allegations borisjohnson would benefit from scotland yard's intervention are dismissed by a cabinet minister. i would say it would be a very eccentric conspiracy theorist who thought the prime minister being investigated by the police was beneficial to the prime minister. condemnation from those who lost loved ones due to cronavirus. fran hall's late husband spent 30 years as a police officer. he would be watching what's unfolding now with despair because the police police by consent and what's happening at the moment is like a circus. in other news, re—newed pressure on borisjohnson

daniel sandford, bbc news at new scotland yard. a very difficult electoral test this thursday in the parliamentary by—election in southend west in essex. by—election in but it's not being contested by the other main political parties as a mark of respect for sir david amess, the conservaive mp who was stabbed to death last october. 0ur political correspondent chris mason has been to leigh—on—sea to ask people for their reaction to criticism of boris johnson's leadership. for more than 70 years, this corner of essex on the northern side of the thames estuary has elected conservative mps. for nearly 25 years, the mp was sir david amess. people here must now choose his successor amid the noise of the row engulfing borisjohnson. the culture was all wrong, and i'm sure it wouldn't have happened under previous prime ministers and stuff. i don't think they'd have been doing it with theresa may, put it that way. now that borisjohnson is saying sorry, now he's saying he gets it, he's going to fix it, any forgiveness for him? how many times

our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, joins us now from new scotland yard.ver sue gray's report possibly prejudicing their own investigation? well, clive, first of all, we're not talking about the risk of prejudicing a jury of somehow influencing a jewellery, because there won't be a jewellery. the crimes aren't serious enough, the alleged crimes are not serious enough —— influencing a jury. they are talking about prejudicing the investigation, publishing a detailed report about the events before they've even started questioning people. because people might change the answer to those questions according to that report. people might see that something isn't in the report and then they can deliberately leave it out of their answers because they think they've got away with it or they might deliberately give answers contradicting the report to try and get themselves or a friend off. ask any officer, "would you like a detailed report published before you start questioning people?" they are always going to say no. but an interesting debate led by very senior peopl

daniel sandford, bbc news at new scotland yard. has come under fierce criticism from his own mps and rivals. but what are conservative voters thinking? i am joined now by deborah and gavin taylor in essex in england. they are lifelong conservative voters. gavin is a member of the party. it's wonderful to have you on the programme, the both of you. ijust want to start by asking you, deborah, how damaging do you think this affair and this report are to the prime minister. i this affair and this report are to the prime minister.— this affair and this report are to the prime minister. i don't think it is that bad- _ the prime minister. i don't think it is that bad- i _ the prime minister. i don't think it is that bad. i really _ the prime minister. i don't think it is that bad. i really don't. - the prime minister. i don't think it is that bad. i really don't. i - the prime minister. i don't think it is that bad. i really don't. i think | is that bad. i really don't. i think we'd spent a lot of time on it now. i think the criminal inve

scotland yard says it's received all requested material from the cabinet office, for its own inquiry. also tonight: ukrainian troops prepare for a possible russian invasion, with help from the british military. the bbc has found an inconsistency in the covid test results of novak djokovic, used to enter australia earlier this month. and wejoin team gb�*s cross country skiers ahead of next week's winter olympics in beijing. coming up in the sport later in the hour on the bbc news channel, tyson fury is going to have to wait for his world heavyweight unification fight. next up will be fellow brit, mandatory challenger dillian whyte. good evening. it's understood the senior civil servant, sue gray, who's been investigating lockdown parties at downing street, is expected to deliver her final report to boris johnson shortly. the exact timing, however, is still unclear. there had been speculation that the report might be delayed because of a metropolitan police request that the findings make only "minimal reference" to alleged events at no 10, forfear of prejudicing their own investigation.

said okay, for as john is probably as to be questioned about this, it is of course the case that scotland yard is responsible for the protection of senior figures. tron terrace, his sons or anything else. and therefore there is always, ah, a police presence at downing street. and you could argue they should have known about this all. ready along and indeed donnie street, of course is covered as no such buildings would be by cameras. and yet nothing was reported to the place now. it may just be internal. what we call chinese walls and the personal protection squads are, have a, a solid firm pledge of a murder to ah, that the people are protecting and don't shop them too for the rest the police force. but it doesn't look good. and i think the embarrassment is mounted for chris, had a des cannot in that accounts for the fact that there's been a u turn in the much fallen places policy. and they are now looking at these events in retrospect. now, it's a well known rule of politics, the famous wag the dog phrase about the clinton administration, that the politician in trouble will seek out other ave

. _ required for members of the royal family, which only scotland yard know _ family, which only scotland a new life and will not cause him any harm. it is the first time a royal— him any harm. it is the first time a royal has— him any harm. it is the first time a royal has taken on the government in the courts _ royal has taken on the government in the courts it — royal has taken on the government in the courts. it will be interesting to see _ the courts. it will be interesting to see how this one plays out. i think— to see how this one plays out. i think he — to see how this one plays out. i think he only found out when he came over for— think he only found out when he came over for the _ think he only found out when he came over for the unveiling of princess diana's_ over for the unveiling of princess diana's statue several months ago that he _ diana's statue several months ago that he realised things have changed. but he is really taking people — changed. but he is really taking people on and this is another chapter— people on and this is another chapter in— people on and this is anot

it would have no access to the intelligence that scotland yard amasses about possible threats. for security in the united kingdom, but that that offer has been rejected. and it is that decision that he�*s now seeking a legal review of in the form of a judicial review. normally that would be on the basis of law or process, so it�*s unclear where that�*s likely to get to. but certainly, harry is saying that this dispute is preventing him from planning any trips to the united kingdom. he said that when he came over last july for the unveiling of the statue of his mother, diana, princess of wales, that he had no official british police protection then. and clearly he felt concerned at the absence of that official protection. needless to say, buckingham palace says nothing about this, it�*s a security matter so they won�*t commit on it. but i think harry�*s position is likely to be exacerbated even further if it emerges that his uncle, the duke of york, is to continue to receive official police protection, given all his difficulties and the fact that he�*s stepped right back, right

scotland yard says it hasn't requested a delay to the publication of the sue gray report into lockdown gatherings in downing street and whitehall. uk prime minister borisjohnson is reportedly wavering on plans to raise national insurance to fund health and social care, as those inquries into party claims continue. on the bbc�*s question time programme, a uk ministeradmitted the move is unpopular. everybody in the room is against it, everybody in the room is feeling the squeeze. is that fair? are you all against it? yeah. how do you feel about the increase? are you willing to pay the extra to fund health and social care? we want to hear from you. get in touch at @benmboulos using the hashtag bbc your questions. russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, says that moscow doesn't want war with ukraine. he appeared to strike a positive tone on us security proposals to ease tensions in europe. doubts over the timing of the positive covid test used by novak djokovic to enter australia. british sign language is on course to become a recognised language in england, making it more prominent in p

allegations borisjohnson would benefit from scotland yard's intervention are dismissed by a cabinet minister. i would say it would be a very eccentric conspiracy theorist who thought the prime minister being investigated by the police was beneficial to the prime minister. condemnation from those who lost loved ones due to cronavirus. fran hall's late husband spent 30 years as a police officer. he would be watching what's unfolding now with despair because the police police by consent and what's happening at the moment is like a circus. in other news, re—newed pressure on borisjohnson we will find out how this latest development is playing out. in other news, re—newed pressure on borisjohnson to delay rise in national insurance — but ministers say it's needed to fund health and social care the presidents of russia and france have agreed on the need for de—escalation over the rising tensions on ukraine's borders — we'll be live in kyiv. and a bill legally recognising british sign language as language in england receives government backing. we'll be finding out about what this means for the dea

scotland yard says it hasn't requested a delay to the publication of the sue gray report into lockdown gatherings in downing street and whitehall. borisjohnson is reportedly wavering on plans to raise national insurance in april to fund health and social care, as those inquiries into party claims continue. on bbc question time, a minister admitted the move is unpopular. everybody in the room is against it, everybody in the room is feeling the squeeze. is that fair? are you all against it? yeah. how do you feel about the increase? are you willing to pay the extra to fund health and social care? we want to hear from you. get in touch at @benmboulos using the hashtag bbc your questions. the united states has urged china to use its influence with moscow to discourage any russian invasion of ukraine. doubts over the timing of the positive covid test novak djokovic used to enter australia. british sign language is on course to become a recognised language in england, making it more prominent in public service announcements. and coming up this hour, we hear from the �*bag lady of aberdare�*,

it is sent documents to scotland, yard and scotland yard will now start its own inquiry. now this is got, not only as it ramping up the crisis devoris johnson and it is also putting pressure on because this could now mean a long delay in the cabinet office retort. and there is no means of this story going away. after this revelation of another party, a birthday party, this time, back on december than on june 19th, 2020. it said that so far as johnson walked into the cabinet rooms and there was a party, a brief one. he was there only 10 minutes. according to downing street aids, it was arranged by his wife, but that's denied of by downing street and said, and he, there was a breach of up to 30 people of. busy the assembly inside or inside which his band under the cupboard restrictions at that time. so this is really caused a lot of division or amongst the conservative party. and an overriding are overwhelming a move towards dim bonding, a leadership challenge. and also possibly the possibility offers johnson being forced to resign or face that challenge. ok, andrea, thank

that would do it like scotland yard in the u. k. would do or, or the f, b i, or like the investigative arms of the, of the tribunals where i was at work where i was a prosecutor ah, evidence to support such tribunals has been painstaking me, gathered together and stood in this secret location. so this isn't one of 2 evidence rooms we have in the headquarters. this one has, i think up to 260 boxes. these are the documents that can hold the syrian states to account. ah, ah, the boxes contain, from 80024000 pages, depends on their how they were collected inside syria, and will contain either hand return or printed documents in this particular box. so we have interrogation reports, so they are and the written and stamped by the unit to from which they came. but this isn't the un or a state run intelligence operation. it's a private initiative, an n g o, part funded by sympathetic nations. i had been working on post conflict, the justice or for a number of years, and there are a lot of victories there. but also lot of disappointments, in

daniel sandford, bbc news at new scotland yard.dent chris mason has been speaking to people in the constituency of southend west, in essex, which is due to hold a byelection on thursday. the seat had been held by sir david amess, who was fatally stabbed while giving advice to his constituents in october. for more than 70 years, this corner of essex on the northern side of the thames estuary has elected conservative mps. for nearly 25 years, the mp was sir david amess. people here must now choose his successor amid the noise of the row engulfing borisjohnson. the culture was all wrong and i'm sure it wouldn't have happened under previous prime ministers and stuff. i don't think they'd have been doing it with theresa may, put it that way. now that borisjohnson is saying sorry, now he's saying he gets it, he's going to fix it, any forgiveness for him? how many times has he said "sorry" and "i get it" over the last two or three years? i'm sorry, you know... i would love to believe that he was sorry and he would fix it, but until the ne

scotland yard has made it clear that it has not delayed the report's publication.t, iain watson. which rules could have been broken behind the famous black door during lockdown? the report from the senior civil servant sue gray was expected to provide some answers this week — that was until cressida dick, the country's top police officer, said on tuesday that her force was launching its own investigation. the metropolitan police had said then that they had no objections to sue gray's report being published, and in not one, but two statements today, the police insisted they weren't delaying the report. but crucially, they asked for only minimal reference to be made in the cabinet office report to the relevant events, saying this was: so, to translate — they don't want to see too much in the public domain about the more serious allegations of rule—breaking in downing street until they've carried out their own work. the labour leader said this must be done promptly. what i want to see is sue gray's report in full and the investigation finished as quickly as possible,

the metropolitan police commissioner, dame cressida dick, has announced scotland yard has launched any three factors were, and are, there was evidence that those involved knew or ought to have known that what they were doing was an offence. where not investigating would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law. and where there was little ambiguity around the absence of any reasonable defence. in those cases, where those criteria were met, guidelines suggested that we should potentially investigate further and end up giving people tickets. we have a long established and effective working relationship with the cabinet office, who have an investigative capability. and, as you well know, they have been carrying out an investigation over the last few weeks. and what i can tell you this morning is that, as a result firstly of the information provided by the cabinet office enquiry team and secondly, my officers' assessment, i can confirm that the met is now investigating a number of events that took place at downing street and whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential

william wragg said he'd be speaking to a scotland yard detective in the commons early next week.rime minister has said he's seen no evidence to support the claims, but mr wragg said he wanted any inquiry to be carried out by "experts". our political correspondent helen catt reports. some of the methods used to persuade mps to follow their party line have always been a bit murky. these extraordinarily public allegations levelled at the government and its whips are serious. that some conservative mps suspected of wanting borisjohnson out have been in the end of attempts to intimidate them with embarrassing stories in the press and threats to take away public money from their constituencies. the intimidation of a member of parliament is a serious matter. moreover, the reports of which i am aware would seem to constitute blackmail. now mr wragg has arranged to meet the met police to discuss his allegations. earlier this week the former tory mp cristian wakeford defected to labour. he later said he had been told he wouldn't get a new high school in his constituency if he voted against

it is highly likely now that scotland yards investigation will come fer won't, will actually be allowed to run as long as necessary. that could be months. it could even take as long as a year. and it's now possible that sir grey's inquiry will be released, but it will be stripped of any thing that could, could, in any way, compromise the police inquiries. so now the political question is, this will parliament here the real true nitty gritty as to what you k prime minister boris johnson has done? did he break the law briefing very recently? or has said that he as far as he's concerned, he didn't breach any law. he welcomes the police inquiry. and this is now a major issue, especially after these revelations are all another party, this time, a birthday party in downing street itself in the cabinet room in which his wife is alleged to organized an affair whereby the prime minister came in and 10 minutes later he left, but there was a song, happy birthday song, and there were up to 30 people present. so andrew, and just sounds like the presser keeps piling on the prime minister. i mean, tal

let's return now to our top story, and scotland yard has given more details about its contact with theam preparing the report on lockdown gatherings at downing street. the findings of sue gray's inquiry are yet to be published — and the metropolitan police say they aren't responsible for the delay. but they've confirmed they want "minimal reference" in that report to events they're investigating themselves. the labour leader sir keir starmer says the investigation into the parties has been a distraction to government which has prevented them from addressing issues affecting the country. what i want to see is sue gray's report in full and the investigation finished as quickly as possible, because we are in this situation where the whole of government is paralysed because the police are now looking at what the prime minister was getting up to in downing street. 0n the one hand you have got people really worried about their bills and you have investigations going on into what the prime minister was up to. he has paralysed government so the sooner we get both the full report and the invest

what we understand is that he has asked for this meeting with the met police that someone from scotland yardare quite at this stage that you suggested now. white mac not under oath anything. yellow marketers an extraordinary move for him to have put this allegation out there in public in the first place, actually. earlier this week, he made a statement to the parliamentary committee saying that some of his colleagues had been intimidated by the whips, mps who are appointed in this case by the government, to try and get their colleagues to vote the right way, the way that they want rather than the right way. and what he is saying is that they have been using intimidate re—tactics on them, particularly over the last week, though suspected of not backing borisjohnson. some of the methods would seem to constitute blackmail and the specific allegations he talked about were encouraging embarrassing stories about mps to appear in the press. white mac and it was said a story had appeared in the times on monday which he said was not true and which he found and ordered to coincidence just after he sai

scotland yard is already looking into whether any covid restrictions were breached.mer accused mrjohnson of showing contempt for decency and honesty and said he should resign. let's listen to part of their exchange. sue gray to the police, having found evidence of behaviour that's potentially a criminal offense. prime minister, if you do not understand the significance of what happened yesterday, then i really do despair because the police having... prime minister, the police having got that material from sue gray subjected to a test to decide whether to investigate. and that test was whether it was the most serious and flagrant type of breach in the rules. the police spelt out that what they meant by that, that those involved knew or ought to have known what they were doing was an offence, and that there was little ambiguity about the absence of any reasonable. does the prime minister. this question will continue, and i will hear. i will hear the question. unfortunately, you might not believe this, but our constituents are very interested in both the questions and t

telegraph chooses to lead off with the story that - to lead off with the story that scotland —— scotland yard to contact any suspect in the party gate affair, anyone accused of potentially breaching lockdown rules by being at or organising the parties that took place in downing street. it's been such a complicated series of changes on this story today. sue gray is understood to be entirely furious because the met police told her to publish a slimmed down version of her report, she should possibly redact or water down some of the details she was going to include in the report and they have asked her to do that because they may want to launch prosecutions. there has been all kinds of arguments about this, whether this was an appropriate thing for the paulding police to do it many feel that it was not a many feel this now means that sue gray report will be a slimmed that document and will not be as powerful as it could have been an this whole affair will now drag your metropolitan police contact people and decide whether or not finds it should be issued. so it's very complicated and there are lo

scotland yard says it's now received all the material it's asked forfrom downing st, for it's inquirys our political correspondent, iain watson. which rules could have been broken behind the famous black door during lockdown? a report by the senior civil servant sue gray was expected to provide some answers this week. that was until cressida dick, the country's top police officer, said this. the metropolitan police had said then it had no objections to sue gray's report being published, but today, the police seemed to object to some potentially crucial parts of its content being made public, saying in a statement... in other words, they don't want to see too much made public about the more serious allegations until they have carried out their own work. what i want to see is sue gray's. report in full and the investigation finished as quickly as possible because we're in a situation . where the whole of - government is paralysed. and the leaving of prince philip's funeral. others have gone so far as to suggest that the met could be helping out borisjohnson. if it's intervention causes

scotland yard says it's now received all the material it's asked forfrom downing street, for it's inquiry the latest, here's our political correspondent, iain watson. which rules could have been broken behind the famous black door during lockdown? a report by the senior civil servant sue gray was expected to provide some answers this week. that was until cressida dick, the country's top police officer, said herforce was launching its own investigation. the metropolitan police had said then it had no objections to sue gray's report being published, but today, they asked for only minimum reference to be made crucially, they asked for only minimal reference to be crucially, they asked for only minimal reference to be made in the cabinet report to events to give detectives the most reliable picture of what happened. to translate, they don't want to see too much in the public domain about the more serious allegations of rule breaking in downing street until they have carried out their own work. the labour leader said this must be done promptly. i want to see sue gray's report in full and the i

scotland yard says it's received all requested material from the cabinet office, for its own inquiry.th help from the british military. the bbc has found an inconsistency in the covid test results

understand is that william wragg has asked for this meeting with the met police, that someone from scotland yardte at the stage that you might have suggested there. so that is what we know about... hot suggested there. so that is what we know about- - -_ know about... not under oath or anything. _ know about... not under oath or anything. but — know about... not under oath or anything. but he _ know about... not under oath or anything, but he will _ know about... not under oath or anything, but he will clearly - know about... not under oath or anything, but he will clearly be l anything, but he will clearly be putting allegations, otherwise it wouldn't be... it’s putting allegations, otherwise it wouldn't be. . ._ putting allegations, otherwise it wouldn't be... �*, . .., ., , wouldn't be... it's an extraordinary move for him _ wouldn't be... it's an extraordinary move for him to _ wouldn't be... it's an extraordinary move for him to put _ wouldn't be... it's an extraordinary move for him to put these - move for him to put these allegations out there in public in the first place, actually. earli

scotland yard is now investigating several events attended by johnson and his staff that happened atovernment offices during a strict covid lockdown. mts that yep has more from downing street. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ >> reporter: never before has a bit of birthday cake got a british prime minister into so much trouble. after visiting this school in 2020 boris johnson allegedly attended a party in his honor at 10 downing street, a violation of covid rules at the time that is part of the rapidly growing scandal known as partygate, a scandal the police are now investigating. >> i can confirm that the met is now investigating a number of events that took place at downing street. >> reporter: those potential breaches, and there are many, were back when britain was implementing some of its strictest lockdown measures, measures so strict the queen had to sit alone at her husband prince philip's funeral. when johnson, who after battling covid himself, was issuing warnings like this. >> if you don't follow the rules, the police will have the powers to enforce them. >> reporter: "guardian" n

that's the sue gray report to the telegraph is reporting that scotland yard is getting on with cuttinge they might want to interview. the telegraph story is that as use of the _ the telegraph story is that as use of the metropolitan police are beginning to contact suspects in party— beginning to contact suspects in party way— beginning to contact suspects in party way affairs. and apparently they are — party way affairs. and apparently they are going to ask people to provide — they are going to ask people to provide a — they are going to ask people to provide a reasonable excuse if they are suspected to a broken lock down rules by— are suspected to a broken lock down rules by attending these parties or even organising these parties and i if they— even organising these parties and i if they cannot provide any reasonable excuse and according to this story— reasonable excuse and according to this story they will be fined. if this story they will be fined. if that this story they will be fined. that risk this story they will be fined. if that risk of a fire which of course the metropolitan

william wragg said he'd be speaking to a scotland yard detective in the commons early next week. the prime minister has said he's seen no evidence to support the claims — but mr wragg said he wanted any inquiry to be carried out by "experts". our political correspondent helen catt reports. some of the methods used to persuade mps to follow their party line have always been a bit murky. these extraordinarily public allegations levelled at the government and its whips are serious. that some conservative mps suspected of wanting borisjohnson out have been on the end of attempts to intimidate them, with embarrassing stories in them, with embarrassing stories in the press and threats to take away public money from their constituencies.- public money from their constituencies. ., ., ., constituencies. the intimidation of a member of _ constituencies. the intimidation of a member of parliament _ constituencies. the intimidation of a member of parliament is - constituencies. the intimidation of a member of parliament is a - constituencies. the intimidation of. a member of parliament is a

this report is 12 pages long, but it doesn't include everything, because the metropolitan police, scotland yardhat police investigation. that being said, there are pretty damning elements to what she has had to say. she says, quote, the excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional woshlg place at any time. keep in mind, we're talking about downing street and other government offices. she says, some staff wanted to raise concern about behaviors they witnessed at work, but felt up able to do so. and she said, no member of staff should feel that way. she said, the leadership structures are fragmented and complicated. again, she's talking about downing street, number 10, the prime minister's office, and this has sometimes led to the blurring of lines of accountability. so, there is a lot in this and a lot that is not in this. and i suppose you could say that the prime minister may feel privately that he -- that he has enough political opportunity here to escape the worst of this and escape, frankly, losing his job, but he's not there yet. and as you say, he's going to make

that would do it like scotland yard in the u. k. would do or, or the f, b i, or like the investigative arms of the, of the tribunals where i was at work where i was a prosecutor ah, evidence to support such tribunals has been painstaking me, gathered together and stood in this secret location. ah. so this isn't one of 2 evidence rooms we have in the headquarters. this one has, i think, up to 260 boxes. these are the documents that can hold the syrian states to account. ah, ah, the boxes contain, from 80024000 pages, depends on their how they were collected inside syria, and will contain either hand return or printed documents in this particular box. so we have interrogation reports, so they are and the written and stamped by the unit to from which they came. but this isn't the un or a state run intelligence operation. it's a private initiative, an n g o, part funded by sympathetic nations. i had been working on post conflict, the justice or for a number of years, and there are a lot of victories there. but also lot of disappointment

a former counter—terrorism officer at scotland yard has been jailed for three years after admitting 19s 40, secretly filmed women in hotels and aianbs in london, brighton and manchester. the court heard corbel used a false name to meet his victims — many of them were models. he placed cameras in the rooms, disguised as everyday items including tissue boxes, phone chargers, clocks, and glasses. anna adams has this report. they thought they had been booked for a modelling assignment, but instead, dozens of women were secretly filmed by an off—duty police officer while they were undressing. he called himself harrison and said he was a pilot, but in fact, he was detective inspector neil corbel from the met. he covertly recorded 31 women between 2017 and 2020 and stored the images on his police laptop. corbel, who has now resigned from the met, admitted to 19 counts of voyeurism. he was sentenced to three years in jail. the judge that his actions had been seriously undermined public trust in the police. he was tracked down by fellow officers, after an 18—month investigation. there is still

fbi investigators are now working with scotland yard to determine if akram had any accomplices in the uk in london. alex hogan, fox news. well the major storm is blanketing parts of canada and the eastern us in toronto. i see snowy conditions brought traffic to a halt in many areas, their vehicles and roads were covered amounts of snow. what powerful wind gusts reduced visibility to near zero. the storm is expected to bring as much as two ft of snow to the toronto region here in the u. s. heavy snow rain and strong winds also slammed the northeast and new england today as many hicks reports that system arrived after first blanketing parts of the south with severe weather. the eastern us taking a direct hit from mother nature as a messy storm strikes parts of the south and northeast, dumping heavy snow pounding rain and damaging high winds. some are spending monday shoveling out, while others are still seeing snowfall. totals rise. including parts of ohio, pennsylvania and new york, or more than a foot has already fallen and more snow is expected to accumulate in some areas of the nort