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PM’s spokesman defends end of free testing, saying it was ‘simply unsustainable’
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A dozen senior Labour women have called on the party to end its use of confidentiality agreements to “cover up” allegations of sexual harassment, saying the treatment of two former staffers was appalling.
Laura Murray, Labour’s ex-head of complaints, and Georgie Robertson, who worked in the party’s press office, said they refused to sign the agreements after reporting an official for “inappropriate” and “possessive” behaviour.
Their lawyer argued the use of the contract violated Labour’s own policy on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
After the BBC revealed Murray and Robertson’s allegations, Labour was urged to apologise to them and stop offering confidentiality agreements to those who made accusations of sexual harassment.
In a letter sent to the party and seen by the Guardian, seven women on its ruling national executive committee and five who are members of Labour’s national women’s committee said they were “appalled to see these reports”.
“We can’t fight to end sexual harassment in society if we don’t also address it within our party,” they wrote to Labour’s general secretary, David Evans and chair Anneliese Dodds.
“Trying to persuade women to sign NDAs to cover up abuse is a gross betrayal of Labour values and we call on our leadership to acknowledge its duty of care and its responsibility towards all women within the party, members and staffers and to end this practice, apologise to any women caught up in this victimisation and seek to offer them redress.”
Read the full story here:
05:51
Revulsion at the atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha dominates today’s front pages, as politicians lined up around the world to condemn the massacre of hundreds of civilians.
Take a closer look here:
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Officials being fined for lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street is “not the most important issue in the world” given atrocities in Ukraine, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said, while also arguing that Boris Johnson did not mislead people over the events.
Defending earlier comments that described revelations about the parties as “fluff”, the Brexit opportunities minister said a more fundamental issue to be discussed was whether the Covid rules in place at the time were too rigid.
Taking part in a phone-in show on LBC radio, Rees-Mogg declined a caller’s request to apologise for calling the party claims “fluff” now that the Metropolitan police had issued fines to some people who attended the lockdown gatherings.
“We have a war going on in Ukraine, we have atrocities being carried out, we have pictures coming through that show the enormous brutality of Putin’s army,” Rees-Mogg said. “And what I was saying was, in the context of what is going on, not just with Ukraine but with the cost of living crisis, this is not the most important issue in the world. Having said that, people should obviously obey the law.”
Those fined reportedly include the government’s former ethics chief Helen MacNamara. According to the Telegraph, she was fined £50 for attending a leaving event in the Cabinet Office in June 2020.
Separately, sources told the Guardian that Downing Street staff have been issued with fines by over a party that took place the night before Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
Even though fines had been issued, Johnson had not misled parliament when he said no rules were broken, as he was simply passing on information he had been given, Rees-Mogg said.
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The public do not believe ministers’ promises to tackle crime, official documents seen by the Guardian show.
The Home Office documents reveals polling carried out for the government found a high fear of crime, and low confidence much will be done about it.
The leak reveals the public are not convinced by a series of flagship initiatives by Boris Johnson’s administration on law on order, such as the Beating Crime plan.
It comes despite government efforts to distance themselves from a decade of Conservative cuts to the police and the criminal justice system.
Only one in three of those polled had faith it could tackle crime, its own document notes: “Current initiatives to tackle crime are not cutting through to the public – only around a third (35%) say they have confidence in the government’s handling of crime and justice, and awareness of the Beating Crime Plan is low.”
The document, called Home Office Violence Reduction Unit Communications Strategy, dates from March and contains polling from February.
Boris Johnson has trumpeted his anti-crime credentials but the government’s own polling, taken after weeks of furore over “partygate” and government untruths, shows the public were disbelieving.
Johnson has been keen to claim that under his government crime has been falling, falsely claiming in February that it had decreased by 14%. The statistics watchdog rebuked him, finding it had been presented the figures in a misleading way.
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Minister says it isn’t time for ‘self-indulgent leadership contest’
Now is not the time for a “self-indulgent leadership contest” if Boris Johnson is fined over the Partygate scandal, a minister has said.
Yesterday it was revealed that Downing Street staff have been issued with fines by police over a party that took place the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, in the first decision by Scotland Yard that Covid laws were broken inside No 10 at the heart of government.
The partygate scandal was knocked off the headlines by the invasion by Russia of Ukraine but the issue has been getting attention again since the police began issuing fines.
Asked if the prime minister should resign if he’s fined, the Wales secretary, Simon Hart, told Sky News he thinks “the world has moved on a considerable distance”.
He said “of course” it does not sit comfortably with him that parties were being held in Downing Street during Covid restrictions.
Hart was asked whether the prime minister should resign if he received a fine in the Partygate saga, but Hart told Sky News:
I have 65,000 constituents in west Wales, where I represent, and they are not shy in coming forward and expressing a view about this and a number of other subjects.
And throughout all of this saga of the Downing Street parties they have said one thing very clearly, and in a vast majority they say they want contrition and they want an apology, but they don’t want a resignation.
Last week, Scotland Yard issued 20 fixed-penalty notices to people who attended parties in Downing Street and Whitehall during lockdown.
Welcome to today’s politics live blog. I’m Nicola Slawson and I’ll be taking the lead today. You can contact me on Twitter (@Nicola_Slawson) or via email (nicola.slawson@theguardian.com) if you have any questions or think I’m missing something.
We also have a dedicated Ukraine blog, which you can follow here:
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