UK Politics

Boris Johnson has questioned his own past “attitudes” towards women, as controversy rages over misogyny at Westminster.The prime minister has been criticised for joking that voting Tory can “cause your wife to have bigger breasts” and for admiring “semi-naked” volleyball players “glistening like wet otters”.The remarks were raked up when he condemned the behaviour of Neil Parish, the Conservative MP forced to quit for watching porn at parliament as “totally unacceptable”.Quizzed on the Tory record on women, Mr Johnson was asked: “Do you ever look back on your own conduct towards women and regret any past attitudes?”“I’m sure every human being looks back over episodes in their lives and wonders whether they might have done things differently,” he told Times Radio.The comment came as the prime minister revealed he had “not so far” received a questionnaire from the Metropolitan Police for a leaving party in No 10, held for his outgoing director of communications Lee Cain.There are reports that some Downing Street staff have received questionnaires about the event, held on the same November 2020 night as the ‘Abba’ party in his own flat.No 10 has not denied a claim that Mr Johnson effectively turned it into a leaving party by making a speech and by “pouring drinks for people and drinking himself”.Asked if he had received a questionnaire, the prime minister said: “I’m not commenting on this stuff generally, but I can tell you the answer to that is no – not so far, or not to my knowledge.”He declined to back calls for the Conservative candidate in Tiverton and Honiton, the Devon seat vacated by Mr Parish, to be a woman, arguing that is “a matter for the local association”.But he argued: “I think the Conservative Party can be incredibly proud of what we’ve done to promote women in politics.“We’re the only party to produce any female prime minister – we’ve actually produced two.“If you look at the current Conservative government it has got women at every level, brilliant women at every level. And I think two of the four top jobs in government are currently held by women.“Things have changed massively. When I came in, in 2001, it was very, very different, the atmosphere. We’ve come on in leaps and bounds.”The accusation of misogyny has also been levelled at Mr Johnson for a criticism made of his great Tory rival that changes to working practices at the Commons were “introduced by girly swot Cameron”.In the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics, he said: “There are semi-naked women playing beach volleyball in the middle of the Horse Guards Parade immortalised by Canaletto.“They are glistening like wet otters and the water is splashing off the brims of the spectators’ sou’westers.” More

Parliament’s independent watchdog has said around 15 MPs are being investigated for alleged bullying or sexual misconduct. The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) previously confirmed there were 15 cases opened between July 2020 and June 2021, and that it was seeing ‘a similar trend in disclosure’ so far this year. It comes after the the Conservative MP Neil Parish was referred to the body, before resigning at the weekend after admitting watching porn in the Commons chamber in a “moment of madness”. More

A data breach affecting more than 400 students at the University of Essex is being treated “very seriously”, the institution said.Law firm Hayes Connor, which is representing some of those affected, said an email from an external partner of the university accidentally included a spreadsheet containing personal information.The message from facilities management was to request payment for repairs to a broken door at an accommodation block and was sent on March 23.The spreadsheet contained more than 400 residents’ information, including student IDs, dates of birth and contact details, Hayes Connor said.Christine Sabino, the legal specialist at Hayes Connor representing those affected, said it was a “particularly worrying” data breach.“The spreadsheet included on this email contained all kinds of crucial data on hundreds of people, so the seriousness of the issue should not be downplayed,” she said.“Through our work, we have seen how breaches of this kind can have a big impact on those affected.“It should also be remembered that many of the individuals involved here are young adults living away from home for the first time.“Some may be very worried about this or unsure what to do next.“The individuals we have spoken to are desperate to know how this happened.“They are also keen to understand what is being done to prevent more issues in the future.“When individuals provide data to organisations of any kind, they trust that the information will be handled in a secure and proper manner.“Issues like this only serve to undermine that trust, so we are determined to help our clients get the answers they deserve.”A University of Essex spokesman said: “We are taking this issue very seriously and ensuring our delivery partners understand our high expectations about the management of data.“We’ve contacted all individuals involved to offer advice and support.” More

The latest round of local elections takes place in the UK on Thursday 5 May, with 4,000 council seats in England being contested, 1,200 in both Scotland and Wales and all 90 seats of the Northern Ireland Assembly in contention.Most of those seats were last fought in 2018, when Theresa May was still prime minister, Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Vince Cable were her challengers, Britain was still in the European Union and both the coronavirus pandemic and war in Ukraine were inconceivable to most.Now, with lingering anger over “Partygate” compounded by the eruption of new Westminster sleaze allegations and concern over the cost of living crisis only growing, the public is widely expected to cast its ballots as a verdict on Boris Johnson’s scandal-ridden leadership.The PM’s handling of the Covid pandemic is also likely to be a motivating consideration, as is the prospect of change represented by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, although some constituencies will be dominated by more specific issues of their own, from waste collection and infrastructure to immigration.The deadline for registering to vote passed on 14 April in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and on 18 April in Scotland.If you were registered in time, you should have received a polling card through the post informing you of the location of your nearest ballot box.However, you are not required to bring the card with you to the polling station on Thursday as it is not considered proof of registration.Instead, you will simply be expected to give your name to a volunteer who will cross you off their list before inviting you to proceed.If you have lost your card and do not know where your polling station is, you can simply check out the Electoral Commission website and enter your postcode, where a wealth of tailored information is available.For more on this year’s local elections, The Independent has all you need to know about voting, how you can find out about what is happening in your local area, more information on the national picture by region, as well as a guide to when the results will be announced.We will be covering the local elections in depth this week and liveblogging both voting day itself and the aftermath on Friday once the results have been counted and compiled. More

More Irish passports than British passports are being issued in Northern Ireland for the first time, new figures show.48,555 people in Northern Ireland applied for a UK passport in 2020 – around 350 fewer than the 48,911 opting for an Irish passport the same year.The figures, obtained by freedom of information request and first reported by Irish Times reports, do not include Irish passports issued by all channels – meaning the gap could be even wider.It comes ahead of Northern Ireland assembly elections on Thursday where Sinn Fein is expected to become the biggest party in Northern Ireland for the first time.Polls have the left-wing republicans solidly ahead of the DUP, after the latter party’s support collapsed and splintered to other groups. Such a result would see Sinn Fein hold the first minister position in the Northern Ireland executive, if one can be formed – the first time a unionist has not held the role.Yet the increase in Irish passports being issued may have less to do with changing demographics or support for Republicanism and more to do with pragmatism and utility.Under the Good Friday Agreement, people born in Northern Ireland can identify as either Irish, British or both and carry either or both Irish and UK passports.But UK passports have become significantly less useful with Britain’s exit from European Union, while an Irish passport still confers EU citizenship and the right to live and work across the whole single market.Professor Colin Harvey of the school of law at Queen’s University Belfast told the newspaper that “ultimately, Northern Ireland was removed from the EU against its will” and that “there is an attachment to the EU as well and the benefits that flow from European Union citizenship too”.He added that demand for Irish passports had been “fuelled” by Brexit.Outside of Northern Ireland Irish passports have also proved popular with people trying to get around new Brexit bureaucracy. Ireland’s citizenship laws allow people with Irish grandparents to apply for a passport even if they have never lived in the Republic – meaning many millions across the world are entitled to them.Last year The Independent reported that between the 2016 Brexit vote and 2020 at least 422,000 Irish passports were issued to British residents. This was up from 46,400 in 2015. More

From the Northern Ireland protocol to potential ‘opportunities’, questions about Brexit and what it means continue to arise nearly five years after the UK voted to leave the European Union.The Independent’s Adam Forrest, who authors the Brexit and Beyond newsletter, answered questions from readers about all things Brexit during an ‘Ask Me Anything’ event.Here’s a selection of some the questions and answers.The protocol in Northern Ireland is working to the benefit of exporters. Why try and amend it?There’s certainly evidence of a huge jump in trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In February, NI exports to the Republic were up 65 per cent compared with 2020, while exports from the Republic into NI were up 54 per cent. Trouble is, unionists take this as evidence of the six counties moving away from Great Britain’s orbit. While we can’t be sure of the impact of Brexit on trade from GB into NI, there’s little doubt Brexit has hit UK trade as a whole. Trade with the rest of the world is down by 12 to 13 per cent below their 2019 averages, according to the most recent estimate by the Office for Budget Responsibility.How is the EU going to respond to this Article 16 nonsense? Surely they’re going to get fed up of Boris’ antics and do without a trade deal with us. Rather than triggering Article 16, the UK bill looks set to put the ball in the EU’s court. Brussels has already made clear it is prepared for retaliatory measures if the UK tears up its protocol obligations. It could take the “nuclear” option of terminating the Trade and Cooperation Pact (TCA), or use Article 506 to begin imposing new tariffs on British goods. But the protocol-busting bill may not necessarily spark a trade war immediately. Worth bearing in mind that we’ve seen big crises aimed at triggering change, only for things to fall into the muddle of suspended legal action and further talks.How can the government come up with a bill which breaks the law they already signed up to?Ministers are said to be preparing a new bill that would give it new powers amount to “switch off” parts of the protocol that relate to border checks on good moving between GB and NI. There is speculation the legislation may try to repeal Section 7a of the EU Withdrawal Act – the law which enshrines the protocol into UK law. EU diplomats have talked about the idea being “utterly irresponsible” – with Brussels insisting that protocol is a legal obligation. One minister said the “mother of all rows” lies ahead.How far will the British government go to appease anti-democratic unionism and ignore the will of the majority?The timing suggests the protocol-busting bill being drawn up expectats that Sinn Fein will win the 5 May Northern Ireland elections. The unionist parties could potentially withdraw from both the executive and the assembly. The Queen’s Speech comes five days later on 10 May. So the government is likely to try to pounce on the sense of crisis and all the hysterical rhetoric from the DUP in a bid to shock the EU and much closer to the UK position. But the consequences are … uncertain. Brussels patient cannot always be taken for granted.Every time our PM is in trouble, he lashes out to the EU. Frankly it is getting predictable, boring even, this continued chaos … But now? With the situation in Ukraine as it is?It does seem convenient timing for Boris Johnson and his allies, who have tried to use the Ukraine crisis to deflect from Partygate. They may be desperate enough to dismiss the risks involved in this Brexit gambit. Former No 10 adviser Raoul Ruparel says talks on dropping GB-NI trade barriers have actually been “moving slowly in the UK’s direction” – so a big dispute would be “massively counter productive”. It’s also damaging the chances of a US trade deal. And potentially hurts the UK’s reputation with other prospective trade-dealing countries. As one EU diplomat has said: “Why would you then sign anything with the UK ever?”Is the government really going to delay physical inspection checks coming in July again? Surely the uncertainty cannot be good for businesses.The government has now scrapped the inspections on food imports from the EU that were set to come in on 1 July. Jacob Rees-Mogg has announced that they would not be enforced during 2022. Delayed until next year? Hard to say. Rees-Mogg suggested he wants complete overhaul of its border check plans – revealing that end of 2023 was the target for a brand new “controls regime”. Despite remaining uncertainty about exactly what kind checks will come in next year, the Federation of Small Businesses and other industry groups have welcomed the move.What are the benefits and opportunities Jacob Rees-Mogg is going on about it? I thought Brexiters might happy getting blue passports, but seems like this hunt for red tape to axe stuff is going to go on and on for years.Jacob Rees-Mogg’s day job doesn’t seem to be keeping him too busy. He’s had time to leave passive-aggressive notes on the desks of civil servants working from home. Grilled about the advantages of Brexit, Rees-Mogg was forced to talk about obscure things like gene-editing rules. Or retreat into silly abstractions like “democracy”. He has promised his Brexit freedoms bill would offer a “mechanism” for diverging from retained EU law in a way that will be much “smoother and faster”. But that stuff is a little … dull. He seems unlikely to find any big, juicy wins that will keep Brexiteers as happy – like getting blue passports.My question on Brexit is: when will it end? When will the government admit that it is damaging the economy? When will the Labour Party open the door to closer ties with Europe, even joining the single market & customs union?Keir Starmer remains reluctant to talk about it – sticking to his vague commitment that a Labour government would be focused on “making Brexit work” by helping businesses (but ruled out re-joining single market and customs union). The Lib Dems have been reluctant too, chastened by their last election performance. But the party’s spring conference recently backed a policy to “seek to join the single market”. So perhaps we’re seeing the start of something interesting.These questions and answers were part of an ‘Ask Me Anything’ hosted by Adam Forrest at 3pm on Thursday 28 April. Some of the questions and answers have been edited for this article. You can read the full discussion in the comments section of the original article.Do you have any topics you’d like to see an expert host an ‘Ask Me Anything’ on? Let us know your suggestions in the comments below. More

Boris Johnson has abandoned his aim to send the first asylum-seekers to Rwanda this month, in the first sign of the controversial deportation plan hitting trouble.When the “one way ticket” agreement was signed last month, No 10 said it expected the first flights to the central African state to take off within “weeks” and before the end of May.But Mr Johnson’s spokesman said it would be a “matter of months” before any would-be refugees crossing the Channel are deported – potentially after the peak summer season for crossings.Asked why the timetable is “slipping”, the spokesperson pointed to legal challenges against the policy – while also insisting court action would not put it “on hold”.Experts had poured scorn on Mr Johnson’s claim that the scheme could start almost immediately, some doubting whether any migrants and refugees will ever be sent to Rwanda.The spokesman acknowledged that the legal action is not “unexpected” and described it as only “one of the variables” affecting hopes for the scheme.“We are working to get the first flights moving – I don’t know definitely what timescale that will be,” he added.After an 11-day pause amid bad weather, around 550 people have crossed from France in small boats in the last two days, scotching claims by some Tory MPs that the Rwanda threat is already acting as a deterrent.The prime minister has argued legal powers already exist to allow asylum-seekers to be sent to Rwanda, but critics argue it breaches both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Convention.Although it was initially briefed that only single men would be flown out, the home secretary Priti Patel has since admitted that women and children could also be sent.She has also refused to reveal the likely colossal cost of the policy, beyond an initial £120m to be handed to Rwanda under the “partnership” deal.The plan has also embroiled the prime minister in a damaging row with the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury attacked it as anti-Christian.The Home Office’s top civil servant warned Ms Patel that there is no evidence to back up the claim that deporting refugees to Rwanda will curb trafficking across the Channel.Mr Johnson’s spokesman acknowledged no evidence had been put forward, but told The Independent: “This is an entirely new approach. We were upfront about that from the start.”Asked if the prime minister was disappointed at the Rwanda threat failing to deter crossings, he replied: “It’s too early to judge what the situation will be long term on this policy.”And he said: “We still aim to have the first flights leave in a matter of months but, because of some of those [legal] challenges, it’s hard to put an exact time on it.”This year, 7,240 people have reached the UK after crossing from France in small boats – more than three times the number recorded for the same period in 2021 (2,390), according to an analysis by PA news agency. More