EXCL: Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter received thousands of pounds via a family company for charity appearances.

My @BBCNewsnight story:

bbc.in/3OUmXEz In 2021-22 Hannah Ingram-Moore helped judge the 'Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards'.

-The name of the awards included the name of the charity (The Captain Tom Foundation)
-The charity’s logo appeared on the plaques
-Hannah Ingram-Moore gave every appearance that she was representing the charity
-At the time she was its interim CEO on an £85,000 salary

Yet her appearance fee was paid not to the charity but to Maytrix Group, a company owned by Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin.

EXCL: Sue Gray has been appointed chief of staff to Labour leader Keir Starmer.

As a senior civil servant, the job offer will be subject to ACOBA process before formal confirmation.

Major coup for the Labour leader and part of an effort to prove the party is preparing for govt. Conservative MPs seem largely furious:

@NadineDorries - "The Gray report was a stitch up"

@cmackinlay - "Does this smell right?"

@JamesDuddridge - "that explains a lot. We can now see which Party was investigated #partygate."

Boris Johnson & Liz Truss are now heading to Balmoral to meet the Queen.

Lord Salisbury likened the castle to Siberia.

Tony Blair said his weekends there were "a vivid combination of the intriguing, the surreal and the utterly freaky".

🧵A thread on PMs visiting Royal Deeside: PM visits to the private castle date back to Queen Victoria's reign.

They typically take place over a weekend in early September.

The estate was bought by Prince Albert for his wife in 1852, and features monuments to Victoria's consort, children and her close friend John Brown.

Meeting a Queen, making a speech, appointing a cabinet and writing top secret letters to nuclear submarine commanders.

My guide to the PM’s first weeks in office with @LouisDegenhardt & @AgnesChambre: BREAK: Liz Truss elected new Conservative leader. She will be appointed PM tomorrow.

Total voters: 172,437

Sunak - 60,399
Truss - 81,326

.@NicolaSturgeon tells @SophyRidgeSky the SNP "can be better" and has "lessons to learn" on sexual harassment after Patrick Grady case.

Nods to Salmond as proof she doesn't sweep allegations under the carpet.

#Ridge David Davis says broad top team is necessary for Tory unity:
"Greatest mistake BJ made... was creating a cabinet of loyalists. It wasn't a meritocratic cabinet."

"Slightly worried" Truss will make same mistake.

#Ridge

BREAKING: Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan, 48, has been found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy at a house in Staffordshire in 2008. By-election now expected in Wakefield, a marginal ‘red wall’ seat.

Tories won it from Labour’s @MaryCreagh_ in 2019 with a majority of 3,358.

NEW: PM on Dominic Cummings accusing him of lying:

-'No' I haven't lied.
-'I can tell you categorically that nobody told me... this was against the COVID rules'.
-'When I went out into that garden I thought that I was attending a work event'. PM:
‘I'm deeply sorry for the mistakes I have made.'
-'I only saw [Reynolds email] the other day.' 
-'I can't believe that we'd have gone ahead with an event' if warned. 'I'd remember that.'
-Will you resign if you've misled parliament? 'We'll have to see what [Sue Gray] says'.

BREAKING: Matt Hancock resigns. PM’s response to Matt Hancock’s resignation.

NEW: Hearing there is a COVID scare amongst India’s G7 delegates. Foreign Office keeping tight-lipped about who or where.

India not a member of G7 but they are attending and there is Indian delegation in London.

Nadhim Zahawi told @skynews this morning it was ‘news to me’. Senior government sources not denying there have been 2 positive cases amongst Indian delegation.

Questions for organisers about COVID safety precautions at event. Especially ahead of main G7 summit in Cornwall this June.

BREAK: @AlexSalmond launches a new political party @AlbaParty. Alba will stand candidates on the regional lists only. A minimum of 4 candidates on each list.

The aim is to create a 'supermajority' for Scottish Independence. But clearly could affect the dominance of the SNP.

NEW: PM pool interview in Stoke:

-Brazilian variant: 'We have one of tough border regimes' in world.
-'No reason not to think vaccines effective'.
-PHE don't think there is threat to the wider public.
-'I don't think' too slow on hotel quarantine. Did it 'as fast as we could'. More from PM pool:

-Testing is key for schools getting back. 50m testing kits available.
-Getting all schools open is priority and 'confident' we will be ready for March 8th.

Foreign Secretary @DominicRaab now live with @SophyRidgeSky:

-Checks will be strengthened at border and in isolation.
-Suspension of travel corridors is 'precautionary measure'.
-Avoids Q on whether hotels will be used for people isolating on arrival. Raab on quarantine hotels: we've 'considered all the possibilities'.

'People shouldn't be going on holiday. That is not appropriate.'

#Ridge

BREAKING: @BorisJohnson confirms National Lockdown in England until mid Feb.

-Key message: Stay At Home. ONLY leave home for:

A) Work (if WFH impossible)

B) Shopping for necessities

C) Exercise with 1 other person (either your household or 1 person, not both)

D) Care/ helping vulnerable person

E) Medical care or threat of harm/violence

NEW: @BorisJohnson on schools:

-Parents should ‘absolutely’ send kids to primary schools tomorrow, in the areas that they are open.
-‘Schools are safe’. The risk to kids and staff is ‘small’.

#Marr PM avoids question of whether he will consider govt legal action against councils who close schools.

‘I don’t think that’s the case’ that local authorities have taken things into their own hands.

#Marr

BREAK: Serious warning from scientists in new dump of SAGE docs.

From 14 Oct:
-In England, infection & hospital admission levels breaching Reasonable Worst Case planning scenario.
-Daily deaths now at Reasonable Worst Case levels & 'highly likely' to exceed them within 2 weeks More from SAGE:

-Evidence that individuals haven't changed behaviour and are meeting same number of contacts as in past 2 months.
-US studies suggest restaurants and bars are particularly risky environments.
-Current outlook is 'concerning', if no 'decisive interventions'.

/2

This seems significant.

‘I cannot agree with [Jeremy Corbyn’s] statement following the publication of the EHRC report’.

Clear split in opinion in the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs:

https://twitter.com/nadiawhittomemp/status/1322127851936718851

NEW: Unite’s @LenMcCluskey:

-Decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn was ‘wrong’ and ‘unjust’.
-‘We’ve been knocked off the rails’ by his suspension.
-Hope we can resolve this and move on.
-Message to members: ‘stay in the party’.

BREAK: @jeremycorbyn suspended from Labour Party:

“In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation. He has also had the whip removed from the Parliamentary Labour Party.” NEW: I understand @JeremyCorbyn’s reaction to being suspended from Labour was complete shock: ‘What?!’

Labour leader @Keir_Starmer is now live on @RidgeOnSunday. Tell @SophyRidgeSky:

-Supports fines for people breaking self-isolation rules.
-COVID testing 'is barely serviceable' and 'a major problem'.
-Reporting neighbours to police 'depends on the circumstances'.

#Ridge .@Keir_Starmer to @SophyRidgeSky:

-Govt has 'lost control of testing' so unsure where the virus is.
-PM should apologise.
-PM should restart daily briefings.
-Children should be prioritised for tests.

#Ridge

BREAK: I understand @Jackson_Carlaw has resigned as leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

More soon. One source tells me Mr Carlaw has been a 'lifelong servant of the Scottish Conservatives but it just hasn't worked out'.

Focus now on a successor. I understand Ruth Davidson may play a role but will NOT come back as leader.

Some suggestion that MP @Douglas4Moray may run.

About 25 people in Commons chamber for #PMQs, including parliamentary staff.

Don’t expect much cheering.

A couple of sketch writers in the gallery. PM says 144 NHS workers and 131 social care workers have died from #COVID19.

Boris Johnson's press conference now live on @SkyNews.

Says 32,065 deaths across all settings. Q. Scott in Devon asks PM if we can see friends and family in the park if following social distancing?

A. You can go to park to:
-Exercise on your own.
-Or with members of own household.
-But if you want to meet others it should just be you and 1 person from another household.