Claims that Boris Johnson wanted to appoint his lover to a government post were heard by ministers as early as 2018, according to a diary entry by Alan Duncan, who was Minister of State at the Foreign Office at the time.

In his published diaries, he noted on Sunday, April 22, 2018: “Apparently Carrie Symonds, Tory HQ Press Chief, is set to become SPAD at the FCO. It’s the first time I’ve heard of it. »

A story published in The Time over the weekend, Carrie Johnson, then Carrie Symonds, was to be appointed as a special adviser to the Foreign Office on a six-figure salary.

The original story published by The temperature claimed the idea fell apart when Mr Johnson’s closest advisers learned of the idea to hire Ms Symonds.

New NHS data shows hospital admissions for Covid patients in England have started to rise again.

The total number of infections has now returned to levels last seen in early May, but remains well below the record high of 4.9 million at the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave in late March.

Covid hospital admissions are also below levels seen in the previous wave.

Experts say that according to preliminary data, the BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 variants may have evolved to favor infection of lung cells rather than upper airway tissue, making them more similar to earlier variants, such as Alpha or Delta.

Thomas Kingsley has more:

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spoken to his aides in Downing Street about securing his wife Carrie two plum government jobs, The mirror reported.

Mr Johnson wanted to find her a job as a green ambassador ahead of the global climate summit in Glasgow, sources told the newspaper.

Her other idea was to appoint her communications director for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Earthshot Prize.

The Prime Minister’s suggestions were reportedly vetoed by his closest advisers who warned that either stance could undermine his wife’s status as a private citizen.

On Monday, Downing Street confirmed that members of Mr Johnson’s team had intervened following the publication of an article about Carrie in The temperaturebut denied that the Prime Minister himself had contacted the newspaper to complain.

The story, which appeared in early editions of the newspaper on Saturday, said that while Mr Johnson was Foreign Secretary he tried to get Carrie – with whom he was then having a secret affair – a job as £100,000 to the Foreign Office.

The story, however, disappeared from later editions.

Downing Street confirmed that members of Boris Johnson’s team intervened following the publication of an article about his wife Carrie in The Times, but denied that the Prime Minister himself had contacted the newspaper to complain.

Andrew Woodcock has the story:

Nadine Dorries was booed outside a Tory fundraiser in London on Monday.

Members of the PCS Union had gathered outside the V&A Museum in London where a fundraiser for curators was being held.

Senior Conservative Party officials were booed by protesters as they arrived for a fundraiser in London last night.

The fundraiser held at the V&A Museum in London was intended to appeal to Tory donors, and also saw a brief appearance by the Prime Minister after his sinus surgery earlier on Monday.

PCS Union members gathered outside the venue and booed attendees demanding better pay, videos shared online showed.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was well enough to make a brief appearance at a fundraiser for the Conservative Party on Monday after undergoing routine sinus surgery, ITV reported.

He was taken to the party through a side entrance as questions hung in the air over the story of his wife Carrie’s disappearance in The temperature.

The fundraiser was also attended by top members of his cabinet as they courted Conservative donors, the Daily Mail.

Earlier today, No 10 said Mr Johnson was ‘feeling fine’ after being placed under general anesthesia for routine surgery on his sinuses.

Doctors are bracing for major disruption from the railway strike as the NHS has reassured patients that it ‘remains open’ for services.

Patients have been urged to schedule their appointments in advance as there are likely to be significant delays in reaching hospitals and medical practices.

Hospitals have made arrangements to ensure staff are on site, officials said, including setting up park-and-ride services and taxi-sharing facilities.

The trusts have urged patients to get in touch if they cannot attend their appointment due to the strikes.

Boris Johnson is set to call for a ‘reasonable compromise’ to protect rail passengers from nationwide travel chaos.

The Prime Minister is expected to argue ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that unions are ‘harming the very people they claim to be helping’ by continuing the biggest show of industrial action on the railways for a generation.

The move comes after last-minute talks to resolve a bitter dispute over wages, jobs and conditions failed to yield a solution.

Railway unions have accused the government of “actively preventing” the resolution of a dispute that will see the journeys of millions of passengers halted from Tuesday in the biggest strikes to hit the network since the 1980s.

On Monday, the RMT union ended last-minute talks with employers, accusing ministers of preventing Network Rail and rail operating companies from negotiating freely over wages, jobs and conditions.

But Grant Shapps’ Department for Transport dismissed the claim as ‘absolutely untrue’, insisting that a £2billion resource shortfall for the national network which the RMT attributed to government cuts was in fact the result of a reduction in passenger numbers as a result of Covid.