Oxfam scandal: ministers have 'serious questions to answer', say Labour - as it happened

• The presence in Stormont of Theresa May and Leo Varadkar, who arrived apparently believing a power-sharing deal was close on Monday, was a “distraction”, the leader of the DUP has said. (See 2.06pm)
• Ministers have “serious questions to answer” over the handling of concerns about Oxfam’s safeguarding reportedly sent to two government departments in 2015, according to Labour’s shadow international development secretary, Kate Osamor. (See 11.25am)
• The international trade secretary, Penny Mordaunt, has insisted she will not be rushed into any decisions on how to deal with Oxfam amid the sexual abuse scandal engulfing the aid organisation. (See 11.36am)
• The chairman of of Oxfam International has been arrested as part of a corruption probe in Guatemala. Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight, a former finance minister in the country, was detained along with former president Alvaro Colom as part of an investigation into a public bus deal. Oxfam said Knight had told them “he did not knowingly transgress rules or procedures”.
• The Haitian president issued a warning to aid agencies. In a statement released in response to the Oxfam revelations, Jovenel Moïse said his country would no longer accept help if it came alongside “abhorrent violations”.

There is nothing more shameful than a sexual predator using the veil of catastrophe as a means to exploit the vulnerable in their most defenceless moments. What transpired [in Haiti] is a violation of basic human decency.

• A suspicious package sent to the Houses of Parliaments was found to contain a harmless white powder. The Met’s counter terrorism command were called in to investigate.

That’s it from us for today. We’ll be back tomorrow morning. Thanks for all of your comments.

An update from the Met on the suspicious package sent to parliament:

The Press Association reports that the chairman of Oxfam International has been arrested as part of a corruption probe in Guatemala.

Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight, a former finance minister in the country, was detained along with former president Alvaro Colom as part of an investigation into a public bus deal.

The development comes as Oxfam Great Britain is embroiled in an aid worker sex scandal in relation to Haiti.

Oxfam International’s executive director Winnie Byanyima said:

“Oxfam does not yet know the nature of formal charges, if any, against Dr Fuentes Knight.

“However he has been entirely open with his Oxfam board and executive that he has been among former officials being investigated as part of a budgetary transaction made by the Guatemalan government while he was finance minister.

“He has assured us that he has co-operated fully with the investigation in the confidence he did not knowingly transgress rules or procedures.”

An update from North Ayrshire, where the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is campaigning.

He has highlighted the work of the local Labour-run council, which has stepped in to provide meals for children during the school holidays, saying: “Councils shouldn’t be forced to be the last line of defence against austerity.”

Scotland desperately needs a Labour government in Holyrood. The SNP has passed on Tory cuts to local communities.

Labour councils, like North Ayrshire, are stepping in and doing what they can but councils shouldn’t be forced to be the last line of defence against austerity. Labour in power in Holyrood would unlock the potential of devolution to deliver across Scotland.

Holiday hunger is unacceptable; we simply shouldn’t have hungry children in Scotland in 2018. The system is broken. It can’t be managed more humanely as the SNP claims to do. It must be overhauled in the interests of the many not the few.

Labour performed poorly in the last Holyrood elections in 2016, losing 13 seats and falling behind the Scottish Conservatives, who in turn trailed the SNP.

Scotland Yard said its counter-terrorism command was investigating the incident on the Parliamentary estate. A spokesman said:

At approximately 11.36am on Tuesday 13 February, police were informed of a suspicious package that had been delivered to an office within the Palace of Westminster. Police are at the scene and dealing [with it].

The letter contained a white powder, which is currently being assessed by specialists. The office remains closed at this time, but the rest of the Palace of Westminster is open.

While Scotland Yard declined to specify what the substance was until a thorough assessment had been carried out, a House of Commons spokeswoman said it was “non-harmful”.

The first female Black Rod has been presented with her ceremonial staff by the Queen, marking the historic appointment.

The monarch invested Sarah Clarke as Lady Usher of the Black Rod in the private audience room at Buckingham Palace, by presenting her with the ebony staff and the chain of office.

Clarke is the first woman to hold the post in the House of Lords in the 650-year history of the role. She has taken over from former Black Rod David Leakey, and met the Queen ahead of her formal introduction into the Lords next week.

Black Rod is the senior official responsible for maintaining order at the House of Lords, and is thrust into the spotlight each year at the State Opening of Parliament, when sent to bang on the door of the House of Commons to summon MPs to hear the Queen’s Speech.

Some interesting comments from the leader of the DUP, Arlene Foster, who says the presence of the prime minister, Theresa May, and the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, proved “bit of a distraction” at Stormont yesterday.

While they were welcome, Foster says the arrivals of Varadkar and May, whose Westminster government the DUP props up, interrupted negotiations.

The decision for them both to travel to Northern Ireland was seen as an indication the two leaders believed that, after more than year, a deal to set up a power-sharing government was close.

But Foster says both governments were told in advance that “the deal wasn’t done”. Speaking to the Press Association, Foster says:

I am hopeful that we will move toward devolution again.

Whether it’s this week, whether it’s in a couple of weeks or whether it’s in a couple of months what I must ensure is that we have an accommodation that everybody feels content with.

Her comments will cause some embarrassment for May, who had urged “one final push” and apparently believed she would be able to announce a deal yesterday.

Foster also rubbished speculation about the shape of Irish language laws that might emerge from the Stormont negotiations. She said some rumours had not been “grounded in any sort of reality”.

There won’t be a stand-alone Irish Language Act - we have always made that very clear, people aren’t going to be forced to learn Irish, there isn’t going to be Irish compulsory in schools, there’s not going to be bilingual signs or quotas in the civil service.

Some of the speculation has actually caused a lot of concern right across the community in Northern Ireland and it’s important that we say that that is not based in reality.

What we are trying to find is an accommodation and a way forward that values those people who are Irish speakers but doesn’t impinge on the lives of those who aren’t Irish speakers and I think that’s important.

And she made it clear that, if devolution is restored, she expects to be first minister.

I am the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party so therefore I will be the person that’s put forward by the party to be first minister.

An unnamed police officer in Speaker’s Court said a suspicious package has been found, according to Press Association. The officer is quoted as saying: “We haven’t been told much but a package has been left. Specialist officers have just arrived to examine it. It won’t be anything to worry about.”

While the police investigation is still underway, the Palace of Westminster is not in lockdown, there are no security alerts displayed on the annunciators in the building and there are no extra police officers visible at the main entrance at Carriage Gates, Press Association reports.

A House of Commons spokesperson says police are investigating an incident on the parliamentary estate, according to the Reuters news agency.

There is no indication at the moment of its nature and Scotland Yard has not immediately been able to provide any clarity on what the operation entails.

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The president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, has warned aid agencies his country will not accept their support when it comes with “abhorent violations”.

In a statement, he said:

There is nothing more shameful than a sexual predator using the veil of catastrophe as a means to exploit the vulnerable in their most defenceless moments. What transpired is a violation of basic human decency.

This case also is disheartening because the funds enabling these crimes were given in the name of the British people and with altruistic intent. The people of Haiti were and are immensely thankful for the support the international community brought to us in the wake of our terrible tragedy in 2010, but that gratitude ought not to be mistaken for docility in the face of abhorrent violations such as these.

Disasters may strike, but a people’s dignity and rights persist. In Haiti, we have had wonderful experiences with international organisations, and we have had some very troubling ones, too. So let this be well-understood by all agencies: if your staff exploits or harms our communities while “aiding” them, we will not tolerate your particular brand of support.

The international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, has said she will not move “hastily” in deciding whether to withdraw government funding of Oxfam after her meeting with the charity’s bosses yesterday.

I know people will be worried about the charity, they’ll be worried about the money, but we need to be guided by what the Charity Commission are doing and also I have made it very clear to Oxfam what we expect to see from them.

But these decisions shouldn’t be taken hastily, but I am considering them.

Ministers have “questions to answer” over Evans’ claim that they failed to take enough action in response to the concerns she reported in 2015, according to a senior Labour figure.

The shadow international development secretary, Kate Osamor says:

The Charity Commission and government departments have serious questions to answer: why did they take no action in response to concerns raised by Helen Evans in June 2015 and August 2015? Are there other whistleblowers that have brought safeguarding concerns to the Charity Commission only to be ignored?

It is crucial that we now understand how far this appalling scandal reaches, and whether the Charity Commission is operating effectively as an independent regulator.