Boris Johnson news – latest: Michael Gove says former PM is ‘man of integrity’
‘I think that Boris is someone who puts the country first,’ the levelling up secretary said
‘Boris Johnson is a man of integrity,’ Levelling up secretary Michael Gove agreed on Sophy Ridge on Sunday
When questioned on the show this morning about whether he thinks the former prime minister is a man of integrity, Mr Gove replied: “I think that Boris is someone who puts the country first, yes,”
It comes as Mr Johnson is under investigation by the Commons privileges committee over whether he deliberately or recklessly misled the Commons with his statements about Partygate.
MPs investigating whether the former prime minister intentionally misled parliament over his understanding of parties in Downing Street during the pandemic could recommend a suspension of more than 10 days, triggering a contest for his Uxbridge constituency.
Mr Johnson is now preparing for a “worst case” scenario in which he has to fight a by-election he is expected to lose, allies have said.
Government’s anti-social behaviour plan ‘amounts to nothing,’ says shadow cabinet minister
Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said the Government’s anti-social behaviour plan “amounts to nothing”.
She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “Well, look we’ve heard it all before from this Government and I think we have to judge them by their record and community sentencing over the last thirteen years is down not just by a third, but by two thirds.”
She added: “They scrapped the Asbo (Antisocial behaviour orders) regime that the last Labour government brought in and under their watch anti-social behaviour has got worse, sentencing has fallen immeasurably and we’re seeing crimes going unsolved.
“So yes, we hear these sort of re-boots and another re-boot and another announcement to get the Sunday media attention, but I think it amounts to nothing.”
Watch: Michael Gove challenged over cocaine use as he sets out ban on laughing gas
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he believes Boris Johnson’s evidence on partygate.
He says the former PM worked hard and believed saying thank you to departing No 10 staff was part of that job.
Gove says he is inclined to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt.
Rising rents 'unacceptable' says Gove
Rising rents are 'unacceptable', Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
When asked if it is acceptable rents are climbing significantly, Gove replied “no”.
He said “unscrupulous” landlords should not “jack up rents and victimise tenants”.
Anti-social behaviour plan will see increased police presence in pilot areas, Michael Gove says
The Prime Minister’s anti-social behaviour plan will see increased police presence in pilot areas, according to a Cabinet minister.
Communities Secretary Michael Gove, speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, said: “It is a comprehensive plan that will both see more uniformed officers in hotspot areas where crime is a particular problem and anti-social behaviour blights lives, and faster justice which will see people who have been responsible for damaging the area in which they live repair the fabric, the social, the civic fabric of the society, that they have undermined.
“And it will also see investment in making sure that there are alternative activities for young people and that we divert people away from anti-social behaviour before it occurs.”
Mr Gove said there would be £160 million invested into the scheme.
Asked if anti-social behaviour was the right priority for the Government in the face of “terrible rates” of prosecution for rapes and violent crimes, the senior Conservative replied: “I think you have to do both, you have to walk and chew gum.”
‘Mistake to regard drug taking as acceptable,’ Michael Gove says
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said he had learned through his own experience that it was a “mistake” to “regard drug taking as somehow acceptable”.
He has previously admitted taking Class A drug cocaine.
The Levelling-Up Secretary, asked whether some in the public might view ministers’ stance on laughing gas as “hypocritical” if they had admitted taking drugs in the past, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “No, I think it is because I have learned.”
Pressed on what he had learned, Mr Gove said: “That it is a mistake - worse than a mistake - to regard drug taking as somehow acceptable.”
Effect of Brexit on economy on ‘magnitude’ of pandemic, OBR chairman says
The effects of Brexit on the economy is on the “magnitude” of the coronavirus pandemic, the chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said.
Richard Hughes told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “We think that it in the long run (Brexit) reduces our overall output by around 4% compared to had we remained in the EU.
“I’ve struggled to put it in any kind of sensible context.
“It’s a shock to the UK economy of the order of magnitude to other shocks that we’ve seen from the pandemic, from the energy crisis.”
Labour ‘want to see’ laughing gas banned, shadow cabinet minister says
Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said Labour “want to see” laughing gas banned.
She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “I think we want to see it banned as well because I think it does cause a huge amount of littering, of disruption and of anti-social behaviour challenges as well.”
Could be 5 years before people’s spending power recovers to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, OBR chairman says
It could be five years before people’s spending power recovers to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels ,the chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said.
Richard Hughes told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I think we’re seeing clearly the biggest squeeze on living standards we’ve faced in this country on record.
“But we do expect, as we get past this year and we go into the next three or four years, that real income starts to recover.
“But it’s still the case that people’s real spending power doesn’t get back to the level it was before the pandemic even after five years, even by the time we get to the late 2020’s.”
He added: “It’s partly because UK growth has been held back by a range of supply constraints on some of the key drivers of growth.
“We’ve lost around 500,000 people from the labour force, we’ve seen stagnant investment since 2016 and also our productivity has slowed dramatically since the financial crisis and not really recovered.”
Shadow culture secretary ‘appalled and sickened’ by Led by Donkeys revelations
Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said she was “pretty appalled and sickened” by the revelations that Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng agreed to work for thousands of pounds per day for a fake South Korean firm after being duped by campaign group Led by Donkeys, adding “there is a problem with the rules”.
She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “There is a problem with the rules. I think no-one can watch that video and see these reports without feeling sickened quite honestly at them parading themselves around, trying to get extra paid political consultancy because that’s what that is and that’s why we’ve been calling for an end to second jobs for MPs, an end to these paid political consultancy roles.
“Being an MP is absolutely a full-time job, it’s not just a full-time job, it’s a whole lifetime commitment and our constituents need us to be fully focused on that, not working out whether we’ve got other interests and whether we are pursuing other commercial ends in our doing our job.”
She added: “I was pretty appalled and sickened by those revelations and that’s why we’ll be re-doubling our efforts to try and get second jobs banned for MPs.”
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