Inside Politics: Tony Abbott makes his case for UK trade job

Prince William has been condemned by animal rights activists for introducing Prince George to grouse shooting. Letting the poor lad watch could “damage his psyche”, they claim. Speaking of macho behaviour, Boris Johnson has been condemned for introducing Tony Abbott to the wilds of British politics. Even Tory MPs are worried that the “misogynist” ex-Australian PM could damage our fractured national psyche. The right-winger’s attempts to hunt down a role on our post-Brexit Board of Trade don’t seem to be going too well.

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone on what to look out for today:

Parliament may be back, but are the rest of the country’s office workers? The prime minister has claimed people are getting back to workplaces in “huge numbers”. We'll have some clarity on whether he’s right today: the government is publishing new statistics on public transport usage over the last week, going up to Monday. They’ll tell us whether commuting has returned at all.

HEART OF STONE: Families whose loved ones died from coronavirus have accused Boris Johnson of being “heartless” after he turned down a meeting with them to discuss a public inquiry into the pandemic response. The PM had said he would “of course” meet anyone bereaved by the disease – but days later wrote to the group to say he was “unable” to do so. Elsewhere, former Australian PM Tony Abbott arrived in London to audition for a top UK trade role. He confirmed to MPs on the foreign affairs committee he was indeed in “discussions” with the government. Tory MP Caroline Nokes, chair of the women and equalities committee, doesn’t like Abbott or his potential appointment. “I am not sure I can come up with words for how awful I think it is.” Abbott later put his foot in it at a Policy Exchange speech – suggesting the economy meant families should be able to consider allowing elderly relatives with Covid to die by letting “nature take its course”. Yikes.

OKAY COMMUTER: Johnson claimed that “huge numbers” of people were now returning to their offices. “Quite right too,” he added. But there’s little evidence of it in silent central London, and Tory disquiet is growing. Up to 50,000 West End retail jobs are at risk, warned Nickie Aiken, MP for Cities of London and Westminster. Sir Charles Walker – vice-chair of the 1922 committee of backbenchers – said Johnson should “say it is all of our duty” to get back to a normal commute. Yet unnamed cabinet ministers told The Telegraph the government fears Prof Chris Whitty could quit if the PM pushes too hard on the issue. The Scottish government, meanwhile, has brought back lockdown restrictions on visiting other households in Glasgow after a spike in Covid cases. Scotland has added Greece to its list of quarantine countries, while Wales added the Greek island of Zante.

MILES TO GO: Millions more pupils in England return to classes today. It marks another “massive milestone,” said Gavin Williamson. And yet a YouGov survey suggests a hardcore group of parents remain unconvinced about the safety of schools. It found 17 per cent of parents were “seriously considering” not sending their children back. There are more ominous warning signs for Williamson from the Scottish education system. School attendance north of the border is down to only 84.5%, according to local authorities. Scotland’s largest teaching union, the EIS, said many parents were still “erring on the side of caution”. The negative headlines won’t go away for the education secretary. Williamson was warned about huge flaws in the grading algorithm by exam board operator Cambridge Assessment two weeks before A-level results were published, The Guardian reports.

FEEL THE FORCE: Dominic Raab has announced a £119m fund to tackle the coronavirus in places struggling with famine, as the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office launches today. The foreign secretary said the money, mostly targeted at sub-Saharan Africa, showed “Global Britain” was “a force for good in the world”. The government denied reports it would be scrapping a commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid. And yet some odd things appear to be happening to the definition of “aid”. Rishi Sunak would like to “divert” billions of pounds from foreign aid to pay for upgrades to intelligence and defence capabilities, according to The Times. The chancellor believes it is “only right that any extra spending comes out of the 0.7 per cent,” said a Whitehall source.

REBEL YELL: Green MP Caroline Lucas is set to table the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill today – a private members’ bid to toughen up the UK’s net zero emissions’ target by including carbon emissions from trade, aviation and shipping. A group of 65 Extinction Rebellion activists were arrested on Tuesday after activists shut down several roads outside parliament – demanding the government backs Lucas’s legislation. It kicks off another wave of disruptive protests over the next two weeks. Stunts planned include a “carnival of corruption” outside the Treasury and a “walk of shame” near the Bank of England. Meanwhile, inside parliament, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the Tory MP arrested on suspicion of rape has “voluntarily agreed” not to attend the Commons while on bail.

WRONG ARM OF THE LAW: Donald Trump described recent riots in Kenosha as “domestic terror” during a walkabout in the Wisconsin city. The president defied requests by local leaders who said his visit would be wrong – and condemned the “violent mobs” that destroyed local businesses in the unrest which has followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Is Trump’s law and order theme working? Favourable views of the Black Lives Matter movement has dipped from 59 per cent to 49 per cent from June to August, while Republican strategists think they detect a big shift in their favour among suburban men. “The suburbs have turned against civil unrest,” said Wes Anderson, a pollster for the Trump-affiliated political organisation America First Policies.

“Bit by bit this incredible country is getting back on its feet and is recovering from this crisis.”

Boris Johnson tells his cabinet things are looking up.

“From his climate change denial to misogyny, Tony Abbott has never been someone shy of showing us exactly who he is – now he’s effectively suggesting that some elderly Covid patients could be left to die naturally.”

Historian Tanja Bueltmann is charmed by Abbot’s arrival on the scene…

“Easy to see why Tories like him. The kind of chap you’d cross several streets to avoid.”

…while author Edwin Hayward thinks he’ll fit right in at Westminster.

Vince Cable, The Independent: Labour and the Lib Dems may have to work together to defeat the Tories

Shappi Khorsandi, The Independent: The BBC has a long history of right-wing comedy

Isabel Hardman, The Spectator: The real test for Starmer comes after Covid

Frida Ghitis, CNN: Trump’s depraved plan to win re-election