Civil servants described the government’s Covid testing programme as “unlegit” and “no way to do business” in emails revealed in a high court challenge to the awarding of up to £85m in contracts for antibody tests.

Haroon Siddique www.theguardian.com 

The campaigning organisation Good Law Project (GLP) is challenging the health and social care secretary, claiming the contracts with Abingdon Health, a medium-sized UK firm, were unlawful because they were not advertised nor open to competition, and the correct procurement process was bypassed.

The antibody tests developed by Abingdon later failed to pass regulatory tests and the vast majority expired without being used.

At the beginning of the hearing in central London, the GLP released details of emails obtained as a result of its legal challenge, including one in which David Williams, then the second permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), expressed concern at “how unlegit the entire testing strand is”.

In another email, concerned specifically with Abingdon, Steve Oldfield, the chief commercial officer at the DHSC, asked Williams to “have a quiet word with [Lord] Bethell and explain to him that we could make this all a lot more legit if we just took two days to do a public call-to-arms to ‘flush out’ any other companies who might be able to play a role in this space, and remove the criticism that we haven’t given everyone a fair chance”.

Bethell, then a health minister, is said by the GLP to have “made a number of interventions to assist [Abingdon]”, including championing the company – unlawfully, according to the GLP – on the basis of it being British. Bethell’s WhatsApp messages relating to government business have been unavailable for disclosure in the case because they were deleted when he replaced his mobile phone.

The GLP said there were concerns highlighted over the way contracts were being awarded in relation to Abingdon but also more generally, with one email by a civil servant stating: “[This is] no way to do business but we are in exceptional times.”

Additionally, the documents show an unnamed external consultant for the health and social care secretary saying of the arrangements with Abingdon: “Beyond the individual risks by themselves is there a point of mentioning that in conjunction with each other it becomes a monster of a story: first, we selected the RTC [rapid test consortium, which included Abingdon] without competition, then we might have a biased validation leading to a favoured product, we help them financially by funding upfront purchases without sufficient due diligence (ie, no contract in place) and with that commit to buying the test kits without anchoring any pricing principles. That’s big.”

After Public Health England found the tests were not accurate enough for mass antibody testing they were still accepted by the DHSC, with the government saying they were suitable for use in surveillance studies, although emails also showed concerns were raised about Abingdon going bust and “extensive reputational/political damage”.

Concern was subsequently expressed that it “will look like we’ve bought a load of worthless devices”.

A DHSC spokesperson said: “Our engagement with Abingdon Health was led by officials – not ministers or MPs.”

The case is expected to last three days.

New homes have a dwindling amount of green space because property developers claim they cannot afford to build parks, research has found.

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

Analysis from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) looked at data from the Office for National Statistics, data on the average age of local housing stock from Datadaptive and national survey data on public perceptions of local green space from the government agency Natural England.

It found that compared with the mid-20th century, the amount of green space near new developments in England and Wales has declined since 2000.

For example, in neighbourhoods where most of the housing was built between 1930 and 1939, the median size of a neighbourhood’s nearest park was about 61,500 sq metres. The equivalent figure for developments dominated by post-2000 housing is 36,200 sq metres – a 40% decline. And between 2013 and 2021 the proportion of parks deemed to be in “good condition” slipped from 60% to just over 40%.

Dr Alex Chapman, a senior researcher at the NEF, said property developers had the upper hand in negotiations with councils over green space provision.

He told the Guardian: “The broader planning arrangements around new developments mean developers can cite financial viability as a factor. If the council says it needs to build a huge park alongside the development the developer will say that it’s not financially viable.

“Sometimes the council can challenge this, but because of the pressure to build new houses from central government, the appeal will fail. The council won’t want to take part in a drawn out legal pursuit because they know they are on the back foot.”

Chapman pointed out that many large housing developers have a profit margin of about 15%, so there is room to invest in the property they build to make it better for those who live in and around it. Instead, this profit goes to shareholders.

“The golden age of building large parks near to homes was also the golden age of council housebuilding and I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” he said.

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Not only are new parks not being created, existing parks lack legal protection, so are being built on by developers.

Chapman said: “Some of these developments being picked up by us are infill – some of these developments are being built on what would have been someone’s green space. This could be because the parks do not have legal status or protection, so they can be built on.”

One in three people in England do not have nature near their home, with little or no green space at all in some of the most disadvantaged areas.

Visiting nature has proved to be important to wellbeing and health but access to it is decreasing. Analysis by the NEF found the decline in new green space provision after 2000 can now be associated with at least 9m fewer trips to green space a year, and those living in developments built after 2000 were about 5% less likely to visit green space once a week after other key variables (deprivation, age and dog ownership) were accounted for.

The NEF is supporting a petition calling for a legal right to nature.

Misfortune seems to visit those who do!

Simon Jupp with Robert Jenrick in December 2019 and Neil Parish in June 2021.

Time for a pint with Boris?

Two prominent Torbay councillors – one of them the wife of Torbay’s Tory MP – have been blasted by an independent investigator after a “chaotic” council meeting. Cllr David Thomas, the leader of the Tory group on Torbay Council, was found to have breached the council’s code of conduct while fellow Conservative Cllr Hazel Foster, the wife of Torbay MP and Government Minister Kevin Foster, was said to have bullied a council official.

Guy Henderson www.devonlive.com 

Reports at the time said the meeting had echoes of the “Jackie Weaver” incident at Handforth Parish Council in Cheshire that went viral last year. The investigation report, which has been published on the council’s own website, will be considered by the council’s standards hearing sub-committee next week.

Cllr Foster told the Herald Express she would be making a statement to her hearing next Tuesday and declined to comment further. Cllr Thomas will go before the sub-committee on Friday May 13.

The investigation followed a meeting of the council’s housing crisis review panel last September, a meeting chaired by Cllr Foster, which Devon Live reported at the time had “descended into disarray”. Members engaged in a fierce hour-long debate over who could or could not be a member of the panel, with the political make-up of the panel the main issue, and at one point a council clerk became “visibly distressed”.

One councillor said the clerk had been “upset and crying”. Six councillors complained – five Liberal Democrats and one Independent – as well as the council’s director of place Kevin Mowat, sparking the investigation.

According to the report Cllr Foster, who was elected to the council in May 2019, was found to have breached Torbay’s own code of conduct five times during the meeting, on matters including not treating others with respect; bullying or harrassing a person and attempting to use her position improperly. The report says she also breached the code’s rulings on bringing her office or the council itself into disrepute.

The investigator said there was insufficient evidence to rule on two other possible breaches of the code. The meeting on September 27 was streamed online, and a copy of the recording was used in the investigation.

The report says: “Throughout the meeting, Cllr Foster appeared focused on and determined to take a vote on membership of the panel. The meeting was at times heated and this is what led to the complaints against Cllr Foster.”

It later says: “Throughout the meeting there are several examples where Cllr Foster appeared to dismiss the opinion of others and at times refused to allow others to speak. The clerk was clearly very distressed and yet no attempt was made by Cllr Foster to rectify the situation or even show any concern or empathy.

“In addition to this, Cllr Foster appeared to ignore the comments made by other officers and other councillors who did not agree with the process being suggested by her. The fact six councillors and an officer of the council all complained shows the strength of concern over the disrespect shown by Cllr Foster.

“I consider that Cllr Foster has not treated officers or fellow members with respect.” When interviewed for the investigation, Cllr Foster said she felt she was herself being bullied by officers.

Among the complaints was a claim Cllr Foster had used her position to give an advantage to the Conservative group, which had been a breach of the code. The report also says Cllr Foster had brought her own office and the council into disrepute.

It states: “There was a clear lack of concern for the officers in attendance, with the clerk being visibly upset and a senior officer being ignored and told he could not speak.” Cllr Thomas faced nine complaints around his conduct at the same meeting, and was found to have breached the code twice, in attempting to use his position improperly to secure an advantage or disadvantage, and bringing his office or the council into disrepute.

The investigator notes: “I am of the opinion Councillor Thomas acted in a blunt, straight-talking manner, as is clearly his way. This approach might be difficult to accept at times (and he might wish to consider how his approach comes across to others) though this of itself would not breach the code.

“People are familiar with his style and there is nothing in any of his individual remarks during the meeting that I would regard as crossing the line between plain speaking and being disrespectful.” It will now be up to the sub-committee at its meetings next week to decide if Cllrs Foster and Thomas have in fact breached the code of conduct.

Neal Lawson is director of the cross-party campaign organisation Compass. www.theguardian.com

Faced with the ongoing Partygate scandal, a porn-watching MP and a potential rout at Thursday’s local elections, the Conservative party chairman, Oliver Dowden, has gone on the attack. A front-page Mail on Sunday splash accused Keir Starmer and Ed Davey of making a pact to give each other a free run in seats at this week’s polls. The Tories fear a progressive alliance, and Labour and the Liberal Democrats seem to fear saying openly that they want one. What’s going on here, and what could it mean for the next general election?

From Dowden’s point of view, on one level this is straight distraction: make a loud noise and hope people look at your opponents, not you. But he is also on to something. In February the Financial Times ran a well briefed story that Starmer and Davey had an informal pact to avoid competing with each other in certain seats: they stand candidates, but make minimal effort in the campaign. It worked for the Lib Dems in the Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire byelections, and for Labour in Batley and Spen. Not spending money you don’t have, in seats you can’t win, makes obvious sense.

But Dowden is alleging something deeper. His research department has found a dip in the number of Labour and Lib Dem candidates standing this May. Some of this is by accident, as local parties don’t have the money or even the candidates to stand in many places. But it’s also happening by design. Finding they have values and policies in common, not just an enemy, Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens are cooperating on a local level, whether their leaders like it or not. But this breaks party rules, and so has to be done under the radar.

Of course, in crying foul, Dowden is in danger of hypocrisy – the Tories are well aware of the benefits of electoral pacts. On Thursday, Ukip and Reform UK, the successor to the Brexit party, are standing only a quarter of the candidates they did in 2018, thereby consolidating the regressive vote. And at the 2019 general election there was a clear pact between the Conservatives and the Brexit party, the latter’s candidates standing aside because of shared values and the imperative not to split their vote. It helped deliver a big majority for the Conservatives. Dowden rightly fears the gains progressive parties could make if they replicate such deals.

How should Labour and Lib Dem leaders react to Dowden’s accusations? Davey and Starmer have both already insisted there is “no pact”. But whatever they say, while the polls show a hung parliament is likely at the next general election, and unless and until Labour secures a consistent 20-point poll lead, these accusations of secret pacts and a “coalition of chaos” will continue.

And the ace in Dowden’s pack isn’t Davey but Nicola Sturgeon, whose SNP MP bloc is likely to be decisive in any hung parliament. Labour can try to deny this obvious truth and look evasive, or it can make a virtue of the electoral and intellectual strength of cross-party alliances. Who, after all, wouldn’t want Caroline Lucas the Green MP in their dream cabinet? Upcoming byelections in Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield will make it obvious once again that there is some sort of deal. Starmer and Davey must own the new politics or mire us forever in the old.

On the same note, they should stand up for the morality of standing aside to let a better-placed progressive win. Dowden’s argument is that “backroom deals” deny voter choice. This must be confronted. The reality is that the first-past-the-post voting system means 71% of votes are wasted to the benefit of the Tories. Remember, it takes only 38,000 votes to elect each Tory MP but 50,000 for Labour, 250,000 for the Lib Dems and 850,000 for the Greens. First past the post underpins our tribal, adversarial, winner-takes-all politics. The big fraud is an electoral system that shuts out millions of voices, to the Tories’ delight, and locks in a nasty and arrogant political behaviour. By standing aside once and gaining office, progressives could pass legislation for proportional representation so that votes match seats – and usher in a new democracy.

Twenty-five years ago this week, the nation celebrated a Labour landslide, won in part because of cooperation with the Lib Dems. Later this week in local elections across the land there are seats that Labour or the Lib Dems can’t win but the Tories can lose. The same is true of the next general election. Dowden knows this and fears a pincer movement where progressives focus on all the things that unite them, not the few things that divide.

While leaders dither, activists are building a new politics from below. Compass, the organisation I direct, is campaigning for a Labour rule change to allow local parties the right not to stand a candidate where they can’t win. And Labour for a New Democracy is pushing for Labour to back proportional representation. Think of fans invading a pitch, or events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall: if a few people defy the officials, they get carted off, but if everyone does it, the people can’t be stopped.

Whether it’s progressive primaries to select candidates, citizens’ assemblies or a commitment to proportional representation, politics is in desperate and obvious need of renewal. A dysfunctional democracy is incapable of even decent behaviour, let alone solving huge challenges such as the climate crisis. But to get there, progressives are going to have to work together. They have a choice: win as one or lose apart. The stakes have never been higher.

• Erection of a two-storey detached garage to include a first floor level music studio. Symonds Down House Woodbury Lane Axminster Devon EX13 5TLRef. No: 22/0875/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Scots pine : removal of tree and replacement. The tree is stood away from a small group of pines and has suffered major limb loss three times which has left the tree very heavily crown lifted. These limb failures have opened the crown up to external forces (from the wind) that it is not a custom to. This often leads to further limb failures which is exactly what has been happening over the last couple of years. Plant replacement pine closer to the cohesive group to assist with its establishment Pinegrove Lower Broad Oak Road West Hill Ottery St Mary EX11 1XQRef. No: 22/0885/TRE | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension 2 Kings Road Honiton Devon EX14 1HLRef. No: 22/0877/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of roofspace to habitable use to include a front dormer, 4 x front rooflights and alterations to fenestration. 9A Brookside Sidmouth EX10 9UNRef. No: 22/0872/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Addition of a first floor with habitable roofspace with the addition of 2 x front and 1 x rear dormer and alterations to fenestration. 5 Tidwell Close Budleigh Salterton Devon EX9 6SHRef. No: 22/0880/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1791, Oak: Crown raise to comply with Highways Act 1980. Maximum diameter of cuts 50mm T1793, OaK : Cut back southern crown aspect by 2.5m, cutting back branches approximately to vertical line off northern extent of small Yew near house. Maximum diameter of cuts 75mm T1795, Horse Chestnut : Fell Various : Crown lift any low branches overhanging driveway to provide 4m clearance. Maximum diameter of cuts 50mm Reason for Works: T1791 – Oak : To comply with Highways Act 1980. T1793 – Oak : Dominance over property T1795 – Horse Chestnut : Safety Various : Provide vehicular clearance over driveway Knowles Coly Road Colyton EX24 6PURef. No: 22/0878/TRE | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed conservatory to the side of the property. Havencliffe Lane To Havencliff House Axmouth Devon EX12 4ABRef. No: 22/0868/LBC | Validated: Wed 20 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side/front extension and garage conversion to habitable use. 75 Newlands Road Sidmouth Devon EX10 9NNRef. No: 22/0871/FUL | Validated: Fri 22 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Tree 02, Monterey cypress – located in the garden of 43 Fore Street, Seaton, EX12 2AD (see attached plan for the location of the tree). The proposal is to fell the tree. The tree is structurally defective with an included main union at 2m. A reduction in the height and width of the crown will lead to the tree’s death / decline. This species is not suitable for crown reduction at this age. The only reasonable option is to fell the tree. Brockwell 43 Fore Street Seaton EX12 2ADRef. No: 22/0853/TCA | Validated: Wed 20 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Reserved Matters application with details of access, layout, scale, appearance, and landscaping for the construction of a hotel (Class C1), with ancillary flexible workspace/café/ conference facilities on the ground floor and associated access, parking, landscaping, and infrastructure, including additional information and details to satisfy conditions 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 17, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 on outline planning permission ref: 09/1107/MOUT in so far as they relate to the proposed hotel Land Adjacent Babbage Way Exeter Science Park Clyst HonitonRef. No: 22/0856/MRES | Validated: Tue 19 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Single storey first floor extension with alteration to fenestration and removal of outbuilding. Clematis Cottage Road From Luppitt Common To Dolish Farmhouse Luppitt Devon EX14 4RTRef. No: 22/0854/FUL | Validated: Tue 19 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Part two storey, part single storey side extension, alterations to fenestration, cladding and associated works. Longreach Lower Broad Oak Road West Hill Devon EX11 1UFRef. No: 22/0847/FUL | Validated: Tue 19 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed replacement two-storey rear extension. 24 Lyndhurst Road Exmouth EX8 3DTRef. No: 22/0859/FUL | Validated: Tue 19 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of storage building and erection of two holiday cottages Lakeview Manor Lane To Fishponds House Dunkeswell Devon EX14 4SHRef. No: 22/0848/FUL | Validated: Fri 22 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Retrospective planning permission for the formation of a raised platform with balustrade in a private household garden. 45 Raleigh Road Ottery St Mary Devon EX11 1TGRef. No: 22/0846/FUL | Validated: Fri 22 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of Lawful Development for the erection of a two storey 4-bed detached dwelling and detached triple garage to front.Minors Venn Ottery Ottery St Mary EX11 1RYRef. No: 22/0844/CPL | Validated: Fri 22 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of telecoms cabin and erection of surrounding fence compound. Axe Valley Academy Chard Street Axminster Devon EX13 5EARef. No: 22/0851/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Outline application with some matters reserved (access) for the erection of a single dwelling with associated development and demolition of outbuilding and glasshouse. Southtown House Sowden Lane Exmouth Devon EX8 5ADRef. No: 22/0850/OUT | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Addition of first floor and associated ancillary accommodation over part of existing ground floor of property. Westbrook Cottage Higher Metcombe Ottery St Mary EX11 1SRRef. No: 22/0834/GPAA | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of storage building Land East Of Little Ash Cottages Fenny BridgesRef. No: 22/0843/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Erection of a two storey 3-bed detached dwelling with associated parking and amenity space and vehicular access. 57 Woodbury Park Axminster EX13 5QYRef. No: 22/0838/FUL | Validated: Wed 20 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Side first floor extension above existing garage to provide accommodation, construction of new car port to side of garage, replacement of existing side conservatory, alterations to vehicle access and driveway to construct new posts and new gates. Oaklea Ham Axminster EX13 7HLRef. No: 22/0820/FUL | Validated: Tue 19 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of various non illuminated signage Tangelo Sidmouth Road Aylesbeare EX5 2JJRef. No: 22/0821/ADV | Validated: Fri 22 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use, conversion and extension of former military buildings to form 5no. dwellings. Erection of 5no. detached double garages and landscaping. Gotleigh Farm Smeatharpe Honiton EX14 9RFRef. No: 22/0811/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use from touring caravan pitches to the siting of static caravans for holiday accommodation. Hook Farm Camping And Caravan Site Gore Lane Uplyme Devon DT7 3UURef. No: 22/0782/FUL | Validated: Fri 22 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Reprofiling of existing rear lawned garden. Repair of existing perimeter bank and infilling with hedging plants. Mortimer House Cliff Road Sidmouth Devon EX10 8JNRef. No: 22/0784/FUL | Validated: Mon 18 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey rear/side extension to include a garage with loft space. Creation of new vehicular access to public highway. Moorings South Street Colyton EX24 6ERRef. No: 22/0777/FUL | Validated: Wed 20 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of Use from redundant paddock to garden 7A Seafield Avenue Exmouth EX8 3NJRef. No: 22/0751/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey detached annexe Millbrook Farmhouse Chard Road Axminster Devon EX13 5EGRef. No: 22/0663/FUL | Validated: Tue 19 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed construction of 2-bed first floor level apartment over existing single storey flat roof 52 – 58 High Street Sidmouth EX10 8LJRef. No: 22/0595/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Installation of shed forward of principle elevation. 1 Mountbatten Close Exmouth EX8 4DJRef. No: 22/0317/FUL | Validated: Thu 21 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replace 1no. window on rear first floor (south east) elevation April Cottage 4 Rivulet Terrace Sidbury Sidmouth EX10 0RTRef. No: 21/3162/LBC | Validated: Wed 20 Apr 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

Labour has accused ministers of a potential cover-up over a PPE contract with a company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, after the health department refused to release documents connected to the deal, citing commercial sensitivities.

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

The row comes days after the National Crime Agency (NCA) searched Mone’s home as part of a potential fraud investigation into the company, PPE Medpro, which won more than £200m in government contracts without public tender.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, wrote to the government in January to seek the release of correspondence and records connected to the deal, as happened over a testing contract won by another company, Randox, after lobbying by the then Tory MP Owen Paterson.

In the letter, Rayner noted that Medpro won the two contracts via a “VIP lane” for politically connected companies after Mone contacted two ministers in May 2020 to say she could source PPE.

“I would ask now that the government takes the same approach as it has to the contract with Randox, which was a similar matter of controversy, and commits now to place all correspondence and records relating to the award in the library of the house [of Commons] for parliamentary scrutiny,” Rayner wrote.

In a reply sent last week, the junior health minister Edward Argar defended the efforts made to buy medical protective supplies at the start of the Covid pandemic, saying the alternative was “not securing the PPE that was desperately needed; clearly not an option”.

“All offers underwent rigorous financial, commercial, legal and policy assessments,” Argar said, adding that decisions were made by officials, with no evidence ministers were involved, and that “due diligence checks were appropriate given the circumstances”.

He added: “However, we are unable to provide correspondence and records relating to the award of the PPE Medpro contract as these remain commercially sensitive, given the department is currently engaged in a mediation process concerning the products it received from PPE Medpro Ltd, which involves confidentiality undertakings.”

The 25m medical gowns supplied by the company were never used after officials rejected them after an inspection, with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) seeking to recover money from PPE Medpro through mediation. PPE Medpro has maintained that it complied with the terms of its gowns contract and is entitled to keep the money it was paid.

In a statement, Rayner said the government’s refusal to release the documents “reeks of a cover-up”.

She said: “The fact that Medpro is in mediation for providing useless PPE is no excuse for failing to be transparent with the public – in fact it only strengthens the need for clarity about how this eye-watering waste was allowed to happen.

“The government have shown complete disregard for working people by wasting taxpayers’ money on dodgy contracts.”

On Wednesday, the NCA searched several properties associated with Medpro in the Isle of Man and London, including the Isle of Man office building where PPE Medpro is registered and the mansion where Lady Mone lives with her husband, the business magnate Douglas Barrowman.

Responding to previous stories, Mone’s lawyers have said any suggestion of an association or collusion between the Tory peer and PPE Medpro would be “inaccurate” and that she was not involved in the business. “Baroness Mone is neither an investor, director or shareholder in any way associated with PPE Medpro. She has never had any role or function in PPE Medpro, nor in the process by which contracts were awarded to PPE Medpro.”

Mone’s lawyers have said that after she undertook the “simple, solitary and brief step” of referring PPE Medpro to the government she did nothing further in respect of the company.

The Isle of Man constabulary confirmed that search warrants were executed at four addresses on the island on Wednesday “in support of an ongoing NCA investigation”. There were no arrests.

The DHSC referred any queries on Medpro to the NCA.

Tory local election candidate reveals voters are ripping down posters and BURNING them amid fears disillusioned Blue Wall areas could ‘flip’ to the Lib Dems and Labour

• Tory election candidate reveals her posters are being ripped down and burned
• She describes how some in Somerset don’t want to vote Tory due to the PM
• There are fears the Conservatives could lose ‘Blue Wall’ areas on Thursday 

www.dailymail.co.uk (Extract, similar story in the Telegraph)

A Conservative local election candidate has revealed her posters are being ripped down and burned as she described how some voters are citing Boris Johnson as a reason for not backing the Tories ahead of this week’s poll.

Dawn Denton, a Tory candidate for Somerset County Council, also claimed she would not be attending a hustings event in Frome because she doesn’t think ‘nasty’ locals will give her a fair hearing.

Government proposals to sell off housing association properties have been branded “hare-brained” as experts warn they will worsen the shortage of homes for more than a million Britons on waiting lists for affordable accommodation.

Andrew Woodcock www.independent.co.uk

Boris Johnson reportedly wants to grant up to 2.5 million housing association tenants in England the right to purchase their homes at a massive discount, echoing Margaret Thatcher’s popular “right to buy” policy of the 1980s which saw a huge proportion of the nation’s stock of council homes sold.

But Labour branded the plan “desperate”, pointing out that it repeats a policy from David Cameron’s 2015 Conservative Party manifesto which failed to deliver.

And the chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter said the “hare-brained idea” was “the opposite of what the country needs”.

“There could not be a worse time to sell off what remains of our last truly affordable social homes,” said Polly Neate.

“The living cost crisis means more people are on the brink of homelessness than homeownership – nearly 34,000 households in England became homeless between October and December last year, more than 8,000 of them were families with children.”

Ms Neate said the original Right to Buy scheme tore “a massive hole” in England’s stock of social housing, as less than 5 per cent of the homes sold were ever replaced with new affordable homes to rent.

“These half-baked plans have been tried before and they’ve failed,” she said. “Over 1 million households are stuck on social housing waiting lists in England, and with every bill skyrocketing, the government should be building more social homes so we have more not less.”

Details of the scheme were floated just days ahead of local elections in which the Tories are thought to be heading for a drubbing – and during the period of “purdah” when government departments are banned from policy announcements that may impact voting.

An unnamed government source said Mr Johnson was keen to find ways of helping the “generation rent” of under-forties who have been priced out of the housing market.

Conservatives have long viewed homeownership as a key sell for the party, and Tory strategists are concerned at the prospect of a generation growing up without any stake in the housing market.

“The prime minister has got very excited about this,” the source told the Daily Telegraph. “It could be hugely significant. In many ways, it is a direct replica of the great Maggie idea of ‘buy your own council flat’. It is ‘buy your own housing association flat’.”

But shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said it is “desperate stuff from a tired government, repackaging a plan from 2015”. She added: “Millions of families in the private rented sector with low savings and facing sky-high costs and rising bills need far more ambitious plans to help them buy their own home. These proposals would worsen the shortage of affordable homes.”

And the chief executive of the Demos think tank, Polly Mackenzie, said the proposals would disadvantage some groups of younger voters the Tories need to attract.

“Right to Buy offers huge financial benefits to those who qualify for social housing while providing nothing for those – often young professionals – who pay much higher rents in less secure private tenancies,” she said. “Half of tenants are in the social sector and half in the private … I cannot fathom the politics – let alone the justice – of helping one group with a subsidy of up to £100,000, while offering the others only a tiddly Help to Buy ISA and equity loans that have to be repaid.

She added: “Those who got by on their own, and never had to fall back on state housing, get the worst deal. Extending Right to Buy is a really good way to p*** off young renters, a group the Conservatives really need to stop letting down.”

“Instead of copying and pasting from old manifestos, Boris Johnson should be helping families on the brink,” Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine said. “Instead of talking up policies of the past, Boris Johnson should be slashing taxes right now and ensuring every pensioner can afford to heat their home.”

A government spokesperson defended the proposals. “We want everyone to be given the chance to own a home of their own, and we keep all options to increase homeownership under review,” they said. “Recent statistics show that the annual number of first-time buyers is at a two-year high, helped by our Help to Buy scheme for first-time buyers and Mortgage Guarantee scheme to expand the availability of low-deposit mortgages.”

Some months ago, a meeting was fixed for last Friday morning from 10am-11am between me, as leader at East Devon District Council (EDDC) and our CEO, Neil Parish MP, and Simon Jupp MP. 

Paul Arnott www.sidmouthherald.co.uk 

A first-rate agenda on matters of concern for the people of East Devon had been produced from the council end, and all was set fair.

There was a poor start when Simon Jupp gave a very late, terse apology and didn’t show up. 

Neil Parish, however, was there on Zoom and we had a good hour with a set of identified outcomes. 

This is what he agreed he would help us with:

• Mr Parish was to endorse our bid to government under the Levelling Up fund for major works on Seaton seafront, industrial units in Seaton, and regeneration projects in Axminster.
• He said he would personally fight on for the missing £1.6 million his and Mr Jupp’s government promised they would help the council with two years ago if we kept LED running through the pandemic.
• He was going to work with us on the phosphate pollution into the River Axe which has led Natural England to say no more homes in Axminster can be built until that is mitigated. As a farmer, with all the problems of leaking slurry lagoons and fertiliser run offs from fields, he would have been a considerable figure in all this.
• We appealed to him to have a word with government about the huge strain put on a district council when it is suddenly asked to distribute energy rebate payments via the means of the council tax system.
• We asked, yet again, to help with a change to housing policy, especially what happens if we graft to create new social housing only for it to be privately purchased within a few years.

At 11am on Friday, I was left with the impression that he’d listened and would help as much as possible. 

His mood was not that of a man who had any idea that he’d be the MP identified by his party just a few hours later as the House of Commons phone culprit. 

Perhaps he thought there were other candidates, and certainly he did not fit the profile of the “frontbencher” who’d been rumoured.

As Leader of EDDC, however, there are consequences for you all I must share. 

First, all those critical bullet points above are left nowhere now. In particular, for the Seaton and Axminster bids to be submitted they urgently needed a credible local MP’s signature. 

What a waste of our council’s time, and quite probably what losses for the entire community.

Further, in the circumstances as they now stand, I will disclose what Mr Parish shared with me about us leaving Europe, about how hard he’d tried to dissuade his constituents from voting Leave, and what a total disaster it is now across all issues.

I appeal to Mr Parish here – you know your Conservative government has conned and deceived good people to vote for this mess. 

In the spirit of clearing your conscience, as you did last weekend over the phone pornography, can we ask you to speak out on that too, please?

For while Conservatives remain silent on that it will fester like an exploitative image in a dark corner of what was once the greatest Parliament in history.

As for the effects of his departure now on local people, our administration will do all we can to offset them. 

For your own political choices when the by-election comes, and indeed a general election, that is for you. 

All I suggest is that you do what you can, vote how you can, to make sure that this toxic cloud of national Tory infamy is removed from the skies of our wonderful district forever.

That’s when you’ll find the true ‘sunlit uplands’, promised so fraudulently by Boris Johnson and his merry band of rogues and liars.

I got twenty acres
An’ you got fortythree
Now I got a brand new combine harvester
An’ I’ll give you the key

Untreated sewage was discharged into England’s coastal bathing waters for more than 160,000 hours last year, according to figures collated by the Liberal Democrats to mark the start of the summer sea-swimming season.

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

Data compiled by the party using Environment Agency figures on 2021 discharges shows that water companies released raw sewage 25,000 times into designated bathing waters off the English coast.

Figures collated by the campaign group Top of the Poops reveal that when also including the bathing waters in Wales, water companies released untreated sewage for 217,804 hours.

The bathing water designations – which were created by the EU – are supposed to highlight the country’s cleanest and safest waters for the public. The quality of the water is publicly identified on signs at the bathing beaches, ranging from excellent to poor.

The longest discharges into bathing waters were carried out by United Utilities, which released untreated sewage into sea-swimming spots in its area for almost 75,000 hours. The company’s worst-hit bathing water site was Morecambe South beach.

Southern Water, which was last year fined a record £90m for spilling billions of litres of raw sewage into Hampshire and Kent coastal waters, was responsible for 20,367 hours of untreated sewage discharges into designated bathing spots off the coast in their area.

South West Water discharged sewage into bathing beauty spots for 43,901 hours, with their longest discharge released at Ilfracombe’s Wildersmouth Beach, lasting 1,833 hours.

The figures were released as the official sea-swimming season opened on Sunday. This marks the start of annual monitoring of bathing-water quality, which helps to inform the public about the water at beaches they visit. The season lasts until September.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats rural affairs spokesperson, said: “It is now or never to save families from swimming in sewage-infested waters this summer.

“Children should be free to enjoy Britain’s great coastlines and lakes, yet Conservative ministers are letting water companies get away with shameful sewage dumps. This is an environmental scandal.”

The data was released as many parts of the UK prepare to go to the polls on Thursday to vote in local elections.

The Liberal Democrats have called for a sewage tax on water companies’ profits to be used to clean up coastlines, rivers and lakes.

Environment Agency data shows that in 2021 water companies released raw sewage into all coastal waters and rivers in England for more than 2.7m hours. The Lib Dems said that in the same year the firms made £2.8bn in operating profits and paid out £27m in bonuses to senior executives.

Hugo Tagholm, chief executive of the campaigning charity Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Water companies are getting away with blue murder – repeatedly dumping raw sewage into areas of special recreational interest, with seeming impunity.

“Our great beach-loving public shouldn’t have to swim or surf the gauntlet 0f sewage, pathogens and pharmaceuticals that are pumped out through water company pipes. Surfers Against Sewage has been challenging the water industry for decades, calling for them to put people and planet before excessive profits and executive bonuses. We demand a new decade of ambition to clean up and protect all our bathing waters and blue spaces.”

Sue Gray’s report into lockdown-breaking parties will expose emails revealing widespread “premeditation” by civil servants and Downing Street staff who knew they were breaking the law.

Caroline Wheeler, Harry Yorke www.thetimes.co.uk 

The revelation comes as it emerged yesterday that the latest Metropolitan Police questionnaires have been sent out, and relate to the leaving party of Lee Cain, the prime minister’s former director of communications, on November 13, 2020.

Gray’s report, on hold until Scotland Yard has completed its investigations, is expected to be highly critical of Boris Johnson for attending some events and for the culture in No 10 under his leadership.

A senior official familiar with the contents said the findings would be “difficult for everyone”.

One source has suggested the report will leave Johnson, who has already been fined for attending an event to mark his 56th birthday, with no option but to resign.

An official said: “The most shocking thing Sue’s report has uncovered is a series of emails which expose the extent to which the parties were premeditated and the rules were being wilfully broken. She is also concerned by the lack of contrition shown by those who have been found to have broken the rules.”

It is understood that the most egregious event in terms of premeditation was to mark the departure of Hannah Young, a No 10 private secretary. It took place on June 18, 2020, with 20 people gathering in a room close to the cabinet secretary’s office in 70 Whitehall and was described by officials as “raucous”. Last month it emerged that Helen MacNamara, the former director-general of the propriety and ethics team at the Cabinet Office, had attended and received a £50 fixed penalty notice.

It was also alleged that MacNamara had brought a karaoke machine to the gathering, which ended with a brawl between two staff.

It has now been claimed that an email exchange, details of which have been shared with this newspaper, showed that staff discussed the gathering in advance and were warned by officials that it might be a breach of the rules.

There was said to be a debate as to what type of room was best suited to hold a gathering while coronavirus restrictions were in place. The rooms in No 10, where Young had worked, were considered too small one source claimed. A second source provided an alternative explanation, alleging that Martin Reynolds, then Johnson’s principal private secretary, had been told by senior aides in No 10 that he could not organise an event there.

As the email exchange continued, one respondent is said to have questioned whether the event was a good idea. According to one familiar with the incident, they are said to have asked: “Is this wise?”

It was at this point that MacNamara is said to have stepped in and assured others on the email chain that she had resolved the issue. According to insiders, she gave approval for a room to be used in the Cabinet Office.

In the end, the event is believed to have begun in a communal area on the ground floor of the Cabinet Office, before “migrating” to a room close to the cabinet secretary’s office.

Gray is also understood to have copies of another email, which shows that a very senior official warned Reynolds against inviting 100 staff to a “bring your own booze” party in the No 10 garden on May 20, 2020. Police have started issuing fines for the party, which Johnson attended with Carrie Symonds, then his fiancée, and more than 50 Downing Street staff.

This story seems to get murkier and murkier – Owl 

Devon county councillor and friend of Neil Parish, Colin Slade (Tiverton), has said he can see how searching for tractors on the internet could lead to a porn site.

www.bbc.co.uk (Click on site to watch the interview clip)

According to other news reports (including Mirror and Telegraph) Neil Parish’s allies have speculated that he was searching for a “Claas Dominator” tractor. Though Neil hаsn’t responded to the suggestion yet.

[Owl is under the impression, however, that these are a brand of combine harvester, rather than tractor. But must stress Owl has no expertise in such matters]

“a few bad apples”

Commons Speаker Sir Lindsаy Hoyle hаs cаlled for “rаdicаl” reform to Pаrliаment’s working prаctices in the wаke of the scаndаl, which is just the lаtest in а string of bullying аnd sexuаl misconduct аllegаtions аnd аllegаtions involving MPs.

However, Business Secretаry Kwаsi Kwаrteng dismissed clаims thаt Pаrliаment hаs а widespreаd culture of misogyny, clаiming thаt the problems аre due to “а few bаd аpples.”

“I don’t think there’s а culture of misogyny,” Mr Kwаrteng sаid on Sundаy to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge. I believe the issue we fаce is thаt people work in а very demаnding environment with long hours, аnd I believe thаt most people аre аwаre of their limits аnd how to behаve respectfully.”

“I think we hаve to distinguish between а few bаd аpples, people who behаve bаdly, аnd the generаl environment,” the Cаbinet minister told the BBC’s Sundаy Morning show.

“I have looked into the possibility of running, but it is very obvious that the Libdems stand the best chance of winning the non Conservative vote and as a firm believer (in the absence of PR) in progressive alliances, it’s important that voters galvanise around the candidate most likely to win”

Read latest comments on facebook.

Link here

Last night Jess Phillips, Labour’s shadow minister for domestic abuse and safeguarding, said that it appeared that Parish “of his own admission” had committed a criminal offence under the Indecent Displays (Control) Act of 1981.

 Extract from www.theguardian.com

The act states that: “If any indecent matter is publicly displayed the person making the display and any person causing or permitting the display to be made shall be guilty of an offence.”

It adds that: “Any matter which is displayed in or so as to be visible from any public place shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be publicly displayed.”

Sentences range from a fine to up to two years in prison.

Phillips, who said the law was not widely known about and therefore not often enforced, told the Observer: “If this law was to be applied it appears he has committed an offence by his own admission.”

Phillips said Labour would now call for a full review into the law’s application and how many charges had been brought under it. She said a public information campaign should also be launched as a matter of urgency to enable people to know that watching porn where others could see it was already illegal, including on public transport.

Phillips said: “There are plenty of laws on the statute books that are meant to protect women and girls in society, however they are not enacted. They are very rarely enacted appropriately.

“People don’t know they can complain about it. What we will do now is look into where charging has and hasn’t happened [under this law], such as on transport networks where people watch it on the bus next you.”

She added that greater awareness of the act would not be enough, but charges needed to be brought under it to demonstrate to people that watching pornography in public was completely unacceptable and would lead to prosecutions.

On Friday Parish had referred himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, for investigation, but had said he would only stand down if found guilty. He said yesterday he changed his mind after realising the pressure he was putting his family under and the damage he was doing to his party.

Parish was identified and stripped of the whip on Friday afternoon after two female colleagues had claimed last week they had seen him looking at adult content on his phone while sitting near them in the chamber.

Boris Johnson’s claim that a lack of knowledge about the asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 put care homes at risk has been further undermined after it emerged he openly discussed the potential scale of symptom-free transmission.

Michael Savage www.theguardian.com 

The prime minister has already been accused of misleading parliament over the claim. He made it last week after the high court ruled that the government had acted unlawfully in ordering the discharge of patients to care homes without testing in the spring of 2020. Johnson told the House of Commons: “What we didn’t know in particular was that Covid could be transmitted asymptomatically.”

However, the prime minister commented on papers examining the issue at a Covid press conference on 25 March – several weeks before rules were altered to ensure that all patients were tested before they were admitted to a care home.

At the press conference, he asked chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance about reports that many people could have the disease without symptoms. “Patrick, on the numbers of people who have the disease asymptomatically, there was a study I saw quoted from some Oxford academics saying that as many as 50% may have had it asymptomatically,” he said. “How do you evaluate that at this stage?”

Vallance said studies in China and Italy had pointed to asymptomatic cases but the role of those cases at a population-wide level was unknown. He also said that new antibody tests would “be able to work out how many people have had the disease asymptomatically, and that’s going to be important to understand what to do next”. He added: “These tests are crucially important. We need more of them.”

Care homes emerged as a major casualty in the first Covid wave. In mid-March 2020, NHS England had told hospitals to “urgently discharge” patients to help free 15,000 beds. Compulsory tests were not introduced for discharged patients until 15 April. About 25,000 patients were discharged to care homes in the intervening period.

Last week’s high court judgement listed several occasions in early 2020 when the risk of asymptomatic transmission was raised by scientists and ministers. A submission from the government’s own lawyers stated that “there can be no doubt that [the government] understood that it was possible that asymptomatic people could bring the virus into care homes”. A government spokesman responded to the findings by stating the court “recognised this was a very difficult decision at the start of the pandemic, evidence on asymptomatic transmission was uncertain”.

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said that even if there was not proof of asymptomatic transmission, ministers should have erred on the side of caution, as the risks were known. “The Sage government advisory committee had identified the issue of asymptomatic transmissions in early 2020, but if there was any doubt about issues relating to transmission pathways then this should have led to a clear directive that no one should be transferred between any health and care settings without a Covid test.”

Johnson also acknowledged, in a press conference on 18 March, the problems the virus posed. “The thing about this disease, it’s an invisible enemy and we don’t know who’s transmitting it, but the great thing about having a test to see whether you’ve had it or not is suddenly a green light goes on above your head.”

If he did not understand that meant people without obvious symptoms might be among those transmitting the virus, other people were on hand to point it out. Lord Bethell, then a junior health minister, was explicit about this during a Lords debate on 9 March 2020 about the government’s first Covid regulations, which created the power to keep people in isolation if they posed a risk. He told members: “Large numbers of people are infected and infectious but completely asymptomatic and never go near a test kit.”

At that point, the public was told that the incubation period for Covid could be as long as 14 days, and most people did not develop symptoms until about three to five days after . There was no proof at that stage how Covid was transmitted, – prompting advice about handwashing rather than mask-wearing – but the high level of infectiousness and the possibility of asymptomatic transmission were being actively discussed by scientists and commentators.

The Imperial College report that was so influential to the government’s initial response to the virus – and which led to the widespread antipathy among lockdown sceptics towards its chief author, Professor Neil Ferguson – stated that they assumed “symptomatic individuals are 50% more infectious than asymptomatic individuals”.

A government spokesperson said was “being clear about the understanding of the virus changing over time and that it changed significantly day by day, particularly at the start of the pandemic”. They said the “vast majority” of last week’s court judgment found in the government’s favour and that evidence on asymptomatic transmission was “extremely uncertain”.

They added: “Our thoughts are with all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic,our aim has been to protect the public from the threat to life and health posed by Covid-19 and we specifically sought to safeguard care home residents based on the best information at the time.”

What a preposterous argument – Owl

“It’s like putting up a speed camera”

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

Increased monitoring of sewage being dumped into rivers and the sea is part of the reason why public pressure on water companies is on the rise, according to a senior member of the Environment Agency.

Speaking at a joint meeting of Torridge District Council (TDC) and North Devon Council (NDC), Dave Trewolla, team leader for integrated environmental planning for Devon and Cornwall at the agency said: “It’s the same as vehicles speeding. You don’t know they’re speeding unless you put a camera up and catch them.”  

As a result, says Mr Trewolla, “part of the increase in notifications, awareness, and social-political pressure reflects the increased monitoring and therefore increased awareness, rather than increased spills necessarily.”

South West Water (SWW), which oversees sewage in Devon, is one of several water companies facing increasimg criticism for dumping raw sewage into rivers and the sea. It carried out 42,000 such discharges in 2020.

Research by The River’s Trust, a conservation group, shows that many of those discharges were in North Devon.

One storm overflow in Illfracombe spilt out raw sewage 123 times or 2,260 hours, the equivalent of 94 days. Another in Bideford In 2020 spilt 326 times for a total of 1,832 hours or 76 days. Two in Barnstaple spilt for a combined total of 155 times for 4,466 hours, or 186 days.

Mr Trewolla said that in recent years the Environment Agency’s ability to monitor waterways has been hamstrung by cuts by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). “You get the environment you pay for” he added.

“If we don’t get resourced to do our full duties, we cannot do our full duties.”

Also speaking at the meeting was Alan Burrows, director of environmental liaison and culture at South West Water. He said the company has a target of zero harm from combined sewage overflows by 2030 and aims to reduce harm on rivers by a third by 2025 and to zero by 2030.

Since 2016, SWW has increased the number of its sewage overflows it monitors and keeps tabs on around 80 per cent of its network. The company plans to monitor them al by the end of 2023.

The East Devon Alliance has issued this press release:

Like most people in the Tiverton and Honiton constituency, the Independent East Devon Alliance is shocked by Neil Parish’s actions and believes that he has done the right thing by resigning. The forthcoming by-election is an opportunity to choose an independent-minded, local MP who will stand up for the people of the area and oppose the debasement of public life by the present Conservative government. We will be consulting our members about the best way to achieve this.

About the Independent East Devon Alliance: We have 13 councillors on East Devon District Council and are the largest party within its ruling Democratic Alliance Group which also includes the Liberal Democrats and Greens. In the 2019 elections, IEDA candidates topped the polls in the Seaton, Axminster, Coly Valley and Yarty wards of the Tiverton and Honiton constituency.

Martin Shaw

Chair

Independent East Devon Alliance