“The speed of the plans, even with confirmed daily UK cases above 108,000 on Wednesday, and nearly 19,000 Covid patients in hospital, has brought speculation that a main motivation has been to provide a politically embattled Johnson with some good news for his mutinous MPs.”

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

The government has pledged to abolish almost every existing Covid restriction over the coming weeks in England and “get life completely back to normal”, a course popular with Conservative MPs but which immediately prompted stark warnings from health groups.

The NHS Confederation said the move would inevitably place renewed pressure on hospitals, while the British Medical Association said the changes planned were “not guided by the data”.

After Boris Johnson announced the end of all plan B rules, imposed to cope with the Omicron variant, by next week, Sajid Javid set out the government’s wider vision to go further, with rules on self-isolation expected to be replaced by voluntary guidance in March.

“I will come back in the spring and set out how we will live with Covid,” the health secretary told a No 10 press conference. “But the way we are going to do this is that we are going to have to find a way to remove almost all of these restrictions, and get life completely back to normal.”

The speed of the plans, even with confirmed daily UK cases above 108,000 on Wednesday, and nearly 19,000 Covid patients in hospital, has brought speculation that a main motivation has been to provide a politically embattled Johnson with some good news for his mutinous MPs.

In a hastily arranged Commons statement on Wednesday, Johnson announced the cabinet had agreed an end to all plan B measures. Advice on working from home would change immediately, while compulsory mask-wearing on public transport and in shops and vaccine certificates would cease next week.

To cheers from some on the Conservative benches, Johnson announced an immediate end to the need for pupils to wear masks at secondary schools.

While Javid has been seen as one of the more cautious cabinet voices on Covid rules in recent months, he expanded on Johnson’s theme, telling the press conference he expected vaccination and testing would be the only measures to remain.

“This plan has worked and the data shows that Omicron is in retreat,” he said. While warning of “bumps in the road”, perhaps including new variants, Javid said the UK “must learn to live with Covid in the same way we have to live with flu”.

Addressing the press conference alongside Javid, Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency, did not take up invitations to openly disagree with the strategy, but was less bullish, stressing that any end to self-isolation would have to be based on evidence.

While rules on masks would go, Hopkins urged the public to “take our personal behaviour seriously” and use face coverings when in crowded places among strangers.

However, medical and NHS groups expressed alarm, while teaching unions warned that the changes were taking place at a time when many English schools were still seeing widespread disruption because Covid.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association, said ending plan B measures rapidly could create a rebound in still-high infections and “risks creating a false sense of security” with the NHS still under crippling pressure.

“This decision clearly is not guided by the data,” Nagpaul said. “When plan B was introduced in December, there were 7,373 patients in hospital in the UK. The latest data this week shows there are 18,9791.

Chaand said ditching mask-wearing mandates “will inevitably increase transmission and place the public at greater risk, especially for those who are vulnerable”. He also said the announcement of plans to end self-isolation rules was “premature”.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents the healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, accused ministers of not being honest with the public that the decision to lift restrictions was “a trade-off”.

He said: “We will have greater freedoms but the cost – at least in the short term – will be that more people are likely to get sick with Covid, and that the health service will continue to have to deal with the extra burdens that this creates.”

Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said that while the trend of secondary school infections was down, it could change: “Such uncertainty could lead to a pronounced risk of increased disruption with children and staff having to isolate.”

A director of public health in a city in the north of England said they were also concerned at the move. “This feels like more of a political decision than a decision based on the evidence and the science, and it could be quite London-centric,” they said.

“We’re seeing a reduction in cases, but they’re still incredibly high. Taking out all these measures does feel risky.”

The changes apply only to England. Covid restrictions, as part of health policy, are a devolved matter.

Though it seems to remain beyond the grasp of a surprising number of Tory MPs – Owl

Dear Owl

I have fished our rivers for more than 60 years. Where we now are was predicted when the National Rivers Authority was subsumed into the EA in 1996.

The EA do not publicly accept that they are short of money and people and still employ people whose job is to promulgate platitudinous drivel.

I recently subscribed to a petition and have posted the government’s response below. It did not fill me with confidence.

Roland Craven, Ottery St. Mary

“Dear Roland Craven,

The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Give the Environment Agency the funds and freedom to protect English rivers”.

Government responded:

     The Government recognises the importance of protecting the natural environment and are investing accordingly to progress our 25 Year Environment Plan and its commitment to clean and plentiful water.

     We are determined to build back greener following the pandemic and progress our 25 Year environment Plan and its commitment to clean and plentiful water.

     The Government recognises the importance of protecting the nation’s natural environment and we are investing accordingly.

     The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Spending Review settlement provides a £4.3 billion cash increase over the rest of this Parliament to £7 billion in 2024-25.

     The settlement will allow us to deliver on the Government’s ambitious environmental agenda to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, achieve Net Zero by 2050, increase resilience to flooding and coastal erosion, support innovation and progress the levelling up agenda.

     The settlement delivers against the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan for nature’s recovery and includes more than £250 million in public investment over three years to include, among other things, tackling nutrient pollution in rivers and streams.

     The Spending Review 2021 also sets a stretching new target to raise at least £500 million in private finance for nature’s recovery every year by 2027 and more than £1 billion a year by 2030.

     The Government has taken powers in the Environment Act 2021 to create new, legally-binding targets in four priority areas including water. These new targets will be an important mechanism to drive

environmental improvement and meet our ambitious objectives for the water environment in the 25 Year Environment Plan.

     The Act places clear duties on water and sewerage companies to progressively reduce the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows and improve transparency of reporting when discharges occur.

     The Environment Agency is driving transparency with 80% of storm overflows now having Event Duration Monitors and all overflows will be monitored by the end of 2023, allowing water companies to report the frequency and duration of spills to the Environment Agency (EA) each year so they can  assess compliance. The Environment Agency is acting on new information, suggesting that some water companies in England may indeed not be complying with their permits and a major Environment

Agency/Ofwat investigation has been launched.

     We are committed to funding the EA to improve the water environment. For example, we are providing additional funding to the EA to increase their farm inspection regime nationwide over the next 18 months. In 2021/2 this includes an expectation of a fourfold increase in farm inspections undertaken nationally with plans to scale up further in 2022/3.

     Whilst necessary to uphold basic standards, enforcement of the regulations alone are not sufficient because farmers need advice to understand the risks posed to water by agriculture and funding support

where actions beyond regulatory requirements are needed to reduce pollution further.

     We are expanding the Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme, almost doubling its funding by providing an additional £17 million over the next three years to enable it to cover 100% of farms in England. Over the last 15 years this programme has been one of the main ways to help farmers tackle pollution which results from manure, fertiliser and soil running off into rivers when it rains. It provides free 1-2-1 advice to farmers to help them reduce water and air pollution through management

of nutrients, soils, animals and infrastructure among other things.

     Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Click this link to view the response online:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/586378?reveal_response=yes

The Petitions Committee will take a look at this petition and its response. They can press the government for action and gather evidence. If this petition reaches 100,000 signatures, the Committee will consider it for a debate.

The Committee is made up of 11 MPs, from political parties in government and in opposition. It is entirely independent of the Government. Find out more about the Committee:

https://petition.parliament.uk/help#petitions-committee

Thanks,

The Petitions team

UK Government and Parliament

From today’s Western Morning News:

DESPERATE measures to get elderly patients out of hospital and into social care are to be undertaken in the Westcountry in response to a health care crisis.

Cornwall Council yesterday declared a critical incident in adult social care, echoing a similar warning from the National Health Service.

The council pledged to work with its 70 homecare providers and 222 care homes to find accommodation for 180 patients, who have finished their hospital treatment but are currently blocking beds needed for new cases.

It has also called on residents to help out neighbours or friends recently discharged from hospital to ease the pressure on the system.

Cllr Andy Virr, Cabinet Member for Care and Wellbeing said: “These extraordinary circumstances require a different level of response in our care system, which is currently unable to meet demand – particularly for hospital discharges. This approach will see us work as one system, sharing risk in order to meet these increased demands, and I’d like to say a big thank you to those families and service users who are helping support us in this.

“If you have a friend or neighbour who was recently discharged from hospital please consider how you might be able to help in their recovery. It can be something as simple as running an errand or making a phone call to check they’re OK.”

The council is also asking the voluntary sector to mobilise resources to support efforts to free up 100 beds within two weeks.

Hospitals across the South West have reported huge pressure during the coronavirus crisis, made worse by the problem of finding care for patients ready to go home.

Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio has produced a bonus episode for fans following the show’s nail-biting finale.

Ted Hastings, Steph Corbett and Steve Arnott face one of their most difficult challenges to date after they came face-to-face with a serial liar in the latest episode.

Questioning the prime minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, they delve into his deception around a BYOB party hosted in Downing Street during the height of lockdown.

Hastings concluded that the PM “knowingly and intentionally flouted the rules” because he believes he’s “above the law”. – The London Economic

Watch the clip on twitter in full here.

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak will not be hit by the expected sharp rise in energy bills in April because of a cap on the contributions they have to make towards their Downing Street flats.

Oliver Wright www.thetimes.co.uk

Under the rules, the prime minister and chancellor are allowed their “grace and favour” accommodation rent-free, with utility bills and council tax also covered by the government.

As part of an agreement with HM Revenue & Customs, unlike other “benefits in kind” paid to employees, their total taxable liability is limited to 10 per cent of their ministerial salary. This means they will not be expected to pay more when energy bills rise.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, is due next month to announce a rise in the maximum amount that energy companies can charge customers.

Analysts believe that, unless the government steps in to reduce taxes on bills, the cap could increase by about 50 per cent, pushing up the average cost of bills to almost £2,000 a year.

Johnson and Sunak will not have to pay the bill because of a longstanding agreement with the tax authorities that because they are expected to live in Downing Street for security reasons, it would not be fair to charge them the full cost of the benefit. The story, first reported by MailOnline, is likely to increase pressure on the government to take action to limit the effect on bills before Ofgem’s announcement.

A government spokeswoman said: “As has always been the case, the prime minister and chancellor are provided with residential accommodation in Downing Street.

“It is not possible to disaggregate the energy costs of 10-12 Downing Street, as it is one combined building.”

Asked what action was being taken on bills, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Discussions are still ongoing.”

“When did Tobias Ellwood become a ‘senior Tory MP’ to anyone other than anti-Conservative commentators?” sneered Sir Hugo Swire on Twitter after his former colleague had a pop at the PM. As chairman of the defence select committee, Ellwood is perhaps a touch more senior than Swire, once a minister in the Foreign Office (he outranked Swire in the army too), but there may be a personal reason for this envy. In 2017, Ellwood gave first aid to a dying police officer after a terrorist attack on the parliamentary estate. Swire’s wife, Sasha, noted in her diaries that her husband wished it had been him. “He has longed for the headline ‘Hugo the have-a-go hero’,” she wrote, “but it will never happen.”

Extract from Times Diary,Patrick Kidd www.thetimes.co.uk

The community will be at the heart of Honiton Town Council’s new beginning.

Councillor Jake Bonetta honiton.nub.news 

At last week’s Honiton Town Council meeting, following a vote on the council budget for the new year, six serving councillors stood up and abruptly left the meeting. It was then made apparent, following the meeting, that these councillors had tendered their immediate resignation from the town council. The council is now left with 11 members, of whom 10 joined the council within the last eight months.

This marks an important junction in the history of the council – [with new leadership] in important roles such as the chair and vice chair of the council […]. Now is also the time for councillors to focus on the wants of the town, and all projects – old and new – that need completing.

As the chair of the strategy committee, and one of the councillors looking into a new community strategy for the council, I was excited to see an article last week on Nub News which outlined some suggestions for the town. The community strategy will form the outline for future work of the council over the coming few years, and will mark a significant new step towards a transparent, open and revived town council.

It is clear from the responses to the article that the town is moving in the right direction, and that there are some brilliant ideas that can be worked on, or are already in progress. One example of this is the fantastic CUB building, next to the community college, which now houses a new and revitalised youth club for the town.

There are also new and exciting projects at East Devon District Council which will see a revival of the town’s green spaces, and I will personally work hard in conjunction with the “Wild Honiton” project which is set to transform our open space for the better.

This, I hope, will include the corner of New Street and the High Street, bringing much-needed regeneration to our town centre.

I am also pleased to say that I have been taking part in consultations with schoolchildren across Honiton, talking about planned upgrades for three parks across the town equaling an investment of over £150,000 just this year on Honiton’s play areas.

There is a lot of work to do, and a lot of brilliant plans for the year ahead. The Queen’s Jubilee weekend in June will see the town council bringing together groups from across the town, organising celebrations throughout the town on the 4-day bank holiday. I will also be working closely with my colleagues at East Devon District Council to see what can be done to make sure more recycling and litter bins can be installed across Honiton.

Obviously, these are just the plans and projects that I am involved in, and the change in leadership at the town council will allow many other projects like these from other people to also happen across Honiton. I would encourage anyone with any ideas for projects to get involved in the community strategy process once this goes public later this year, to help us help you.

In the meantime, let us look forward from this marker in the town’s history with hope and unity, for this is indeed the beginning of a new era on the town council.

Last year the Environment Agency received more than 100,000 reports of water, air and land pollution in England. The public told of rivers flowing with human faeces, chemicals dumped, fish killed, factories emitting dangerous fumes, nature reserves and the countryside trashed, as well as unbearable noise and dirty air.

John Vidal www.theguardian.com 

Nearly all these reports were ignored and now we know why. According to shocking leaked documents, the agency, which is the statutory protector of England’s natural environment and therefore of much of its health and safety, had ordered its staff to ignore all but the most obvious, high-profile incidents. Its staff were sent to observe only 8,000 of the 116,000 potential pollution incidents and only a handful of companies were taken to court.

In effect, there is now no one in authority even questioning the pollution that blights much of Britain, causes disease, destroys the natural world and costs billions of pounds every year to clean up. That toxic waste dumped at the bottom of your street? Forget it. Your local nature reserve or park despoiled? Don’t worry. That factory illegally belching formaldehyde? Look the other way.

Fighting pollution is no government’s strong point, but protection against the destruction of nature has been bitterly fought for. Now it is being wilfully trashed. At least in the 1980s, when environment secretary Nicholas Ridley was dubbed the “minister against the environment” and Britain was the “dirty man of Europe”, the EA was more or less independent of government, science-based, and quick to jump on polluters and to prosecute. Anyone fouling a river was likely to be investigated and at least admonished. The problem then was that the fines imposed by the courts were so minimal that the law was flouted at will.

To understand what is happening now, go back to 2011, shortly after David Cameron was elected. In his autumn statement the chancellor, George Osborne, said that he wanted to remove the “ridiculous” social and environmental costs of business. A list emerged of 174 regulations he wanted scrapped, watered down, merged, liberalised or simplified, and the prevailing governing coalition – shame on you, Nick Clegg – knowingly set about trying to abolish controls on asbestos, invasive species and industrial air pollution, as well as protections for wildlife and restrictions on noise pollution.

It was war on the environment and public safety. The forests were to be sold off, badgers exterminated and the land fracked. The climate crisis was not to be addressed at the expense of business, and profit was not to be subservient to nature. Even as the crisis was building, and nature everywhere was known to be in steep decline, government was ideologically obsessed with deregulation and actively making a grim situation even worse.

Thanks to fierce opposition, not least from some of his own backbenchers and EA staff, not all of Osborne’s anti-red tape measures could be shovelled through. But faced with opposition, the government simply strangled, muzzled or frightened the major regulatory bodies that together have been charged with protecting people.

The leaked document shows the extent of the damage done. Over the past 10 years, the EA has had its budget slashed, its staff massively reduced and its powers weakened. Polluting businesses are now expected to self-regulate and report their own transgressions, prosecutions are rare, and the agency admits that it has neither the staff nor the money to do anything other than scratch the surface of control. In words destined to become as notorious as when disgraced environment minister Owen Paterson said “the badgers have moved the goalposts”, the agency now warns, “you get the environment you pay for”.

Last week, too, the environmental audit committee reported that a “chemical cocktail” of raw sewage and slurry was polluting many of England’s rivers. According to watchdog group Unchecked UK, between 2011 and 2016, the agency’s protection budget fell by 62% and staff numbers were cut by nearly a quarter. Prosecutions fell by 80%, the number of pollution incidents logged dropped 29% and water samples taken by the EA fell by 28%. Meanwhile, nearly half of England’s sites of special scientific interest – the jewels in the crown of nature – haven’t been checked for many years.

Nor is it only the EA, or England. Taking cues from Donald Trump in the US, all other protection agencies have been neutered, including Natural England, the Forestry Commission, Natural Resources Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Funding for the Food Standards Agency was slashed by half between 2009 and 2019, , and that of the Health and Safety Executive, which oversees workplace safety, by 53%. Proactive inspections by local authorities have been almost abandoned and prosecutions have plummeted.

The obsession with cutting “red tape” has been ruinous. Deregulation of the construction industry contributed to Grenfell and the cladding scandal, and allowing water companies to use rivers as sewage dumps – even as they were allowed to cut investment and reward shareholders – will cost tens of billions. Public outrage and the courts may have forced small improvements in air pollution, but tens of thousands of people still die needlessly every year because ministers refuse to bring standards up to the minimum World Health Organization levels.

It is now just a matter of time before another major chemical incident like that at Camelford, in Cornwall, in 1988 – when water was contaminated and up to 20,000 people poisoned – takes place. Proposed new rules buried on a government website suggest that the new post-Brexit British chemicals regulator will have only limited powers and that Britain may become a dumping ground and a laboratory for toxic chemicals. The proposals will not be subject to public consultation and will not require a vote in parliament.

Supposedly overseeing the almighty regulatory failure of the past decade will be the new Office for Environmental Protection. This new public body is to report to parliament and be theoretically independent from government. But the secretary of state will appoint the chair and other board members, there is no guarantee it will be adequately funded, and it will not take on all functions of the EU institutions that previously protected the public.

Britain is already one of the least safe places to live in Europe. From now on, the government can introduce damaging policies with little fear of official comeback and companies are more or less free to abuse the environment. With cash-strapped, politically cowed regulators muzzled, few inspections likely and little danger of prosecution, we can look forward to a pandemic of pollution.

Hosted by Exeter Labour for a Green New Deal, Monday 24^th January at 19:30 on Zoom.  

Speakers include transport activists and policy makers.

Road transport accounts for 31% of Devon’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the   largest emitter in the county.

Following on from our successful event in October at Exeter University, Exeter Labour for a Green New Deal are hosting an online Zoom event to discuss how to tackle the climate crisis through transport policies and campaigning and 

The panel event will feature short presentations  a question and answer session. 

Panel members

• Anna Semlyen – Campaign Manager, “20’s Plenty for Us”- lowering speed limits 
• Mike Walton – Chair, Exeter Cycling Campaign who will be presenting on decarbonising transport
• Councillor Rachel Sutton – Exeter City Council lead councillor on Net Zero Carbon Exeter 2030 
• Councillor Steve Race – Hackney Council, Member of the Skills, Economy, & Growth Scrutiny Commission who will be presenting on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs)
• Councillor Tom Hayes – Oxford City Council, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon Oxford who will be presenting on Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ)
• Chris Hinchliff – Rural Transport Campaigns and Policy Officer, CPRE The Countryside Charity, who will be presenting on the Every Village, Every Hour, campaign to improve rural buses.
• Councillor Danny Barnes – Devon County Council 
• Ben Bradshaw MP

Join us at this free panel event on January 24th by registering for a ticket here: https://transportinexeteranddevon.eventbrite.co.uk 

Questions for the panel can be sent to exeterlgnd@gmail.com 

“It’s our form of self-therapy. Motivated by rage. And parenting. So many people re-traumatised by the hypocrisy of #DowningStreetParties. So little integrity.”

The singing Marsh family present (it even has a reference to Jackie Weaver):

While we wait for Sue Gray’s internal inquiry to establish the “facts”, which seems to have new cases added daily, there is plenty of time to get creative. – Owl

That was at the beginning of last week, by Wednesday the figure was 6 per cent, which is about the same number who believe in the Loch Ness monster according to reports in both the Mirror and the Times.

www.indy100.com and www.thetimes.co.uk

People are more likely to believe the moon landings were faked than believe Boris Johnson is telling the truth about the alleged Christmas parties, according to a political pollster.

Opinium Research’s Head of Political Polling Chris Curtis this morning told BBC News that the string of party allegations have rocked the government’s popularity and ratings.

Curtis’s appearance on BBC News follows yet another allegation facing the government. This time, it’s been alleged that Downing Street staff were invited to a bring-your-own-booze (BYOB) event in May 2020.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Curtis spoke of a poll published on December 8th, just after ITV published a leaked mock press conference from Downing Street.

Curtis said: “One question we asked, which really sums up how bad this is for the government, was ‘do you think Boris Johnson is telling the truth about what’s happening?’.

“And just 12 per cent of people thought he was telling the truth.

“That’s fewer than the number of people who believe that the moon landings were fake, so there isn’t much trust in the prime minister when it comes to this issue among the British public at the moment.”

A 2019 poll from Opinium Research found that 21 per cent of UK adults believe that Apollo 11 mission was a hoax (which broke down into 8 per cent who believed it was definitely faked, and 13 per cent who said it was probably faked).

When it comes to the Christmas party allegations, just 12 per cent believed the Covid rules were followed at the supposed shindig, whereas 65 per cent believe they were not.

Commenting on Twitter, Curtis wrote that although these statistics relate to the Christmas allegations, “I would imagine you would get a similar (or worse) result if we asked about May.”

Just one in ten believe Boris Johnson told the truth when asked about the allegations, compared to 63 per cent who believed he was fibbing.

More Conservative voters were likely to believe him (20 per cent) in comparison to Labour voters (5 per cent).

Labour voters were significantly more likely to believe the prime minister was telling porkies (85 per cent) in comparison to just under half (46 per cent) of Conservative voters.

Curtis also noted that the prime minister’s approval ratings were at a low at the end of December, before making a slight recovery in the new year.

Either way, it looks like Sue Gray has her work cut out for her…

Dominic Cummings says evidence will show Boris Johnson “lied to parliament” by denying he knew about the No 10 garden party, plunging his position deeper into jeopardy.

www.independent.co.uk 

An email sent by “a very senior official” warned the “bring your own booze” event broke Covid rules, the exiled former chief aide claims – blowing apart the prime minister’s defence that he thought it was “a work event”.

In an explosive blog post, Mr Cummings wrote: “Not only me but other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time would swear under oath this is what happened.”

The warning came after No 10 denied Mr Johnson was “warned about” a party, or that he told aides objecting to garden gathering that they were “overreacting”.

Many MPs believe Mr Johnson cannot survive in office if it is shown that he misled parliament with his repeated denials that parties took place with his knowledge.

But, in his post, Mr Cummings said that, after Mr Johnson’s private secretary Martin Reynolds sent the invitation “a very senior official replied by email saying the invite broke the rules”.

“This email will be seen by Sue Gray (unless there is a foolish coverup which would also probably be a criminal offence),” he has written – of the senior civil servant leading the investigation.

Mr Cummings claims Mr Reynolds told him he would “check with the PM if he’s happy for it to go ahead”, on 20 May 2020.

“I am sure he did check with the PM. (I think it very likely another senior official spoke to the PM about it but I am not sure),” the post states.

And it adds: “The idea that the PPS [principal private secretary] would be challenged by two of the most senior people in the building, say he’d check with the PM then not – is not credible.”

Many MPs believe Mr Johnson cannot survive in office if it is shown that he misled parliament with his repeated denials that parties took place with his knowledge.

Mr Cummings has written: “The events of 20 May alone, never mind the string of other events, mean the PM lied to Parliament about parties.

“Not only me but other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time would swear under oath this is what happened.”

The fresh allegations came as one senior Tory backbencher warned people are now “too angry to forgive” Mr Johnson for the rash of lockdown-busting parties.

“Right now, listening to the public who remember very well all the sacrifices they made, I think people may well be too angry to forgive,” former minister Steve Baker said.

Asked for the scale of the anger in his Wycombe constituency, Mr Baker replied: “Absolutely furious.”

Conservative MPs are contemplating the growing evidence that voters want Mr Johnson to quit, even before Ms Gray concludes her inquiry later this week or next week.

No 10 refused to say whether the prime minister has been interviewed by her, but said the “full” report will be published when it is ready – not just its key findings.

The allegation that Mr Johnson was warned that he should scrap the garden party was made first by his close friend Dominic Lawson, in a column for The Sunday Times.

Mr Lawson said an official also him that “at least two people” had alerted the prime minister that “this was “a party” and should be immediately cancelled”

“I was told that Johnson’s dismissive response was to say they were “overreacting” and to praise Reynolds as “my loyal Labrador”,” the columnist wrote.

But, on Sunday, a No 10 spokesman said: “It is untrue that the prime minister was warned about the event in advance. As he said earlier this week, he believed implicitly that this was a work event.”

In his blog, Mr Cummings also said he expected the Gray inquiry would get to the bottom of his earlier allegation that he stopped Mr Johnson visiting the Queen “when he might have been infectious”.

“This episode was also witnessed by others who will tell the official inquiry that what I have said is true and the official denials are false,” he has written.

And he warned: “There are many other photos of parties after I left yet to appear. I’ll say more when SG’s [Sue Gray’s] report is published.”

The former aide also attacked Downing Street briefings about a “drinking culture” in No 10, arguing it was false and “intended to shift blame”.

• Proposed veranda to front elevation of property Weeks Farm Talaton Exeter EX5 2RGRef. No: 22/0033/FUL | Validated: Fri 07 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Ash (T1 and T2) – Reduce height to previous reduction points. Repollard at approximately 2m height. Work necessary to reduce excessive shading, promote ongoing health of trees and maintain trees at size and form appropriate to their location. 10 Dove Close Honiton EX14 2GPRef. No: 22/0023/TRE | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of existing barns into 5no. residential properties Four Elms Farm Alfington Road Ottery St Mary Devon EX11 1NYRef. No: 22/0021/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal and repositioning aof existing garage and erection of a new building 42 Hill Drive Exmouth EX8 4QQRef. No: 22/0026/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Prior approval for the conversion of existing agricultural building to form two larger residential dwellinghouses, located furthest west from Four Elms Farmhouse Four Elms Farm Alfington Road Ottery St Mary Devon EX11 1NYRef. No: 22/0027/PDQ | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Crown reduce Beech by 3/4 metres and shape maximum cut 3.5cm diameter. Clear all BT cables by 1.5 metres. Clear branches growing into neighbouring Monkey Puzzle to give at approx 2 metre clearance. To control the future growth of a large mature Beech tree. To prevent major reduction work in the future. Flat 2 14 Westbourne Terrace Budleigh Salterton EX9 6BRRef. No: 22/0025/TCA | Validated: Fri 07 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Holm Oak : Re-pollard at 1.3 metres above ground level G3, 2x Holm Oak : Re-pollard to between 3-5 metres above ground level Reasons for proposed works: Continued management of trees adjacent to pathway to improve view. East Checkstone 4 Douglas Avenue ExmouthRef. No: 22/0019/TCA | Validated: Wed 05 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey rear extension, part conversion of garage to habitable use, single storey front extension to existing garage and conversion of garage roof from flat to gable end 74 Foxholes Hill Exmouth EX8 2DHRef. No: 22/0012/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Beech Crown : Reduction by 3m (spread) and 3m (height) to improve light for neighbouring Feniton Cottage; estimate the approximate size of the tree following the works as: height 10m; crown spread 4m; and the maximum branch diameter that would be cut as 20cm Feniton House Feniton Honiton EX14 3BERef. No: 21/3362/TRE | Validated: Wed 05 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• 18 Ground mounted solar panels on 3 frames each with 6 panels Lower Holcombe Farm Holcombe Lane Uplyme Lyme Regis DT7 3SNRef. No: 22/0015/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Sycamore “Acer pseudoplatanus” Description of proposed works:- * The removal of one small and lower growing limb back to a suitable growth point while maintaining the rule of thirds ( no cut made larger then a third of the parent stem ) * A reduction and lift of 2.5m of the lower crown spread over hanging the the customers garden at the rear of the property, using natural target pruning while ensuring not to create any wounds over a 3″ diameter. work to be carried out during the dormant period and in an aim to provide more sun light for the ground level flora and forna. Flat 2 8 Westbourne Terrace Budleigh Salterton EX9 6BRRef. No: 22/0017/TCA | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of 15 ground mounted solar panels on two frames of 9 and 6 panels Orchard House Upton Pyne Exeter EX5 5HZRef. No: 21/3366/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Rear porch extension. The Threshing Barn Watchford Farm Yarcombe Honiton EX14 9LZRef. No: 21/3356/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Oak : Reduce western canopy overhanging no. 10 Ridgeway by 1.5m and prune back 1 low northerly limb via thinning, maximum diameter of cuts 50mm; remove epicormic growth on main stem; remove deadwood. Reason for works: Works have been agreed with Mr Robin Offer by homeowner and are considered appropriate arboricultural management for this tree. 10 Ridgeway Honiton EX14 2GFRef. No: 21/3363/TRE | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed first floor extension over existing garage. Old Stores Cottage Payhembury Honiton EX14 3EZRef. No: 21/3364/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Willow : Pollard to previous points. Reason: Appropriate on-going arboricultural management 3 Oakwood Rise Exmouth EX8 4PURef. No: 21/3359/TRE | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of replacement dwelling Colwell Wood Cottage Offwell Honiton EX14 9RWRef. No: 22/0002/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• House alterations including replacement porch, removal of late 20thc. outhouses and internal rearrangement, with extension and alterations to existing rear annex. Hay Farm Yarcombe Honiton EX14 9BQRef. No: 21/3349/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Form new doorways internally and reinstate one external doorway. Modify existing external staircases and form one new external staircase. Modify windows. New joinery internally, internal refurbishment and internal works. Stedcombe House Axmouth Seaton EX12 4BJRef. No: 21/3335/FUL | Validated: Wed 05 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replacement of existing garage & store with new garage, store & ancillary accommodation Perry Orchard Barline Beer Seaton EX12 3LRRef. No: 21/3348/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• T1, Oak : Crown reduce Oak by approx 1.5m to suitable growth points. No cuts to be more than 65mm in diameter. Remove any hung up/storm damaged limbs within crown. Home Park Farm Brampford Speke Exeter EX5 5HNRef. No: 21/3345/TCA | Validated: Fri 07 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of land for siting of three shepherd huts and two safari tents as holiday accommodation, formation of parking area, passing bay and pond/wetland area along with associated works. Wolversleigh Farm Sidbury Sidmouth EX10 0QHRef. No: 21/3337/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed change of use to 2 acres of the land (shown hatched on the ‘change of use’ drawing) (1 acre has already been changed to equestrian use) and the construction of a 40 x 20 metre equine arena to the east of the stables for private use only. The Elm 4 Little Field Rockbeare Exeter Devon EX5 2FYRef. No: 21/3320/FUL | Validated: Wed 05 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Concreting existing farmyard area 2 Drakes Farm Musbury Axminster EX13 8AJRef. No: 21/3333/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Ground floor rear extension, new front porch cover, loft conversion into a habitable space with a balcony and an additional second entrance with alteration to fenestration and new decking to the rear. 60 Foxholes Hill Exmouth EX8 2DHRef. No: 21/3323/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed first floor extension over existing garage. 101 Byron Way Exmouth EX8 5SERef. No: 21/3322/FUL | Validated: Fri 07 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Existing garden lawn to be replaced with paths and patio areas, mostly at existing levels. New pergola structure installed, new greenhouse installed. Pool Installation. 9 Northview Road Budleigh Salterton EX9 6BZRef. No: 21/3307/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Detached Garage Trenoweth Coreway Sidford Sidmouth EX10 9SERef. No: 21/3304/FUL | Validated: Fri 07 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of barns into three residential dwellings and associated works Maer Farm Maer Lane Exmouth EX8 5DDRef. No: 21/3296/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of barns into two residential dwellings and associated works Maer Farm Maer Lane Exmouth EX8 5DDRef. No: 21/3295/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Conversion of barns into three residential dwellings (Units 1,2 & 3) and associated works Maer Farm Maer Lane Exmouth EX8 5DDRef. No: 21/3293/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Row 1 roadside trees – crown lift over the road to give clearance of 5.5m. T1 beech remove dead branch over the road, north at 7m T2 birch reduce by approximately 3m to uppermost secondary branch. Broad Oak Lodge Ford Lane West Hill Ottery St Mary EX11 1XERef. No: 21/3286/TRE | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Install boiler in dairy and flue on south elevation Stout Mill Yarcombe Honiton EX14 9LZRef. No: 21/3299/LBC | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Outline application for a barn conversion of a former piggery building at St Andrews for a two bedroom dwelling. St Andrews Harp Lane Aylesbeare Exeter EX5 2JLRef. No: 21/3246/OUT | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of 2no photovoltaic arrays Pitt Meadow Minchin Lane Aylesbeare Exeter EX5 2FHRef. No: 21/3207/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Install 3 No rooflights to side elevation, raise existing dormer on front elevation by approx 450mm Westering 1 Connaught Close Sidmouth EX10 8TURef. No: 21/3196/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Rreplacement of existing garage. 25 Lowbrook Rockbeare Exeter EX5 2LRRef. No: 21/3041/FUL | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Insertion of structural steel work internally between ground and first floor levels. The Volunteer Inn 52 Temple Street Sidmouth EX10 9BQRef. No: 21/2973/LBC | Validated: Fri 07 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Creation of a pond. Glanville Farm Offwell Honiton EX14 9STRef. No: 21/2943/FUL | Validated: Tue 04 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use. The flat was previously residential and then was changed to commercial a few years back. We would like to change the use of the flat back to being residential as we plan to live in it and not run any business from it 5 Grosvenor Mansions Church Street Sidmouth EX10 8NBRef. No: 21/2910/FUL | Validated: Wed 05 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Removal of Condition 5 of planning approval 7/75/03/P1080/00527 to allow proposed retail use of building within Use Class E (Commercial, Business & Retail) Unit 9-9A Axminster Power Tools Weycroft Avenue Millwey Rise Industrial Estate Axminster EX13 5PHRef. No: 21/2891/VAR | Validated: Thu 06 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Horse Chestnut Tree : Prune tree as advised by East Devon Tree Care after having a risk assessment carried out by them; thin all lateral branches by 10% of each branch foliage area, by removing several vertically growing side branches from the end of all large limbs arising from historic pollarding cuts ; reduce the lump extending from the north eastern side of the canopy, by reducing this aspect by three metres; reduce the height of the tree by 2-3 metres and reduce any other extended parts of the canopy by up to 2 metres ; pruning cuts should be in the range of 20-75mm. Reason: to reduce the chance of future branch failure. 30 Alexandria Road Sidmouth EX10 9HBRef. No: 21/2776/TRE | Validated: Wed 05 Jan 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

Boris Johnson has been accused of giving a speech at a leaving do for his defence adviser in December 2020 when Covid restrictions were in force.

www.independent.co.uk 

The prime minister has been embroiled in an ongoing scandal over a number of parties that were held at Downing Street while the public was being told to obey social distancing rules.

According to The Mirror, Mr Johnson attended Captain Steve Higham’s leaving party “for a few minutes” in which he gave a speech “to thank him for his service”. The newspaper said a “small number of No 10 staff briefly said goodbye”.

Although the exact date of the leaving do is not revealed, it was reportedly held in the run-up to Christmas, when London was under Covid rules.

People were at the time being advised to work from home where possible and separate households were not allowed to mix indoors unless a household was linked to another as part of a “social bubble”. Those rules came into force on 2 December 2020.

The number of people allowed at weddings, funerals, and wakes were also severely limited.

London then went into tier 3 on 16 December and escalated quickly to tier 4 four days later.

On 19 December, Mr Johnson stood at his lectern to announce the harsher measures, and told the public that Covid case numbers were rising rapidly in London and surrounding counties despite the “tough restrictions which are already in place”.

Tier 4 rules saw “non-essential” shops and services close, people told they could not meet more than one other person outdoors, leave tier 4 areas, stay overnight away from home, or leave the country.

As the Partygate scandal intensifies with frequent new accusations of lockdown-breaking parties, senior civil servant Sue Gray has been tasked with the responsibility of investigating the claims.

The Telegraph has reported that Mr Johnson has now been questioned by Ms Gray over the allegations and has shared with her what he knows ahead of a report on her findings being published.

Mr Johnson has claimed that he did not know in advance about a No 10 garden party on 20 May 2020 but admitted attending it as he spoke in the Commons last week. But a columnist has accused him of lying, citing people who had worked with Mr Johnson who allegedly said he did know about the party before it took place.

Sunday Times columnist Dominic Lawson claimed that at least two people warned Mr Johnson that an email invite sent out to staff by his principal private secretary Martin Reynolds made it obvious that it was a party and that it “should be immediately cancelled”.

Mr Lawson added: “I was told that Johnson’s dismissive response was to say they were ‘overreacting’ and to praise Reynolds as ‘my loyal Labrador’.

“I then asked someone who has known the PM for decades what could have made him take such an approach (other than natural hospitality and affability). His immediate answer was: ‘It’s because deep down he obviously thought the regulations were ridiculous, so why should he observe them?’”

These shocking allegations could mean that the prime minister may face claims that he breached the ministerial code by misleading MPs when he made his apology and insisted that the party was a “work event”.

Downing Street has insisted that it is “untrue” that Mr Johnson knew about the party in advance of it happening.

It comes after it emerged over the weekend that his wife Carrie Johnson was photographed breaking Covid social distancing rules in September 2020, when she celebrated her friend’s engagement. She said that she regretted her “lapse in judgement”.

Andrew Bowie, Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said that the “atmosphere in the Conservative Party is a mixture of shame, anger and disappointment” as the Partygate saga continues.

The former party vice-chairman told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour that he intends to wait for the publication of Ms Gray’s investigation before deciding “what happens next”.

On the prime minister’s statement in the Commons, he said “it was quite clear that the apology didn’t cut it in the eyes of many members of the public and in the eyes of many members of the Conservative Party, actually.”

Mr Bowie also said: “There is a lot of ill-feeling out there and discomfort on the Conservative benches at where we are right now.”

West Dorset MP Chris Loder said he had received an “enormous” number of emails from constituents about the scandal, and suggested the parties have put the “moral authority” of government into question.

MP Robert Syms has said that he is considering submitting a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership. It comes after MP Tim Loughton said he had “regretfully come to the conclusion that Boris Johnson’s position is now untenable”.

A number of MPs have sent such correspondence to the influential 1922 Committee of backbench Tories.

Letters from 54 MPs – 15 per cent of the total number of Conservative MPs – are needed to spark a challenge to the PM’s leadership.

Covid rates have risen slightly across Devon, fuelled by a sharp rise in cases in Torbay.

Joe Ives, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

In the latest complete seven day period (to Sunday 9 January) the county recorded 13,994 new cases, 191 (1.4 per cent) more than in the previous week.

The increase is largely due to a steep rise in infections in Torbay. The area recorded 1,868 cases, 441 (31 per cent) more than the previous week.  The infection rate in the Bay is now 1,371 per 100,000 of the population, the highest rate in Devon.

The Devon County Council area, which excludes Plymouth and Torbay, saw cases fall by 113 (one per cent), recording 8,557 infections: a rate of 1,056 per 100,000. 

Plymouth recorded 3,569 cases, 173 fewer (five per cent) than the previous week.  The city’s infection rate, 1,358 per 100,000, is only slightly behind Torbay’s.

There are small reasons for optimism. On Wednesday 11 January, 99,652 cases were recorded across the UK – the first time the daily infection number has been below 100,000 since 22 December last year.

Hospitalisations 

The most recent data from Tuesday 4 January showed 174 patients in Devon’s hospitals with covid, an increase of over 50 from a week ago. More than half (92) are at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Elsewhere, 37 are at the RD&E in Exeter, 28 in Torbay, 10 in North Devon and seven at Devon Partnership mental health trust sites. Of the total number of patients, 13 are in ventilation beds

Deaths

Fourteen people died within 28 days of receiving a positive covid test across Devon in the most recent complete seven-day period (to Sunday 9 January), down by four from the same time last month.

Eight people died in the Devon County Council area. Three deaths were recorded in Plymouth and in Torbay.

Across Devon, 1,486 people have now died within 28 days of a positive covid test since the pandemic began.

Vaccinations

Eighty-eight per cent of people aged 12 and above have had their first dose of a vaccine in the Devon County Council area, with 83 per cent receiving both doses. Sixty-nine per cent have now had their booster.

In Plymouth, 85 per cent have had one dose, while 78 per cent have had both. Fifty-seven per cent have had the booster.

In Torbay, 86 per cent have received one dose, while 80 per cent have had both jabs. Sixty-four per cent have had their third vaccine.

The national rates are 91, 83 and 63 per cent respectively.

Covid cases in East Devon by age group from “dashboard”

This includes data up to Jan 11

There are 17 MPs in Kent – 16 Conservative and Labour’s Rosie Duffield in Canterbury. And there is nothing like housing developments on greenfield sites to provoke a backlash from Tory heartland voters.

Gareth Rubin www.theguardian.com 

The copper-coloured afternoon light turns a deep blue as it streams through the stained-glass windows of All Saints’ church in Tudeley, near Tonbridge, Kent. Visitors come from all over the world to see these colours falling to the floor because All Saints’ is the only church in the world where all the windows are by the modernist artist Marc Chagall. But those heavy, aquatic blues sliced through by white figures could soon shine a little less if a new nearby “garden village” – a mile-long estate of 6,500 houses – gets the go-ahead.

“I’m devastated. I’m appalled,” says campaigner Dave Lovell as he stands outside the church door and looks across the unspoilt countryside where the Tunbridge Wells garden village is proposed. “It’s a beautiful part of the countryside and to lose this historic landscape is a tragedy.”

Tudeley is far from alone. A series of garden villages and towns – and one “garden city” at Ebbsfleet – is being proposed on greenfield sites and protected areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) across Kent. In a county known as the garden of England, this has caused uproar.

Garden developments attract special funding from the government so developers often attach the label to projects. But Lovell, a former officer with the National Crime Agency who lives in the nearby village of Capel, dismisses the bucolic moniker. “There’s nothing organic about them,” he says. “They’re artificial and imposed on us. And I’m not sure how they can evolve a sense of community.”

There are at least seven more garden developments proposed. If the housebuilders get their way, Otterpool Park near Folkestone, will have 10,000 homes, Highstead Park near Sittingbourne will have 9,250, five schools and a health centre, and Borough Green near Tonbridge, will have 3,000 homes built on green belt land and an AONB.

Planning authorities say their hands are being forced by the government’s target of building 300,000 homes a year.

The Tunbridge Wells project is split into three parts and Lovell’s village of Capel will be subsumed by the largest section. “There are 950 houses in the parish at the moment and that will be swallowed up by nearly 5,000,” he says. “Local life will completely change. It’s really an existential threat.”

Protest groups have sprung up across the county. Lovell’s idea was to bring them together under an umbrella group: Save Kent’s Green Spaces, which organised a “day of action” on 28 November last year, when the activists marched and rallied. “As far as we can see, there’s no official count on how much land is even being lost,” says Lovell. “We have an estimate but it’s only based on what the 30-odd campaign groups that became involved in the day of action have told us, and what we’ve picked up through newspaper reports. So we’re looking at over 18,000 acres at the moment.” He says they estimate 7.5 houses per acre, though some of that will go on schools and other social infrastructure.

Like much of Britain, Kent has a shortage of housing and social housing. In Tunbridge Wells there were 897 families on the waiting list in 2021. According to Paul Cheshire, professor of economic geography at the LSE, “It’s almost impossible to provide land for new homes [around Tunbridge Wells] without releasing some green belt land. So much of the area is either green belt or AONB.”

There are 17 MPs in Kent – 16 Conservative and Labour’s Rosie Duffield in Canterbury. And there is nothing like housing developments on greenfield sites to provoke a backlash from Tory heartland voters.

In last June’s Chesham and Amersham byelection, for instance, the Liberal Democrats overturned a 16,000 majority in a Buckinghamshire seat that has always voted Conservative, with a 25.2% swing, largely on the back of local opposition to HS2 and housing development. With an identical swing, all 16 of Kent’s Tory MPs would be looking for new jobs.

Tom Tugendhat, Tory MP for Tonbridge and Malling, says that developments such as Tunbridge Wells garden village undermine some of the most important policies of the government. “Of course we need new homes for young people in our community and to give people somewhere for their families,” he says. “But the government’s climate change commitments make some of these decisions pretty strange. We can’t go around bulldozing fields when we need to maintain our green spaces to meet our climate commitments.”

Local protests against the garden villages have made some strange bedfellows. In Faversham, for example, those addressing the marches against the developments on the day of action included local resident Bob Geldof from one end of the political spectrum, and the local Tory MPs Helen Whately and Rehman Chishti from the other.

Geldof, who lives in the 12th-century Davington Priory on the edge of the town, told the rally: “I have lived in Kent for 40-odd years and to see what amounts to a full-scale attack on the county and its people by the central government planners gives a lie to … Boris Johnson’s promise that they would not build on green fields.”

Vicky Castle, content editor for news site Kent Live, says the issue is turning previously quiescent people into activists. “These are angry, knowledgeable people and they’re quite loud,” she explains. “The local Tory MPs are saying, ‘We don’t want this’. And central government turns around and says, ‘Tough, you’re having it’.”

“It’s radicalising local people because they care about these things. You drive around the county for one day and it looks completely different to how it did five years ago. People notice that and they’re worried.”

Duffield wants a new approach. “It’s really disappointing because it’s so unimaginative,” she says. “There are brownfield sites, there are loads of other places. It seems like a developer just has their eye on a lovely area of land. And we’re not going to get it back if it’s full of houses.”

An hour’s drive across Kent from All Saints’ church to Faversham, and the light has faded, turning a field of winter-bare blackberry bushes into dark fingers. They lie on farmland owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, Prince Charles’s business empire, but the duchy has applied for planning permission to build 2,500 homes on 320 acres of countryside.

A duchy spokesman said: “Swale council identified the Duchy of Cornwall’s land as a highly sustainable location for an urban extension of the town, providing 2,500 homes and around 2,500 jobs. Since the initial allocation, the duchy has been engaging with the Faversham community to help shape a vision for a mixed use community that meets local housing needs.

“The plan is being designed from the ground up to improve soils, increase biodiversity, and achieve water neutrality on site with its own waste water treatment plant.”

As evening birds chatter, Carol Goatham walks beside the silhouetted fruit bushes and points out a line of yellow markers that show the path of proposed gas lines to the houses that will replace them. “The pears for the Queen’s wedding breakfast came from this farm,” says Goatham, a retired occupational therapist who founded a group to oppose the development. “And my father worked here when I was young. We are only self-sufficient for 16% of the fruit we eat in this country and this is the highest grade of agricultural land. If we lose these fields, we lose food security.

“I’ve always been a royalist and I’m really pleased about Prince Charles’s green credentials but now I feel that if he sanctions this, then … ” She shakes her head.

She looks from the lines of skeletal blackberry bushes to rows of spring greens pushing through the soil nearby. That soil will also soon be covered if the duchy’s application is granted. “We’re only a small rural town and they’re going to obliterate our beautiful green fields,” she says. “Kent’s supposed to be the Garden of England and we’re going to become a concrete county.”

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “Making the most of previously developed land is a government priority to protect our cherished countryside. Councils are ultimately responsible for setting housing targets in their area.”

This should be a nice little earner for ToryEscapeTheLaw

Neil Parish MP has called for the “full truth” to be revealed about the lockdown party in Downing Street.

He said the inquiry by a senior civil servant will establish what happened, and he was awaiting the outcome. Turns out he’s not the only one waiting to be told what happened by Sue Gray.