UK Politics

Boris Johnson is facing fresh sleaze allegations after appearing to back a plan for a new “Great Exhibition” put forward by the Tory donor who funded his luxury flat redecorations.The prime minister told Lord Brownlow he was “on the great exhibition plan” in a WhatsApp message in which he described his Downing Street rooms as “a bit of a tip” – and pleaded for more money.Two months later, the donor joined a meeting with the culture secretary “to discuss plans for Great Exhibition 2.0” – a showcase of British innovation later renamed “Festival UK” – a government document revealed.The link was exposed after Mr Johnson’s ethics adviser demanded to know why WhatsApp exchanges were kept secret in his probe into the controversial £142,000 refurbishment.In a new letter to the prime minister, Christopher Geidt attacked the failure to pass on the messages – blamed on a change of mobile phone – as “extraordinary”, warning public faith in government had been dented.He continued to conclude there was no breach of the ministerial code, but did not fully exonerate Mr Johnson, ahead of a further possible inquiry by the parliamentary commissioner for standards.Lord Geidt expressed “doubt” on whether he would have found that the prime minister “took steps to make the relevant declaration”, had he known the full story.Opposition parties demanded to know what Mr Johnson promised about an exhibition – after Lord Brownlow’s WhatsApp reply pledged to get the flat funding “sorted ASAP” and added: “Thanks for thinking about GE2.”Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, alleged: “It appears that Lord Brownlow had access to the prime minister and culture secretary to discuss Great Exhibition 2 because he was paying for his luxury flat renovations.”And Wendy Chamberlain, the Liberal Democrat chief whip, said: “It stinks of the worst kind of Conservative cronyism, with Boris Johnson seemingly happy to scratch his donor’s back to get his flat spruced up in return.”Downing Street insisted the idea for “Great Exhibition 2” was “not taken forward” – arguing “Festival UK” was a different project entirely – but was unable to explain the differences between them.Asked if the prime minister’s support was sought in exchange for “giving him some cash for the flat refurb”, the spokesperson replied: “No. This isn’t something that we’ve taken forward.”It then emerged that, on 18 January last year, then culture secretary Oliver Dowden met with Lord Brownlow and Royal Albert Hall bosses “to discuss plans for Great Exhibition 2.0”.Ms Rayner added: “No one should be able to buy access or exchange wallpaper for festivals. Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer.”The new controversy comes on top of a stinging rebuke delivered by Lord Geidt for the failure to hand over the messages for his inquiry, which concluded in May last year.No 10 admitted officials failed to take up Lord Brownlow’s offer to provide “all the material”, arguing it feared compromising a parallel probe by the Electoral Commission.In his letter to his adviser, Mr Johnson agreed it was not “acceptable” that the Cabinet Office “at the very least did not inform you of the position they had taken”.He offered a “humble and sincere apology” for what happened – but insisted he did not recall asking Lord Brownlow for the funds for the lavish refit of the No 11 flat.Interviewed at a vaccination centre, the prime minister was asked if he expected people to believe he had forgotten to disclose key evidence simply because it was no longer stored on his phone.“I followed the ministerial guidance at all times – and yes,” he replied, declining to expand on what happened.The released messages revealed he told the donor: “Parts of our flat are still a bit of a tip and am keen to allow Lulu Lytle to get on with it,” referring to the designer whose wallpaper sells at more than £800 a roll.Lord Brownlow funded the redecorations, as attempts to set up a blind trust faltered, before Mr Johnson finally settled the bill – standing at £112,000, with £30,000 met by the taxpayer.The controversy was reignited when last month’s Electoral Commission report revealed the prime minister personally asked the peer for more funds, in November 2020.Yet he told Lord Geidt that he knew nothing about the way the work was being funded until three months later, triggering accusations that the adviser was misled.In his letter to his watchdog, sent on 21 December, Mr Johnson blamed replacing his phone number due to “security issues” – which meant he “did not have access to my previous device and did not recall the message exchange”. More

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has apologized after a government ethics investigator criticized the U.K. leader and his staff for failing to disclose messages he exchanged with a donor about financing the redecoration of his official residence.Christopher Geidt the independent adviser on minister’s interests, wasn’t informed of the messages last spring when he investigated the so-called “cash for curtains” scandal. They came to light in early December as part of a separate inquiry by election regulators.While Geidt said the new disclosure didn’t change his finding that Johnson had not violated the ministerial code, he expressed “grave concern” that the information wasn’t turned over to him earlier. Geidt’s comments were published Thursday when Johnson’s office released letters he exchanged with the adviser.“This present episode provides evidence of insufficient care for the role of your Independent Adviser,” Geidt wrote to Johnson on Dec. 17. “Beyond that, however, I believe a far greater threat to public confidence attaches to the exchanges unrecalled, the messages undisclosed, the data unconsidered and the subsequent misjudgements about the impact of the messages which I have had to weigh in this initial advice.”In response, Johnson acknowledged that WhatsApp messages he exchanged with Conservative Party fundraiser David Brownlow weren’t disclosed to Geidt until after the Electoral Commission concluded its inquiry on Dec. 9. Johnson said this was due to security issues and an effort not to interfere with the Electoral Commission’s work, though he apologized for not providing a “fuller explanation” at the time of Geidt’s initial investigation.“I am sorry that the Office of Independent Adviser has been put in this position and can only repeat the humble and sincere apology I gave when we discussed this matter earlier today,” Johnson wrote on Dec. 21.Geidt, whom Johnson appointed as independent adviser on ministerial standards, had previously criticized the prime minister for “unwisely” failing to determine the source of funding for the pricey renovations. The project cost as much as 200,000 pounds ($233,000), according to news reports.British prime ministers receive a government grant of up to 20,000 pounds to refurbish the official residence when they move in. Johnson proposed setting up a charitable foundation to cover the additional costs, but that was ruled inappropriate and Brownlow stepped in to pay the bills, Geidt said in his initial report. Johnson later reimbursed the money.The project has dogged Johnson for months, amid criticism from political opponents that he has been less than transparent about the financial arrangements and was slow to file the required disclosures about Brownlow’s involvement.The allegations provided fodder for pointed questions in Parliament and from the media, after newspapers suggested that the bills skyrocketed as the prime minister’s fiancée, now his wife, hired a celebrity interior designer and splashed out on items such as gold wallpaper and a sofa that sells for 15,000 pounds ($20,800). More

Amnesty International said Thursday it has independently confirmed that powerful spyware from the Israeli surveillance software maker NSO Group was used to hack a Polish senator multiple times in 2019 when he was running the opposition’s parliamentary election campaign.The Associated Press reported last month that Citizen Lab an internet watchdog group at the University of Toronto, found that the senator, Krzysztof Brejza, and two other Polish government critics were hacked with NSO’s Pegasus spyware. A global media consortium last year uncovered dozens of high-profile cases in which the NSO Group malware was employed to eavesdrop on journalists, politicians, diplomats, lawyers and human rights activists from the Middle East to Mexico. The Polish hacks are considered particularly egregious because they occurred not in a repressive autocracy but a European Union member state. The revelations have rocked Poland, drawing comparisons to the 1970s Watergate scandal in the United States and eliciting calls for an investigation and accountability. Although neither Citizen Lab nor Amnesty International determined who was behind the hacks, the victims all blame Poland’s right-wing ruling party, Law and Justice. Law and Justice leaders have denied knowledge of the hacks and at times mocked the reported findings while refusing to open an investigation. NSO Group does not identify its customers but says it only sells Pegasus to governments to fight terrorism and other serious crimes. The spyware allows its operators to vacuum up everything from instant messages and contacts to photos and to turn microphones and cameras into real-time spy tools. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called the Citizen Lab-AP findings “fake news” and suggested a foreign intelligence service could have done the spying — an idea dismissed by critics who say no other government would have any interest in the three Polish targets. John-Scott Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, said that “if (Polish government leaders) really believe this could be the action of a foreign service, it would be the height of irresponsibility not to investigate.” The senator’s mobile phone was hacked with Pegasus 33 times in 2019, mostly while Brejza ran the opposition’s campaign to unseat the Law and Justice-led government, Citizen Lab determined last month.Text messages stolen from Brejza’s phone were doctored and aired by state-controlled TV as part of a smear campaign in the heat of the race, which the populist ruling party went on to narrowly win. Brejza has compared the actions to the tactics used in Russia against Kremlin critic and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Donncha O’ Cearbhaill, an expert with Amnesty International’s Security Lab, said he confirmed Citizen Lab’s finding after receiving raw backups of Brejza’s phone from the Canadian researchers. Amnesty uses independently developed tools and methods for its forensic analysis.Brejza told the AP he thinks the real victims of the hacking are Polish voters who were “deceived” by Law and Justice and “deprived of the right to fair elections.” The other two Polish targets confirmed by Citizen Lab were Roman Giertych, a lawyer who represents opposition politicians in a number of politically sensitive cases, and Ewa Wrzosek, an independent-minded prosecutor. Wrzosek formally asked the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw last month to investigate the hacking of her phone. The office refused, justifying its decision by saying that Wrzosek refused to hand over her phone. She said she did not relinquish the phone because she doesn’t trust the prosecutor’s office and wanted to participate in the evaluation of the device. “This is my right according to the law,” Wrzosek told the AP.In November, Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist reported that the country’s Defense Ministry had significantly cut the list of countries to which Israeli-produced spyware could be exported. The newspaper did not say that Poland was one of the nations removed from the list, but it was not among the approved countries noted in the report. Hungary, another European Union member where NSO Group’s Pegasus is confirmed to have been used against non-criminals, also was not on the shortened list. The Israeli Defense Ministry has said called the Calcalist report inaccurate, without elaborating. ____ Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report. More

Boris Johnson’s failure to check for missing WhatsApp messages crucial to the investigation into his lavish Downing Street flat refurbishment has been condemned by his adviser.Christopher Geidt has attacked the failure to take up an offer by Tory donor Lord Brownlow to provide the Cabinet Office “with all the material” behind the controversy.In a letter to the prime minister – released alongside an apology from Mr Johnson – Lord Geidt describes the omission as ‘extraordinary”.“I consider that the greatest possible care should have been taken to assemble all relevant material and this standard has not been met,” the letter states.It adds: “As a result, I believe this episode demonstrated insufficient regard or respect for the role of independent adviser.”Mr Johnson’s attempts to “reclaim public confidence” over the flats controversy – which broke electoral law, the Electoral Commission found – have been damaged.The prime minister has blamed a new mobile phone number for the lapse – and still faces the threat of a further inquiry by the parliamentary commissioner for standards.Interviewed at a vaccination centre, he was asked if he expected people to believe he had forgotten to disclose key evidence simply because it was no longer stored on his phone.“I followed the ministerial guidance at all times – and yes,” he replied, declining to expand on what happened. More

Jacob Rees-Mogg sidesteps Labour questions about National Insurance hikeBoris Johnson has apologised after his ministerial standards adviser condemned his failure to disclose messages he exchanged with a Tory peer over the funding of the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.In a letter, the prime minister said he was “sorry that the Office of Independent Adviser has been put in this position” and that he could “only repeat the humble and sincere apology” he had already offered Lord Geidt.Mr Johnson said he did not have access to his previous mobile phone, from which the messages had been sent, and “did not recall the message exchange”.But he said: “A fuller explanation of the circumstances should have been provided at the time of your investigation. I am sorry we did not do so.”Ministerial interests adviser Lord Geidt criticised the failing, saying it exposed “a signal deficiency in the standards upon which the independent adviser and, by extension, the prime minister have an absolute right to rely in establishing the truth in such matters”.Show latest update

1641480226Johnson condemned by watchdog Boris Johnson’s own adviser has condemned the prime minister’s failure to check for missing WhatsApp messages crucial to the investigation into his lavish Downing Street flat refurbishment.Christopher Geidt has attacked the failure to take up an offer by Tory donor Lord Brownlow to provide the Cabinet Office “with all the material” behind the controversy.In a letter to the prime minister – released alongside the apology from Mr Johnson – Lord Geidt describes the omission as “extraordinary”.Lord Geidt expressed his “grave concern” that the missing messages were not provided to him initially or when Boris Johnson’s old phone was accessed in June last year “for another purpose”.Jane Dalton6 January 2022 14:431641479422I’m sorry a full explanation was not given, says JohnsonIn a letter just released, the prime minister apologised for failing to reveal messages about his flat makeover, saying he was “sorry that the Office of Independent Adviser has been put in this position” and that he can “only repeat the humble and sincere apology” he had already offered Lord Geidt.Mr Johnson said he did not have access to his previous mobile phone, from which the messages had been sent, and “did not recall the message exchange”.But he said: “A fuller explanation of the circumstances should have been provided at the time of your investigation. I am sorry we did not do so.”Jane Dalton6 January 2022 14:301641479419I’m sorry a full explanation was not given, says JohnsonIn a letter just released, the prime minister apologised for failing to reveal messages about his flat makeover, saying he was “sorry that the Office of Independent Adviser has been put in this position” and that he can “only repeat the humble and sincere apology” he had already offered Lord Geidt.Mr Johnson said he did not have access to his previous mobile phone, from which the messages had been sent, and “did not recall the message exchange”.But he said: “A fuller explanation of the circumstances should have been provided at the time of your investigation. I am sorry we did not do so.”Jane Dalton6 January 2022 14:301641479173PM makes ‘humble and sincere apology’ over failure to reveal messages Breaking news: Boris Johnson has offered a “humble and sincere apology’’ over the failure to disclose messages relating to the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, in a letter to ministerial standards adviser Lord Geidt.Jane Dalton6 January 2022 14:261641478833MP faces trial accused of train travelwith Covid symptomsAn MP accused of putting people at risk by travelling between Glasgow and London by train with coronavirus symptoms is due to stand trial in August.Jane Dalton6 January 2022 14:201641477933Tories say BBC should be made to play God Save The Queen every dayThe culture secretary has endorsed calls by Tory MPs for the BBC to be made to play God Save the Queen at the end of daily programming.MP Andrew Rosindell said that singing the national anthem was “something that provides a great sense of unity and pride in our nation”.Jon Stone reports: Jane Dalton6 January 2022 14:051641477370PM: ‘It’s not true’ NHS does not have staff to cope Boris Johnson has said it is “not true” that the NHS does not have enough staff to cope with the pressures it is facing. On a visit to a vaccination centre in Northampton, the prime minister said: “I appreciate that the NHS is under huge pressure and yes, you’re quite right in what you say about the way it’s been continuous over the last 18 months – we’ve had wave after wave of Covid and our NHS has responded magnificently and they’ve kept going.“And of course I understand how frustrating it is to see another wave coming in, and I thank doctors, nurses, all health staff, everybody, for what they’re doing to keep going.”But he said staff numbers had been increased, and that combined with the calling back of retired staff and volunteers would ease the strain.Some 24 hospitals in England have declared critical incidents due to increasing numbers of staff being forced to isolate, and a cross-party group of MPs has warned of the consequences of Mr Johnson’s decision to “ride out” the Omicron wave without further restrictions, saying the backlog of almost 6 million patients on waiting lists in England would grow.Jane Dalton6 January 2022 13:561641475997No 10 also refuses to axe national insurance riseAs well as the chancellor, Downing Street is also resisting calls to scrap the national insurance hike despite the Cabinet rift over concerns it will heap further pressure on households struggling with the soaring cost of living.No 10 insisted on Thursday there were no plans to backtrack on the increase of 1.25 percentage points scheduled for April despite Jacob Rees-Mogg arguing to the Cabinet it should be axed.Jane Dalton6 January 2022 13:331641475652Sunak vows to press on with ‘responsible’ tax rise despite Rees-Mogg revoltChancellor Rishi Sunak has vowed to press ahead with a planned national insurance rise, despite opposition to the tax hike from his senior cabinet colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg, writes Adam Forrest.Mr Sunak said today that ditching the 1.25 per cent tax rise – planned to help meet the cost of social care reforms and growing NHS backlog – would be irresponsible.But he said he was “always listening” for ways the Treasury can support consumers through cost of living rises, particularly when it comes to increasing energy prices.Rishi Sunak said he understood people’s anxiety and concern about energy bills, adding: “We’ve got something called the warm homes discount, which discounts energy bills by £140, we’ve got something called the warm homes for pensioners, we have got the cold weather payments as well, winter fuel discounts, hundreds of pounds worth of help.“So there is support there for people but of course we’re always listening, making sure the policy we’ve got will support people in the way we want it to, and that’s what our track record over the last year or two shows.”Jane Dalton6 January 2022 13:271641475233Angela Rayner criticises Johnson over flat refurbishment messagesDeputy leader of the Labour party, Angela Rayner, has poked fun at Boris Johnson’s explanation for failing to disclose his messages to Tory donor. Ms Rayner wrote: “Ah the old “changed phone” trick! An oldie but a goodie. “The PM learning from his ministers on how to hide your dogdy Whatsapps.”She called for the letters between Lord Geidt, the peer investigating the Number 10 flat refurbishment, and Boris Johnson to be released immediately. Holly Bancroft6 January 2022 13:20 More

The BBC announced Thursday that it has appointed Deborah Turness as its new chief executive for news and current affairs, bringing to the broadcaster a vastly experienced journalist who previously held senior leadership positions at the news division of American TV network NBC.Turness, 54, comes to the BBC from British media company ITN where she is currently CEO The native of England will replace Fran Unsworth who is leaving at the end of January. “In the U.K. and around the world there has never been a greater need for the BBC’s powerful brand of impartial, trusted journalism,” Turness said in a statement.“It is a great privilege to be asked to lead and grow BBC News at a time of accelerated digital growth and innovation, when its content is reaching more global consumers on more platforms than ever before,” she added.BBC Director-General Tim Davie said Turness “brings a wealth of experience, insight, first-class editorial judgment and a strong track record of delivery” to her new role.He called her “a passionate advocate for the power of impartial journalism and a great believer in the BBC and the role we play, in the U.K. and globally.”When she begins her new new job, Turness will have responsibility for a team of around 6,000 that delivers broadcasts in more than 40 languages to almost half a billion people around the world, the BBC said.Turness joined NBC News in 2013, becoming the first female president of an American network news division, and later served as president of the network’s global arm.The BBC, founded in 1922, is Britain’s publicly funded but editorially independent national broadcaster. The rules governing its operations are set out in a royal charter that requires the corporation to be impartial, act in the public interest and be open, transparent and accountable. The broadcaster has come under pressure from some members of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party who accuse it of having a liberal bias. It also faced strong criticism last year about its integrity following a scathing report on its explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana. More

Boris Johnson has launched an attack on anti-vaxxers spreading “mumbo jumbo” and spouting “complete nonsense” on social media — despite the significant pressures faced by the NHS.Contrasting the Covid vaccine rollout to some European countries using “coercion” to jab their populations, the prime minister also stressed the government would maintain its “voluntary approach” to inoculation.As the number of NHS hospital trusts on critical alert level increased to 24 and cases of the Omicron variant spread rapidly, Mr Johnson insisted it would now time for the government to “call out” anti-vax campaigners.“When you look at what is happening to patients coming into hospital, a large number of them, perhaps 30-40 per cent of them, haven’t actually been vaccinated at all,” he stressed.“That’s increasingly true of people who go into intensive care — the large majority of them have not been vaccinate at all and the overwhelming majority have not been boosted.”While the vaccine rollout has reached tens of millions of people, an estimated 4.5 million people aged 18 and over in the UK have not yet had a first dose.Taking aim at anti-vaxxers, Mr Johnson went on: “I want to say this to the anti-vax campaigners, the people putting this out on social media: they are completely wrong.“You haven’t heard me say that before, because I think its very important we have a voluntary approach in this country and we’re going to keep a voluntary approach.As Italy announced on Wednesday that Covid vaccination would be mandatory for people over the age of 50 and Austria unveiled plans last year for for mandatory jabs for those over 14, Mr Johnson also insisted the UK would maintain a voluntary approach.“We’ve got much higher rates of vaccination in this country thanks to that community-led, voluntary approach — it’s a wonderful thing. Other European countries are going for coercion,” he said.“What a tragedy that we’ve got all this pressure on the NHS, all the difficulties that our doctors and nurses are experiencing and we’ve got people out there spouting complete nonsense about vaccination.“They are totally wrong, and I think it’s time that I, the government, call them out on what they’re doing. It’s absolutely wrong, it’s totally counterproductive, and the stuff they’re putting out on social media is complete mumbo jumbo.”On a visit to a vaccination centre, the prime minister also described the health and social care levy, which will be introduced in April as part of a hike in tax, as “very, very important” to clear the NHS backlog after reports of a cabinet rift emerged over the plans. More