Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of “another dodgy cover-up” after ruling out a search of the former health secretary Matt Hancock’s private email account.Downing Street has admitted the former minister – who resigned last month after he was caught kissing his aide at work – used his personal account for official business.Campaigners at the Good Law Project asked the government to check his use of private emails so there would be transparency about the awarding of Covid contracts.But the government has rejected the request, arguing that examining private emails was “neither necessary nor proportionate”.“Well, this is all rather convenient,” said the Good Law Project’s director Jo Maugham. “It’s clear that Hancock used their private email addresses for official business. But government lawyers still won’t search those emails. Afraid of what they might find?”Labour also condemned the government’s decision. “This is exactly why ministers use private emails – to avoid scrutiny and accountability,” said the party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner.“The government has already admitted that ministers have been using private emails to conduct official government business. This stinks of yet another dodgy cover-up.”The Good Law Project had asked the government to examine the private emails of Mr Hancock, health minister Lord Bethell, international trade minister Greg Hands and former Treasury minister Lord Deighton.But the government said a search of existing documents indicated that it was not “necessary to search the private emails of the four named individuals”.Separately however, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched an inquiry into the use of private correspondence channels in Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).It follows reports that Mr Hancock and his colleague Lord Bethell routinely used private email accounts to discuss government business during the pandemic.It comes as the information commissioner said an inquiry into the leak of CCTV footage that led to Mr Hancock’s departure from government is not about investigating The Sun or journalists.Mr Hancock resigned from the cabinet after footage published by the tabloid newspaper showed him kissing aide Gina Coladangelo in his departmental office – in breach of Covid rules. More

Slovenia Prime Minister Janez Janša on Friday accused a European Union official of being a liar in the wake of the publication this week of an annual report on adherence to the rule of law in the bloc that highlighted democratic challenges in the Balkan nation.The European Commission’s report said media freedom and pluralism have been deteriorating and pointed out online harassment and threats against journalists. The EU’s executive arm was also concerned by the government’s refusal to finance the state-run Slovenian Press Agency, or STA for 2021.European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, who is from Slovenia, has been accused by Janša of acting against Slovenia’s interests after he said there were concerns with the respect of the rule of law in the country of just 2 million people nestled between Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Italy As he arrived Friday at an EU meeting in Slovenia, Lenarčič rejected the accusation.“Slovenia is being harmed by those who undermine the rule of law and media freedom, rather than those of us who warn of such conduct being problematic,” he said, as quoted by STA. Lenarčič also denied accusations by his detractors inside the right-wing government that he advocated for European funds to be made conditional, limited or even withdrawn from Slovenia.In a response posted on Twitter, Janša said Lenarčič “is lying. We expect him to launch court proceedings, we will present internal documents there.” Janša is accused of becoming increasingly authoritarian in ways similar to those of his ally, hardline Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Critics say Janša’s government has pressured the Slovenian media, spurred hate speech and mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic.Janša said the EU is applying double standards on the rule of law by adopting a softer stance toward Western countries. ___Samuel Petrequin reported from Brussels. More

Workers in critical roles in Scotland will be able to avoid quarantine if they have received two Covid jabs and are tested daily, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.The SNP leader confirmed “limited” changes to self-isolation rules for Scotland to help key industries cope with significant staff shortages, as the country struggles with the so-called “pingdemic” crisis.It follows the UK government’s announcement that firms in 16 sectors – including transport and energy – will be able to apply for special exemptions from self-isolation rules for some staff.Mr Sturgeon said similar changes would be made in Scotland, with critical industries invited to apply to the Scottish government for staff to be exempt from the mandatory quarantine rules.“However, this is a very limited change at this stage, to be applied on a case-by-case basis and only where absolutely necessary,” said the first minister on Friday.If the Scottish government deems a critical role can be exempt, the worker will still have to prove they have had two doses of the vaccine, have a negative PCR test and agree to carry out lateral flow tests for 10 days after the contact.“It is essential that lifeline services and critical national infrastructure are maintained and we are implementing these changes now … to ensure staff shortages do not put key services at risk,” said Ms Sturgeon.The first minister added: “Applications for exemptions are being considered from today and we will consider applications as they come in.”It comes as union chiefs and industry leaders criticised Boris Johnson’s government’s “confusing” plan to allow firms in critical sectors across England to deploy daily testing as an alternative to self-isolation.Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, said: “The government needs to be clear about who it classes as critical workers. The current proposals don’t reflect the real world because businesses don’t exist in isolation – they are part of complex supply chains.”UK environment secretary George Eustice made clear a new testing scheme set up specially for the food industry will allow around 10,000 warehouse and distribution workers to avoid quarantine – not supermarket store staff.Some in the food industry complained that it was not yet clear exactly who would be able to access the “test and release” scheme. The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) described the move as “worse than useless”.Richard Harrow, the BFFF’s chief executive said: “Who is in and who is out, who decides and how do they decide?” More

The government has ruled out extending the special exemptions from self-isolation rule to hospitality or retail sectors, despite concerns the “pingdemic” is reaching crisis point.Environment secretary George Eustice has also made clear a new “test and release” scheme for the food industry will focus on warehouse and distribution workers – not supermarket store staff.Around 10,000 workers deemed critical to Britain’s food supply chain will be able to avoid quarantine if “pinged” by the NHS Covid app – so long as they test negative as part of a new, daily testing regime.Retail and hospitality chiefs also keen for staff to avoid self-isolation through regular testing, before wider rule changes come into force on 16 August. But Mr Eustice said on Friday that the scheme would not be extended.The environment secretary told Sky News: “The reason we’ve made a special exception for food is for very obvious reasons – we need to make sure that we maintain our food supply, we will never take risks with our food supply.”The minister added: “When it comes to other sectors, yes, of course, the fact that they are also carrying high absence levels is causing some stress for them and making it more difficult.”Mr Eustice said: “You also have to bear in mind why we’re doing this and we are trying to still just dampen the pace and the velocity at which this infection is spreading because we have to keep a very close eye on those hospitalisations.”Asked why supermarket staff were not included in exemptions, Mr Eustice said it was easier to manage staff shortages on a store level.The cabinet minister told BBC’s Breakfast: “Well, the main reason is that would be a really significant undertaking, as you’re talking then thousands of different shops, and many more people, and we still want to maintain the test, trace and isolate system.“We know that the most important thing is to ensure that those main arteries in our food supply chain keep working, that the lorries keep going from depots to get goods to store and that the food manufacturers can continue to manufacture the goods to get it to the depots.“When you get to store level, of course, yes, there will be some difficulties, they will have staff shortages. But it is easier to manage at that level.”Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, welcomed the government’s announcement of exemptions for food supply chain workers.He told Times Radio: “I think it’s important because the interruptions in supply … and concerns that it might get worse were beginning to grow quite fast.”Mr Wright added: “I must confess I’m still a little bit mystified as to why the government doesn’t want to bring [the end of the self-isolation requirement on August 16] forward and I think it would be useful to know on exactly which grounds the hiatus is justified.”Some in the food industry said it was not yet clear exactly who would be able to access the “test and release” scheme. The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) described the move as “worse than useless”.“The government announcement last night that parts of the supply chain will be allowed to test and release workers that are pinged by track and trace only goes part of the way,” said Richard Harrow, the BFFF’s chief executive.“It shows that yet again government does not understand how connected the food supply chain is, only opening part is unlikely to solve the overall issue. Plus, who is in and who is out, who decides and how do they decide? Confusion continues to pervade and I have been advised no list until Monday.”The founder and owner of one of the country’s largest food producers said the industry remains at “crisis point”. Ranjit Singh Boparan, of the 2 Sisters Food Group, said the government needed to do more or face the “most serious food shortages that this country has seen in over 75 years”.Meanwhile, the government revealed new guidance allowing “named” individuals in 16 critical sectors – including essential transport, emergency services and energy – to get special exemptions self-isolation.The new guidance says that “a limited number of named workers” may be able to ignore the 10-day quarantine rules if self-isolation would result in serious disruption to “critical services”.But the policy only applies to named workers if their employer has received a letter from the relevant government department. “This is not a blanket exemption for all workers in a sector,” the guidance said.Responding to criticism that the complexity of exemptions for critical sectors could make the scheme “unworkable”, Mr Eustice said the exemptions were deliberately “limited”.The environment secretary told the Today programme: “Well, look, it is a limited exemption and we don’t pretend otherwise. We’ve gone for quite a generous intervention for the food supply chain where they won’t have to provide namesHe added: “In these other sectors, we are trying to target this at a smaller number of people.” More

Rail union leaders have there are plans to reduce train services from next week because of staff shortages caused by the “pingdemic”, warning that it could lead to overcrowding.It comes as union chiefs and industry leaders criticised the government’s “confusing” plan to allow firms in critical sectors – including transport – to deploy daily testing as an alternative to self-isolation.Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said it was not clear how rail companies would make use of the exemptions scheme – which requires firms to apply to the government with key “named” individuals.“Nobody should be under any illusions about how fraught with difficulty and potential danger any system will be to operate in practice,” the union leader said.“We are already hearing of planned reductions to rail services next week due to staff shortages,” said Mr Lynch, adding that it could lead to overcrowding in carriages.Several rail operators have already had to cancel dozens of trains in July due to staff shortages. Figures released on Thursday showed numbers of workers across the UK “pinged” and told to stay home topped 600,000 in a week.The TUC also said the plan published on Thursday night to allow a limited number of “named” critical workers in 16 key fields to avoid self-isolation were confusing.Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, said: “The government needs to be clear about who it classes as critical workers. The current proposals don’t reflect the real world because businesses don’t exist in isolation – they are part of complex supply chains.”She added: “The government has got into this mess by failing to consult unions and employers in advance of reopening the economy.”The government has ruled out extending the special exemptions from self-isolation rule to hospitality or retail sectors, despite concerns the pingdemic is reaching crisis point for the economy.Environment secretary George Eustice has also made clear a new testing scheme for the food industry will allow around 10,000 warehouse and distribution workers to avoid quarantine – not supermarket store staff.Some in the food industry said it was not yet clear exactly who would be able to access the “test and release” scheme. The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) described the move as “worse than useless”.“The government announcement last night that parts of the supply chain will be allowed to test and release workers that are pinged by track and trace only goes part of the way,” said Richard Harrow, the BFFF’s chief executive.“It shows that yet again government does not understand how connected the food supply chain is, only opening part is unlikely to solve the overall issue. Plus, who is in and who is out, who decides and how do they decide? Confusion continues to pervade and I have been advised no list until Monday.”Hannah Essex, co-executive director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the current exemptions plan would leave many firms facing “critical staff shortages and lost revenue.” More

Labour MP ordered to leave Commons after saying Boris Johnson has ‘lied over and over again’Sir Keir Starmer has predicted that “the road will run out” for Boris Johnson as the British public believe in “integrity, honesty and accountability”, with the Labour leader hinting at the possibility of anti-Tory alliances with other parties ahead of the next general election.Claiming that the prime minister had been “really lucky” with the success of the vaccine rollout and furlough scheme during the pandemic, Sir Keir suggested that with most people now jabbed and the social protection scheme winding down, public attention would soon turn to other aspects of Mr Johnson’s record.It came as Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner accused the government “cover up” for the second time in two days, after the government rejected a request for a search of Matt Hancock’s private email account, which Downing Street has admitted he used for official business.Ms Rayner had on Thursday criticised an official review into the Greensill scandal – which despite finding that a “privileged few” have disproportionate access to Downing Street, suggested the current lobbying system “worked well” – as “a classic Boris Johnson cover-up and whitewash to protect the government”.Show latest update

1627051944Cop26 is ‘most important event this year’, foreign affairs committee chair saysTom Tugendhat, the Tory chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, has described the upcoming Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow as “the most important event this year”.Protesters gathered in Parliament Square today to urge Boris Johnson to make curbing climate breakdown his top priority ahead of the UN summit in 100 days’ time, warning that the prime minister and the chancellor are “missing in action”.“We ask ourselves every day – where is the prime minister?” Chris Venables of the Green Alliance think-tank told The Guardian. “It’s clear that he has not grasped the scale of holding the biggest diplomatic event on UK soil since the second world war. This should be his No 1 priority.”Andy Gregory23 July 2021 15:521627051095London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has lent his voice to those calling for the government to increase the current wage offers for public sector workers.Nurses are currently considering action over the government’s “appalling” offer of a 3 per cent pay rise, while the Police Federation of England and Wales has said it no longer has confidence in Priti Patel over the pay freeze for police officers earning more than £24,000.Andy Gregory23 July 2021 15:381627050014Third wave hitting care homes, Scottish Labour warnsScottish Labour has warned that the third wave of coronavirus has hit the country’s care homes.Figures this week showed there were 59 adult care homes with confirmed or suspected cases – which means that six per cent of the country’s care homes are potentially harbouring the virus. At the height of the second wave in January, there were 180 homes with potential outbreaks – 17 per cent of all care facilities.“The third wave of Covid has now undeniably reached our care homes,” said Scottish Labour’s Covid recovery spokeswoman Jackie Baillie.“The way care home residents have been failed time and time again during this pandemic is nothing short of a national scandal. We cannot let history repeat itself.“The vaccine is doing a fantastic job of preventing another full-scale catastrophe, but there is still no room for complacency.”Andy Gregory23 July 2021 15:201627049260Cummings’ claims over NI Protocol ‘total nonsense’, former Theresa May aide saysLord Barwell has rejected a claim from Dominic Cummings that both the UK and EU agreed to a Northern Ireland Protocol that was “deliberately opaque”.“Of course there were a few of the details to be tied down,” said Theresa May’s former aide. “But the government is trying to pretend that it didn’t realise when it signed up to the protocol that it was going to mean checks when goods were moving from Great Britain to North Ireland. It’s total nonsense.”Mr Cummings claimed to the BBC this week that EU negotiators had been “prepared to fudge a bunch of crucial questions” around the protocol and had “basically punted them into the future”, adding: “Our view was that we were signing up to something in terms of Ireland that was deliberately opaque on both sides.”Just yesterday, Boris Johnson’s former aide described the current border in the Irish Sea as “a very low priority issue”.Meanwhile, EU Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen has refused a plea from Boris Johnson to renegotiate the protocol, which Downing Street says is “operationally unsustainable”.Andy Gregory23 July 2021 15:071627047854Nicola Sturgeon says critical workers in Scotland can avoid self-isolation under ‘limited’ changesNicola Sturgeon has announced that workers in critical roles in Scotland will be able to avoid quarantine if they have received two Covid jabs and are tested daily, Adam Forrest reports.The SNP leader confirmed “limited” changes to self-isolation rules for Scotland to help key industries cope with significant staff shortages, as the country struggles with the so-called “pingdemic” crisis.It follows the UK government’s announcement that firms in 16 sectors – including transport and energy – will be able to apply for special exemptions from self-isolation rules for some staff.Andy Gregory23 July 2021 14:441627046820Government should consider bringing forward testing quarantine exemption, former minister saysFormer business secretary Greg Clark has said the government should consider bringing forward quarantine exemptions for people who, after being identified as a close contact of a positive coronavirus case, test negative for the virus.Asked what he made of the government’s critical worker self-isolation exemption list, Mr Clark – now chair of the Commons Science and Technology Committee – told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “It is certainly an improvement but it seems to me that we have the opportunity to go further.“My committee took evidence months ago now from Sir John Bell, the very distinguished regius professor at Oxford, who said that what should happen is, of course people testing positive for Covid need to isolate, but contacts should be able to take a test and isolate if positive, but go about their business if negative.“That would avoid much of the disruption that we have and, actually, and Sir John made this point, would cause people to be more compliant with the advice. Many people think that 10 days isolation is pretty onerous and some of them will not comply with it.“We know that on 16 August a new system will come in, in which you can take a test if you’re named as a contact and only isolate if you’re positive – I don’t see why we can’t begin that now on 23 July rather than wait.”Andy Gregory23 July 2021 14:271627045260Social media is abuzz with a resurfaced clip of a G7 drinks reception, showing snippets of conversations held by Ted Heath and the Queen – during which she jokes that the late Tory prime minister is “expendable”.Andy Gregory23 July 2021 14:011627044120Dawn Butler has hit out at a rule which saw her thrown out of parliament yesterday for accusing Boris Johnson of having lied “time and time again”.“It’s a ridiculous rule,” the Labour MP told LBC.Andy Gregory23 July 2021 13:421627042860Britain heading for biggest cut to social security since WWII, think tank warnsNew analysis from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows how damaging the removal of the universal Credit uplift will be to working families – who make up the majority of those who will be affected.In the JRF’s illustrative scenario, a family with three children, where one adult is working full-time, and the other is working part-time, living in a medium cost area, would be left £150 per month below the poverty line if the planned cuts to universal credit and the working tax credit go ahead.“The new analysis should act as a stark warning of the immense, immediate and avoidable consequences of what amounts to the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since the Second World War,” Katie Schmuecker, deputy director of policy for the JRF.Andy Gregory23 July 2021 13:211627041540Our chief political commentator John Rentoul is just about to hold another “Ask Me Anything” session on the current fears over a Brexit trade war, starting at 1pm.You can read or join the conversation below the line here:Andy Gregory23 July 2021 12:59 More

In highly charged scenes on Thursday, the Labour MP Dawn Butler was ejected from the House of Commons after repeatedly refusing to withdraw an accusation that Boris Johnson is a liar.“The prime minister has lied to this house time and time again,” she told the deputy speaker, Judith Cummins. When asked to “reflect on her words”, Ms Butler said: “It’s funny that we get in trouble in this place for calling out the lie, rather than the person lying.”Going on to cite a popular social media video – a collection of statements made by Mr Johnson deemed untrue, including his claim that Britain’s Covid vaccination programme had “severed” the link between infections and serious illness or death – the Brent Central MP added she was “disappointed the prime minister has not come to the house to correct the record, and to correct the fact that he has lied to this house and the country over and over again”.“It’s dangerous to lie in the pandemic,” she told Ms Cummins, who then intervened to twice ask her colleague to withdraw the charge of lying. When Ms Butler refused, though, she was told to leave the Commons immediately and that she was suspended from business for the rest of the day.Why was this allowed to happen?Rest assured, this is not, as some people on social media thought last night, a policy created by Mr Johnson designed to oust anybody who speaks badly of him. It is actually a custom of the Commons itself, under rules about what is considered unparliamentary language.As explained on the UK Parliament website, such language “breaks the rules of politeness in the House of Commons Chamber” and can lead to a member being asked to withdraw what was said or leave. In a chamber where MPs must refer to each other as the “honourable member”, accusations of deliberate deceit and dishonesty are forbidden.An official glossary of other terms not permitted by Speakers in recent years includes “blackguard”, “coward”, “git”, “guttersnipe”, “hooligan”, “rat” and “stool pigeon”. What happens now?Very little is the short answer. Parliament closed yesterday for its summer recess, with ministers and MPs scheduled to return to Westminster on 6 September.Ms Butler will no doubt be back in the Commons as normal by then, as she signalled in a tweet after being asked to leave on Thursday.“I have been thrown out of Parliament for saying what we all know: Boris Johnson has lied to the House of Commons and the country over and over again,” she wrote.“But I’ve got news for the Tories, I will never stop speaking truth to power!”A string of left-wing commentators and Labour MPs, including the party’s deputy leader, threw their support behind Ms Butler after the incident.“Just to confirm, Boris Johnson is a liar regardless of who calls him a liar or where they call him a liar,” Angela Rayner said on Twitter. Elsewhere, Scottish Labour’s Monica Lennon retweeted a clip of Ms Butler’s interaction with the deputy speaker – and her subsequent exit.“Proud of my friend Dawn Butler,” the MSP wrote. More

Britain’s MPs could get a pay rise above other public sector workers from next year, according to proposals set out by the independent watchdog which sets salaries.News of a pay freeze for tens of thousands of public sector workers sparked outrage this week, while it emerged the 3 per cent pay rise for doctors and nurses will come out of the existing NHS budget.The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) has proposed that it is given new powers to vary the annual pay for MPs “below or above” public sector pay.MPs’ pay – which currently stands at £81,932 a year – has been closely linked to public sector pay rates of pay over the past five years.But Ipsa wants greater leeway to make changes in pay – arguing that the Covid crisis means annual public sector pay rates could be a “much less reliable guide to changes in earnings than they are in ordinary times”.However, a spokesperson said it was unlikely that the body would decide to recommend a pay rise higher than public sector workers, most of whom have had to put up with a freeze.An Ipsa spokesman said: “As we make clear in the consultation, if current trends continue, we think it is more likely that we would be making a downward adjustment rather than an upward adjustment to the figure we use to determine pay for members of Parliament.”The watchdog will launch a four-week consultation process on the proposed, with an announcement expected in the spring.On Thursday, the Police Federation of England and Wales said it no longer has confidence in the home secretary Priti Patel – branding a pay freeze for officers as “the final straw”.Ms Patel had confirmed that police officers earning more than £24,000 would be hit by the freeze, while those earning less will be given an annual rise of £250.It comes as school leaders condemned a pay freeze for teachers – confirmed this week by education secretary Gavin Williamson – as an insulting “slap in the face”. More