Markus Andrews

Nicola Sturgeon complained her latest public briefing on coronavirus was being “sidetracked” by a “conspiracy theory” after she was asked by a journalist about her government’s handling of sexual harassment complaints about Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond.Her comments came after Tory MP David Davis disclosed messages from a whistleblower using parliamentary privilege that he claims showed there was a “concerted effort by senior members of the SNP to encourage complaints” against Mr Salmond.Mr Salmond was given a £512,250 payout after a court ruled the Scottish government’s handling of complaints of sexual harassment allegations against him were “unlawful” and “tainted by apparent bias”.The former Conservative minister told the Commons that the messages present a case “which demands serious investigation” and a “thorough review of all the emails and other electronic records.”The first minister said she did not want to be drawn on the allegations made by Mr Davis at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing with journalists on Wednesday.Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayWhen asked by ITV’s Scotland correspondent Peter Smith about the claims, she said: “I’ve said what I’m going to say on that. I refute the insinuations and suggestions of David Davis, I’m not having this briefing sidetracked into the latest instalment of the conspiracy theory we have all been hearing about for a long time.“The committee is looking at all of these things, I’ve given it my evidence and that is where I am going to leave it today.”Mr Smith pushed the first minister for an answer and said that he made decisions on what questions to ask based on “the public interest” and then enquired if the Scottish government is investigating the allegations.Ms Sturgeon said: “The committee is looking at all of this and I’m letting the committee do its job.”She then asked if he had a Covid question and Mr Smith responded he was “not comfortable with what questions are asked on a public platform” being Ms Sturgeon added: “I’ve answered the question, these are all matters that are being looked at by a committee of inquiry.”The ITV journalist posted the exchange on Twitter and said: “It is important journalists have freedom from being told what we can & can’t ask, as the FM agreed with today. The FM can also decide how she responds.”The first minister’s deputy, Mr Swinney, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday the inquiry should be left to come to its conclusions.Earlier, a spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said: “As with Mr Salmond’s previous claims and cherry-picking of messages, the reality is very different to the picture being presented.“Every message involving SNP staff has been seen by the committee previously. Their views have been widely reported as dismissive of them.”As well as the committee’s inquiry, James Hamilton QC is investigating whether Ms Sturgeon breached the ministerial code.On Tuesday, a report by Laura Dunlop QC called for complaints against current and former government ministers to be investigated independently, rather than by the Scottish government.Additional reporting by PA More

The prime minister’s former adviser, Dominic Cummings, admires original thinking, despises needless bureaucracy and has a reputation for unpredictability, of which there was a great deal on display in his testimony to the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee. It gave the MPs and the viewing public alike a rare insight into life in Downing Street in the Cummings era. The biggest surprise was that Cummings turned up at all. He remains in contempt of parliament for refusing to attend a previous select committee hearing two years ago. That was about the Vote Leave referendum campaign that Cummings had run. Cummings was arrogant enough to demand that MPs swear an oath, if that was what he was required to do. A good deal has changed since then, and Cummings was charm itself as he dilated on some of his favourite topics and explained the thinking behind the new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria). This will be Cummings’s “other legacy”, aside from his lockdown busting last summer and his summary dismissal before Christmas. More

Downing Street today refused to say whether Boris Johnson now regrets sexist comments he made in the past, but insisted the prime minister has a “strong track record” on support for women and girls.The comment came after Mr Johnson called in the House of Commons for a “cultural and social change in attitudes” in the UK to deal with the issue of “casual everyday sexism” in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard. The prime minister has frequently come under fire for frequent sexist remarks, many made in newspaper articles while working as a journalist. In a media briefing following prime minister’s questions, his press secretary Allegra Stratton was asked several times whether he now regretted referring to women as “hot totty”, saying children of single mothers were “ill-raised, ignorant and illegitimate”, berating men for the inability to “take control of their women” or calling David Cameron a “girly swot”.But she refused to address the issue of his past comments, telling reporters: “The prime minister feels that he had a strong track record on this issue as London mayor.“He has used prime minister’s questions, where the country is listening and watching, to call out what he called everyday casual sexism.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayRead more:“He is using his position and his power to say we need to call time on these issues and the experience for women and girls as they go about their daily lives.”Ms Stratton said that Mr Johnson would describe himself as a “feminist”.She pointed to his 2009 launch as London mayor of a “call to action” to end violence against women, including the quadrupling of funding for rape crisis centres. “People should look back at his record, not just in government at the moment where you have a Domestic Abuse Bill going through the Lords and the Sentencing Bill that will increase sentences for rapists and paedophiles”.She said that the Violence Against Women and Girls consultation being conducted by Mr Johnson’s government has received almost 140,000 responses since being reopened on Friday, which would inform “a big piece of work” in the summer.“This is not something to which the prime minister has been recently converted, it’s something he was looking at in 2009,” she said.And she added: “You saw the tone from both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition at prime minister’s questions. Both were treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves. “Women and girls across the country now want real action and will be pleased to hear their prime minister evidently understanding, that what too many of them experience on the streets is being taken seriously at the top of government.” More

Boris Johnson has announced he is to have the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine as ministers seek to reassure the public of its safety after its use was paused by some European nations following concerns over blood clots. The prime minister, who was hospitalised with Covid-19 last year, told MPs he had “finally” received the news that he was to be inoculated “very shortly”.He added that it would “certainly” be the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine he received.The health secretary Matt Hancock has stressed that the MHRA, the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency have all said that they believe the vaccine is safe, as he urged the public to take the jab.He said: “We keep the effects of these vaccines under review all the time and we know that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is saving lives in the UK right now so if you get the call, get the jab.”Asked if there had been evidence that people in the UK were declining the vaccine after it was suspended in a number of European countries, Mr Hancock said that there were still “huge numbers of people (being) vaccinated every day”. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayRead more:The “enthusiasm for getting the vaccine is incredibly strong,” he added.Experts in the UK have criticised the decision to halt rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, warning it will lead to unnecessary deaths. Professor Jeremy Brown, who sits on the UK’s vaccination committee, said the move by more than a dozen European countries was “not sensible” and was “not logical”.Prof Brown, a consultant in respiratory medicine and member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), also expressed concern about the knock on effects on this side of the channel.”There is the concern that what’s happening in Europe might make people in the UK less confident in the AstraZeneca vaccine, unnecessarily so, because it’s perfectly safe,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme.The vaccine has been given to around 11 million people in the UK “and there’s been no serious side-effects” reported in this country, he added.”It is confusing to understand why so many countries have decided to stop using the vaccine.”He added that many of those countries were currently experiencing a third wave of the virus.”By not using the vaccine, this is going to directly lead to an increased incidence of Covid infection and people will die as a consequence of these decisions.”Sweden and Latvia have followed major European states including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, to announce a temporary suspension of the jabs.It follows a small number of reports of bleeding, blood clots and low blood platelet counts. minister Roberto Speranza said he and other European countries were hopeful the European Medicines Agency, which is due to deliver its verdict on Thursday, will provide the “the clarifications and reassurances necessary” for the use of the vaccines to re-start.Meanwhile, French prime minister Jean Castex has said he is willing to take the AstraZeneca jab. A former chief executive of the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency also defended the vaccine, saying linking it to blood clots was a “big jump”.Sir Kent Woods said: “We mustn’t forget that in the European Union the latest figures show that there was something like 2,000 deaths a day occurring from Covid.”This is a very serious pandemic.” More

Keir Starmer has offered cross-party cooperation to make the death of Sarah Everard a “turning point” for safety for women and girls. At prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, the Labour leader said the 33-year-old marketing executive’s death should be a “watershed moment” leading to change as profound as that which followed the murders of Stephen Lawrence and James Bulger. And he urged Boris Johnson to press ahead with swift legislation to deal with the “epidemic of violence” faced by women.At prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson agreed that the UK needed a “cultural and social  change in attitudes” to ensure that women’s concerns are heard, and insisted the government was doing “everything we can” to protect them.And the PM – who has himself been accused of sexism for comments on “hot totty” and Tory votes “causing your wife to have bigger breasts” – said that it was essential to “address casual everyday sexism”.Mr Johnson launched an attack on Labour for voting against his Police Bill, which he said included measures to make the streets safer for women and girls.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayRead more:But Starmer retorted that the bill “said a lot more about protecting statues than protecting women”.And he listed a string of rapists who received shorter jail sentences than the 10-year maximum proposed by Mr Johnson for people who damage monuments.Sir Keir told the Commons: “Sometimes a tragedy is so shocking, it demands both justice and change. “The Stephen Lawrence case showed the poison of structural and institutional racism. The James Bolger case made us question the nature of our society and the safety of our children.“Now the awful events at the last week have lifted a veil on the epidemic of violence against women and girls.“This must also be a watershed moment to change how we as a society treat women and girls, and how we prevent and end sexual violence and harassment.“I believe that if we work together we can achieve that… Does the prime minister agree that this must be a turning point in how we tackle violence against women and girls?”The PM replied: “Yes I do… I think that he is right, frankly, that unless and until we have a change in our culture that acknowledges and understands that women currently do not feel they are being heard, we will not fix this problem. “And that is what we must do. We need a cultural and social change in attitudes to redress the balance, and that is what I believe all politicians must now work together to achieve.”Sir Keir challenged the PM to back Labour’s 10-point plan to make women safer, including whole-life sentences for abduction and sexual assault leading to murder, longer jail time for stalking and rape, fast-tracking for sexual abuse cases, protection against street harassment and support for victims.He said it was “shocking” that just 1.5 per cent of rapes reported to police resulted in a successful prosecution.And he urged Mr Johnson to show the “political will” to legislate within six months for a new Victims Bill to deliver legally-enforceable rights for victims of crime.“For 10 years, this government has been promising a victims’ law, it’s been in his party’s last three manifestos,” said Sir Keir. “It still hasn’t materialised. “We don’t need more reviews, consultations, strategies… we just need now to get on with it.”Declaring that he would be ready to see Labour’s proposals put forward as Conservative legislation in order to make progress on the issue, Starmer asked Mr Johnson to meet him and his shadow ministers to “really and truly make this a turning point”.The PM agreed that prosecution rates for rape were a “disgrace” and said he was “very happy” to look at ideas suggested by the opposition.But he made no commitment to push ahead with any of Starmer’s proposals, instead repeatedly blaming Labour for its opposition to the controversial police bill, which imposes new restrictions on the right to protest alongside measures to tighten up laws on serious sexual violence.“I think it would have been a good thing if last night, the whole House could have voted for tougher sentences for those who commit sexual and violence offences and stop from being released earlier,” he said. More

Watch live as Boris Johnson faces Keir Starmer at PMQsAt prime minister’s questions in the Commons, the Labour leader said Everard’s death should be a “watershed moment” and urged Mr Johnson to press ahead with swift legislation to deal with the “epidemic of violence” faced by women.The PM agreed, saying he believed that “frankly, unless and until we have a change in our culture that acknowledges and understands that women currently do not feel they are being heard, we will not fix this problem”.While the pair found some common ground on this issue, they went on to butt heads over the Conservative Party’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which has played into the causes for mass protests in central London over the past four days.The PM launched an attack on Labour for voting against the bill, which he argued included measures to make the streets safer for women and girls, but Sir Keir retorted that the bill “said a lot more about protecting statues than protecting women”.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayShow latest update

1615992701PM says he is ‘deeply sorry’ for lives lost to Covid Boris Johnson has said he is “deeply, deeply sorry” for all the coronavirus deaths in the UK over the past year.His words came during PMQs after Labour’s Richard Burgon urged him to “hold up his hands” to the fact that his government’s late decisions had led to “deadly consequences”. Mr Burgon, the MP for Leeds East, added that the death toll was now “six times higher” than the 20,000 figure which was deemed a “good outcome” 12 months ago. The prime minister said he takes “full responsibility” for the government’s actions during the pandemic, adding that a “fully inquiry” would happen at a later date. Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 14:511615991768No 10 refuses to say whether PM regrets past sexist comments Downing Street has refused to say whether Boris Johnson regrets using sexist language in the last, while insisting that he has a “strong track record” on support for women and girls. The comment follows Mr Johnson’s call on Wednesday for the UK to undergo a “cultural and social change in attitudes” in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard. Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 14:361615990886Iran accuses PM of ‘utter hypocrisy’ over nuclear arsenal expansion Iran has seized an opportunity to criticise the UK government after Boris Johnson announced he would remove the Cold War-era limit on the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, accused the prime minister of “utter hypocrisy” over the decision. Russia also condemned the move.“Unlike the UK and allies, Iran believes nukes and all WMDs are barbaric and must be eradicated,” Mr Zarif added.Our international correspondent Borzou Daragahi reports: Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 14:211615989879GB suppliers deciding trade with NI ‘too much hassle,’ warns food industry chiefA leading food services company has expressed concern that GB suppliers are deciding that trading in Northern Ireland is not worth the hassle of extra Brexit bureaucracy.Andrew Lynas, managing director of Coleraine-based Lynas Foodservice, told MPs that buying mozzarella cheese from one of his long-standing suppliers in England now requires eight separate processes under the Northern Ireland protocol.Prior to the protocol coming into effect at the end of December, he said there were no checks required.Mr Lynas was among business representatives giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Wednesday, on the implications of the extra red tape required by the contentious arrangements governing Irish Sea trade post-Brexit.He said a GB company that he buys food from to fulfil his contract supplying Northern Ireland schools is charging him an extra £150 per load to cover administrative costs.“If I was going to a GB supplier and saying: ‘Can I get good x from you?’… If he’s got orders from a Welsh supplier, a Scottish supplier and someone in Birmingham, and he gets my order, what position do you think my order is going to go in?“Unfortunately, we know it’s going to come fourth.”Mr Lynas added that his business was facing paying an extra £50,000 in admin costs a year due to the protocol.Sam Hancock17 March 2021 14:041615988873Sturgeon ‘strongly refutes’ whistleblower allegations from Tory MPNicola Sturgeon has said she “refutes” claims made by Conservative MP David Davis over the Scottish government’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against former first minister Alex Salmond.Using parliamentary privilege, David Davis claimed messages disclosed by a whistleblower show there was a “concerted effort by senior members of the SNP to encourage complaints” against the former first minister.Mr Davis told the Commons the messages present a case “which demands serious investigation”.The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints was set up after a successful judicial review by Mr Salmond resulted in the Scottish government’s investigation being ruled unlawful and “tainted by apparent bias”, with a £512,250 payout being awarded to him for legal fees in 2019.Speaking at the Scottish government’s Covid briefing, the first minister said: “Other than to say that I strongly refute the suggestions and insinuations of David Davis in the House of Commons last night, I am not going to have this Covid briefing sidetracked by the latest instalment of Alex Salmond’s conspiracy theory.“I have given eight hours of evidence to the parliamentary committee looking into this. They are now able to assess all of the evidence they’ve taken, including, I’m sure, the evidence they have in relation to the suggestions and claims made by David Davis last night.“They have a job of work to do, now, I’m going to allow them to do that job of work and, in the meantime I’m going to get on with my job.”Sam Hancock17 March 2021 13:471615988200Make Everard’s death a ‘turning point’ for safety of women, urges StarmerKeir Starmer has offered cross-party cooperation to make the death of Sarah Everard a “turning point” for safety for women and girls.At prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, the Labour leader said the 33-year-old marketing executive’s death should be a “watershed moment” leading to change as profound as that which followed the murders of Stephen Lawrence and James Bulger.Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full report:Sam Hancock17 March 2021 13:361615985890PM urged to protect right to peaceful protestGreen MP Caroline Lucas has urged the government to protect the right to peaceful protest, describing it as a “cornerstone of liberal democracy”. The prime minister replied: “She is quite right to stick up for peaceful protest and I understand that and I sympathise with that.However, Boris Johnson added that human contact needed to be restricted because of the pandemic. “I think that we also have to strike a balance between the need to allow peaceful protest to go ahead – and we do on a huge scale in this country – but also to protect free speech and vital parts of the UK economy,” he said. Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 12:581615985165Johnson to receive AstraZeneca jab soon Boris Johnson announces he is about to get the AstraZeneca vaccineRory Sullivan17 March 2021 12:461615984895SNP condemns PM over increase to nuclear arsenalIan Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, has urged Boris Johnson to tell Scots why Westminster decided to extend the UK’s nuclear arsenal.The SNP politician said that extra “weapons of mass destruction” should not be forced on Scotland, after the UK government said it planned to increase its nuclear stockpile by 40 per cent.The prime minister did not directly address the question, but instead accused Holyrood of seeking a second Scottish independence referendum at the expense of more serious issues.Peter Grant, another SNP politician, later asked Mr Johnson to address his colleague’s earlier question about the “obscenity” of building more nuclear weapons. “We need strong defences – that’s what people in this country voted for,” the prime minister said. Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 12:411615983712EU vaccine situation proves benefit of leaving bloc, Cummings claims As mentioned earlier, Dominic Cummings has said the EU’s handling of its vaccine rollout proves the UK did well to leave the bloc. Here’s Ashley Cowburn with more details:Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 12:211615983445Starmer says rape and sexual violence sentences need to be tougher The Labour leader has called on the prime minister to introduce tougher sentences for rape and sexual violence offenders.Keir Starmer listed several examples of sentences he deemed too lenient. This included a man who was sentenced to 7 years in jail for raping a 13 year-old girl.In response, the prime minister said that Labour should have supported yesterday’s policing bill to support this wish. Mr Starmer replied by claiming that the bill would not toughen the sentences he was discussing. Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 12:171615983042PM pledges that Sarah Everard’s murder will be a ‘turning point’At PMQs, Keir Starmer asked Boris Johnson whether his government would commit to making Sarah Everard’s murder a “turning point” in society. In response to the Labour leader’s question, the prime minister said his government would work to make the UK a safer place for women and girls. Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 12:101615982443PM faces Starmer at PMQs Watch Boris Johnson face Keir Starmer in this week’s PMQs: Watch live as Boris Johnson faces Keir Starmer at PMQsRory Sullivan17 March 2021 12:001615982134Cummings lambasts EU for vaccine row Dominic Cummings has said Brussel’s recent actions over coronavirus vaccines prove that the arguments he made during the Vote Leave campaign were justified.Speaker to MPs on the Science and Technology Committee, the former No 10 aide said he had argued that it would be “very dangerous to let the EU continue to regulate science and technology in this country”. Mr Cummings referred to the recent decision by many European countries to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine over safety concerns – despite experts suggesting there is no certain link between the jabs and blood clots. “Just this week we’ve seen what happens when you have an anti-science, anti-entrepreneurial, anti-technology culture in Brussels married with its appalling bureaucracy in its insane decisions and warnings on the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 11:551615981318Labour criticises government on education after NAO report Shadow education secretary Kate Green has criticised the government after the National Audit Office (NAO) released a report suggesting that the poorest children were missing out on catch-up tuition. The NAO said that fewer than half of those receiving extra tuition in February were on pupil premium, a grant given to schools to help disadvantaged children. Ms Green said: “The government has failed children throughout this pandemic. A step change is needed to ensure they are not also left behind in our recovery.”Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 11:411615980446No targets to measure effectiveness of government’s ‘levelling-up” agenda, minister reveals Eddie Hughes, a local government minister, has said that no targets will be set to assess whether the government is successful in its “levelling-up” agenda. This comes more than a year afterThe Independent was told by No 10 to “wait for the Budget” to hear how the effectiveness of the levelling-up policy would be measured.Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports: Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 11:271615979131Salmond inquiry should be allowed to run its course, SNP says The Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish government’s botched handling of harassment allegations made against Alex Salmond should be allowed to run its course, the SNP has said. John Swinney, the party’s deputy leader, made the comment the day after Tory MP David Davis used his parliamentary privilege to share messages released by a whistleblower. Mr Davis claimed on Tuesday that these messages showed a “concerted effort by senior members of the SNP to encourage complaints” against Mr Salmond. In response, a spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said: “As with Mr Salmond’s previous claims and cherry-picking of messages, the reality is very different to the picture being presented.” Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 11:051615977894Cummings struck ‘deal’ with PM before entering No 10 Here’s Ashley Cowburn with more on the “deal” Dominic Cummings struck with Boris Johnson before he became prime minister: Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 10:441615977138Video – Johnson made ‘deal’ with Cummings before entering Downing StreetDominic Cummings told MPs on Wednesday morning that he only accepted the job of Boris Johnson’s chief adviser in July 2019 after some stipulations were met.These included a promise from Mr Johnson that Brexit would happen, that the science budget would be doubled and that a scientific research agency like the US’ DARPA would be created in the UK. Johnson made ‘deal’ with Cummings before becoming PMRory Sullivan17 March 2021 10:321615976364Labour faces awkward by-election after MP quitsMike Hill, the Labour MP for Hartlepool, has stood down from parliament amid allegations of sexual harrassment which he denies.Elected as the northeast town’s MP in 2017, he was suspended from Labour in 2019 after the allegations came to light. A by-election in the potentially vulnerable “red wall” seat will take place soon. Although no date has been fixed, it is most likely to happen on 6 May. Rory Sullivan17 March 2021 10:19 More

Dominic Cummings has suggested the row over the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe shows the benefits of leaving the bloc, despite decisions to suspend the vaccine being taken by individual member states. The former No 10 adviser said the situation was evidence of the “anti-science, anti-technology culture in Brussels married with its appalling bureaucracy” and said the UK was “extremely well” out of the system.The bloc’s medicines regulator said they remained “firmly convinced” that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh all risks in comments echoing that of the UK’s own Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).Despite the assurance, several individual member states, including Germany, Spain, Italy and France, have temporarily suspended the use the jab, even as cases threaten to surge on the continent. Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayOther EU countries, including Belgium, Poland, Romania and Greece, are containing to rollout the jab to their populations.But Mr Cummings told MPs: “As things have been proved every day now, science can co-operate globally without having to be part of the nightmarish Brussels system which has blown up so disastrously over vaccines.“Just this week we’ve seen what happens when you have an anti-science, anti-entrepreneurial, anti-technology culture in Brussels married with its appalling bureaucracy in its insane decisions and warnings on the AstraZeneca vaccine. “I think we are extremely well out of that system,” he added.In an evidence session at the Commons science and technology committee, the former Vote Leave strategists said:“At the referendum one of things you [Graham Stringer MP] and I argued for very strongly was that it would be very dangerous to let the EU continue to regulate science and technology in this country and that we should take back control of regulation over science, technology, procurement. “Again, I would argue very strongly that 2020 was proof that the argument was correct”.The former adviser to Boris Johnson, who left No 10 at the end of 2020, also told MPs that the Covid vaccine programme in the UK has only been a success because it was taken out of the Department of Health. “In spring 2020 you had a situation where the Department of Health was just a smoking ruin in terms of procurement and PPE and all of that,” he said. “You had serious problems with the funding bureaucracy for therapeutics.“Therefore Patrick Vallance [chief scientific officer], the cabinet secretary, me and some others said ‘obviously we should take this out of the Department of Health, obviously we should create a separate taskforce and obviously we have to empower that taskforce directly with the authority of the prime minister.’” More

The graffiti appeared across two locations in east Belfast – a wall in the Belvoir Street area and on a commercial building in the Newtownards Road area.The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) launched the investigation on Wednesday, with the south’s Garda Síochána being kept in the loop – particularly the teams who provide protection for tánaiste Mr Varadkar and foreign affairs minister Mr Coveney.Mr Varadkar’s name and address were displayed next to a loyalist sign depicting two gunmen and the words: “The prevention of the erosion of our identity is now our priority. East Belfast Battalion.”Various loyalist logos, including those of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Protestant Action Force (PAF), can be seen on the mark too. It is the latest in a string of graffiti threats in Belfast as anger over the Northern Ireland protocol, implemented as a result of Brexit, continues to grow. Read more:In January, a smear titled “an ode to Leo Varadkar” was painted in the Belvoir area of south Belfast, warning the ex-taoiseach he would be hanged if he “set foot in Ulster”. A PNSI spokesperson said in a statement “officers are aware of the graffiti … and inquiries are ongoing”. While no arrests have been made for any of the offences yet, the graffiti is thought to be part of a campaign by unionists who feel the protocol – which effectively creates a border in the Irish Sea for goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland – cuts them off from the rest of the UK.On a visit to Belfast last week, Boris Johnson admitted the measure was not operating as he envisaged and promised to address the concerns being raised by MLAs and their constituents. A number of Northern Ireland politicians have spoken out to condemn the latest graffiti threats, with East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson labelling them “pathetic”. He told the Belfast Telegraph that he had contacted Belfast City Council, which confirmed that the sinister message would be removed on Wednesday.Meanwhile UUP leader Steve Aiken described the graffiti as “absolutely despicable”.“Nobody should be doing this sort of thing. It’s very clear that all politicians and everybody in society should call out these sorts of activities,” the South Antrim MLA told the newspaper.“Whether it’s Michael Gove, Simon Coveney, Leo Varadkar or whoever it happens to be, it’s completely unacceptable.”Neither Mr Varadkar nor Simon Coveney have commented on the situation yet, though it is understood they are being kept up to date on developments.The Independent has contacted their representatives for comment. More