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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/jun/25/uk-coronavirus-live-news-upates-robert-jenrick-richard-desmond
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| UK politics live: 15 police officers injured at illegal music event in Brixton | |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Priti Patel describes violence in Brixton as ‘utterly vile’; business minister suggests voters should attend Tory fundraisers to get special access | |
| Tim Farron, the former Lib Dem leader, has said Robert Jenrick should resign. | |
| The home secretary, Priti Patel, has condemned the “utterly vile scenes” of violence at an illegal gathering in Brixton last night. She said she would immediately raise the issue with Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner. | |
| Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, joining the blog for the day. | |
| Here is the agenda showing what’s coming up. | |
| 9.30am: The Office for National Statistics is due to publish its latest figures on coronavirus and the economy. It is also publishing today its latest coronavirus infection survey results. | |
| 11am: The Department for Health and Social Care is due to publish its weekly test and trace figures. | |
| 12pm: Downing Street lobby briefing. | |
| Lunchtime: The government is due to publish its business and planning bill. As Heather Stewart reports, it will allow summer fairs, outdoor markets and car boot sales to be held without planning permission in England, while alcohol will be widely available to take away, under what are designed to be new feel-good laws drawn up by ministers. | |
| 1.30pm: Sir Keir Starmer holds a “Call Keir” virtual public meeting with people from Lanarkshire. | |
| 2pm: Tony Blair, the former Labour PM, takes part in a Reuters newsmaker Q&A. | |
| 4pm: Jeremy Hunt, the chair of the Commons health committee, takes part in a Politico Europe Q&A. | |
| The Metropolitan police have said 15 officers were injured and police vehicles damaged when they attended a large unlicensed music event in breach of the coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday night. | |
| Footage on social media showed a number of police vehicles being smashed and officers chased during a confrontation with a large crown near the Angell Town estate in Brixton, south-east London. | |
| The Met police said a group of people became hostile when officers encouraged them to leave the event. It said 15 officers were injured, including two who required hospital treatment, though none of the injuries are thought to be serious. | |
| Four people were arrested for assault and public order offences, the force said, adding that gatherings like these were “unlawful, as well as posing a risk to public health and against coronavirus restrictions”. | |
| Met police commander Colin Wingrove said: | |
| The business minister, Nadhim Zahawi, denied that Jenrick’s approval of Richard Desmond’s housing scheme represented “special treatment for a billionaire” in a testy interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. | The business minister, Nadhim Zahawi, denied that Jenrick’s approval of Richard Desmond’s housing scheme represented “special treatment for a billionaire” in a testy interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. |
| Zahawi insisted that “there is no smoking gun” and that Jenrick had allowed a different minister to decide on the approval of the £1bn plan when there was a “perception of bias”. | Zahawi insisted that “there is no smoking gun” and that Jenrick had allowed a different minister to decide on the approval of the £1bn plan when there was a “perception of bias”. |
| However, Zahawi was then questioned about the special access bought by Desmond at a £900-a-head dinner at which he showed Jenrick a video of the scheme and swapped mobile numbers with the housing secretary. | However, Zahawi was then questioned about the special access bought by Desmond at a £900-a-head dinner at which he showed Jenrick a video of the scheme and swapped mobile numbers with the housing secretary. |
| Asked by the Today presenter Justin Webb what message this sent to the ordinary Conservative voter in Doncaster or Ashfield who would not enjoy this kind of access to a government minister, Zahawi said: | Asked by the Today presenter Justin Webb what message this sent to the ordinary Conservative voter in Doncaster or Ashfield who would not enjoy this kind of access to a government minister, Zahawi said: |
| He added: | He added: |
| Zahawi’s suggestion that voters should go to Tory fundraising dinners if they want special access to decision-makers has been picked up by Westminster journalists: | Zahawi’s suggestion that voters should go to Tory fundraising dinners if they want special access to decision-makers has been picked up by Westminster journalists: |
| The former leader of the Conservative group on Tower Hamlets council, who resigned over Robert Jenrick’s decision to approve the housing scheme against the advice of his own officials, has posted an interesting thread on the documents released last night. | The former leader of the Conservative group on Tower Hamlets council, who resigned over Robert Jenrick’s decision to approve the housing scheme against the advice of his own officials, has posted an interesting thread on the documents released last night. |
| Councillor Andrew Wood is the secretary of the Isle of Dogs neighbourhood planning forum so he knows the intricacies of the story probably better than most. He resigned in February, saying Jenrick’s overruling of the local planning inspector was “so shocking I knew immediately that I had to resign”. | Councillor Andrew Wood is the secretary of the Isle of Dogs neighbourhood planning forum so he knows the intricacies of the story probably better than most. He resigned in February, saying Jenrick’s overruling of the local planning inspector was “so shocking I knew immediately that I had to resign”. |
| Wood says the emails and texts released last night showed discrepancies in Jenrick’s account: | Wood says the emails and texts released last night showed discrepancies in Jenrick’s account: |
| Representatives of one of Scotland’s most popular national parks, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, which is also the closest park to big cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh, have written to the Scottish government begging for help with what they describe as increasingly serious health, hygiene and safety issues as more and more day-trippers ignore the current five-mile travel limit. | |
| Destination National Park Group and the Friends of Loch Lomond describe visitors going to the toilet on public beaches, in woodlands and in local residents’ gardens; dangerous roadside parking and tailbacks in towns and villages where the car parks have remained closed; and littering at a scale not seen in the national park for many years. | |
| The letter goes on: | The letter goes on: |
| With the five-mile limit lifting on 3 July, these concerns are only likely to get worse if car parks and toilet facilities remain closed. | |
| Back in the city, crime writer Ian Rankin, who lives near the Meadows, a large and popular city centre park in Edinburgh, has been documenting litter and unending outdoor micturition on sunny days: | Back in the city, crime writer Ian Rankin, who lives near the Meadows, a large and popular city centre park in Edinburgh, has been documenting litter and unending outdoor micturition on sunny days: |
| We reported on the problems being caused across the UK by closure of public toilets at the start of the month. Let Libby know on Twitter if things have improved in your area recently. | We reported on the problems being caused across the UK by closure of public toilets at the start of the month. Let Libby know on Twitter if things have improved in your area recently. |
| Robert Jenrick leads the front pages of five of the national newspapers in England this morning, including the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Times. | Robert Jenrick leads the front pages of five of the national newspapers in England this morning, including the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Times. |
| The Daily Mail splashes on the “cosy texts that damn minister”. Its columnist Stephen Glover says Jenrick must resign, in a piece headlined: “This haughty and reckless minister is now a drag on the Tories.” | |
| The Times’ leader column says the emails and text messages released on Wednesday night leave Jenrick with “many more questions to answer”. It writes that Jenrick is “not the victim of confected outrage”, whatever he or his supporters might say, and that his cases suggests some in government see transparency as “a burden”. | |
| The Guardian sets out its view in this leader column, which says: “Without the hefty Conservative majority and Mr Johnson’s own relaxed attitude to personal responsibility, Mr Jenrick would surely have left by now. The pandemic still consumes public attention which might otherwise turn to the case. Nonetheless, it exacerbates the perception that there is one rule for this government and its friends and another for the rest of us.” | The Guardian sets out its view in this leader column, which says: “Without the hefty Conservative majority and Mr Johnson’s own relaxed attitude to personal responsibility, Mr Jenrick would surely have left by now. The pandemic still consumes public attention which might otherwise turn to the case. Nonetheless, it exacerbates the perception that there is one rule for this government and its friends and another for the rest of us.” |
| The senior Tory MP, Bernard Jenkin, is backing calls for a “rapid” review of the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic but said it should not take the place of a full public inquiry. | The senior Tory MP, Bernard Jenkin, is backing calls for a “rapid” review of the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic but said it should not take the place of a full public inquiry. |
| Jenkin, the chair of the Commons liaison committee, said the review would “ensure that every stone has been turned over and looked under” and take the form of the parliamentary banking standards committee, established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. | Jenkin, the chair of the Commons liaison committee, said the review would “ensure that every stone has been turned over and looked under” and take the form of the parliamentary banking standards committee, established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. |
| Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the review should scrutinise governance, constitutional weaknesses, use of scientific advice, coordination across government, and the disproportionality of deaths of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. | Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the review should scrutinise governance, constitutional weaknesses, use of scientific advice, coordination across government, and the disproportionality of deaths of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. |
| “Select committees are doing this scrutiny piecemeal all the time; the question is how can you bring this select committee scrutiny together,” he said. | “Select committees are doing this scrutiny piecemeal all the time; the question is how can you bring this select committee scrutiny together,” he said. |
| Jenkin was also asked about Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary under pressure over his dealings with the property tycoon Richard Desmond. | Jenkin was also asked about Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary under pressure over his dealings with the property tycoon Richard Desmond. |
| Jenkin said he suspected “the storm will pass” and backed his colleague to remain in post. He added: | Jenkin said he suspected “the storm will pass” and backed his colleague to remain in post. He added: |
| Good morning and welcome to the UK liveblog. | Good morning and welcome to the UK liveblog. |
| It takes something big to knock coronavirus off the front pages but the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, has succeeded this morning. | It takes something big to knock coronavirus off the front pages but the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, has succeeded this morning. |
| Jenrick backed the former media mogul Richard Desmond’s plans to build 1,500 flats on the Isle of Dogs in east London in mid-January, overruling the objections of planning officers and the local council. | Jenrick backed the former media mogul Richard Desmond’s plans to build 1,500 flats on the Isle of Dogs in east London in mid-January, overruling the objections of planning officers and the local council. |
| The Guardian, Times, Daily Mail and i all lead on the release of documents last night that show Jenrick “insisted” a planning decision for a £1bn property development should be rushed through so a Tory donor’s company could reduce costs by £45m. The documents also reveal that Jenrick gave Desmond his private mobile number after he was sat next to the former Daily Express owner at a £900-a-head dinner, following which they swapped messages. | The Guardian, Times, Daily Mail and i all lead on the release of documents last night that show Jenrick “insisted” a planning decision for a £1bn property development should be rushed through so a Tory donor’s company could reduce costs by £45m. The documents also reveal that Jenrick gave Desmond his private mobile number after he was sat next to the former Daily Express owner at a £900-a-head dinner, following which they swapped messages. |
| Boris Johnson indicated last night that he was sticking by Jenrick, but the pressure on the housing secretary is building this morning. | Boris Johnson indicated last night that he was sticking by Jenrick, but the pressure on the housing secretary is building this morning. |
| We will also have all the day’s live developments on the coronavirus pandemic. There are reports this morning that the government will on Monday confirm which European countries Britons will be able to visit without having to go into quarantine when they return to the UK. | We will also have all the day’s live developments on the coronavirus pandemic. There are reports this morning that the government will on Monday confirm which European countries Britons will be able to visit without having to go into quarantine when they return to the UK. |