Boris Johnson news – live: Neil Parish vows to stay on as MP after ‘porn-watching’ claims

Former health secretary Matt Hancock has apologised for “the pain and anguish” caused, after the High Court ruled that policies on discharging hospital patients to care homes at the start of pandemic were unlawful.

But, the Tory MP added, the ruling also shows “we ministers were not told about the asymptomatic transmission”.

“This is a really important scientific fact and the most important thing is that we learn from these lessons as a country and learn how to handle pandemics, because there will be a future one,” he told the BBC.

Mr Hancock added he was “very happy to reiterate his apology” to the families who lost loved ones and were affected by the pandemic.

The case against Boris Johnson’s government was brought by two women whose fathers died from Covid-19 and who said ministers failed to protect care home residents during the pandemic.

More Britons trust the Labour Party than trust the Conservative Party in all policy areas, a new poll has shown.

The Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey found that 43 per cent of adults trust the Labour Party to support the NHS - compared with 22 per cent for the Tories - while 39 per cent said they trusted Keir Starmer’s party to manage housing issues and suport thhe education system, with the Tories scoring 19 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

It is the fourth time this year that the political polling company’s figures have showed a sway to Labour in all policy areas.

Local elections will take place across the UK on 5 May.

The Scottish Tory leader has claimed Boris Johnson is “fit for office”, after previously submitting a letter of no confidence in the PM and calling on him to quit amid the Partygate saga.

Mr Johnson has been under pressure in recent weeks after he - along with his wife Carrie Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak - received a fine for one of the gatherings.

However, Douglas Ross, who called on the PM to quit before Russia invaded Ukraine, has now come out in defence of his boss. Asked by the Scotsman newspaper if the PM should remain in his role, Mr Ross said he should because “he is leading the UK response to this crisis at the moment”, referring to the Ukraine-Russia war.

He said the conflict “doesn’t in any way diminish what [Mr Johnson] did”, in breaking his own Covid laws, but stressed the PM “is fit for office to continue with what his government has done to help the people of Ukraine”.

“That’s not just me saying it, that’s President [Volodymyr Zelensky] who singled out Boris Johnson as a Western leader who has provided some of the greatest support,” Mr Ross said.

He added he had not seen anything in recent weeks that would “change his mind” on the PM’s position.

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has admitted she was wrong to say Channel 5 had been privatised a few years ago, after it was pointed out to her that the channel was never publicly owned.

Speaking to LBC Radio on Thursday, amid anger from cross-party MPs about the sale of Channel 4, Ms Dorries said: “Can I say who’s done that really well, since they were privatised a small number of years ago… Channel 5.

“If you look at the amount of investment into the regions and how well Channel 5 has done since it’s been privatised… I call Channel 5 the levelling up broadcaster. That is a model for how broadcasting can work.”

Channel 5 has, in fact, been a private business since it launched 25 years ago.

Benjamin Cohen, CEO of LGBT+ site Pink News, alerted the cabinet minister to her mistake, tweeting last night: “I love how Nadine Dorries justifies privatising Channel 4 by claiming that Channel 5 was privatised 3 to 5 years ago. Channel 5 launched in 1997 as a private business as a result of a franchise auction but I guess you couldn’t expect the culture secretary to know this.”

Ms Dorries swiftly replied, acknowledging she “misspoke”. But she quipped back: “The substance of my point remains exactly the same. But, you nit pick away if that’s what makes you really happy.”

Following a heated exchange between the pair – during which the Tory MP accused Mr Cohen of regularly “personally attacking” her – the journalist ultimately revealed Ms Dorries had blocked him.

Some Partygate news now, as a union boss says the scandal is undermining efforts to teach “decency and honesty” in schools.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), will use a speech on Friday to launch a blistering attack on the government and accuse the PM of “misleading” the nation over Downing Street parties.

“The first things [taught in school] are self-regulation, good behaviour, decency, honesty and integrity. Things that are hard to observe in the UK government right now,” Mr Whiteman will say. “For the prime minister of the country to mislead us about it, repeatedly, is unforgivable, and clearly in breach of the standards of our democratic institutions.”

Mr Whiteman believes Partygate “matters” to the teaching profession because “young people can see this playing out before their very eyes”, writes Adam Forrest.

MP Sarah Olney says she “absolutely thinks” that the Tory MP accused of watching porn in the Commons should be sanctioned, “because if behaviour isn’t challenged ... people will carry on doing it and they will get away with it.

The Lib Dem representative went on to say that a failure to sanction this politican would create a “really oppressive environment for female MPs and [Westminster] staff”.

Pressed on why she thought action had not already been taken, Ms Olney said this was because “all across the Conservative party at the moment, we are seeing a catastrophic fall in standards”. She told Sky News:

“It starts with the prime minister, who won’t admit he lied to the Commons [about Partygate], who won’t resign over this breach of the rules that he himself imposed. So, it starts at the very top.

“If the prime minister, the leader of the party, is not prepared to observe the highest standards of behaviour in public then he has no right to impose those standards on other people.”

She added: “And this is what we are seeing, MPs taking the public for granted, treating them like fools and thinking they can get away with it, because they’re following their lead from the prime minister.”

Let’s look at some polling data ahead of next week’s local elections. New research suggests two million older voters who did not vote for Labour in 2019 would consider doing so now.

A report from the Fabian Society found 28 per cent of over-55s in Britain were open to voting Labour – compared with a 21 per cent share of the vote among that age group at the last election, writes Liam James.

Around two million of them said they did not vote for the party when Jeremy Corbyn faced Boris Johnson but would consider doing so under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.