Inside politics: Johnson facing backlash over spending and planning reforms

From today, couples tying the knot no longer face a 30 person cap at their wedding before heading off into the sunset to build a life together. In Downing Street, there is one relatively new union that is well past the honeymoon phase, and becoming increasingly strained. Exasperated by a host of uncosted spending pledges by Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak is said to have instructed Treasury officials to explore plans to suspend the ‘triple lock’ on pensions. But will it be tax rises or more borrowing and tears for Sunak? Before all that, the government faces a difficult Commons debate — called by Labour — on planning reforms, following its defeat in the Chesham and Amersham by-election. Some Tories in southern seats want to see the plans annulled.

Inside the bubble

Policy correspondent Jon Stone on what to look out for today:

It’s opposition day in the Commons. As well as calling for a debate on planning reforms, Labour will accuse the government of failing Britain’s steel industry after it recommended that EU protections for UK producers be dropped.

What to watch out for

Daily Briefing

SUNAK’S SHAKEDOWN: One likes having his cake and eating it; the other fasts once or twice a week. The differences between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are clear and increasingly coming to a head over spending pledges. The chancellor is said to have instructed Treasury officials to explore plans to suspend the ‘triple lock’ on pensions to save money. The Sunday Times reported cabinet ministers are alarmed that the PM keeps announcing expensive and uncosted commitments, with one source telling the paper that the financing of the royal yacht is “a complete and utter sh*show”, after Sunak refused to fund the project. The pair, and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, are also expected to meet this week for “crunch talks” on social care plans. Boris Johnson in 2019 claimed to have a “clear plan” for the sector. Nearly two years later it has still not been published.

PLANNING REVOLT: Labour is seeking to capitalise on discontent on the Tory backbenches over controversial planning reforms. The party has called a debate in parliament on the issue just days after the Lib Dems recorded a stunning victory in Chesham and Amersham by-election, where the plans came up on the doorstep. Labour is likely to be backed by a number of Tory MPs in southern constituencies seen as vulnerable to any future Lib Dem resurgence. Elsewhere, there has been a change to Keir Starmer’s top team. His chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney will instead take up a “strategic role” within the leader’s office, according to the party. It follows the departure of communications director Ben Nunn and deputy communications director Paul Ovenden within hours of the Chesham and Amersham result.

ORDER OR-DERRRRRR: Former Commons speaker John Bercow’s political voyage has taken yet another meander, albeit a slightly predictable one. The former “rabid right winger” turned-liberal-Remainer announced on Saturday evening joined the Labour Party a few weeks ago. And there was a parting shot at the PM on his way out of the door: the Conservatives today are a “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic”. Ouch. Never one to shy away from the limelight, Bercow made the trip over to the Sky News studio on Sunday morning to explain his reasoning. “No deal whatsoever” had been done with Keir Starmer on a peerage — or anything else — in exchange for the defection. He just likes Labour’s brand, apparently. Starmer’s office has since said, under his leadership, there is no chance Labour would elevate Bercow to the Lords. So what, exactly, is he up to? John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn are among those to have welcomed him to the party.

MAYBE DAVEY, IT COULD BE TRUE: Ed Davey was still smiling yesterday. And who could blame him after the Chesham and Amersham result? He reckons the party could win “dozens” of constituencies across southern England whose needs are being ignored by Boris Johnson. “I’m confident that we are seeing a change in British politics, much bigger than people had been seeing – I think with the pandemic the polls have not have not picked this up,” he told Sky News. He is right about the UK’s shifting tectonic plates, but whether the Lib Dems can significantly benefit from those changes remains to be seen. The party’s win in the Buckingham constituency was put down to HS2 and planning reforms. But a senior Lib Dem believes the Conservatives’ problems run deeper. “The Tories had *already* lost it by the time we pitched up & did our thing,” the source told Matt Chorley of Times Radio. “THAT is what’s worrying southern Tories. It’s not HS2 or planning or Lib Dems. It’s *them*”, Chorley said of the remarks. Davey is ruling out a progressive alliance with Labour.

HOLIDAY HOPE: Also lots of Covid news this morning, some of it good, some of it bad. Health leaders are calling on ministers to provide clarity on plans for ‘booster’ vaccines in the winter to help ease the burden on the NHS going into flu season. “We cannot just carry on as we are, with an emergency response,” medics told the government. TheDaily Mail reports Matt Hancock, the health secretary wants to ditch the UK’s stay-at-home order for fully vaccinated people who come into contact with Covid cases. Due to the success of the country’s jab rollout, ministers are also looking to ease travel quarantine rules. Pupils are to be regularly weighed in primary schools in England for the first time in 18 months from this September amid fears the pandemic has exacerbated the UK’s child obesity problem. Justice secretary Robert Buckland declined to rule out a winter lockdown Sunday, telling Times Radio: “The essence of the virus is you can’t ever say mission accomplished”.

On the record

“The Conservatives are selling out communities to pay back the developers who increasingly bankroll their party.”

Labour’s shadow communities secretary Steve Reed on Tory planning reforms

From the Twitterati

“As Speaker John Bercow stood up for Parliament during one of the most turbulent periods in British politics. I look forward to campaigning with him for social justice and peace in the future.”

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on John Bercow’s defection to Labour

“Until this morning I hadn’t realised how much lower my blood pressure had been since Bercow left as Speaker”.

Daily Mirror deputy political editor Ben Glaze is in better health since the former speaker left parliament

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