Markus Andrews

An ex-Conservative advisor who is married to a Tory MP will help choose the UK’s next media regulator, the government has confirmed.Michael Simmonds, husband of former schools minister Nick Gibb and brother-in-law of former No.10 communications chief Robbie Gibb will sit on the interview panel who will chose the next chair of Ofcom.Downing Street is widely reported to want former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre to take the job and has already re-booted the recruitment process once after the right-winger unexpectedly failed his final interview and was deemed “not appointable”.But Mr Dacre is expected to run for the role again, with a new interview panel and a rewritten job description which he may have a better chance of meeting.The move to appoint an ally of the ruling party to the top of the supposedly impartial media regulator comes after former prime minister John Major branded Boris Johnson’s administration “politically corrupt”. The government last week pushed to abolish the Commons standards watchdog and replace it with a committee with an in-built Tory majority, after it tried to punish a Conservative MP for breaking lobbying rules.The Daily Mail faithfully supported the Conservatives throughout Mr Dacre’s tenure as editor, dutifully launching attacks on everyone from opposition politicians to judges.Responding to the latest news, Labour’s shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens said the government had a “pattern of behaviour by the government of manipulating rules or tearing them up for their own political purposes”.She added: “The Ofcom chair is a critical role with a hugely wide ranging remit that will include the new online safety regime. “The public need to have confidence that independent regulators and how senior roles within them are appointed are truly independent and not influenced by ministers or their friends. “There cannot be one rule for the government and their friends and another for everyone else.”The appointment of the next Ofcom chair will be approved by culture secretary Nadine Dorries – another right-winger who has written for the Daily Mail newspaper on a number of occasions. . The Department for culture, media and sport has been contacted for comment on this story. More

The sleaze scandal surrounding Boris Johnson’s government is continuing to dog the prime minister a week on from the row that erupted over his decision to order MPs to save ex-Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson from a six-week suspension after the Commons Standards Committee found him guilty of breaking a centuries-old ban on parliamentary lobbying.Now the spotlight is trained on Sir Geoffrey Cox, Conservative MP for Torridge and West Devon since 5 May 2005 and the former UK attorney general.Sir Geoffrey, a practising barrister since 1982 and Queen’s Counsel since 2003, is understood to be among the highest-earning members of the House of the Commons and is facing scrutiny over the amount of money he has earned from additional work carried out alongside his duties as an MP, which already earns him a £81,900-a-year salary.He was forced to give up private practice during his tenure as attorney general between 9 July 2018 and 13 February 2020, when he advised first Theresa May and then Mr Johnson through a torrid period of Brexit negotiations with the EU, but either side of that role he is believed to have performed hundreds of hours of legal work for his clients, a number of whom are involved with tax havens like the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, whom Sir Geoffrey has argued it is “beneath the dignity” of the British government to crack down upon.Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has called on the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, to investigate his extracurricular activities and called for the MP’s resignation, saying: “You can be an MP serving your constituents or a barrister working for a tax haven – you can’t be both and Boris Johnson needs to make his mind up as to which one Geoffrey Cox will be.”The QC has issued a statement via his website insisting that he does not believe he has broken Commons rules but will “fully cooperate” with any inquiry, insisting that he “regularly works 70-hour weeks” but gives “primary importance” to his constituency work.The prime minister has meanwhile been forced to insist the UK is “not remotely a corrupt country” after being questioned on the Paterson and Cox affairs by reporters at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, a major embarrassment with his fellow world leaders looking on.Here’s a timeline of how the furore surrounding the veteran MP erupted.9 July 2018Sir Geoffrey Cox appointed attorney general by Theresa May. Gives up private practice as condition of accepting the role.That same year, he took part in a parliamentary debate on the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill in which he defended overseas tax loopholes, arguing against British government intervention, having himself earned considerable fees from representing law firms based in the Caymans between 2016 and 2018 by his own admission.13 February 2020Sacked as attorney general by Mr Johnson in reshuffle after controversial role in forcing through Brexit, which saw him accuse the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom of being “motivated by political considerations” when it overturned a High Court verdict the previous September to rule that Mr Johnson’s prorogation of parliament had been unlawful.Subsequently returns to legal career and begins working as consultant global counsel to Withers LLP on behalf of the British Virgin Islands, who pay him £468,000 a year for 48 hours of work per month while he earns a further £130,000 from other legal clients, according to the Commons register of interests.26 April 2021Arrives in the Caribbean for a month’s stay in Mauritius on the same day the House of Commons holds a debate on global corruption.Sir Geoffrey subsequently says he was given permission by chief whip Mark Spencer to utilise proxy voting rules brought in during the Covid-19 lockdown to allow him to participate in the Commons ballot while working from the West Indies.14 September 2021Sir Geoffrey allegedly takes part in an online hearing representing the British Virgin Islands Commission of Inquiry from his Westminster office, a possible breach of the parliamentary code of conduct.1 November 2021Renews contract with Withers, netting him £400,000 a year for 41 hours’ work a month, taking his total earnings from the firm since leaving his post as attorney general to almost £900,000, again according to the register of interests.10 November 2021Labour’s deputy leader writes to the parliamentary commissioner for standards urging an investigation after calling for Mr Cox’s resignation.Sir Geoffrey issues his statement denying that he has broken Commons rules while pledging to cooperate with any inquiry.11 November 2021Conservative business minister Paul Scully follows health secretary Sajid Javid in declining to explicitly support Sir Geoffrey when invited to do so by Sky News, saying instead: “That’s up to Geoffrey, it is between him and his voters.”The Daily Mirror reports that Sir Geoffrey has been renting out his London residence, which taxpayers helped fund, while also claiming £1,900 a month for a second home in the capital.A spokesperson for his office comments: “The flat was purchased in early 2004, prior to Sir Geoffrey’s election to Parliament. While he claimed mortgage interest payments until 2010, fully in accordance with the rules, thereafter they ceased to be paid by Parliament. The flat was let out from late 2017 as declared in the register.”The Guardian meanwhile calculates that he has earned more than £6m in total since 2015 in addition to his Commons salary from second jobs. More

Under-fire MP Sir Geoffrey Cox is reportedly renting out a London home that taxpayers helped fund while also claiming £1,900 a month for a second home in the capital.It comes after Labour demanded a probe amid the allegation the former Conservative attorney general appeared to use his Commons office to conduct work outside his parliamentary duties.It also emerged the Tory MP – one of the Commons wealthiest – voted via proxy from the Caribbean in April while it was claimed he missed more votes this week as he was on the island of Mauritius.Facing intense scrutiny in the midst of a wider row over sleaze in politics, Sir Geoffrey, who has earned millions in addition to his salary as an MP, issued a defiant statement on Wednesday, insisting he did not believe he had broken any rules and would co-operate with any investigation.According to the Daily Mirror, the Torridge and West Devon MP also rents out a flat in Battersea, south London, which he bought as a second home with his wife for £535,000 in 2004, before joining parliament the next year. He then claimed £82,298 in expenses for mortgage interest payments over a period of four years.After rules were tightened in the wake of the expenses scandal, the newspaper said he continued to use the property, but claimed only for utility bills and service charges.But in 2017, Sir Geoffrey reportedly moved to another property in the capital and has charged the public purse £1,900 per month for accommodation, according to the latest figures available.Despite the arrangement being within the Commons rules, the former standards committee chair, Sir Alistair Graham, told the Daily Mirror: “If they [MPs] have got a flat in London they should be happy enough to use that rather than go through this device to gain somewhere else and build up extra income.”He also criticised the former Tory attorney general for claiming rent while working in the Caribbean, saying: “If MPs are out of the country and in the case of Mr Cox earning vast sums of money then to be at the same time claiming money from the public purse is totally wrong.”A spokesperson for Sir Geoffrey’s office said: “The flat was purchased in early 2004, prior to Sir Geoffrey’s election to Parliament. While he claimed mortgage interest payments until 2010, fully in accordance with the rules, thereafter they ceased to be paid by Parliament. The flat was let out from late 2017 as declared in the register.”According to a separate Guardian analysis, the former Tory attorney general earned at least £6 million in addition to his Commons salary since he became an MP in 2015.Speaking on Wednesday, Boris Johnson declined to directly criticise Sir Geoffrey, but reminded MPs of the rules and was forced to deny that Britain was “not a remotely corrupt country” amid heightened scrutiny on MPs’ second jobs and a politically toxic row over sleaze in politics.Paul Scully, the business minister, also refused to defend the Tory MP for voting by proxy from the British Virgin Islands and said the sleaze row had been “regrettable”.“I’m not going to defend Geoffrey or say anything – that’s up to Geoffrey, it is between him and his voters,” he told Sky News on Thursday.Quizzed on whether he could see the “optics were not good” in relation to the second jobs debate, Mr Scully replied: “Absolutely, I can see how it looks. It is really regrettable that we’ve got to this situation.”A statement issued on Sir Geoffrey’s website yesterday, said: “He fully understands that the matter has been referred to to the parliamentary commissioner and he will fully cooperate,” in reference to the alleged use of his parliamentary office for a second job. “He does not believe that he breached the rules but will of course accept the judgment of the parliamentary commissioner or of the committee on the matter.”The statement also revealed that the party’s chief whip had advised him it was “appropriate” to vote via a proxy from the Caribbean in April while advising the government of the British overseas territory on a corruption case. More

Tory MP Ben Bradley has defended his £35,000 job as a council leader saying that the role complements his parliamentary work and is in the best interest of his constituents. The MP for Mansfield is paid just under £36,000 a year for council work, on top of his £81,932 annual MP’s salary. With accusations of Tory sleaze engulfing Westminster, MPs have come under increased scrutiny for any extra work they are doing outside of parliament. Reports have highlighted Mr Bradley’s work as leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, for which he is paid £35,211 a year, and his role on the board of East Midlands Council, for which he received £600 a year. Mr Bradley has hit back at criticism of his extra work, saying that his “second job” allows him to “try and sort out Mansfield’s roads, social care services, children’s services at a very direct, decision-making level.”He added that he took on the role “because I was fed up of just talking about improving things and relying on others.”The MP said that first-hand experience of delivering local services helps him to do better work as an MP and visa versa. He also hit out at reports that the council work took up an extra 60 hours of his week, the time that appears to be listed on the MP’s register of interests. He told The Independent: “I appreciate that the register of interests is confusing. “In truth, the two roles registered on there are more fairly represented as being the same 30 hours. The East Midlands Councils role is tiny but comes with the Council one. It is all registered as per the advice of the Parliamentary Authorities. I’ve contacted them to see if we can make it clearer.”In an emotional Facebook post addressing the issue of his extra work, Mr Bradley said he worked “bloody hard” and “very long hours”. He added: “It’s Wednesday evening and I have already done more than 35 hours this week. I started at 8am, I’ll be working until about 7, I’ve put my kids to bed, and now I’ll get my laptop out and do some more work.”He said he typically worked a 60-70 hour week and that it was hard to distinguish which hours he worked for the council, and which hours he worked for parliament, because “in reality it’s almost all both”. In the post he conceded that in some cases, such as Owen Paterson’s, there are clear breaches of the rules. He referenced roles, such as work for political consultancies, which would be “very much in conflict with being an MP”. He added: “It would be wrong to mix both, as it seems Owen did, and it’s therefore right to examine what jobs MPs might have and ensure that those lines are drawn in the right place. Lobbying on behalf of paying private businesses is wrong.”However he defended his council work as a “public service” role and said: “If my crime is adding an additional role doing even more to benefit local residents, then yes I’m guilty. “If my crime is being paid for it, again yes guilty as charged.”Conservative MP Paul Bristow echoed Mr Bradley’s condemnation of lobbying for private business inThe Times on Thursday, saying: “There’s nothing wrong with lobbying, done right… There’s a lot wrong with lobbying, done badly.”He has called for MPs to be banned from consultant lobbying completely. He added: “The Commons committee on standards has been reviewing the code of conduct for MPs. It is expected that it will recommend a ban on engaging in paid political or parliamentary advisory or consultancy work. “This is overdue and should be extended to the House of Lords.” More

The government is creating billions of pounds in extra costs by delaying the introduction of new green rules for housing, an analysis has found.In 2006 the last Labour government legislated for all new homes to be built for net zero carbon from 2016 – but the Conservatives scrapped the rule six months before it was due to come in.Now the government says it intends for all new homes to be net zero ready by 2025 – and in the intervening years hundreds of thousands of new houses and flats are being built to less green standards. Now opposition calculations suggest the decision will see homeowners spend £5 billion extra because these homes will eventually have to be upgraded – at greater expense than if they had been built to higher standard in the first place.Lucy Powell, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, said building homes today that would need to be retrofitted down the line was “insanity”.“Yet again, the Conservatives are letting developers off the hook and selling homeowners down the river, as they’ll be hit by bills, as will the Government, to retrofit their homes in a few years time,” she said. “Commitments at COP to doing something in the future are not enough; we need urgent action now. Britain should be leading this charge by requiring that all new homes be built with low carbon heating immediately.”813,970 new homes were built from 2016-2019, according to the government’s official housing statistics – with ministers pledging that the rate will increase to 300,000 a year.According to research commissioned by the government’s own Committee on Climate Change, “The costs of installing low-carbon heat as a retrofit to an existing gas heated semi-detached home is around £9,000, over three times the cost than if installed in a new build.”The analysis works on the basis that it is around £6,500 cheaper to install a heat pump in a new build than to retrofit the work.852,360 homes expected to be built between 2022 and 2022, this difference in cost would represent a saving of £5.54bn.But the government argues that waiting to take action could have benefits because heat pumps may get cheaper in the future.A government spokesperson said: “This analysis is misleading. Homes built to current standards won’t need extensive retrofitting to reach net zero – and we will soon be improving them further. Homes built to the new standard are expected to produce 31 per cent less emissions.“Thanks to our ongoing work to improve household energy efficiency we have quadrupled the number of homes reaching the higher ‘Band C’ EPC rating since 2008.” More

Two SNP MPs have denied “drinking heavily” on an Armistice Day visit to Gibraltar, calling the claims a “bizarre Tory smear campaign”.Defence secretary Ben Wallace said on Wednesday he would complain to the both the SNP and Labour about alleged behaviour by MPs from the parties before and during a flight to the Overseas British Territory on Tuesday.Mr Wallace said claims about the conduct of two SNP MPs – named as David Linden and Drew Hendry – and a Labour MP showed “a lack of respect for the enduring work of our Armed Forces” and risked “undermining respect for Parliament”.A report in The Telegraph suggested the MPs, part of a 15-strong all-parliamentary delegation on the trip, had been “drinking heavily” during the flight to Gibraltar. The newspaper’s sources also claimed Mr Linden and Mr Henry had been involved in an argument with Gibraltarian officials upon landing, alleging military staff were forced to intervene in the row. The SNP has denied the pair behaved inappropriately, accusing the government of trying to deflect from the ongoing sleaze scandal ingulfing the Conservative Party.An SNP spokesperson said: “These suggestions are inaccurate. Drew Hendry MP and David Linden MP were honoured to be invited to this important event and attended all engagements, including the welcome meeting and dinner shortly after landing.“Instead of trying to divert attention from the Tory corruption scandal engulfing Westminster, Ben Wallace should be apologising for his role in it, including voting to get Owen Paterson off the hook.”Mr Linden tweeted that he was “incredibly disappointed by what appears to be a bizarre Tory smear campaign in the media”.Mr Hendry said the allegations were part of a “shameless attempt to divert attention from the Tory corruption scandal”.One SNP source , speaking to The Herald, said: “The fact this was briefed to three Tory-supporting newspapers, with only Tories actually claiming it happened says it all.“Drew and David were not drunk. They arrived at 16.45, and they were at a reception at 6.30pm. They were in bed by 10.30pm or so that evening, and in fact two Tory MPs stayed out on the lash until 2am.“They’ve not missed any events, and have not even talked to those who have suddenly made these claims. It is a disgusting political smear on the eve of Armistice Day. The Tories cannot sink any lower.” More

Boris Johnson was today under pressure to do more to secure a credible deal at the Cop26 climate change summit, after he admitted that with just 48 hours to go there was “a huge amount” to do to keep alive hopes of preventing disastrous global warming.Paying a flying visit to the summit venue in Glasgow, the prime minister urged fellow world leaders to “pick up the phone” to their negotiating teams and give them a mandate to compromise to get a deal which would put the world on track for keeping warming within 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.But he was accused of a “dereliction of duty” as he left the conference to return to London for a cabinet meeting on his “levelling up” agenda, rather than staying to lead the battle to toughen up a draft agreement which environmentalists warn lacks the necessary ambition.The PM appeared to be sidelined by a joint declaration announced by the US and China just over an hour after his departure, under which Beijing and Washington pledged to cooperate on methane reduction and decarbonisation over the coming decade.Stressing the importance of cutting methane swiftly, US climate envoy John Kerry said the pact, negotiated over a number of weeks by Joe Biden and Chinese president Xi Jinping, would allow the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters to “work together to raise climate ambition in this decisive decade”.Released early on Wednesday – a day after warnings that progress agreed at Glasgow will result in temperature rises as high as 2.4C – the draft Cop26 agreement was hailed for specifically demanding for the first time in a UN document an accelerated phase-out of fossil fuels.But its appeal to countries to come forward with improved proposals on emission reductions in 2022 was condemned as insufficiently robust, with Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan saying it was “not a plan to solve the climate crisis… It’s a polite request that countries maybe, possibly, do more next year.”In a brief press conference following talks with negotiating teams in Glasgow, Mr Johnson conceded that early progress on issues like deforestation and finance had ebbed away over the course of the two-week summit as officials wrangled over the “nuts and bolts” of the final agreement.Switching from his earlier football metaphors to rugby, he described the situation as a “rolling maul”, explaining: “The line is in sight but if we are going to get there we need a determined push to get us over the line.“We need to be more ambitious and we need more credible plans for implementation.”The PM added: “We’re now in the hard yards, the nuts and bolts of international climate diplomacy. Negotiations are getting tough and with just a few days left there is still a huge amount to do.“It is within reach, we just need to reach out together and grasp it. My question to world leaders is: will you help us grasp that opportunity or will you stand in the way?”Mr Johnson said there was “no excuse” for countries to “pat themselves on the back” for promises made in the Paris accord of 2015 if they do not take the steps to deliver on them now. They risk an “immense and long-lasting” backlash from the people of the world who will find their failure to act “absolutely incomprehensible”, said the PM, adding: “Frankly, we will deserve their criticism and their opprobrium.”But – unlike US president Joe Biden, who has called out China and Russia – he refused to publicly name and shame the world leaders blocking an ambitious deal, insisting he would not “chivvy or hector” individual countries as summit host.And he made no promise to return for the final stages of the crucial meeting, which is due to wind up on Friday but which he accepted may spill over into the weekend.Labour Cop26 spokesperson Ed Miliband accused the PM of a “dereliction of duty” for settling for a “lowest common denominator” outcome to the Glasgow summit, rather than staying on to fight for a positive conclusion.Mr Miliband said it was “unimaginable” that Mr Johnson was leaving Glasgow after a visit of only a few hours on Wednesday. “The prime minister has treated this summit with nothing like the seriousness that it deserved.”To “salvage” some hope from Glasgow, Mr Johnson should be ready to stay at Cop26 for the coming days and combine behind-the-scenes telephone diplomacy with Beijing and Moscow with a “big public fight” to shame the biggest polluters into firming up pledges, said Mr Miliband.If he was willing to engage over the next few days, Mr Johnson might have a chance of changing the wording of the final text, so countries are required, rather than “urged”, to come forward with better pledges next year, and so that the document is clear that they must aim for warming of no more than 1.5C, rather than “1.5 or 2C”, he said.“Just checking in with the negotiators is just not good enough,” said Mr Miliband, who accompanied Gordon Brown to the 2009 summit in Copenhagen when the then prime minister took charge of events in the final days to try to beef up the conclusion. “This is not a summit taking place overseas. This is our summit. We are the hosts, we have a special responsibility, we have a special opportunity and obligation.”Representatives chair of small islands and low-lying states threatened by rising sea levels said that the draft agreement was not tough enough on the need for enhanced emission reduction pledges at next year’s Cop27 summit in Egypt.“‘Urging’, ‘encouraging’ and ‘inviting’ is not the decisive language that this moment calls for,” said Dr Walton Webson, of the Alliance of Small Island States. “We have limited time left at the Cop to get this right.”And Bob Ward, from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, said: “This draft includes all the key elements of a successful outcome, but there needs to be more ambition and more precision.“We need countries to agree to return every one or two years with more ambitious pledges. We also need stronger evidence of action to deliver the pledges.”Rebecca Newson of Greenpeace UK said: “Boris Johnson will lose what’s left of his climate credibility if he fails  to rule out new oil and gas and presses ahead with proposals for a new oil field at Cambo, after he’s told other countries to ‘pull out all the stops’ at Cop26.“The UK presidency has a particular responsibility to make sure this Cop is a success and delivers a truly ambitious commitment from world leaders in the final Glasgow agreement to phase out fossil fuels.”Mr Brown himself accusing the PM of treating the summit “like a day trip”.The former chancellor, recently appointed WHO ambassador for global health financing, slammed the draft agreement as “an admission of prospective failure”.While there was a “great deal of ambitious talk” in the document, it contained no agreement on the two “make-or-break decisions” of halving carbon emissions by 2030 and meeting the 1.5C target. And he said its plans for financing green growth in developing countries “lowered the level of ambition”.Mr Johnson spent only around three hours at the Cop26 venue, taking the more climate-friendly option of a nine-hour return train journey after facing criticism for flying back from his previous visit by private jet on 2 November. More

The UK has pulled back from an early suspension of the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland – and a trade war with the EU – arguing further talks can still avert the crisis.Boris Johnson has been moving closer to triggering Article 16 of the Protocol, accusing the EU of failing to abide by the agreement he negotiated, amid anger over the trade barrier created in the Irish Sea.Ireland has argued that would leave Brussels with no choice but to suspend the later trade deal for the entire UK, which could result in punishing tariffs for exporters.In a statement to the House of Lords, the Brexit minister David Frost repeated his threat – first made in July – to trigger Article 16 if necessary, despite the EU threat of what he called “massive and disproportionate retaliation”.But he said, of his weekly talks with the European Commission: “This process of negotiations has not reached his end.“Although we have been talking for nearly four weeks now, there remain possibilities that the talks have not yet seriously examined, including many approaches that have been suggested by the UK.“So there is more to do and I certainly will not give up on this process unless and until it is abundantly clear that nothing more can be done. We’re certainly not at that point yet.”He added: “Article 16 is not inevitable. I want to be clear about that.”Lord Frost announced, for the first time, an intention to set up a UK version of the Horizon Europe science programme if necessary – with UK participation on hold, because of the wider row.The UK opted to stay in the flagship £80bn programme – which pools talent and ideas to achieve breakthroughs – even as the skeleton trade deal meant walking away from other projects.It agreed to pay £15bn over the six years to 2027 after leading scientists warned of a brain drain and that the UK would lose its status as a “science superpower”.Lord Frost protested that EU had “an obligation” to admit the UK to the programme and would be “in breach” of the Brexit agreement if it shut it out.“We would of course put together our own domestic research programme for our own scientists and investors,” the peer said, adding it was in nobody’s interest for that to happen.Ahead of further talks on Friday, he warned the gap between the two sides remained “extremely wide” – and not just over European Court of Justice oversight of the trade deal.He claimed EU pledges that its compromise proposals – promising a 50 per cent reduction in customs declarations and 80 per cent in animal product checks – did not stand up to scrutiny.And, on moving medicines from Britain, he warned: “There’s clearly a risk of divergence and often not being able to deliver medicines as a country.”Labour’s Brexit spokeswoman, Jenny Chapman, called for “cooler heads” and accused the government of stoking “division” with the EU to distract from the sleaze allegations. More