UK Politics

Rishi Sunak said criticism of his wife over her family company’s failure to end ties with Russia had been “upsetting” – as he compared the attacks to the Will Smith Oscars slap scandal.Speaking to the BBC’s Newscast podcast, the chancellor said he had a difficult week and joked: “Someone said, ‘Joe Root, Will Smith, and me – not the best of weekends for any of us’.“But I feel, on reflection, both Will Smith and me having our wives attacked – at least I didn’t get up and slap anybody, which is good,” he told Laura Kuenssberg.Mr Sunak added: “You know, I think it’s totally fine for people to take shots at me. It’s fair game. I’m the one sitting here and that’s what I signed up for.”The chancellor has been forced to deny his family is profiting from Vladimir Putin’s regime following reports about his wife’s financial investments.He has come under pressure over his wife Akshata Murthy having a 0.91 per cent stake in IT and services giant Infosys – a company founded by her father which continues to operate in Russia. He told the BBC: “Actually, it’s very upsetting and, I think, wrong for people to try and come at my wife. And you know, beyond that actually, with regard to my father in law, for whom I have nothing but enormous pride and admiration for everything that he’s achieved.”The chancellor added: “No amount of attempted smearing is going to make me change that because he’s wonderful and has achieved a huge amount, as I said, I’m enormously proud of him.”Labour and the Liberal Democrats say Mr Sunak still has “serious questions” to answer over Ms Murthy’s reported £690m stake in Infosys.And Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko has warned that companies retaining ties to Russia are helping Putin “to buy the bullets that are killing Ukrainian children,” adding: “You have to live with the fact it’s bloody money.”Mr Sunak has previously told British businesses to “think carefully” about making any investments that would benefit Mr Putin’s regime.Asked whether Infosys – which has four offices in the UK but has reportedly kept offices in Moscow – was sending such a message, Mr Sunak told Sky News: “I have absolutely no idea because I have nothing to do with that company.”Meanwhile, the chancellor also admitted to the BBC that his approach to the cost of living crisis had been unpopular and “difficult for people to hear”.Despite criticism of his Spring Statement from the opposition, charities and some Tory MPs, Mr Sunak said he remained “confident in what we’ve done” to support people struggling with rising bills.In a Newscast interview due to be released later on Thursday, the chancellor said “not going to deviate” from fiscal restraint in favour of “some short-term popularity gain”.Mr Sunak said: “I know it’s tough for people. We’re facing a very difficult situation with the price of things going up and I want to do what we can to ameliorate some of that – but I’m also honest with people that we can’t ameliorate all of it, sadly.”He added: “That’s difficult for people to hear, and the toughest part of this job is not being able to do everything that people would like you to do. Because we’re already borrowing quite a large amount of money, and I don’t think borrowing lots more would be sensible.”Mr Sunak admitted some of the moves he has made are “certainly unpopular”, adding: “But they’re responsible and will help us in the long-term and I’m not going to deviate from that just for some short-term popularity gain.”Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith became the latest figure to criticise the Spring Statement, telling LBC that Mr Sunak would need to “come back” with fresh measures on tackling the cost of living crisis. The senior Tory warned that the UK risks “1970s stagflation”. More

Keir Starmer says ‘cynical’ Tories are putting ‘re-election’ over helping British people pay billsBoris Johnson’s government’s response to the cost of living crisis is to “take more than they give”, Keir Starmer has claimed.The Labour leader criticised ministers’ decision to press ahead with a rise in national insurance contributions as the cost of fuel, food and energy increases.Speaking at the launch of his party’s local elections campaign in Bury, Mr Starmer said: “Living standards are at their lowest since the 1950s while tax is at the highest level for 70 years.“What’s their response [ to the cost of living crisis]? To take more than they give.”Earlier, a second cabinet minister admitted that government officials broke Covid laws at the height of lockdown.Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, said “that’s right” when asked if the rules had been breached.Ms Trevelyan’s comments to Sky News on Wednesday morning came after Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, conceded the law had been broken.But the PM still refuses to accept that the Met Police’s decision to hand out 20 fines to staff showed that lawbreaking had taken place at the heart of his government.Show latest update

1648735367We’re finishing up our live politics coverage for the day.Thanks for reading and join us again soon for all the latest updates from Westminster and elsewhere.Have a good afternoon.Matt Mathers31 March 2022 15:021648735005Rees-Mogg says Sun readers have ‘brilliant’ ideas for Brexit red tape bonfireBoris Johnson’s government is “building up the kindling wood” of a post-Brexit bonfire of red tape, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.The minister for Brexit opportunities had issued a plea to readers of a tabloid newspaper to help him identify ways to scrap EU regulations.Asked about his planned “bonfire” of EU regulation, Rees-Mogg told MPs: “We are building up the kindling wood thanks to the readers of the Sun who are sending in their brilliant suggestions.”SNP MP Brendan O’Hara said the idea of Brexit opportunities was a “mirage” – and highlighted the plight of touring musicians choked by Brexit red tape.“Many of our performers are now having to rely on the charity Help Musicians for a £5,000 grant so they can afford to take their performances to Europe. So why do our performers now require charitable help?”Cabinet Office minister Mr Rees-Mogg replied by referencing “Acts that were passed by the illegitimate Cromwellian parliament and burned them” in 1661 – saying he wanted to do the same to EU regulations.Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:561648734488Reprieve for capping fracking wells as government considers its energy strategyThe UK’s only shale gas wells will not be sealed up at the end of June after regulators lifted an order for them to be capped.Fracking firm Cuadrilla had been under instruction to plug its wells in Lancashire by the end of June 2022.But the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said the firm now had until the end of June 2023 to evaluate options for the Preston New Road and Elswick sites.The move comes ahead of the publication of the Government’s delayed energy strategy, with Boris Johnson under pressure from Tory MPs to end a moratorium on fracking.Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan said: “I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary for seeing the light and realising – just in time – how absurd it would have been to force us to pour concrete down Britain’s only two viable shale gas wells in the middle of an energy crisis.“But this suspension will have a cul-de-sac ending unless we now reverse the moratorium preventing us from using the wells (and others like them) to get shale gas out of the ground and flowing into British households.”Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:481648733478UK soldiers pitch in to pack helmets destine for UkraineBritish soldiers have taken up the unusual challenge of sorting and packing 84,000 surplus helmets bound for the Ukrainian military.Thirty members of the Rutland-based 2nd Battalion of The Royal Anglian Regiment are in the second week of a push to pack up all the helmets before the weekend at Shropshire’s MoD Donnington logistics hub.Working from morning until night, the Cottesmore-based troops are toiling away in a huge warehouse, where the surplus kit has been sent to from other military stores around the UK.The task includes physically stripping the helmets of any British Army webbing or identifying badges and packing them in crates each holding 100 pieces of headgear.Sergeant Oliver Church, a platoon Sgt from the regiment’s A Company, who is co-ordinating the work at Donnington, said: “The lads are more than happy to help the cause.“Hopefully what we are doing will be going to help our military counterparts in Ukraine, providing them with the vital protection they really need at the moment.”Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:311648732835Rishi Sunak pledge to match Ukraine donations funded by cutting aid to other countriesThe government’s pledge to match money donated to the Ukraine disaster appeal is being funded by taking cash from other parts of the aid budget, ministers have admitted.Labour accused the government of feigning an “act of generosity” by moving money around and told Rishi Sunak to open his wallet instead of “balancing the books on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable”.Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports: Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:201648731935Home Office ‘runs risk of another Windrush’ if it doesn’t transform culture, independent reviewer saysThe Home Office runs the risk of another Windrush scandal if it doesn’t implement further “systemic and cultural” changes, an inspection report has found.Independent expert Wendy Williams said that the department was at a “tipping point”, between making the changes necessary and losing focus.Commenting on her findings, Ms Williams added: “It may only be a matter of time before it faces another difficult outcome.”My colleague Holly Bancroft reports: Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:051648731027PM can’t comment on Covid law breaking while Partygate probe ongoing, No 10 insistsThe Prime Minister’s “position” in the so-called partygate investigation prevents him from commenting on whether coronavirus laws were broken in Whitehall, Downing Street has said.Two Cabinet ministers have now said the fact the Metropolitan Police have issued fixed penalty notices (FPNs) in the probe indicated laws had been broken.But Boris Johnson has so far dodged the question, refusing to be drawn into the discussion until the investigation has finished. More

Boris Johnson’s government has been warned that some forms of UK trade will “collapse” if further post-Brexit checks are introduced in July.The Independent revealed earlier this week that the government is exploring a delay to new controls on imports from the EU because of growing alarm over the cost of living crisis.The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks coming into force on 1 July will see inspections on imported agri-food and plant products, adding an estimated £1bn to the costs of trade.Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, said the checks would be a “nightmare” for small businesses – calling for the government to push them back.The food industry chief warned a potential “collapse” in trade among “small volume” British businesses if the new checks are imposed in the summer.“The full SPS controls on our meat and dairy goods – those are the nightmare in moving goods across the trade border for food because they require veterinary certification … they require potential inspection at arrival at port of entry,” he said.Mr Brennan said the Brexit red tape already imposed on small businesses trying to export has already led to a “dramatic decline in the amount of goods actually trying to leave the country.”He added: “It’s all about small businesses … That trade has become basically impossible on the export routes. It will become impossible on the import routes starting on the 1 July.”The Independent has learnt that some No 10 officials are “sympathetic” to the idea of further delay, with the prime minister expected to be briefed in the coming days.Jacob Rees-Mogg, the minister for Brexit opportunities, has argued for the checks to be abandoned altogether, and Mr Johnson will be asked to decide on next steps.On Thursday, Mr Brennan and other food industry bosses told MPs and peers on the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission that they would welcome further delay from government.“I think they should push back the 1 July deadline for SPS controls – this is the wrong year to do this,” said the Cold Chain Federation chief executive.Mr Brennan added: “We are facing rampant inflation on our food supply. We have huge supply chain stress. There is an unnecessary thing to put in on top of everything else.”Peter Hardwick, trade policy advisor the British Meat Processors Association, added: “We’re simply not ready. [for introduction of import checks in July]. Many [ports] are not well set up. It is very difficult, therefore, to plan.”Daniel Lambert, a wine importer based in Wales, told the commission that many small firms in his business were already struggling to survive the impact of existing red tape brought in by Brexit.“People used to seek out small producers and sell through independent wine shops,” said Mr Lambert. “That business is fundamentally being strangled to a death [by Brexit]. Many, many small wine shops will cease to trade … because it’s simply not affordable to do it any more.”July is meant to bring the final set of import controls. There are concerns that British ports do not have the necessary infrastructure – or veterinary experts – needed for the rigorous new checks, which involve random physical inspections.The Independent understands Mr Rees-Mogg is leading calls for the checks to be stalled or scrapped altogether, including at a meeting this week of the Global Britain (Operations) Committee.It comes as Mr Rees-Mogg claimed the government was “building up the kindling wood” of a post-Brexit “bonfire of red tape”.The Brexit opportunities minister has issued a plea to readers of a tabloid newspaper to help him identify ways to scrap EU regulations.“We are building up the kindling wood thanks to the readers of The Sun who are sending in their brilliant suggestions,” Mr Rees-Mogg told the Commons. More

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has “already lost” with his invasion of Ukraine after making series of “catastrophic misjudgements”, the UK Armed Forces’ chief has said.Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, said the president had allowed himself to be “misled” on the strength of his own forces, as Russia’s military gets pushed back in parts of Ukraine.“The coming weeks will continue to be very difficult – but in way ways Putin has already lost,” Sir Tony said in a speech to the Institute for Government on Thursday.“Far from being the far-sighted manipulator of events that he would have us believe, Putin has damaged himself through a series of catastrophic misjudgements,” the Armed Forces boss said.Sir Tony added: “Like all authoritarians, he allowed himself to be misled as to his own strength – including the effectiveness of the Russian armed forces.”The chief of the defence staff said Putin failed to understand “how deeply the notions of sovereignty, democracy and national identity have taken root in Ukraine” – and also failed to anticipate “the unity and cohesion” of the west.He added: “What is very clear is that is that Putin is a weaker and more diminished figure today than he was a month ago. Conversely, Nato is stronger and more united today than at any time I can remember.”The military leader’s remarks come as head of the GCHQ intelligence agency Sir Jeremy Fleming used a rare public speech to say it is clear that Mr Putin “misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people”.Sir Jeremy said: “He under-estimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanise. He underplayed the economic consequences of the sanctions regime. He over-estimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory.”He said in a speech in Australia: “We’ve seen Russian soldiers – short of weapons and morale – refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment, and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft.The GCHQ chief added: “And even though we believe Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what’s going on and the extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime.”However, western official said Russian forces have continued shelling the strategically important Ukrainian city of Chernihiv – despite promises to scale back operations.UK defence intelligence analysts believe only a “limited number” of units have withdrawn from around Kyiv following Russia’s announcement at talks in Istanbul on Tuesday that it would “fundamentally” reduce military activity near the capital and Chernihiv.The Ministry of Defence (MoD)’s latest intelligence assessment said “significant Russian shelling and missile strikes” have continued around Chernihiv.Around Kyiv, Russian forces continue to hold positions to the east and west “despite the withdrawal of a limited number of units”, meaning heavy fighting “will likely take place in the suburbs of the city”.Meanwhile, a former commander of UK land forces suggested Nato has been “defeated” because Vladimir Putin called the alliance’s bluff by invading Ukraine – arguing that a smaller coalition of nations will be needed to respond militarily to Moscow.General Sir Nick Parker, who has also acted as an adviser to Ukraine’s defence ministry, said Nato had adopted a defensive position by putting a protective ring around its members but not being prepared to develop an “offensive counter-strategy to Putin”.“Slightly controversially I suppose – I mean Nato’s been defeated, Nato’s bluff was called,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.Sir Nick said: “We were unable to stop the Russians trampling all over Ukraine and now Nato is holding the line of the 2004 expansion, along the line of the Baltic states and Poland and Hungary and Romania.”He added that the alliance does not have the capacity “to move on to the offensive with its 30 nations all with slightly different views” and so “we need to have a smaller coalition of nations who can start to develop an offensive counter-strategy to Putin”. More

The government’s pledge to match money donated to the Ukraine disaster appeal is being funded by taking cash from other parts of the aid budget, ministers have admitted.Labour accused the government of feigning an “act of generosity” by moving money around and told Rishi Sunak to open his wallet instead of “balancing the books on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable”.The government pledged earlier this month to match-fund donations to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s Ukraine humanitarian appeal up to £25 million – amid an outpouring of generosity from the public in light of the Russian invasion.But it has emerged the extra support promised by the government is part, not in addition to, the £220 million provided to Ukraine and will come out of the existing overseas development budget.And ministers have now clarified that the money will count towards the government’s commitment to spend just 0.5 per cent of GNI on aid – down from 0.7 per cent – which means cuts are being made elsewhere to fund it.A coalition of aid charities, warned earlier this month that “it would be ill-judged and morally wrong if our support came at the expense of other marginalised communities affected by extreme poverty, conflict and inequality”.But in a written statement responding to a question from Labour’s shadow international development secretary Preet Kaur Gill, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office minister James Cleverly said: “The humanitarian response to Ukraine is a priority for the FCDO and the international community. “The £25 million matched Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal funding is part of the £220 million allocated for life-saving humanitarian assistance. “This will come from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget and will be within the 0.5 percent settlement.”Labour’s Preet Kaur Gill told The Independent: “The public were led to believe the government matching their donations to the Ukraine DEC appeal was new funding and an act of generosity. “Instead, it turns out Rishi Sunak will take it from the aid budget for existing crises in places like Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. “After two years of aid cuts, this is another low: the government is again balancing the books on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable. Funds meant for Ukraine should be on top of the 0.5 per cent floor – not instead of it”.Foreign Secretary Liz Truss promised at the start of the month that the UK “will match, pound for pound” donations “from the Great British public, ensuring vital support reaches communities in desperate need of help”.Simon Starling, director of policy, advocacy and research at aid charity coalition Bond said: “The money we give to Ukraine – and all future crises – should be additional to the already-reduced UK aid budget, not taken from it, until the government meets its 0.7 per cent commitment. “Otherwise, we risk sabotaging our own efforts to assist people in crisis in countries such as Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Yemen.”Aid charities are already having to cut programmes across the world thanks to Mr Sunak’s decision to temporarily ditch the 0.7 per cent target for aid, which was previously being met. Mr Sunak’s move caused consternation among many Tory MPs, who were proud of the policy agreed under David Cameron. It is not clear which projects will lose out as a result of the Treasury’s reticence to spend extra cash, but projects that that have faced cuts due to the lower settlement include programmes covering polio vaccination, girls’ education, and clean water. More

The public should be told if Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie is issued with a fine for lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer has said.No 10 insists that it will reveal details of fixed penalty notices only if they are handed out to the prime minister himself or the head of the civil service Simon Case.There is no obligation on ministers, officials or members of Mr Johnson’s family to declare that they have received a penalty, and the police have made clear that they will not publicise names of those found to have broken Covid laws.Ms Johnson is alleged to have hosted a surprise party in No 10 for the PM’s 56th birthday in June 2020, and to have gathered with friends in the couple’s flat above No 11 that November to celebrate the resignation of aide Dominic Cummings by singing Abba songs.Labour leader Starmer said his focus was “laser-like” on the question of whether the prime minister himself breached coronavirus restrictions which he had imposed on the rest of the country.But he said that the public had a right also to know whether the PM’s wife had stuck to the rules.Starmer did not mention Partygate during the launch of Labour’s local election campaign in Bury, where he focused on the cost-of-living crisis.But speaking to broadcasters later, he said: “If Carrie Johnson gets a fixed penalty notice, then of course it should be made public.“My focus is on the prime minister because he is the one who sets the culture, he is the one who oversaw this criminality at his home and his office, he is the one that came to arliament and said all rules were complied with, which is clearly not the case.“So I do think Carrie Johnson should be named if she gets a penalty notice, but my focus is laser-like on the prime minister.”Neither Mr nor Mrs Johnson are thought to be among the individuals referred for fixed penalty notices by the Metropolitan Police earlier this week, after they determined that 20 breaches merited punishment. More

The £20 uplift to Universal Credit introduced during the Covid pandemic and abolished by chancellor Rishi Sunak last autumn played a part in lifting 400,000 children out of poverty, new figures released today have indicated.But charities said that the withdrawal of the uplift, coupled with the chancellor’s refusal to upgrade welfare benefits in line with soaring inflation, means that many of the same children will be thrust back into poverty this year.The Child Poverty Action group accused ministers of “turning their backs on low-income families” after a mini-budget in which Mr Sunak cut fuel prices for motorists and promised an income tax cut for workers, but left the annual benefit increase at 3.1 per cent in a year when inflation is expected to reach almost 9 per cent.Independent economic thinktank the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that the “benign” impact of the £20-a-week payment and Mr Sunak’s furlough scheme meant that the incomes of Britain’s poorest households actually rose by almost 4 per cent during the pandemic.But IFS associate director Jonathan Cribb said that they were likely to fall back again this year as taxes rise and earnings and benefits fail to match inflation.The government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis showed it is “to some extent unable and to some extent unwilling to protect household incomes, including for the poorest, in the way that it managed to do during the pandemic”, said Mr Cribb.CPAG said that even after 400,000 children being lifted out of relative poverty in 2020/21, today’s figures showed that 3.9 million – more than a quarter (27 per cent) of all the country’s children – were in poverty, after housing costs are taken into account.This was 300,000 higher than when Conservative-led governments took power in 2010/11.More than one in five (22 per cent) children – a total of around 900,000 – was living in a household classified as food insecure.The group’s chief executive Alison Garnham said: “Today’s figures show that government has the power to protect children from poverty. But in a week when the chancellor made clear he was comfortable with his choices and the prime minister claimed child poverty had been left out of his plan for the country ‘by accident’ it looks like ministers have turned their backs on low-income families.“Many of the children who were lifted out of poverty by the £20 increase to universal credit have already been forced back over the brink by the government’s actions.  And as millions struggle with spiralling costs, we know the picture will worsen.   “Government must step in to support hard-pressed families by increasing benefits by 8 per cent to match inflation.”Dan Paskins, director of UK impact at Save the Children, said: “There is a clear message from these statistics: strengthening the social security system is the most effective way to lift children out of poverty. But instead of building on the policies introduced during the pandemic, the UK government has taken several steps backwards.“On top of the £20 cut to Universal Credit last year, families are now facing another real-terms cut to their incomes because the chancellor has failed to increase benefits in line with inflation.“For months, parents have been telling us that they’re skipping meals, turning off the heating and electricity and taking on unsustainable amounts of debt. Children are going to school hungry and feeling anxious about what this crisis means for their family.“The government must invest in social security now, before families are forced into even more desperate situations. And in the longer term, we need to see more ambitious strategy to lift families’ incomes. Because it’s simply not acceptable that in one of the richest countries in the world, more than a quarter of children are growing up in poverty.”Mark Russell, chief executive at the Children’s Society, said: “It’s a stain on our nation that nearly a third of children – around 3.9m – were living in poverty last year.“The looming cost-of-living crisis will undoubtedly make matters worse as more desperate families struggle to make ends meet. Some will face impossible choices between heating and eating. Compared to the overall population, children remain more likely to be in low-income households. “This is unacceptable. The spring statement did not go far enough to help families facing the frightening prospect of rising prices and higher bills. The government must provide more targeted and extensive help as a matter of urgency.”A government spokesperson said: “Latest stats show there were 2 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10, and 600,000 fewer compared to 2019/20. These figures reflect the temporary emergency support we provided during the pandemic.“The landscape now is vastly different, and it is right that our focus has shifted to filling the record number of vacancies as we know that work is the best and most sustainable route out of poverty.“This is backed up by over £22bn of targeted investment to support low-income households. We have made permanent changes to Universal Credit that mean claimants in working households are £1,000 better off on average, cut fuel duty by 5p a litre and set out our £9.1bn energy rebate.“This support is all in addition to a rise in the minimum wage to £9.50 from tomorrow and cutting National Insurance for more than 30m people from July.” More

A government minister has admitted Covid laws were broken after the Metropolitan Police issued 20 fixed-penalty notices linked to partygate scandal – despite No 10’s refusal.Repeatedly pressed on the issue, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, eventually replied “that’s right” when asked if laws were broken in Whitehall.It comes after Boris Johnson was at odds with his deputy, Dominic Raab, over the scandal, as he refused to to endorse the justice secretary’s admission that Covid regulations were broken.Mr Raab’s comments followed 24 hours in which No 10 had refused to accept the decision of the Met police to issue 20 fines for lockdown breaches amounted to proof of law-breaking.During a committee yesterday, the prime minister repeatedly ducked questions on the issue, stressing he would not comment until Scotland Yard had concluded its probe into 12 events held in No 10.Quizzed on whether Mr Raab “misspoke” after he suggested on Wednesday morning there were breaches of the law, Ms Trevelyan told Sky News: “No, he is the justice secretary and he has set out a position.“I think if you or I get a fine, we hopefully pay it and move on from there. And I hope, and I assume, that those who have been fined by the police will pay their fines and that will be the punishment that they have accepted.”Pressed on whether 20 fines being issued meant there were 20 instances of people breaking the law, she said: “Well, that’s right. They’ve broken the regulations that were set in the Covid Act, and police deem that that was what they did and therefore they’ve been fined accordingly.”Asked why the PM would not say this, she added: “Because, as I say, he wants to wait until the whole process of the police review has been done.”Under initial questioning, Ms Trevelyan declined to answer the question of whether the fines amount to law-breaking, echoing the prime minister’s view that she wanted to allow the force to continue their work without “interference and commentary”.“We will see when the full, completed report is done and then Sue Gray will be able to publish hers and we’ll be able to discuss it in detail,” she added.Addressing the issue on Wednesday during a session of the liaison committee, the prime minister was asked whether he accepted “there has been criminality committed”, given Scotland Yard’s decision to issue 20 fixed-penalty notices.“I have been, I hope, very frank with the House about where I think we have gone wrong and the things that I regret, that I apologise for,” he told MPs.“But there is an ongoing investigation… I am going to camp pretty firmly on my position. I won’t give a running commentary on an ongoing investigation.” More