UK Politics

Jacob Rees-Mogg has hinted at police bias in fining Boris Johnson for a No 10 party while Keir Starmer and Nicola Sturgeon have escaped after Covid rules incidents.The Cabinet Office minister hit out at forces that “didn’t mind” what the Labour leader and Scotland’s First Minister had done, while the prime minister suffered the blow of a punishment.Hailing Mr Johnson as “a great man”, his key ally laid bare the growing Conservative frustration that their political opponents are not also being investigated for alleged rule breaches.Sir Keir was filmed holding a bottle of beer in an MP’s constituency office, during election campaigning last year, but Durham Police decided there was no likely offence to investigate.He has strongly rejected any comparison with the parties held in Downing Street, which have left Mr Johnson clinging to his job and have shattered his public support.Ms Sturgeon was warned by police after failing to wear a mask in a barber shop this month, but called it a momentary lapse and said she quickly realised she needed to put on a face covering.Mr Rees-Mogg questioned police decision-making in an interview with the GB News channel, in which he insisted public faith in Mr Johnson remained strong.“You had Keir Starmer drinking a beer and Nicola Sturgeon not wearing a mask when she thought everyone else should. The police didn’t mind about either of those, but the prime minister has paid his fine,” he said.The complaint comes despite the Metropolitan Police suffering criticism for long refusing to investigate Partygate – until evidence was passed by Sue Gray’s stalled Cabinet Office investigation.At the very least it will be seen as an attempt to distract from the deepening crisis facing the prime minister after he failed to block a Commons inquiry into whether he lied to MPs.Top Conservatives are predicting that a post-local elections challenge to Mr Johnson’s leadership is now inevitable, as MPs contemplate the controversy enduring.One senior Tory, Steve Baker, has warned his party will “reap the whirlwind” of public anger over the parties at the ballot box on 5 May.Meanwhile, a legal expert has predicted that Mr Johnson will escape a fine for the “bring your own booze” party he attended in the No 10 garden in June 2020.The Tory clash with the police comes after the prime minister engaged in a damaging row with the archbishop of Canterbury, who condemned the “rendition to Rwanda” plan for asylum seekers.Both Mr Johnson and home secretary Priti Patel have also attacked the BBC for its coverage of the controversy. More

The Conservative party chair has admitted that Boris Johnson’s fine for attending an illegal party is more serious than a speeding ticket – after a cabinet minister suggested the offences were similar.Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, was ridiculed for making the comparison, also wrongly claiming that Tony Blair was handed a parking ticket while in No 10.Asked if it was right to compare breaching Covid rules to a speeding offence, Mr Dowden replied: “It is not a comparison I would make.” “I take these allegations very seriously – and I don’t underestimate for a moment how angry and hurt people feel about it.”The crisis engulfing Mr Johnson has deepened after he failed to block a Commons inquiry into whether he lied to MPs, when he wrongly told them no Covid rules were broken.Top Conservatives are predicting that a post-local elections challenge to his leadership is now inevitable, as MPs contemplate no end to the controversy.And one senior Tory, Steve Baker, has warned the Conservatives will “reap the whirlwind” of public anger over the parties at the ballot box on 5 May.But Mr Dowden urged the public to focus on the “really good things he has done as prime minister”, when asked how long he could “survive” the onslaught of allegations.They were the quick delivery of the Covid vaccine, the arming of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and Brexit, he argued – despite the big economic losses from leaving the EU.“I do think it needs to be balanced against the very challenging times we face, the damage caused by instability and the uncertainty of changing leader at this time,” the chair said.Mr Johnson is widely expected to face further police punishment for illegal gatherings, but Mr Dowden said: “I think it is quite a speculation to assume there will be more fines issued.”He also said he did not think a no confidence vote in the prime minister was now inevitable and argued it would cause “instability” to change the nation’s leader.Mr Dowden as also confronted over claims that Conservative MPs have accused Angela Rayner of deliberately distracting Mr Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs in the Commons.Anger is growing over an extraordinary newspaper story that Tories liken the deputy Labour leader’s tactics to a fully-clothed equivalent of Sharon Stone’s infamous scene in the film Basic Instinct.It has been widely condemned as blatant sexism – while also reflecting badly on Mr Johnson himself, if he cannot focus when confronted with a woman’s legs.Mr Dowden dismissed the claims, in The Mail on Sunday, while carefully stopping short of a denial that certain Conservatives may have made the allegation.“This is a totally ludicrous story that I don’t recognise in any way at all,” the party chair told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme. More

Jeremy Corbyn has lost any lingering chance of standing again as a Labour candidate after his attack on Nato, Keir Starmer has suggested.The former party leader was exiled for refusing to retract his insistence that the extent of antisemitism in Labour during the years he led it had been “dramatically overstated”.But he has now clashed with the current leadership by suggesting military alliances such as Nato can build up “greater danger” in the world and should ultimately be disbanded.Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many of his left-wing Labour allies endorsed a Stop The War Coalition statement that condemned “Nato Expansion” as a cause of the conflict.Mr Corbyn’s Labour membership was restored in 2020, but not the party whip – without which he cannot be the candidate in his Islington North seat at the next general election.Asked about the former leader’s views on Nato, Sir Keir told the BBC: “It is very difficult to see how that situation can now be resolved.“He lost the whip because of his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission in relation to antisemitism, but I made it very clear – the first thing I said – as party leader was that I was going to tear out antisemitism by its roots in our party.“I’ve also made it clear that our position in the Labour Party is not to accept the false equivalence between Russian aggression and the acts of Nato.”Asked if that meant he is against Mr Corbyn returning as a Labour MP, Sir Keir replied: “I’m very clear on my positions on those two issues, very clear.”Earlier this month, Mr Corbyn criticised both Boris Johnson and Joe Biden for not doing enough to encourage “dialogue and peace”, as the Ukraine war drags on.Asked whether he still believed Nato should be disbanded, he told Times Radio: “I would want to see a world where we start to ultimately disband all military alliances.“The issue has to be, what’s the best way of bringing about peace in the future? Is it by more alliances? Is it by more military build-up? Or is it by stopping the war in Ukraine and the other wars.”The former leader added: “And ask yourself the question, do military alliances bring peace? Or do they actually encourage each other and build up to a greater danger?“I don’t blame Nato for the fact that Russia has invaded Ukraine. What I say is look at the thing historically, and look at the process that could happen at the end of the Ukraine war.”Mr Corbyn has founded the Peace and Justice Project, a campaign group that some believe he could convert into a political party – a banner under which he could run.Asked whether he could rule out doing so, he replied: “I don’t know what the future is going to bring.” More

Boris Johnson has forced to condemn “misogyny” among his own MPs, after an angry backlash against claims that Angela Rayner deliberately distracts him by uncrossing her legs in the Commons.The prime minister is embroiled in a damaging sexism row after “anonymous” Conservative MPs alleged tactics similar to Sharon Stone’s infamous scene in the 1992 film Basic Instinct.Ms Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, accused Mr Johnson of being behind what she called the “desperate, perverted smears” which also targeted her working-class background, she protested.“It is the PM who is dragging the Conservative Party into the sewer – and the anonymous Tory MPs doing his bidding are complicit,” she tweeted.The Conservatives first tried to brush off the controversy, Oliver Dowden, the party chair, dismissing the story in The Mail on Sunday as “totally ludicrous”.But, as criticism grew, the prime minister was forced to step in, tweeting that, despite the political divide with Ms Rayner: “I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her today.”He made no mention of the sexism having apparently come from his own MPs and it is understood there will be no attempt to establish who was behind the briefing.It was also pointed out that the culture secretary Nadine Dorries posted an identical tweet, raising questions over whether Mr Johnson had written the words himself.The story claimed that Tories MPs accuse Ms Rayner of using her feminine charms both when she stands in for Sir Keir at prime minister’s questions and when she sits alongside him.“She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the [Commons] terrace,” one MP was quoted saying.Ms Rayner was also said to know “she can’t compete with Boris’s Oxford Union debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks”. In response, Labour’s deputy leader tweeted: “Women in politics face sexism and misogyny every day –and I’m no different.”“Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin. They know exactly what they are doing. The lies they are telling.“The potted biography is given – my comprehensive education, my experience as a care worker, my family, my class, my background. The implication is clear.”In response to the prime minister’s post, Ms Rayner added: “Thank you.” Labour suggested it had no plans to ask for an inquiry into who briefed the allegation.But Keir Starmer said the sexism displayed by those who spoke to the Sunday paper was a “disgraceful new low from a party mired in scandal and chaos”.Sajid Javid, the health secretary, as among other senior Tories who spoke out, tweeting: “If an MP or MPs really said this then it’s utterly shameful. No woman in politics should have to put up with this.” More

Patel outlines Rwanda plan, Johnson visits India and France goes to the polls | This Week in PoliticsDeputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has hit out at a story in the Mail on Sunday this morning which suggested she had been using a “Basic Instinct ploy” to distract Boris Johnson in the Commons.The paper claimed that Ms Rayner had been accused by her Tory colleagues of putting the prime minister “off his stride” in the chamber by crossing and uncrossing her legs.Ms Rayner said she believed the prime minister was himself behind the the “desperate, perverted smears” which likened her body language toward the PM to Sharon Stone’s iconic scene in the 1992 erotic thriller.Prime minister Boris Johnson has since been forced to publicly denounce the blatant “misogyny” directed at the Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne.Tweeting today, Mr Johnson said: “As much as I disagree with Angela Rayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”But the PM’s criticism has become the subject of ridicule on Twitter after beady-eyed users spotted that culture secretary Nadine Dorries shared an identical tweet in condemnation of the accusations against Ms Rayner.Show latest update

1650811885Angela Rayner backed by cross-party support after Tory Basic Instinct ‘smear’Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 15:511650810704Opinion: ‘There’s an obvious alternative to the government’s Rwanda plan – they’re just overlooking it’When parliament debated Patel’s Rwanda deal this week, she repeatedly made the claim that her opponents had no alternative to her plan. Critics might disagree, but they offered no solution to what to do about English Channel crossings in her view – a point many have bitterly contested, writes Thom Brooks.But there is a clear alternative that would be a far better solution.We might think it makes much better sense to return English Channel small boats to France or wherever in Europe they set off from than to pack them up and ship them 4,000 miles away. The priority is to organise their extradition – not to Rwanda – but to France or elsewhere in the European Union.This might sound complicated, but it isn’t.Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 15:311650809786Watch: Dowden dismisses story accusing Rayner of using ‘Basic Instinct’ ploy at PMQsDowden dismisses story accusing Rayner of using ‘Basic Instinct’ ploy at PMQsEmily Atkinson24 April 2022 15:161650808840Boris Johnson forced to condemn Tory ‘misogyny’ over Angela Rayner Basic Instinct ‘smear’Boris Johnson has forced to condemn “misogyny” among his own MPs, after an angry backlash against claims that Angela Rayner deliberately distracts him by uncrossing her legs in the Commons.The prime minister is embroiled in a damaging sexism row after “anonymous” Conservative MPs alleged tactics similar to Sharon Stone’s infamous scene in the 1992 film Basic Instinct.Ms Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, accused Mr Johnson of being behind what she called the “desperate, perverted smears” which also targeted her working-class background, she protested.Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has more:Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 15:001650807617Defending the PM only ‘degrades’ democracy, says Labour MPPrime minister Boris Johnson is trying to “tar everyone with the same brush and undermine democracy in order to get away with his own failings”, a Labour MP has said.Ian Murray said that Mr Johnson and his government are “unfit to govern” Britain, adding that defending him only “degrades” democracy.He told BBC Scotland: “We’re going through probably the biggest cost-of-living crisis in the history of this country, where many are discovering whether they can pay their bills, whether or not they can make a decision about heating or eating, and we seem to be consumed by a prime minister who’s completely unfit for office.“He’s not just been doing this as prime minister. Every career he’s had, he’s either been fired from or asked to leave because his integrity has been under question.“I just don’t think you should have that at any position in parliament, let alone prime minister.”Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 14:401650806627MoD update on war in UkraineThe latest UK intelligence update on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is as follows:“Ukraine has repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in the Donbas this week.“Despite Russia making some territorial gains, Ukrainian resistance has been strong across all axes and inflicted significant cost on Russian forces.Poor Russian morale and limited time to reconstitute, re-equip and reorganise forces from prior offensives are likely hindering Russian combat effectiveness.”Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 14:231650805642Watch: Patel outlines Rwanda plan, Johnson visits India and France goes to the polls | This Week in PoliticsPatel outlines Rwanda plan, Johnson visits India and France goes to the polls | This Week in PoliticsEmily Atkinson24 April 2022 14:071650804442Blackford: UK has had ‘massive missed opportunity’ to reduce nuclear threatThe UK has had a “massive missed opportunity” to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons, the SNP’s Westminster leader has said.Ian Blackford was speaking to Sophie Raworth on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme.Asked about the SNP’s ambition to remove the Trident nuclear deterrent from the Clyde Naval Base, Mr Blackford said the UK should have acted sooner to remove itself as a threat amid suggestions Vladimir Putin could use such weapons in his war in Ukraine.Mr Blackford said: “You’ve got someone [Putin] that you don’t know if they’re prepared to press that button or not.“There’s been a massive missed opportunity over the course of the last decades, because we should have been getting round the table with the Russians and others, and making sure that we were reducing the threat from nuclear weapons, reducing nuclear warheads.Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 13:471650803242Jeremy Corbyn will not be a Labour MP again after attack on Nato, Keir Starmer suggestsThe former party leader was exiled for refusing to retract his insistence that the extent of antisemitism in Labour during the years he led it had been “dramatically overstated”.But he has now clashed with the current leadership by suggesting military alliances such as Nato can build up “greater danger” in the world and should ultimately be disbanded.Rob Merrick has more:Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 13:271650801675We have to make Westminster more welcoming to women, says Tulip SiddiqLabour’s Tulip Siddiq said there needed to be a “zero tolerance” approach to alleged harassment by MPs.It comes after The Sunday Times reported that three Conservative cabinet ministers and two Labour shadow cabinet ministers are facing allegations of sexual misconduct after being reported to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).Ms Siddiq, the shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: “I’m also very upset about these allegations, that there is more stories coming out of MPs abusing their position for sexual favours or to manipulate staff or all the accusations that are coming out.“I don’t care which party the MPs are from, there has to be an independent review, there has to be an independent panel that looks into this.“If there are people from my party, there should be a zero tolerance to this. If there are people from Government, there should be a zero tolerance.“We have to make Westminster more welcoming for female MPs but also staff members as well.”Emily Atkinson24 April 2022 13:01 More

Claims that Conservative MPs have accused Angela Rayner of deliberately distracting Boris Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs in the Commons are “ludicrous”, the party chair says.Anger is growing over an extraordinary newspaper story that Tories liken the deputy Labour leader’s tactics to a fully-clothed equivalent of Sharon Stone’s infamous scene in the film Basic Instinct.It has been widely condemned as blatant sexism – while also reflecting badly on Mr Johnson himself, if he cannot focus when confronted with a woman’s legs.But Oliver Dowden dismissed the claims, in The Mail on Sunday, while carefully stopping short of a denial that certain Conservatives may have made the allegation.“This is a totally ludicrous story that I don’t recognise in any way at all,” the party chair told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.But Tulip Siddiq, a Labour shadow treasury spokeswoman, hit out at Mr Dowden in failing to go further in criticising the story.“I think he should have been stronger in condemning this,” she told the same programme.And Ms Rayner said she had no doubt that Mr Johnson himself was behind what she called the “desperate, perverted smears” – which were also targeting her working-class background.“Women in politics face sexism and misogyny every day – and I’m no different,” she added.“I stand accused of a “ploy” to “distract” the helpless PM – by being a woman, having legs and wearing clothes. I am conspiring to “put him off his stride”. The rest I won’t repeat – but you get the picture.”She added: “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin. They know exactly what they are doing. The lies they are telling.“The potted biography is given – my comprehensive education, my experience as a care worker, my family, my class, my background. The implication is clear.“But it is the PM who is dragging the Conservative Party into the sewer – and the anonymous Tory MPs doing his bidding are complicit.”It was claimed that the Tories accuse Ms Rayner of using her feminine charms both when she stands in for Sir Keir at prime minister’s questions and when she sits alongside him.“She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the [Commons] terrace,” one MP was quoted saying.Mr Dowden also admitted that Mr Johnson’s fine for attending an illegal party is more serious than a speeding ticket – after a cabinet minister suggested the offences are similar.Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, was ridiculed by making the comparison, also wrongly claiming that Tony Blair was handed a parking ticket while in No 10.But, asked if it was right to compare breaching Covid rules to a speeding offence, Mr Dowden replied: “It is not a comparison I would make.” More

Keir Starmer is calling for asylum seekers trapped in “misery” in French camps to be allowed to apply to come to the UK, to ease the Channel crossings crisis.The policy – also proposed by Paris, but rejected by Priti Patel – would succeed where sending refugees on what’s been dubbed “a one-way ticket” to Rwanda will fail, the Labour leader said.Sir Keir said the move would create the “safe and legal routes” needed for asylum seekers and should be combined with international action to crack down on people traffickers.He branded the Rwanda plan “distraction tactics to stop everybody talking about the wrongdoing of the prime minister and the cost of living crisis”.And he said: “I’ve been in those camps on the north coast of France and the desperate situation of people. I’ve seen children, the same age as my children, in tents in those camps, in the most awful circumstances.”Sir Keir said the asylum seekers needed help to “understand where they do have rights to go to other countries” – including the right “to apply in France or somewhere else”.“What you see in those camps is the human misery of people who are tied to criminal gangs and they need the support to help them go through safe and legal routes.”Asked where UK applications should be made, he told the BBC: “You could do it along the route, but the best place would be country nearest where they are fleeing from.”He argued similar schemes have been set up in the past, adding: “We’ve set up schemes for Afghanistan.”“I don’t accept the proposition that it’s simply not possible to have a better system or the one that we’ve got,” Sir Keir insisted.The comments are an attempt to flesh out calls for “safe and legal routes” after Ms Patel claimed, wrongly, that no alternatives to her Rwanda plan have been put forward.The home secretary has argued deportation can curb trafficking across the Channel, but her own top civil servant said there is no evidence to back it the argument.The policy faces an inevitable challenge in the courts and has embroiled the prime minister in a damaging row with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who also condemned it.Although it was initially briefed that only single men would be flown out, Ms Patel, the home secretary, 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.In talks last year, France urged the UK to process asylum claims on its side of the Channel – to prevent attempts at the deadly crossing – but ministers argued it would increase the number of migrants. More

Three Conservative cabinet ministers and two Labour shadow cabinet ministers have been reported to a parliamentary watchdog that deals with complaints against MPs, it has been reported.Three members of Boris Johnson’s team and two from Sir Keir Starmer’s are facing allegations of sexual misconduct, according to The Sunday Times. They are among 56 MPs who have been referred to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) in relation to about 70 separate complaints, it reported.The allegations range from making sexually inappropriate comments to more serious wrongdoing, the paper said, with at least one complaint believed to involve criminality and an allegation that an MP “bribed a member of staff in return for sexual favours”.The ICGS was set up as an independent process with cross-party backing in 2018 after the so-called Pestminster scandal, which saw the spotlight shone on sexual harassment in the rooms and corridors of power.It operates a hotline allowing those who work in Westminster, including the staff of MPs and peers, to ring in to lodge a complaint or seek advice. It exists to allow workers to report experiences of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct. They can also report having been witness to, or aware of, such behaviour.According to the body’s 2021 annual report, the service had been used by people stating they were MPs.In a statement on its website, Jo Willows, the director of the ICGS said the service is an “important step forward in tackling inappropriate behaviour in our workplace”.Allegations made to the ICGS are private and confidential and political parties are not given information about who has been reported.A union representing senior civil servants said more was needed to be done to stamp out harassment in parliament.FDA general secretary Dave Penman said: “Whilst some of the procedures for raising complaints have improved, the fundamental balance of power between MPs and the staff they employ has not.“Where that exists it will inevitably be exploited, either by those who do not have the skills to manage staff effectively, or those with more malevolent intent.“It can come as no surprise therefore that if the circumstances that allowed bullying and harassment to flourish have not changed fundamentally, what we are seeing is this number of complaints being raised now that we at least have an independent mechanism for dealing with them.“Parliamentary authorities need to address the fundamental causes of bullying and harassment, rather than simply rely on an enforcement mechanism that only protects those who feel able to raise complaints.”Mr Penman said that meant “looking again at the employment relationship between MPs and the staff”, with a view to reforming the model of having 650 individual employers.He said authorities should instead consider establishing a new employment model that “will help protect staff whilst maintaining the level of service that MPs need to support their vital work”.A government spokesperson said: “We take all allegations of this nature incredibly seriously and would encourage anyone with any allegations to come forward to the relevant authorities.”Downing Street and Labour said they were unable to comment.Additional reporting by PA More