Christian Wakeford says he was threatened with loss of funding for constituency if he rebelled as Tory MP No 10 says there is no need to investigate the Wragg allegations because there is no evidence to back them up. That line may not last for long because some evidence is now starting to come in. Christian Wakeford, the MP who defected from the Conservatives to Labour yesterday, has told the BBC that he was threatened with the loss of funding for his constituency if he voted the wrong way on an issue. He said: I was threatened that I would not get a school for Radcliffe if I didn’t vote one particular way. This is a town that’s not had a high school for the best part of 10 years. How would you feel holding back the rejuvenation of a town for a vote? It didn’t sit comfortably, and that was really [me] starting to question my place where I was, and ultimately to where I am now. It’s been another busy day in Westminster. Here’s a summary of what happened: Sajid Javid said the partygate scandal had been “damaging to our democracy”, and defended the lifting of mask rules in schools since it is “harder to teach children” if they wear them. The Conservative MP William Wragg accused the government of trying to “blackmail” MPs pushing for a confidence vote in Boris Johnson. No 10 swiftly responded and, without outright refuting Wragg’s claims, said it was “not aware of any evidence” to support them. The stance was repeated soon after by Johnson. The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, accused Johnson of acting “like a mafia boss”, and Labour called for an investigation into the blackmail claims, which was echoed by the Scottish Tories. The former Brexit minister Steve Baker suggested that “it does look like checkmate” for Johnson, while the Treasury chief secretary, Simon Clark, said it would be “absolutely wrong” for government whips to threaten to withdraw constituency funding. Wragg’s claims were followed by allegations from Christian Wakeford, the Bury South MP who defected to Labour, that he had been threatened with a loss of funding for his constituency if he rebelled as a Tory MP. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, called for an investigation into bullying and blackmail, which she called “gravely serious allegations”. She also cast her doubts on the decision to lift Plan B restrictions. “There are still significant uncertainties ahead,” she said. The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, accused the Conservatives of no longer being the party of business given that they had presided over a “lost decade” of low growth. Both I and the blog are signing off for the evening. For coronavirus news from around the world, you can follow our global Covid blog: The Guardian’s home affairs editor Rajeev Syal has done some research and found that there is a precedent for parliamentary authorities investigating threats to withhold funds from MPs if they vote certain ways. He writes: The Labour peer and QC Dale Campbell-Savours points out that the parliamentary authorities have previously investigated threats to withhold funds from an MP. In 1981, when he was the MP for Workington, Campbell-Savours complained to the privileges committee – and had his complaint upheld – after being threatened by Iain MacGregor, the then head of British Steel. He claimed that MacGregor had verbally threatened to withhold money from a steelworks in his Workington constituency. In this excerpt from Hansard in January 1981, Campbell-Savours recalled the meeting with MacGregor, who had taken issue with his criticisms in parliament of British Steel. “After further conversation about my general approach in the House concerning the steel industry, he said that if this was the way that I intended to conduct my case in parliament, and if I persisted in making such statements and attacks on the corporation, further investment in Workington would be ended. He made reference, in passing, to a particular investment project,” he said. Campbell-Savours says the privileges committee ruled in his favour. MacGregor went on to become the head of the National Coal Board during the miners’ strike. He died in 1988. Parties, porkies, blunders and sleaze: for 800 days we have exposed this government’s breathtaking shortcomings. Indeed, without media scrutiny from the Guardian and others, we wouldn’t know the half of Boris Johnson’s numerous misjudgments and mistakes. This is holding power to account, the most important task of independent media like the Guardian. Our editorial independence has never been more important. Because no one sets our agenda, or edits our editor, we can keep exposing the failings of powerful people who lead us in these troubled times. We believe everyone deserves equal access to our high-impact, trustworthy journalism. Your support enables us to keep our journalism open for all. No matter how unpredictable the future feels, we will provide vital information so we can all make decisions about our lives, health and security – based on fact, not fiction. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – it only takes a minute. Thank you. The Treasury chief secretary, Simon Clarke, has said it would “absolutely be wrong” for government whips to threaten to withdraw constituency funding if MPs did not support the prime minister. Clarke told Times Radio he had not “seen any evidence of” blackmail or intimidation by the whips, but said: Anyone with any substantive evidence to substantiate that kind of allegation should go to the relevant authorities. “It would absolutely be wrong and, look, the reality is that my experience as a minister is, of course, that that is not a tactic that I’ve ever seen or heard of being deployed and the wider reality, of course, is that we also have a civil service, we have our officials who are, of course, precisely in place to make sure that in all funding allocations there is due process and proper rigour. On the wider whipping system he said there was “obviously a legitimate difference between trying to persuade people to support key policy and doing something which obviously would involve misuse of public funds in that way”. On specific allegations made by the former Tory MP Christian Wakeford, he said: It’s either something he can substantiate, or it isn’t. I think that’s the point. And I simply need to see any evidence that that has in fact occurred. I think we have to accept objectively here that Mr Wakeford is not entirely a neutral source on these matters, having made the decision that he has. Polling from Survation in December – just as the partygate scandal was emerging - suggested that voters in the north west did not rate highly the government’s adherence to the core ethical standards that underpin public life the lowest out of any England region. Survation’s polling also suggests that this had already translated into gains for Labour: in December, Labour was leading the Conservatives in the north west by 22 points, a six point increase for Labour relative to the 2019 general election and an 8-point decrease for the Conservatives. The Survation chief executive, Damian Lyons Lowe, said his data showed that in his defection to Labour, Christian Wakeford “doesn’t need to win the hearts and minds of his former voters”, since Labour are currently “way ahead” in Bury South. Study finding bridge or tunnel to Northern Ireland is not feasible cost £900,000 of taxpayer money, DfT says Nearly £900,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on a study commissioned by Boris Johnson which found it would be too expensive to build a bridge or tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland. PA Media reports: The Department for Transport (DfT) said the research into the feasibility of a fixed link cost £896,681. Network Rail chair Sir Peter Hendy led the investigation, which found that a bridge would cost £335 billion, while a tunnel would require a budget of around £209 billion. His report concluded that the project “would be impossible to justify” as “the benefits could not possibly outweigh the costs”. In addition to the huge expense, the inquiry also noted that the necessary work would be incredibly challenging. Johnson previously talked up the creation of a fixed link but accepted the conclusion of the report. Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader and shadow first secretary of state, has tweeted the response from the paymaster general to her letter sent to all ministers on the subject of the Downing Street parties. She said the letter, which emphasises the need to wait for the outcome of the ongoing investigation by civil servant Sue Gray, is “an insult to the public’s intelligence”. She wrote: A whole cabinet of people that need a civil servant to tell them if they attended parties or not! They are all a total joke, propping up Boris Johnson when he is quite so unfit to lead. Watch the MP for Bury South, Christian Wakeford, tell the BBC that he was threatened with the loss of funding for a school in his constituency if he did not vote with the government on a particular issue. A culture of survival in Number 10 is undermining the governance of the country, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden said. Mr McFadden told LBC: “What do you want your government doing? Do you want your government and your Prime Minister being solely concerned with their own survival? Or do you want them addressing your issues? The issues of your listeners. “If you look at what happened last weekend, we were told there’s this ‘operation red meat’ where we’ll launch an attack on the BBC licence fee, or put the military into the middle of the Channel. These things are being done to take attention away from the troubles. “They’re part of a negotiation between the Prime Minister and the right-wing faction in his party. They’re not actually about the governance of the country. “The governance of the country is now being undermined by the culture in Number 10.” Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has dismissed as “nonsense” claims by William Wragg of a No 10 campaign of intimidation against Tory MPs seeking to oust Boris Johnson. Dorries told BBC News: That is nonsense because that is not how government works. The whips have no say over what happens in individual constituencies. It is just attention-seeking behaviour from William Wragg who has been a constant critic of the prime minister, who delivered us the greatest majority since Margaret Thatcher. More from Michael Fabricant, a backbencher known for his loyalty to Boris Johnson. He has been active in the prime minister’s defence on Twitter today, with some strident criticisms of William Wragg. In his latest, he argues Wragg has “abused his position to continue with his long-standing vendetta against Boris and Brexit”. His comments echo an earlier tweet, in which he accused Wragg of acting “improper[ly]”. Northern Ireland to ease hospitality restrictions Limits on socialising and hospitality in Northern Ireland will be lifted tomorrow, the BBC reports. A tweet from political correspondent Jayne McCormack said ministers in Stormont had agreed to lift the rule of six and a requirement to provide table service. From 26 January, nightclubs can reopen, although vaccine passports will still be required. All other hospitality businesses will be exempt. Conservatives no longer the party of business, says shadow chancellor The Conservatives as the party of business is a “distant memory”, the shadow chancellor has claimed, arguing that Labour’s plan for the country is “proudly pro-worker and proudly pro-business”. Speaking at an event in Bury, Rachel Reeves, the MP for Leeds West said: Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour has changed, but so too have the Conservatives. The Conservatives once called themselves the party of business. That’s a distant memory. When the prime minister said, ‘F business’, I thought it was a throwaway remark. Little did I know it would be the central organising principle of his government. Reeves accused the Conservatives of being “the party of high taxation because they are the party of low growth”. Setting out Labour’s plan for the economy, she said: Now is the wrong time to raise taxes on ordinary working people. Labour would keep bills down by cutting VAT on energy and expanding the Warm Homes Discount (Scheme), taking at least 200 off the typical bill - with up to 400 in additional support for low and middle earners and pensioners - paid for by a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas profits. Reeves said Labour would support high streets by “abolishing business rates and replacing them with a fair system that levels the playing field between online multinationals and high street businesses”. She added: Labour would start now with our plan to create apprenticeship opportunities for young people, which could have seen 100,000 extra apprenticeships created this year, to drive our economic recovery. She emphasised Labour’s climate investment pledge of 28 billion for each year of the decade “to ensure the industries and jobs of the future are found all across Britain”. A Labour future, she said, would entail “gigafactories to build batteries for electric vehicles, a thriving hydrogen industry, offshore wind with turbines made in Britain, planting trees and building flood defences, getting energy bills down and guaranteeing Britain’s energy security, and allowing our economy to adapt as we drive down our carbon emissions”. Reeves went on to say Labour would “champion British businesses at home and abroad”. She said: The first step is to make Brexit work for the British people - addressing the flaws in the Tories’ deal that are hitting our food and drinks manufacturers, creative industries, and professionals. “We will build on the UK-EU trade deal in the interests of British businesses to cut red tape and make life easier for our exporters. Reeves started her speech saying it was “particularly fitting to welcome” Christian Wakeford, the Tory MP for Bury South who defected to Labour on Wednesday. She said: “Christian, like so many others, sees that our country needs Keir Starmer’s leadership and a Labour government now more than ever.” The fact that MP Christian Wakeford gave his evidence to the BBC and not in the House of Commons means that police will be able to use the disclosures in a possible blackmail inquiry since it means they do not have to worry about parliamentary privilege, according to Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project. The doctrine of parliamentary privilege grants certain legal immunities for members of the House of Commons to enable them to speak freely without worrying about outside interference or how it might be used in court. This means that police might not be able to use William Wragg’s disclosures, which were made in the House of Commons, as evidence, but they can use Wakeford’s. Plaid Cymru MS Delyth Jewell is calling for an inquiry into the revelation that the government threatened to withhold funds for a school unless MP Christian Wakeford voted a certain way. Jewell said she has uncovered evidence that Tory constituencies were prioritised over less affluent Welsh areas for receiving funds through the community renewal fund, and that this, alongside other publicly known examples, constitutes enough evidence to warrant an inquiry. Jewell, Plaid Cymru member of the Senedd for south Wales east, said: “Christopher Wakeford has confirmed what we suspected all along: that this Tory UK Government has been misusing public funds in order to achieve its own selfish, internal aims. “There is ample evidence to suggest that the UK Government used the Levelling Up Fund, Community Renewal Fund, Town Fund and school funding in a manner that may have been unlawful, using opaque metrics in order to be able to funnel funds into the constituencies of Tory MPs loyal to Boris Johnson. “And only last week, the High Court ruled that the government’s use of a VIP lane to award PPE contracts to the friends of Tory MPs and Ministers was unlawful. “I believe that the UK government’s practices amount to wholesale corruption and that a public inquiry needs to be held to explore these funding decisions in detail, since what we know about is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg and the fear shared among many is that billions of pounds may have been misappropriated.” Rachel Hall here taking over from Andrew Sparrow for the rest of the afternoon. I’ll be focussing on the fallout of the Wragg revelations, while also keeping you updated with the other key developments in Westminster, including any important updates on coronavirus. If there’s anything I’ve missed, do send it over to rachel.hall@theguardian.com.