Markus Andrews

Britain’s post-Brexit supply chain crisis could “cancel Christmas” and continue to cause food shortages well into 2022, industry leaders have warned.Boris Johnson’s government has been urged to ease immigration rules so some EU citizens who left the UK during Brexit can return and help fill major gaps in the workforce.The head of the Co-op supermarket said on Wednesday that current food shortages were the worst he had ever seen, while Iceland’s boss warned that supply disruption could see Christmas “cancelled” for some families this year.Other food sector chiefs told The Independent they expected food supply problems to continue well into next year unless urgent action was taken to address the shortage of skilled factory workers and lorry drivers.Nick Allen, chief executive at the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA), which employs over 75,000 people, predicted disruption would continue in 2022 – accusing the government of being “in denial” about the workforce shortages.He told The Independent: “The supermarket shelves are looking ragged. I think that’s going to become the norm – fewer choices on the shelves for the foreseeable future. At the moment it looks like disruption in the sector will continue into next year.”Mr Allen said Christmas dinner favourite, pigs in blankets, could also be off the menu for many families since production of the beloved treat could be cut by a third. “The industry will also struggle to get enough turkeys produced for Christmas,” he added.Earlier this week The Independent revealed that McDonald’s had run out of milkshakes, after chicken shortages caused Nando’s to temporarily shut 50 stores last week because of supply problems linked to Brexit.The crisis has now hit high street favourite Greggs. The company said on Wednesday it was suffering from a shortage of “some ingredients” which meant some stores had to pull product lines – though denied earlier reports it had run out of chicken bakes.Supermarket bosses made clear empty shelves would continue in the months ahead. Richard Walker, the managing director of Iceland, said stores were experiencing daily shortages of some products due to the chronic lack of drivers. “Things like bread, fast-moving lines, are being cancelled in about 100 stores a day,” he told the BBC.The Iceland boss added: “The reason for sounding the alarm now is that we’ve already had one Christmas cancelled at the last minute and I’d hate this one to be problematic as well.”Steve Murrells, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said that the food shortages were at “the worst level than at any time I have seen”. He said the company was having to reduce some food ranges because of “Brexit and issues caused by Covid”.Duncan Buchanan, policy director at the Road Haulage Association (RHA), said the huge shortage of drivers will continue to cause major supply chain disruption for the rest this year and throughout 2022.“It will continue next year,” he told The Independent. “I can’t see the problems being solved for at least 18 months. And things will get worse between now and Christmas unless action is taken. We desperately need to get more drivers into the system.”The RHA estimates that up to 20,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers from the EU left during Brexit – adding to the crisis which has left the country short of 100,000 drivers in all.The RHA wants the government to consider a temporary visa scheme to allow European HGV drivers come back to the UK, as well as removing re-certification barriers currently discouraging former drivers in Britain from returning to the job.Tom Southall, policy officer at the Cold Chain Federation, said Brexit was partly to blame for recruitment problems across the food sector – predicting that it would be 2022 before the nation begins to get to grips with the backlog of vacancies for drivers, pickers and processors.“We can expect these kind of disruptions – like we are seeing with McDonald’s and Nando’s – potentially to continue for the next six months, a year, possibly beyond,” he said. “That is unless there is some major movement in the government stance on temporary visas and potentially allowing a temporary system for businesses to bring in overseas workers.”Norfolk food firm Alfred G Pearce, which grows and processes vegetables, is also struggling with labour shortages, having seen its workforce reduced 20 per cent to 30 per cent down after EU employees returned home during the Brexit process.Jack Pearce, development manager, told The Independent that disruption could continue throughout next year into 2023. “I can see it taking 18 months to two years to sort out these workforce issues. We need some short-term realism to open up visas to the EU again.”Bryan Roberts, retail analyst at Shopfloor Insights, said it would take time to train new workers, even with a major recruitment drive.“Sadly I think things are only going to get worse in the run-up to Christmas and we’ve got a whole load more regulations coming in from Brexit in October,” he said. “I can see this lasting well into 2022, and I think Christmas is going to be quite a challenge for retailers and the hospitality sector.” More

Britain’s decision to appoint a new ambassador to Myanmar in July has alarmed European allies who fear the move will result in a de facto recognition of the military regime that seized power on 1 February.High-ranking diplomatic sources told The Independent that the UK has submitted credentials to the sanctioned junta, conceding to pressures from the Myanmar side to rewrite a request that had already been sent before the coup, when a civilian government was still in power.The letter of credentials for an ambassador-designate is normally addressed from one head of state to another, bringing with it an implicit mutual recognition despite not being an official acknowledgement of any particular government. The self-appointed prime minister of Myanmar, General Min Aung Hlaing, is known for having a soft spot for flashy official ceremonies. To avoid taking this formal step and granting a possible photo opportunity to the commander-in-chief, other western embassies have decided to nominate a lower ranking chargé d’affaires – a formality to signal an unwillingness to deal with the junta, while continuing diplomatic activity with a head of mission.Embassies which underwent a turnover of staff in the past months, such as Germany, Denmark and Finland, have all opted to nominate a chargé d’affaires and “could not comprehend the decision of the UK to step up the recognition of the military so far”, a senior diplomat in Yangon said. Other countries had been considering a similar move but there is now fear within the EU that the example set by Britain will push other countries to follow suit.Myanmar had been under military rule for over 50 years prior to a partial shift towards democracy in 2015, with the first free elections in decades won by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi. But six months ago the military returned, ousting the country’s elected leaders and quashing subsequent protests with violence, with victims including children and many of the generation Z that grew up under democratic rule. With the economy and health system on the verge of collapse, the country is now suffering a deadly wave of Covid-19.The UK has publicly condemned the decision of the military to seize power and reject the overwhelming electoral victory in November 2020 of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, whose civilian government had been in a strained power-sharing agreement with the generals since 2016.Britain has put pressure on the junta at the UN Security Council, calling for meetings to discuss the situation in Myanmar and consistently condemning the actions of the military, which has killed over 1,000 people since the coup and arrested thousands, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an NGO based in Thailand.Its latest decision comes just as a parallel National Unity Government (NUG), formed by the ousted lawmakers, is pushing to secure a place for its own ambassador at the United Nations. The parallel government was created through online meetings to challenge the military coup and support nationwide protests that highlighted the extent of the unpopularity of the junta. The current representative to the UN is Kyaw Moe Tun, who has expressed explicit support for the pro-democracy protests. Since then, two men have been arrested in the US for an alleged plot to kill him. “This is a crucial moment,” the diplomat in Yangon told The Independent. “In September it will be decided who will represent Myanmar at the UN and if the military wins, then it is the end for the NUG, they’ll just become a clandestine movement.“We Europeans really don’t understand why Britain went this far,” he added.A tweet by the new ambassador Pete Vowles announcing his appointment in July was followed by similar comments by Burmese citizens.“The people of Myanmar may be wondering who the new British ambassador to Myanmar will present his credentials to, if it’s the National Unity Government or the Myanmar military,” a Twitter user posted in July.The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office declined to comment on the issue when approached by The Independent.Vowles took up his appointment in Myanmar this month, according to the Foreign Office. He was previously Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office director for Asia, Caribbean and Overseas Territories, and held earlier posts in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India.In April, while the UK was requesting credentials, Myanmar’s ambassador to the UK, Kyaw Zwar Minn, was locked out of the embassy by pro-junta staff after expressing support for the protest movement, and then substituted by a new ambassador. The Foreign Office acknowledged the receipt of a communication by the junta announcing the appointment of a chargé d’affaires at the helm of the Myanmar embassy to the UK. More

In an unexpected result, Sharon Graham has won the election to become the next leader of Unite, one of the country’s most powerful unions and the Labour Party’s biggest source of funding.Born and raised in London, Ms Graham, 51, replaces Len McCluskey as general secretary after beating his favoured candidate Steve Turner and Gerard Coyne, the candidate most sympathetic to Keir Starmer’s leadership and who vowed to maintain funding to Labour.Ms Graham is a leftwinger whose victory has been enthusiastically welcomed by Momentum, the hardline campaign group that backed the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.And while Labour moderates and allies of Mr Starmer insist they are “relaxed” about the result, Ms Graham’s leadership of Unite is likely to be less than straightforward for the current leader of the opposition.Ms Graham, who has previously accused Mr Starmer of “failing workers”, has said she is prepared to work with the Labour leader, but issued a stark warning to him in the same breath: there will be “no more blank cheques” for the party.Labour relies heavily on Unite for funding and has, according to the Daily Mirror, received £131,000 from the union between January and March this year alone, although those figures pale in comparison to the roughly £500,000 given to the party during Mr Corbyn’s leadership from 2018-2020.The 51-year-old has said that funding for the party will be conditional and based on results, which – apart from Batley and Spen – haven’t been going well for Mr Starmer, although recent polls show the gap between Labour and the Conservatives is closing somewhat.Throughout her campaign, Ms Graham, whose mother is Irish and whose father is from northeast England, has promised that her leadership will focus on Unite’s members and pivot away from the rough and tumble of Westminster politics and Labour’s internal disputes. But future events could well change that.Her leadership comes at a time when Mr Starmer is being accused of jobs “hypocrisy” after it emerged that party staffers are facing redundancy and are being replaced by workers on insecure contracts as the party attempts to repair its battered finances. Following confirmation of the result, outgoing general secretary Mr McCluskey congratulated Ms Graham, saying: “I thoroughly congratulate Sharon on her victory, which reaffirms her as the most formidable campaigning force in our movement.”I have every faith that she will run our union in a manner true to its fighting-back spirit.”He added: “Sharon comes into office at a time of great uncertainty for our members and a challenging political environment. From assaults on workers’ rights to the fear that the end of furlough will bring with it increased and needless unemployment, the in-tray is full.”Ms Graham, 51, was born and brought up in Hammersmith, west London, where she now has her family home.Her mother is from County Limerick and her father is from Newcastle. They met when working in the hotel industry. She has two sisters and a brother.Her mother is fond of saying she always knew Ms Graham would end up fighting for her rights because at the breakfast table in the battle for the cream from the milk, she almost always won against her siblings.Ms Graham went to the local Hammersmith comprehensive and left school at 16 to work as a waitress.She had her first experience of union work aged just 17 during an unofficial strike when she led her first successful walkout, about wages and working hours.Ms Graham said: “I’ll never forget that. I was 17. How I got away with it I don’t know but I did. You can’t persuade employers just by weight of argument. The restaurant owner ignored us for months but did a deal after the walkout.”After 20 years in Unite – firstly in the Transport and General Workers’ Union before the merger to create Unite – Ms Graham became executive officer heading up its organising, or “leverage”, department.It has been described as the industrial action wing of Unite, and has been credited with 15 major victories using strategies and tactics that go well beyond the traditional approach of strike action.In last year’s “fire and rehire” dispute with British Airways, Ms Graham said she won concessions by using MPs to support motions against the airline’s tactics and then going face to face with the executives of IAG – the parent owners of BA now – in their Europe HQ, to tell them they were about to lose landing slots at Heathrow.Ms Graham is now leading a campaign against Amazon for union recognition after setting up a hotline for its workers.She said: “These workers need a union to defend their rights.”Other campaigns she has led have covered illegal closures, victimisation of union leaders, and the preservation of national wage bargaining.Colleagues say that under Ms Graham’s leadership, one of the most sophisticated pay bargaining tools has been developed, giving local union officials company information to help with pay claims.A monthly bulletin provides information about companies, prices and other economic variables which are vital to local bargaining.Ms Graham said she has “simple beliefs” that trade unions exist to fight bad employers and the way to do that is to build the strength of the union at the workplace first.She said: “I have built Unite through the organising department, at the workplace, across industries, fighting bad bosses.”It’s time the whole union, the whole machine of the union, was dedicated to fighting for a better deal, better pay and conditions for all union members, at the workplace.”She has said the fight for jobs, pay and conditions is what it says “on the union tin”.Asked recently about Unite’s involvement in the internal wrangles of the Labour Party, Ms Graham said: “As far as I know the Parliamentary Labour Party has never won a wage rise for a group of workers, never got a sacked shop steward reinstated, never led a strike.”My priority is to build the union as never before and to make sure the government has to listen to the voice of ordinary workers. Besides, the mathematics are clear. There are 363 Tory MPs in the government and 199 Labour MPs in opposition. Why are we obsessing about the Labour Party? It’s the government we need to shift.”Additional reporting by PA More

More than a third of England’s most deprived areas have been locked out of funding aimed at addressing inequality across the country, new research has revealed.Boris Johnson’s government is facing a legal battle over whether it has been funnelling money from its £4.8bn “Levelling-Up Fund” into Conservative-held areas to give it a political advantage.The High Court will decide whether the fund unlawfully sent cash to areas considered to be of “political benefit” to the Tory Party following a challenge brought by the Good Law Project.A new study by the Salvation Army shows 45 deprived communities – mostly in England’s coastal and rural areas – have been denied access to the precious funding.The charity urged ministers to rethink how they calculate urgent need or risk leaving some of the country’s most deprived communities to spiral further into poverty.  “The £4.8bn earmarked for levelling up is a bold move by the government … but we are worried that this investment is missing many key areas in serious decline,” said Rebecca Keating, the Salvation Army’s director of employment services.She added: “We want to encourage the government to listen to the communities who need their help. Look up from the spreadsheet and see what we are seeing on the ground.“There are too many areas of severe deprivation that have been overlooked. We must ensure investment reaches these people; it’s the only way to truly level up the country.” Although the government has prioritised 93 areas for “levelling-up” funding, the Salvation Army said there were 116 areas which met the criteria for acute deprivation and merited urgent investment.The charity said the government’s analysis did not look at labour market data into sufficient detail – meaning pockets of deprivation in otherwise affluent areas had not been prioritised.  The charity wants the government to boost accessible childcare to help more people access work and training opportunities by extending 30 hours per week of free childcare to 52 weeks.It comes as minister prepares for High Court battle over an unusual funding formula that critics have accused of amounting to “pork barrel politics”.Campaigners cited an investigation by the National Audit Office which found that the government’s list of targets for the cash had been published without supporting information to explain why they had been chosen.The Tory Party’s 2019 manifesto promised Mr Johnson’s government would set about “levelling up every part of the UK” in order to address regional wealth disparities.A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said in response to the suit at the time: “The £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund is open to all places in Great Britain and will play a vital role in helping to support and regenerate communities.“The published methodology makes clear the metrics used to identify places judged to be most in need. It would not be appropriate to comment on potential legal action.” More

Sharon Graham has won the Unite leadership contest, becoming the union’s first female general secretary.The staunch left-winger – backed by the Socialist Workers Party and the Socialist Party – took almost 5,000 more votes than her nearest rival, the candidate favoured by outgoing leader Len McCluskey.Ms Graham received 46,696 members’ votes ahead of 41,833 votes for Steve Turner and 35,334 for Gerard Coyne, the union announced on Wednesday.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted his congratulations, writing: “I’m looking forward to working together to improve the lives of working people across the country.”Ms Graham has made clear she does not want to engage in constant bickering with Sir Keir and the Labour leadership team.She said last month: “Labour will likely be in opposition for most of the next decade and workers can’t afford to wait … we can be more effective by ridding ourselves of the obsession with fighting yesterday’s wars within Labour.”But she also suggested Labour could not be certain of the union’s financial support – saying she favours “payment by results” and warning that there would be “no blank cheque” under her leadership.Ms Graham successfully pitched herself as the “workers’ candidate” – pledging to take Unite “back to the workplace” and keep out of factional politics.She has led the union’s organising and leverage department, which specialises in taking on hostile employers – leading recent disputes at British Airways and Crossrail on behalf of union members, as well as campaigning to unionise Amazon.“It is an enormous privilege for me to have been elected as the general secretary of Unite,” Ms Graham said after the result was announced. “Unite members across the UK and Ireland, have spoken. They want change.”She added: “They have rallied, in their tens of thousands, to our demand that Unite should get back to the workplace and deliver what it says on the trade union tin – a relentless fight for jobs, pay and conditions.”The new general secretary vowed: “I stand for a fight against the gross injustices that blight the lives of our members, and British society as a whole.”Outgoing Unite general secretary Len McCluskey – who had favoured – congratulated Ms Graham, saying her victory “reaffirmed her as the most formidable campaigning force in our movement”.He added: “It’s a fantastic achievement and I am very proud to be handing over to our first woman general secretary.”Mr McCluskey, a keen supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, has complained that Labour was suffering from a “lack of authenticity” under Sir Keir and challenged him to “honour” left-wing pledges he committed when elected party leader. More

Black people were more likely to be subjected to prolonged Taser discharge compared with white people, according to a new review by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).The watchdog also uncovered evidence that some officers made inappropriate comments, including derogatory remarks, during these incidents, in an analysis of 101 investigations involving Tasers between 2015 and 2020.Some 60 per cent of Black people involved in Taser discharges were subjected to continuous discharges of more than five seconds, compared with 29 per cent of White people; the longest length of continuous use was 67 seconds. Police risk “losing the trust and confidence of the communities they serve” if they do not address serious concerns over the use of Tasers, the IOPC further warned.Mr Michael Lockwood, Director General of the IOPC, said: “Tasers are available to more officers than ever before. Our engagement with communities has highlighted a stark difference between their expectations about when a Taser should be used, and the situations in which Taser can be used under current national guidance, particularly on those who are vulnerable. “Police forces must be able to explain this clearly or risk further eroding public confidence – it is a gap which must be closed,” he said.“In particular, people from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic backgrounds deserve a clear and transparent answer from police on why such disproportionality still exists – failure to address this risks undermining the legitimacy of policing. He added: “I welcome the research announced in December last year by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to understand and tackle the root causes of racial disproportionality in police use of Taser.” The IOPC also raised concerns about the increased use of Tasers on children and the mentally ill, and said there were several examples of “missed opportunities” for police to de-escalate the situation before drawing the weapon, which works by sending electric pulses through the body, causing temporary incapacitation.Mentally ill people who were Tasered were more likely to be Black and aged 25 years or younger while cases where mental health was a factor were much more likely to result in death or serious injury investigation.On one occasion, police Tasered a 14-year-old individual, of an ethnic minority background, who was known to have a learning disability after one officer said the individual “had an attitude from the off”, “looked like he wanted to fight”, and had “unbelievable strength”. Another case involved a Black 17-year-old, who was an in-patient at a mental health centre for young people. After approaching officers in distress and repeatedly stating that they had mental health concerns, the situation escalated and they were Tasered three times, struck with a baton over 20 times and subjected to incapacitant spray and restraint.The report comes amid ongoing concern over the disproportionate use of Tasers in cases involving Black people.The weapon also featured prominently in the recent court case of police officer Benjamin Monk, who was convicted of manslaughter when he kicked former footballer Dalian Atkinson in the head, following an “excessive” 33-second Taser deployment.This comes after the watchdog called for greater scrutiny of Tasers last May, warning that the weapons are being used disproportionately against Black men and mentally ill suspects.Black people were also seven times more likely to be involved in incidents involving Tasers than white people outside London, and five times more within London, Home Office figures show.Deborah Coles, director of INQUEST, welcomed the review but said the recommendations do not go far enough to create the systemic change needed. “Tasers are highly dangerous weapons which have resulted in serious injuries, harm, and deaths. They are increasingly used as a first not last resort; the disproportionate and inappropriate use of Taser against Black people, people with mental ill health, learning disabilities and Autism, and children underscores longstanding concerns about racism and discrimination in policing,” she said.“We don’t just need more scrutiny, community oversight, or training or guidance. We need the IOPC, police chiefs and oversight bodies to hold police officers to account when they abuse their powers and to confront the reality presented by this evidence.Alison Lowe, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners lead of equality, diversity and human rights, said: “Disproportionality in the use of Taser and other police powers has many complex causes, which we are committed to addressing through the APCC Race Disparity Working Group. “We can help all the communities we represent have greater confidence in the police by ensuring transparent and inclusive scrutiny processes are in place.According to Amnesty International, some 18 people in the UK have died after a Taser was discharged against them by police since the weapons were introduced 16 years ago. More

Dominic Raab has denied reports of him paddle-boarding on holiday when the Afghanistan capital fell to the Taliban as “nonsense”, as he sought to claim he was working and the sea was actually “closed”.It comes as the foreign secretary continued to face questions over his holiday to Greece as the Taliban seized Afghanistan, and amid reports he was advised by No 10 officials to return — two days before he did.But rejecting suggestions he was paddle-boarding as Kabul fell to the insurgents 10 days’ ago, the foreign secretary told Sky News: “Nonsense. The sea was actually closed — there was a red notice.”After reports of holidaymakers claiming Mr Raab had been relaxing on the beach on Sunday 15 August, Mr Raab added: “The stuff about me lounging around the beach — nonsense.”Mr Raab did reveal he had agreed with Boris Johnson to arrive back in the UK on 15 August, but dismissed reports he was told by Downing Street to return days earlier as the situation deteriorated as “speculation”.In a series of broadcast interviews on Thursday, the foreign secretary also dismissed a poll showing a majority believed he should resign from the cabinet as not a “particularly accurate barometer” of what the public thinkFollowing his handling of the initial phase of the crisis, a poll by Savanta ComRes for Left Food Forward showed that 51 per cent believed the foreign secretary should resign. The survey of 2,083 adults also showed that just 24 per cent disagreed.But when quizzed on the poll, Mr Raab inaccurately claimed it was a “self-selecting reader poll” in a newspaper, adding it was “not a particular accurate barometer”.Giving an update on the ongoing evacuation from Kabul, Mr Raab also revealed a further 2,000 people had been airlifted in the last 24-hour period — as western countries race to get people out before the 31 August deadline.Quizzed on suggestions the withdrawal could begin with 24 to 48 hours, Mr Raab said: “I’m not going to give the precise timeline. “What we do know is that we are working towards the end of the month.“The military planners will work out how much time they need to withdraw their equipment, their staff, and what’s really important is we will make the maximum use of all the time we have left.”He said in the last 24 hours “we have secured 2,000 back to the UK, so the system is operating at full speed, at full capacity and we will use every last remaining hour and day to get everyone we can back, the British nationals, the Afghans who worked so loyally for us, we are getting the Chevening scholars back, also women’s rights defenders and journalists.”“We will work to the end of August, but we will take back from that, you step back from that, the time that we need to withdraw our military operation. “I can’t give you the precise details because we want to make sure we use every last hour and day to keep this rate up.” More

Boris Johnson could face an official probe into Tory spending on the Hartlepool by-election, after Labour wrote to the Electoral Commission to demand an investigation into the prime minister’s use of a taxpayer-funded jet to travel to the north-east for a campaign visit.Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner urged Commission chief executive Bob Posner to probe whether rules on election spending were broken – and to report any breaches to the police.Questions were raised over Mr Johnson’s 1 April visit to the constituency to campaign for Tory candidate Jill Mortimer, after it emerged that the Conservative party recorded “nil” spending on the PM’s travel, despite him having flown by jet from London to Teesside Airport.Labour have already unsuccessfully called for an inquiry by Mr Johnson’s independent ethics adviser Lord Geidt, arguing that the ministerial code makes clear that official transport should not be used for party business, and that the cost should be split between the taxpayer and party if a trip involves political and official engagements.But Downing Street and the Conservatives insist no rules were broken, as the jet was used to fly Mr Johnson to the north-east for an official visit to Middlesbrough, while the PM travelled from Middlesbrough to Hartlepool in his official car, as he is permitted to for security reasons.Mr Johnson’s visit – along with later trips to Hartlepool ahead of the 6 May poll – was credited with assisting Tory candidate Jill Mortimer with seizing the north-east coastal constituency from Labour for the first time since its creation, achieving a stunning 23 per cent swing which led to questions about the future of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.Electoral Commission guidance states that the cost of transport that is paid for or reimbursed by a political party or third party should be included in spending returns. Transport costs include the cost of transporting volunteers, party members, staff members or other campaigners around the electoral area or to and from the electoral area where they are undertaking campaigning on behalf of the candidate.In her letter to Mr Posner, Ms Rayner called for an investigation “to get to the bottom of whether any wrongdoing has taken place, including any further dodgy deals involving Conservative Party donors secretly paying off or reimbursing the Conservative Party or the public purse and/or clearing the prime minister’s debts from billing the taxpayer”.Rayner also asked the Electoral Commission to “refer to the police any evidence of illegal and criminal behaviour in breach of the Representation of the People Act, including but not limited to the non-declaration of election expenses and donations in kind, the submission of false returns and any other wrongdoing”.When the jet flight initially came to light earlier this week, a No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister visited Teesside on official Government business, meeting workers to coincide with an increase in the national living wage. This was followed by a short political visit, as permitted by the ministerial code.“All relevant costs have been correctly accounted for and appropriately proportioned. At all times government rules and electoral requirements have been followed in relation to ministerial visits.”A Conservative spokesperson said: “CCHQ (Conservative Campaign Headquarters) covered all relevant costs associated with the political visit on 1April in accordance with the ministerial code and reported relevant candidate spending in accordance with the Representation of the People’s Act 1983.” More