,” he said.Conservative MP Peter Aldous said the leaked footage of senior No 10 aides laughing about an alleged Christmas party looks “very bad” and casts “the situation in a different light”.He told the Lowestoft Journal he had been inclined “to accept what the PM had said,” but added: “The news overnight and the release of the video does cast the situation in a different light. It does look very bad and gives the impression there is one rule for them and another for the rest of us.”Meanwhile, foreign secretary Liz Truss was forced to answers on the Christmas party controversy on Wednesday after giving a major speech on Britain’s role in the world at Chatham House.Asked about claims of festive events held at Downing Street, Ms Truss said: “It’s in everybody’s interests that we follow the Covid rules. As to alleged events at No 10, I don’t know the details of what happened.”Pressed again on whether the public can trust the government if the government doesn’t follow rules, the senior minister said: “We do follow the rules on Covid. On that particular issue, I’m not aware of the precise circumstances.” More

Senior MPs from across the Commons today united behind the Evening Standard and The Independent’s Skill Up Step Up campaign to help unemployed young people into work.Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey hailed it as a “fantastic” move as part of efforts to “unleash the talent of the next generation”. Her Labour counterpart Jonathan Ashworth praised the “ground-breaking project” and the “leadership” it was showing.Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson stressed the scheme would also help to tackle the labour shortage crisis faced by many businesses in London.Skill Up Step Up is a joint Christmas appeal to support unemployed young people into work through sustainable jobs or apprenticeships and transform their lives.It has been awarded £1million from Barclays and partnered with the Barclays LifeSkills programme to deliver funding over two years for up to five charities. They will help disadvantaged jobless young people to improve their work skills by giving them employability training.HOW YOU CAN HELP: Click here to make a donation and help us give more young people the training they need to get into workMs Coffey said: “As we wrap up a challenging year for some young jobseekers, it’s fantastic to see the Evening Standard joining the cause to get youngsters on that first rung of the career ladder.“Through the face-to-face support offered in our job centres and youth hubs we see the potential of young Londoners every day and it’s vital for business to be a partner in opening up opportunities for them.”She added: “We know it changes lives, with 21,000 young people in the city having secured jobs for employers of all sizes through our Kickstart scheme.” More