Markus Andrews

Today’s daily politics briefingBoris Johnson’s ethics adviser has said the PM acted “unwisely” in the handling of his flat refurbishment and found a “significant failing” in his approach – but judged there was no breach of the ministerial code.Matt Hancock’s shares in his sister’s firm approved as an NHS supplier should have been declared, the ethics adviser Lord Geidt also found. The failure was judged to be “a minor breach of the ministerial code”.Pressure is mounting on Mr Hancock following a new claim that Dominic Cummings has “documentary evidence” that Mr Johnson summoned the health secretary to explain why hospital patients were discharged into care homes without Covid tests.Mr Cummings has documents to back up his allegation that Mr Johnson felt “misled” and feared his health secretary was guilty of “negligence”, according to ITV News.It comes as Mr Johnson welcomes far-right Hungarian leader Viktor Orban to No 10, with ministers insisting it would be “irresponsible” not to build relations with the authoritarian government.Show latest update

1622213379Hancock made ‘minor breach of ministerial code’ over sharesMatt Hancock’s shares in his sister’s firm approved as an NHS supplier should have been declared, an ethics watchdog has said.The failure was found to be “a result of his lack of knowledge and in no way deliberate, and therefore, in technical terms, a minor breach of the ministerial code”.Lord Geidt, the No 10 adviser on ministerial interests, concluded: “In coming to this finding, I recognise that Mr Hancock has acted with integrity.”Hancock’s entry in the Commons register did not reveal that his sister, Emily Gilruth, is a director and owns a larger portion of the shares – or that it had links to the NHS.Adam Forrest28 May 2021 15:491622212695PM acted ‘unwisely’ over flat refurb, ethics adviser rulesBoris Johnson’s independent ethics adviser has said the PM acted “unwisely” in the handling of his flat refurbishment and found a “significant failing” in his approach – but there was no breach of the ministerial code.Christopher Geidt released the findings of his inquiry into the five-figure renovation of the 11 Downing Street flat.He said: “I have considered the nature of that support and am content that no conflict (or reasonably perceived conflict) arises as a result of these interests.”Lord Geidt said that plans for a trust to fund the PM’s share of refurb were “not subjected to a scheme of rigorous project management by officials” – calling it “a significant failing”. “Instead, the prime minister – unwisely, in my view – allowed the refurbishment of the apartment at No 11 Downing Street to proceed without more rigorous regard for how this would be funded.”Adam Forrest28 May 2021 15:381622212019Why is Orban’s trip to No 10 so controversial?Boris Johnson’s decision to “roll out the red carpet” for Hungarian prime minister Viktor has sparked serious concern from opposition parties. So why is he so controversial?Orban and his Fidesz party cling to a fierce Euroscepticism, making Hungary an outlier within the EU during his 11-year premiership. His vision of so-called “illiberal democracy” doesn’t sit easily with the bloc’s values of freedom, equality and democracy.Orban has spoken of “Muslim invaders” and described migrants as “a poison”, while his government has been accused of running antisemitic and Islamophobic hate campaigns.Orban has also attacked the freedom of the press and stacked the judiciary with allies, while limiting its power and forcing many existing judges into early retirement.Andy Gregory has taken a closer look at Orban’s authoritarian government:Adam Forrest28 May 2021 15:261622211102New DUP leader insists party ‘united’ after stormy meetingThe new DUP leader Edwin Poots has denied his party is divided. The Stormont minister was ratified by his party following a stormy meeting at a Belfast hotel on Thursday night.Outgoing leader Arlene Foster and several senior figures – including Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Gavin Robinson and Diane Dodds – left the building before Poots rose to give his speech.Poots later addressed the media alongside the newly ratified deputy leader Paula Bradley, describing the meeting as “good,” adding: “We will move forward in a united way.” More

Matt Hancock’s shares in his sister’s firm approved as an NHS supplier should have been declared, a watchdog says, but it has concluded he was left in the dark.The failure was “a result of his lack of knowledge and in no way deliberate, and therefore, in technical terms, a minor breach of the ministerial code”.Lord Geidt, Boris Johnson’s new adviser on ministerial interests, concluded: “In coming to this finding, I recognise that Mr Hancock has acted with integrity.”The inquiry was launched after, in March, Mr Hancock declared he had acquired 20 per cent of a firm called Topwood Ltd, which provides secure storage and both scans and shreds documents.But the entry, in the Commons register did not reveal that his sister, Emily Gilruth, is a director and owns a larger portion of the shares – or that it had links to the NHS.Labour was quick to attack “cronyism at the heart of government”. Topwood also won £300,000 of business from NHS Wales, although Mr Hancock has no responsibility for that body.Lord Geidt has ruled that “there could be a reasonably perceived conflict of interest” from the shareholding – but that declaring it complied with the ministerial code.On the delay in making the declaration, his report notes that the firm was approved for the NHS work in February 2019, Mr Hancock having been health secretary since July 2018.But it concludes that his sister, or his brother-in-law, “failed to raise this award with Mr Hancock”, or nothing was brought to his attention “such that he would have had reason to enquire”Furthermore, the vast size of the NHS meant that the award by NHS Shared Business Services Ltd “may have been very far from the Secretary of State’s main focus”.“I assess this earlier failure to declare the interest was as a result of his lack of knowledge and in no way deliberate, and therefore, in technical terms, a minor breach of the ministerial code,” the report states.“In coming to this finding, I recognise that Mr Hancock has acted with integrity throughout and that this event should in no way impugn his good character or ministerial record.” More

Pressure on under-fire Matt Hancock has stepped up with a claim that Dominic Cummings has documentary proof that Boris Johnson summoned the health secretary to Downing Street in May last year to explain why elderly hospital patients had been discharged into care homes without Covid tests.Reports suggested that the word “negligence” was used in documents as No 10 demanded information from the Department of Health on how Covid-19 had been seeded into care homes.The transfer of around 25,000 untested patients is believed to have contributed to a wave of almost 20,000 deaths from coronavirus in care homes in England and Wales last spring – around 40 per cent of the total national death toll at the time.But sources close to the health secretary said they did not recognise the account given by ITV political editor Robert Peston, pointing out that Mr Hancock had many meetings with the PM to discuss the pandemic.Meanwhile, Mr Hancock’s claim to have put a “shield” around care homes was trashed as “absolute rubbish” by the executive chairman of the National Care Association.Speaking on BBC1’s Question Time, Nadra Ahmed said: ”There was no shield.”Ms Ahmed added: “He put social care on the altar to be slaughtered while we worked on the mantra that the NHS must be protected.“I absolutely understand why we needed the NHS to be running in the way that it was because we didn’t know what was coming round the corner.“I think what we didn’t know was the consequence of ignoring social care.”Mr Hancock last night denied Cummings’ allegation that he promised the PM last March that all patients would be tested for Covid-19 before being sent into care, insisting that he had committed only to do so once capacity in the testing system had been built up.His defence amounted to an admission that he authorised the transfer of untested patients, some 25,000 of whom are believed to have been moved into homes as the NHS fought to free up bed space for the influx of emergency Covid cases last spring.Some 19,286 Covid-related deaths were recorded in care homes between March and June 2020 and many in the sector believe the true first-wave toll was higher, as there were around 35,000 “excess deaths” in homes above normal seasonal levels.In his explosive seven hours of testimony to a parliamentary enquiry on Wednesday, Mr Johnson’s former senior aide alleged that Hancock gave the PM a “categorical” assurance in March last year that patients would be tested before being moved.But the health secretary last night insisted that his “recollection of events” was that he committed to delivering the tests only “when we could do it” and that it took time to build up the necessary capacity.Now it has been reported that Cummings has documents showing Mr Hancock was summoned by the prime minister’s office to a meeting on 4 May to explain whether he had misled the PM and then cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill about the tests.Peston quotes a source as saying that Downing Street officials asked the Department of Health for information on what had gone wrong. He reported that there was a fear in No 10 that Mr Hancock’s “negligence” had “killed people in care homes” and that the term “negligence” was used in the documents.A No 10 spokesperson said: “The health secretary and the prime minister are in constant contact. “Their focus has at all times been on saving lives and protecting the NHS.“The health secretary will continue to work closely with the prime minister to deliver the vaccine rollout, tackle the risk posed by variants and support the NHS and social care sector to recover from this pandemic.” More

Viktor Orban’s Downing Street visit has seen Boris Johnson come in for criticism, amid warnings from Labour that the UK should not “roll out the red carpet” for the autocratic Hungarian prime minister.The prime minister’s official spokesperson was forced to issue a rare defence of Friday’s diplomatic event, which No 10 insisted was “vital to the UK’s prosperity and security” in light of Hungary soon assuming presidency of the Visegrad Group, a 30-year-old alliance founded to further the European integration of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.And business secretary Kwasi Karteng went further, claiming it would be “irresponsible” not to build bilateral relations with the country.So why exactly is the engagement with the head of an EU member state so controversial?Mr Orban is one of the first of the bloc’s leaders to be invited to Downing Street since Brexit. In addition to Mr Orban and his Fidesz party adhering to a fierce Euroscepticism, Hungary has increasingly appeared something of an outlier within the EU during his 11-year premiership – with his vision of so-called “illiberal democracy” frequently clashing with the bloc’s stated values of freedom, equality and democracy.During his second spell in power, which came a nearly decade and a lurch to the right after his first term, Mr Orban is widely viewed as having centralised power around himself and his allies.Having regained power in 2010 after an anti-EU and anti-migrant campaign, the autocrat quickly moved to de-fang the Hungarian media using a combination of moves such as regulation and censorship, with more than 400 news outlets notably moving under the control of a single state-friendly entity in 2018.Following the move, unprecedented within the European Union, Hungary’s media landscape was judged to be “beginning to resemble state media under Communism because of the level of control and consolidation” by Zselyke Csaky of the human rights watchdog Freedom House.Mr Orban has also stacked the judiciary with allies, while limiting its power and forcing many existing Constitutional Court judges into early retirement – a move challenged by the EU at the time.And he has continually asserted his influence over civil society, seeking to smear foreign-backed NGOs as “foreign agents” and notably forcing the Central European University to move its headquarters to Vienna by revoking its ability to issue US-accredited degrees.In the past year, his use of the coronavirus pandemic to push through unlimited laws allowing him to rule by decree has led human rights groups to question whether Hungary remains a democracy at all.Yet it is Mr Orban’s discriminatory and anti-migrant rhetoric which is most often mentioned in the backlash to his Downing Street visit.Staking his flag in exclusionary ground long before anti-migrant sentiment washed over the EU, Mr Orban himself has spoken of “Muslim invaders” and described migrants as “a poison”, while his government has been accused of running antisemitic and Islamophobic hate campaigns, notably against Jewish philanthropist George Soros.A report by Europe’s leading human rights agency, the Council of Europe, found that in the eight years to 2019, refugees in Hungary had been caged, starved and denied legal representation while in “transit zones” along the border with Serbia, built from shipping containers. A Human Rights Watch report also carried allegations that some who crossed the border were beaten and had dogs set on them before being pushed back through the razor-wire fence into Serbia.Fidesz has also sought to clamp down on LGBT rights, ending legal recognition for gender changes last May and banning same-sex adoption in December as it cemented what it called “Christian values” within Hungary’s constitution.“His antisemitism, Islamophobia attacks on migrants and other minorities must be challenged,” Labour MP Zarah Sultana said in a letter to Mr Johnson on Thursday. “I urge you to cancel the plan to welcome him to Britain,” she said, adding: “He should instead be challenged for his long and shameful record.”Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Tomorrow Johnson welcomes Viktor Orbán to Downing Street, a leader who has attacked press freedom and democracy, called refugees ‘Muslim invaders’ and is a cheerleader for Putin and Lukashenko. What are the chances he’ll be challenged on any of this?”Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey also wrote to the prime minister calling on him to question the Mr Orban on his links with Russia, his attempts to silence critical media outlets and for failing to hold “free” elections.And the Chatham House think-tank warned: “Given Orban’s record of hollowing out Hungarian democracy and close relations [with] Putin, the visit calls into question the values Johnson says Global Britain stands for. Britain look small instead.”While Downing Street argued the visit is “vital” to Britain’s interests, it said Mr Johnson would “not shy away” from raising human rights issues and that the prime minister had condemned Mr Orban’s comments as “divisive and wrong”.A protest outside Downing Street has been organised by Stand Up To Racism, which accused Mr Orban of acting as a “prominent spokesperson for the far-right from a position of power as a prime minister of Hungary”. More

It would be amusing to suppose that there was a chorus of liberal voices in Budapest objecting to their prime minister, admittedly a bit of a populist himself, collaborating so openly with Boris Johnson, someone who has voiced extremist views on Muslims, is militantly anti-European, and has been responsible for much democratic backsliding in his time in power, attempting to suspend parliament, limit the freedom of the broadcast media and the courts. And yet, so far as can be judged, Viktor Orban’s populist summit with Johnson seems to have attracted little of the outrage that it has ignited in London. Less amusingly, Orban’s apparent acquiescence, and worse, in an upsurge of antisemitism in Hungary seems to be no barrier to a warm welcome in Downing Street. It is no coincidence that one of the main hate figures for conspiracy theorists is the Hungarian Jewish emigre George Soros. Johnson, who is certainly no antisemite, nonetheless seems happy to pursue his cynical, dangerous liaison with Europe’s most successful authoritarian, verging on totalitarian, leader, aside from Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus.They are an odd couple, and their meeting makes one wonder who’s using who. Orban is on something of a charm offensive, touring European capitals to make himself look important and statesmanlike rather than a chancer, ahead of elections next year. Orban will also enjoy annoying the EU’s leadership, which has clashed with him many times over human rights abuses and Hungary’s adamant refusal to take its share of migrants seeking refuge in the EU. Hungary habitually vetoes and weakens EU common foreign policy positions, most recently on Israel and Palestine. His Fidesz party has just been thrown out of the European Conservative/Christian Democrat group in the European Parliament, and he is looking for allies against President Macron and Chancellor Merkel, who find Orban so difficult to deal with. Recently Hungary has taken to diluting EU criticism on China, over human rights abuses in Hong Kong for example, something Johnson will probably have to raise at their meeting. Given the vast industrial and economic advantages Hungary derives from the EU there is no chance that Orban would try and pull Hungary of the EU; but with allies in the Visegrad group of Central European states, especially Poland, he seems very happy to take as much, and give as little, to the EU as possible. With the British gone, Hungary is the leader of the EU’s awkward squad. Despite setbacks for the likes of Marine le Pen and the far right in Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany, the wave of nationalistic protest has not subsided completely. More

Nicola Sturgeon has said it is premature to relax restrictions in Glasgow due a “fragile” situation and “uncomfortably high” Covid case rates.The Scottish first minister suggested the R rate of transmission could also be around 1.3 in the country, with Friday’s daily case number the highest since 25 March.Glasgow is the only part of Scotland remaining under the country’s Level 3 lockdown rules, prohibiting non-essential travel out of the area and imposing greater restrictions on socialising, hospitality and businesses. However, Ms Sturgeon suggested the situation was “stabilising” in the city, suggesting a decision could be made at the end of next week to move the city down to Level 2 restrictions.Under Level 2 measures, people are allowed to meet socially in groups of up to six people from three households indoors — including overnight stays — and also meet inside restaurants, cafés and pubs.Travelling outside the area — something not permitted under Level 3 restrictions unless for a permitted reason — is also allowed.Giving a “frank and balanced” assessment of the national picture, Ms Sturgeon said there was both “cause for concern” and “cause for optimism” in the fight against the disease.She said case numbers were rising, with cases numbers increasing by more than a quarter in the past week. With 631 cases reported on Friday, she added it was the “largest daily number we have seen since the 25 March”. She added: “The latest estimate of R number is that it could now be as high as 1.3. Again I need to put that in context because it is probably quite significantly driven by the situation in Glasgow, given how big the city is as a proportion of Scotland’s overall population”.Ms Sturgeon went on: “A key factor behind the increases… is that the new April-02 variant, which we think is more transmissible than most other types of the virus, probably now accounts for 50% or even more of our daily cases.””The increase in cases so far does seem to be concentrated in younger age groups and this may indicate that vaccination is having a protective effect for older people which of course we want to see.”Addressing the situation specifically in Glasgow, the Scottish first minister said: “There are some early signs that the situation is stabilising in GlasgowBut she added: “Weighing up all of these different factors is inevitably really difficult – case numbers in Glasgow — I can’t say anything other than this — they are uncomfortably high, but we are seeing signs of progress.”The view of the national incident management team is two-fold. Firstly, that it would be premature to move Glasgow out of Level 3 immediately this week while the situation remains so fragile.”However, and secondly, if incidence continues to stabilise and assuming levels of hospitalisation remain reasonably stable, the incident management team has made clear to me that they would support a move to Level 2 from the end of next week.” More

The government is set to double the number of badgers killed in England as it grants new licences to cull the native mammals in 10 areas.Since the badger cull started in 2013, in an attempt to control bovine tuberculosis (bTB), more than 140,000 badgers have been shot.And experts predict another 140,000 or even more will be killed in the next five years, after government officials gave the go-ahead to expand operations in 10 counties from Devon to Cheshire.The new five-year licences, which take effect as soon as next week, mean the culling is still only halfway through, according to the Badger Trust.The trust says the 280,000 total – due to be reached by 2026 – will represent nearly 60 per cent of England’s total estimated badger population of 485,000.Natural England, an arm of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), issued the new permissions on the same day as Defra chiefs confirmed plans, outlined earlier this year, to stop issuing new licences after next year.Defra also said existing cull licences could be cut short after two years instead of running for five, “where supported by sufficient scientific evidence”.And it gave £2.27m to a five-year trial of badger vaccination in East Sussex, and announced an increase in cattle testing for bTB.The Badger Trust accused the government of slipping out the issuing of new cull licences under cover of the other announcements.Dawn Varley, its acting chief executive, said: “We’re underwhelmed at this announcement, as in reality it does little to change the immediate future for badgers.“While the government wants the headline to be that cull licences cease from 2022, in reality those mass culling licences will run to 2026, and combined with those already in play, we estimate will lead to another 140,000 badgers still to be killed, in addition to the 140,000 we have already lost.“We’re also sceptical of the ‘investment’ in badger vaccinations, as in reality this is a five-year pilot, in one area only, that just delays more extensive roll-out.”She said until the government switches its focus to the cattle-to-cattle transmission of bTB, there was “little to celebrate”.“Once again the government attempts to use ‘good news’ to cover bad. Sadly, badgers continue to be the scapegoat for a failed approach to controlling bTB, and the senseless slaughter continues next week when the cull starts once more.”

The government wants the headline to be that cull licences cease from 2022 but in reality mass culling licences will run to 2026Dawn VarleyBadgers carry bTB, which leads to farmers having to cull infected dairy herds, although the extent to which badgers infect cattle is disputed.In the past year, at least 27,000 cattle in England were slaughtered to tackle the disease, according to the government.The cull has been controversial from the start. Opponents argue that when a badger population is disrupted by a cull, survivors move out of the area, potentially spreading the disease to previously unaffected places. Meanwhile, farmers argue dairy cattle should be protected.The National Farmers’ Union warned that to stop issuing cull licences after next year would jeopardise attempts to control bTB.George Eustice, the environment secretary, said: “The badger cull has led to a significant reduction in the disease, but no one wants to continue the cull of a protected species indefinitely.”Richard Benwell, head of the Wildlife and Countryside Link, called for a pause to culling this year, saying: “Delivering a cattle vaccine roll-out by 2025 is vital, as cow-to-cow transmission is still by far the biggest spreader of this horrible disease.“But a shift to badger vaccinating is long overdue, and yet government is planning a five-year local trial before any wider action, with thousands of badgers dying painful and prolonged deaths in the meantime. We need a much faster timeline from government on rolling out a nationwide badger vaccination plan.“Up to 300,000 badgers could be killed in total by the end of this scheme, pushing them to local extinction in some areas.”An eight-week consultation was launched in January, seeking views on proposals in response to an independent review of the 25-year bTB strategy, led by Professor Sir Charles Godfray.A vaccine for cattle would be a breakthrough in tackling bTB. Scientists at the Animal and Plant Health Agency developed a vaccine last year. More

Poul Schlueter, Denmark’s prime minister for over a decade who negotiated exemptions for his country to a key European Union treaty after Danes rejected the initial text in a referendum, has died. He was 92.Schlueter, who was prime minister from 1982-1993, died Thursday surrounded by his family, the leader of the party that he once headed said Friday in a statement.“The family has lost a dear member, and our country has lost one of the most important people of our time,” Soeren Pape Poulsen, who heads the opposition Conservatives said in a statement.In 1992, Denmark stalled the EU’s move toward a closer cooperation when Danes rejected the Maastricht treaty.At home, Schlueter negotiated four exemptions, including one that allows Denmark to stay outside the euro. A year later, the revised text was approved in a second Danish referendum, allowing other EU members to move on with their plans.In 1993, Schlueter surprisingly stepped down following an immigration scandal involving his then justice minister, allowing the Social Democratic opposition to grab power. He was then elected to the European Parliament where he sat from from 1994 to 1999. More