Boris Johnson news: Macron ‘brands PM clown’ amid parliament security breach as man ‘jumps’ barrier

Parliament has been hit by a major security breach after an intruder jumped a barrier to gain access to Palace of Westminster.

Armed police officers chased down the male suspect and wrestled him to the ground inside New Palace Yard before leading him away.

One officer told The Independent the man accessed the yard by “jumping” a security barrier at the Carriage Gate entrance used by Boris Johnson and other ministers.

Earlier, French media reported that Emmanuel Macron branded Boris Johnson “un clown” in private conversations with advisers. The magazine Le Canard Enchaîné quoted the French president as saying that he was able to have serious conversations with the prime minister in private, only to find him “giving us a hard time” in public later.

The comments come amid an ongoing row between London and Paris over the Channel crisis, with both sides blaming the other for failing to stem the flow of refugees and migrants making the treacherous journey from Britain and France.

• Jacob Rees-Mogg: Parliamentary standards probe launched into Tory frontbencher

• Rishi Sunak shelves proposal to hike capital gains tax, pointing to ‘burden’

• France accuses UK of ‘quasi-modern slavery’ as new Channel crisis proposals put forward

Key Points

• Parliament security breach as man ‘jumps’ barrier into estate

• Macron ‘brands PM a clown’ amid ongoing row over migrant crisis

• PM refuses to deny reports of Downing Street parties during Covid lockdown

• Rees-Mogg to be investigated ‘over £6 million loans'

• MPs and peers tell Patel Channel pushback plans are unlawful

Good morning

11:34 , Matt Mathers

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage.

We’ll bring you updates from Westminster and elsewhere as the day progresses.

Breaking: Cabinet minister to be probed by standards commissioner

11:36 , Matt Mathers

It is understood that the inquiry relates to a series of loans totalling £6m from Rees-Mogg’s company Saliston Limited between 2018 and 2020.

Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock will have more on this developing story shortly:

Jacob Rees-Mogg being investigated by parliamentary standards watchdog

ICYMI: Channel boat push-backs are unlawful and will endanger lives, government told

11:38 , Matt Mathers

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) said pushbacks authorised by Priti Patel would “create a situation where state actors were actively placing individuals in situations that would increase the risk” of drowning.

Our home affairs and security correspondent Lizzie Dearden has the story:

Channel push-backs are unlawful and will endanger lives, government told

ICYMI: PM and senior No 10 staff accused of breaking Covid lockdown rules last Christmas

11:48 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson and his senior Downing Street staff have been accused of flouting Covid restrictions by hosting parties at No 10 last Christmas.

It has been alleged that the prime minister attended a packed leaving do for a top aide in November 2020 and even gave a speech while the rest of the country was in lockdown.

My colleague Tom Ambrose has more below:

Boris Johnson and No 10 staff accused of breaking Covid lockdown rules last Christmas

Why is Rees-Mogg being investigated?

12:00 , Matt Mathers

It appears as though Stone’s announcement today relates to a complaint made by Labour earlier this month.

The party reported the leader of the House of Commons to the standards commissioner to claim that he broke financial rules for MPs.

Labour said Rees-Mogg failed to declare £6 million worth of cheap loans from one of his own companies, Saliston.

Parliamentary records showed Rees-Mogg did not report that he received director’s loans from Saliston between 2018 and 2020.

Accounts for Saliston showed that the loans attracted an interest rate of around 0.8 per cent, which was below market rates.

The MPs’ code of conduct, which Rees-Mogg is being investigated over, does not specifically cover directors’ loans but it states: “Members shall fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the house in respect of the registration of interests in the register of members’ financial interests.

“They shall always be open and frank in drawing attention to any relevant interest in any proceeding of the house or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders.”

Watch: PM faces Starmer at PMQs

12:02 , Matt Mathers

‘All guidance was followed'

12:06 , Matt Mathers

Starmer kicks off the session by asking Johnson about claims that he held or attended parties in the lead up to Christmas last year during lockdown.

Johnson responds saying that “all guidance was followed” but does not deny gatherings took place.

He recommends Starmer does “the same with his own party”, which he claims deputy leader Angela is not invited to.

‘The defence seems to be that no rules were broken'

12:08 , Matt Mathers

Starmer replies saying, “the defence seems to be that no rules were broken”.

He brandishes a document which he says displays the Covid rules at the time.

“They’re very clear Mr Speaker. ‘You must not have a Christmas lunch or party’”.

‘I’ve said what I’ve said'

12:11 , Matt Mathers

PM again tries to bat away claims that he broke the rules, which first appeared in the Daily Mirror.

“I’ve said what I’ve said,” he says.

Johnson attempts to move the conversation onto what is happening this year with Covid rules.

“The important thing to do, Mr speaker, is not only to follow the guidance, which we have set out, but also to make sure that you wear a mask”.

He also encourages Britons to get their booster shots,

‘Both of those things can’t be true'

12:14 , Matt Mathers

Starmer says what we’re doing is asking the country to follow the rules, which he says is why his questions are important.

The Labour leader points out that the PM has not denied the parties took place but is claiming no rules were broken.

“Both of those things can’t be true,” he says.

‘Red flag because it’s unachievable'

12:17 , Matt Mathers

Starmer now attacks the government on its record of building hospitals.

He says Johnson “promised to build 40...page 10 of his manifesto”.

He cites reports by the Treasury and Cabinet Office saying that “the project needs a red flag because it’s unachievable”.

‘No, Mr speaker'

12:20 , Matt Mathers

When asked by Starmer if those reports are true, the PM replies: “No, Mr speaker”.

“He plays politics and asks frivolous questions,” he adds. “We’re delivering on the people’s priorities”.

PM claims record investments are going into the NHS.

He says the hospitals will be built with £36bn of investment, which he says the Labour Party voted against.

‘Let us all see it'

12:23 , Matt Mathers

Starmer says this is strange because “the government hasn’t been denying reports about the red flag”.

There is obviously “some confusion” on the government benches, he adds.

Starmer says to the PM, if he’s so confident in his answer, why doesn’t he publish the press report in full and “let us all see it”.

PM: We will build 40 hospitals

12:25 , Matt Mathers

Johnson insists that the government will build 40 hospitals.

But he dodges the question on why he won’t publish the report.

PM again says his government is investing record sums in the NHS and calls on Labour to get behind the extended booster programme.

‘The more we look at this promise, the murkier it gets'

12:29 , Matt Mathers

Starmer says he has a Department of Health document, sent to the NHS, which he claims offers advice to make it easier to talk about the programme.

“You might think that everyone knows what a new hospital is,” Starmer says.

“But this guide instructs everybody to describe refurbishments and alterations on existing hospitals as new hospitals”.

He adds: “The more we look at this promise, the murkier it gets”

How many are fix-up jobs?

12:32 , Matt Mathers

Starmer now asks the PM how many of the hospitals are “fix-up jobs” and how many are actually “new”.

PM says “you obviously don’t go around building on greenfield sites”.

He says it is the biggest hospital re-building programme the country has seen.

Appearing to admit that not all of the sites are now, Johnson says “what you do is rebuild hospitals”.

He refuses to put a figure on the questions asked by Starmer.

‘Not worth the manifesto paper they are written on'

12:37 , Matt Mathers

Starmer claims it is “the same old story from this PM; week in, week out defending the indefensible and broken promises”.

The Labour leader brings up the Paterson lobbying scandal, saying it is evidence “he tries to get his mates off the hook” when they have broken rules.

“He throws parties during lockdown.” he adds. He promised there would be no taxes, then put up taxes, Starmer goes on.

After bringing up other “broken” pledges on social care and rail improvements in the north, he asks the PM: “isn’t this the truth that any promises from this PM aren’t worth the manifesto paper they are written on”.

‘Drivelling on irrelevantly’

12:40 , Matt Mathers

PM claims Starmer is “drivelling on irrelevantly”.

He again brings up reports Rayner was not invited to his Christmas party.

Johnson says Labour has “no plan whatever” and again says his party is delivering on “the people’s priorities”.

He finishes by saying if he listened to Starmer the country would be back in lockdown.

Watch: Starmer accuses Johnson of ‘taking British public for fools’

12:54 , Matt Mathers

Full report: PM refuses to deny No 10 held Christmas party during lockdown last year

13:15 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson has refused to deny there was a Christmas party held at No 10 last year while lockdown curbs were in place – but claimed all Covid rules were followed.

My colleague Adam Forrest has more details below:

Boris Johnson refuses to deny No 10 held Christmas party during lockdown last year

Low-income Scots could get blanket winter payment from 2022

13:43 , Lamiat Sabin

About half a million households in Scotland will be given “certainty” in being able to pay for heating with a £50 payment every winter.

The Scottish Government is aiming to replace the current UK-wide Cold Weather Payment from next winter.

The current UK benefit pays £25 for each seven-day period where the temperature is forecast to be below freezing.

Under the new scheme, households receiving income-related benefits would automatically receive £50 every winter regardless of whether temperatures drop below zero for a set amount of time.

Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said: “Although Cold Weather Payments have been a valuable support for some during periods of very cold weather, there have been some years when hardly any payments have been made at all by the UK Government.

“If winters, as predicted, are due to become generally wetter and warmer then this may also reduce the numbers of Cold Weather Payments in the future. We want people to have certainty about receiving a payment.”

Last week, experts told MSPs that around 100,000 more households are expected to go into fuel poverty – and that more than 600,000 households are currently estimated to be struggling to pay for heating.

Schools to remain open for rest of term, says minister

13:50 , Lamiat Sabin

The government plans to keep schools open until the Christmas holidays, an education minister has said.

Children’s minister Will Quince said it was “deeply regrettable” that some school nativity plays have been cancelled but that the government wants to “see schools stay open.”

The minister told MPs in the Commons Education Committee: “That is certainly our plan.”

His comments came after Justin McCamphill – NASUWT teaching union’s national official for Northern Ireland – called on schools to cancel mass gatherings over Christmas amid staff shortages caused by Covid.

Mr McCamphill had also said that the government may need to consider a circuit-breaker closure of Northern Ireland’s schools to stop the spread of the virus.

Face masks are now being recommended in communal areas of England’s secondary schools and colleges following the emergence of the new omicron variant of Covid.

France urges EU to act against Britain in fishing dispute

14:05 , Lamiat Sabin

France’s minister for Europe has called on the EU to take “European measures” against Britain if there is no resolution to the post-Brexit row over fishing licences by 10 December.

The European Commission has said the dispute must be settled by that date as it upped the pressure on the UK in the negotiations.

Clement Beaune said today that it was not a Franco-British dispute, but one between the whole of the EU and the UK.

Mr Beaune said that French punitive measures – such as a ban on British trawlers landing their catches in French ports and tighter customs checks to hamper cross-Channel trade – remain “on the table” if a deal cannot be reached.

On the potential ban by the French, he added: “It’s one of the possible options but it’s better, to be honest, to have European measures.”

France’s maritime minister Annick Girardin also warned of European retaliatory measures, telling the Ouest France newspaper on Tuesday that “London is testing the solidarity of the European Union.”

Rape victims demoralised by ‘distressing’ justice system delays

14:15 , Lamiat Sabin

Rape victims are “lucky” if their case is heard in court within four years, lawyers have warned MPs.

MPs were told complainants get demoralised and “drop out of the system” as they wait for police to charge suspects.

Senior barristers and solicitors told the Commons Home Affairs Committee today that a lack of resources could be major factors behind the low prosecution rates for rape.

Kirsty Brimelow QC, vice chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “There are increasing delays which, I have to say, is very depressing and distressing.

“Having seen – in certainly my early years of practice – how cases involving complainants and sexual offences will be expedited, now you’re lucky if the case is heard within four years between complaint and trial. And it’s not all due to do with backlog.”

Figures published earlier this month showed police forces in England and Wales had recorded the highest number of rapes and the second highest number of sexual offences in a 12-month period.

But separate data shows the proportion of suspects being taken to court had fallen to a record low, and remains the lowest for rape cases.

Scottish Tory leader hit by standards probe

14:24 , Matt Mathers

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has also been added to the list of MPs that are under investigation by Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone.

The MP for Moray revealed last month that he had referred himself to the commissioner after failing to declare thousands of pounds in outside earnings from his second job as an MSP and third job as a football referee.

Like cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mr Ross is now being investigated over “registration of an interest under category one of the Guide to the Rules (Employment and Earnings)”.

PM: Pushback plans branded unlawful will go ahead despite drownings

14:35 , Matt Mathers

Controversial plans to “push back” refugee boats in the Channel will go ahead, despite 27 deaths last week and mounting legal challenges, Boris Johnson has vowed.

Our deputy politics editor Rob Merrick reports:

‘Push back’ of refugee boats will go ahead despite drownings, Boris Johnson vows

Ministers risk ‘endangering’ civil servants unless home working becomes default, union warns

14:45 , Matt Mathers

Ministers risk a “dereliction of duty” unless they move to make working from home the default position for civil servants where they can in a bid to combat the spread of the omicron Covid variant, Whitehall’s biggest union has warned.

My colleagues Simon Murphy and Anna Isaac report:

Ministers risk ‘endangering’ civil servants, Whitehall union warns

New poll: 55 per cent in favour of Scottish independence

14:55 , Matt Mathers

More than half of voters in Scotland are in favour of independence from the UK, according to a new poll.

An IpsosMori survey found 55 per cent of respondents said they would vote “Yes” in any future referendum against 45 per cent who would not.

Ipsos said support for breaking away from the UK is 5 percentage points higher than it was in early May.

Priti Patel bows to pressure to protect RNLI from being prosecuted for saving migrants’ lives

15:05 , Matt Mathers

Priti Patel has bowed to pressure to protect the RNLI and other charities from being prosecuted for rescuing asylum seekers in the English Channel.

A controversial suite of new laws would make it a criminal offence to “facilitate the entry of asylum seekers” by taking them ashore, even if not done for payment or any sort of criminal gain.

Our home affairs and security correspondent Lizzie Dearden reports:

Patel bows to pressure to stop RNLI being prosecuted for saving migrants’ lives

Who won PMQs?

15:15 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson was taken to task at PMQs earlier by Keir Starmer, who questioned the PM on claims he broke lockdown rules among other issues.

Who won the exchange? My colleague Kate Plummer at indy100 has this take on who came out on top:

Who won this week’s PMQs? We’ve scored Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer

Watch: Boris Johnson says border bill grants power to ‘turn migrants back at sea’

15:37 , Matt Mathers

Full report: Parliament security breach as man ‘jumps’ barrier

16:00 , Matt Mathers

My colleague Adam Forrest has more details on the security breach at parliament:

Man ‘jumps’ barrier into parliament in major security breach

Full report: Macron ‘brands PM a clown'

16:04 , Matt Mathers

Emmanuel Macron has branded Boris Johnson “un clown” in private conversations with advisers, according to reports in the French press.

Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock has the full report:

Macron called Boris Johnson ‘un clown’, French press reports

Westminster security breach ‘not being treated as a terror incident'

16:24 , Tom Batchelor

The Metropolitan Police confirmed a man was detained on suspicion of trespassing at around 3pm at Carriage Gates inside the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday.

It is not being treated as a terror incident, the force added.

Support for Scottish independence at 55 per cent, poll suggests

16:40 , Tom Batchelor

An opinion poll has put support for Scottish independence at 55 per cent, the highest level seen in polling data since the election.

The Ipsos Mori survey for STV News showed 55 per cent backing for Yes and 45 per cent for No among likely voters when undecideds were excluded.

Throughout 2021 the gap between No and Yes has been narrower in most successive opinion polls, with No maintaining a lead following the Scottish Parliament election.

A representative sample of 1,107 Scottish adults were interviewed by phone for Ipsos Morebetween November 22 and 29.

Carry on with Christmas plans, says Javid

16:55 , Tom Batchelor

People should carry on with their plans for Christmas, the health secretary has insisted, though he urged partygoers to take a Covid lateral flow test before attending events.

As the government accelerates the Covid booster programme to help slow down the spread of the new omicron variant, Sajid Javid said people should continue following government advice despite warnings from some health officials over the risks of socialising.

Boris Johnson also urged people to follow the current guidance but faced questions over whether lockdown rules were broken at a Christmas Party in Number 10 last year and insisted “all guidance was followed completely”.

Brexit talks between EU and UK are continuing, says Maros Sefcovic

17:13 , Tom Batchelor

Political and technical discussions between the EU and UK are continuing, Maros Sefcovic has said.

He said he will speak to the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost on Friday.

“I can assure you that I am sparing no efforts to reach solutions,” he told MLAs on the Stormont Executive Committee.

“We will remain calm and constructive but also firm. The EU stands united, our commitment to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement is absolute. The key prerequisite for this is the avoidance of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

“We hope that the United Kingdom government will follow down the path of engaging to find solutions because this is in everybody’s interests.

“Now is not the time anymore to insist on things that civil society organisations or businesses have not identified as a problem in my numerous engagements with them.”

Immigration minister feels ‘huge weight of responsibility’ after Channel tragedy

17:32 , Tom Batchelor

An immigration minister has said he feels a “huge weight of responsibility” after what has been described as the “worst-recorded migrant tragedy in the Channel”.

Tom Pursglove told MPs and peers the deaths of at least 27 people, including young children, was “unthinkable” and “horrendous”.

Asked by the Joint Committee on Human Rights if the government feels “any sense of responsibility” for the deaths, Mr Pursglove replied: “I feel a huge weight of responsibility as the minister for tackling illegal migration. And I think that all of us in this House feel an enormous weight of responsibility on this issue.

“And I feel that there is a profound duty to put these evil criminal gangs - that are responsible for this human misery, that treat individuals as cargo and are only interested in making a profit - out of business once and for all and to render this route unviable.

“All of the work that I’m doing is aimed in that direction and is working towards that outcome.

“I think what we saw last week is a dreadful tragedy. It is unthinkable.”

688 homeless deaths last year

17:51 , Tom Batchelor

A “devastating” 688 deaths of homeless people were registered last year in England and Wales, including 13 involving coronavirus, according to new estimates.

It is the first time the annual number of registered deaths has fallen since 2014, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

But it said the 11.6 per cent decrease from 2019 was not statistically significant.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said the government must “step in again to keep people safe from Covid and the ravages of homelessness this winter”.

She said: “If it wasn’t for the government’s Covid response to help people off the streets, even more lives would have been lost.

“As we head into another hard winter with the virus still circulating, we cannot leave anyone out in the cold. Our services are already being approached by people in need of emergency accommodation, who are being turned away by councils and often told they have no rights.”

Pressure mounting on No 10 over Christmas party claims

18:09 , Tom Batchelor

Lammy calls for apology over ‘lockdown Christmas party'

18:29 , Tom Batchelor

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has said Boris Johnson should apologise following allegations that a Christmas party was held in Downing Street last year during coronavirus restrictions.

The Daily Mirror said the PM gave a speech at a packed leaving do for a senior aide last November when the country was in the midst of the second lockdown.

The newspaper said members of his Number 10 team then held their own festive party days before Christmas, while London was under Tier 3 restrictions.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme about the reports, Mr Lammy said: “He should at the very least apologise. I didn’t spend last Christmas with my family because the lockdown came, I was here in the UK and my family had already left to go abroad.

“Many, many families have suffered sacrifices over this time because they’ve stuck to the rules. And time and time again with this government, it’s one rule for them, and that’s particularly government ministers, and another rule for everybody else.

“So at the very least, he should come clean with what happened, what was involved, how many people, what the breaches were, and at least an apology.”

Coastguard responded to ‘every single’ Channel boat in distress

18:53 , Tom Batchelor

During an earlier session of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Harriet Harman repeatedly asked for confirmation on whether those on the boat that sank in the Channel last week had called the UK authorities for help as it got into difficulty and, if so, what the response had been.

Daniel O’Mahoney, the Home Office’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, responded that there were “multiple migrant boats” in the water at the time and the coastguard responded to “every single one of them”.

He added: “I can’t tell you with any certainty whether we definitely received a call from that boat or not... if the people from that boat had called the UK authorities, I can tell you that we definitely responded to that call.”

Describing how the incident unfolded, he added: “The French authorities alerted us to the presence of that boat, which had been damaged and there were people in the water, at 1258.

“At which point it was well within French territorial waters in the French search and rescue zone. We responded immediately to that, the coastguard sent a helicopter, we made all of our... boats available.”

Tory MPs give up advisory roles in wake of row over second jobs

19:13 , Tom Batchelor

Three Conservative MPs have ditched advisory positions in the wake of last month’s furore over Westminster second jobs.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith gave up a £20,000 post with a health group, while ex-Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith quit jobs worth £144,000 a year and former health minister Steve Brine dropped work worth £20,000 a year with a pharmaceutical firm.

All of the posts came to an end within days of Boris Johnson’s 16 November call for a ban on parliamentary consultancy, strategy and advice work, as he struggled to get back on the front foot on sleaze following his botched attempt to save Brexit comrade Owen Paterson from punishment for paid lobbying.

Here is the story:

Tory MPs give up advisory roles in wake of row over second jobs

Scottish charities urge PM to implement safe asylum routes

19:33 , Tom Batchelor

A group of Scottish charities have signed an open letter to the prime minister and the home secretary calling for humanitarian visas and safe routes to sanctuary, as the Nationality and Borders Bill enters its final Commons stage.

More than 80 representatives of civil society across the UK, including refugee and homelessness organisations, lawyers, social housing providers, trade unions, teaching unions, educational institutions and faith communities are signatories to the letter.

Scottish organisations and individuals include Positive Action in Housing, the Scottish Refugee Council, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, St Mungos, Unison Scotland, Edinburgh Poverty Commission, the Iona Community Migration Network and PATH (Scotland).

Robina Qureshi, director of Glasgow charity Positive Action in Housing, which is dedicated to supporting refugees and migrants to rebuild their lives, said: “Mourning the dead has not stopped the UK government from planning to break with the Refugee Convention.

“The Nationality and Borders Bill seeks to criminalise those who survive the peril of the seas and those at Dover who try to help them, and is in danger of wreaking murderous consequences for the relatively few who seek sanctuary here.

“This anti-refugee Bill does nothing to increase safe routes.”

Trump claims ‘biggest crowds ever’ during Farage interview

19:53 , Tom Batchelor

Donald Trump has said he is getting “the biggest crowds I’ve ever had” at rallies during an interview with Nigel Farage.

The former US president said: “Wherever I go, we get, I think I’m getting bigger crowds now at the rallies. And you know the rallies, because you’ve been to plenty of them, I have the biggest crowds I’ve ever had.”

“I think it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken to before. And the real... I reverse it, the insurrection took place on November 3, that was election day. And before and after, that was, to me, the insurrection.

“And the January 6 was a protest. But if you would have looked at the crowd, the size, nobody wants to talk about that. I believe it was the biggest and most people, and I’ve spoken to very big crowds, I have never spoken in front of a crowd that size. Nobody ever tells you about that.

“And then, unfortunately, some bad things happened, but also, the other side had some very bad things happen.

“And, add this, I offered 10,000 and suggested 10,000 National Guardsmen, we want the National Guard to be there, 10,000, or even the military, because I knew the crowd was going to be massive because I knew that the anger that took place over the election being rigged, and I understood that, I understood it better than anybody.

Asked if it was a mistake to hold a rally on January 6 - the day the riots at the US Capitol took place - Mr Trump told Mr Farage on GB News: “Well, you know, I didn’t have, that was a rally that was there, and if you look, it was a massive rally with hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people.”

Opinion | Boris Johnson can’t afford for mixed messaging over Covid to take hold again

20:13 , Tom Batchelor

A new Covid-19 variant was the last thing Boris Johnson wanted for Christmas but could omicron provide the firebreak that ends his terrible run in recent weeks, asks Andrew Grice.

The prime minister would much rather take ownership of the booster campaign than answer questions about his Peppa Pig speech, “Tory sleaze” or people crossing the Channel in small boats – on which he refused to speak at his press conference last night.

Read the full piece here:

Johnson can’t afford for mixed messaging over Covid to take hold again | Andrew Grice

Patel backs treating sexual offences as seriously as knife crime

20:35 , Tom Batchelor

Domestic abuse and sexual offences would be considered “as seriously as knife crime and homicide” under proposals backed by the home secretary.

The government said the move would bolster its “whole-system approach” to tackling violence against women and girls.

Priti Patel is seeking to amend legislation currently going through Parliament, to make clear that domestic abuse and sexual offences can be considered as part of local strategies to tackle serious violence.

The change concerns the proposed new Serious Violence Duty, which would require police, government and health and education bodies to “share insight locally” so they can develop “more holistic strategies” to keep people safe, including through early intervention, the Home Office said.

The government is planning to add the clarification to the duty via an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Opinion | The government is stoking division and confusion over Christmas parties

21:05 , Tom Batchelor

It seems our government has thought of the perfect Christmas gift to give Covid – confusion, writes Ian Hamilton.

Are Christmas parties permitted or not? This depends on which official you listen to, according to our Boris Johnson you should party like never before.

But in the same room at the same time his recently rebranded head of Public Health, now called UK health security agency, Jenny Harris advises against this by telling us not to socialise “when we don’t particularly need to”.

Read his full piece here:

The government stoking division and confusion over Christmas parties | Ian Hamilton

Queen ‘liked’ meeting Trump, former president claims

21:35 , Tom Batchelor

Reflecting on a meeting with the Queen, Donald Trump told GB News during an interview with Nigel Farage: “I think she’s a fantastic woman. She is a fantastic woman.

“I was supposed to spend like half an hour with her, I ended up being there for much more than an hour, and everyone said, ‘oh, that’s so rude’. But I said no but, she liked it and I liked it, I’m not going to be rude.

“And we had a great time together. We then had an evening the likes of which you rarely would see, and I think she really, she was laughing and smiling. We get along great. We talked the whole night. She is a great, wonderful woman.”