No 10 denies claim Boris Johnson lied to standards adviser over flat refurbishment – as it happened

• Boris Johnson could face sanctions involving suspension from the House of Commons as MPs piled pressure on the standards commissioner to investigate spending on his flat in the wake of a serious censure by the Electoral Commission.

• A review into government staff parties in defiance of Covid rules has been widened to look at more events, including one that Boris Johnson is believed to have attended.

• The price of a pint could rise by about 10p as a result of the latest Covid restrictions, according to the chairman of the City Pub Group who said Christmas party cancellations had risen since the move to plan B was announced yesterday.

• Three UK cabinet ministers have gone into isolation after being in close contact with the Australian deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, who later tested positive for Covid.

• GPs have begun offering booster vaccines to patients under 40 against official guidance.

• Boris Johnson has picked the prominent Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart for a senior role in charge of regulating appointments to the civil service.

• The charity regulator should stay as far as possible out of debates about “wokeness”, the government’s preferred candidate to head the watchdog has told MPs, saying he does not believe charities are too political.

• EU citizens and other non-Irish or non-British nationals who cross the border from the republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland will have to get pre-clearance under new rules being proposed by the UK government. As Lisa O’Carroll reports, they will require a US-style waiver known as an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to cross the border as part of the new post-Brexit immigration nationality and borders bill. The scheme is expected to come into force in 2025 but has already been denounced as “unworkable” on the Irish border, where thousands of people commute in both directions for schools, work and shopping.

Boris Johnson has affirmed that voters have the right to throw him out. He made the argument in an online speech for Summit for Democracy hosted by the US president, Joe Biden. In his speech Johnson said:

Out of Athens more than 2,500 years ago, there came a simple and beautiful idea: that people are neither passive nor powerless, but free citizens with a right to participate in the governance of their country.

The idea of democracy has gathered force down the centuries, inspiring billions across the world, and converging on the principles we all share.

We believe that our peoples are entitled to elect and remove their governments through the ballot box, overseen by independent courts and a free media.

We’re only here because our electorates have, at least for the time being, raised us to positions of responsibility for their affairs - but they have every right to cast us down and out again, and we would not wish it any other way.

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The Scottish government says climate change, tackling inequalities, the economy and public services are at the heart of its budget for 2022-23. In its news summary it says:

Record levels of funding will help to restore public services – including a record £18bn for health and social care – and to respond to the pressures created by the pandemic. Significantly, this budget will support the next steps in the single greatest public health reform since the establishment of the NHS – the creation of a new National Care Service.

The budget funds the Scottish government’s priority of tackling child poverty and inequality by targeting over £4 billion in social security payments. This includes £197 million to double the game-changing Scottish child payment from April 2022, and extend it to under 16’s by the end of 2022, helping to lift an estimated 40,000 children out of poverty in 2023-2024.

It prioritises a green recovery and economic transformation by investing at least £2bn in infrastructure initiatives that will support green jobs and accelerate efforts to become a net-zero economy, helping to end Scotland’s contribution to climate change and ensure no-one and no region is left behind as a result.

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Shoppers would be allowed to remove their face coverings in supermarkets if they walked around the store singing, PA Media reports. PA says:

Under plan B, which was enacted by the prime minister yesterday, face coverings will become compulsory in most public indoor venues in England from tomorrow, including cinemas, theatres and places of worship, but not gyms, bars or restaurants.

Masks are already required on public transport and in shops.

Boris Johnson said yesterday that there was an exemption for singing.

This was mainly seen as being applicable to places of worship where a mask should be worn during the service but could be removed to sing carols or hymns.

But officials confirmed today this would also be applicable to other indoor settings.

Asked whether a shopper could therefore remove their mask in Tesco if they were singing, it was confirmed that would be within the rules, as would removing the mask to sing in a theatre.

But officials stressed there needed to be a “reasonable excuse” so singing in the supermarket would be pushing the limits of the law.

The consultation on legislation to ban conversion therapy will be extended by another eight weeks, the government has announced. Mike Freer, the equalities minister, said the extension was “to ensure that the full range of opinions are represented, and that everyone who wants to has a chance to comment on our proposals”.

Pressure for an extension has come from campaigners particularly on the right, and from the Telegraph, who have argued that the proposals as currently set out could inhibit clinicians who question a person’s decision to identify as transgender.

Three women have been fined for attending gatherings in breach of coronavirus rules on the same day as the Christmas party at Downing Street last year, PA Media reports. PA says:

The Metropolitan police has said officers will not investigate the 18 December event, where staff and aides are said to have drunk together, eaten cheese and swapped secret Santa presents.

But prosecutions for breaches of Covid-19 regulations at Westminster magistrates court last week included three women convicted over gatherings on the same day as the alleged festive bash, according to court records first reported by the Evening Standard.

Ami Goto, 23, from Marylebone, and Ebru Sen, 26, from Sittingbourne in Kent, were each fined £1,100 plus £210 costs for a gathering of two or more people in a flat in Holborn when London was under Tier 3 restrictions.

Emilia Petruta-Cristea, 24, was also fined £1,100 and ordered to pay £210 costs over a gathering at her home in Wanstead.

The cases were dealt with behind closed doors by a magistrate sitting under the single justice procedure.

GPs have begun offering booster vaccines to patients under 40 against official NHS guidance, my colleague Andrew Gregory reports.

Covid-19 case rates in London, eastern England and the south-east have climbed to their highest level since the start of the year, PA Media reports. PA says:

A total of 648.5 new cases per 100,000 people were recorded in the south-east in the week to 5 December, the highest rate for the region since the week to 3 January.

Eastern England is at 552.4 cases per 100,000, the highest since the week to 10 January, while London’s rate stands at 461.1, the highest since the week ending 17 January.

The south-east has recorded the highest regional rate in England in the three most recent weeks, suggesting it is one of the main areas of the UK driving the current spike in cases.

The figures, from the Health Security Agency, show rates are rising in all regions along with most age groups.

There is a link to the new UKHSA Covid surveillance report here.

The UK Health Security Agency has said there are now 817 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK. That is an increase of 249 - or 44% - from yesterday.

Sir Ernest Ryder, a former appeal court judge, will lead a review of the House of Commons standards system in the wake of the Owen Paterson row, the Commons standards committee has announced.

According to the committee, Ryder will consider whether the current system for dealing with misconduct allegations against MP is compatible with fairness and natural justice, including “whether greater clarity can be achieved about the roles of the [parliamentary commissioner for standards] and the committee, and setting out potential options for formalising appeal or introducing additional elements of appeal into the system”.

The UK has recorded 50,867 new coronavirus cases, and 148 further deaths, according to today’s update to the government’s dashboard. The total number of new cases over the past seven days is up 8% on the total for the previous week. Deaths are up 0.7% week on week.

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Boris Johnson has picked the prominent Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart for a senior role in charge of regulating appointments to the civil service, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has written to Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, saying the latest revelations about Boris Johnson and the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat strengthened the case for a standards investigation.

Here’s an extract from the letter.

Revelations in the Electoral Commission’s report call into question the conduct of the prime minister in relation to the ministerial code. It is clear that the prime minister misled the public, along with the independent adviser, when he told Lord Geidt during his investigation that he was unaware of the Lord Brownlow donations until February 2021. Today’s investigation report reveals that the prime minister messaged Lord Brownlow via WhatsApp on 29 November 2020, asking him to authorise more money towards the refurbishment works on the residence. This shows that the prime minister is in flagrant breach of both the members’ code of conduct and the ministerial code.

The ministerial code clearly states: ‘Ministers should be as open as possible with parliament and the public’. This has not happened.

The members’ code of conduct incorporates the seven ‘Nolan principles’ for standards of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

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