Inside Politics: Macron spoils G7 mood with protocol warning

A glamorous 78-year-old American star is stealing the headlines during his stay in England. That’s right, Harrison Ford is in Northumberland – charming the locals in restaurants and coffee shops as prepares to shoot the fifth Indiana Jones film. The other glamorous 78-year-old American will be doing his very best to charm all kinds of people today. After bowling along the boulevard of Carbis Bay with Boris Johnson, Joe Biden will meet with the other G7 leaders. He seems to have the British PM safely on side already. Johnson claimed he is “not going to disagree” with anything the US president has to say.

Inside the bubble

Political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

The three-day G7 summit finally gets under way in Cornwall. After a family photo call at 2.45pm, leaders will discuss the global economy and how to “build back better” after Covid. The Queen will host a dinner for the group of politicians at the Eden Project later – along with Charles, Camilla, William and Kate.

Daily briefing

THE BEACH BOYS: Boris Johnson appears mightily relieved Joe Biden didn’t make a big deal about Brexit at their first meeting. The PM described the US president as a “breath of fresh air” after the pair took a stroll on the beach by Carbis Bay – claiming the pair were in “complete harmony” on the need to solve trade problems in Northern Ireland. Playing down reports of a major rift over the protocol, a senior US official said: “He didn’t come here to give a lecture … He came here to communicate he believes very, very deeply about peace in Northern Ireland.” Emmanuel Macron is not buying the “harmony” stuff. The French president branded the UK’s attempt to reopen renegotiate the protocol as “not serious”, adding: “Nothing is renegotiable.” Oh dear. I don’t think there’ll be any sandy beach photo-ops between Carrie and Macron’s wife Brigette. Biden, incidentally, was heard telling Johnson “we both married way above our station”.

GOING SPARE: Boris Johnson has followed Joe Biden’s lead and announced a big vaccine donation number: the UK is to give 100m surplus doses to poorer countries. The first 5m doses will be shipped out by the end of September, with another 25m by the end of the year. “We are now in a position to share some of our surplus doses with those who need them,” said Johnson. It followed Biden’s announcement the US would give 500m Pfizer vaccine doses to 92 nations. “No strings attached,” he said. “Our vaccine donations don’t include pressure for favours, or potential concessions.” Major aid charities welcomed the news – but urged G7 nations get more vaccines out asap. They also want G7 leaders to agree a waiver on intellectual property rights for vaccines. MEPs in the European parliament has backed the idea on Thursday. But Germany remains opposed. A senior German government official told reporters: “We don’t think a waiver is helpful or is actually the problem.”

REGRETS? I’VE HAD (ONLY) A FEW: Matt Hancock was accused of blame-shifting and “rewriting history” after his four-hour session at the joint Covid inquiry. The health secretary denied lying to Johnson about the care home situation – telling MPs he had “no idea” why Dominic Cummings didn’t like him and was saying all these nasty things about him. He said government had “operated better” ever since Cummings left No 10. Hancock’s claim there was no PPE shortage prompted an angry response from Labour’s deputy Angela Rayner, who said: “Matt Hancock is a liar and he is trying to rewrite history.” Hancock also told the MPs he “bitterly regretted” not pushing back against the scientists’ initial advice Covid was unlikely to spread asymptomatically – a big reason untested patients were sent back into care homes (Unison accused him of “selective memory”). Cummings reaction? Asked by a reporter outside his house when he would produce written evidence, he said: “I’m dealing with a TV repair van, I’m afraid.”

ONE DIRECTION: Looks like the lockdown sceptics on the Tory backbenchers have lost the battle: ministers are said to be discussing a four-week delay to the 21 June reopening. The argument is now whether to have a two-week or a four-week delay, according to The Times. A cabinet source said two weeks would be enough. “By 21 June everyone over 50 who wants a second jab should have had one. You just have to wait another couple of weeks so that they all have full antibody protection.” Another 7,393 cases were reported in UK on Thursday – the second day cases have been over 7,000. The data is “not heading in the right direction”, admitted Dr Jenny Harries of the Health Security Agency. “It’s very clear where infection rates are heading now – and it’s not where we wanted to be or thought we would be just a few weeks ago,” one of the government’s Sage group scientists told the BBC.

A RIGHT BARRACKING: Priti Patel is facing calls to resign after newly-revealed documents suggested she misled parliament over the decision to house asylum seekers at the Napier Barracks in Kent. The home secretary had claimed that “use of the accommodation was all based on Public Health England (PHE) advice”. However, a Home Office email has shown PHE officials considered the dorms unsuitable. SNP MP Joanna Cherry fumed: “What she said … was simply not factually correct,” adding: “Why isn’t the home secretary tendering her resignation as Amber Rudd had the grace and decency to do?” Speaking of grace and decency – or lack thereof – Tory MP Lee Anderson has been condemned for his remarks about “gypsies”. He said they were no longer “traditional, old-fashioned gypsies sat there playing the mandolin” but thieves who steal your lawnmower and “half your tools”. The PM’s spokesman said Boris Johnson did not agree with those comments.

WE’RE STILL STANDING … JUST: Elton John has condemned the government over travel rules for musicians and artists, saying the UK was now in danger of losing “a generation of talent” because of its Brexit deal. Elton revealed on Instagram that he had met with Brexit minister David Frost. It didn’t seem to go well. The star said he’d “spelled out the damage” the trade deal is doing to touring acts in huge new costs. “The government seems unable or unwilling to fix this gaping hole in their trade deal,” he added. A case of goodbye yellow brick road; hello red tape. Meanwhile, Theresa May has lashed out at the government’s travel policy – saying the UK is “no further forward” one year after the pandemic hit. The former Tory PM said the UK is sending a message to the rest of the world that “global Britain is shut for business”.

On the record

“I think the best thing to say about this … is that government has operated better in the past six months.”

Matt Hancock claims things have improved since Dominic Cummings’ exit.

From the Twitterati

“Matt Hancock’s main message in evidence to select committee seems to be that everything would have been much worse without Matt Hancock.”

The Guardian’s John Crace is surprised by Hancock’s swaggering attitude…

“The only surprise is Matt Hancock didn’t blame fatal mistakes on a big boy with a stick who ran away.”

…and The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire also notes Hancock’s lack of regrets.

Essential reading

Gordon Brown, The Independent: Nobody remembers G7 summits – this one needs to be different

Cathy Newman, The Independent: Some former PMs reinvent themselves better than others

Ben Walker, New Statesman: The Tories and Lib Dems set to gain from boundary changes

Tom McTague, The Atlantic: Can Britain be the ally America needs?

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