Inside Politics: Leaked Brexit memo reveals looming border chaos

“The past isn’t dead,” Daniel Craig whispers during the dramatic opening of the new James Bond movie trailer. Like all the best tragic heroes, old demons always come back to haunt 007. The spectre of Brexit has returned to spook our political protagonists at Westminster – who have not yet managed to consign the process to history. A leaked government document reveals attempts to get the UK’s borders ready for trade by the end of 2020 are becoming “unmanageable”. Can our tragic hero at No 10 save the day?

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

We await new statistics from the ONS showing the social impact of the pandemic, and the Independent Sage group scientists will hold their regular Friday briefing. Boris Johnson will welcome the formal start of construction of the long-awaited HS2 rail link between London and the Midlands and North. The PM may well herald the symbolic step as a sign his “levelling up” agenda can produce physical results.

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER: It feels increasingly like our transition into 2021 will be grim – regardless of whether or not there’s a trade deal with the EU. Attempts to get the UK’s borders ready for trade for 1 January are “unmanageable”, according to a leaked government document published by Bloomberg. The Cabinet Office memo warns of “critical gaps” in new IT systems – one of 13 key issues which need to be urgently addressed before the transition period ends. Eight logistics industry groups have warned ministers that the UK’s supply chain will be “severely disrupted” if these issues aren’t fixed. They’ve asked for an “urgent” meeting with Michael Gove, Rishi Sunak and Grant Shapps. Rachel Reeves, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said it raised the risk of “border chaos”, while the Best for Britain campaign group warned: “If this is not sorted … Britain will be set for an extremely bleak midwinter.”

TIME TO SPLIT: Portugal and Greece will not be added to England’s quarantine list, at least for now. Grant Shapps told us it would be kept under “constant review”. There is a clear split across the UK to keep track of now, with Wales adding Portugal and six Greek islands to its quarantine list from 4am on Friday, while Portugal and French Polynesia will be added to Scotland’s list from 4am on Saturday. First minister Nicola Sturgeon issued a stark warning that “the virus is spreading again”. She said the R rate of transmission could now be 1.4 north of the border. Chris Grayling and Lord Adonis – both former transport secretaries – joined calls for airport testing to replace the 14-day quarantine rule, part of a group of MPs who have forced a debate on the issue in parliament next week.

HE COME FROM A LAND DOWN UNDER: Tony Abbott’s presence in the UK continues to cause a stir. Ministers were forced into a desperate defence of the “proposal” to give the former Australian PM a top UK trade job, with Matt Hancock saying his “experience” would justify it regardless of his terrible remarks about women and homosexuality. Trade minister Greg Hands said Abbott was only trying to “help this country out”. Which makes this country sound pretty pathetic. Keir Starmer revealed he had “real concerns” Abbott and warned he would not be the “right” person to conduct post-Brexit deals. Even some Tories appear to be getting cold feet. Tom Tugendhat, chair of the foreign affairs committee, said he’d rather have someone British “representing the regions and nations”. Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said “no decision” has been made on appointments to the Board of Trade. Is yet another U-turn possible?

POP TIL YOU DROP: Johnson made a “short drop-in” to a meeting of Dominic Raab and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. No 10 justified the decision to pop in and chat with the president’s advisor so close to the US election. “It was specifically a discussion about the Middle East peace process,” said the PM’s spokesman. Meanwhile, No 10 said it “regrets” the Trump administration’s decision to sanction senior figures in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Trump issued an executive order allowing the US to block the assets of ICC employees. The PM’s official spokesman also warned Russia of “severe consequences” following the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. But there are no clues yet about the measures the UK is working on with Germany and other allies.

WHAT LARKS, WHAT JAPES: The BBC is back in the headlines after new director-general Tim Davie warned staff against “partisan” bias on Twitter. Jacob Rees-Mogg – a stickler for the conventions he likes – decided to break Commons’ rules for a joke at the Beeb’s expense. He played a short clip of Rule, Britannia! by holding up his mobile phone to the dispatch box microphone. But perhaps the strangest Tory story of the day involves Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith. She was forced to distance herself (a bit) from her husband after he was revealed to be a coronavirus conspiracy theorist. Sandy McFadzean described Covid as an “outbreak of mental illness”, writing: “Either there is a killer virus on the loose or there isn’t. (Spoiler alert: There isn’t).” The Tory MP said she didn’t share her husband’s opinion, but felt everyone was “entitled to their own”.

BUMP IN THE NIGHT: A new poll shows Joe Biden gaining a nice poll bump over Donald Trump on law and order issues in the crucial state of Wisconsin. The Fox News survey shows the Democrat five points ahead on policing and criminal justice (and eight points ahead overall). Biden said he had spoken to Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old black man who was shot by police in Wisconsin. Blake, now paralysed in hospital, told the candidate “he was not going to give up”. Violence and politics continue to have a disturbing crossover in the US. Police have shot dead a man suspected of killing a right-wing activist during last weekend’s unrest in Portland. Michael Reinoehl – the 48-year-old who was being investigated for the fatal shooting of a Trump supporter – reportedly brandished a gun as a federal task force tried to apprehend him.

“If I was prime minister I wouldn’t appoint him.”

Keir Starmer doesn’t like Tony Abbott for the Board of Trade.

“The job of @KayBurley is to report, in an entirely neutral manner, what is happening. It is not to express her own opinions. If she wants to pursue personal agendas, she should get out of journalism and into politics.”

Former UKIP leader Henry Bolton thinks Kay Burley is too opiniated…

“I’m afraid I can’t take lectures from a failed politician who ‘abandoned’ his ‘still breastfeeding’ third wife for a woman half his age … and still expects to be taken seriously.”

…prompting Burley to give her opinion on Bolton. Ouch.

James Moore, The Independent: Tony Abbott is a useful scapegoat for the government

Mo Salah, The Independent: The world’s displaced youth are at risk of losing an education

Rachel Sylvester, Prospect: Can David Frost help the UK survive Brexit’s next cliff edge?

John Cassidy, The New Yorker: Trump’s incitements to violence have crossed an alarming threshold