Boris Johnson news – live: Government accused of ‘whopping untruths’ by former attorney general over report into Russian meddling as PM faces Brexit Party battle
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The British government is under growing pressure to release a report into the threat posed by Russian election hacking ahead of December’s general election, with former attorney general Dominic Grieve calling for its urgent publication and accusing Downing Street of “whopping untruths” in excusing its being withheld.
Prime minister Boris Johnson is meanwhile facing an uphill battle at next month’s vote after Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage pledged to field candidates in every seat to challenge the Conservatives unless the PM ditches his “dreadful” current EU withdrawal deal.
Mr Johnson is not budging, however, declaring he would not form a “Leave alliance” with Mr Farage: “I’ve ruled out a pact with everybody because I don’t think it’s sensible to do that. We’re proud of our beliefs, we’re proud of our one-nation Conservatism.”
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Here's some political reaction to England's disappointing Rugby World Cup Final defeat to South Africa.
Hard to imagine the likes of Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Manu Tuilagi being consoled by the words of Andrea Leadsom but OK.
The PM's TV stand is also utterly vile by the way.
The government has been accused of misusing taxpayers' money to target voters in key swing constituencies with Facebook ads. At least 17 adverts promising up to £25m investment in various towns across the UK went live on Tuesday - the day the general election was announced.
They were part of My Town, a government-backed campaign that seeks residents' views on how to improve their towns and ran without a political disclaimer before being taken down by Facebook shortly after 8.30pm on Friday evening.
They targeted voters in marginal seats, such as Newcastle-under-Lyme, which has a Labour majority of just 30 votes.
Other towns where the Facebook ads appeared included Northampton, Milton Keynes and Mansfield, which had majorities of less than 2,000 in the 2017 general election.
Labour MP Ian Lucas called the adverts an "outrageous" misuse of public funds and has written to Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, questioning how much money was spent and how decisions were made over who to target.
The adverts went live when it became clear a December election would take place, but before the government entered purdah - the pre-election period where it must remain neutral.
A government spokesman told The Huffington Post: "These posts were published before the election was called and Parliament has not yet been dissolved.
"All towns selected were chosen according to the same selection methodology, including analysis of deprivation, exposure to Brexit, productivity, economic resilience and investment opportunities."
Lucas told the PA news agency:
They were put up on the day the government indicated we would be having a general election. To say the government did not know is an insult to our intelligence. This is public money. This is taxpayers' money. If the Conservatives want to run a political campaign, they should be doing it themselves with their own money. It's entirely inappropriate to be using public money in this way.
They are pretending these are public information ads but they are not. We need to know how they have chosen to target these towns. What do they mean 'exposure to Brexit'? Surely everywhere is exposed to Brexit. Where have they got this data from? Have they used the data from other government-run campaigns - like Prepare for Brexit - and are now using it for political purposes?
PA
The PM posted this video montage of his first 100 days in Downing Street yesterday, set to a stirring orchestral score (it says here) and packed with glad-handing and sincere chats. No angry hospital confrontations in sight.
There was actually another such incident in Cambridge just yesterday.
How not to watch sport, courtesy of Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle.
The PM is facing renewed calls to stop delaying the publication of a key report assessing the threat posed by Russia to Britain's democratic processes.
Former attorney general Dominic Grieve has stressed the document's publication was essential ahead of the general election, with it containing information "germane" to voters. Grieve, the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, has accused Johnson of sitting on the report ahead of the 12 December 12 vote.
The independent MP who was exiled from the Tories by the PM over his no-deal Brexit opposition is calling on the Conservative leader to publish the committee's report before Parliament is dissolved on Tuesday.
Grieve told the Today programme:
I cannot think of a reason why he should wish to prevent this report being published. It's very demoralising for us when we find we put in months of work and at the end of it we're not getting an adequate response.
Asked if there is useful information in the report for voters, he said: "Yes I think there is. It's about information. I want to emphasise I'm not about to explain what's in the report, I'm not allowed to and I wouldn't dream of doing so.
"But the report is informative and people are entitled to information and it seems to us that this report is germane because we do know and I think it is widely accepted that the Russians have sought to interfere in other countries' democratic processes in the past."
The House of Commons was previously told the report was sent to the PM on 17 October, while there has been no explanation for the delay.
Parliament is expected to sit on Monday and Tuesday ahead of dissolution although proceedings could be brought to an end sooner, which may prevent publication.
Commons speaker John Bercow called on leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg to expedite the publication.
PA
Labour are pledging to make all newbuild homes "zero carbon" by 2022, fitting houses with solar panels instead of gas boilers in a bid to tackle climate change in a manifesto bid predictably dismissed as "unrealistic" by the Tories.
How does Farage hope to win jaded Labour voters over to the Brexit Party cause on 12 December?
With cheaper bras, of course.
Brexit Party MEP Jake Pugh was on Newsnight last night to express his disgust at the PM's EU withdrawal deal, complaining that "it's not Brexit", hence the decision to run candidates even against arch Tory Eurosceptics like Bill Cash, sat beside him.
The Lib Dems are being roasted online for promoting a highly dubious poll suggesting their man in North East Somerset, Nick Coates, has a decent shot at ousting Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Here's Conrad Duncan with the full story for Indy100.
Farage's campaign messaging is also coming under fire.
Darren Richman has more.
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