Met to review decision not to investigate quiz night party after photo emerges – as it happened

Boris Johnson with an open bottle of prosecco. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Daily Mirror

6.12pm GMT

Afternoon summary

• Scotland Yard has said it will look again at a quiz held in Downing Street in December 2020, after a new photo emerged of Boris Johnson at the event, featuring an open bottle of prosecco and staff wearing tinsel.

• Boris Johnson plans to abolish the last domestic Covid restrictions in England, including the requirement for people with the virus to self-isolate, in less than two weeks, a month earlier than initially proposed, he has announced. Unison, Britain’s biggest public sector union, said Johnson was going too far, too soon. Christina McAnea, its general secretary, said:

Everybody wants to get back to normal, but Covid risks haven’t disappeared. This is going too far, way too soon.

Infections are still rife in schools. Large numbers of pupils and staff are off. Allowing a premature return could lead to a further jump in infections and disrupt learning for thousands more children and young people.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said the surprise announcement seemed to have more to do with “digging the prime minister out of a hole than dealing with the serious challenge facing the country”. The news came as the ONS said coronavirus rates in England have been rising over the past fortnight. (See 3.37pm.)

• Gillian Keegan, a health minister, has apologised for continuing with a meeting despite being aware she had tested positive for Covid.

• Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has signalled he is prepared to try to oust the Metropolitan police commissioner in days or weeks over a series of scandals.

• The Met police has said that it will not investigate claims that No 10 sought to blackmail Tory MPs organising to bring down Boris Johnson because officers concluded no criminal offences had been committed. (See 5.36pm.)

Updated at 6.14pm GMT

5.51pm GMT

Boris Johnson has announced that Samantha Jones will be the new interim permanent secretary at No 10. She will also be chief operating officer, and she will be in charge of its transformation into the Office for the Prime Minister.

Jones is currently the PM’s expert adviser on NHS transformation and social care. In its news release No 10 says she has “considerable management experience, including over 15 years leading organisations in both the public and private sector. This includes senior leadership experience as chief executive of West Hertfordshire hospitals NHS trust and Epsom and St Helier NHS trust.”

Jones will start work immediately, and she will be in post for six months, No 10 said.

Updated at 7.46pm GMT