Ministers played absolutely no role in handing over new partygate information about Boris Johnson to the police, the Justice Secretary said after allies of the former premier claimed he was the victim of a “political stitch-up”.
Alex Chalk told GB News he had not seen the relevant information and it was now for the police to “take a view about it” as Mr Johnson faces fresh allegations of potential Covid rule-breaking.
The Cabinet minister said: “Civil servants without any intervention from ministers, I want to stress that, took a decision to pass it to the police.
“You talked about fairness, I haven’t seen those documents, quite properly they wouldn’t be passed to me and so really it is very difficult to say anything further about it, that is now with the police and they will have to take a view about it.”
The Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police yesterday confirmed that they were looking at gatherings Mr Johnson attended – including receiving visitors – in Downing Street and Chequers while prime minister.
It was prompted by the Cabinet Office handing over diary entries that were uncovered by lawyers working on Mr Johnson’s formal submission to the Covid Inquiry.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said the allegations were “totally untrue” and suggested that the claims had been made for a “political purpose”.
You can follow the latest updates below.
08:38 AM
Chancellor: ‘Food prices are still rising too fast’
Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, said that food prices are “still rising too fast” as he responded to today’s inflation numbers published by the Office for National Statistics (see the post below at 08.36).
Mr Hunt said: “The IMF said yesterday we’ve acted decisively to tackle inflation but although it is positive that it is now in single digits, food prices are still rising too fast.
“So as well as helping families with around £3,000 of cost of living support this year and last, we must stick resolutely to the plan to get inflation down.”
08:36 AM
Boost for Sunak as inflation drops into single figures
Rishi Sunak was given a boost this morning as official data showed a significant reduction in the rate of inflation.
The Office for National Statistics said the Consumer Prices Index rose by 8.7 per cent in the 12 months to April this year, down from 10.1 per cent in March.
It is the first time the number has been in single figures since August last year and will give the Prime Minister hope that he will deliver on his pledge to halve inflation this year – it was about 10 per cent when the premier made that promise at the start of the year so he will need to get to about five per cent to succeed.
However, while overall inflation has fallen quite a bit, food and drink prices remain very high, increasing 19.1 per cent in the year to April, down slightly from 19.2 per cent in the year to March.
08:30 AM
Alex Chalk refuses to be drawn on claims of civil service ‘stitch-up’ against Boris Johnson
Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, refused to be drawn on claims of a civil service “stitch-up” against Boris Johnson.
Asked if he accepted the suggestion that civil servants had acted politically, Mr Chalk told GB News: “It is not a question of not accepting it, it is simply I can’t reach a view either way.
“What will have happened is the material will have been passed to the civil service, once they have seen it they can’t unsee it so they have got to make a decision in accordance with the civil service code whether to sit on it, whether to suppress it, and no doubt some would criticise them for that, or whether to pass it to police.
“The decision about whether that was the right or the wrong thing will be determined by what was in it, what the documents themselves said.
“To try to reach a view on the basis of partial information is not helpful to your viewers and it is not fair to the individuals concerned. I think we just have to let that play its course.”
08:29 AM
Justice Secretary says ministers played no role in handing new partygate information to police
Ministers played absolutely no role in handing over new partygate information about Boris Johnson to the police, the Justice Secretary said after allies of the former premier claimed he was the victim of a “political stitch-up”.
Alex Chalk told GB News: “The position is that in the course of the inquiry there is a document review so that is lawyers have got to sift through a whole load of documentation and pass to the inquiry such documents as relevant.
“As I understand it, when they looked at those documents they then thought that there was material which they passed to civil servants. Civil servants without any intervention from ministers, I want to stress that, took a decision to pass it to the police.
“You talked about fairness, I haven’t seen those documents, quite properly they wouldn’t be passed to me and so really it is very difficult to say anything further about it, that is now with the police and they will have to take a view about it.”
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said allegations of fresh Covid rule-breaking were “totally untrue” and suggested that the claims had been made for a “political purpose”.