Conservative MPs will today be whipped to support a motion overturning the controversial vote that rescued Owen Paterson from a six-week suspension.

       Although the former minister has resigned in the wake of the row over lobbying and sleaze, the Government is bringing a new motion that would rescind the Leadsom Amendment, which sought to set up a new standards process, and had blocked the standards committee’s report on Mr Paterson.

       Tory MPs had been whipped to back the earlier vote less than two weeks ago, with backbenchers telling The Telegraph threats were made about long-term career prospects.

       Oliver Dowden, the Conservative Party co-chair, revealed they will now be whipped to back the U-turn, but told Times Radio that given the nature of the vote "I doubt there will be much controversy about it".

       Mr Dowden defended the fact the Prime Minister had not apologised for the handling of the situation, telling Sky News it was "semantics", as Boris Johnson had admitted to making "some mistakes" and that he "regrets it".

       Yesterday, the Prime Minister said: “I think things could certainly have been handled better, let me put it that way, by me.”

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       The Covid-19 vaccine booster programme is to be extended to include healthy 40 to 49-year-olds, health officials have announced.

       The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said all adults over the age of 40 should be offered a booster, six months after their second dose.

       It has also said that 16 and 17-year-olds should come forward for a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab - which should be given at least 12 weeks after the first.

       The JCVI said that the broadening of the booster campaign and the offer of a second jab to 16 and 17-year-olds will "help extend our protection into 2022".

       It comes as ministers urged people to get boosters when called in a bid to save Christmas.

       See 8:13am for more

       Sir Keir Starmer has defended his decision to write a column for The Sun newspaper and said he would do it again.

       The Labour leader was criticised by many - including some Labour MPs - for having tacitly endorsed the paper, which is still boycotted by many in Liverpool following its 1989 claims that Liverpool FC supporters were responsible for the Hillsborough disaster.

       Challenged about the move by a caller to LBC, Sir Keir said the paper was "rightly condemned" for its coverage.

       But he added: "It is very important, as the Labour leader, that I speak to people across the country, and that includes people who read The Sun.

       "My job as leader of the opposition is to be utterly focused on the next election and that means I must get the Labour message across to as many people as possible."

       Asked if he would do it again, he said yes.

       Sir Keir Starmer said accusations that he had broken the rules by using his Commons office for Zoom calls with the public were "complete and utter nonsense".

       The Labour leader told LBC: "We were going around the country virtually, because it was the middle of lockdown, and therefore I'm the leader of the opposition, I've got to get out and talk to businesses, talk to the public etc, and I'm not allowed to get out because of restrictions.

       "So we did a virtual one, which was to do a Zoom call where members of the public could talk to me, businesses could talk to me, etc.

       "It's exactly what the leader of the opposition should be doing. And that story is an absolute nonsense.

       "The idea as leader of the opposition I can't talk to the public, I mean, only has to be said in one sentence to be seen to be ridiculous."

       Sir Keir Starmer has given Dame Cressida Dick his highly tentative backing, after two Met Police officers admitted taking and sharing photographs of the murder scene of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in a park in Wembley.

       PC Deniz Jaffer, 47, and PC Jamie Lewis, 33, also admitted distributing the images over WhatsApp. Both officers admitted misconduct in a public office.

       Asked if he had confidence in the Commissioner, Sir Keir said: "Yeees?"

       Challenged about his response, he said there was " a job of work to be done" to get the force back on track and restore trust among the public.

       "Cressida Dick has to get on with addressing those underlying issues," he added. "I am always reluctant to be drawn to the idea that if you remove the person at the top things get better."

       Boris Johnson is not helping "the global effort - or himself" by suggesting Cop26 ended in success, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

       The Labour leader told LBC he didn't want to "talk it down", because the summit had made achievements, but he said it was vital the world "redouble our efforts to make sure we do" meet the 2030 targets.

       "The Prime Minister seemed to be saying yesterday that phasing down coal and phasing out coal are the same thing - I don't agree.... I don't think the Prime Minister helps the global effort or himself to pretend this is all fine and on track, because it isn't."

       Asked who was to blame for a failure to reach a conclusive deal this weekend, he said: "We do need to look at the Prime Minster on this... He doesn't have trust I would want him to have on international stage, that is a problem for us.

       "It is not the only problem... but global leadership really matters."

       Labour is to put down a Commons motion calling for MPs to be banned from holding paid directorships or consultancies, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

       Speaking during an LBC radio phone-in, the Labour leader said: "We are going to put to Parliament on Wednesday a vote which is going to ask MPs to vote to get rid of paid directorships and paid consultancies - change the rules in Parliament.

       "We are putting that down. It is for every MP to decide how they want to vote on that. That will perhaps be a measure of where people are on how we actually move this forward."

       Boris Johnson might be hoping to use today's vote rescinding the Leadsom Amendment to draw a line under the lobbying row and put an end to sleaze allegations - but opposition MPs have a different idea.

       Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader, has written to Lord Geidt calling for him to investigate Grant Shapps, after reports this weekend suggested the Transport Secretary has been lobbying to protect airfields from house building.

       Mr Shapps denies the claims, but Ms Rayner is calling for the Prime Minister's adviser on ethics to carry out an investigation.

       Separately, fellow Labour MP Fleur Anderson has written to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, asking him to look into "possible breaches of lobbying rules", naming four Conservative MPs that she believes should be probed.

       The Mayor of Liverpool has praised a "heroic" cabbie for his efforts to reduce the impact of the car explosion in the city.

       Joanne Anderson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The taxi driver, in his heroic efforts, has managed to divert what could have been an absolutely awful disaster at the hospital.

       "Our thanks go to him and our emergency services, and authorities have worked through the night to divert anything further and we've all been on standby and in constant contact to provide any support that's needed."

       She added: "The taxi driver had stood out and locked the doors, we knew that early on."

       However, she added it was important not to get drawn into speculation about the incident.

       See 8:09am and 8:14am for more

       The fact that Paul Dacre has not been made chairman of Ofcom shows that the Government is undertaking a "proper, independent process", a minister has said.

       The former Daily Mail editor is said to be the preferred choice for the role and almost secured the job in May. However, the Government was forced to rerun the entire recruitment process after Mr Dacre unexpectedly failed the final interview round.

       The job advert has been rewritten and a new panel created, which includes Michael Simmons, a former Tory adviser who is married to MP Nick Gibb.

       Challenged about this, Oliver Dowden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If this was corrupt process, you would be looking at the individual preferred by Government in that role...

       "If it was the case that Paul Dacre was our preferred candidate he would be chair of Ofcom... there were various issues with that process which led me to rerunning it, not least the very small field of people found eligible."

       Boris Johnson should be able to decide who is in his Cabinet, even if they are found to have broken the ministerial code of conduct, the Conservative Party co-chairman has said.

       Oliver Dowden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme said it was an "important principle" that the Prime Minister was "able to decide who can be in his Cabinet".

       He was asked about Mr Johnson's decision to override the report into Priti Patel's behaviour, or whether an investigation would take place into allegations that Grant Shapps was using a lobbying group to protect airfields from development.

       "It is an important principle that ultimately the Prime Minister makes the determination of who is in his Cabinet," he said. It was a "basic principle as a point of parliamentary sovereignty".

       Voters would then decide whether they support him.

       Mr Dowden repeatedly dodged questions about whether the adviser on ministerial standards had "meaningful independence", including being able to open investigations into possible breaches of the code.

       A minister has rejected claims by Lord Evans, the former director general of MI5 and current chair of the committee on standards in public life, that the UK "could slip into being a corrupt country".

       Oliver Dowden, the Conservative Party co-chairman, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I have a great deal of respect for Lord Evans, but I think we are an exceptionally long way from that.

       "The fact you are subjecting me to a forensic going-over about what the Government has done - in a corrupt country you don't find this level of free press and scrutiny and accountability.

       "And the kind of transparency and declarations - any hospitality or anything I might have received."

       The Conservative Party co-chairman has sought to downplay the rules governing whether MPs can use their parliamentary offices to carry out work for their second jobs, saying it is only a "guiding principle".

       Last week Sir Geoffrey Cox came under fire after videos emerged that appeared to show him using his taxpayer-funded office to conduct legal work, which has netted him more than ￡900,00.

       The former attorney general has been referred to the parliamentary standards commissioner, although in a statement said he "does not believe that he breached the rules".

       Asked about the row this morning, Oliver Dowden told BBC Breakfast: "Our parliamentary offices are there to able us to carry out our work as an MP. That is certainly what I use my office for."

       He added: "It is a matter for parliamentary commissioner for standards... but the guiding principle is that parliamentary office is there you to conduct your work as MP."

       Cobra has not been convened to discuss what is now being called the 'Remembrance terror plot', after an explosion at Liverpool Women’s Hospital that killed one person and injured another.

       Oliver Dowden, the Conservative Party co-chairman, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You can't ignore the facts of it, but it is an ongoing investigation so there is a limit to what I can say.

       "Clearly the Prime Minister and Home Secretary are keeping a very close eye on it," he added. "I know the Home Secretary is... taking very close interest in but I don't believe Cobra has been summoned at this stage but if it is an appropriate step then we will take that step.

       "The joint intelligence committee and others will be examining it."

       The Government has not ruled out additional restrictions - including travel bans - if the Covid situation changes "dramatically", Oliver Dowden has said.

       "I am confident that if we stick the course, people take the boosters when they are asked to do so, that vaccine wall will hold up and we will be able to have a decent Christmas this year," the Conservative Party co-chair told Sky News.

       "There are no plans to stop Christmas happening. The huge difference this time is the vaccine."

       He cautioned however that restrictions could be needed if there is a new variant of coronavirus, or another issue that fundamentally affected the "wall of defence" built up by the vaccines.

       "We haven't ruled it out. If the situation change dramatically we would have to review that again," he said.

       A former senior terrorism investigator said the timing of a car explosion in Liverpool before a remembrance service was "significant" but he was "uncertain" about a possible link.

       Nick Aldworth, a former counter-terrorism national co-ordinator, said he believed it was unclear as to whether the incident at Liverpool Women's Hospital was terror-related.

       Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, he said: "I have to say from what I've seen, there's very little blast damage. There's also a lot of fire damage with very little blast damage. And so, you know, whatever was in that vehicle was either a low yield or didn't work properly, or possibly an incendiary.

       "So I think it's very much open to debate at the moment about what has happened."

       A lockdown-free Christmas is "in our hands", a minister has said - amid rising cases and the re-imposition of restrictions on the continent.

       It's expected that the JCVI will open the booster programme up the under-50s, and could potentially allow people to get their third jab at an earlier time of five months after their second.

       Oliver Dowden would not comment on the specifics, saying JVCI are independent.

       But asked about the prospects of restrictions this Christmas, the Conservative Party co-chair told Sky News: "It’s in our hands, all of us - if you get the booster when the call comes, that is the biggest wall of defence."

       He added: "The way we avoid a challenging position is to take the booster. There are no plans to stop Christmas happening, but you can guarantee it.

       "The way we keep that wall of defence protection is get the vaccine when you get the call up - we have to keep that protection topped up."

       Oliver Dowden praised "the bravery of ordinary Britons", amid reports that the taxi driver locked the would-be attacker in a car outside Liverpool Women's Hospital yesterday.

       Stressing there was a limit as to what he could discuss, given the ongoing investigation into yesterday's events, the Conservative Party co-chairman told Sky News it showed "the contrast between the cowardice of terrorist attacks and the bravery of ordinary Britons up and down the country who put others' lives before their own".

       He played down suggestions the terrorism alert level could change as a result, but said it was a reminder that "the threat of terrorism hasn’t gone away, and how much we depend on our police services".

       Priti Patel is expected to use a crisis meeting this week to urge her French counterpart to speed up plans to intercept every single migrant before they reach the UK.

       The Home Secretary will meet Gerald Darmanin, the French interior minister, to find a “shared solution” to the Channel crisis which last week saw a record 1,185 migrants reach the UK in a day.

       Dan O’Mahoney, the clandestine Channel threat commander, said the smugglers’ business model would only be “broken” when the French achieved their promised interception rate of 100 per cent of migrants.

       “We look forward to working with the French to understand how they’re going to do that,” he said. “We’re nowhere near 100 per cent and we need to work much harder.

       Boris Johnson is facing a challenging first week back after recess, with multiple crises (or potential crises) for the Government to grapple with today.

       The Prime Minister is set to give MPs an update on the final agreement struck at Cop26 this weekend, which left president Alok Sharma in tears. But with tensions building in eastern Europe, a possible terror attack in Liverpool, rising Covid cases and the ongoing sleaze row, his inbox is almost certainly overflowing.

       Here is today's front page.

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