Evening summary
Here is a round-up of the day’s main headlines:
The deadline for the Cabinet Office to hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages, diaries and personal notebooks to the Covid public inquiry has expired. If the government has failed to comply with the order of the inquiry’s chair, Heather Hallett, to disclose the documents, it could lead to a court battle and possibly a criminal offence. Ministers could seek a judicial review of her order as the government has argued it should not have to disclose material that is “unambiguously irrelevant” to the inquiry, PA reported.
Rishi Sunak has said the government is “carefully considering next steps” in the row over whether to disclose Boris Johnson’s private messages and papers to the Covid public inquiry. Speaking to broadcasters at a gathering of European leaders in Moldova, the prime minister said: “I think it’s really important that we learn the lessons of Covid so that we can be better prepared in the future. We’re doing that in the spirit of rigour, but also transparency and candour. We’ve cooperated – the government’s cooperated thoroughly with the inquiry to date, handing over tens of thousands of documents, and we will continue to comply, of course, with the law, cooperate with the inquiry. We’re confident in our position but are carefully considering next steps.”
A Savanta poll released this morning found that 61% of Britons think Johnson’s unredacted diary entries and WhatsApp messages should be handed over to the Covid inquiry. The poll came as No 10 faced calls to hand over evidence without redactions to the Covid inquiry. On Wednesday, it was reported that Johnson handed over a major cache of WhatsApp messages and notebooks to the Cabinet Office.
The Covid inquiry must take an unflinching look at how the UK’s lack of decent sick pay left the country “brutally exposed” during the pandemic, the TUC has said. The UK entered the pandemic with the lowest rate of statutory sick pay in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries) and with millions unable to access it, the union body claimed.
A long-serving MP has had the Labour whip suspended after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced from five women stretching back over several years. Geraint Davies, who represents Swansea West in the House of Commons, is facing an investigation after the claims were made by anonymous alleged victims to the Politico website. No formal complaints have been made about Davies, due to those who were allegedly targeted being said to have a lack of confidence that they would be taken seriously.
But Sky News reports that Labour whips were informed of allegations against Davies “many months ago”. Liz Bates, a political correspondent for the news broadcaster, said: “Sky News has seen evidence today that the Labour whips’ office was made aware of the allegations against the veteran MP many months ago.”
Public spending on the asylum system has quadrupled under Conservative-led governments, according to official figures, as Rishi Sunak prepares to discuss ways of reducing the number of people seeking asylum with other European leaders. Labour has unearthed figures that show the amount spent on the asylum system has increased from £550m in 2012 to £2.1bn in 2021. There was a further substantial increase in 2022, as slower asylum decisions and Suella Braverman’s last-minute decision-making led to an increase in costly hotel use, the party has claimed.
Calls by senior Tories to abolish inheritance tax have been met with scepticism from senior economists and tax experts. More than 50 Conservative MPs, including the former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, have urged Rishi Sunak and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to scrap the tax, according to the Telegraph. But Paul Johnson, the head of the independent economic thinktank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the tax should instead be overhauled, as it tends to be easier to avoid for the very rich with broadly based wealth than for those with only one asset.
Brexit will be remembered as a “historic economic error” that damaged the UK economy and has helped to drive inflation higher, according to the former US treasury secretary Larry Summers. Singling out Britain’s departure from the EU as a factor for higher costs, Summers also criticised the UK’s economic policy as “substantially flawed for some years”.
Ukraine has placed sanctions on Alexander Lebedev, the Russian oligarch who hosted Boris Johnson at lavish parties in London and Italy, Tortoise reports. Lebedev bought the Evening Standard and the Independent newspapers about a decade ago. Under Johnson, Lebedev’s son, Evgeny Lebedev, was given a seat in the House of Lord’s despite security warnings from MI5.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the UK politics live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Updated
Deadline for the Cabinet Office to hand over Boris Johnson documents passes
The deadline for the Cabinet Office to hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages, diaries and personal notebooks to the Covid public inquiry has expired.
If the government has failed to comply with the order of the inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, to disclose the documents, it could lead to a court battle and possibly a criminal offence.
Ministers could seek a judicial review of her order as the government has argued it should not have to disclose material that is “unambiguously irrelevant” to the inquiry, PA reported.
Just 45 minutes before the 4pm deadline, Rishi Sunak told broadcasters the government was still considering its next steps.
Updated
