Boris Johnson news – live: Senior Tory says PM unfit for office after Partygate fine
He called Mr Johnson’s apology ‘indefensible’
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Your support makes all the difference.Mark Harper, senior Conservative MP for the Forest of Dean, has said he believes Boris Johnson is “no longer worthy of the great office that he holds”.
It followed the PM’s address to the House of Commons in his first statement to MPs since he was fined by the Metropolitan Police for attending a birthday party – thrown in his honour – at No 10 while strict Covid restrictions were in place.
Mr Harper said: “I strongly support the government’s actions in standing up to Putin’s aggression and helping Ukraine defend itself and our values and it’s exactly at times like this that our country needs a Prime Minister who exemplifies those values.
“I regret to say that we have a Prime Minister who broke the laws that he told the country they had to follow, hasn’t been straightforward about it and is now going to ask the decent men and women on these benches to defend what I think is indefensible.
“I’m very sorry to have to say this, but I no longer think he is worthy of the great office that he holds.”
NHS urges people to take up lung cancer check
NHS chiefs are urging people to take up invitations for lung cancer check-ups after 600 people were diagnosed with the disease in travelling trucks, which visit convenient community sites across the UK.
Dame Cally Palmer, NHS cancer director, said: “These lung checks can save lives – by going out into communities we find more people who may not have otherwise realised they have lung cancer – with hundreds already diagnosed and hundreds of thousands due to be invited.”
The call by the NHS comes as new figures show only a third (35 per cent) of patients go to their lung health check when invited by the NHS.
NHS urges people to take up lung cancer check as 600 diagnosed in mobile trucks
Hundreds of people have been diagnosed with lung cancer earlier through NHS mobile trucks.
Rail ticket sale launched amid cost of living crisis
Train tickets are set to be slashed by as much as half as the Government looks to address cost-of-living pressures with cheaper travel in April and May.
Dubbed as the Great British Rail Sale, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said more than one million train tickets would be reduced this spring.
“Operators across the rail industry are coming together to help passengers facing rising costs of living by offering up to 50% off more than a million tickets on journeys across Britain,” he said.
Officials said offering half-price rail tickets was “one of the ways” the Government was helping to support families with the cost of living, having previously announced measures to defer energy costs and offer council tax discounts for some households.
Half-price sale on rail fares announced to help with cost-of-living pressures
The Department for Transport said the move would be a boost for UK tourism.
Johnson accused of ‘showing no respect for law and order’ ahead of Commons address
Boris Johnson has been accused of showing “no respect for law and order”, as he prepares to face a grilling from MPs in his first parliamentary appearance since being fined by the Metropolitan Police.
Last week fines were issued to the prime minister, his wife, Carrie, and the chancellor Rishi Sunak, for attending a birthday gathering in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.
“Every day that Boris Johnson remains tarnishes his party and the office of the prime minister,” said former Conservative MP and cabinet minister Rory Stewart urged his former colleagues to act on Monday.
Sir Keir, the Labour leader, who has put tackling crime at the centre of his campaign for the 5 May local elections, also claimed that Mr Johnson has showed “no respect for law and order”.
The Independent’s political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has more:
PM accused of ‘showing no respect for law’ as he prepares to address MPs on Partygate
Johnson will face MPs for first time since being fined by Metropolitan Police
PM to offer ‘apology' as he faces MPs in Commons
Boris Johnson is today expected to make a “full-throated apology” to MPs after he was fined by police for attending a birthday bash in breach of Covid rules.
His statement is expected in the Commons today, as MPs return to Westminster following the Easter recess.
According to reports the prime minister will however stop short of addressing allegations he instigated a separate lockdown leaving do, as he attempts to convince politicians there are bigger issues to focus on than the partygate saga.
My colleague Amy Gibbons has more:
Boris Johnson to make ‘full-throated apology’ to MPs over partygate fine
It is thought the Prime Minister will focus on the crisis in Ukraine and the Rwanda migrant deal in a speech in the Commons.
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