Markus Andrews

Nicola Sturgeon has warned it is “deeply irresponsible” not to get vaccinated amid rising cases of Covid in Scotland, as she told members of the public it is their “civic duty” to get jabbed.In an update to the Scottish Parliament, the first minister said there were no “immediate” changes to restrictions, but that an expansion of the domestic Covid passport scheme from 6 December was under consideration.Ms Sturgeon said Scotland had seen a “gradual increase in cases over the past two weeks” — from just over 2,500 new cases a day, to approximately 3,000 cases a day, but with “distinct variations” among age groups.In a message to the public, she stressed: “The vaccination programme continues to be critical in reducing the direct harm caused by the virus.”“Getting vaccinated remains the single most important thing any of us can do to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our communities,” she added.“In my view, choosing without good reason, not to be vaccinated is deeply irresponsible. Getting vaccinated on the other hand is a civic duty and it is the most precious gift we can give to others at this time”.Addressing MSPs, Ms Sturgeon said ministers in Scotland are considering the expansion of the Covid certification scheme to include indoor cinemas, theatres, and some other licensed and hospitality premises.Under the current system — introduced in October — those over the age of 18 are required to demonstrate they have had both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine in order to gain entry to nightclubs, adult entertainment venues, unseated indoor events with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor events with more than 4,000 people, any any event with more than 10,000 people present.The first minister said the programme could also be amended to allow for proof of a negative test to be used instead of vaccine status.Ms Sturgeon said that a decision would be made next week and would likely take effect from 6 December, adding it would be “irresponsible” not to expand the scheme if it could help keep the virus at bay.“Again let me stress that we have not at this stage taken a decision to extend the reach of the scheme,” she said.“However, to allow us to engage openly with businesses in the coming days about the pros, cons and practicalities, I can confirm that the kinds of settings that might be in scope would be indoor cinemas, theatres, and some other licensed and hospitality premises.”She added: “I am acutely aware that many businesses want us to remove mitigations – including certification – not extend or tighten them. I understand that.“But all of our decisions are motivated by a desire to get through what will be a challenging winter without having to re-introduce any restrictions on trade. We want, if possible, businesses to stay fully open over Christmas and through the winter, while also keeping Covid under control.“If an expansion of Covid certification can help us do that, it would be irresponsible not to consider it.”Domestic vaccine passports have already been introduced in Wales, but Boris Johnson has resisted the measure in England, with Covid passports forming part of the government’s reserve “plan B” strategy.As the UN climate summit — Cop26 — came to a close in Glasgow at the weekend, Ms Sturgeon also told MSPs there was no sign the large-scale event with thousands of delegates had contributed to a “significant spike” in cases.She added: “Rigorous measures were put in place to minimise the risks of Covid transmission. For example anyone entering the main summit site — the blue zone — had to provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test result.“Information published earlier today by Public Health Scotland suggests that of the people officially affiliated with Cop26, approximately four in every 1,000 tested positive for Covid through routine lateral flow testing.” More

Former prime minister Theresa May has blasted Boris Johnson’s government for a “misplaced, ill-judged and just plain wrong” attempt to save Owen Paterson from punishment for sleaze, telling MPs that the botched attempt to dodge standards rules had damaged the reputation of parliament.Ms May was speaking shortly before MPs approved the standards committee report which recommended a 30-day suspension for the former Shropshire North MP for lobbying ministers and watchdogs on behalf of companies paying him £100,000 a year.MPs finally approved the motion to scrap the government’s botched reforms that sparked Westminster’s sleaze row without the need for a formal vote – shouts of “ayes” in the chamber were enough to ensure it was approved on Tuesday.Mr Johnson’s attempt to sneak the U-turn through without fanfare late on Monday night was thwarted by an objection from Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope, forcing a full debate on the floor of the Commons this afternoon.Ms May defied a three-line whip imposed by Johnson on 3 November by abstaining on a motion to set aside Mr Paterson’s punishment and set up a Tory-dominated committee to rewrite the Westminster rules on sleaze.And she used today’s debate to turn her fire on her successor’s attempt to “effectively let off” Mr Paterson after he had been found guilty of paid lobbying. In a scathing judgement on the government’s actions, the former PM said that the findings against Mr Paterson were “clear and fair”.“Owen Paterson broke the rules on paid advocacy and the attempt by right honourable and  honourable members of this House, aided and abetted by the government, under cover of reform of the process effectively to clear his name was misplaced, ill-judged and just plain wrong,” said Ms May.The ex-PM said that a vote today to confirm the judgement against Mr Paterson and to overturn the creation of the new committee “will be a step in the right direction, but it will not undo the damage that has been done by the vote of 3 November.“And let’s be clear, this is not a party political issue. damage has been done to all Members of Parliament and to parliament as a whole.”She added: “In this place, we set rules for people through the laws that we pass. We expect people to obey those rules. We also set rules for our own behaviour as Members of Parliament, and we have a right to expect each and every one of us to obey those rules.”Ms May said that the government should now “urgently” consider proposals from a 2018 report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, which would ban paid consultancy jobs.But she added: “It would be a mistake to think that because someone broke the rules, the rules were wrong. The rule on paid advocacy is a long-standing one. The problem came because there was an attempt to effectively let off a then member of the House. And that flew in the face of the rules on paid advocacy and in the face of the processes established by this House.”No sanction can be imposed on Mr Paterson as a result of today’s vote, as he quit as an MP shortly after Mr Johnson’s humiliating U-turn left him exposed to punishment. But the expected vote to approve the report into him will effectively mark the House’s disapproval of his behaviour.Downing Street was today forced to confirm that Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg still has the confidence of the prime minister, after the ally of Mr Paterson admitted that he had encouraged Mr Johnson to back the abortive scheme to save Mr Paterson from suspension.Mr Rees-Mogg expressed “regret” to MPs today, telling the Commons that the move was a “mistake”. He said that ministers’ judgement had been “clouded” by sympathy for Mr Paterson over the suicide of his wife last year.“I think it was simply the tragedy that afflicted Mr Paterson coloured and clouded our judgement – and my judgement – incorrectly. It is as simple and as sad as that,” said Mr Rees-Mogg But Labour’s Stephen Timms described it as “an extraordinary failure of moral leadership”, asking why ministers did “not recognise the brazen wrongdoing of their colleague?”And Labour’s shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire told MPs that the government had treated the standards rules as “an irksome bother that you get your mates to change when you’re found out”.She added: “It should not be seen as something to be feared or something to be treated with such disdain, frankly incompetence, and a total absence of leadership as we’ve seen from this sorry government over this sorry affair.”Meanwhile, the veteran Tory backbencher Sir Christopher was unrepentant about his dramatic “objection” to the motion on Monday evening, after angry Tory MPs questioned his behaviour.“It is important for the house of democracy to debate this issue – I’ve got no regrets about that whatsoever,” he said, before going on to defend his former colleague Mr Paterson.Labour MP Chris Bryant, chair of the cross-party standards committee at the centre of the recent row, insisted his group gave Mr Paterson and every other MP “a fair hearing”.He denied claims that backroom talks had already begun on potential changes to the disciplinary process, and said his committee would suggested reforms “soon” – promising a report before Christmas. 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Stanley Johnson denies accusations of inappropriately touching Tory MPFormer Tory prime minister Theresa May has condemned her successor’s handling of the standards U-turn fiasco, claiming it was “misplaced, ill-judged and just plain wrong”.Speaking at a Commons debate, Ms May said she had read the original committee report on Owen Paterson, and that its conclusion was “clear and fair”. She added that passing the motion to undo that vote, in hindsight, was “a step in the right direction, but it will not undo the damage that has been done”.It comes after shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire criticised her Tory opponent and his colleagues for putting the government in a position to be accused of corruption. Haranguing Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the House, for admitting his part in the Paterson affair, Ms Debbonaire said parliament “should only ever be in the business of strengthening and updating our system”.It comes after Mr Rees-Mogg admitted to his part in the standards overhaul episode, saying it was he who persuaded Boris Johnson to push for Mr Paterson’s suspension for lobbying to be put back and for the government to rip up the Commons standards regime at the same time.Show latest update

1637073925MPs approve motion to scrap standards reformMPs officially approve the motion to scrap the controversial standards reforms that sparked Westminster’s sleaze row without the need for a formal vote.Shouts of “ayes” in the chamber were enough to ensure it was approved.The motion rescinds the so-called Leadsom amendment, which looked to establish a review of the MPs’ standards investigation process and delay Owen Paterson’s suspension for breaking lobbying rules.It also endorses the report which would have suspended former Conservative minister Paterson from parliament for 30 days if he had remained an MP.Sir Lindsay Hoyle stresses Paterson is no longer a member of the House, so this is not relevant. The debate is over.Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:451637073782Bryant questions why PM tried to bock Paterson reportChris Bryant, chair of the standards committee, is the last MP to contribute to the debate. He starts by saying he doesn’t understand why Boris Johnson tried to block the report into Owen Paterson.The evidence against Paterson was “stark and compelling”, he says, adding the government has made a series of errors, even up to last night, when it tried to pass the report without a debate.Bryant acknowledges there is room for improvement in the standards committee’s appeal process, and that this is being looked into.He also says the committee will soon publish a report on how the standards system could be changed. It will come before Christmas and he urges people to read it when it comes out.Now it’s time for MPs to give the motion their approval.Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:431637073410Chope accuses female colleague of ‘not applying her mind’Here’s the clip of Sir Christopher Chope suggesting his female colleague, Alicia Kearns, has “not applied her mind” to what he is saying. Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:361637073303Phillips rebukes Tory MP’s remarks about female colleague – but defends his appeal for debateLabour’s Jess Phillips is up now, and she begins by saying Chope’s remark he made about Kearns not applying her mind to the debate (see my last post) was “unacceptable”. She adds that, as a woman, she has found some of his remarks problematic in the past too.However, Phillips goes on to defend Chope’s point about the need for a fresh debate, pointing to the fact the government’s own potentially corrupt point of view is on the line. She says she finds the references by Owen Paterson’s friends to “natural justice” difficult. She says this is a term always used by people who do not like what happens to them. She says Paterson was given every opportunity to defend himself. And he had much better legal support than other MPs, or people facing legal proceedings outside the Commons.Phillips also suggests Andrea Leadsom, former leader of the Commons, was exploited by her colleagues in the controversy. It was Leadsom who tabled the amendment to Commons standards rules. Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:351637073031Chope says ‘right for MPs’ to debate overturning Paterson voteTory MP Sir Christopher Chope, who last night blocked an attempt to push through a reversal on the original Owen Paterson vote without debate, says rescinding a motion “passed less than two weeks ago is a major constitutional decision”. Hence why he blocked it, he says, claiming MPs have largely welcomed the chance to have a debate.Alicia Kearns , a fellow Tory MP, intervenes to say politicians have already spent “four and a half hours” debating this issue. She asks her colleague “how much is enough?” and insists MPs need to get back to work for their constituents. Chope responds, saying Kearns has not “applied her mind” to the point he is making, which she is visibly insulted by.He says again “we can’t pass motions and then rescind them without proper debate”.Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:301637072683Why hasn’t government apologised? Lib Dems askWendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem chief whip, says the government has not issued a proper apology, or given an explanation, for why it attempted to rip up the Commons standards rules.She says ministers have expressed regret. But children often express regret when they are caught doing something wrong.“That is not the same as apologising,” she tells MPs.Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:241637071589Rees-Mogg should have resigned by now, says SNPAnother clearly angered MP is up now, the SNP’s Pete Wishart. He immediately labels the Paterson and standards drama “an utter disaster”.He asks why Rees-Mogg has not apologised and says if the Commons leader had even “a smidgen of self-repect”, he would have resigned by now.Wishart says the government wanted to set up a “kangaroo court committee of corruption” to review the Paterson case, chaired by a Conservative MP.He says there is a new generation of Tory MPs. “Some of them are even quite good,” he says. He tells them they are being let down by their older colleagues, like Rees-Mogg, who have been responsible for this affair.Rees-Mogg has “opened a Pandora’s Box of Tory sleaze”, he says. Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:061637071259Theresa May brands Paterson controversy ‘plain wrong’Former Tory PM Theresa May is speaking now, and she is clearly unhappy with what’s happened in Westminster over the last few weeks.She says no MP in the Chamber should, or will, vote against the motion today.Passing it will be “a step in the right direction, but it will not undo the damage that has been done by the vote of 3 November,” she goes on, adding the issue is “not a party political” one. May tells MPs she read the original Owen Paterson report, by the standards committee, and that its conclusion was “clear and fair”. Paterson clearly broke the rules, she says.She adds the vote to ignore that report was “misplaced, ill-judged and just plain wrong”.Sam Hancock16 November 2021 14:001637070710Debbonaire goes after Rees-Mogg and Tories for ‘chaotic’ sleaze row“Where to start?” Thangam Debbonaire says, before pointing out the irony in Jacob Rees-Mogg complaining about two issues being conflated in the original debate. “But it was [Rees-Mogg] himself who conflated those issues,” she insists, because he was backing the amendment in which they were tied together. She says it has been chaotic, adding: “To anyone who really loves democracy, standards are the bedrock of everything we do everything.”Finishing up, Debbonaire says parliament “should only ever be in the business of strengthening and updating our system” and suggests this U-turn by the government is evidence of the opposite taking place.Sam Hancock16 November 2021 13:511637070078Standards reform debate begins in CommonsThe standards reform debate has now begun in the Commons, with shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire going after her Tory counterpart for his part in the ongoing sleaze row.Sam Hancock16 November 2021 13:41 More

Labour has urged the Tories to launch an investigation after a senior Conservative MP and a journalist accused Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley, of inappropriately touching them.Caroline Nokes, who is the chair of the parliamentary women and equalities committee, said he forcefully smacked her on the backside at the Conservative Party conference in 2003.Her allegation prompted political journalist Ailbhe Rea to say she was “groped” by the former MEP at the party conference in 2019.She tweeted that she was “grateful” to the MP for “calling out something that none of us should have to put up with, not least from the prime minister’s father”. Ms Nokes made her allegation during a Sky News cross-party discussion with other female MPs about how to confront violence against women. She said the alleged incident happened in Blackpool while she was a prospective candidate for the Romsey and Southampton North seat – which she later won in 2010. “I can remember a really prominent man – at the time the Conservative candidate for Teignbridge in Devon – smacking me on the backside about as hard as he could and going, ‘oh, Romsey, you’ve got a lovely seat’,” she said. When asked who that was, she said: “Stanley Johnson did that to me, ahead of the ‘05 election.” Ms Nokes added: “I didn’t do anything and I feel ashamed by that… now I probably would.”Mr Johnson declined to comment to Sky News, other than to say he has “no recollection of Caroline Nokes at all”.Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds urged the Conservative Party to launch an investigation.“The Conservative Party clearly needs to investigate a serious allegation like that, that happened at their party conference,” he told Times Radio.“Whether it is a very senior member of parliament, whether it is anybody who attended that party conference, whoever the victim is, it is for us to listen to the victim, to treat their allegation extremely seriously and sensitively.”The MPs — Ms Nokes, Jess Phillips, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and Fay Jones — also shared their experiences of harassment and assault during the Sky News event on Monday evening. Labour’s Ms Phillips, who is the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said she was once assaulted by a former boss at a party. Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, the shadow minister for mental health, said she experienced harassment from a senior medic while she was a junior doctor.Meanwhile Tory MP Fay Jones told Sky News she was flashed by a man while a teenager, and colleague Ms Nokes said she was also groped by a group of men while she was 11. On Tuesday, Ms Nokes tweeted: “Just wanted to thank the sisterhood for the solidarity and support today. You know who you are and you’re amazing.”Asked about the allegations involving Mr Johnson on Tuesday, Home Office minister Damian Hinds said: “I’ve heard this morning, as you have, or overnight, about this, about these allegations.“I can say that, overall, in terms of the safety of women and girls, and being free from harassment wherever they are at home, at work, in the street, and online, this is an absolute top priority for the government.”He told Times Radio: “But I’m not joining a link between that and at this because we don’t know, but if there is an investigation to be had, then, of course, that will happen.”Additional reporting by Press Association More

Jacob Rees-Mogg has admitted he was “wrong” to encourage Boris Johnson to back a failed attempt to block Owen Paterson’s suspension by creating a Tory-dominated committee to review standards.In a move that provoked outrage earlier this month, the prime minister whipped his MPs to vote to rewrite sleaze rules — only to U-turn less than 24 hours later.Reflecting on the now abandoned amendment, which was labelled as government “corruption” by opposition parties at Westminster, the Commons leader said the electorate viewed the move as “self-serving”.His remarks come as MPs prepare to debate the issue once again on Tuesday after the government’s attempt to draw a line under the scandal failed on Monday evening when a veteran Conservative MP unexpectedly blocked a motion designed to finalise the government’s U-turn.Speaking on his Moggcast podcast — hosted by Conservative Home — the Commons leader admitted: “I must take my share of responsibility for this — I thought it was the right thing do.“I encouraged the prime minister to go down this route and I was wrong, I made a mistake.”He added: “The question is why did I make this mistake, which in hindsight looks a really obvious mistake to have made. It was because there was a conflation between elements of the process which were difficult — the time taken being one of them — and the personal, and the personal overwhelming was death of Rose [Paterson].“I felt that Owen has been punished enough by the death of his wife and therefore allowed this conflation to take place in my mind. And this was clearly a mistake.“It was not seen by the electorate as being merciful, it was seen as being self-serving, and that has not been helpful to the government or to parliament, and that’s why it will be reversed by the time this Moggcast goes out”.Mr Rees-Mogg also insisted he had confidence in the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, after the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, apologised on Monday for suggesting she should lose her job on 4 November as he defended the government’s incendiary move.“Yes, I’ve got confidence in the commissioner,” he said. “As leader of the House I have met her. I think she’s impressive and is fair-minded. I think the role she has is an extremely difficult one, inevitably.”Asked about his comments on the podcast, the prime minister’s official spokesperson later told reporters that Mr Johnson continues to have confidence in Mr Rees-Mogg as leader of the House, but added: “I wouldn’t comment on any individual discussions he has with members of the cabinet”.At the weekend, the prime minister admitted he could have handled the sleaze row “better” — but stopped short of apologising.Speaking at a No 10 press conference on Sunday what he would say to those who thought he had “got it wrong”, Mr Johnson replied: “Of course, I think things could certainly have been handled better, let me put it that way, by me.” More

Seven Conservative MPs and peers referred companies through a “VIP lane” for contracts handed out during the Covid crisis, a leaked document has revealed.Boris Johnson’s government has faced accusations of cronyism after it emerged that some firms were given access to a High Priority Lane which fast-tracked their bids for personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts.The government has refused to reveal details of the priority access scheme – but four Tory MPs and three peers have now been named as “referrers” in a list of 47 firms that won PPE contracts through the VIP lane.The list of lucrative PPE deals published by Politico website shows that former health secretary Matt Hancock helped in the process of securing work for four separate firms.Cabinet minister Michael Gove, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey are the other MPs who reportedly recommended firms, while Tory peers Lord Feldman, Lord Agnew, Lord Deighton are also named as “referrers”.Mr Gove is named on the leaked list as the source of referral for Meller Designs – the firm co-owned by Conservative donor David Meller – to the VIP lane. The company went on to land more than £160m in PPE deals.Labour pointed to the fact that Mr Mellor has made personal donations to Mr Gove, formerly in charge of the Cabinet Office, the department responsible for procurement guidelines.Deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “It shows just how engulfed in corruption this government is that the minister in charge of procurement and ensuring that contracts are awarded to the best bidder and represent value for money for the taxpayer was helping his own donor to get VIP fast-track access to contracts.”The leaked list also shows that Lord Feldman – David Cameron’s former tennis partner – pushed forward three firms who went on to win lucrative government contracts worth tens of millions of pounds.There is no suggestion that the referrers made any decisions on whether or not to hand a PPE contract to a particular firm. But the government has refused to publish the names of those involved in the fast-track scheme.The government has argued that a VIP lane was a “perfectly reasonable and rational” solution to the large number of offers to supply equipment at the beginning of the pandemic.Last month, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) told the health department to finally disclose the names of the companies fast-tracked for PPE during the pandemic.“There was no good reason, but there were obvious bad reasons, for government to keep the public in the dark about these links,” said Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project campaign group.He added: “We now need some transparency about the equivalent VIP lane for Test and Trace contracts, on which £37bn of public money was spent.”Deals totalling £12.5bn for masks, gloves and gowns and other equipment have come under intense scrutiny after the National Audit Office revealed that companies placed on a “VIP list” were 10 times more likely to win contracts in the early months of the pandemic.A government spokesperson told The Independent: “At the height of the pandemic there was a desperate need for PPE to protect health and social care staff and the government rightly took swift and decisive action to secure it. Ministers were not involved in awarding contracts.”Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “That high priority list meant that procurement officials could assess offers more quickly from sources such as large companies with established contacts and those more capable of supplying the protective equipment for NHS workers at speed.The No 10 spokesperson added: “But it went through the same level of due diligence as other routes did.” The Independent has contacted the seven Conservative MPs and peers named as “referrers” for comment. More

Every living former cabinet secretary has told Boris Johnson to stop blocking reforms to curb sleaze – one urging MPs to act if he refuses to do so.A watchdog’s report, calling for the prime minister to lose the power to decide whether to launch investigations for alleged breaches of the ministerial code, has been gathering dust for three years.Despite public anger over the Owen Paterson and second jobs scandals, the government is again poised to reject handing the decision to a truly independent body.Now the former civil service heads – to prime ministers stretching from Margaret Thatcher to Mr Johnson himself – have urged him to seize the moment to stamp down on sleaze.One, Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary from 2005 to 2011, suggested parliament should seize control if the prime minister continues to drag his heels.“When John Major was faced with all sorts of sleaze issues, he took the opportunity to set up systems that improved the integrity of public life and improved people’s trust in public life,” Lord O’Donnell said.“What we would like the prime minister to do is to look at the committee on standards in public life report and institute their recommendations.”The peer said the post of the prime minister’s adviser on ministerial interests – currently Christopher Geidt – must be on “a statutory basis”, able to launch probes into alleged breaches of the ministerial code.And, speaking to BBC Radio 4, he added: “This is for parliament to decide – and I would, personally, urge parliament to say yes, he should have the right to do that.”Pressure has grown on Mr Johnson after refusal to allow investigation of Robert Jenrick and Matt Hancock, a controversy fuelled by the botched attempt to fix anti-sleaze rules to clear Mr Paterson.But, despite the backlash and the Tories’ slump in the polls, the party chair Oliver Dowden indicated there would be no rethink in Downing Street.“It has been the case in the past, and will continue to be the case, that the prime minister has discussions with the independent advisor to determine whether to conduct those investigations,” Mr Dowden said.In a letter to The Times, the five cabinet secretaries – also including Lord Butler, Lord Wilson, Lord Turnbull and Lord Sedwill – also called for the commissioner for public appointments to be truly independent.And the much-criticised watchdog for policing ex-ministers taking up jobs with private firms – often in the area of their former departments – should be beefed up, they said.The ministerial code “must be strictly enforced”, the letter states, “recognising that some breaches are more important than others”.“Good people will behave well. Bad people may find ways round whatever rules there are, and we should aim to frame regulations to make cheating them harder,” the ex-cabinet secretaries said. More

A Tory councillor has faced backlash for using a picture from the scene of the Liverpool bomb attack to mock Jeremy Corbyn.Paul Nickerson shared the picture on Twitter late on Monday evening which showed an image of Mr Corbyn holding a poppy wreath photoshopped onto another picture of the burning car used in the Liverpool bomb attack.Mr Nickerson has since deleted the tweet and issued an apology on Tuesday morning on Twitter. The post read: “I would like to apologies [sic] for a political tweet sent from my account yesterday which has been upsetting for some people and I unreservedly apologise to all concerned.”In another deleted tweet, the Tory Councillor for East Riding of Yorkshire initially blamed hackers for some of the posts that had come from his account on Monday evening.It read: “Apologies for the round of inappropriate direct messages that have been sent out from my account they are not of my hand – normal service now resumed, I have over 1000 notifications so forgive any further delay in response.”The original tweet was met with a lot of backlash, with some users submitting formal complaints to East Riding Council. One user tweeted:“Absolutely horrific tweet from an elected @Conservatives Councillor. I have tonight contacted the Chair & Vice Chair of @East_Riding Council at [email protected] & [email protected]. Whatever your personal ‘politics,’ this is completely unacceptable.”Some Twitter users also shared that they were blocked by the councillor when they responded to his original tweet, calling his post offensive.Aaron Bastani, co-founder of Novara Media, tweeted: “I’ve been blocked by this Tory councillor for saying this isn’t acceptable for someone in elected office.“@councillorpaul_ is mocking events in Liverpool where innocent people could have been killed. Too many idiots like this in local government.”The East Riding of Yorkshire Council is yet to issue a statement regarding Mr Nickerson’s tweets. More