Tory big beast Ken Clarke has thrown his weight behind Rachel Reeves, praising her “responsible” approach to public finances.

Archie Mitchell www.independent.co.uk

In the latest significant boost for the Labour shadow chancellor, Lord Clarke, who served as chancellor under John Major and was health secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s government, said he had been impressed by Ms Reeves.

But, stopping short of full backing for Labour, he said: “It’s her party that worries me”. Lord Clarke added: “If it was Jeremy Hunt and Rachel Reeves, then I don’t think either of the parties would worry me very much.”

It comes just weeks after the former governor of the Bank of England endorsed the Labour Party in a major coup for Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow chancellor. Mark Carney said it was “beyond time” for Ms Reeves to run the economy in a Labour government.

Mr Carney, the 58-year-old who was handpicked by former Tory chancellor George Osborne to be governor, stunned the Labour conference last month with a video address saying: “Rachel Reeves is a serious economist. She began her career at the Bank of England, so she understands the big picture. But, crucially, she understands the economics of work, of place and family. It is beyond time we put her energy and ideas into action.”

Both endorsements come as major donors and business leaders have returned to the Labour fold under Sir Keir and Ms Reeves, having shunned the party under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Speaking to the i newspaper’s Labour’s Plan For Power podcast about Ms Reeves and Mr Hunt, Lord Clarke said: “I don’t think they disagree on very much. They do, of course, politically, I do myself disagree with some of Rachel’s political views, I’m sure.

“But her actual approach, a responsible approach to macroeconomic policy, matches the responsible approach to macroeconomic policy that Jeremy Hunt has which, in the present shambles of British and international politics and the dangers of it, I find rather reassuring – about the only thing I do find reassuring about this election that’s coming up.”

Lord Clarke also warned she would face “a lot of tough, unpopular decisions” if Labour wins power, because “we’re not going to get out of our present financial crisis for at least two or three years”.

Labour grandee Lord Mandelson also threw his weight behind Ms Reeves, saying: “She’s even tougher than I thought she was. I mean, I knew she would be a bit of an old boot, but I didn’t realise that she’d be quite as uncompromising in the way in which she develops policy, sees off her detractors and deals with her colleagues on some occasions too.”

And elsewhere in the podcast, Lord Clarke said Tory demands for tax cuts and a cabinet reshuffle are “daft” and “neither of them will do any good in the sense of winning votes”.

The former chancellor said it was “absurd” to suggest a reshuffle of his top team could turn Rishi Sunak’s fortunes around.

Martin Shaw will report tomorrow

The UK is likely to have a general election next year, prime minister Rishi Sunak has hinted.

Jane Dalton www.independent.co.uk

It’s the first time the PM has hinted at a possible date as speculation has been mounting on whether he would call one before being forced to as Labour surges ahead in the polls.

The last time the country voted in a general election was on 12 December 2019 and the new Parliament then met on 17 December.

The next general election must be held within five years of that date, so it would need to be before 17 December 2024, although a prime minister is free to call one at any time.

If an election has not been called before then, Parliament would be automatically dissolved and the election would take place 25 working days later, according to the Institute for Government.

This means the latest possible date for the next general election would be 28 January 2025.

Mr Sunak’s hint about the date came as he interviewed tech billionaire Elon Musk at the UK summit on the safety of artificial intelligence at Bletchley Park.

The pair discussed AI’s future impact on jobs, the economy and even friendships. The prime minister then went on to sat it was vital to tackle fake news, given that there were several national elections around the world next year.

He added: “Probably here.”

In February, Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said: “The next 18 months will see us win or lose the next general election,” – which was seen as a hint that Mr Sunak could go to the country in September next year.

Mr Hands said the “strong expectation would be 2024” and a vote in January 2025 would “not be very festive” because parties would have to campaign over Christmas.

After Labour overturned large Tory majorities in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth in October, winning both by-elections, the Conservatives are thought to be planning to leave the nationwide poll late in the hope of an upturn in fortunes.

Residents living in Seaton in East Devon have endured a day to forget after they awoke to find sea water had breached the town’s defences. Water flooded the streets and video captured earlier today shows how the seaside town was transformed into a mini-river.

Elliot Ball www.devonlive.com

It was a similar picture across Devon and other parts of the UK as Storm Ciaran brought down torrential rain and strong winds. However, it appeared as though Seaton suffered more than most.

The worst of the weather began when Trevelyan Road, a residential street running off the seafront Esplanade began to flood. Homeowners described water coming over the sea wall at about 8.30am.

Damage was also caused to a cafe on the seafront. The owners of the Hideaway have posted details on Facebook They said: “The Hideaway has sustained damage from Storm Ciaran. The storm door and front doors have been pushed in and water has come all through the restaurant.

“We will be closed until we can repair and make our cafe safe again. Please DO NOT come down to look in as it’s still very dangerous. We will keep everyone posted with news as much as possible.”

Speechless – Owl

Former health secretary Matt Hancock told officials that he – rather than the medical profession – “should ultimately decide who should live or die” if the NHS was overwhelmed during the pandemic, the Covid inquiry heard.

Aletha Adu www.theguardian.com 

“Fortunately this horrible dilemma never crystalised,” the former head of the NHS, Lord Simon Stevens, said in his evidence to the inquiry on Thursday.

Stevens, who led NHS England until 2021, said he stressed at the time that no individual secretary of state should be able to decide how care was provided, “other than in the most exceptional circumstances”.

Hancock’s position, which materialised during a planning exercise at the Cabinet Office in February 2020, was a different one from his predecessor, Jeremy Hunt, who had wanted such decisions to be reserved for clinical staff.

Stevens told the inquiry that this ethical question was never resolved and cropped up again during the pandemic when “rationing” of NHS services was discussed.

The former NHS chief was largely uncritical of Hancock, unlike other figures who appeared before Heather Hallett’s inquiry this week, including former No 10 senior adviser Dominic Cummings and ex-civil servant Helen MacNamara.

Stevens’ witness statement referred to the “Operation Nimbus” planning exercise, which he said was helpful in terms of outlining the pressures government departments might have faced.

“It did however result in – to my mind at least – an unresolved but fundamental ethical debate about a scenario in which a rising number of Covid-19 patients overwhelmed the ability of hospitals to look after them and other non-Covid-19 patients,” he said.

“The secretary of state for health and social care took the position that in this situation he – rather than, say, the medical profession or the public – should ultimately decide who should live and who should die.”

On the final day of evidence this week, the inquiry saw new details of Johnson’s witness statement, in which he expressed his frustrations with the NHS, blaming the health service for the first lockdown.

The former prime minister blamed “bedblocking” in the NHS for locking down the country as Covid took hold.

He said: “It was very frustrating to think that we were being forced to extreme measures to lock down the country and protect the NHS – because the NHS and social services had failed to grip the decades-old problem of delayed discharges, commonly known as bedblocking.

“Before the pandemic began I was doing regular tours of hospitals and finding that about 30% of patients did not strictly need to be in acute sector beds.”

Stevens rejected Johnson’s claims, noting the sheer number of coronavirus patients needing a hospital bed was far higher than the number of beds that could have been freed up.

“We, and indeed he, were being told that if action was not taken on reducing the spread of coronavirus, there wouldn’t be 30,000 hospital inpatients, there would be maybe 200,000 or 800,000 hospital inpatients,” Stevens told the inquiry.

“Even if all of those 30,000 beds were freed up – for every one coronavirus patient who was then admitted to that bed, there would be another five patients who needed that care but weren’t able to get it,” he added.

While Stevens declined to criticise Hancock when giving evidence, the inquiry heard that Cummings had repeatedly pushed Johnson to sack his health secretary because he had “lied his way through this and killed people and dozens and dozens of people have seen it”.

In one message, Cummings complained about Stevens and Hancock “bullshitting again”.

Stevens was shown messages, but said: “There were occasional moments of tension and flashpoints, which are probably inevitable during the course of a 15-month pandemic, but I was brought up always to look to the best in people.”

Appearing later, the top civil servant in the Department of Health, Sir Christopher Wormald, said that Hancock would probably be surprised by how “widespread” the perception was regarding his frequency of alleged “untruths”.

Wormald was also questioned at the inquiry over why he and the UK’s most powerful official, Mark Sedwill, were discussing how the virus was like chickenpox as late as mid-March 2020.

Wormald, who remains the permanent secretary in the department, believed Johnson “did not understand difference between minimising mortality and minimising overall spread”.

Lord Sedwill messaged Wormald weeks before the first lockdown, saying: “Indeed presumably like chickenpox we want people to get it and develop herd immunity before the next wave. We just want them not to get it all at once and preferably when it’s warn (sic) and dry etc.”

This message exchange came on the same day that Cummings had complained in a WhatsApp message that Sedwill had been “babbling about chickenpox”, adding “god fucking help us”.

Giving evidence to the inquiry this week, Cummings claimed that Sedwill had told Johnson: “PM, you should go on TV and should explain that this is like the old days with chickenpox and people are going to have chickenpox parties. And the sooner a lot of people get this and get it over with the better sort of thing.”

Stevens also told the inquiry that senior ministers “sometimes avoided” Cobra meetings chaired by Hancock in the early days of the pandemic.

In his witness statement, he said the meetings “usefully brought together a cross-section of departments, agencies and the devolved administrations”.

“However, these meetings were arguably not optimally effective. They were very large, and when Cobra meetings were chaired by the health and social care secretary other secretaries of state sometimes avoided attending and delegated to their junior ministers instead,” he added.

This phase of the Covid inquiry assessed government decision making, with more witnesses scheduled to appear next week.

These include Sedwill, former No 10 special adviser Dr Ben Warner and former home secretary Priti Patel.

The Environment Agency has slashed its water-use inspections by almost a half over the past five years, it can be revealed.

[Including Devon & Cornwall]

Rachel Salvidge www.theguardian.com 

Environment Agency (EA) officers visited people and businesses with licences to abstract, or take, water from rivers and aquifers 4,539 times in 2018-19, but this dropped to 2,303 inspections in 2022-23, according to data obtained by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations.

The fall in inspections comes despite England facing a possible water deficit of 4bn litres a day by 2050 unless action is taken, and predictions that the summer flows of some rivers could dwindle by 80% in that time.

“Obviously, this is highly beneficial to water companies and agriculture, and incredibly detrimental to water resources and therefore the environment,” an EA insider told the Guardian and Watershed on condition of anonymity. Last year, the Guardian reported that the EA did not have a strong grasp on the total volumes taken from rivers and groundwater.

The agency has also introduced desk-based inspections, which the insider described as meaningless. “They are a substitute for field inspections, and given an officer needs to check meters or records, or on-site behaviours, they are useless except for ticking a key performance indicator box.” The EA says it only uses desk inspections to assess compliance of low-risk abstraction and impounding licences.

“By reducing inspections you reduce the ability to detect illegal activity and gather evidence against,” the insider said. “Desk-based inspections are solely reliant on the word of the operator, so, for example, if an operator tells an Environment Agency officer he hasn’t abstracted any water, then the officer records that as fact. If it is an illegal operator, they are unlikely to hand themselves in. These methods provide a smokescreen of numbers that suggest correct regulation is being carried out should anyone try to audit it, when in reality the regulation is meaningless.”

Figures obtained by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations show that the biggest drop in inspections was in the Kent, south London and East Sussex area, where inspections fell 67% – from 450 to 148 between 2018-19 and 2022-23. This was followed by Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, where the number of inspections dropped from 139 to 47. In East Anglia, 824 abstraction inspections fell to 318, and in the Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire area they dropped from 173 to just 67.

However, an EA spokesperson said the insider’s interpretation of the drop in numbers was misleading because “inspection figures alone are not the only way of assessing whether those who take water from the environment are complying with their licences – satellite data, irrigation patrols, river gauges, groundwater level and ecological monitoring systems are increasingly used. This allows us to target activity to where and when the risks are highest and the environment is most vulnerable.”

Despite the total funding for the agency’s water, land and biodiversity area business group having risen by £73m, from £221m in 2015-16 to £294m in 2021-22, staff costs for roles in land and water management, groundwater, contaminated land and environmental monitoring fell by £2.6m (9%) over the past three years.

“The Environment Agency leadership have received vast increases in money to tackle the issue, but this has been deliberately moved away from the frontline,” said the insider. “This means they must not view protecting water supplies as a priority and that the money could be better spent elsewhere.”

The EA spokesperson said the regulator was “recruiting and training more staff to carry out water resources compliance work and … also strengthening the way we regulate to drive better performance from the water industry, with additional specialist officers and new data tools to provide better intelligence”.

Public water supply and rivers are at risk from intensifying droughts driven by the climate crisis. The chair of the EA, Alan Lovell, said about 4bn extra litres of water would be needed every day by 2050 if significant action were not prioritised, and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has predicted that some rivers could lose up to 80% of their flows in summer by 2050.

Meanwhile, water sector leaks remain high, with the Environment Agency putting the volumes of water lost at 2.3bn litres a day last year.

A spokesperson for Water UK said water companies were “acutely aware of the environmental impact of abstraction and are proposing to stop half a billion litres’ worth of abstractions from rivers by 2030. Companies also have ambitious plans to cut leakage, which has come down every year since 2020, by a quarter by the end of the decade. To ensure the security of our water supply in the future, water companies are planning to build up to 10 new reservoirs as well as looking at alternative supplies of water including water recycling and desalination.”

Richard Benwell, the CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “A long-term funding drought for the Environment Agency has left it under-resourced for the water challenges ahead. Recent funding rises don’t offset the years of underinvestment in the agency.

“This drop-off in post-Covid inspections is highly worrying and runs the risk of failures going under the radar. Desk-based and industry self-assessments simply aren’t up to the task, as we’ve seen with the sewage pollution crisis.”

NHS Devon Integrated Care Board refuses to come to meeting as news breaks that they have given £2.8m to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) and the North Devon District Hospitals (NDDH) to provide more beds! (See below) – Owl

seatonmatters.org /

A large community public meeting will take place tomorrow to oppose the Devon NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) decision to hand back a 2-storey wing of Seaton Hospital to NHS Property Services, potentially leading to its demolition.

The ICB and NHS Property Services have both refused to send a speaker to explain the decision. Indeed the ICB has decided to have NO community consultation at all, although the wing was built 100% with local donations in 1991 (see attached fact sheet).

Tomorrow’s meeting will hear from Richard Foord MP and Dr Mark Welland of Seaton Hospital League of Friends on discussions with the ICB and Property Services, which so far have not produced a way forward.

Speakers at the meeting represent the three main centres in the area, Seaton, the Coly Valley and Beer and both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties (see attached notice).

There is strong public feeling and this will be the biggest meeting in the area since the bed closures in 2017 – please make sure your programme or paper sends a correspondent/camera crew.

VENUE: COLYFORD MEMORIAL HALL. TIME: 1.30-3.

Meanwhile

Devon hospitals given £2.8m for bed shortage support

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it still expected to have bed shortages

Extra funding has been given to hospitals in Devon in a bid to cut bed shortages this winter.

The NHS Devon Integrated Care Board has given £2.8m to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) and the North Devon District Hospitals (NDDH).

The trust that runs both had expected RD&E would be 80 beds short on average during the winter and NDDH about 40.

It said even with the funding it would expect to be a total of about 100 bed short on its “most challenged days”.

The trust said “additional measures could be implemented at pace” to mitigate the gaps, but it would require further funding.

Boris Johnson oversaw a “toxic” culture of sexism and complacency at No 10 during the Covid crisis, according to scathing evidence given by a former top civil servant to the public inquiry.

Anyone going to vote for this lot again? – Owl

Adam Forrest www.independent.co.uk

Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, said she could not recall “one day” on which Covid rules were followed in No 10 or the Cabinet Office – claiming that “hundreds” of officials and ministers broke the guidelines.

She also criticised an “absence of humanity” in No 10 and revealed that officials there were “laughing at the Italians” who were overwhelmed in the early stages of the crisis – with Mr Johnson expressing a breezy confidence that the UK would sail through the pandemic.

The former top civil servant also said Mr Johnson did nothing to stop ex-No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings’s misogynistic behaviour after it emerged that Mr Cummings had labelled her “that c***” and said he would “handcuff her and escort her” from Downing Street.

It came as:

• Mr Johnson asked if Covid could be killed by blowing a hairdryer up the nose, according to new evidence from Mr Cummings
• The former PM is said to have told Mr Cummings to “dead cat” Covid because he was “sick” of the subject
• It emerged that it took seven months to install hand sanitiser at the door between No 10 and the Cabinet Office
• The health secretary at the time, Matt Hancock, was accused of having “nuclear” overconfidence, pretending to be a cricketer batting off challenges
• Mr Cummings’s Barnard Castle trip “blew a hole in public confidence”, the government’s behavioural expert said

Ms MacNamara said that on 13 March, a little over a week before the first lockdown, she warned Mr Cummings and others in Mr Johnson’s office that the country was “absolutely f***ed” and “heading for a disaster” in which thousands of people would die.

She said her earlier warnings in January and February did not register with the PM, and that in early Covid meetings, Mr Johnson was “very confident that the UK would sail through”.

The former top official said there had been a “jovial tone” and that “sitting there and saying it was great and sort of laughing at the Italians was just … it felt how it sounds”.

Referring to the culture of rule-breaking within the government, Ms MacNamara said: “Actually, I would find it hard to pick one day when the regulations were followed properly inside that building,” referring to both No 10 and the Cabinet Office.

The former top civil servant also told the inquiry: “I’m certain that there are hundreds of civil servants, and potentially ministers, who in retrospect think they were the wrong side of that line.”

In written evidence, Ms MacNamara said that there was “very obvious sexist treatment” that saw women overlooked and undermined in both No 10 and the Cabinet Office. “The dominant culture was macho and heroic,” she wrote.

She said there was a “toxic culture” when asked about Mr Cummings’s August 2020 messages referring to her, which read: “We cannot keep dealing with this horrific meltdown … while dodging stilettos from that c***.”

“It’s horrible to read,” she responded. “But it’s both surprising and not surprising to me.” She said she was disappointed that Mr Johnson did not do more to stop such “violent and misogynistic language”.

Ms MacNamara also suggested that a lack of diversity among top officials in Mr Johnson’s government had led to the deaths of women from domestic violence. She cited confusion about whether women could access abortion during the lockdown, closing fertility treatment services, and failing to make provisions for victims of domestic abuse.

Asked if he had cleared out the “misogyny” at No 10, Mr Sunak said on Wednesday: “My Downing Street is a place where I think people are not just happy to work … that’s very much the culture that I want to create here. And I believe we have done.”

In the bombshell new written evidence from Mr Cummings that emerged on Wednesday, the former No 10 strategist claimed that Mr Johnson had circulated a YouTube video – since taken down – of a man blowing a special hairdryer up his nose.

Describing it as a “low point”, Mr Cummings said the then PM asked the government’s chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer what they thought of the idea – which was dismissed as having no foundation.

Mr Johnson also told Mr Cummings in the autumn of 2020 that he wanted him to “dead cat” Covid – find another big story to distract the public – because he was “sick” of the issue. The adviser told the PM that this would not work.

Mr Cummings said Mr Johnson had to be stopped from going to see the Queen on 18 March – five days before the first lockdown. “I was desperate, and said something like, ‘If you’ve got Covid and you kill the Queen, you’re finished.’”

Mr Cummings claimed that Carrie Johnson had exacerbated Mr Johnson’s indecisiveness. But he also said that Mr Johnson himself had sometimes blamed her unfairly for U-turns that were “NOT her fault”.

He also repeated a suggestion that Mr Johnson was working on a book about William Shakespeare during a two-week holiday in February 2020 rather than focusing on the pandemic.

In a further sign of the farcical situation in Downing Street, Ms MacNamara revealed that it took seven months to get a hand sanitiser station installed by the door between No 10 and the Cabinet Office. She condemned Mr Johnson’s “following the science” mantra, since many at No 10 didn’t understand what the science was.

The ex-official also said that the UK was already on the back foot when Covid hit, because of Brexit. She criticised the “monomaniacal” way Mr Johnson’s team focused on Brexit, and then the 2019 election, at the expense of planning.

She was also scathing about the then health secretary Matt Hancock’s performance, after Mr Cummings referred to him as a liar. Backing up the claims, the former deputy cabinet secretary said she had lost confidence that “what he [Mr Hancock] said was happening was actually happening” in the NHS.

Ms MacNamara suggested that Mr Hancock had displayed “nuclear levels” of overconfidence. She recalled a “jarring” episode in which the health secretary adopted a cricket batsman’s pose – an attempt to suggest that he would simply “knock away” questions about big Covid issues.

The former civil servant, who now works for the Premier League, made headlines when it emerged that she had provided a karaoke machine for a lockdown event in No 10 in June 2020 and was later fined for her part in the leaving do, which she called an “error of judgement”.

She told the inquiry she “definitely wasn’t partying in No 10” – but conceded that there should have been an admission that rules were broken, something Mr Johnson denied.

“My profound regret is for the damage that’s been caused to so many people because of it, as well as just the mortifying experience of seeing what that looks like and how rightly offended everybody is in retrospect,” said Ms MacNamara.

Meanwhile, Dr David Halpern – the chief executive of the Behavioural Insights Team, also known as the “nudge unit” – told the inquiry that Mr Cummings’s infamous Barnard Castle trip was “atrocious”. He said: “It blows a hole in public confidence if you break the rules and then try to wriggle out of it.”

Dr Halpern said it was a “mistake” to have used the term “herd immunity” in the early stages of the pandemic. He revealed that the No10 communications director at the time, Jack Doyle, had given him the “hairdryer treatment” for using the term “cocooning” in reference to shielding older people.

A vehicle has been swept away by crashing waves along Sidmouth Esplanade this evening (November 1) as Storm Ciaran batters Devon. Multiple eyewitnesses reported that they have seen a vehicle – believed to be a pick-up truck – has gone into the sea.

Molly Seaman www.devonlive.com

The Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for rain and wind today, which will remain in place until tomorrow (November 2). An amber warning for wind will then come into effect from tomorrow (November 2). The Met Office has warned of strong winds that could reach up to 85mph in some coastal areas.

DevonLive understands that there is currently an ongoing emergency incident along Sidmouth Esplanade and that the road has been closed. Devon and Cornwall Police says an unattended vehicle has gone into the sea along the seafront.

A construction company involved in some of Devon and Cornwall’s most high-profile building projects has ceased trading with immediate effect. Brady Construction Services Limited says it has “made the difficult decision” due to the company’s financial position.

Paul Greaves www.devonlive.com

The firm, which has offices in Plymouth and Bodmin in Cornwall, has been working on a number of big projects. They include the building of new homes at the former Palace Hotel site in Torquay.

The firm’s website stopped functioning on Wednesday afternoon and photos at the Palace Hotel site show it is currently locked.

Accountancy firm Bishop Fleming has confirmed the latest developments. It says in a statement: “Brady Construction Services Limited has ceased all trading activities with effect from 30 October 2023 and is scheduled to enter liquidation next week.”

Luke Venner and Malcolm Rhodes of Bishop Fleming LLP have been instructed by the directors of Brady Construction Services Limited to assist with the convening of a meeting of the company’s creditors to be held on 9th November.

Malcolm Rhodes, senior restructuring manager of Bishop Fleming said: “Brady Construction Services Limited has ceased trading on Monday, 30 October and will enter liquidation shortly. Notices will be going out to all creditors later this week, ahead of the meeting on Thursday 9 November.

“Creditors will further receive information about the process, which will provide them with an opportunity to register their claim.”

An automatic reply from Brady Construction to an enquiry by DevonLive provides some more details. It says: “Having taken independent advice on the company’s financial position and options, Brady Construction Services Limited have made the difficult decision to cease trading with immediate effect and instruct Bishop Fleming LLP as regards a creditors’ voluntary winding up process.”

It is not known at this stage whether creditors will be left out of pocket or how may jobs will be lost.

Brady Construction was working on the Palace Hotel site on behalf of the Singapore-based Fragrance Group, which is investing an estimated £150m in Torbay.

In 2022, it was reported that Brady took had taken over the building of the hotels after Midas Group Ltd announced it was about to go into administration.

In Plymouth, the family-run firm worked on the £13m Teesra House apartment block. It has also worked on projects in Cornwall.

No mention of “selfie man” in this article – Owl

Tories like it just as much as other parties

Devon politicians across party lines have cheered the government’s U-turn on proposals to close hundreds of train ticket offices.

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter  www.radioexe.co.uk 

Conservative leader of Devon County Council, John Hart, said his authority voted against the closures, while Tiverton and Honiton MP Richard Foord (Lib Dem) said he had raised the issue multiple times in parliament.

A public consultation on the proposals to shut 974 ticket offices attracted 750,000 responses, with almost all comments being objections, according to the organisations managing the survey.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said the government had asked train operators to withdraw their proposals, given the strength of feeling.

Although only around 12 per cent of train tickets are purchased at ticket offices, Devon’s more elderly and rural population tends to use ticket offices more frequently than the national average, according to the county council.

“Devon County Council voted unanimously to oppose the closures and lobby strongly for them to be retained,” Mr Hart said.

“Devon is a very rural county with a higher than average number of older people who often rely on this service.

“Our cabinet member [for transport], Andrea Davis, who chairs the Peninsula Transport board, has also been very vocal in making our views known to the rail operators and ministers. This is a sensible, commonsense decision.”

Meanwhile Mr Foord, who wrote to South Western Railway and Great Western Railway about the potential impact for his constituency, said the U-turn was a “big win” for community campaigners.

“The scrapping of plans to close our local ticket offices is welcome news as we know how helpful they are to elderly and vulnerable passengers, and the huge benefit that ticket office staff offer rail users,” he said.

“The question is, why did it take the government so long to act? The damage that these changes would have caused was visible from space.

“The public backlash showed a strength of feeling that makes it plain this decision should have been made ages ago.”The proposals had been made by the rail industry as a way to reduce costs, given that government financial support (£13.3 billion) now outweighs passenger revenue (£6.5 billion) as the main income source following the pandemic. 

 Luke Pollard. who represents Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said: “Only a government as out of touch as this one would think closing every railway ticket office was a good idea. Today’s U-turn is a victory for the travelling public, who have put up with poorer services and cancellations in exchange for steeply rising fares.

I fought hard to stop the Government closing the ticket office at Plymouth station. We now need to watch for stealth closures, staff cuts and reduced hours in ticket offices across the south west.”

• Construction of 1 no. dwelling, means of access and associated works (resubmission of 22/1082/FUL). Wild Flowers Seaton Road Colyford Devon EX24 6QWRef. No: 23/2240/FUL | Validated: Fri 20 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a single storey rear extension to replace the existing conservatory. 70 Jenwood Road Dunkeswell Honiton EX14 4UZRef. No: 23/2243/FUL | Validated: Fri 20 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of highly secure storage shed for motorbike, lawnmower and trimmer and formation of new metal, railing fence. 5 Higher Furlong Road Cranbrook Exeter EX5 7GYRef. No: 23/2241/FUL | Validated: Fri 20 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Fir – fell to ground level. Altura 1 Broadway Sidmouth EX10 8XHRef. No: 23/2228/TRE | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Willow : prune back to 0.5m above the ground. It is intended to manage the pruning of the tree so that in future years pruning can be allowed without future planning applications by keeping growth of major limbs to below 1.5m in height and branches less than 7.5cm in diameter. 8 Rolle Barton Church Hill Otterton Devon EX9 7HRRef. No: 23/2233/TCA | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Swamp Cypress – remove. Tanglewood Clyst St George Devon EX3 0RERef. No: 23/2235/TRE | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replaster all walls in lime plaster and remove modern brick fireplace surround in west reception room, sitting room. 69 Fore Street Otterton EX9 7HBRef. No: 23/2234/LBC | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• G1, Field Maple & Conifer: remove all to near ground level in readiness for stump grinding, grind out stumps and back fill with suitable top soil for future planting. The Rolle 2 Fore Street Budleigh Salterton Devon EX9 6NGRef. No: 23/2236/TCA | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Garage conversion with first floor side extension over, ground floor single storey rear extension. Enlarged rear dormer and increase to height of front elevation gable. [Previously submitted under 23/0577/FUL] 11 Highcliffe Close Lympstone Devon EX8 5HFRef. No: 23/2225/FUL | Validated: Wed 18 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1: Silver Birch – reduce height by approximately 3m, maximum diameter of cut (MDC) 75mm. Lightly prune sides to shape, MDC 25mm. Existing dimensions: height-14m, N/S-6m, E/W-6m. Works will leave a balanced canopy at 11m in height and approximately 4.5m lateral spread. 9 Sherwood Drive Exmouth Devon EX8 4PXRef. No: 23/2220/TRE | Validated: Wed 18 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Deed of variation to amend the mortgagee exclusion clause (MEC) to the Section 106 agreement pursuant to planning consent 12/2341/MOUT Land South Of Exeter Road Ottery St MaryRef. No: 23/2213/V106 | Validated: Tue 17 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed front north/east elevation single storey extension Fir Grove Lower Broad Oak Road West Hill Devon EX11 1UFRef. No: 23/2199/FUL | Validated: Wed 18 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• The demolition of the existing garage and the erection of a two storey side extension. 4 Walnut Road Honiton EX14 2UGRef. No: 23/2197/FUL | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a two storey side extension and single storey rear extension 1 Millwey Avenue Axminster Devon EX13 5EHRef. No: 23/2211/FUL | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• 1no externally illuminated fascia sign, 1 no externally illuminated projecting sign and 1no window display screen. 86 High Street Honiton EX14 1JNRef. No: 23/2208/ADV | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Variation of Condition 1 of Planning Permission 22/1745, (retrospective consent for compound area and new access track), to extend time period of the consent from 3 years to when the development is no longer required in association with installation of district heating networks, locally. Land Off Poltimore Road PoltimoreRef. No: 23/2207/VAR | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey front extension. 13 Joslin Road Honiton EX14 1RHRef. No: 23/2205/FUL | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replacement of existing concrete yard. (Retrospective). Porch Farm Smallridge Devon EX13 7JHRef. No: 23/2203/FUL | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed single storey rear extension 139A Harepath Road Seaton EX12 2EBRef. No: 23/2198/FUL | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Agricultural unit extension Hogsbrook Farm Woodbury Salterton Devon EX5 1PYRef. No: 23/2201/FUL | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of Proposed Lawful Use/Development for the siting of 73 static caravans.Salcombe Regis Camping And Caravan Park Salcombe Regis Sidmouth EX10 0JHRef. No: 23/2185/CPL | Validated: Fri 20 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Ash: – crown reduce by: height – 2m, maximum diameter of cut (MDC) 50mm; North eastern aspect – 1.5m MDC 25mm; Southern aspect – 2.5m 75mm; Western aspect – 2.5m 50mm; South Eastern aspect 2m 50mm; crown lift over neighbouring property to 3m above ground level, MDC 25mm. Exmouth Court Long Causeway Exmouth EX8 1TSRef. No: 23/2189/TRE | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of lawfulness for the proposed demolition of existing conservatory and internal works11 Lark Rise Newton Poppleford Sidmouth EX10 0DHRef. No: 23/2190/CPL | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Prior approval for proposed change of use of an agricultural building to a dwelling and for building operations reasonably necessary for the conversion. Barn At Upham Farm Farringdon Exeter EX5 2HZRef. No: 23/2176/PDQ | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed single storey building to form ancillary accommodation Windward Mare Lane Beer Devon EX12 3NBRef. No: 23/2169/FUL | Validated: Wed 18 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Reduce height of chimney stack and cap on west elevation and remove non-breathable paint from external walls on north, east and west elevations using Doff and IBIX System Foundry Cottage Rosemary Lane Colyton EX24 6LSRef. No: 23/2161/LBC | Validated: Fri 20 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of free standing galvanised tube framework supporting a PV array of 8 panels, located over the top of existing shed Ashcroft All Saints EX13 7LXRef. No: 23/2132/FUL | Validated: Mon 16 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Covered silage store. Crinhayes Farm Yarcombe Devon EX14 9NDRef. No: 23/2126/FUL | Validated: Tue 17 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Ground floor: Replace windows BW5, W3, W4 & W6; replace doors D3 & D6; Revision to W5 replaced under 19/1348/LBC; first floor: replace windows W16, W17 and W18; replace door D8 Starre House Causeway Beer EX12 3JURef. No: 23/2108/LBC | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of single storey rear extension, construction of new single and part two storey rear extension and loft conversion with rear dormer 38 Woodville Road Exmouth EX8 1SFRef. No: 23/2076/FUL | Validated: Wed 18 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of illuminated and non-illuminated signs to the exterior of the building The Phoenix 31 Exeter Road Exmouth EX8 1PTRef. No: 23/2032/ADV | Validated: Wed 18 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erect 3.6m length of railings around concrete parking slab on the west elevation Earlys Garage Chardstock Devon EX13 7BWRef. No: 23/2023/FUL | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Lawful development for the erection of 2 residential bungalows and associated works. Stoneleigh Holiday And Leisure Village Weston Sidmouth EX10 0PJRef. No: 23/1986/CPE | Validated: Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of garden wall to rear garden, creation of off street parking with electric charging points and new rear gate. Replacement of outbuilding, restoration of steps to rear door and associated landscaping. 16 Windsor Square Exmouth Devon EX8 1JXRef. No: 23/1776/FUL | Validated: Tue 17 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of garden wall to rear garden with new gate and restoration of steps to rear door. 16 Windsor Square Exmouth Devon EX8 1JXRef. No: 23/1777/LBC | Validated: Tue 17 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a wooden cabin as ancillary accommodation to Windwhistle Barton Windwhistle Barton Kerswell Cullompton EX15 2ETRef. No: 23/1358/FUL | Validated: Tue 17 Oct 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision

On my way back from London, I chatted to staff at Tiverton Parkway about the news that ticket offices will remain open. The staff are very pleased that they will be able to continue serving the local community and helping people with their journeys. They deserved this win.

Exmothians why does you MP, Simon Jupp, spend so much time out of your constituency?

Why does Simon seek credit for saving ticket offices outside his constituency? What about Exmouth?

Raises the question as to how committed the Government and “other Agencies” are to fund the long term protection for Sidmouth, given these new demands.

Owl has picked up rumours of backtracking.

In March EDDC reported that changes [improvements] to the scheme have been made possible by changes in the UK Government funding calculator, plus extra contributions from the town, District, County Councils, and other Government Agencies. However, there remains an estimated funding gap of £1.75m which is being underwritten by East Devon District Council (EDDC) to enable the project to progress these important works without delay. – Owl

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com

Urgent action is being taken to protect Exmouth’s seawall ahead of the latest forecasted storm after large cracks have appeared. Problems were first detected a few weeks ago when cracks were visible in the seawall in front of Sideshore which is home to a watersports centre and Mickey’s Beach Bar & Restaurant.

A marine contractor was appointed to assess what work was required, but East Devon District Council (EDDC) has confirmed the cracks have increased following recent bad weather. With the Met Office having issued a severe amber weather warning for wind ahead of Storm Ciarán – which is set to unleash strong gusts and heavy rain across Devon – measures are being undertaken to try and reduce the impact of further weather damage.

The affected area has been fenced off and access to some sections of the beach could also be restricted. The yellow weather warnings for both wind and rain are set to remain active both tomorrow, November 1, and the following day, November 2.

Councillor Geoff Jung, EDDC’s portfolio holder for Coast, Country, and Environment, said: “Last weekend, large seas and high tides worsened the situation, with large cracks appearing in the promenade and revetment wall. With Storm Ciaran approaching, we are concerned about possible further damage and a failure of the seawall.

Exmouth’s crumbling seawall (Image: EDDC)

“To minimise the impact of the storm, large plant and heavy earth moving equipment arrived at the site from 10am yesterday, October 30. This machinery will move and compact sand, wrapped in geotextile to create a temporary barrier to lessen the impact of waves until the storm passes.

“Some geotextiles will be placed on top of the sand and held down with large concrete blocks too. While the operation is carried out, sections of the beach will need to be restricted.

Exmouth’s crumbling seawall (Image: EDDC)

“Following this, further assessments of the damage and the required repairs will be made, and medium and long-term solutions will be proposed. In the meantime, fencing has been erected to keep people off the affected section of the promenade. The situation will continue to be monitored and if necessary, the footway and cycle way may need to be temporarily closed.”

These are the key things we learned on the most compelling and foul-mouthed day of the Covid inquiry so far:

Matthew Weaver www.theguardian.com 

• Boris Johnson suggested ‘Covid is nature’s way of dealing with old people’

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser during the pandemic, noted that Johnson favoured “older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life”. As the prime minister was resisting reimposing restrictions in December 2020, Vallance wrote: “He [Johnson] says his party ‘thinks the whole thing is pathetic and Covid is just nature’s way of dealing with old people – and I am not entirely sure I disagree with them’.”

• Dominic Cummings said vulnerable people were ‘appallingly neglected’

The prime minister’s top adviser was asked about how much No 10 considered ethnic minority groups, domestic abuse victims and others in the run-up to imposing a national lockdown. Cummings said: “I would say that that entire question was almost entirely appallingly neglected by the entire planning system.” He added: “The Cabinet Office was essentially trying to block us creating a shielding plan.”

• Cummings frequently called for the sacking of Matt Hancock and other cabinet ministers

In May 2020, he warned Johnson about the health secretary: “Hancock is unfit for this job. The incompetence, the constant lies, the obsession with media bullshit over doing his job. Still no fucking serious testing in care homes his uselessness is still killing God knows how many.” By August 2020 Cummings told Johnson he was creating the perception that he was “happy to have useless fuckpigs in charge”. He claimed Hancock was a “proven liar”. And he accused Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the NHS in England, of “bullshitting”. He also said Gavin Williamson’s position as education secretary was not sustainable after a U-turn over teacher-assessed exam grades.

• Cummings used misogynistic language to denigrate the deputy cabinet secretary, Helen MacNamara

He claimed MacNamara’s propriety and ethics teams “waste huge amounts of time”. In a WhatsApp message to the No 10 communications director, Lee Cain, he said he would “personally handcuff her and escort her from the building”. He added: “I don’t care how it is done but that woman must be out of our hair – we cannot keep dealing with this horrific meltdown of the British state while dodging stilettos from that cunt.” Cummings suggested moving MacNamara to the communities department where she could build “millions of lovely houses”. Cummings denied his comments were misogynistic. “I was much ruder about men,” he told the inquiry.

• Johnson urged Cummings to end an ‘orgy of narcissism’

When Cummings was asked to leave Downing Street in November 2020, he complained to Johnson about briefings from those close to his then fiancee, Carrie Symonds. Johnson told him: “You speak of briefings from team Carrie. She hasn’t briefed anyone and my instructions to all were to shut the fuck up.” The PM also accused Cummings of briefing that Symonds was shaping lockdown policy. He said: “This is a totally disgusting orgy of narcissism by a government that should be solving a national crisis. We must end this.”

• Cummings was unrepentant about his trip to Durham at the height of lockdown.

He confirmed the day of the Barnard Castle trip was his wife’s birthday. But he added: “The handling of it was a disaster and caused huge pain to a lot of people that I very much regret. But in terms of my actual actions in going north … I acted entirely reasonably and legally, and did not break any rules.” Cummings appeared to regret little about his time at No 10, apart from the language in his messages. His last words to the session were: “I should apologise for my terrible language.” WhatsApp messages shared with the inquiry showed Mr Johnson claiming that his adviser had never told him he had gone to Durham. In messages dated 19 July 2021, Johnson said: “Cummings a total and utter liar. He never told me he had gone to Durham during lockdown … He never told me. I then tried my very best to defend him.”

• Cain tried to resist Sunak’s ‘eat out to help out’ scheme in the summer of 2020

The former director of communications at No 1o told the inquiry the then-chancellor’s scheme “made absolutely no sense whatsoever”. He said it undermined the government’s message about Covid. He told the inquiry: “What are we signalling to the public? … Go back out, get back to work, crowd yourself on to trains, go into restaurants and enjoy pizzas with friends and family – really build up that social mixing. Now, that is fine if you are intent on never having to do suppression measures again – but from all the evidence we are receiving … it was incredibly clear that we were going to have to do suppression measures again.”

• Cain said it was a ‘huge blunder’ to ignore Marcus Rashford’s campaign on free school meals

He blamed the mistake on the lack of diversity in government. In his written evidence to the inquiry, Cain said: “I remember asking in the Cabinet room of 20 people, how many people had received free school meals. Nobody had – resulting in a policy and political blind spot. This was a huge blunder. The PM (to some degree understandably) said we needed to draw a line in the sand on public spending commitments, but this was clearly not the place to draw that line – something the PM was told by his senior team of 20 people.”

Evidence heard at the Covid inquiry yesterday hints at the pressure from the party on the PM.

“Vallance’s diary also recounts how then chief whip Mark Spencer told a cabinet meeting in December 2020 that “we should let the old people get it and protect others”. He said that Johnson then added: “A lot of my backbenchers think that and I must say I agree with them”.”

Then we have this evidence of Simon’s priorities, see: MP Simon Jupp goes full ostrich in the face of the Omicron wave when he was on record as tweeting ‘I don’t support Plan B. … I won’t vote for these measures.’

And we all know of his lobbying in support of the hospitality sector in general and support for “Dr Death’s” “eat out to help out”. – Owl

Boris Johnson favoured ‘older people accepting their fate’, Covid inquiry hears

Pippa Crerar www.theguardian.com (Extract0

Boris Johnson told senior advisers that the Covid virus was “just nature’s way of dealing with old people” and he was “no longer buying” the fact the NHS was overwhelmed during the pandemic, the pandemic inquiry has heard.

In a WhatsApp message sent to his top aides in October 2020, the former prime minister said he had been “slightly rocked” by Covid infection rates and suggested he was, as a result, unconvinced that hospitals were on the brink despite public warnings from NHS chiefs and frontline staff.

The former chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, in his diaries described a “bonkers set of exchanges” in a meeting from that August. He noted that Johnson appeared “obsessed with older people accepting their fate” and letting younger people get on with their lives during the pandemic.

Another note from Vallance, after a meeting in December 2020, hinted at the power wielded by the right of the Conservative party during the pandemic: “PM told he has been acting early and the public are with him (but his party is not).

“He says his party ‘thinks the whole thing is pathetic and Covid is just nature’s way of dealing with old people – and I am not entirely sure I disagree with them. A lot of moderate people think it is a bit too much.’”

Vallance’s diary also recounts how then chief whip Mark Spencer told a cabinet meeting in December 2020 that “we should let the old people get it and protect others”. He said that Johnson then added: “A lot of my backbenchers think that and I must say I agree with them”.

Johnson, despite Covid infection numbers going up at that time, told the meeting that he wanted to move to tier 3 restrictions instead.

The documents emerged during a bruising session of the Covid inquiry for the former prime minister, with the former senior aides Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings questioning in evidence his suitability for the role during the pandemic.

Cummings had previously, in July 2021, claimed that Johnson was not prepared to impose lockdown restrictions to stop the spread of Covid in autumn 2020 because “the people who are dying are essentially all over 80”…..

Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow environment secretary, said: “The Conservatives’ sticking-plaster approach to flooding has left communities devastated and cost the economy billions of pounds.”

Brace, brace, brace for storm Ciarán, especially if Thérèse Coffey looking the wrong way! – Owl

Josh Halliday www.theguardian.com 

More than 4,000 of England’s vital flood defences are so damaged they are almost useless, including hundreds in areas battered by Storm Babet.

Nearly 800 critical assets – defined as those where there is a high risk to life and property – were in a “poor” or “very poor” condition in the 10 English counties worst affected by last week’s historic downpours.

The analysis will add to growing anger from flood-hit communities who have accused the authorities of being ill-equipped and complacent in the run-up to Storm Babet.

It comes as Britain braces for yet more heavy rain and flooding this week ahead of the arrival of Storm Ciarán, which is set to bring strong winds and heavy rain when it arrives on Thursday.

Parts of Britain faced further severe downpours at the weekend, hampering the recovery from the devastating floods that left at least seven people dead, hundreds homeless and scores of properties damaged.

MPs and residents across England and Scotland have demanded a review of the protections in place in the aftermath of Storm Babet, which overwhelmed defences and caught forecasters off-guard.

Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow environment secretary, said: “The Conservatives’ sticking-plaster approach to flooding has left communities devastated and cost the economy billions of pounds.”

Extreme weather events are becoming more likely and frequent due to climate breakdown, and have caused food shortages and price increases.

An analysis of Environment Agency data obtained by Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace UK, showed that 4,204 of England’s most important flood defences were in a poor or very poor condition in 2022. This accounts for about one in 15 of the total.

Across the country, 856 were judged very poor, meaning they had “severe defects resulting in complete performance failure”, essentially rendering them useless.

The remaining 3,348 were in poor condition, meaning they have defects that would “significantly reduce” their performance.

In the 10 English counties worst affected by Storm Babet, spanning from Suffolk to Northumberland, 646 were in a poor condition and 135 were judged to be very poor.

The Environment Agency, which owns and maintains more than half of the flood defences in England, said inspections from the latest financial year showed an improvement, from one in 15 being in disrepair to one in 20.

It added that contingency plans will be put in place if required when critical defences are found to be in poor condition.

Paul Morozzo, Greenpeace UK’s senior climate campaigner, said: “Our crumbling flood defences are a symbolic and literal demonstration of the government’s failure to tackle the climate crisis.

“Storm Babet was a sobering reminder that the climate crisis is on our doorstep and that the cost – both in terms of lives lost and damage caused – is huge.

“Without bold action to cut emissions as fast as possible, extreme storms and flooding will become more common and more intense. And without the necessary investment and upgrades, our flood defences will continue to fail.

“By rowing back on its climate commitments and failing to ensure we have infrastructure needed to mitigate its impacts, the government has all but given up on the communities it is supposed to protect. This is a shameful dereliction of duty and will cost votes in the coming election unless Sunak wakes up and has the guts to change direction.”

The Environment Agency, which is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, aimed last year to repair scores of its flood defences leaving only 30 in poor or very poor condition. In reality, 1,766 remained in that category.

The environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, suggested last week that the Met Office and the Environment Agency had been caught off-guard by Storm Babet because the rain came in from the east.

She also said it looked as if her department “may not be hitting” its target of protecting 336,000 properties by 2027.

The Met Office has said the 18 to 20 October period was the third-wettest independent three-day period in England and Wales since 1891. The Midlands provisionally recorded its wettest three-day period on record.

Defra said it was investing £5.2bn between 2021 and 2027 to protect properties from flooding and that more than 96,000 buildings were shielded from Storm Babet.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We maintain approximately 76,000 flood assets across England, 95% of which we would expect to function as designed during a flood, which is an increase on the previous year.

“We prioritise maintenance where there is significant threat to lives and livelihoods, which was supported by a £200m investment between April 2022 and March 2023 to ensure our assets were winter ready.”

Boris Johnson asked why damage was being inflicted on the economy during the pandemic “for people who will die anyway soon” in a meeting with Rishi Sunak, the Covid inquiry was told on Monday.

Ben Quinn www.theguardian.com (Extract)

At the start of what is set to be a bruising week for the former prime minister, with former political aides and senior civil servants to give evidence on his government’s handling of the pandemic, the diary of a former private secretary revealed the damaging remarks made in March 2020.

The note was from a meeting during which Johnson was believed to have said: “We’re killing the patient to tackle the tumour. Large ppl [taken to mean large numbers of people] who will die, why are we destroying economy for people who will die anyway soon.”

Imran Shafi, the official who wrote the memo, told the inquiry he thought it was Johnson who made the comments. It came after a series of diary entries and WhatsApp messages suggested the low regard in which the former Tory leader was held by senior advisers…..

Covid inquiry live: Boris Johnson’s pandemic response was ‘Trump-level mad and dangerous’

www.independent.co.uk 

A series of scathing WhatsApp messages sent between Boris Johnson’s top team have accused the former prime minister of making it “impossible” to tackle Covid, as he created chaos and changed direction “every day”.

Archie Mitchell www.independent.co.uk

The extraordinary messages sent between the likes of Dominic Cummings, Lee Cain and Simon Case reveal the strong disquiet among Mr Johnson’s advisers, with Mr Case, the cabinet secretary and top civil servant, at one point declaring: “I am at the end of my tether.”

The ex-PM’s top officials also branded him “weak and indecisive” and referred to him as a “trolley”. Chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance, meanwhile, said Mr Johnson was “all over the place” and “so completely inconsistent”.

The WhatsApp messages and diary entries, shown to Mr Johnson’s former principal private secretary Martin Reynolds at the official Covid inquiry, laid bare the chaos behind Downing Street’s response to Covid.

In a bombshell three hours of testimony about his time as Mr Johnson’s PPS, Mr Reynolds was asked about everything from the government’s preparedness for the pandemic to his own role in the Partygate scandal of lockdown-busting events.

The ex-top civil servant, since dubbed “Party Marty”, apologised “unreservedly” for sending an email to more than 100 Downing Street staff inviting them to a “bring your own booze” garden party during lockdown.

And he admitted the government’s readiness to tackle Covid was “grossly deficient”, and that officials were operating “without a proper playbook”.

The inquiry was shown extraordinary WhatsApp exchanges and notes taken around the time of key decisions being made.

In one diary entry, Sir Patrick wrote: “Number 10 chaos as usual.

“On Friday, the two-metre rule meeting made it abundantly clear that no-one in Number 10 or the Cabinet Office had really read or taken time to understand the science advice on two metres. Quite extraordinary.”

In other entries Sir Patrick described how he felt scientists were “used as human shields” by ministers.

On 19 September 2020, when a potential “circuit-breaker” lockdown was up for discussion, he wrote: “Johnson is all over the place and so completely inconsistent. You can see why it was so difficult to get an agreement to lock down the first time.”

And in a devastating exchange of messages between Mr Case, the cabinet secretary, and Mr Cummings, who was Downing Street’s chief of staff at the time, Mr Johnson was described as “creating chaos”.

Mr Case said: “I am at the end of my tether. He changes strategic direction every day (Monday we were all about fear of virus returning as per Europe, March etc – today we’re in ‘let it rip’ mode because the UK is pathetic, needs a cold shower etc.)

“He cannot lead and we cannot support him in leading with this approach. The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day. The team can’t deliver anything under these circumstances.”

Piling in to the other cabinet ministers, he said: “A weak team (as we have got – Hancock, Williamson, Dido, No10/CO, Perm Secs), definitely cannot succeed in these circumstances. IT HAS TO STOP! Decide and set direction – deliver – explain. Gov’t isn’t actually that hard but this guy is really making it impossible.”

Mr Cain replied: “Totally agree. Am already getting lots of despairing messages from people in meetings with him. And he’s careering around on WhatsApp as usual creating chaos and undermining everybody. “

In another exchange shown to the inquiry, Mr Cummings accused Mr Johnson of going “full trolley mode”, referring to his tendency to veer between issues.

Pressed toward the end of the session on his now infamous BYOB email, Mr Reynolds said: “I would first like to say how deeply sorry I am for my part in those events and for the email message, which went out that day.

“And I would like to apologise unreservedly to all the families of all those who suffered during Covid for all the distress caused.”