Novak Djokovic to be deported after Australian court backs visa cancellation – Covid news live | World news

Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips reads out a list of parties that have been confirmed as taking place. He asks Oliver Dowden whether he thinks it’s “shameful” that they happened while others were following rules.

“Yes it was completely unacceptable that this happened. I’m happy to use whichever adjectives that you use to express my anger at what happened. The prime minister is angry about what happened and there needs to be a change in the culture.

“It’s important to find the full facts of what happened. It’s important to get that full picture. The prime minister will make a statement to parliament and be held accountable in parliament for his actions.”

Conservative Party chair Oliver Dowden has backed Boris Johnson in an interview on Sky News.

He said the prime minister was right to apologise, but the success of the booster rollout meant he should stay. Dowden said he had been angered by recent revelations about parties.

“It was the prime minister who made that call about having a mass booster programme which has ensured we’re getting through the worst of Omicron.

“He made the call around having a further lockdown in the face of that Omicron variant. He made the right call and meant we have been able to have the most open and the most vaxxed economy in Europe.”

Good morning from London, where the main Covid-19 news is the decision overnight by an Australian court to deport world No 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic over his Covid status.

The court rejected a challenge to the decision of the Australian immigration minister, Alex Hawke, to cancel the visa on the basis Djokovic’s presence in Australia might risk “civil unrest” as he is a “talisman of anti-vaccination sentiment”.

It’s the latest turn in a saga that began on 5 January when Djokovic arrived in Melbourne and was then held under armed guard over concerns about his visa, and whether he was exempt from vaccine requirements in a country that has tight Covid rules.

He won a court appeal, before Hawke then revoked his visa. In a statement, Djokovic has said he respects the court’s ruling and will leave the country.

Elsewhere, newspapers in the UK this morning are leading with claims that Conservative MPs are ready to oust prime minister Boris Johnson after a week where the furore around parties in Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns intensified.

I’m Harry Taylor and I’ll be at the helm as we bring you the latest developments in this story, and any other Covid-19 news from around the world for the rest of Sunday.

If you have any tips or suggestions, you can contact me by email or Twitter, where my DMs are open.