🔴Government ministers and the Prime Minister's press team have not said whether claims Mr Johnson attended the drinks gathering on May 20 2020 are correct
Instead any questions about the controversial event have been deflected on grounds that a probe into all such claims is ongoing
🔴At a daily Lobby briefing to journalists on Tuesday, Mr Johnson's spokesman declined to comment on reports of a "bring your own booze" party in the garden of his Downing Street office in May 2020
🗣️"It is simply the case that we wouldn't want to be seen to be prejudging that ongoing work," the spokesman said
The leaked email obtained by ITV News from Martin Reynolds invited people to "socially distanced drinks" on May 20, 2020
➡️On the same day the public were told they could only socialise outside with one other person outside their household.
🔴 Liz Truss today insists that Britain will overhaul the post-Brexit agreement over Northern Ireland unilaterally if she cannot reach a “negotiated solution” with the EU
Writing in The Telegraph, Liz Truss states that the Article 16 “safeguard clause” in the Northern Ireland Protocol was “explicitly designed ... to ease acute problems because of the sensitivity of the issues at play” on the island of Ireland
The warning, which is likely to inflame tensions with Brussels, comes ahead of Ms Truss’s first face-to-face meeting with Maros Sefcovic, her EU counterpart, at Chevening, the Foreign Secretary’s country residence, on Thursday
🔴 Civil servants have been banned from inviting “woke” speakers who criticise Boris Johnson’s policies to address internal events in Whitehall, a leaked memo reveals
📩 An “official-sensitive” email circulated across Whitehall warned that invitations should not be issued to individuals who have “spoken against key government policies”
Officials were told to carry out “due diligence” checks on speakers, including examining their social media posts.
➡️The move follows several controversies over speakers critical of the Government being invited to address Whitehall social or networking events
🗣️The Health Secretary will address concerns that the variant is more transmissible than previous strains and could potentially evade the vaccines.
The B.1.1.529 variant has been found in 77 cases in South Africa, four in Botswana, and one in Hong Kong telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/2…
"I want to reassure this House that there are no detected cases of this variant in the UK at this time, but this new variant is of huge international concern.
"The World Health Organization has called a special meeting this morning and that meeting is taking place right now"
Ian Blackford's hourly rate is higher than those earned by Sir Geoffrey Cox, figures have shown
📊An analysis of entries into the parliamentary register of financial interests show that between January 2020 and April 2021, the Scottish National Party's Westminster leader earned roughly £48,500
🔴 Ursula Von der Leyen has been accused of contributing to a “climate disaster” after using private jets on more than half of her overseas missions, including short hops to London and Paris
✈️The European Commission president even jetted to Glasgow for the Cop26 environment summit, which she has called a “moment of truth” for the future of the planet’s battle against climate change
🌎An analysis by the Telegraph reveals the EU’s top official ordered “air taxis” for 18 out of her 34 official trips since taking up the role in December 2019, on a pledge to turn the bloc carbon-neutral by 2050
France is furious that the Government has approved just 16 licences for small French fishing boats to operate in Britain’s six-to-12-mile coastal zone
🇫🇷 Jean Castex, France’s prime minister, last week tried to recruit the EU in slapping Britain with sanctions, urging the bloc’s leaders to punish Britain for Brexit.
France has also threatened to block any EU-level cooperation with the UK until the row is resolved