Boris Johnson latest news: No 10 backs down on party fines secrecy

Boris Johnson has sparked a fresh wave of outrage after telling MPs the government had been “cutting crime by 14 per cent”, when overall levels have increased, our home affairs correspondent Lizzie Dearden reports.

The prime minister made the claim while responding to Sue Gray’s report on Downing Street parliament in the House of Commons yesterday.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “The prime minister claimed he has ‘been cutting crime by 14 per cent’ even though the independent Office of National Statistics (ONS) said just last week there had been ‘a 14 per cent increase in total crime’.

“To say things that are contradicted by the facts in the middle of a statement that is all about the lack of integrity and honesty in Number 10 is truly shameful. It shows, yet again, that no one can trust anything that Boris Johnson says.”

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Rishi Sunak is “obviously the frontrunner” to succeed Boris Johnson, while Liz Truss’s chances are “probably being overrated”, Dominic Cummings has suggested.

In an “ask me anything” session on his blog, Mr Cummings said Ms Truss was “little known” and had “said a lot of stuff that will not be popular with members if/when they hear it”, claiming that if she were to become one of the final two candidates, “the combination of her support for Remain and her record will be big problems for her”.

Boris Johnson’s former aide said he thought Michael Gove “probably will” run again, while on Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, he said: “He has never been in Cabinet and it is hard to imagine Tory MPs promoting someone straight to the top job who has not been in Cabinet.”

The chancellor is “obviously the frontrunner” because “MPs are heavily influenced by polls” and will also look favourably on his pro-Brexit stance, Mr Cummings suggested.

“His team conceived and executed furlough in very tough circumstances, and which was one of most popular things a politician has done in a very long time. That will be a big strength when the contest comes,” he wrote.

Boris Johnson’s former chief aide turned nemesis Dominic Cummings is holding an “ask me anything” event on his Substack blog – on “parties, trollies, Sue Gray, what next”.

The former chief political adviser has told his paid subscribers that he has “spoken to people who say they’ve seen photos of parties in” Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat, and referenced a reported claim that Abba’s “Winner Takes it All” was played on the night of his departure from No 10.

Sue Gray’s update yesterday revealed that among a dozen gatherings now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police are are two events on 13 November 2020 – “a gathering in the No 10 Downing Street flat” and “a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser”.

Here’s some footage from Boris Johnson’s joint press conference with Ukraine’s president, following their meeting in Kyiv this afternoon.

The prime minister warned Vladimir Putin – with whom it was claimed he was forced to cancel a phone call yesterday after the arrival of Sue Gray’s Partygate update – that invading Ukraine would be a “military disaster” for Russia.

Ukraine would put up “a very fierce and bloody resistance” and the UK would impose sanctions the minute troops’ toecaps cross the border, Mr Johnson warned the Russian president.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more details on this breaking story:

In a joint statement issued after their meeting this afternoon, Boris Johnson and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky have outlined how the UK stands “shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression”.

The statement, released by the offices of the PM and the president, said: “The Prime Minister emphasised the United Kingdom’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

“The United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, which threatens regional peace and security and undermines the global order. The two leaders emphasised that it is the right of every Ukrainian to determine their own future.

“The leaders warned that any further Russian incursion in Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake and have a stark humanitarian cost.”

It said Ukraine and the UK would “work together to strengthen Ukraine’s security and ability to defend itself”.

Boris Johnson is holding a press conference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, following their meeting at the Mariinskyi Palace presidential palace in Kiev.

The UK prime minister warned that “we have to face a grim reality” that more than 100,000 Russian troops are gathering on the Ukrainian border, representing possibly “the biggest demonstration of hostility towards the Ukraine in our lifetimes”.

“The potential deployment dwarfs the 30,000 troops that Russia sent to invade Crimea in 2014,” Mr Johnson said. “Since that time of course, everybody knows that 13,000 Ukrainians have been killed and Ukraine has been plunged into a decade of war.

“It goes without saying that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a political disaster, a humanitarian disaster, in my view it would also be for Russia, for the world, a military disaster as well.

“And the potential invasion completely flies in the face of President Putin’s claims to be acting in the interest of the Ukrainian people.”

A Lancashire County councillor has faced criticism over his defence of Boris Johnson, after he said: “In the middle of an unprecedented pandemic every single person you speak to will have broken a rule in some way.”

Charlie Edwards told BBC Radio Lancashire that he thought there were “much more important things to worry about”.

But his comments were reportedly criticised by fellow councillors, with Azhar Ali, leader of the local Labour group, saying: “It is irresponsible – he is defending the indefensible. People kept to the rules and made big sacrifices. I can’t believe this has come from a cabinet member.”

In his response to the prime minister in the Commons yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer commended the public for following the rules, which he said had “shown deep public spirit” and displayed “the love and respect for others that has always characterised this nation at its best”

“They should feel pride in themselves and in their country. Because by abiding by those rules they have saved the lives of people they will probably never meet,” the Labour leader said.

BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis has apologised for retweeting comments by former Tory minister Rory Stewart criticising the “sheer tawdry Trumpian shabbiness” of the government’s response to the Downing Street parties scandal.

Sharing a video of culture secretary Nadine Dorries defending Mr Johnson’s false claims in the Commons yesterday regarding Sir Keir Starmer and Jimmy Savile, Mr Stewart had written that “it is difficult to see how much more of this the party or our political system can survive”.

Ms Maitlis wrote: “I have deleted my earlier retweet of the below and would like to apologise for the hurt I have caused. For the avoidance of doubt I accept I should have added extra context – it was retweeted in haste – and was wrong to do.”