Labour tells Rishi Sunak not to accept ‘carousel of cronies’ on Boris Johnson’s honours list
Labour has called on Rishi Sunak to stop Boris Johnson from handing honours to a “carousel of cronies” following reports the list could be published today.
Labour’s Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock accused Rishi Sunak of having “caved in” to his predecessor’s demands to appease factions within the Conservative Party.
He said some of the appointments appear “very, very dubious indeed” and accused the prime minister of being “too weak” to block them.
He told Sky News: “Some of the people on that list, it just looks like a carousel of Boris Johnson’s cronies and frankly the prime minister has caved in yet again because there’s warring factions in the Conservative Party.”
He suggested the prime minister felt obliged to grant the former prime minister’s recommendations to keep the “Johnson wing of the party quiet”.
Boris Johnson on a run this week
But he added: “Some of the names on there are very, very dubious indeed and the prime minister should not be accepting them.”
The prime minister’s resignation honours are granted by an outgoing prime minister according to tradition but have often attracted controversy.
A prime minister can request the reigning monarch to grant peerages, knighthoods, damehoods or other awards in the British honours system to any number of people.
There had been reports that former culture secretary Nadine Dorries and former Cop26 president Sir Alok Sharma were in line to receive peerages, but reports overnight suggest they have been dropped from the list to avoid the prospect of two potentially damaging by-elections.
Nadine Dorries is reported to have been removed from Boris Johnson’s honours list
The Times reported that Mr Johnson’s father, Stanley Johnson, has also been removed from the list after No 10 raised objections.
Ms Dorries and Mr Sharma were expected to stand down to take peerages, which would have led to two by-elections in Mid Bedfordshire and Reading West, respectively.
Sir Alok holds a 4,000-vote majority over Labour in his Reading West constituency while Ms Dorries – who has already announced her plan to quit as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire at the next election – has a majority of more than 24,600.
However, the Conservatives lost a 20-seat majority in Central Bedfordshire during May’s local elections, putting the council in no overall control for the first time.
One former minister told Sky News: “If we lose Mid Bedfordshire it opens the question of Sunak’s leadership.”
Asked about the reports on TalkTV, Ms Dorries said there was a “process” and “the last thing I would want to do would be to cause a by-election in my constituency”.
“I don’t believe that I will be going into the House of Lords anytime soon,” she added.
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The Times reported that Ms Dorries’ and Sir Alok’s names have been resubmitted to the House of Lords Appointments Committee for vetting, meaning their peerages could be granted further down the line.
Asked about the reports during his trip to the United States, Mr Sunak said he could not comment on his predecessor’s submission.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper also accused the prime minister of rewarding “failure” by allegedly giving the list the green light.
“The buck stops with Sunak – he must ensure that Johnson’s honours list is put through the shredder.”
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said: “We strictly do not comment on honours.”
Former prime minister Liz Truss has also reportedly submitted a short resignation honours list.
UK
Nurse Sandie Peggie who complained about sharing changing room with transgender doctor wins part of employment tribunal
A nurse who complained about sharing a changing room with a transgender doctor has won part of her employment tribunal against NHS Fife, although several claims were dismissed.
Sandie Peggie took action against the health board and transgender medic Dr Beth Upton after she was suspended from her job at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy following a row with her colleague on Christmas Eve 2023.
Ms Peggie, who has worked for the NHS for 30 years, was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment, and cited concerns about patient care.
The nurse lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination, and victimisation.
The employment tribunal hearings took place in Dundee before Judge Sandy Kemp earlier this year.
In a written judgment on Monday, the harassment claim was upheld against NHS Fife, but allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation were dismissed.
The claims against Dr Upton did not succeed and were dismissed.
Dr Beth Upton arriving at the tribunal in February. Pic: PA
Ms Peggie stated: “I am beyond relieved and delighted that the tribunal has found that my employer Fife Health Board harassed me after I complained about having to share a female-only changing room with a male colleague.
“The last two years have been agonising for me and my family.
“I will have much more to say in the coming days once I’ve been able to properly consider the lengthy judgment and discuss it with my legal team.
“For now, I am looking forward to spending a quiet few days with my family.”
Ms Peggie paid tribute to her “incredible” legal team, which included lead counsel Naomi Cunningham, junior counsel Dr Charlotte Elves, and solicitor Margaret Gribbon.
She added: “There are many others I would like to thank and will do so in the coming days.”
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The tribunal found that NHS Fife had harassed Ms Peggie by failing to revoke the grant of permission to Dr Upton on an interim basis after the nurse complained, for the period until different work rotas took effect so that they would not work together and said that, as a result, Dr Upton was in the changing room when the claimant was present on two occasions.
It also found the board had harassed Ms Peggie by taking an unreasonable length of time to investigate the allegations against her; by making reference to patient care allegations against her on 28 March 2024; and giving an instruction to her not to discuss the case, until a further message a little over two weeks later which confirmed that applied only to the investigation.
A separate hearing on remedy – which could see Ms Peggie receive financial compensation – will take place at a later date.
NHS Fife said it had been a “complex and lengthy process”.
The health board added: “The employment tribunal unanimously dismissed all of the claimant’s allegations against Dr Upton and all of the allegations against the board apart from four specific aspects of the harassment complaint.
“We will now take time to work through the detail of the judgment alongside our legal team to understand fully what it means for the organisation.
“We want to recognise how difficult this tribunal has been for everyone directly and indirectly involved.
“Our focus now is to ensure that NHS Fife remains a supportive and inclusive environment for all employees and our patients and to deliver health and care to the population of Fife.”
Retired footballer Joey Barton has been sentenced over X posts he sent to football pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, along with broadcaster Jeremy Vine.
Barton, 43, had been found guilty of six counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
He was sentenced to a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.
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Watch judge’s remarks in Barton sentencing
The former Manchester City, Newcastle United and Rangers midfielder had claimed he was the victim of a “political prosecution” and denied his aim was to “get clicks and promote himself”.
But the jury decided Barton, capped once for England in 2007, had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with the six posts he made on the social media platform.
The prosecution argued that Barton, who has 2.5 million followers, “may well be characterised as cutting, caustic, controversial and forthright”.
Peter Wright KC continued: “Everyone is entitled to express views that are all of those things.
“What someone is not entitled to do is to post communications electronically that are – applying those standards – beyond the pale of what is tolerable in society.”
Barton denied 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety between January and March last year.
He was found guilty on six counts, but cleared of another six.
Eni Aluko at London’s Royal Courts of Justice last year for her libel claim against Barton. Photo: PA
In one post in January 2024, Barton compared Aluko and Ward to the “Fred and Rose West of football commentary”, and superimposed the women’s faces on a photograph of the serial murderers.
He also described Aluko as being in the “Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category”, suggesting that she had “murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans’ ears”.
The jury found him not guilty in relation to the comparison with the Wests, Stalin and Pol Pot, but decided the superimposed image was grossly offensive.
Jeremy Vine. Pic: PA
Another message allegedly suggested Vine had a sexual interest in children, after the broadcaster posted a question relating to the posts about the football commentators asking whether Barton had a “brain injury”.
The court heard Barton replied to Vine’s tweet with a post referring to him as “you big bike nonce” and made references to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The ex-footballer told the court the posts were “dark and stupid humour” and “crude banter”. He also said he had no intention of implying Vine was a paedophile.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary KC, told Barton: “Robust debate, satire, mockery and even crude language may fall within permissible free speech.
“But when posts deliberately target individuals with vilifying comparisons to serial killers or false insinuations of paedophilia, designed to humiliate and distress, they forfeit their protection.
“As the jury concluded, your offences exemplify behaviour that is beyond this limit – amounting to a sustained campaign of online abuse that was not mere commentary but targeted, extreme and deliberately harmful.”
Barton was also given a two-year restraining order preventing him from contacting Aluko, Ward or Vine, or publishing any reference to them on a social media platform or broadcast platform.
He will also have to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community and pay prosecution costs of £23,419.
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