Inside Politics: Robert Jenrick faces storm over Tory donor-row documents

Too hot for you? Fear not. The skies will crack with thunderstorms and rain later, which is expected to cool things off. No such luck for Robert Jenrick. The heat is well and truly following the release of chummy text messages between the communities secretary and Tory donor Richard Desmond – turning a tempestuous row into a full-blown, gale-force political scandal. Elsewhere, police chiefs across England are warning we’re heading for a “perfect storm” when the pubs reopen next Saturday. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson will come under pressure to sack the communities secretary Robert Jenrick after documents revealed how he pushed through a controversial planning decision linked to a Tory party donor. Amid the political drama, new figures will be released showing the spread of coronavirus infections in England as the lockdown eases. Elsewhere, Labour leader Keir Starmer will hold two “Call Keir” virtual meetings with members of the public in Scotland as he seeks to rebuild after the party’s disastrous electoral defeat.

JOY OF TEXT: Robert Jenrick is under pressure to resign after the release of some seriously damaging material related to his approval of Westferry property scheme. An official at the communities department said Jenrick was “insistent” the decision be signed off before the community infrastructure levy (CIL) came into force and cost Tory donor Richard Desmond’s company £45m. Some matey text messages between Jenrick and Desmond were also released amid the paperwork – and won’t help his case either. The donor told the minister: “We don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!” Labour said the “explosive revelations” indicated Jenrick “rushed through” the application, demanding he returns to the Commons to explain “discrepancies”. Cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill said Boris Johnson now considered the matter “closed”. We’ll see about that.

WE’RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BUBBLE: Schools won’t have to apply social distancing of even one metre so all pupils can return in September, according to The Telegraph. The newspaper says the government will announce the U-turn next week and will push the idea of expanded “bubbles” to help limit the amount of mixing that goes on outside of classes. Will drinkers obey the one-metre rule when pubs re-open on 4 July? The Police Federation has warned of the potential for serious disorder – pointing to the Saturday night factor, the hot weather, and the fact it falls the weekend after pay day. Steve Kent, chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, likened the oncoming revelry to “weeks of New Year’s Eves”, calling the conditions a “perfect storm”. Government guidance shows pubs are supposed to keep music low to avoid people needing to shout when boozing returns.

SHHH…THEY MAY BE LISTENING: A new poll shows the British public really, really hate the idea of chlorinated chicken – regardless of any trade deal with the US. A survey by Which? found 95 per cent of people want the UK to maintain its ban on the chlorine-washing of food. In parliament trade secretary Liz Truss refused to discuss food standards as part of a potential transatlantic deal – because the Americans might be listening. “I’m not going to go into detail ... because I suspect our counterparties from across the Atlantic might be taking account of my comments.” Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson clashed over child poverty figures and the failed contact-tracing app at the their testiest PMQs encounter to date. When Johnson asked the Labour leader if he “can name a single country in the world that has a functional contact-tracing app”, Starmer shot back: “Germany … 12 million downloads. I checked that overnight.”

FULL OR HALF-BLOODED? Some Conservatives are now discussing the need for some kind of inquiry into the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis. Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the liaison committee, said he supported a “lessons learned” review rather than a “full-blooded” inquiry, focusing on “areas of weakness where action is needed urgently”. It comes as volunteers have begun receiving doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by researchers at Imperial College London – the second trial underway in the UK. Tests on animals suggest Imperial’s RNA vaccine triggers an effective response in the immune system. Elsewhere, documents leaked to The Huffington Post indicate government officials are not certain the R value (the average transmission rate of the virus) is below 1 in England.

HIS NAME TAKEN IN VAIN: Donald Trump has accused protesters of planning to tear down statues of Jesus and several former presidents. “Now they’re looking at Jesus Christ. They’re looking at George Washington. They’re looking at Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson.” He promised a “very strong executive order” by the end of the week to punish anyone toppling monuments. Elsewhere, state governors in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have agreed to impose a quarantine on visitors from Covid-19 hotspots elsewhere in the US. The 14-day quarantine will apply to visitors from states where 10 per cent of the population is infected on a seven-day rolling average – currently eight states, including Florida, Texas and South Carolina.

LANDMARK LOOMING: The number of global coronavirus cases is set to reach 10 million within the next week, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Dr Mike Ryan, the body’s health emergency chief, said he was particularly worried about the Americas, where the virus has not peaked yet and cases increased between 25 per cent and 50 per cent last week. In pointed remarks, Dr Ryan said the virus was ruthless in exploiting “poor government” and “weak health systems”. The top official did reserve some praise for the UK, however. He said there had been a “steady, slow and step-wise exit from lockdown conditions” and the country’s “surveillance system is capable of understanding where the disease is”.

“65,000 people have lost their lives … the prime minister should welcome challenge that could save lives rather than complaining about it.”

Keir Starmer clashes with Boris Johnson at PMQs.

“Minister tells officials he wants quick decision. Now PM says matter closed. Mmmmm. I wonder.”

Nick Robinson suggests the Jenrick-Desmond scandal is far from over…

“PM considered Dominic Cummings farce closed, now he considers the Jenrick planning issue closed, sorry in the old days these would have been resignations ... it’s not acceptable.”

…leaving Angela Rayner to wonder how bad it has to get before he has to go.

Layla Moran, The Independent: Johnson’s playing a risky Brexit game – we need a transition extension

John Rentoul, The Independent: Starmer is now even beating Johnson at parliamentary theatrics during PMQs

Stephen Bush, New Statesman: Tory MPs now worry Boris Johnson is incapable of governing

Ezra Klein, Vox: How identity politics changed the Democratic Party – for the better