Inside Politics: Dominic Raab imposes UK's first post-Brexit sanctions

The war on woke brigade won’t like Prince Harry’s latest remarks. The duke has suggested the sins of the British Commonwealth must be acknowledged – however “uncomfortable” they may be – to help right the wrongs of “hundreds of years gone by”. Dominic Raab is acknowledging uncomfortable parts of the very recent past by issuing new sanctions against Russian and Saudi officials. The foreign secretary said the government wants to stop henchmen “waltzing into this country to buy up property”. But some Tory MPs won’t be happy until Chinese officials are added to the list. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for on Tuesday:

Treasury questions in the House of Commons today, which will mostly consist of Rishi Sunak and his ministers saying, “Wait until tomorrow’s Summer Economic Update”. Labour has urgent questions on the order paper on coronavirus and arts funding, so Matt Hancock and Oliver Dowden may speak. There are select committee hearings on racism in football, why the national infrastructure plan hasn’t been published yet, and the abolition of the Department for International Development.

DESPOTS OF BOTHER: Dominic Raab has announced that 25 Russians and 20 Saudis implicated in the murders of whistle-blowing auditor Sergei Magnitsky and journalist Jamal Khashoggi – as well as those responsible for the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar – will be on Britain’s first post-Brexit sanctions list targeting human rights abusers. The foreign secretary said the UK would take action against the “thugs of despots and henchmen of dictators”. The Russian embassy in London warned of “retaliatory measures” in response. Tory MPs used the big announcement to do some brief China-bashing. Tom Tugendhat, urged Raab to look at Beijing’s treatment of Uighur minorities, and Iain Duncan Smith suggested Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam be added to the list.

NOT SO GOLDEN: It wasn’t so long ago Boris Johnson hailed a “golden age” in Sino-British relations. The age appears to be over. Beijing’s ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming said the PM’s path to citizenship offer to Hong Kongers amounted to “gross interference” and warned that denying Huawei a role in the 5G network would send a “very bad message” to other firms. The Daily Mail reports that Christopher Steele – the ex-spy behind the Trump-Russia dossier – has helped compile a new document claiming Beijing has been trying to “capture” members of Britain’s elite to win support for Huawei. Is a U-turn in the offing? Culture secretary Oliver Dowden revealed No 10 had received an updated intelligence assessment on the firm and said approval for 5G involvement wasn’t “set in stone”. Make of that what you will.

INSULT TO INJURY: Johnson is under fire after appearing to blame care home owners for coronavirus deaths in their facilities. “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have,” the PM claimed. The National Care Association called the suggestion a “huge slap in the face”, while the National Care Forum described his remarks as “hugely insulting”. Elsewhere, Baroness Dido Harding told the Lords’ science committee she still couldn’t give a date for when the NHS Test and Trace app. “Technology development paths do not run in a smooth and linear way,” she said. Nothing about the NHS is smooth at the moment. Meanwhile medical royal colleges, NHS trade unions and hospital managers have told The Independent the health service will be unable to meet patients’ needs unless action is taken to tackle staff shortages.

CRASH COURSE: Keir Stamer has pledged to do unconscious bias training following his remarks about the Black Lives Matter “moment”. The Labour leader said he would “lead from the top” and complete a few hours’ worth of training soon. Starmer has been criticised by both right and left for failing to take action against shadow communities secretary Steve Reed for describing the Jewish businessman Richard Desmond as a “puppet master” (Reed has apologised for his now-deleted tweet). Speaking of bias, is there political favouritism going on at the Bank of England? It has emerged governor Andrew Bailey will speak to Tory backbenchers’ 1922 Committee. But according to The Huffington Post, there’s no cause for alarm – Bailey will also address Labour MPs later this month.

HOAX PROVOKE: The White House has claimed the rest of the world still views the US as a “leader” in the coronavirus crisis response – despite its death toll climbing past 130,000. Donald Trump’s latest cretinous remark saw the president claim Nascar star Bubba Wallace should “apologise” for being part of a “HOAX”. It follows the discovery what many people believed was a noose in Wallace’s garage in Alabama (the FBI investigated and concluded it was only a pull-rope handle). We don’t have long to wait for more spectacular Trump details after the publication of his niece’s tell-all memoir was brought forward. Mary L Trump’s brilliantly-titled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man is now released 14 July.

STATE UNDER STRAIN: It seems the “hard” local lockdown in Melbourne’s suburbs hasn’t been enough to thwart the spread of Covid-19. Australian authorities are re-imposing stay-at-home restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne and one other area of Victoria state for the next six weeks. Victoria reported 191 new cases overnight, following 127 new cases on Monday. “These are unsustainably high numbers,” said state leader Daniel Andrews. Hundreds of police officers and army troops are being deployed to enforce the closure of the border between Victoria and New South Wales (NWS) from midnight tonight. “There’s serious fines and indeed, a jail sentence, to anyone that wants to push the envelope,” said NWS’ police chief.

“I think everybody should have unconscious bias training. I think it is important.”

Keir Starmer says he will undertake training – and urges others to follow suit.

“I want to apologise unreservedly for the language in the tweet I posted on Saturday. It was inappropriate and as soon as I realised my error I deleted it.”

Labour MP Steve Reed says sorry for his ‘puppet master’ tweet…

“Today I learned that Zero Tolerance actually means tolerance in certain discretionary circumstances.”

…leaving former Corbyn staffer Matt Zarb-Cousin to wonder what it takes to get the sack.

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Brexit didn’t break the UK, but coronavirus will kill off the union

Lauren Crosby Medlicott, The Independent: The UK thinks it can impose sanctions without EU backing. It’s wrong

Rachel Sylvester, The Times: Labour needs to ditch Corbynite economics

Jesse Wegman, The New York Times: Can we please pick the president by popular vote now?