Boris Johnson news – live: No 10 fails to deny PM discussed two top jobs for Carrie
Latest claim follows reports prime minister tried to hire Carrie as his chief of staff when he was foreign secretary in 2018
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Your support makes all the difference.Downing Street has not refuted claims that Boris Johnson spoke with aides about getting wife Carrie Johnson two top jobs while prime minister.
Mr Johnson discussed environmental roles for his wife in autumn 2020, either for the Cop26 summit or with the Royal Family, sources told the Daily Mirror.
The latest claim follows reports Mr Johnson tried to hire her as his chief of staff when he was foreign secretary in 2018.
The PM allegedly went on to suggest securing her a role as green ambassador in the run-up to Cop26 or as communications director for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Earthshot Prize.
Downing Street said he had never recommended Ms Johnson for a government role, but stopped short of denying that he considered or discussed the move.
The PMs’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has never recommended Mrs Johnson for a government role, or one as part of the Earthshot Prize.
“Beyond that I wouldn’t get into any conversations the Prime Minister may or may not have had in private.”
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Cabinet Office remains tight lipped out future of ethics role
The Cabinet Office is remaining tight-lipped on whether or not Boris Johnson will abolish the post of the independent adviser on ministers’ interests in the wake of Lord Geidt’s resignation.
In a response to a written question by Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, Micahel Ellis, minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “In light of the resignation of the Independent Adviser, Lord Geidt, on 15 June 2022, and the issues raised both by Lord Geidt and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee about the adviser’s role, the Government is taking time to consider how best to fulfil the Prime Minister’s commitment to ensuring rigorous oversight and scrutiny of ministerial interests.
“The process of managing ministerial interests continues in line with the Ministerial Code, which sets out that the Permanent Secretary in the department and the Cabinet Office can provide advice, and have a role in scrutinising interests.”
Full report: Lord Geidt ‘believes Carrie job claim ripe for investigation’
As we reported earlier, Lord Geidt is said to believe that claims the PM tried to appoint his future wife Carrie to a top government job could be “ripe” for investigation.
Our politics correspondent Adam Forrest has the full report:
Lord Geidt ‘believes Carrie Johnson job claim ripe for investigation’
Ethics adviser who quit in fury thinks allegation ‘could be a matter for his successor’
Boris Johnson victory at next election would be ‘disaster’ for Tories and Britain, says former party chair
Victory for Boris Johnson at the next general election would be a “disaster” for the Conservative Party and Britain and would hasten the break-up of the United Kingdom, former Tory chairman Chris Patten has said.
Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
Second term for Johnson would be ‘disaster’ for Tories and UK, says ex-party chair
Under current PM, government is not Conservative but English Nationalist, says Chris Patten
Network Rail denies government pressure to limit pay rise to 3% cap
Network Rail’s chief executive Andrew Haines denied that the government pressured to cap a proposed pay increase for rail workers at 3 per cent, our politics correspondent, Adam Forrest, reports.
RMT union leader Mick Lynch said Network Rail’s refusal to go beyond 3 per cent was coming from Grant Shapps’ Department for Transport – claiming “the dead hand of this Tory government is all over this dispute”.
But Haines repeatedly denied it on BBC Radio 4 Today programme. Asked if Network Rail had been told to stick to 3 per cent, he said “No, we haven’t [been told to].
“Because the government recognises there’s so much productivity available in the industry that for the right deal we could go above that. So per cent would be a constraint if we weren’t able to achieve any productivity.”
The Network Rail chief said on Sky News that the offer was “a lot more than that” – saying they could do “a better pay rise” if the union agreed to productivity reforms. “It depends how much reform we get.”
Boris Johnson urges passengers to ‘stay the course’ in the face of crippling rail strikes
Boris Johnson has warned train passengers they must “stay the course” in the face of the “unnecessary aggravation” caused by rail strikes.
The PM told a meeting of the Cabinet that reforms are vital for the rail industry and those who work in it.
Neil Lancefield has the full report:
PM urges passengers to ‘stay the course’ in the face of rail strikes
The Prime Minister told a meeting of the Cabinet that reforms are vital for the rail industry and those who work in it
Shapps admits he hasn’t had any meetings with rail union
Grant Shapps has admitted that he hasn't had any meetings with the RMT Union.
The transport secretary spoke to the BBC earlier as rail workers commenced the biggest industrial action on the network in 30 years.
Labour has called on Shapps to get directly involved in the dispute - but Shapps claims it is a matter for the union and their employers.
Watch the exchange below:
Two Labour frontbenchers defy Starmer order not to join rail picket lines
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you will know that there is a strike on the railways today.
Some 40,000 workers have taken industrial action in a row about pay, conditions and redundancies. You can read all about it here on our liveblog.
Both Labour and the government have been blaming each other over the walkouts. Keir Starmer has said the strikes should not go ahead and banned frontbenchers from joining picket lines - but at least have defied that order.
Our politics correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the story:
Two Labour frontbenchers defy order from Starmer’s office not to join picket line
Leaked memo from Labour leader’s office said senior MPs ‘should not be on picket lines’ - leading to fury among unions
Government accused of hypocrisy over plans to cut limits on banking bosses’ pay
Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of hypocrisy for planning to cut controls on City bosses’ pay while calling for wage restraint in the public sector.
Our politics correspondent Adam Forrest reports:
Outrage as government plans to cut limits on banking bosses’ pay
Labour accuses ministers of wanting ‘two sets of rules’ following calls for public sector pay restraint
Boris Johnson says workers should accept a pay cut to avoid spiralling inflation – is he right?
The PM claims we must accept falling wages to prevent spiralling inflation, writes Ben Chapman. But experts say this fundamentally misunderstands the problem.
Read Ben’s full piece here:
Analysis: Boris Johnson says British workers should accept a pay cut – is he right?
The PM claims we must accept falling wages to prevent spiralling inflation, writes Ben Chapman. But experts say this fundamentally misunderstands the problem
Carriegate ‘ripe for investigation’, Lord Geidt said to believe
Lord Geidt believes claims that Boris Johnson tried to hire his then-lover Carrie as his chief of staff while he was foreign secretary are "ripe for investigation," it has been reported.
The prime minister's former ethics adviser quit last week over what he said was the government's plan to deliberately breach the ministerial code by not following World Trade Organisation obligations on steel subsidies.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Lord Geidt thinks that reports the PM tried to appoint to his future wife to a plush £100,000 taxpayer-funded government job should be looked into by his predecessor.
Downing Street denies the report. The PM has not yet replaced Geidt and has refused to committ to doing so.
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