Boris Johnson has insisted the UK is “not remotely a corrupt country” and said MPs should be investigated and punished for breaking the rules, as the Conservative party continues to be embroiled in sleaze allegations. Johnson has used a press conference at Cop26 to urge world leaders to “pull out all the stops” to make the summit a success. After a brief visit where he met negotiators, he held a press conference where he said: So this is the time for everyone to come together and show the determination needed to power on through the blockages. To look at the science with dispassionate eyes and think about how we can compromise, how we can be flexible to meet the needs of the planet. And for world leaders who are back in their capitals to pick up the phone to their teams here and give them the negotiating margin, give them the space they need in which to manoeuvre so we can get this done. Here in Glasgow, the world is closer than it has ever been to signalling the beginning of the end of anthropogenic climate change. It’s the greatest gift we can possibly bestow on our children and grandchildren and generations unborn. It’s now within reach, at COP26 in these final days, we just need to reach out together and grasp it. When asked what tangible difference his presence at the summit had made, Johnson said that was for others to comment on. But he said he had tried to listen, particularly to NGOs, and to talk to the negotiators, and to encourage them to keep going and to make progress. Sir Geoffrey Cox, the Conservative former attorney general, is facing a conflict of interest claim after it emerged that he had lobbied against imposing tougher financial regulation on the Cayman Islands just months after he gained more than £40,000 from legal firms based in the tax haven. Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, earned money from legal work in the past on top of his job as an MP, the Commons register of interest shows. David Frost, the Brexit minister, has underlined the UK’s threat to suspend its deal with the EU, while saying that talks with Brussels to avoid a possible descent into a mutual trade war over the Northern Ireland protocol could yet end in an agreement. Priti Patel, the UK home secretary, has given support to a police investigation of protests outside the London School of Economics on Tuesday night that led to the Israeli ambassador being led away at speed with heavy police protection after addressing a meeting with students.