16:57
Afternoon summary
Nicola
Slawson Nicola Slawson
Here’s a
roundup of what has happened in UK politics today:
Scotland
Yard has said it has asked for references to matters it is now investigating to
be removed from Sue Gray’s report on parties held in breach of lockdown
restrictions at Downing Street. “For the events the Met is investigating, we
asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report,” the
Metropolitan police said in a statement on Friday morning.
Key parts
of the long-awaited report into allegations of parties in No 10 that broke
Covid rules , after Scotland Yard’s statement.
Theresa May
has broken her silence on partygate and said she is “angry” at the allegations
of parties held in Downing Street during lockdowns. The former prime minister,
who has so far not publicly commented on the saga engulfing No 10, told
constituents that “nobody is above the law”, in a letter seen by her local
newspaper.
Downing
Street said it was not the case that No 10 had asked Gray’s team to go back to
the Metropolitan police to ensure her report did not interfere with police
investigations. A spokesperson for Boris Johnson said: “We haven’t been privy
to the details of that investigation or any of its content.”
Senior
lawyers were today split over whether the Met was justified in asking Gray to
only make minimal references to events under investigation. Nazir Afzal, the
former chief prosecutor, wrote: “This is absolute nonsense from the Met
police.”
The Liberal
Democrats have warned against giving the appearance of an “establishment
stitch-up” between Scotland Yard and the Gray inquiry as the report publication
plan was thrown into disarray.
The
Treasury is becoming increasingly alarmed that Boris Johnson may be preparing
to scrap the national insurance rise in a desperate attempt to placate
rightwing Tory MPs, as he fights to save his job. The Guardian understands
Rishi Sunak has privately stressed to MPs that the tax rise must go ahead as
planned.
The veteran
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale has accused Boris Johnson of being a “lame duck” prime
minister as Downing Street is investigated by police over allegations of
lockdown-breaking parties in No 10. Gale told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One
programme that the cost of living crisis and Russian aggression towards Ukraine
required the “full and undivided attention” of the UK prime minister.
The
Conservative MP Peter Bone said he could not follow the logic of the Commons
leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who in comments made to BBC Newsnight earlier this
week insisted Britain’s parliament has moved to “an essentially presidential
system”.
A senior
official at the Foreign Office has apologised for misleading MPs over whether
Boris Johnson’s views had been sought over the evacuation of animals from Kabul
during the chaotic retreat from Afghanistan last August.
A proposal
to give British Sign Language (BSL) legal recognition and enhance its use in
public services has been backed in the Commons. The measures are included in a
private member’s bill which has the backing of the Strictly Come Dancing
champion and EastEnders actor Rose Ayling-Ellis.
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