Ava Evans www.joe.co.uk 

A close friend and godmother to the prime minister’s son was given a £350-a-day role at the Home Office without the position being first advertised, a freedom of information request has revealed.

Nimco Ali OBE was appointed to the advisory role in October 2020, where she worked around 2 days a month on the UK government’s strategy on tackling violence against women and girls.

While the role’s announcement stipulated she would feed into a potentially influential report, a source close to the Johnsons said that Ali had “hassled Carrie for a job” and that the role “was just a dressed up way for her to hang out with Priti.”

Information released by the Home Office shows it was a direct appointment, meaning the role was not advertised and was not offered to anyone other than Ali.

It also appears the role may have been specifically created for her, with no evidence available to prove the job had existed prior to her employment.

Ali is a prominent social campaigner who has long worked on publicising the horrors of female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice she was subjected to as a child.

She went on to form the Daughters of Eve organisation to campaign against FGM, and later became the CEO of The Five Foundation, a global partnership to end female genital FGM.

Notably, Ross Kempsell who was personally appointed by Boris Johnson to a senior comms role in CCHQ, worked as the foundation’s secretary.

Ali has a longstanding relationship with wife of the prime minister, Carrie Johnson.

A few months after the government advisory appointment had been announced, it is understood Ali stayed with the couple during the 2020 festive period at Downing Street, despite tough social distancing rules being in force throughout London.

At the time Downing Street insisted no coronavirus rules had been broken, and she is said to have stayed over the Christmas lockdown period as part of their childcare support bubble.

During the height of lockdown, Ali was seen out walking Wilfred with Carrie Johnson around London’s West End. 

Ali has also been a guest at the prime minister’s taxpayer funded, grace-and-favour-home, Chequers.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “Nimco Ali has a strong track record of campaigning on violence against women and girls (VAWG) issues, raising awareness and educating people about Female Genital Mutilation.

“She brings a huge amount of experience and passion to this role, providing independent advice to help inform Government policy and challenge the status quo.

“She was appointed via a direct appointment to lead a short-term project, and her appointment was agreed by the Cabinet Office Public Appointments Policy Team.”

Nimco Ali did not respond to request for comment.

“Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer about why Chris Pincher was given this role in the first place and how he can remain a Conservative MP.”

[The Tamworth constituency has swung between Labour and the Conservatives since the boundaries were redrawn in 1976.]

Emily Atkinson www.independent.co.uk

The resignation of the deputy chief whip shows the Conservatives are “mired in sleaze”, Angela Rayner has said.

Chris Pincher, who was appointed to the role last February to strengthen party discipline, resigned following a drunken incident in which he said he “embarrassed myself and other people”.

He stood down after allegedly assaulting two fellow guests at the Carlton Club – a Tory Party private members’ club in London’s Piccadilly – on Wednesday evening, The Sun claimed.

The Metropolitan Police said it was not aware of any calls to that location last night. It also said there was no record on its systems of any related reports submitted today.

Reacting to Pincher’s resignation, Ms Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, said in a statement: “This latest episode shows how far standards in public life have been degraded on Boris Johnson’s watch.

“Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer about why Chris Pincher was given this role in the first place and how he can remain a Conservative MP.

“The Conservative party is so mired in sleaze and scandal that it is totally unable to tackle the challenges facing the British people.

“The Conservative MPs who continue to prop up this prime minister’s paralysed administration need to grow a backbone and tell him the party’s over.”

In his letter of resignation to the prime minister, Mr Pincher apologised to Mr Johnson, saying it had been “the honour of my life” to have served in the government.

The Tamworth MP said: “Last night I drank far too much. I’ve embarrassed myself and other people which is the last thing I want to do and for that I apologise to you and to those concerned.

“I think the right thing to do in the circumstances is for me to resign as deputy chief whip. I owe it to you and the people I’ve caused upset to, to do this.

“I want to assure you that you will continue to have my full support from the back benches, and I wish you all the best as you deal with aftershocks of Covid and the challenges of international inflation.

“It has been the honour of my life to have served in Her Majesty’s Government.”

It is the second time he has quit the whip’s office, having resigned as a junior whip in November 2017 following a complaint that he made an unwanted pass at the former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story.

Having referred himself to both the police and the Conservative Party complaints procedure, he was brought back by Theresa May as deputy chief whip in January 2018.

With additional reporting from the Press Association

A phrase often repeated by Helen Hurford who failed to hang on to the “safe” seat of Tiverton and Honiton.

So why is our economy tanking? – Owl

“The UK is on course to be the worst performing developed world economy this year after being hit with inflationary pressures that will drive up prices more than in neighbouring economies in Europe and the US.”

Doesn’t look as if it will come good before the next election either.

[The general claim of getting the big calls right has always been contentious even with regard to the handling of the pandemic see www.theguardian.com ]

Mehreen Khan www.thetimes.co.uk

UK economic growth slowed at the start of the year amid mounting fears that the economy will tip into recession by the end of 2022.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) maintained an initial estimate of 0.8 per cent growth in the first three months of the year, down from 1.3 per cent in the previous quarter and in line with estimates. Year-on-year growth was 8.7 per cent, also in line with initial estimates from the ONS.

The GDP figures mean that the UK economy has just surpassed its pre-pandemic peak but growth is on course to shrink in the second quarter after a monthly GDP contraction of 0.3 per cent was recorded in April.

Economists widely expect that a combination of higher national insurance contributions, additional bank holidays over the Jubilee weekend and climbing inflation will cause growth to turn negative in three months to June, the first quarterly GDP fall since the start of last year.

The ONS said that IT, transport and manufacturing were the main drivers of economic growth in the first quarter. Rising inflation meant, however, that households’ real disposable income fell by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter, the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. Consumer price inflation has hit 9.1 per cent and will peak at above 11 per cent in October, according to the Bank of England, driven mainly by the rising cost of energy and food.

The UK is on course to be the worst performing developed world economy this year after being hit with inflationary pressures that will drive up prices more than in neighbouring economies in Europe and the US.

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, repeated warnings this week that households were facing sharp falls in real incomes, a factor that will depress growth for the next three years. The Bank expects UK GDP to remain stagnant until 2024.

“Our latest estimate for economic growth in the first quarter is unrevised as a whole, showing the UK continued to recover from the pandemic,” Darren Morgan, director for economist statistics at the ONS, said. “Both household incomes and spending rose in cash terms in the first quarter, leaving the rate of saving unchanged. However, once taking account of inflation, incomes fell again, for the fourth consecutive quarter.”