Inside Politics: Boris Johnson ‘looking for last minute deal’, EU suspects

A Windsor always pays his debts. Prince Harry says he’s paid back the £2.4m cost of refurbishing Frogmore Cottage – honouring a promise he and Meghan made when they stepped back from their royal duties. Boris Johnson throws around lot of promises, but seems to have a rather casual approach to honouring them. The PM’s desire to go back on commitments already made in the withdrawal agreement has thrown Brexit talks into disarray. If it jeopardises a deal with the EU, Johnson’s lack of principle could cost the country an awful lot more than £2.4m.

Inside the bubble

Chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:

The Commons starts today with questions to Dominic Raab, secretary of state for the newly-enlarged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. In the committee corridor, Matt Hancock appears before Jeremy Hunt, his predecessor as health secretary, to talk about social care. Meanwhile the EU-UK trade talks start again in London, which could be a little tense after the bombshell about Boris Johnson being prepared to “override” the withdrawal agreement.

Daily briefing

MAN ON WIRE: UK negotiator David Frost has called for “realism” from the EU as discussions start up again today. It’s hard to describe No 10’s approach after Boris Johnson threaten to walk away from talks and tear up key parts of the withdrawal agreement. Surrealism? Magic realism? Logistics UK warned that the PM’s high-wire gambit “could jeopardise British business’s ability to keep Britain trading”. In leaked cables sent to EU capitals from Brussels, seen by The Guardian, Johnson is suspected of holding back on any compromise on outstanding issues in order to achieve a big, last-minute “trade off”. Barnier’s team said the naivety was “concerning” – given the complexity of the issues that “will not be easy to iron out with just a phone call between leaders”. In a letter to Tory supporters, Johnson said he would “not back down” and claimed no-deal would be a “good outcome” – despite Treasury analysis suggesting it would knock up to 9 per cent off our GDP.

MAJOR OR MINOR KEY? Reaction to the PM’s plan to introduce a new law to override key parts of the withdrawal agreement has been fierce. European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen warned that the agreement was “a prerequisite for any future partnership”. Northern Ireland’s deputy FM Michelle O’Neill called the plan a “treacherous betrayal”, while Scotland’s FM Nicola Sturgeon called the government “charlatans”. The One Nation group of moderate Tories are alarmed too. As one MP told The Times: “If we breach an international agreement it will affect our ability to do deals with others.” No 10 insisted that the Internal Market Bill would amount to only “minor clarifications”. The law would give ministers the power to scrap export declarations on goods moving from NI to GB and determine which goods travelling from GB to NI are deemed “at risk” of moving on to the EU. Doesn’t sound very minor.

THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT: Matt Hancock has warned that the UK could see a big second spike in coronavirus cases if young people don’t catch on to social distancing. A third of last week’s infections in England were people aged between 20 and 29. “The numbers have been going up. And we’ve seen in other countries where this leads, and it is not a good place,” said the health secretary – who pointed out that the rise in cases among young people in “affluent” areas was noticeable. Deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van Tam warned that other countries had seen infections developed among young people over the summer then passed on to older people. It comes as Caerphilly in Wales has been placed in local lockdown after a “rapid” rise in cases. In Scotland, home visit restrictions have been expanded to Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire. And in England, Leeds has been added to the lockdown watchlist.

ISLANDS IN THE SCHEME: More additions to England’s quarantine programme. Travellers from seven Greek islands will have to self-isolate for 14 days from Wednesday morning, Grant Shapps announced – Crete, Mykonos, Lesvos, Santorini, Serifos, Tinos, and Zante. The transport secretary said “enhanced data” allowed his department to look at island infection rates. Is frustration from the Tory backbenches about quarantine having an impact? Shapps said his officials were “working actively on the practicalities” of using Covid-19 testing to cut the 14-day period – but warned that reliance purely on airport testing “would not work”. Elsewhere, another 200 people crossed the English Channel in small boats, including a six-month-old baby taken into care. French president Emmanuel Macron vowed to “step up” cooperation with the UK against “migrant smugglers” during a call with Johnson, according to No 10.

RED WALL TORIES AIM HIGHER: Undaunted by the coronavirus crisis and no-deal crash fears, a group of idealistic Conservative MPs have launched a new group aimed at reducing regional inequality. Calling themselves the “levelling up taskforce”, the collective includes many of the “red wall” Tory MPs who won seats across the north in 2019. They’re calling on the government to set out how tax and spending changes will impact on areas with low wages and high unemployment. Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner thinks they’re on a hiding to nothing. “The Tories talk a good game ... but their record of turning their backs on the North speaks for itself.” Meanwhile, the government has revealed that up to £3.5bn in furlough payments may have been claimed fraudulently – or paid in error. HMRC boss Jim Harra told MPs on the public accounts committee his organisation would be “focusing on tackling abuse and fraud”.

FAST AND LOOSE: Donald Trump has accused his rival Joe Biden and the Democrats of “reckless anti-vaccine rhetoric” after the opposition questioned whether the president would listen to the scientists and oversee a safe, successful roll-out. “He has said so many things that aren’t true I am worried that if we do have a really good vaccine people are going to be reluctant to take it,” said Biden. Trump called Biden “stupid”. On his ‘Operation Warp Speed’ effort to find a vaccine, the president added: “With me, it’s the faster the better.” Sadly, the US election isn’t over its summer of violence. Trump supporters clashed with Black Lives Matter activists in a small town south of Portland, Oregon on Monday. The right-wing crowd fired paint-gun pellets at the counter-demonstrators before police arrived on the scene.

On the record

“This would be a very unwise way to proceed.”

Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney – master of understatement – on the PM’s plan to override the withdrawal agreement.

From the Twitterati

“The UK is a rule-of-law state, and attempting to legislate domestically to override international law would be an incredibly dangerous step ... It would also hugely damage our standing on the world stage.”

Former chancellor Philip Hammond says the government’s big move is un-British…

“We might be losing the UK, but we won’t lose our stiff upper lip.”

…while European Council president Charles Michel says the EU will keep calm and carry on.

Essential reading

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Never mind a divorce – Brexit is about to turn into a cold war

Alex Morss, The Independent: Why we need a National Health Service for the environment

Mujtaba Rahman, The Guardian: Ignore Boris Johnson’s bluster – he still needs a deal with the EU

Peter Baker, The New York Times: Trump casts himself as the defender of white America

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