Counter terrorism police have raided a home on the road where two people were found dead in Nottingham.
Dressed in tactical gear, around a dozen armed officers used a battering ram to break down a door in Ilkeston Road at 1pm.
The home is on the street where two out of three people were found dead at around 4am. An eyewitness has claimed they heard “blood-curdling screams” before a man and woman were attacked with a knife.
The raid, which lasted around 10 minutes, featured officers wearing uniforms emblazoned with CTSFO which stands for Counter Terrorism Specialist Firearm Officers.
A man was also found dead in Magdala Road and three people were injured when a van attempted to run them over in Milton Street before a suspect was apprehended at around 5.30am.
A mother and her partner have been convicted of killing the woman's nine-year-old son who had 50 injuries all over his body at the time of his death.
Alfie Steele died after being repeatedly beaten and held in a cold bath as part of a "sinister" regime of punishment inflicted on him.
Dirk Howell, 41, was found guilty of murder and Carla Scott, 35, was convicted of manslaughter but found not guilty of murder at Coventry Crown Court.
The judge, Mr Justice Wall, remanded both defendants into custody to be sentenced at 11am on Thursday.
Alfie's many injuries included bruises all over his body and signs he had been deprived of oxygen.
The trial of Carla Scott and Dirk Howell heard that after his mother met Howell, Alfie "suffered assaults and cruelty, by being beaten, assaulted, punished with cold water and made to endure a life that no child should lead".
On 18 February, 2021, Scott called 999 to report that her son wasn't breathing. She told the call handler that Alfie had fallen asleep in the bath at their home in Droitwich, Worcestershire.
When two police officers arrived at 2.30pm, Howell was not at the house.
Scott told the officers that she had found Alfie "submerged", adding he had previously "hit his head".
By that stage Alfie was lifeless, not breathing and was already cold to touch - just six minutes after the 999 call.
During their trial, both defendants told jurors that Alfie was not "dunked" in a bath at his home as a punishment prior to his death.
Image:Carla Scott has been convicted of the manslaughter of her son Alfie Steele and Dirk Howell has been convicted of his murder
The six-week trial was told Scott and career criminal Howell tried to cover up the killing by delaying calling 999 after Alfie was either drowned, asphyxiated or went into cardiac arrest.
The court heard Alfie, who was found lifeless with a body temperature of 23C, may have been put back in a warm bath as the couple tried to pass off the murder as an accidental drowning.
Scott lied to police that she had last seen Howell a couple of days before Alfie's death. In fact, CCTV showed him running away from the house around the time the 999 call was made.
He was arrested a short time later as he tried to board a train at Droitwich station.
The trial heard both Scott and Howell thought it was acceptable to hit Alfie with "belts, or a slider, like a heavy-duty flip flop, and use other more sinister forms of punishment".
This included "dunking" him "in cold baths whilst naked" or forcing Alfie to "stand outside, in the middle of the night and have cold water" thrown over him.
A recording made by a neighbour in which Alfie can be heard screaming "open the door" repeatedly after being locked out of the house was played to the trial.
Image:Carla Scott speaks to paramedics
Concerns about Alfie had been raised with the authorities on many occasions and police and social workers had been involved.
In the year before Alfie's death, neighbours had made a number of 999 calls.
On 4 April, 2020, neighbour Daniel Grindrod called to tell police "I'm hearing some really worrying noises from next door", adding: "I've heard what sounds like a child in distress."
The following day neighbours Graham and Rosemary Willetts called 999 to report "something very strange" about the house.
They called police again the next month and Mrs Willetts described seeing a boy in the garden being disciplined.
"He's standing like a statue," she said. Asked by the caller if they'd reported the family before, she said: "Yes, yes, this lad we believe is called Alfie."
In August 2020, just over six months before Alfie died, next-door neighbour Gemma Allcott made a harrowing 999 call telling police: "It sounds like my neighbours are doing something bad to their kid in the bath, like they're really hurting them."
The caller told police it sounded like Alfie was "being hit and held under the water or something" at his home in Vashon Drive.
Social workers had put in place a protection plan that meant Howell was not allowed to stay overnight at the house, a rule the couple repeatedly flouted.
Social worker Hayley Waldron told the trial that in March 2020 there had been legal discussions over whether to remove Alfie from Scott's care, but because Scott had been seen to be working with social workers at that stage it was deemed the situation did not cross that threshold.
An independent child safeguarding practice review is under way to establish whether more could have been done to protect Alfie.
Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right.” He was asked whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people”, Mr Sunak added.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”
The Privileges Committee will meet today to conclude their inquiry into whether the former prime minister misled Parliament over No 10 lockdown parties.
Rishi Sunak: ‘Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do’
Rishi Sunak said Boris Johnson asked him to “do something I wasn’t prepared to do”, when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right.”
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”
Downing Street expresses confidence in the work of the Privileges Committee
Downing Street expressed confidence in the work of the Privileges Committee, which has been the subject of attacks by Boris Johnson and his allies.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “This is a properly set-up committee that the House has voted to carry out their work.
“The government will in no way traduce or criticise the work of the committee who are doing exactly what Parliament has asked them to do.”
Asked about reported concerns over the security of committee members, the spokesman said: “I’ve only seen the reporting around that. I don’t know the facts. Clearly, any threats against any MPs are completely unacceptable.”
‘It is entirely untrue to say that anyone from No 10 attempted to remove or change or alter Holac’s list’ - Downing Street
It is “entirely untrue” that Rishi Sunak or members of his No 10 team removed names from Boris Johnson‘s peerages submission, Downing Street has said.
Asked if anyone in No 10 spoke to the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) before it made its redactions to Mr Johnson‘s list, the prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “It is entirely untrue to say that anyone from No 10 attempted to remove or change or alter Holac’s list.”
The official noted that “this is a process for Holac to make a decision” and said that “when it comes to peerages, the final list comes to the Prime Minister”.
Asked whether Mr Sunak broke a deal with his predecessor under which he would have waved through the honours list - as has been suggested by Mr Johnson‘s camp - the spokesman pointed to the Prime Minister’s comments on Monday morning, when he said Mr Johnson asked him to “do something I wasn’t prepared to do” by overruling Holac.
‘Life moves on’ after Boris Johnson, Michael Gove has said
Michael Gove has said “life moves on” after Boris Johnson’s resignation as an MP - in the latest attempt by the government to draw a line under the rows engulfing the former prime minister.
The levelling up secretary highlighted what he called Mr Johnson’s “significant contributions” to public life, but emphasised his decision to stand down. “The work of government goes on,” Mr Gove said.
And in a separate interview with the BBC, Mr Gove added: “Boris’s decision to step down means that he’s no longer a member of parliament, and life moves on.
“As for Boris’s future, that will be a matter for him.”
As he quit unexpectedly on Friday, Mr Johnson used his 1,000-word exit statement to leave the door open for a return to Westminster. In a furious outburst, in which he attacked Rishi Sunak, Mr Johnson said he was leaving parliament “for now”.
More than 600 migrants cross Channel in 2023 record - days after Sunak claimed plan was ‘working’
Figures released by the Home Office show that 616 people arrived in 12 boats on Sunday, bringing the total so far this year to around 8,400.
At the same point last year, the total had just passed 10,000, and last Monday the prime minister hailed the reduction as proof that “our approach is working”.
But Border Force sources told The Independent crossings had been suppressed by weeks of rough seas in the Channel, and experts said much of the reduction had resulted from a drop in Albanian migrants rather than an overall change.
Johnson ally accuses Sunak of having ‘secretly blocked’ peerages of Nadine Dorries and others
An ally of Boris Johnson has accused Rishi Sunak of having “secretly blocked” the peerages of former culture secretary Nadine Dorries and others.
Responding to the Prime Minister accusing his predecessor of asking him to do something he “didn’t think was right” over the resignation honours list, the ally said: “Rishi secretly blocked the peerages for Nadine and others.
“He refused to ask for them to undergo basic checks that could have taken only a few weeks or even days.
“That is how he kept them off the list - without telling Boris Johnson.”
Watch: Boris Johnson ‘asked me to do something I wasn’t prepared to do’, says Rishi Sunak
“Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right”, Rishi Sunak said when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
The prime minister made the comments as he addressed the opening day of the London Tech Week conference.
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people”, Mr Sunak added.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”
Watch here:
Rishi Sunak: Boris Johnson 'asked me to do something I wasn't prepared to do'
Defiant Sunak hits back at Boris Johnson over honours row
In his first public remarks since his predecessor quit as an MP over the Commons partygate inquiry, the prime minister claimed Mr Johnson asked him to either overrule the committee which vets peerages - known as Holac - or “make promises to people”.
“I was not prepared to do that,” Mr Sunak said defiantly. “If people don’t like that, then tough.”
His comments come amid a row with Mr Johnson and his allies, who blame Downing Street for Conservative MPs failing to appear on his resignation honours list despite them being nominated for the House of Lords.
Holac has confirmed it did not support eight peerage nominees put forward by Mr Johnson. It is understood Mr Sunak would not promise peerages to MPs in the future in order to avoid potentially damaging by-elections for the government.
‘When I got this job I said I was going to do things differently’ - Sunak
“When I got this job I said I was going to do things differently because I wanted to change politics and that’s what I’m doing”, Rishi Sunak added when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
“And I’m also keen to make sure that we change how our country works and that’s what I’m here talking about today: making sure that we can grow our economy, that we can maintain our leadership in the innovative industries of the future.”
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, ex-minister Nigel Adams and Cop26 president Sir Alok Sharma were reportedly put forward by Mr Johnson for peerages.
Ms Dorries and Mr Adams have resigned as MPs since being omitted, giving Mr Sunak the headache of three separate by-elections, with Mr Johnson also quitting over complaints about a Commons partygate inquiry.
Voices: Boris’s resignation honours are the latest in more than 100 years of corruption and cronyism
Somewhat charmingly, the Cabinet Office has a website in which it invites people to “nominate someone amazing for a national honour”. The honours system, the site tells us, “Celebrates the people who go above and beyond to change the world around them for the better”. These are people, the Cabinet Office claims, who have “gained the respect of their peers” and “displayed moral and physical courage”.
You do not have to be immensely cynical to find it hard to reconcile the stated purpose of the honours system with how it works in reality. Take, for example, the honours list of Boris Johnson, who resigned on Friday in a manner that can described as considerably less than “honourable”, let alone “amazing”. Like the former PM himself, whose departure along with two of his allies has already triggered three by-elections and created an enormous headache for his party, it is difficult when looking at his list to find the “respect”, “morality”, and certainly “courage”.
The honours system is as broken as just about every other system in this country, and has been for more than a century, writes Guy Walters:
Brandon John Rainey (right) is charged with the murder of 21-year-old Chloe Mitchell
Chloe Mitchell
Liam Tunney
The man accused of murdering Ballymena woman Chloe Mitchell (21) had absconded to the Ballymena area three times from a secure mental health facility, a court has heard.
Brandon John Rainey (27), of James St, Ballymena, appeared via video link at Ballymena Magistrates Court on Monday morning charged with murdering Ms Mitchell between June 2 and June 5 this year.
Rainey replied “Yeah” when asked if he understood the charges, before a police officer told the court she could connect the accused.
Chloe Mitchell
Defence for Rainey made an application that the defendant be remanded at the Shannon Clinic - a secure psychiatric unit in Belfast - rather than at HMP Maghaberry.
The court heard Rainey had previously been a resident at the clinic, but had been released last Autumn following assessment.
Police objected to the application and said Rainey should be remanded at Maghaberry as he had previously absconded three times from the facility.
On each occasion, he was located in the Ballymena area.
District Judge King refused the defence application, remanding Rainey at HMP Maghaberry to appear before the court again on July 6.
Also appearing via video link was co-accused Ryan Johnston Gordon (34) of Nursery Close, Ballymena.
Johnston replied “yes” to indicate he understood the charge against him of assisting an offender.
Defence counsel indicated that Gordon also suffered from mental health issues, and an application to adjourn a bail application for the defendant to June 20 was granted by Judge King.
Three missing British passengers who were on a diving boat that caught fire in Egypt have died, a tour operator has confirmed.
A spokesman for Scuba Travel said: "It is with great regret that we, as tour operator, with heavy hearts, must accept that three of our much-valued dive guests, perished in the tragic incident.
"Our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to their families and friends at this very sad time."
In a statement, the company said the three passengers were among 15 qualified diving enthusiasts who were on a week's stay on board the "Hurricane" dive boat when the fire broke out at around 8:30am local time (6:30am UK time) on Sunday.
A search had been under way for the three divers following the fire which broke out while the boat was off the Elphinstone Reef in the Red Sea.
"At the time the fire broke out, 12 divers were participating in a briefing on board, while those missing had apparently decided not to dive that morning."
According to Scuba Travel, the severity of the fire meant that 12 of the divers were immediately evacuated to another craft nearby and the 14 crew members also had to abandon ship after trying to reach the missing guests.
All the 12 guests who were taken off the dive ship went ashore to Marsa Shagra where they were provided with any medical attention required and gave statements to the local police.
Nicola Sturgeon should consider voluntarily suspending her Scottish National party membership until the police investigation into its finances is over, a former leadership candidate has said.
Ash Regan, a former minister who came third in the race to succeed Sturgeon as SNP leader, said there was a clear precedent for parliamentarians to stand down as party members if they were under police investigation.
“Nicola should perhaps consider voluntarily resigning her SNP membership until this is cleared up,” Regan, the MSP for Edinburgh Eastern who quit as a minister in protest at Sturgeon’s gender recognition reforms, told BBC Radio Scotland on Monday morning.
If Sturgeon did not voluntarily step down, Humza Yousaf, her successor as party leader, should consider suspending her, Regan added. “The leadership needs to think about taking decisive action.”
Sturgeon was arrested and questioned “as a suspect” on Sunday by Police Scotland detectives as part of their investigation into the SNP’s finances after a series of complaints were made about the party’s handling of more than £600,000 in donations for an independence campaign.
On Sunday night, shortly after being released without charge, Sturgeon said “in the strongest possible terms” that she was entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.
“Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law,” she said in a short statement on Twitter. “I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.”
Yousaf, who was Sturgeon’s favoured successor as party leader and first minister, has refused to suspend Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband, and the party’s then-treasurer Colin Beattie MSP, after they were arrested and questioned as part of the same inquiry.
Like Sturgeon, they were released without charge and Yousaf said therefore there should be a presumption of innocence.
However, the leadership’s critics argue there have been numerous examples of MPs and MSPs under investigation or accused of significant wrongdoing being suspended by the party or their voluntary resignations being welcomed by party leaders.
Angus MacNeil, the MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar and an ally of Sturgeon’s predecessor, Alex Salmond, tweeted: “This soap opera has gone far enough, Nicola Sturgeon suspended others from the SNP for an awful lot less! Time for political distance until the investigation ends either way.”
His intervention infuriated other SNP parliamentarians. James Dornan, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, suggested MacNeil should be kicked out of the party for his remarks. He tweeted that what would “help the cause of independence is get rid of the ‘too big to discipline’ MPs” such as MacNeil.
Regan, whose leadership campaign was run by one of Salmond’s former advisers, said there had to be some accountability. “Accountability in these types of situations is really important. Nicola is not doubt considering this at the moment,” Regan said.
“There is precedent in the party for people who have been involved in issues of this type to resign from the party, voluntarily suspending their membership until this can be cleared up. I think if she did that, that would reaffirm her commitment to the principles of the party.”
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, said this challenge was a test of Yousaf’s strength as party leader. It was clear Sturgeon should be suspended, Baillie told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I think we all anticipated that at some point Nicola Sturgeon would be arrested for questioning about the SNP finances because she is, of course, the third signatory on the accounts,” she said.
“The question in my mind, given all this chaos, given the kind of secrecy and cover-up that has been the hallmark of how the SNP operate, is whether Humza Yousaf, the current first minister, is indeed strong enough to suspend her and protect the party.”
Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right.” He was asked whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people”, Mr Sunak added.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”
The Privileges Committee will meet today to conclude their inquiry into whether the former prime minister misled Parliament over No 10 lockdown parties.
Rishi Sunak: ‘Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do’
Rishi Sunak said Boris Johnson asked him to “do something I wasn’t prepared to do”, when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right.”
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”
‘Life moves on’ after Boris Johnson, Michael Gove has said
Michael Gove has said “life moves on” after Boris Johnson’s resignation as an MP - in the latest attempt by the government to draw a line under the rows engulfing the former prime minister.
The levelling up secretary highlighted what he called Mr Johnson’s “significant contributions” to public life, but emphasised his decision to stand down. “The work of government goes on,” Mr Gove said.
And in a separate interview with the BBC, Mr Gove added: “Boris’s decision to step down means that he’s no longer a member of parliament, and life moves on.
“As for Boris’s future, that will be a matter for him.”
As he quit unexpectedly on Friday, Mr Johnson used his 1,000-word exit statement to leave the door open for a return to Westminster. In a furious outburst, in which he attacked Rishi Sunak, Mr Johnson said he was leaving parliament “for now”.
More than 600 migrants cross Channel in 2023 record - days after Sunak claimed plan was ‘working’
Figures released by the Home Office show that 616 people arrived in 12 boats on Sunday, bringing the total so far this year to around 8,400.
At the same point last year, the total had just passed 10,000, and last Monday the prime minister hailed the reduction as proof that “our approach is working”.
But Border Force sources told The Independent crossings had been suppressed by weeks of rough seas in the Channel, and experts said much of the reduction had resulted from a drop in Albanian migrants rather than an overall change.
Johnson ally accuses Sunak of having ‘secretly blocked’ peerages of Nadine Dorries and others
An ally of Boris Johnson has accused Rishi Sunak of having “secretly blocked” the peerages of former culture secretary Nadine Dorries and others.
Responding to the Prime Minister accusing his predecessor of asking him to do something he “didn’t think was right” over the resignation honours list, the ally said: “Rishi secretly blocked the peerages for Nadine and others.
“He refused to ask for them to undergo basic checks that could have taken only a few weeks or even days.
“That is how he kept them off the list - without telling Boris Johnson.”
Watch: Boris Johnson ‘asked me to do something I wasn’t prepared to do’, says Rishi Sunak
“Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right”, Rishi Sunak said when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
The prime minister made the comments as he addressed the opening day of the London Tech Week conference.
“That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people”, Mr Sunak added.
“Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.”
Watch here:
Rishi Sunak: Boris Johnson 'asked me to do something I wasn't prepared to do'
Defiant Sunak hits back at Boris Johnson over honours row
In his first public remarks since his predecessor quit as an MP over the Commons partygate inquiry, the prime minister claimed Mr Johnson asked him to either overrule the committee which vets peerages - known as Holac - or “make promises to people”.
“I was not prepared to do that,” Mr Sunak said defiantly. “If people don’t like that, then tough.”
His comments come amid a row with Mr Johnson and his allies, who blame Downing Street for Conservative MPs failing to appear on his resignation honours list despite them being nominated for the House of Lords.
Holac has confirmed it did not support eight peerage nominees put forward by Mr Johnson. It is understood Mr Sunak would not promise peerages to MPs in the future in order to avoid potentially damaging by-elections for the government.
‘When I got this job I said I was going to do things differently’ - Sunak
“When I got this job I said I was going to do things differently because I wanted to change politics and that’s what I’m doing”, Rishi Sunak added when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
“And I’m also keen to make sure that we change how our country works and that’s what I’m here talking about today: making sure that we can grow our economy, that we can maintain our leadership in the innovative industries of the future.”
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, ex-minister Nigel Adams and Cop26 president Sir Alok Sharma were reportedly put forward by Mr Johnson for peerages.
Ms Dorries and Mr Adams have resigned as MPs since being omitted, giving Mr Sunak the headache of three separate by-elections, with Mr Johnson also quitting over complaints about a Commons partygate inquiry.
Voices: Boris’s resignation honours are the latest in more than 100 years of corruption and cronyism
Somewhat charmingly, the Cabinet Office has a website in which it invites people to “nominate someone amazing for a national honour”. The honours system, the site tells us, “Celebrates the people who go above and beyond to change the world around them for the better”. These are people, the Cabinet Office claims, who have “gained the respect of their peers” and “displayed moral and physical courage”.
You do not have to be immensely cynical to find it hard to reconcile the stated purpose of the honours system with how it works in reality. Take, for example, the honours list of Boris Johnson, who resigned on Friday in a manner that can described as considerably less than “honourable”, let alone “amazing”. Like the former PM himself, whose departure along with two of his allies has already triggered three by-elections and created an enormous headache for his party, it is difficult when looking at his list to find the “respect”, “morality”, and certainly “courage”.
The honours system is as broken as just about every other system in this country, and has been for more than a century, writes Guy Walters:
Keir Starmer tells Rishi Sunak to ‘find a backbone’ and call snap election
Keir Starmer has told Rishi Sunak to “find a backbone” and call a snap general election – after three quick-fire MP resignations left the prime minister facing by-election battles on multiple fronts.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also echoed Labour’s call – with both opposition parties hoping to capitalise on Tory woes and capture seats at the by-elections.
Mr Adams and Ms Dorries had been tipped for peerages in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours but neither featured in the published list.
Meanwhile Mr Johnson announced his exit on Friday by launching a scathing attack on a Commons Privileges Committee investigation into his conduct during the pandemic.
Watch: UK should be ‘grateful’ for what Boris Johnson did as prime minister, says Michael Gove
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the cabinet minister suggested the UK should be “grateful” to Mr Johnson.
“All of us will want to be grateful for what he did during the Covid pandemic, when he initiated the vaccine task force... and was responsible for the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe,” Mr Gove said.
“We should be grateful for that, grateful also for the staunch support that he gave to Ukraine.”
Michael Gove paid tribute to Boris Johnson as he steps down as an MP, praising the former prime minister for his record on Covid and Ukraine. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the cabinet minister suggested the UK should be “grateful” to Mr Johnson. “All of us will want to be grateful for what he did during the Covid pandemic, when he initiated the vaccine task force... and was responsible for the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe,” Mr Gove said. “We should be grateful for that, grateful also for the staunch support that he gave to Ukraine.”
