Claims Boris Johnson joked he was at ‘most unsocially distanced party in UK’ at No 10 Partygate event for which escaped fine – live

Key events

Lynch says extension of driver-only operation will never be accepted 'while I'm general secretary, while RMT exists'

Back at the transport committee, Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, says his union will never accept the extension of driver-only operation (DOO) “in any company without a fight”. He goes on:

It will never happen while I’m general secretary. It will never happen while the RMT exists.

And he says it has been the Department for Transport, not the rail companies, that has been trying to make any new pay offer conditional on the extension of DOO.

Mick Whelan, who as Aslef general secretary represents train drivers, says drivers do not feel that driver-only operation is safe. He says there has ben a 180% increase in sexual assaults on trains.

And he says driver-only operation was never intended to be used on trains with 12 or 13 carriages, and more than 1,000 passengers.

Back to Boris Johnson, for the record here is the statement in full a spokesperson put out on his behalf in response to the latest revelations from ITV. (See 8.59am and 9.29am.) The spokesperson said:

During the Covid-19 pandemic Boris Johnson led our country through its most dangerous peacetime crisis in living memory.

As prime minister during a 24/7 national emergency he worked constantly to ensure the government did everything possible in its power to save lives and protect livelihoods.

Mr Johnson pays heartfelt tribute to the heroic frontline workers who battled the pandemic, many of whom lost their lives. Their service to our country will always be remembered.

He is also incredibly grateful for the efforts of hardworking staff who were working in central government – the vast majority of them civil servants – who helped co-ordinate the UK’s national response from 10 Downing Street, across Whitehall and throughout the wider UK government.

Their work was crucial as they helped marshal the UK government’s response during a national emergency.

Rail unions 'further away than when we started' from resolution to train strikes, MPs told

Q: How close are you to an agreement, on a scale of 1 to 10?

Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary, says:

I think you can include zero. We’re further away than when we started.

Frank Ward, the TSSA general secretary, says he would not disagree with that.

Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, says he would not be able to say.

We haven’t got an agreement. Until we get an agreement we’re not close to it.

But he says if there is no agreement, they cannot be close to one, and there is no agreement, he says.

Iain Stewart, the committee chair, says that is not as optimistic as he was hoping for.

Rail union leaders give evidence to MPs

The Commons transport hearing is just starting. Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, Frank Ward, the TSSA general secretary, and Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary, are giving evidence.

Iain Stewart (Con) is the chair of the committee.

He starts by saying the committee is trying get greater clarity on where we are with the dispute, and what the prospects are for resolution.

No 10 staff were 'gobsmacked' when Johnson told MPs Covid rules were followed in Downing Street at all times, ITV claims

Here is a summary of some of the other revelations in the new ITV News podcast on Partygate.

• No 10 staff were “gobsmacked” when Boris Johnson told MPs that the Covid rules were followed at all times in Downing Street, ITV reports. It says:

Several sources reveal the incredulity inside No 10 at his initial absolute denials to parliament on 8 December 2021, the day after the mock press conference was aired, when he said: “I am sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.”

One source recalls: “We all watched it live and we were just gobsmacked. We all looked at each other and thought, ‘Why the hell is he saying this?’ We all know it had happened, he knew it happened – he was there.

“We were all just shocked that he would even deny it. He was there. We were there. We were all there together. And suddenly he’s denying it.”

• Only 50% of the No 10 parties were ever investigated by Sue Gray or the Metropolitan police, ITV claims.

• Some key documents were destroyed before Gray and the Met started their investigations, one source told ITV. ITV says:

The source reveals: “There was a sense, and an implication, that we should start deleting evidence before there is an investigation. And a lot of people started shredding things. Any proof of the events started disappearing.

“[Awards from a Christmas party were] basically taken down, kept away, shredded, evidence destroyed. So there was an aspect of getting rid of evidence – just keeping yourself in the clear before an investigation would happen.”

• No 10 staff corroborated their stories when they filled in the questionnaires about what happened at the parties sent to them by the police, ITV claims.

• One No 10 party was even more scandalous than has been reported, ITV says. It reports:

The notorious party on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh funeral service in April 2021 was even more debaucherous than previously documented, with at least two couples “getting it on with each other” and “touching each other up” and two other members of staff “all over each other” in a kitchen area.

As Emilio Casalicchio asks in Politico’s London Playbook briefing, “At what point does a work drinks event become an orgy?”

Health secretary Steve Barclay urges people to 'use common sense' as ambulance staff on strike

Steve Barclay, the health secretary, has been doing a media round this morning, as ambulance staff go on strike in England and Wales. He is urging people to “use their common sense”. He told Times Radio:

We’re just saying to people, use their common sense.

I think people can see that today is going to be a very challenging day for the ambulance service, their focus will be in particular on those life-threatening incidents and ensuring that those are addressed, but there will be strain on the rest of the system.

So we’re just saying to people use their common sense. Of course, if it is genuinely life-threatening, then they should phone 999.

This is a toned-down version of the advice that Will Quince, a junior health minister, gave when ambulance staff were on strike before Christmas. He said that people should avoid activities such as contact sports, unnecessary car journeys, or jogging on icy roads. He was mocked for this at the time, but arguably his advice was more helpful than just telling people to use their common sense.

Boris Johnson joked he was at ‘most unsocially distanced party in UK’ at No 10 Partygate event for which escaped fine, ITV says

Good morning. Many people have been wondering (and posting about this BTL) what is happening with the privileges committee inquiry into whether Boris Johnson lied to MPs about Partygate. We may hear more today because at 9.30am the committee is holding a meeting in private. And, perhaps to coincide with that, ITV’s Paul Brand is launching a new podcast about the scandal. Brand broke some of the most shocking Partygate stories and, according to the ITV preview, in the podcast the scoops are still coming.

The podcast reveals that, at a leaving do for Lee Cain, his outgoing communications director, in November 2020, Boris Johnson joked about this being “the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now”.

The Met did fine some No 10 staff for attending that event, but not Johnson himself. The force has never explained why, although it has been suggested that investigators made a distinction between what happened early in the evening at No 10 “parties”, and what happened later on, when deciding who broke Covid rules.

In its story, ITV says:

Recalling the event on the podcast, the source says: “I was working late – some music came on, the mumbling sort of rose, and there were loads of people stood around, but this time I came out because I heard the prime minister speaking and that’s when I heard the quote: ‘This is the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now,’ and everyone was laughing about it.” ITV News later exclusively revealed the photographs of Mr Johnson raising his glass in front of staff at the leaving do on November 13 2020.

Our source says their experience in the room that Friday undermines the former PM’s repeated claim that he was unaware of partying. “The PM making that comment really sticks out in my mind, that was pretty bad, because the picture showed one side of this going on. But what it didn’t capture is the 20-odd people sat on top of each other on the opposite side – they’re literally shoulder to shoulder, clamped in like a tube carriage,” the source said.

“And he was there seeing people sat on other people’s laps (in) close proximity, crowded, scrunched up in front of him. He saw that, he saw people with drinks. You saw the picture. It had booze all over that desk. He’s not blind, he’s not stupid. He saw that and didn’t shut it down.”

Boris Johnson has not denied using the phrase, but a spokesperson for him said: “As prime minister during a 24/7 national emergency he worked constantly to ensure the government did everything possible in its power to save lives and protect livelihoods.”

There are plenty more revelations in the podcast. The ITV summary is well worth reading in full.

Partygate was a scandal that helped to bring down Boris Johnson, but no one died from the drinking. Ambulance staff are on strike today in England and Wales, but claims that unions are putting lives at risk are undermined by the evidence that people are already dying in their hundreds every week because of the dire state of A&E services.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, Frank Ward, the TSSA general secretary, and Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary, give evidence to the Commons transport committee about the rail strikes.

12pm: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.

After 12.45pm: MPs begin a debate on a Labour motion calling for the creation of a select committee to consider the case for removing tax exemptions from private schools, to raise more funds for state education.

Afternoon: Sunak meets Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, to sign a new defence agreement.

Afternoon: James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, meets political leaders in Northern Ireland to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol.

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