Boris Johnson news – Standards watchdog DEMANDS action to limit MPs 2nd jobs as PM says rule breakers will be punished
PART-time MPs lining their pockets with lucrative second jobs at the expense of voters must be punished, Boris Johnson warned last night.
After a week-long sleaze row from hell the PM finally came down hard on colleagues making money on the side while neglecting their "primary" day jobs.
At a press conference he blazed: "Those who are not putting the interests of their constituents first, which is all of our duty as MPs, they should face appropriate sanctions and punishment."
It's a veiled slap-down of Tory bigwig Sir Geoffrey Cox who raked in £400,000 as a barrister but barely turned up to Parliament.
The former Attorney General insists he's not broken any rules and cleared his work for the British Virgin Isles government with Chief Whip Mark Spencer.
Read our politics live blog below for the latest news & updates…
- Louis Allwood
Sir Geoffrey Cox ‘rents out taxpayer-funded home’ and has made at least £5.5M in ‘second job’
SIR Geoffrey Cox is reportedly raking in a fortune renting out his taxpayer-funded London home – and has made at least £5.5million in his second job.
The embattled Tory MP, 61, who has already been accused of using his Commons office for his job as a barrister, even claimed £3,800 for a second London pad while working overseas.
On top of earning £900,000 in the last year from his legal work, the ex-attorney general is adding to his wealth by renting out his plush London home, the Mirror reports.
The Torridge and West Devon MP has also come under fire after it was revealed he is using taxpayer cash to rent a second property in the capital.
He even claimed £3,800 for the two months he was reported to be working from a Caribbean tax haven.
However, it is within the rules of the House of Commons.
Sir Geoffrey reportedly rakes in around £1,000 a week for the home he lets out in Battersea, South London.
- Joseph Gamp
NHS 'on its knees' warn health experts
The NHS is "on its knees", leading health experts have warned, as a raft of data for England shows the service buckling under pressure.
The King's Fund health think tank said "chronic workforce shortages" were heaping pressure on overstretched staff who are exhausted from the pandemic while figures showed huge waits for treatment and very long waits for ambulances to reach 999 calls.
The data, from NHS England, shows 5.8 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of September – the highest number since records began in August 2007.
The number of people having to wait more than 52 weeks to start treatment stood at 300,566 in September, up from 292,138 in the previous month and more than double the number waiting a year earlier, in September 2020, which was 139,545.
Deborah Ward, senior analyst at the King's Fund, said: "Today's stats reveal the worst performance since current records began for ambulance calls, A&Es and waits for planned hospital care.
"In a normal year any one of these would ring alarm bells; taken together before winter has even begun, they suggest a health and care system running hot for such a sustained period whilst still dealing with Covid-19, it is now on its knees."
- Joseph Gamp
Lest We Forget
The two-minute silence was marked at the Scottish Parliament and by Cop26 President Alok Sharma at the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and others also stood in silence at the UK pavilion at Cop26 this morning.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Charles used their social media accounts to pay tribute to Britain’s war heroes.
A post on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s account read: “Today at 11am the nation will pause to remember. Armistice Day. Lest We Forget.”EditDelete
- Joseph Gamp
New vaccines could tackle all coronaviruses
NEW vaccines could tackle all respiratory viruses including Covid-19 variants and common colds, experts have claimed.
Researchers have said that a new combination could mean that these viruses could be eliminated at the start – helping to stop a rapid spread as we have seen with Delta and Beta Covid variants.
As part of the study, published in Nature, they found that past exposure to other coronaviruses may speed up the clearance of Covid-19.
In order to prevent viruses spreading amongst the population, experts say future vaccines should aim to induce an immune response against specific proteins that are essential for the earliest stages of the viral cycle.
Jabs that activate immune memory cells, known as T cells could help eliminate viruses at the start as they would attack infected cells from the offset.
This development could complement Covid-19 vaccines currently being rolled out across the UK.
- Joseph Gamp
Sir Geoffrey Cox outside earnings stacking up
SIR Geoffrey Cox is reportedly raking in a fortune renting out his taxpayer-funded London home – and has made at least £5.5million in his second job.
The embattled Tory MP, 61, who has already been accused of using his Commons office for his job as a barrister, even claimed £3,800 for a second London pad while working overseas.
On top of earning £900,000 in the last year from his legal work, the ex-attorney general is adding to his wealth by renting out his plush London home, the Mirror reports.
The Torridge and West Devon MP has also come under fire after it was revealed he is using taxpayer cash to rent a second property in the capital.
He even claimed £3,800 for the two months he was reported to be working from a Caribbean tax haven.
However, it is within the rules of the House of Commons.
Sir Geoffrey reportedly rakes in around £1,000 a week for the home he lets out in Battersea, South London.
- Joseph Gamp
PM will want to draw a line under the furore
Mr Johnson yesterday warned part-time MPs who rake in cash on the side at the expense of their voters should be “punished”.
In the jaws of the row the PM binned off a planned Cabinet away-day at his Chequers country retreat.
He will instead gather his senior ministers in Downing Street today for a lesson in levelling up as he tries to draw a line under the furore.
But more revelations about Geoffrey Cox are emerging, including that he rented out his London flat while claiming another to live in on expenses.
- Joseph Gamp
Rishi Sunak admits government ‘needs to do better’ to stamp out sleaze
Tory MPs are licking their wounds after mounting a botched bid to save sleaze-mired Owen Paterson and getting engulfed in a second jobs storm.
Conservative grandee Sir Geoffrey Cox is fighting fury for pocketing £400,000 for legal work while barely turning up to Parliament.
Grilled on the messy row, Mr Sunak said today: "People will have different motivations for doing what they do, the pay is set by an independent body, that's absolutely right.
"And with regard to second jobs, there's an independent process that we have that's set by Parliament that governs all of those things. And it's absolutely right that that process is followed to the letter.
"Now look, on the broader point – and just reflecting over recent events – I think for us as a Government, it's fair to say that we need to do better than we did last week, and we know that."
- Joseph Gamp
‘Do not sit on your hands’
Boris Johnson has appealed to other leaders not to sit on their hands as the world asks for action on climate change at the Cop26 talks.
The Prime Minister said there had been a “surge of really positive game-changing announcements” in areas such as finance and forests in the first week of the talks, but warned the negotiations were now tough.
The Cop26 conference “is not going to fix” climate change in one go, Mr Johnson warned, but it could come away with “the first genuine road map for a solution to anthropogenic climate change that I can think of in my lifetime”.
He warned that a failure to deliver would create a huge – and deserved – backlash.
Mr Johnson returned briefly to the summit in Glasgow on Wednesday as a draft of a deal that could be agreed was published.
- Joseph Gamp
Kim Jong-un’s longest absence in seven years
KIM Jong-un has not been seen for more than a month amid fresh speculation about his health.
The North Korean despot has not been seen since a huge missile exhibition 30 days ago — his longest absence for seven years.
North Korean observers said his absence is the longest period of absence since 2011.
It follows reports about his health which were made earlier this year.
His last appearance on state media is believed to have taken place on October 12
This was during coverage of a huge missile exhibition in Pyongyang the day before.
But since then NK News reports he has not been seen on state channels — yet satellite imagery has shown increased activity at his east coast beach house and a lakeside mansion near the capital.
Observers claim this is his longest absence for seven years amid speculation in recent months.
- Joseph Gamp
Ireland and Biden administration in discussions over Article 16 plans
The Irish Government held high level discussions this week with the Biden administration over UK plans to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.
UK Brexit Minister Lord David Frost appeared to row back on a threat to trigger the clause in the Brexit deal on Wednesday, which would effectively suspend elements of the arrangements that prevent a hard border in Ireland.
He said it was "not inevitable" that the British government would invoke the clause, but warned it would be the UK's only option if the dispute was not resolved.
Mr Coveney said contact with the US Government on the issue was designed to "encourage progress" in negotiations between Lord Frost and his EU counterpart, European Commission vice-President Maros Sefcovic. I've been speaking to the Biden administration directly" Mr Coveney told the Dail on Thursday.
"I got a chance to to speak to one of his most senior advisors this week, and also speaking to members of Congress in Cop, Brendan Boyle and others. But I think the main focus here is to try to encourage progress in the vice-President Sefcovic/Lord Frost discussions."
- Joseph Gamp
Ed Miliband: COP26 won't deliver 'everything we hoped'
It has become clear that Cop26 will not deliver "everything we hoped" on climate change, former Labour leader Ed Miliband has said.
The shadow energy secretary said the focus should now be on salvaging what was possible in the final days of the conference and setting clear expectations for Cop27 next year.
The summit in Glasgow is in its final days, with the Cop26 president, Alok Sharma, saying negotiators are "not there yet" in securing an agreement to limit global warming.
Mr Miliband said the world was "a long, long way away" from halving global emissions this decade.
He told the PA news agency negotiations should continue as long as needed, saying the text of the final agreement must include finance for developing countries.
He said: "What's important is to get it right, not necessarily to get it quickly.
"I think the reality is that Glasgow is not now going to deliver everything we hoped.
"We need to halve global emissions this decade, we're a long, long way away from that, that's what the science tells us.
"I think it's now about salvaging what we can and living to fight another day and that's why it's important that the text delivers on the 100 billion US dollars (£74.7 billion) for developing countries.
"And, crucially, sets a clear mandate for countries to achieve next year, at Cop27, what they failed to achieve this year."
- Joseph Gamp
Nazanin's hunger-strike husband not optimistic about UK-Iran talks
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe said he was not optimistic about talks between UK Government officials and Iran's deputy foreign minister.
The meeting on Thursday comes as Richard Ratcliffe endures his 19th day on hunger strike outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London.
Mr Ratcliffe began his demonstration last month after his wife lost her latest appeal in Iran, saying his family is "caught in a dispute between two states".
Iranian deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, is meeting officials from the FCDO, and Mr Ratcliffe will meet Foreign Office minister James Cleverly afterwards.
Asked if he was feeling optimistic, Mr Ratcliffe told the PA news agency: "No, probably guarded. It's a good sign the meeting's happening and I don't mean to disparage that.
"But I've had a lot of Foreign Office meetings where we've gone in with high expectations and come out deflated.
"I'm hoping the needle has moved in the last couple of weeks and there's a realisation that the status quo isn't enough."
- Joseph Gamp
US and China vow to curb global warming TOGETHER
THE US and China have vowed to tackle global warming together in a rare joint declaration at the COP26 conference.
The rival nations put aside their differences in Glasgow and pledged to take “enhanced” action to get a grip of the climate crisis over the next ten years.
They committed to working together to cap global temperature rises to 1.5C while also agreeing to take specific measures to cut methane emissions.
Over the next decade, China and the US – the world’s two largest polluters – also said they would enforce bans on imports linked to illegal deforestation.
China also doubled down on their earlier promise to “phase down coal consumption” from 2026 and ensured they would “make the best efforts to accelerate this work”.
The countries assured they would “work co-operatively” at the COP26 conference in a bid to convince other nations to join a deal to speed up carbon-reduction pledges.
- Joseph Gamp
Geoffrey Cox claims thousands for second home while renting out London flat
Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Cox is claiming £22,000 a year in taxpayer funding to rent a London home while collecting thousands of pounds in rent letting out another property he owns in the capital.
The former attorney general has been under fire following the disclosure that he stands to make more than £1 million, on top of his annual MP's salary of £81,000, representing the British Virgin Islands in a corruption inquiry .
Labour has lodged a formal complaint with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after a video emerged showing him apparently taking part in one of the hearings remotely from his Commons office.
Under Westminster rules MPs are barred from using their parliamentary offices for outside business, although Sir Geoffrey has said he is confident that he has not done anything wrong.
However, the claims have led to a renewed focus on the expenses of the MP for Torridge and West Devon.
- Joseph Gamp
PM pays tribute to South Africa's last white president
Boris Johnson on Thursday paid tribute to South Africa's last white president FW de Klerk, praising him for his pivotal role in transforming the country.
"I am saddened by the death of FW de Klerk, a leader who changed the course of history by freeing Nelson Mandela and working alongside him to end apartheid and bring democracy to South Africa," he said in a statement.
"De Klerk will be remembered for his steely courage and realism in doing what was manifestly right and leaving South Africa a better country," he added.
- Joseph Gamp
Negotiators 'not there yet' on securing agreement at COP26 says Sharma
There is still a lot more work to be done to secure agreement at the Cop26 climate summit, its president, Alok Sharma, has told delegates.
The penultimate day of the talks "must represent another gearshift" in negotiations, Mr Sharma has said, as countries try to resolve political differences in a number of areas that still need to be hammered out.
"I want to be clear, we are not there yet, there's still a lot more work to be done.
"I know how hard you are all working, but today must represent another gearshift where negotiators finalise outstanding technical work and ministers dial up their engagement," he said.
Overnight, new draft texts were published for negotiations that are going on in a number of areas, including on providing future finance for poorer countries to develop cleanly and cope with the impacts of climate change – where Mr Sharma said he was concerned about progress.
- Louis Allwood
Lest We Forget
The two-minute silence was marked at the Scottish Parliament and by Cop26 President Alok Sharma at the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and others also stood in silence at the UK pavilion at Cop26 this morning.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Charles used their social media accounts to pay tribute to Britain's war heroes.
A post on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's account read: "Today at 11am the nation will pause to remember. Armistice Day. Lest We Forget."
- Louis Allwood
Care home job losses
THOUSANDS of care home staff will lose their jobs today for not having their Covid jabs.
Even those who have had one dose will not be allowed shifts until they have had both.
NHS figures show 34,000 employees are set to be pulled off the front line because of the rule.
Only a few thousand have medical reasons not to get vaccinated, and thousands who have had only a single dose will be unable to work until they have had their second.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This is all about patient safety. We know that people, whether they are in care homes or they are in a hospital bed, are particularly vulnerable to this virus and it could be fatal.
“It’s our duty to do everything we can to protect them.”
- Louis Allwood
Sir Geoffrey Cox outside earnings stacking up
SIR Geoffrey Cox is reportedly raking in a fortune renting out his taxpayer-funded London home – and has made at least £5.5million in his second job.
The embattled Tory MP, 61, who has already been accused of using his Commons office for his job as a barrister, even claimed £3,800 for a second London pad while working overseas.
On top of earning £900,000 in the last year from his legal work, the ex-attorney general is adding to his wealth by renting out his plush London home, the Mirror reports.
The Torridge and West Devon MP has also come under fire after it was revealed he is using taxpayer cash to rent a second property in the capital.
He even claimed £3,800 for the two months he was reported to be working from a Caribbean tax haven.
However, it is within the rules of the House of Commons.
Sir Geoffrey reportedly rakes in around £1,000 a week for the home he lets out in Battersea, South London.
- Louis Allwood
Mp's that have the top outside earnings
Top earner Sir Geoffrey Cox unveiled a new £400,000 a year gig with a law firm, while Health Secretary Sajid Javid raked in £366,000 during a brief spell on the backbenches.
Ex-PM Theresa May has earned £760,000 from after-dinner speeches since quitting No10.
The Sun probe revealed 11 of the dirty dozen are Tories, with Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey in 12th spot.
MPs’ outside earnings have been thrust into the spotlight after Boris’s attempt to save Mr Paterson from a 30-day suspension after he lobbied for private companies that paid him more than £100,000.
Raging Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the PM of leading his party “through the sewers and the stench lingers”.
He added: “Enough is enough. We will not stand by while he trashes our democracy.”
Read more here.
- Louis Allwood
The new ‘fully vaccinated’
The health secretary said the waning effectiveness of the vaccine over time means the change may be needed “in due course”.
His remarks raise the likelihood over 50s will need to have had the top up shot if they want to travel abroad next summer.
He said: “In due course we will have to look at what constitutes vaccination. It’s something we have to keep under review.
“I can’t rule that out and we know now that the vaccines do wane and it’s important that where necessary people get a top up.”
But he added: “We’re not looking at that yet. We are very focussed on our booster programme.”
His remarks come after it emerged Brits who fail to get the third Covid jab will face renewed travel restrictions.
- Louis Allwood
‘Smash her car for free pints’
THIS is the moment Israel’s UK ambassador was mobbed by pro-Palestine students as she was forced to flee from a university.
Tzipi Hotovely was evacuated by bodyguards from the London School of Economics (LSE) campus as a crowd of hard-left activists swarmed towards her.
Dozens of protesters tried to storm the building, where the diplomat had been invited to take part in a debate.
A baying mob are heard booing and jeering as one protester yells “aren’t you ashamed” while a line of police officers holds them back.
Ms Hotovely, clutching bouquets of flowers, was bundled into a Jaguar and whisked away moments before a protester who surged towards her car tried to break through police lines.
A Land Rover carrying the ambassador’s security guards was forced to drive through the crowd of protesters.
- Louis Allwood
Warning for holidaymakers as new Covid vaccine passport rules introduced for France
BRITS planning a holiday to France will face another rule change in regards to travelling when vaccinated.
The country has updated the latest travel restrictions for anyone entering France who is yet to have their booster jabs.
President Macron has announced that anyone who is over 65-years-old must have their third jab by December 15.
If they don't then their vaccine passport – which is required to enter attractions, cafes and bars – will be invalid.
The only other alternative is to have a negative test, if you are yet to have a booster test, which must be taken every three days.
Macron said: "If you have been vaccinated more than six months ago, I encourage you to book an appointment now."
- Louis Allwood
Moment Russian jet ‘chases off Brit spy plane’
RUSSIA today claimed to have chased off a British spy plane as it approached Crimea.
Earlier the Kremlin had warned that the West was “playing with fire” by deploying warships in the Black Sea and warned of the “risks of a clash”.
The RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft "tried to approach the state border of the Russian Federation in southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula,” said Russia's defence ministry.
Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov claimed an Su-30 fighter was scrambled to intercept the RAF aircraft.
“About 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Russian Federation state border, the Su-30 approached the reconnaissance aircraft, after which the British plane changed course away from the Russian border," he said.
Footage released by the Russians shows incident over the Black Sea south of the Crimea peninsula, annexed by Vladimir Putin in 2014.
- Louis Allwood
Carer sobbed after job loss
A CARER who sobbed as she finished her final shift when she lost her job after refusing the Covid vaccine has defended her decision.
Louise Akester, 36, had worked in the care sector for 14 years but was fired from her three-year role at Alderson House care home in Hull last month.
According to new government rules, all care workers in adult care homes who do not have medical exemptions must be double jabbed against the virus from November 11.
In a clip filmed on Friday afternoon, Ms Akester is seen in tears minutes after finishing her very last shift.
Now she has defended her decision because she “doesn’t trust the vaccine yet.”
She told Good Morning Britain: “I feel lost. I don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve done it for such a long time. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.
“I don’t trust the vaccine yet. I think I want to wait until we’ve got long term data and evidence coming back .”
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