Angela Rayner jokes there ‘might be a vacancy for PM soon’
“Nothing untoward” occurred in a WhatsApp exchange between Boris Johnson and the Tory donor who paid for the luxury revamp of his Downing Street flat, a minister has insisted.
In messages published on Thursday, the prime minister asked Lord Brownlow for support with the £112,000 upgrade, while also discussing the possibility of a “Great Exhibition 2.0”, an arts project backed by the peer.
Two months after their conversation, Lord Brownlow held a meeting with the then culture secretary Oliver Dowden about the idea, which never came to fruition.
Small business minister Paul Scully defended the prime minister against accusations of “cash for access”, telling Times Radio that it is common practice for ministers to pass proposals on to the relevant department.
However, Labour was adamant that the government needed to explain Mr Johnson’s actions, with deputy leader Angela Rayner labelling it “corruption plain and simple”.
Her comments come after Mr Johnson issued a “humble and sincere apology” for not originally disclosing the messages to his standards adviser, Lord Geidt, who expressed his displeasure at not being informed earlier.
Further investigations into Downing Street flat renovation needed, says Labour
Further investigations are required to get to the “absolute bottom” of the Downing Street flat renovation scandal, Labour has said.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said the prime minister could be guilty of “cash for access” over an exchange with Tory donor Lord Brownlow about the refurbishment and an arts project the peer supported.
“What we’re seeing here is a case of potentially cash for access where Lord Brownlow was given access to ministers to try and influence them over decisions of spending taxpayers’ money – that is why this matters so immensely,” Mr Reed said.
“Those very cosy text messages show there was a quid pro quo in operation between the prime minister and Lord Brownlow, and we need to get to the absolute bottom of this,” he added.
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 09:46
‘Nothing untoward’ in PM’s WhatsApp exchange with Tory donor, minister insists
There was “nothing untoward” in Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp exchange with a Tory donor who paid for his Downing Street flat makeover, a minister has insisted.
Small business minister Paul Scully’s comments to Times Radio follow suggestions that Lord Brownlow managed to advance a proposal for a “Great Exhibition 2.0” – an arts festival modelled on the 1851 event – by paying for the improvement works.
The idea, which was discussed by the pair, was never realised but did lead to a meeting between Lord Brownlow and the culture secretary a few months later.
“Ministers get proposals all the time and what rightly happened was that this got pushed on to the Culture, Media and Sport Department (DCMS) where it sits,” Mr Scully said.
“Lord Brownlow made his own approaches and it wouldn’t have just gone to the prime minister, but the important thing is it’s not gone ahead… so there’s nothing untoward that’s happening out of, you know, a few lines in a WhatsApp.”
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 09:15
Raab’s department wasted ‘staggering’ £238m on botched projects in 2021
Labour has called for the National Audit Office to investigate the “staggering” £238 million of losses at Dominic Raab’s justice department in 2021.
This cost was driven up by the £98.2m spent on a new system for electronically tagging criminals, which was later scrapped.
The department also paid £72.1 million to HMRC over its failure to report the employment status of some of its staff properly.
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 09:03
Tories say BBC should play national anthem each day
Conservative MPs have said the BBC should play the national anthem each day to round off its programming at 1am, as it provides “a great sense of unity and pride in our nation”.
Andrew Rosindell, the MP for Romford, suggested the idea while speaking in the Commons on Thursday.
Culture secretary Nadine Dorries called it a “fantastic question”, while her deputy Nigel Huddleston said the more we hear the song “the better”.
Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 08:44
1.2 million more people to pay higher income tax rate by 2026, new research claims
More than a million extra people will pay the highest rate of tax within four years, new research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has suggested.
The opposition party urged the government to ditch its “stealth-tax raid”, which it claimed would “clobber families who are already feeling the pinch”.
The research comes amid a cost of living crisis, driven by a steep jump in fuel and gas prices.
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 08:21
Timeline of Boris Johnson flat scandal
The scandal about Boris Johnson’s expensive flat renovation started last February and has still not died down, despite the prime minister being cleared of a potential breach of ministerial conduct.
With the publication this week of new messages between him and Tory donor Lord Brownlow, Labour feels the story still has some way to run.
Adam Forrest has this handy overview of the saga so far:
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 08:08
PM accused of ‘corruption’ over luxury flat revamp
Boris Johnson has been accused of “corruption” in a fresh sleaze row over the luxury refurbishment of his Downing Street residence.
The accusation comes after the release of a WhatsApp exchange between him and Tory donor Lord Brownlow, in which they discussed the revamp and also a proposal for a “Great Exhibition 2.0”, a project backed by the peer.
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 07:55
Welcome
Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage, which will today focus on all the latest sleaze allegations facing the government.
Rory Sullivan7 January 2022 07:53
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