Delayed budget to outline government response to coronavirus emergency
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10.16am GMT
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP who is self-isolating after a meeting with Nadine Dorries last week (see 9.20am), told the Press Association PA that only her, Dorries and members of the minister’s staff were present at the meeting on Thursday. Maskell went on:
I’m absolutely fine, obviously it’s frustrating because there are things I want to get on with. I’m just planning on making more phone calls, more working online. I’m not going to be bored, put it that way.
10.13am GMT
On a lighter note, Ben Ellery in the Times (paywall) reports that Dilyn, the Jack Russell rescue dog adopted by Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds, could be “quietly rehomed” before the summer. Ellery says:
It is understood that Dilyn has proved quite a “sickly animal”. One Whitehall source predicted: “I’m not sure that dog is going to make it through the next reshuffle.”
Despite the prime minister having declared Dilyn a “most excellent animal”, one source said that the couple had already grown weary of the dog before they discovered that Ms Symonds was pregnant. A particular bone of contention was the mess that he created in their apartment above No 11. “For a while there was dog shit everywhere in the flat,” the source added.
What a load of total crap! There has never been a happier, healthier and more loved dog than our Dilyn. 100% bs. The people behind this story should be ashamed of themselves. https://t.co/2TIEPqzdMK
Source: Budget 2020: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet ahead of Rishi Sunak’s first budget – live news
