what is interesting is lord geidt appointed interesting is lord geidt appointed in april last year ishad been treated during the last few months and why he wasn�*t kept informed about the electoral commission plasma investigation and the emergence of this message. he clearly wants more respect and more powers to be taken more seriously. i think this is something of a warning shot that if he is going to stay on board and remain the prime minister pass my independent adviser on interests he needs to be taken seriously. he interests he needs to be taken seriousl . interests he needs to be taken seriously-— interests he needs to be taken seriousl . . , ., , seriously. he has the title of being independent- _ seriously. he has the title of being independent. there _ seriously. he has the title of being independent. there is _ seriously. he has the title of being independent. there is speculationl seriously. he has the title of being i independent. there is speculation he might step down when all of this first emerged. who appoints him and how does this decision actually come to pass in the

lord geidt accused mrjohnson of not having "sufficient respect" for his role as standards adviser.avish flat refurbishment with an eye watering bill and some difficult questions for the prime minister about whether he knew who originally paid for it. he and his wife spent over £100,000 hiring a luxury designer. it has taken months for the standard advisor, lord geidt, to get to the bottom of a complex funding arrangement involving a tory donor. some relevant information was never disclosed to the investigation and today in a letter to lord geidt, mrjohnson apologised for that. "i�*m sorry the office of independent advisor has been put in this position and can only repeat the humble and sincere apology i gave when we discussed this matter earlier today." mrjohnson is busy highlighting the success of vaccines. the questions have continued about what he knew and when. i followed the ministerial guidance at all times. surely you would remember such an exchange even if you could not see the messages question i followed the ministerial guidance at all times. this is what the flight look

lord geidt cleared mrjohnson of a conflict of interest it emerged a conservative member of the househment but since then it has been revealed that the prime minister sent whatsapp messages to the pier about work on the property. mrjohnson said he did not recall the message exchange at our deputy political editor, vicki young, explains. a lavish flat refurbishment with an eye watering bill and some difficult questions for the prime minister about whether he knew who originally paid for it. he and his wife spent over £100,000 hiring a luxury designer. it has taken months for the standard advisor, lord geidt, to get to the bottom of a complex funding arrangement involving a tory donor. some relevant information was never disclosed to the investigation and today in a letter to lord geidt, mr johnson apologised for that. "i'm sorry the office of independent advisor has been put in this position and can only repeat the humble and sincere apology i gave when we discussed this matter earlier today." mrjohnson is busy highlighting the success of vaccines. the questions have continued about wh

for a second time, the adviser lord geidt found that the prime minister did not break the ministerialacted "unwisely". our deputy political editor vicki young has more details. a lavish flat refurbishment with an eye—watering bill — and some difficult questions for the prime minister about whether he knew who originally paid for it. he and his wife spent over £100,000, hiring a luxury designer. it's taken months for the standards advisor, lord geidt, to get to the bottom of a complex funding arrangement involving a tory donor. some relevant information was never disclosed to the investigation, and today in a letter to lord geidt, mrjohnson apologised for that. i'm sorry that the office of independent advisor has been put in this position and can only repeat the humble and sincere apology i gave when we discussed this matter earlier today. mrjohnson is busy highlighting the success of vaccines. but questions have continued about what he knew and when. i followed the ministerial guidance at all times — and yes. surely you would remember such an exchange even if you couldn't see the mess

to lord geidt about borisjohnson's renovations to the flat at downing street.hat were backed by lord brownlow, who paid for the renovations. lord geidt�*s failure to revise conclusions in the light of those messages raises concerns and questions. dave penman is the general secretary of the first division association, which is the union representing senior civil servants. well, i think it's interesting because clearly there's a lot of speculation around whether, once these messages were disclosed, whether lord geidt would have resigned. i think quite interestingly what he's chosen to do is to use this episode to potentially strengthen his powers. it's clear from the exchange of letters how angry he is about what happened, but also that he appears to have extracted from the prime minister concessions around the powers of the independent adviser in the future and he expects them to brought forward within the next couple of months. and anyone in that position, i think, faces a choice, as his predecessor did. if you didn't like what the prime minister was doing, you

certainly from the role of lord geidt, is this furore i role of lord geidt, is this furore about theo make the most of in opposition you clearly want to make the most of this. in opposition you clearly want to make the most of this. that revolution damning revelation with the potential linking of the two you can see why you would want to exploit that. lord geidt deals with that and his letters and has made clear he has looked at that exchange. he has referenced the fact there are some elements of his report he might have changed or done differently but his overall conclusion is the same that the prime minister didn't breach the ministerial code. you can agree or disagree but he has dealt with it and ultimately he is an independent adviser and that is the point of having someone independent and if he makes that decision he is somebody you have to respect, the fact he has done that, but you can understand the politics of it and why labour want to keep us on the front pages. thank you. sidney poitier, the first black man to win a best actor 0scar, has died aged 94. born in the bahamas,

it comes as the uk's top adviser on ministerial standards — lord geidt — cleared the prime minister ofur political correspondent helen catt is at westminster. helen, there has been an exchange of text messages revealed, which is very interesting. the question really is whether the prime minister asked for money from a conservative party donor and whether anything was offered in exchange for that funding, how much the prime minister knew about where the money was coming from, how much information was then disclosed to the independent adviser. you was then disclosed to the independent adviser. was then disclosed to the inde endent adviser. ., s, independent adviser. you are right. what we have _ independent adviser. you are right. what we have got _ independent adviser. you are right. what we have got today _ independent adviser. you are right. what we have got today as - independent adviser. you are right. what we have got today as an - what we have got today as an exchange of whatsapp messages from november 2020 between borisjohnson and a conservative donor, lord brownlow. it regards t

lord geidt accuse mr branch and of not having respect for his first lord geidt accuse mr branch and ofaccused mrjohnson of not having sufficient respect for his role as standards adviser. in his original report lord geidt cleared mrjohnson of a conflict of interest because he�*d seemed unaware that a conservative peer had paid for the refurbishment. a lavish flat refurbishment with an eye watering bill and some difficult questions for the prime minister about whether he knew who originally paid for it. he and his wife spent over £100,000 hiring a luxury designer. it has taken months for the standard adviser, lord geidt, to get to the bottom of a complex funding arrangement involving a tory donor. some relevant information was never disclosed to the investigation and today in a letter to lord geidt, mrjohnson apologised for that. mrjohnson is busy highlighting the success of vaccines. the questions have continued about what he knew and when. i followed the ministerial guidance at all times. surely you would remember such an exchange even if you could not see the messages question i foll

he will be a bit relieved about is on the basic questions, his adviser on ministerial standards lord geidt was no sort of conflict of interest over the funding. he clearly was angry yesterday that he had not seen the messages and said they might have raised more questions about what boris johnson knew where the money was coming from because in these messages, the donor lord brownlow says to borisjohnson, there is no trust, i am hoping it will come injanuary but i know for the money is coming from so that is a bit of a tricky point but yesterday lord geidt did not fundamentally revise his questions were borisjohnson or seek to take this any further. the difficulty for borisjohnson still lies in whether the parliamentary commissioner for standards will now also take this up and whether therefore there will be another sort of inquiry into it. and whether this thing will drag on and on. . ~' whether this thing will drag on and on. . ~ , ., one of the changes announced earlier this week to covid testing rules, for people travelling to the uk from abroad, has come into effect. pre—departure test

lord geidt�*s letters will be published soon. ublic to believe you didn't disclose key messages with lord brownlow about the refurbishment of your flat because you had a new phone? i followed the ministerial guidance at all times, and yes. a report by a parliamentary committee at westminster surely you'd remember the exchange. a report by a parliamentary committee at westminster has warned the pandemic could have a �*catastrophic impact�* on many patients needing nhs treatment. almost 6 million people in england are waiting for routine operations and procedures, but committee says the demands of emergency care and staff shortages could ruin plans to tackle the growing backlog. the european court of human rights has dismissed a case brought by a gay man who claimed a bakery in northern ireland had discriminated against him by refusing to make him a cake with a message supporting gay marriage. the owners of the business said the request for the slogan was at odds with their christian beliefs. still to come a bit later in the program

labour's deputy leader angela rayner says the prime minister's independent ethics adviser lord geidtbe put in charge, claiming the chief whip mark spencer could have broken the ministerial code. this all comes at a time when mark spencer and other government whips are under pressure and facing allegations for blackmailing tory mps into supporting the prime minister, claims which number ten say they don't recognise but which the conservative mp william wragg says he will be taking up with the police. it's a bruising week ahead as another major report into behaviour in government is about to drop. sue gray's investigation into parties across whitehall during covid restrictions. the prime minister's former top aide dominic cummings says he has answered her questions in writing. he has already claimed the prime minister was warned one party in may 2020 should not go ahead which borisjohnson denies. for many mps this report will help them decide whether it is time to end johnson's leadership and with a fresh inquiry announced today, he will be hoping he can win back their support. studio:

will be a bit relieved about is that on the basic questions, his adviser on ministerial standards, lord geidtmessages and said they might have raised more questions about what borisjohnson knew when about where the money was coming from because in these messages, the donor lord brownlow says to boris johnson, there is no trust, i am hoping it will come injanuary, in a few months, but i know where the money is coming from so that is a bit of a tricky point but yesterday lord geidt did not fundamentally revise his questions for borisjohnson or seek to take this any further. the difficulty for boris johnson still lies in whether the parliamentary commissioner for standards will now also take this up and whether therefore there will be a whole other sort of inquiry into it and whether this thing will drag on and on. 29—year—old henry dyne was targeted with hundreds of abusive messages after being featured in a year—end bbc news report. the source? anti—vaccine activists who falsely believed he was a so—called "crisis actor" pretending to be sick with covid—19. in a moment, we can speak to our spe

labour's deputy leader angela rayner said the prime minister's independent ethics advisor lord geidthould be put in charge, claiming that the chief whip mark spencer could have broken the ministerial code. now, this all comes at a time when mark spencer and other government whips are under pressure and facing allegations for blackmailing tory mps into supporting the prime minister, claims which no 10 say they don't recognise, but which the conservative mp william wragg said he will be taking up with the police. it's a bruising week ahead, as another major report into behaviour in government is about to drop. sue gray's investigation into parties across whitehall during covid restrictions. the prime minister's former top aide, dominic cummings said he has answered her questions in writing. reporter: have you spoken to to sue gray today, mr cummings? he's already claimed the prime minister was warned one party in may 2020 should not go ahead, which borisjohnson denies. for many mps, this report will help them decide whether it is time to end johnson's leadership. and with a fresh inqui

it comes as the uk's top adviser on ministerial standards, lord geidt, cleared the prime minister ofe—examining evidence. our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster. this is the second time that he's looked at this. just remind us why. while this is because when lord geit it was refurbished and it was quite a pricey refurbishment, because more than £100,000. and while the prime minister eventually pay that bill himself initially, because were picked up by a conservative donor. and some of it he did through the conservative party as well. the been a couple of investigations into that. the first one into lord geit cleared him of breaking the ministerial code and said there was no conflict. at the time as he understood it more asjohnson hadn't been aware of until february 2021 bed lord brownlow had been paying the bills himself. what then happened was there was a later investigation into the conservative party roll into this by the electoral commission and i came much later last year. in that investigation it demurrage that there had been an exchange of messages between bo