Markus Andrews

Michael Gove had to abandon a meeting with Boris Johnson and devolved nation leaders after he was notified he may have come into contact with someone with Covid on his recent trip to Portugal.The Cabinet Office had gone to Porto with his son to watch the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City last week.The Cabinet Office confirmed Mr Gove had been pinged by the NHS app on his mobile phone that he may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus.It is believed the contact happened on the flight home from his trip to Porto to watch the football, according to reports.However, instead of self-isolating for 10 days, Mr Gove will be able to take part in a pilot scheme for certain workplaces, whereby he can instead be tested every day for a week.Those who test negative after a lateral flow test each morning are allowed to attend their workplace as usual, but are not allowed to socialise with others.Unlike Mr Gove, many football fans returning from the Champions League final in Portugal have been told to self-isolate after multiple flights reported passengers testing positive for coronavirus.Posting on one fan forum, passengers reported as many as five flights organised by Manchester City for the final have been affected by the request.Chelsea supporters on three planes have also been told to self-isolate, according to a report in the Daily Mail.Dom Farrell, a sports journalist for Stats Perform, travelled to Porto for work and received a notification from NHS Test and Trace four days after flying home, telling him he needed to self-isolate. More

Robert Jenrick has urged people not to travel to amber list countries unless for the most exceptional reasons, as he insisted: “You wouldn’t drive through an amber light at the traffic light”.The comments from the cabinet minister came as the government downgraded Portugal — the only mainstream holiday country on the green list — to amber, meaning travellers are forced to quarantine on return to the UK.The change in guidance – taking effect from 4am on 8 June – was met with fury among the travel industry that only restarted legally 17 days ago, as Boris Johnson’s government removed a blanket ban on overseas holiday.But it also comes amid fears of the transmissibility of the new Delta variant first detected in India and uncertainty over the domestic roadmap in England, with No 10 yet to decide whether to press ahead with the lifting of all coronavirus restrictions on 21 June.Explaining the decision to remove Portugal from the green list , the communities secretary said Covid positivity rates in the country had “doubled” in the last three weeks and reiterated concerns from the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, of “growing evidence of a further mutation being called the Nepal mutation”.“We don’t yet know how much of a problem that is, how transmissibility is, whether it might be too difficult even for our vaccines. But it’s important that we take a cautious approach, and so we take action now whilst we do research and learn more about that variant,” he told Sky News.“I completely understand how frustrating this is both for people in Portugal and for millions of people here who would love to go on holiday.”On the amber list, he insisted: “You should not be going on holiday to countries on either the amber or red list.“We were also clear if you chose to go on holiday to countries that are on the green list those countries are being reviewed every three weeks, so there is always a risk with a fast-moving situation with new variants that countries might either go on to that list or indeed come off.”The communities secretary also dismissed Labour’s call to scrap the “confusing” amber list, saying: “Let me be clear: no-on should be going on holiday to any country that is on either the amber list or the red list.“The only reason to travel to countries on the amber list are the most exceptional ones — it’s for example if you need to travel abroad for medical treatment, if you chose to go and visit a very sick relative, or to go to a funeral overseas. But again a very high bar should apply.”Asked whether it was open to interoperation, he replied: “I hope people appreciate you shouldn’t be visiting those countries on the amber list for holidays, you wouldn’t drive through an amber light at the traffic light, you shouldn’t be going on holiday to those countries either.” More

Parliament’s sleaze watchdog must investigate’s Boris Johnson over the funding of the lavish refurbishments to his Downing Street flat, Labour has said.In a letter to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, deputy leader Angela Rayner said the body should launch a probe into whether the prime minister broke parliamentary rules by not declaring a donation on the MPs’ register of interests. Last week Mr Johnson was cleared of breaking his government’s own ministerial conduct rules over the refurbishment.But Lord Geidt, the PM’s adviser on standards, said Mr Johnson had acted “unwisely” over the works, which were overseen by his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds and part-financed by a Tory donor.Now Labour wants the separate parliamentary watchdog to investigate whether Mr Johnson broke rules he has to follow as a member of parliament. In a letter to the commissioner, Ms Rayner noted it has previously reprimanded Mr Johnson, including in 2019, when the Tory leader had been warned that any further breaches may warrant “more serious sanction”.”It appears that, far from learning the lessons of his previous transgressions, the prime minister has continued with his attitude of treating basic standards of integrity, openness and transparency with contempt and behaving as though there is one rule for him and another for everyone else,” Ms Rayner wrote.”I therefore write to request that you instigate a further investigation into the prime minister’s failure to register this donation, using your powers as commissioner.”Ms Rayner also accused Mr Johnson of breaching the general principles on conduct in public life of “selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership”.Under the government’s rules, the prime minister can use an annual public grant of up to £30,000 to decorate his Downing Street home – but the lavish choice he and his partner made quickly increased costs to around £200,000.Tory donor Lord Brownlow had initially settled an invoice for the works, though the adviser on ministers’ interests Lord Geidt concluded that Mr Johnson had not been aware of this.He said the prime minister should have been “more rigorous regard for how this would be funded”.Separately, the parliamentary commissioner for standards is already investigating whether Mr Johnson properly declared a £15,000 holiday on the Caribbean island of Mustique with his then fiancee.A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Lord Geidt’s independent report shows the prime minister acted in accordance with the ministerial code at all times and sets out the background to the intended establishment of a Downing Street trust.”The report shows how, at all times, the prime minister followed the advice of officials and he has made a declaration in his list of ministerial interests, as advised by Lord Geidt.”The House of Commons rules and Electoral Commission guidance are clear that support relating to ministerial activity should be declared through ministerial declarations and this has been done.” More

Will Boris Johnson have to reverse his cuts to foreign aid? The latest recruit to the rebel side is Theresa May, a famously loyal and cautious figure who, as a former premier, cannot have made such a decision lightly. She joins a (mostly) distinguished list of senior figures determined to side with the opposition parties to reverse the reduction in the overseas aid budget from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Jeremy Hunt, Andrew Mitchell, Damien Green, Karen Bradley, Johnny Mercer and Stephen Crabb almost constitute a government-in-exile, and they seem sincere in their belief that the historic pledge made and delivered under the Tory governments of David Cameron and Ms May should be protected. They claim to have around 30 allies, which is almost enough to overturn the government’s majority. On the other hand, depending on their mood and developments on the Northern Ireland Protocol, the government might be able to rely on the eight DUP MPs for support. It might be tight, either way, come Monday.Much will also depend on the views of Speaker Hoyle. The unusual route being taken is an amendment to a bill on a quite different matter – the new hi-tech Advanced Research and Invention Agency. The rebels say the government acted unlawfully in changing the aid target without changing the law; ministers say they are allowed to suspend the target temporarily. In any case, there has not been a parliamentary vote on the matter. It is certainly a noble cause, but it is also aided by a certain amount, perhaps, of personal political rivalry and pique, for obvious reasons, plus some wider general disquiet about what might be termed the Johnson style of government. The recent rows over cronyism and sleaze, his flat refurbishment and Dominic Cummings’s insider account of the lazy and chaotic response to the Covid pandemic might not have bothered the public much, but will have registered with the MPs. There is the fear that a gradual accretion of sleazy stories will damage the party. However, for now, the Conservatives enjoy a lead over Labour of around 10 per cent, Mr Johnson mostly did well in the May elections, and he has some political credit back in the bank thanks to the “vaccine bounce”. It is also fair to add that the British electorate is not as sympathetic to foreign aid as the political classes tend to be. More

Boris Johnson is facing the prospect of a damaging Commons defeat over the government’s multi-billion pound cut to overseas aid, as a group of Conservative backbenchers launched a surprise rebellion.Led by the former Tory cabinet minister and chief whip Andrew Mitchell, who has been rallying against the cuts, the rebel MPs said they were “confident” of having the numbers to overturn the prime minister’s healthy Commons majority.The rebel amendment is now being backed by 30 Conservative MPs, including the former prime minister Theresa May, ex-ministers David Davis, Jeremy Hunt, Damian Green, Nusrat Ghani and Caroline Nokes.It comes amid intense criticism of the government’s decision last year to flout the Conservative general election manifesto pledge and move to slash overseas aid spending from 0.7 per cent of national income to 0.5 per cent.Ministers have insisted the cut — estimated to be around £4 billion — is only a temporary measure due to the economic fallout of the Covid pandemic, but have refused to test support in a Commons vote, or outline any timeframe for the budget to be restored.The risk of an embarrassing defeat for the government over its decision to cut aid for some of the poorest and unstable areas of the globe could come just days before the prime minister hosts leaders from the G7 nations, including US president Joe Biden.Mr Mitchell has tabled an amendment to the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) Bill, a piece of legislation which establishes a new “high-risk, high-reward” research agency backed with £800 million of taxpayers’ cash to explore new ideas.The explanatory note of the amendment says: “This new clause is intended to reaffirm the duty in the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 for UK official development assistance (ODA) to amount to 0.7 per cent of gross national income each year. It will require Aria to make up any shortfall in that proportion from January 2022”.It will be up to speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to decide whether the amendment is selected for consideration when the Bill returns to the Commons for further consideration on 7 June.Mr Mitchell said: “More and more of my colleagues in the House of Commons are supporting this move to to stand by our manifesto promise.“With our economy returning to growth, there is no justification for balancing the books on the backs of the world’s poor. With G7 leaders coming to Britain next week, there is an opportunity for us to reclaim our rightful place on the global stage.“Britain’s national interest is not being served by the devastating impact these cuts are already having on the ground and the unnecessary loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. We urge the government to think again.”Tobias Ellwood — the Conservative chair of the Commons Defence Committee who has signed the amendment — described the government’s cut as “devastating” on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.Asked about the size of the rebellion, he said: “We need the number 45 [to defeat gov] and at the moment I’m confident – quietly, cautiously confident – that we’re going to get that number”. So I do hope the government will recognise where we want to go and why we want to do this.”Opposition parties, including Labour and the Liberal Democrats, have severely criticised the cut in funding for overseas aid and are almost certain to back the amendment, if it is selected next week.Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, told The Independent: “As the eyes of the world turn to Britain ahead of next week’s G7 Summit in Cornwall, the government faces defeat over its short-sighted and self-defeating decision to cut foreign aid. At the very moment our international partners are stepping up to lead the global response to the pandemic, the Tories are in retreat.“Parliament is ready to do the right thing and vote to reverse these ill-judged cuts – will the government do the same?”Caroline Nokes — another former Tory minister backing the amendment — told ITV’s Peston programme: “It’s taken quite a lot of manoeuvring to find an opportunity to actually have a vote on this. I feel really strongly that we legislated for the 0.7 per cent commitment and the cuts are affecting women and girls.“I am chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, the cuts of 85 per cent to family planning, the cuts to girls’ education – what we know from that is that if girls are not educated they won’t be empowered, they won’t be empowered if they are pregnant too early.“Women will die because of these cuts to family planning so I have joined forces with colleagues to make sure we can have a vote on it and I will be voting to keep that 0.7 per cent.” More

The Queen will meet with Joe Biden when he visits the UK for the G7 summit later this month, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.The US president and first lady, Jill Biden, will visit Windsor Castle on Sunday 13 June.Mr Biden is due to attend the G7 gathering in Cornwall, which will be held in Carbis Bay between 11-13 June.The Queen met Mr Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, when he made a state visit to the UK in June 2019, in the last days of Theresa May’s premiership.Having taken up his post in the Oval Office during the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Biden has had limited opportunities to travel outside of the US, meaning the G7 gathering will be his first foreign engagement in person.Buckingham Palace said in a short statement: “The Queen will meet the President of the United States of America and First Lady Jill Biden at Windsor Castle on Sunday, 13 June 2021.”The Bidens sent their condolences to the Queen following the death of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, in April.They said they were keeping the royal family “in our hearts during this time”. More

Boris Johnson’s government is “open minded” about extending the furlough scheme, a senior member of the cabinet has claimed.Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon will use a four-nations summit with the prime minister on Thursday to push for the job retention scheme to continue beyond its current September expiry date.Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has now indicated it could be continued. Asked about the possibility of an extension, he said: “We are open minded, yes.”Mr Gove said the furlough initiative – which sees the taxpayer pay cash towards workers’ wages – had been a “huge success” that was only possible “thanks to the broad shoulders of the UK Treasury”.Earlier on Thursday, Scotland’s deputy first minister John Swinney said he believed that it should be possible to have additional, targeted furlough support for the hard-hit arts sector.Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Gove responded: “We will certainly look at the case that was made by John [Swinney] and reflect on it.”Ms Sturgeon said she would use today’s summit to call on the UK government to “extend the furlough scheme for as long as it is needed to protect businesses and people who have been required to stop working to protect others”.Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in March that the furlough scheme, which pays 80 per cent of employees’ wages, would be extended until the end of September.Employers will be expected to pay 10 per cent towards the payments for hours staff do not work in July – rising to 20 per cent in August and September as more businesses reopen.Ms Sturgeon and her team has voiced concerns about a possible return to austerity from the Tory government in the autumn, but Mr Gove insisted: “We’ll be spending more.”The cabinet minister claimed: “Extra funding for everyone will continue, and it is important we all learn from each other about how that money should be spent.” More

A scandal-hit banker gifted the Tories half a million pounds after Boris Johnson gave him a seat in the House of Lords against official advice, it has emerged.Three days after he was introduced in the Lords as a Tory peer Peter Cruddas handed £500,000 to Conservative central office, according to newly released Electoral Commission records.Lord Cruddas, a former Tory treasurer, had been subject to objections from the Lords sleaze watchdog because of his role in a previous cash-for-access scandal.In 2012 had stepped down from the role after the Sunday Times alleged that he had offered undercover reporters access to then prime minister David Cameron in exchange for £250,000 donations. While he successfully sued the newspaper for libel, an appeal court found that the central allegations around “cash-for-access” was supported by the facts. Judges described the former Treasurer’s actions as “unacceptable, inappropriate and wrong”.Lord Cruddas, a financier who was once named the richest man in the City of London, was estimated last year to be worth £860 million and had previously given more than £3.5million to the party.Labour’s party chair Anneliese Dodds said: “The Conservative Party that brought us allegations of cash for access when Peter Cruddas was Treasurer seems to have turned its attention to peerages.”Whether it’s handing out taxpayers’ money to their mates or giving peerages to disgraced donors, there is always one rule for the Conservatives and their chums and another for the rest of us.”House of Lords Appointments Commission said in December last year that it was unable to support Mr Johnson’s appointment of the financier.Despite a letter from the Commission, the prime minister said the concerns about the former Tory official and banker were “historic”, assuming the committee: “that I see this case a clear and rare exception”.It represented the first time the Commission’s advice had not been followed by a PM.Mr Johnson wrote: “The most serious accusations levelled at the time were found to be untrue and libellous. In order to avoid any ongoing concern, Mr Cruddas resigned from his post, and offered an apology for any impression of impropriety, and reflecting his particular concern for integrity in public life.”An internal Conservative Party investigation subsequently found that there had been no intentional wrongdoing on Mr Cruddas’ part.” More