The chair of the Holyrood inquiry into the Alex Salmond case, SNP MSP Linda Fabiani, said she was “dismayed” by the leak of its conclusions to the press, which she said would damage their impact on the treatment of sexual harassment claims.

Ms Fabiani hit out at what she called the “selective leaking” of the inquiry’s findings relating to Nicola Sturgeon.

“I am dismayed by the damage this may do to the value of the committee’s work which I have long hoped would improve the treatment of the complainers of sexual harassment,” Ms Fabiani said.

“The selective leaking of particular committee recommendations has shifted the focus away from these goals , and the recommendations which seek to achieve it, and onto party political terrain which will likely frustrate, not assist, the women at the heart of this.”

Labour has urged an investigation into whether David Cameron lobbied for Greensill Capital, a specialist bank that has since gone bust, to handle extra government loans.

Before it collapsed, Mr Cameron, an adviser to the bank, personally intervened to try to increase Greensill’s access to government-backed Covid-19 emergency loan schemes, the Financial Times reported.

Downing Street declined to say whether Mr Cameron lobbied his former university friend Boris Johnson or a special adviser in No 10.

Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, said a probe should be undertaken to “leave no stone unturned” in getting to the bottom of why “it appears Greensill was given so much access to the Treasury”.

Dr Paul Williams, Labour’s candidate at the Hartlepool by-election, described Saudi Arabia as a “modern, progressive” country after going on a junket organised by its autocratic regime, it has emerged.

Paul Williams said the trip had “totally changed my view of the country” and recounted telling his embassy handlers that his previous ideas had been “blown out of the water”.

Parliament’s register of interests shows Dr Williams, in his former role as MP for Stockton South, accepted the trip as an £8,762 donation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its Shura Council – the country’s powerless parliament that is entirely appointed by the king.

Our Policy Correspondent Jon Stone has the full story:

Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives at Holyrood, has urged Nicola Sturgeon to consider her position over claims she misled parliament about Alex Salmond.

Ms Davidson told the BBC: “There’s clear evidence now that Nicola Sturgeon misled parliament and I think she should consider her own position. ”

“The first minister really has spent her entire political career standing on her honour, and if she had a shred of integrity, she would now choose herself to go.”

More on this from our Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin:

Conservative MP Lia Nici has suggested people should leave the country if they do not feel pride in “our flag or Queen”.

The Grimsby MP was commenting after minister Robert Jenrick was mocked on BBC Breakfast over the floor-to-ceiling Union flag placed for viewers to see.

Several Tories have raged at the incident but Ms Nici went further, tweeting: “Of course if people are not proud to be British, or of our flag or Queen, they don’t have to live in the UK. Perhaps they should move to another country they prefer.”

People planning to join protests in central London this weekend in breach of coronavirus restrictions risk arrest, the Metropolitan Police said.

A number of demonstrations are expected to take place in the capital, including a rally at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park to support Piers Corbyn’s mayoral bid.

The brother of the former Labour leader has been at the forefront of the anti-lockdown movement since restrictions were imposed a year ago.

There are also expected to be protests against plans to give police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance.

A spokesman for Boris Johnson said the UK had “strong measures” at the border when asked whether the government was concerned about rising Covid rates in France and other European countries.

Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, who spurred the UK’s decision to go into lockdown last March, warned a “significant fraction” of European cases were likely to be of the South African variant, which it is feared the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could be less effective against.

Asked about Prof Ferguson’s remarks, a spokesman for the prime minister said: “What I would say in relation to those specific comments, we already have strong measures in place at the border as you will be aware.

“It is currently illegal to go on holiday and anyone arriving in England has to self-isolate, take two mandatory PCR tests on day two and day eight of their 10-day isolation period, and have a negative test before travel as well.

“Modelling is showing that a combination of specific policy options such as pre-departure testing and isolation are effective measures for mitigating the public health risk.”

Pressed on whether some EU countries could be placed on the “red list”, meaning a stint quarantining in a hotel upon arrival in England, the No 10 spokesman replied: “I would point you back to the wide variety of strong measures that we have in place at the border.

“We have them in place and believe them to be strong and robust measures.”

Boris Johnson has slapped down Jacob Rees-Mogg over his attack on a journalist under cover of parliamentary privilege, with Downing Street saying: “These are not comments that the prime minister would have made.”

Political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full story:

A majority of British voters would back nurses taking strike action against the 1 per cent pay rise offered by the government after a year on the Covid-19 frontline, a new poll has revealed.

The Savanta ComRes survey for The Independent found 53 per cent support for industrial action by NHS nurses, against just 28 per cent in opposition.

Just 11 per cent said that nurses should receive a 1 per cent hike, compared to an overwhelming 77 per cent who said the settlement should be more generous – including 25 per cent who said the rise should be 10 per cent or more.

Read the full report from our Political Editor Andrew Woodcock here:

“There are no protest marches or riots in the streets calling for Sturgeon to go – quite the opposite, with many unable to follow the technical, procedural lawyerly wrangling.”

Nicola Sturgeon won’t be resigning just yet, but, Sean O’Grady explains, the fight for Scottish independence has been dealt a blow: