Inside Politics: Boris Johnson has the Queen read yet another speech

The Hollywood actor Adam Driver would never make it at Westminster. The sensitive star has caused a stir by walking out of an interview when the host played a clip of his traumatic movie Marriage Story. Apparently Driver hates looking back at any of his own performances. As the Queen arrives for the state opening of parliament today, will Boris Johnson be haunted by his most traumatic and ridiculous performance – the prorogation debacle? Probably not. The PM is not prone to agonise over mistakes. Our leading man is pressing on with his Brexit plans – despite concern in Brussels we’re walking out of the EU without understanding what comes next. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Our political correspondent Benjamin Kentish on what to look out for today:

There will be less pageantry than usual at the State Opening of Parliament today, with the Queen reduced to travelling by car rather than by horse-drawn carriage. Boris Johnson will put new laws to send terrorists to prison for longer​ and NHS funding at the heart of his legislative programme, alongside his Withdrawal Agreement Bill – aimed at getting us out of the EU by the end of January. The government wants to enshrine in law a commitment on health service funding, with an extra £33.9bn per year provided by 2023/24. Labour will continue to point out we will have to wait and see whether it makes up for “years of underfunding”.

ROYAL RUMBLE: Does even Her Majesty sometimes wonder what all the fuss is about? The government agenda she’ll read out today bears a striking resemblance to the last government agenda – before parliament was so rudely interrupted by Johnson’s need to win an election. The big thing is the Brexit bill, which was supposed to be “oven-ready” – but the package has been re-opened and ingredients changed slightly to prevent any further extension to the transition period. The European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt has a warning for Johnson. He said MEPs could still block the Brexit deal over the UK’s treatment of EU citizens. Worried about problems with our settlement scheme, Verhofstadt urged the PM: “Be generous in your victory. Grant to all EU citizens the full rights as they have today … No ifs and buts.” He also tweeted a gif of Nigel Farage looking stupid. Gotta love Guy.

SEE EMILY PLAY: Emily Thornberry has become the first person to officially turn up at the starting line in the Labour leadership race, with Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Yvette Cooper and others doing warm-up exercises and checking if they have enough support behind them. Setting out her case in a BBC interview and Guardian op-ed, the Islington South and Finsbury MP claimed to come “from the heart of the party,” describing herself as a “girly swot” who had regularly “pummelled” Johnson in parliament. Corbyn? He was “badly let down by people who advised him badly,” the MP claimed. She thinks Seumas Milne is bad – got it? After Thornberry criticised the decision to “gift” Johnson his Brexit election, John McDonnell revealed his own issues with the pre-Crimbo poll. “For historical accuracy, many of us wanted to delay election until after the Brexit legislation had been won or lost.”

FABULOUS BAKER BOY: It seems you can’t keep a good hardman down. Some dismissively suggested Johnson’s big victory would leave the European Research Group (ERG) a spent force, but Steve “Brexit hardman” Baker boasted about a good turnout at the latest meeting. The brave Eurosceptics are a bit shy about revealing exact numbers, but Baker tweeted a photo of 37 MPs – including some of the new intake from the north. Mark Francois, the rebel faction’s deputy chairman, said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the attendance. Dehenna Davison, the 26-year-old who once appeared on Channel 4 reality show Bride and Prejudice, said she would come along next time (I think we’ve got a real character on our hands there). Meanwhile, the far-right group Britain First is urging supporters to join the Tory party in order to “make Boris Johnson’s leadership more secure”.

THERE IS A SHOUT THAT NEVER GOES OUT: There’s another “pleasant surprise” for Francois. His nemesis Steve Bray – the man who shouts “STOP BREEEXIT!” outside parliament every day (and interrupts Francois’ live interviews on College Green) – has decided to pack it in and give his vocal cords a rest after 847 days. A symbolic moment. But the Europhile wants his warning cry to linger as an echo, long after he’s gone. “When the proverbial s*** kicks in, we will look into how we can get back into the EU,” he told The Metro. Bray had a cheery message for us all before he walked off into the sunset: “I don’t blame those people that voted to leave after being promised the Earth, but the sad fact is that we are all going to end up in hell after Brexit happens.”

PANNICK RETURNS: The Queen’s return to the frontline isn’t the only retro throwback to that long, hazy late summer of 2019 and all of its prorogation madness. Lord Pannick QC – the hero who led the case against the government back in August – has warned against a No 10 plan to allow judges in our lower courts to depart from previous rulings of the EU’s top court. He said it would “cause very considerable legal uncertainty”. Meanwhile, Lady Hale – the heroine who ruled Johnson’s suspension of parliament unlawful – has warned against political appointees to the Supreme Court in her final speech before retiring next month. The person replacing her, Lord Reed, said the prorogation hearing was a “ruling of lasting importance”. He also said Lady Hale’s spider brooch was now “a symbol of swashbuckling womanhood”. All hail Queen of the Spider Brooch!

THE BIG SHORT: It really isn’t a great time of year to be losing your job. But then, when is? Labour’s HR director has sent an email to employees warning them the big reduction in “short money funding” – the amount given to parties depending on seat numbers – could have an “immediate impact” on staff numbers. At the moment critics of Corbyn and his closest associates are looking for anything to stick the boot in and kick them out the door. Labour MP Wes Streeting said it was unfair for lower paid staff to face uncertainty while “the architects of our defeat” show no sign of going. But the Corbynista MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle said people calling for an immediate changing of the guard were “c***s,” adding that calling for Corbyn to stand down now was “c***ish”. So much for the kinder, gentler politics Jezza wanted, eh?

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