Boris Johnson news – live: No 10 fails to deny PM discussed two top jobs for Carrie

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.”

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:

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:

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 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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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.