Afternoon summary
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Mandelson facing fine of up to £300 after urinating in street
Disgraced peer Lord Mandelson is facing a fine of up to £300 after he was pictured urinating in the street, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Kensington and Chelsea council confirmed it is seeking to issue a fixed-penalty notice to the former Labour grandee over the incident in Notting Hill, west London, last November.
Public urination carries a maximum fine of £300 within the borough, which can be reduced to £150 if paid within 14 days.
A fixed-penalty notice is not a criminal conviction but can show up on the police national computer.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea confirmed it is looking to fine Lord Mandelson, as first reported by The Sun newspaper.
A spokesman said: “We are looking to issue a fixed-penalty notice but need to obtain a suitable address.”
Photos published in the Daily Mail appear to show the peer relieving himself after a late-night visit to former Tory chancellor George Osborne’s Notting Hill home last November.
He apologised at the time, claiming he had been “stood up by two Uber drivers and kept waiting in the street for half-an-hour” and was “bursting”.
