Markus Andrews

Downing Street faces a looming court challenge over Boris Johnson’s decision to stand by Priti Patel on bullying allegations, in a case set to reignite questions about the government’s stance on standards.The prime minister was criticised for disregarding the findings of an investigation into the home secretary’s behaviour carried out by his independent ethics adviser last year.Sir Alex Allan’s report said that Ms Patel’s behaviour – said to include some instances of shouting and swearing – had “been in breach of the ministerial code, even if unintentionally”.But Mr Johnson decided the home secretary had not broken the ministerial code, said the government considered the matter “closed” and told Conservative MPs to “form a square around the Pritster”.The FDA union, which represents civil servants, has successfully brought a judicial review of Mr Johnson’s decision – a case which will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday and Thursday next week.Speaking ahead of the court hearing, Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA, said: “The prime minister, as the final arbiter of the ministerial code and minister for the civil service, has a duty to ensure that civil servants can work with ministers without fear of being bullied or harassed.”The union leader claimed Mr Johnson’s decision “potentially allows ministers to avoid the consequences of their behaviour in future by pleading that it should be the intent of their actions which is important, not the consequences.“The result is that civil servants’ confidence in challenging unacceptable behaviour from ministers has been fatally damaged … That is why we are asking the court to rule that the prime minister misdirected himself.”Mr Penman insisted the legal challenge was not an attempt to make the home secretary face sanctions, but about decisions made by the prime minister. “This is simply about how the ministerial code is interpreted.”It comes as Mr Johnson’s government faces growing pressure over various “sleaze” claims after last week’s failed attempt to rewrite disciplinary rules and and save ex-Tory MP Owen Paterson from suspension.Lord Evans, chair of the government’s independent standards committee has urged the government to restrict MPs from holding some second jobs.He said his committee had made recommendations as far as 2018 that MPs should be banned from holding consultancy and advisory jobs.“We recommended that MPs should not accept any paid work to provide services such as parliamentary strategists, or advisors, or consultants – because that was in tension with the main job,” he said on Thursday.Mr Johnson insisted that Britain is not “remotely a corrupt country” amid continuing fallout over sleaze concerns. But Labour claimed the PM’s failure to apologise for his role in undermining public trust in politics proved that “he doesn’t care about tackling corruption”. More

EU chief negotiator Maros Sefcovic is expected to urge his UK counterpart Lord David Frost to drop an “unattainable” demand to remove the role of the European court in disputes over Northern Ireland.The latest round of talks between the two sides to rehash post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland are due to begin in London on Friday.There is growing speculation that the UK is poised to use a get-out clause in the coming weeks by triggering Article 16 to suspend arrangements agreed in the Northern Ireland Protocol.Mr Sefcovic is set to tell Lord Frost that his demand to cut out the role of European Court of Justice (ECJ) judges in the arbitration process cannot be met.“The UK wants us to engage in intensive talks and we are happy to do so,” said an EU official. “But then the UK must take a step towards us to ensure that the talks are meaningful.”The official added: “On questions around governance and the court of justice we have always made clear that we think that the objectives set out by the UK are unattainable.”The protocol effectively keeps Northern Ireland inside the EU’s single market for goods, resulting in some checks for products crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain.In October, the EU offered a series of changes to the protocol, which would remove 80 per cent of checks on goods between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland.Lord Frost said on Wednesday that triggering Article 16 – which would effectively suspend elements of the arrangements – would be the only option if the EU did not move further on UK demands.The Brexit minister there was “a real opportunity to turn away from confrontation, to move beyond our current difficulties and put in place a new, and better, equilibrium” in the talks.He added that it was “not inevitable” that Article 16 would be triggered. Lord Frost said: “In my view, this talks process has not reached its end … If, however, we do in due course reach that point, the Article 16 safeguards will be our only option.”Irish minister for European affairs Thomas Byrne has said a “tough guy” approach to talks when it comes to Northern Ireland will lead to “disaster”.Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if there is a serious danger of a full-scale trade war, Mr Byrne said the EU is in “solutions mode”, adding: “A tough approach, or a tough guy approach, when it comes to Northern Ireland can only be counter-productive and will lead to disaster.”He said he is “very glad despite that gloomy atmosphere” that there are talks taking place on Friday, adding “there is a prize of stability and peace in Northern Ireland”.The Irish government has held talks with US president Joe Biden’s administration about the protocol. On Thursday, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said contact with the US government was designed to “encourage progress” in negotiations.Meanwhile, Irish deputy premier Leo Varadkar has warned that retaliatory action from the EU should be expected if the UK activates Article 16, amid fears a trade war between the two sides could break out in the months ahead. More

Natalie Elphicke — the Tory MP who said Marcus Rashford should concentrate on football rather than getting involved in politics — has a second job.The Dover MP drew backlash this summer after the England forward’s penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final by suggesting he would have had a better chance of scoring had he not spent the preceding months campaigning over free school meals for children from deprived backgrounds.In a private message to Tory colleagues after England’s loss to Italy, Ms Elphicke said: “They lost. Would it be ungenerous to suggest Rashford should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics.”However, it has emerged Ms Elphicke also spends a significant amount of time focussing on a job away from her parliamentary duties.The register of MP’s financial interests shows she works eight hours a week, the equivalent of a full working day, as chair of the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB), an independent watchdog for new-build houses.The backbencher earns £36,000 on top of her £82,000 MP’s salary for her role on the NHQB board, where she began working last May.According to the Home Builders Federation, the NHQB is responsible for overseeing the “quality of new build homes” and seeks to improve customer service in the sector.Between May and December 2020 she spent more than 150 hours working for the watchdog but has since increased her weekly commitment. Over the next year she will work 416 hours for the NHQB alongside her parliamentary duties.Ms Elphicke apologised for her remark about Mr Rashford, saying she regretted her response to his missed penalty and was sorry “for any suggestion that he is not fully focused on his football”.Speaking to the i, which first exposed Ms Elphicke’s supplementary role, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “Marcus Rashford is the pride of Manchester and he doesn’t need the permission of anyone to do the wonderful work that he does.“Boris Johnson needs to decide whether his MPs are MPs representing their constituents or if they are advisers and consultants working for private interests who pay them. They can’t be both.“It’s time for the prime minister to come out of hiding. His refusal to take action sends a clear message that he is happy with the status quo.”Boris Johnson has this week been under pressure to tighten rules after the second jobs of some MPs have come under intense scrutiny.MPs are allowed to seek other employment as long as the work does not interfere with their parliamentary role. More than 200 MPs have received outside earnings on top of their main job representing constituents in the past year.But revelations former attorney general Geoffrey Cox voted by proxy while working in the British Virgin Islands sparked outrage and led to renewed calls from the government’s independent standards for new restrictions on second jobs.The Independent has approached Ms Elphicke for comment. More

Revelations over the earnings of former attorney-general Sir Geoffrey Cox and allegations that he missed Commons votes while staying thousands of miles from the UK in a tax haven are not the first reports about the MP to have stirred controversy.Sir Geoffrey, 61, earned at least £6m from second job on top of his MP’s salary since he entered parliament in 2005, according to one analysis.He also lets out a London home that taxpayers helped fund while claiming £1,900 a month for having a second home to be near Westminster, it’s reported.His affairs have come under scrutiny since it was reported that he took advantage of lockdown rules to cast votes by proxy from the British Virgin Islands, and this week from Mauritius.Sir Geoffrey has insisted he does not believe he has broken any rules. But the former government chief legal adviser and MP for Torridge and West Devon has made headlines for a number of reasons in the past few years.A known supporter of foxhunting, he has been photographed hosting the Lamerton Hunt on land he owns in Devon. Local hunt saboteurs pictured him in January 2019 allegedly mixing with members of the hunt who gathered outside his home for drinks and food before setting off on horseback into the fields.Foxhunting was outlawed in 2005 but hunts claim their activities are lawful because they follow a scent trail.The 2004 Act also made it illegal to knowingly permit land belonging to you to be used in the course of an illegal hunting act. There is no suggestion that Cox has committed any offence.Cox said at the time there was no evidence that the hunt “engaged in any activity that could have been remotely considered to be illegal”. His office added: “Any attempt to link Mr Cox to illegal hunting activity would be irresponsible and wholly false.”Earlier this year a Lamerton huntsman and a whipper-in were cleared of illegal hunting when a judge ruled they had been following a trail rather than trying to kill foxes.A 2014 Wikipedia photograph apparently also showing Cox hosting the Lamerton Hunt has been widely shared on social media.In 2015, he said he was very impressed with the turnout at a Boxing Day meet and congratulated the huntsman on the condition of the hounds.Sir Geoffrey’s voting record suggests he holds traditionally right-wing views.According to Theyworkforyou.com he voted, among other things:For a reduction in spending on welfare benefitsAgainst raising welfare benefits at least in line with pricesAgainst allowing terminally ill people to be given assistance to end their lifeFor culling badgersAgainst measures to prevent climate changeAgainst financial incentives for low-carbon-emission electricity generation methodsFor selling England’s state owned forestsAgainst equal gay rightsAgainst laws to promote equality and human rightsFor restricting the scope of legal aidFor phasing out secure tenancies for lifeAgainst a “mansion tax”Against a wholly elected House of LordsOne of the Commons wealthiest MPs, he also voted in favour of capping civil service redundancy payments and voted against restrictions on fees charged to tenants by letting agents.The Brexit-supporting MP has almost always voted for a stricter asylum system and consistently voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities, the records show.In 2016, the then Cox – before receiving his knighthood – claimed almost £16,500 in expenses, including £94.74 for a fridge in his constituency office.But Commons authorities rejected a claim of 49p for a pint of milk.In 2019, he advised Boris Johnson that proroguing Parliament was ‘lawful’ – advice that 11 of the UK’s top judges later slapped down in a landmark ruling.One of his constituents tweeted on Tuesday: “I emailed Geoffrey Cox and it took over 80 days before I received a basic reply. I don’t feel he is giving 100% or even close to his work as an MP.”Sir Geoffrey has never sought to hide the fact he does legal work on top of being an MP, and there is no suggestion that he has broken any rules.His most recent written question to a minister was to ask the health secretary whether the government has a maximum distance it considers appropriate for patients to travel for dental care. More

Five ministers in Boris Johnson’s government are among a group of MPs who have claimed more than £1m from the taxpayer to cover their rent payments, while letting properties that they own in London.Some 17 landlord MPs – 15 Conservatives and two Labour – have put their housing costs on expenses while earning more than £10,000 a year each renting out their own properties in recent years.Former attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox sparked outrage after it emerged that he was claiming £1,900 a month for his taxpayer-funded flat while claiming a rental income from a home elsewhere in London.An investigation by The Independent shows five current ministers have also claimed for rent while letting out homes in the capital, including international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, defence secretary Ben Wallace, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly, prisons minister Victoria Atkins and junior Treasury minister John Glen.It comes as Mr Johnson’s government faces growing pressure over a deluge of “sleaze” claims after last week’s botched attempt to rip up the disciplinary process and save ex-Tory MP Owen Paterson from suspension.Tory grandee Malcolm Rifkind issued a warning to the prime minister that he is in danger of becoming “a liability” to his party and of being toppled by his own MPs if he fails to act on growing concerns about conduct rules and second jobs.Sir Alistair Graham, the former chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said the latest findings on second homes by The Independent were “shocking”. He called for an end to the “loophole” which allowed property-owning MPs to put their own rent on expenses and stay within the rules.The standards veteran said: “It may be within the rules, but it’s quite wrong for MPs to use the public purse in this way. MPs have a duty to claim only public funds that are necessary.”Sir Alistair added: “If there’s an opportunity to end the loophole allowing them to do this, then we must take it. There is growing feeling that the rules must change.”Over the past five years, 17 MPs have claimed over £1.3m in taxpayer-funded rent while collecting thousands rent letting out properties in the capital, according to submissions published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).Ms Trevelyan, the trade secretary, has claimed £106,000 in expenses for her own rental payments since April 2016. She also claims a rental income on a London flat she registered after she entered parliament in 2015.Mr Wallace, the defence secretary, claimed more than £110,000 in taxpayer-funded rent between April 2016 and July 2020 – a period in which he was also collecting rent on a property in London.Mr Cleverly has claimed more than £71,000 in expenses for his own rental payments since April 2016. The former Tory party chair charges the taxpayer £1,200 a month for the flat he lives in, while also receiving an income from a jointly-owned residential property in London.It is understood that junior Home Office minister Ms Atkins’ claim for more than £43,000 in rent since April 2018 relates to her constituency home in Lincolnshire. Since April 2018 she has also been collecting rent on a house in London.Other Tory MPs to have claimed for rental costs while letting residential property in London include former trade minister Dr Liam Fox, former media minister John Whittingdale, Philip Davies, Robert Goodwill, Laurence Robertson, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Anne Marie Morris and Greg Knight.Conservative backbencher Damian Collins has the single largest rent expenses submission, claiming just over £148,000 from the taxpayer over the past five years, all while taking in a rental income from property in London.Labour MP Geraint Davies has claimed just over £67,000 in taxpayer funding to rent a home between November 2017 and April 2021 – a period during which he also collecting rent payments letting out residential a property he owns in the capital.Clive Betts, a fellow Labour backbencher, claimed just over £44,000 for rent between April 2016 and June 2018, the same period he also claimed rental income on a London home.MPs have not been eligible to claim expenses for mortgage payments on their second homes in London since 2010 under changes brought in following the previous year’s expenses scandal.But claims for rent are permitted under Ipsa rules, which state that MPs can receive taxpayer funding for “rental payments and associated costs”. An Ipsa document in 2017 conceded that some arrangements could be controversial – but advised against any change to the rules.“We recognise that there can be a perception of personal gain if an MP receives rental income from their own property while living in an Ipsa-funded flat,” it said. “However … We do not want to judge an MP’s private arrangements and whether or not they should live in a property they own.”Sir Geoffrey has been under fire following the disclosure that he stands to make more than £1m from outside legal work, including representing the British Virgin Islands in a corruption inquiry.He is currently claiming £22,000 a year in taxpayer funding to rent a London home while collecting rent on another property he co-owns in the capital. A spokeswoman for the MP said: “Sir Geoffrey has acted at all times within the rules set by the IPSA.”The Independent has contacted all 17 MPs named in this article for comment. More

Hopes of keeping alive the chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C were tonight slipping through Boris Johnson’s fingers, as the Cop26 climate summit enters its final day without agreement on key issues and with negotiations believed to be going backwards on a crucial fossil fuel pledge.United Nations secretary general Antonio Gutteres warned that the 1.5C threshold, which is seen as a maximum limit to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change, is “on life support”.The UK’s Cop26 president Alok Sharma said that negotiators faced a “monumental challenge” to reach a credible conclusion to the two-week summit, which was billed as humanity’s last chance to stave off the threat of devastating climate change.In a plea to all countries to “strain every sinew” to get an agreement that will make a real difference, Mr Sharma warned: “Time is running out.”Negotiators were working until late on Thursday on a new draft agreement, expected to appear early on the final scheduled day of the summit.Agreement was reached on assistance for vulnerable countries in adapting to climate change, and there was said to be progress on the issue of recompensing them for past loss and damage. But on the crucial issue of finance, countries remained far apart, with little progress towards the UN’s call for a fivefold or even tenfold increase in rich-world support by 2030.As well, UK officials believe that Wednesday’s breakthrough on fossil fuels is likely to be reversed in frantic horse-trading as the summit draws to its end, with Saudi Arabia leading a drive to scrub out provisions included in an early draft agreement – for the first time in a UN document of this kind – to phase out coal and end subsidies for fossil fuels.Delegates played down the significance of a dramatically announced declaration from the US and China, pointing out that while their agreement to co-operate on climate change was welcome, it was missing the firm figures and timetables which would allow them to be held to account for it.Meanwhile, Boris Johnson was coming under intense pressure to return to Glasgow and fight for a deal which would keep the world on track for warming of no more than 1.5C over pre-industrial levels and bring forward the provision of $100bn in annual support for vulnerable nations.Friends of the Earth said the prime minister should be in Glasgow to “throw the kitchen sink” at getting a deal. But Downing Street indicated that he would be remaining in London, making his 22-minute press conference on Wednesday his last appearance at Cop26.FoE climate campaigner Rachel Kennerley told The Independent: “It does hit a flat note that he won’t lobby his counterparts to stump up overdue financial help for poorer nations who need and deserve it, and really pressure other leaders to drop fossil-fuel dependence.“This is a complex negotiation process now in the final, crucial hours, so he would be showing his commitment to that all-important 1.5 degrees if he was here to throw the kitchen sink at this deal: he sounded very keen at the beginning of the fortnight.”Labour’s Cop26 spokesperson Ed Miliband said the PM’s promise to keep 1.5 alive was “in jeopardy” and he should be in Glasgow to try to save it.“Leaving on Wednesday night was a mistake when we know from previous summits that prime ministerial leadership can make a real difference to the outcome,” Mr Miliband told The Independent.“When Britain and the world needs a statesman who can twist arms, push those dragging their feet and get things done, we’ve instead got a showman. Boris Johnson should be chasing down a deal to halve global emissions by 2030, not just chasing headlines.”Mr Guterres said that the response to the climate crisis “requires all hands on deck” and nations need to “pick up the pace” and show ambition.On the basis of pledges so far – which would deliver only around one-fifth of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 – the world remains “on track for a catastrophic temperature rise well above 2C”, the UN boss told a Cop26 press conference.“The emissions gap remains a devastating threat, the finance and adaptation gap represent a glaring injustice for the developing world.“We need even more ambition in future revised nationally determined contributions, we need pledges to be implemented.“We need commitments to turn concrete, we need actions to be verified, we need to bridge the deep and real credibility gap.”He welcomed a co-operation agreement between the US and China announced on Wednesday, but added: “Promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives trillions in subsidies, as measured by the IMF. Or when countries are still building coal plants. Or when carbon is still without a price.”Guterres said the Glasgow talks “are in a crucial moment” and need to accomplish more than a “lowest common denominator” deal which represents the most that all 200 participating nations will support.“That would not respond to the huge challenges we face,” he said.Mr Sharma said that drafts released overnight on a number of crunch topics “represent a significant step further toward the comprehensive, ambitious and balanced set of outcomes which I hope parties will adopt by consensus at the end of tomorrow.”But he added: “Whilst we have made progress, we are not there yet on the most crucial issues.“There is still a lot more work to be done and Cop26 is scheduled to close at the end of tomorrow.“Time is running out… We still have a monumental challenge ahead of us.”Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate voiced scepticism at the pledges made by world leaders and businesses at Glasgow.“We see them making fancy speeches, we hear about new pledges and promises, but we are drowning in promises,” she said.“Promises will not stop the suffering of the people, pledges will not stop the planet from warming. Only immediate and drastic action will pull us back from the abyss.” More

A Tory MP has denied faking visits to a town in his constituency after posting an identical photograph to his Facebook page on three separate occasions.Nick Fletcher, the MP for Don Valley in Yorkshire, uploaded an image of himself posing on a high street in Thorne, a small market town about 10 miles northeast of Doncaster.“Great to spend the afternoon in Thorne. It is good to see it thriving again after a tough year,” Mr Fletcher captioned the post, which appears to have been taken on 10 November.“Apologies, forgot to take a photo on my walk about. Will make sure I take one when I’m back again next week. Look forward to seeing you all soon,” he added.The same image has been uploaded to Mr Fletcher’s account on two other occasions: on 21 December last year and 20 September this year, when he participated in several parliamentary votes.When approached by The Independent for comment on the latest image, Mr Fletcher said that he had been out in Thorne “with a local businesses man” and visited a “local café for a coffee”.A spokesperson for the MP said he spent the morning in nearby Braithwell before travelling to Thorne and then onto Tickhill to meet with constituents.In the image Mr Fletcher, who was first elected to parliament in 2019, can be seen standing outside shops on a quiet pedestrianised street in Thorne.Christmas decorations – including trees – can be seen hanging from the walls of buildings close by.Locals mocked the MP for uploading the same picture three times. “When you like a selfie so much you’ve used the same picture three times…” one said in the comments underneath the post.Another said: “How come Xmas trees are up when not putting them up till after 12th?”Mr Fletcher was elected to his seat at the December 2019 election, when he ousted Labour incumbent and former minister Caroline Flint.He won 43.2 per cent (19,609) of the vote compared with Ms Flint’s 35.2 per cent (15,979).According to his website, Mr Fletcher has spent his entire life living and working in the Doncaster area and has been running his business there for 25 years. More

Keir Starmer has denied that Jeremy Corbyn blocked him from taking up a second job, after the spotlight fell on his outside earnings as an MP.The Labour leader sparked confusion when he rejected the idea that, as a shadow cabinet member, he was “in talks” to work for a top law firm, but said he was “in discussion”.Alex Nunns, Mr Corbyn’s former speechwriter and biographer, has now claimed that it was the former leader – still suspended from the parliamentary party – who ruled it out.“Corbyn stopped Starmer taking a second job doing high-paid consultancy work for law firm Mishcon de Reya in 2017, several key figures from the Corbyn leadership have confirmed to me,” Mr Nunns tweeted.“The matter was raised at a meeting of the shadow cabinet, where ‘Jeremy very politely reminded Keir what Labour Party policy was’, according to a senior member of Corbyn’s shadow ministerial team.”But the claim was described as “entirely untrue” by Sir Keir’s spokesperson, while declining to say why the job was not taken up.“Keir had rejected the offer from Mishcon de Reya before the then leader’s office was even aware of it, The Independent was told.Sir Keir has declared more than £25,000 for legal work carried out before he became Labour leader, including almost £10,000 for advising the government of Gibraltar, widely seen as a tax haven.He has also acknowledged he was considering a consultancy role with the firm Mishcon de Reya in 2017 – while he was shadow Brexit secretary.Asked, in a Sky News interview earlier this week, if he regretted entering “talks” with the law firm, Sir Keir replied: “I was in discussion, nothing happened.”He said: “I have given written pieces of legal advice since I’ve been an MP, but I have now given up my legal certificate. I gave it up the best part of two years ago.“That means I’m no longer qualified to give legal advice, and my job is to represent people in Holborn and St Pancras and to bring down this awful government.”The Mishcon de Reya approach has raised eyebrows because the firm acted for the successful legal challenge to block the triggering of Article 50 without MPs’ consent – while Sir Keir was Brexit spokesman.In recent days, Labour has led the attack on Geoffrey Cox for working and voting from the Caribbean while defending the government of the British Virgin Islands in a corruption case.Anneliese Dodds, the party’s chair, demanded an investigation into the former attorney general’s “second job acting on behalf of a known tax haven, which is being investigated for corruption”.The row over outside earnings is focusing overwhelmingly on Tory MPs, because close to 100 have second jobs – compared with just three Labour MPs.But Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, has had to defend his work advising an international law firm and an energy firm, earning £78,000 a year. More