PRIME Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Glasgow this afternoon to booing from people gathered in the train station, reports say.
The Tory leader has returned to the COP26 climate summit in the city on the first day of parliamentary recess, amid a heightening row over cronyism and sleaze in his party.
After coming under scrutiny for taking a private jet from COP26 to London last week, this time the Prime Minister travelled to the host city on a train. He wore a black face mask with a Union flag emblem on.
There were onlookers in Glasgow Central station as the train rolled in, reports say, with booing and cheering from those in the crowds.
Johnson was then escorted by police out of Central station as he headed to the SEC, where the day of transport-focused climate talks are taking place.
The PM’s return to the UN discussions comes after he faced negative headlines for visiting a hospital in northern England rather than answering questions about a slew of sleaze claims in the Commons.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Leader of the House, also refused to change a planned recess in order to allow MPs to question Johnson.
Johnson's trip comes after his administration attempted to rip up the current parliamentary standards system to try to block the suspension of former cabinet minister Owen Paterson.
After the bid failed in the face of opposition from rival parties and public outcry, North Shropshire MP Paterson, who had been found by the Commons Standards Committee to have broken the centuries-old ban on paid lobbying by MPs, chose to quit Westminster after 24 years.
Meanwhile, Labour have referred Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Cox to the Commons standards commissioner after The Times reported the practising barrister used his MP office in September to participate remotely to advise the British Virgin Islands over a corruption probe launched by the Foreign Office.
Former Cabinet minister Sir Geoffrey Cox said he does not believe he has breached parliamentary rules.
Alongside these stories, the Metropolitan Police is “considering” calls for it to investigate so-called cash for honours allegations linked to Conservative Party peerage appointments.
He wants a police probe to focus on an Open Democracy and Sunday Times investigation which, among other claims, found nine of the party’s former treasurers have been elevated to the House of Lords since the Conservatives returned to power in 2010.
A spokesman for the Met said: “The MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) has received correspondence relating to recent media reports concerning the awarding of peerages.
“At this time, we are considering the contents of the correspondence.”
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