Journalists in Downing Street walk out after Johnson aide tries to exclude some reporters
Political journalists boycotted a Downing Street briefing on Monday after one of Boris Johnson’s aides banned selected reporters from attending.
The confrontation took place inside No 10 after Lee Cain, Johnson’s most senior communications adviser, tried to exclude reporters from the Mirror, the i, HuffPost, PoliticsHome, the Independent and others from an official government briefing.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including Johnson’s speech on EU trade talks, and Barnier publishing EU’s draft negotiating guidelines
The Times’ Steven Swinford has flagged up what the EU document says about fishing, which will probably be an early flashpoint in the talks.
Here's the EU's demand for access to Britain's fishing waters in black and white
'The objective on fisheries should be to uphold Union fishing activities.
'It should aim to avoid economic dislocation for Union fishermen that have traditionally fished in UK waters' pic.twitter.com/qbu4g6HKg0
Barnier says he wants to negotiate in a spirit of mutual respect and professionalism.
He is now introducing senior members of his team.
Continue reading...Transport secretary tells MPs they ‘won’t have to wait long’ amid continuing opposition
Speculation that a decision on HS2 will be made early next week is mounting as the prime minister and key figures are understood to have held final talks on the controversial project.
The chancellor, Sajid Javid, who has publicly swung behind the scheme, and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, are believed to have met Boris Johnson as the high-speed line continues to divide opinion among backbenchers.
Continue reading...Non-alignment with EU will mean ‘extra processes’ and not frictionless trade
British firms will face extra paperwork and checks on goods at cross-channel borders under Boris Johnson’s proposals for post-Brexit trade.
The prime minister is set to tell the EU that he is willing to accept additional checks and friction at border crossings so he can prioritise promises made on sovereignty after Britain leaves the EU.
Continue reading...The chancellor is set to support the controversial rail project at a meeting with Boris Johnson and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps
That was a display from Dominic Raab and Mike Pompeo of US-UK unity ahead of Brexit, with disagreements over Huawei, Iran and the Harry Dunn depicted as blips that could be overcome.
Instead, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, reiterated that the UK would be “at the front of the line” when it comes to a trade deal, with both parties concurring that this was achievable before November’s presidential election in November.
There is a follow up question on Harry Dunn from CBS.
Raab says he had a “good conversation with Mike” about it.
Continue reading...Emily Thornberry accuses Boris Johnson’s administration of ‘shameful betrayal’
Labour has condemned the government for praising Donald Trump’s vision for Middle East peace, with the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, calling it a “shameful betrayal” of previous UK support for a viable two-state solution.
In an urgent Commons question on the plan, which has been condemned for granting Israel the bulk of its wishes but only offering a Palestinian state under severe restrictions, Thornberry called it “a monstrosity” and a guarantee of future violence.
Continue reading...Leo Varadkar says the EU has a 'stronger team' than the UK in Brexit trade talks, comparing the size of their respective populations and markets.
Speaking to the BBC before talks in Ireland with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, the Irish prime minister also warned Boris Johnson that divergence from Brussels standards would make an agreement more difficult in the time allowed.
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Here is the Times’s Steven Swinford on the significant of the PMOS’s comments on fishing.
No 10 spokesman suggests access to Britain’s waters for EU fishing boats *will* be the subject of negotiations over future trade deal
‘We are taking back control of our waters
‘It will be for the UK to determine for the best interests of the UK who fishes in those waters’
The PMOS is not talking about some of the post-Brexit Whitehall arrangements.
He says there will be 40 officials working in government taskforce on the EU future partnership.
Continue reading...Labour leadership favourite urges prime minister to face MPs’ questions over 5G decision
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of “doing a runner” over the decision on whether to allow Huawei a role in the UK’s 5G infrastructure, as Washington gave a final warning to the UK government over what it called a “momentous” choice.
Ahead of a likely decision on Tuesday, with the cabinet reportedly split and the Trump administration urging Downing Street to block any role for the Chinese telecoms firm, Starmer urged Johnson to make a statement to MPs in the Commons.
Continue reading...The Observer’s political editor has reported on Britain’s place in the EU for more than 30 years. Here he charts the key moments in a stormy relationship and the missed chances to save it from destruction
Last week, with the end of the UK’s 47-year membership of the club of European nations just days away, I looked back at some newspaper cuttings from my time as a Brussels correspondent. A picture of worried-looking farmers eyeing up their cattle at a market in Banbury stared out alongside banner headlines. “British beef banned in Europe. Cattle prices fall. School meals hit. EU ‘rules’ broken.” Among the many crises in British relations with the EU down the years – from Margaret Thatcher’s bust-up over the European budget in the early 1980s to the UK’s exit from the ERM in 1992 – the beef war between London and Brussels ranks among the biggest.
It was 29 March, 1996, and the European commission had just announced a worldwide ban on the export of British beef. The EU’s executive opted for decisive action after the Tory government admitted there could be a link between “mad cow” disease and the mutant strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which could kill humans. I had been in Brussels less than three months. It was a huge story, and reading through articles I had written at the time, it felt like yesterday. But what was most striking, as my mind fixed again on events of 24 years ago, was how relevant that one prolonged and tortuous episode seemed today, in the context of Brexit.
Continue reading...The Tory peer and former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine has accused Boris Johnson of trying to “rub the noses of Remainers in their defeat”, after the prime minister announced events to commemorate the UK’s departure from the EU this coming Friday at 11pm.
Downing Street said that 3m special 50p coins bearing the words “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” will enter shops, banks and restaurants from Friday with a further 7m coming into circulation by the end of the year. Union Jack flags will also line Parliament Square and the Mall on Friday and the public will see government buildings in Whitehall lit up in red, white and blue.
Continue reading...Benita Mehra had been the target of fury from survivors and bereaved of 2017 tragedy
A key member of the Grenfell Tower public inquiry has resigned after fury among survivors and the bereaved at her links to the company that made the combustible cladding.
Less than 48 hours before the inquiry is due to start hearing evidence about “decisions which led to the installation of a highly combustible cladding system”, Boris Johnson announced Benita Mehra was standing down from a panel advising the chairman of the inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick. It followed 10 days of rising pressure on the prime minister from the community devastated by the fire on 14 June 2017 – which claimed 72 lives – to reverse her appointment.
Continue reading...The influence exerted on the prime minister by his partner, Carrie Symonds, will be explored in court after permission was granted last week for a judicial review into how the government came to pull a cull on badgers in Derbyshire.
The case could embarrass Boris Johnson and raise questions about the government’s willingness to listen to its advisers when formulating policy.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary calls decision a ‘denial of justice’ and says UK would have acted differently
The foreign secretary has condemned the US decision to refuse an extradition request for the suspect charged with causing the death of Harry Dunn, saying the UK would have “acted differently”.
Harry Dunn died after a crash outside a US military base in Croughton, Northamptonshire, on 27 August 2019.
Continue reading...News Corp owner was the only media baron the prime minister saw in his first three months
Boris Johnson saw Rupert Murdoch for a “social meeting” on the day he signalled his intention to seek a general election last year, according to new transparency disclosures.
Johnson saw the media billionaire on 2 September, the day when Downing Street briefed that he would be seeking an autumn election if his Brexit plans were thwarted. In the event the election was pushed back to December.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Report on Russian interference depends on prime minister appointing committee
The SNP’s leader at Westminster has written to Boris Johnson demanding that he take immediate steps to allow the suppressed report into Russia’s interference in the British political system to be published.
Ian Blackford, the leader of the third-largest party in the Commons, called on the prime minister to begin appointing members of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, necessary to allow the controversial document to be released.
Continue reading...Johnson says international peacekeeping force could monitor the proposed ceasefire
World leaders seeking an enduring ceasefire in Libya have agreed at a summit to impose sanctions on those breaking an arms embargo and are considering whether to send a multinational force to the country.
The conference in Berlin of 11 countries is aimed at bringing an end to the fighting between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli led by the prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, and the Libyan National Army in the country’s east led by Gen Khalifa Haftar.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson says during talks in Berlin there will be no normalisation of UK-Russia ties
Boris Johnson has told Vladimir Putin there will be no normalisation of the relationship between the UK and Russia, almost two years on from the Salisbury attack.
The pair met in Berlin on the sidelines of an international summit about the future of Libya. According to an account of the conversation released by Downing Street, Johnson stuck closely to the robust stance taken by Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May.
Continue reading...Families feel they have fallen down agenda amid row over inquiry panel member
Grenfell survivors have accused Boris Johnson of downgrading the government’s interest in the disaster and said he is out of touch with what they are going through.
As pressure rose on the prime minister to rescind his appointment of a public inquiry panel member revealed to have links to the combustible cladding company involved in the tower’s refurbishment, community leaders said: “Grenfell families have dropped down the agenda for Downing Street.”
Continue reading...Boris Johnson is to tell cabinet ministers that they must focus all their energy on developing policies for post-Brexit Britain – or face the sack in a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle within weeks.
Related: Liberal, nuanced, cautious: is this the real Boris Johnson?
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