Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 20 March 2023

1. Johnson ‘back on centre stage’

Boris Johnson will release an attempted defence of his conduct during “Partygate” today. The former PM’s backers claim he is the victim of a “witch hunt” and argue that the political scene will become even more divisive if he is punished by MPs. Metro said the 50-page dossier incudes WhatsApp messages and photos of events, which will be handed to the privileges committee before they question Johnson on Wednesday. The i paper said Rishi Sunak has been forced to delay announcements about key policies on crime, energy and pensions as Johnson is due to take “centre stage”.

2. UBS rescues Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse has been acquired by its Swiss rival UBS in a government-backed deal following emergency talks between the two banks and the nation’s financial regulators. Credit Suisse said it was not expecting “any disruption to client services”. Meanwhile, top central banks have moved to bolster the flow of cash around the world. The US Federal Reserve offered daily currency swaps to ensure banks in Canada, Britain, Japan, Switzerland and the euro zone would have the dollars needed to operate.

3. Met braces for ‘excoriating’ report

The Metropolitan Police faces being broken up if it does not rapidly overhaul a toxic culture that will be exposed in an independent review tomorrow, said The Times. Baroness Casey of Blackstock’s “excoriating review” found institutional problems of sexism, racism and homophobia, said the paper. It is also expected to reveal a culture of bullying, under unbearable work pressure and a failure of leadership to deal with a series of misconduct scandals. It was ordered after Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by the serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

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4. Putin ‘returns to crime scene’

Ukraine has compared Vladimir Putin to a murderer returning to the crime scene after he drove himself around Mariupol. “The criminal always returns to the crime scene,” said Mikhail Podolyak, a top adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, after Putin’s visit. “The murderer of thousands of Mariupol families came to admire the ruins of the city and graves.” Putin drove himself to meet “sobbing residents” in a reconstructed apartment block, who thanked him for their new “slice of paradise”, said The Telegraph.

5. NHS workers ‘say no’

Members of leading health unions are mobilising to reject the pay agreement being recommended by union leaders, reported The Guardian. A cross-union group called NHS Workers Say No has sent out thousands of leaflets, held online meetings and started WhatsApp groups in an effort to persuade members to vote against the 5% increase which led to a “tentative truce” between the government and NHS staff, said the paper. Many members are “furious” that union chiefs agreed to an increase that is well below the UK’s rate of inflation.

6. Firms profit from asylum hotels

Profits for private firms are soaring as the government pays millions of pounds a day to house asylum seekers, reported the BBC. After arrivals to the UK rose last year, 395 hotels are being used to house asylum seekers. A booking agency, which finds hotels for the Home Office, trebled its pre-tax profits from £2.1m to £6.3m. It is believed that hotels are housing more than 51,000 asylum seekers, at a cost of more than £6m a day. Existing bookings at some hotels, including weddings, have been cancelled at short notice.

7. Home Office hides drug findings

The Home Office has successfully suppressed a report from its own expert adviser that recommended decriminalising possession of drugs. Following a three-year freedom of information battle to force the government to release the findings, a tribunal ruled that the document by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs should be kept secret. A whistleblower revealed that the report suggested “repealing the part of the Misuse of Drugs Act that makes it a criminal offence to possess controlled drugs”.

8. PM ‘overpromised’ on Brexit

Ministers fear that Rishi Sunak has “oversold” his Brexit deal, reported The Times. This week the prime minister will put a crucial aspect of his deal, the Windsor framework, to a vote in the House of Commons. Despite fears that the Democratic Unionist Party and some Tory backbenchers will vote against it, ministers are confident that it will pass. However, some in government are concerned that No 10 has “overpromised and under-delivered”.

9. Corruption investigator killed

A South African who was investigating high-level corruption cases has been shot dead along with his son. Cloete Murray was an accountant for Bosasa, a company linked to several government contract scandals and worked for firms linked to the wealthy Gupta brothers, who deny bribery accusations. He was shot by unknown gunmen while driving in Johannesburg with his 28-year-old son. The incident “appears to be a targeted hit”, said the South African outlet, Daily Maverick.

10. Barber shops ‘are a front’

Barber shops are increasingly becoming a front for crime, according to security sources. The explosion of outlets in London and other major cities across the UK could be used as fronts for criminal gangs to conceal human trafficking, slave labour, and drugs, said former Metropolitan Police officer, Ali Hassan. “A lot of these shops have thousands of pounds of equipment but no customers,” he said, claiming that “there is strong reason to believe a large number, particularly those owned by Albanians, Turks and Kurds, have links to organised crime”.