Conservative MPs insisted that the row was a typical example of squabbling between ministers when a Prime Minister was away.
Boris Johnson is on holiday with his pregnant wife Carrie and one-year-old son Wilfred in southern Spain.
They are reportedly staying in a villa in Marbella on their first overseas break since their marriage.
Average GP working only three days a week
The average GP is now working a three-day week, following a “significant” drop in hours, government research shows. The latest study, commissioned by the Department of Health, comes amid growing concerns that it is getting even harder to see a GP. There are particular tensions over access to face-to-face appointments, with the Prime Minister intervening last month to say every patient has the right to see a GP in person. Health Editor Laura Donnelly reports that rising earnings saw average GP pay top £100,000 before tax and expenses.
I’m bisexual, but it’s no big deal, says Tory MP
One of the Conservative Party’s leading Red Wall MPs says today she is bisexual and she had not wanted to announce it earlier as it is no “big deal”. Dehenna Davison, who became MP for Bishop Auckland at the last election, is thought to be the first female Tory MP to come out as bisexual. The 28-year-old rising star is divorcing her husband John Fareham, who is in his sixties, and is in a relationship with a man.
Also in the news: Today’s other headlines
Nuclear secrets | A US navy nuclear engineer has been charged with trying to pass secrets to what he thought was a foreign state, but turned out to be an FBI agent, the Justice Department said. Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana, were charged with violating the Atomic Energy Act.
Around the world: Neo-fascist leaders held
Far-Right mobs stormed trade union buildings in Rome and clashed with riot police in the largest demonstrations against Covid “green pass” restrictions Italy has seen. As Alvise Armellini reports, groups of extremists, including football hooligans, broke into the headquarters of a Left-wing union. For more striking pictures, view our world gallery.
