Inside Politics: Boris Johnson under pressure from cabinet to close borders

No Paul McCartney, no Taylor Swift, and no ‘ohhhh Jeremy Corbyn’ chants this summer. Glastonbury 2021 has been cancelled. Massive crowds gathering in muddy fields didn’t seem wise, with the lifting of lockdown still so uncertain. Ironically, Boris Johnson will be looking at a lot of muddy fields in the week ahead, with flooding set to hit large parts of England. The PM may have to wade into the muddy waters of a diplomatic spat with Brussels over the status of EU – and faces an equally murky row in cabinet over a possible border shutdown.

Inside the bubble

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

Ministers are expected to meet for the Covid-O committee to discuss options to enforce quarantine restrictions on international travellers arriving in the UK. Expectations are high that arrivals may be told to stay at airport hotels for the duration of their 10-day self-isolation. Meanwhile, the Home Office is to launch a new strategy to collect more detailed data about child grooming gangs.

Daily briefing

MO MONEY, LESS PROBLEMS: Can cash change behaviour? Let’s hope so. The government is considering giving £500 to anyone who tests positive for Covid so they will self-isolate. A leaked document has revealed the radical proposal to encourage more people to get tested and stay at home. It’s been prompted by government polling showing only 17 per cent of people with symptoms get tested, and only 25 per cent comply with rules to self-isolate, according to The Guardian. It comes as Priti Patel revealed fines of £800 for rule-breakers attending a house party of more than 15. “A small minority … refuse to do the right thing,” said the angry home secretary. Boris Johnson, meanwhile, said it was “too early” to know if lockdown restrictions will end in the spring – risking the wrath of Tory MPs who want the great easing to begin in early March. Sage scientist Marc Baguelin said restaurants and bars certainly shouldn’t be opening before May. “No one knows how long the dark tunnel is going to be,” a No 10 source told the BBC.

THE HAWKS AND THE DOVES: Some ministers are said to be pressuring Boris Johnson to shut Britain’s borders to all foreigners to help curb transmission levels. The Telegraph reports this morning on a major battle in cabinet over the proposal, pitching the “doves” – Matt Hancock, Priti Patel and Michael Gove – against the “hawks” from the Treasury. Environment secretary George Eustice revealed himself a health hawk this morning – telling Sky News: “Personally I wouldn’t like to see all borders closed.” It comes as EU chiefs discuss whether to ban all travellers from UK. Meanwhile, Michel Barnier has waded into a row over the status of EU diplomats – warning No 10 to “be very careful” after it emerged the bloc’s representative in London had not been given the same status as other ambassadors. “I think it would be wise in my view for the UK to find a clever solution.” Barnier also suggested the EU could bring in tariffs if the UK diverged from rules like the Working Time Directive.

WRAPPED IN RED TAPE: The wonderful gift of Brexit just keeps on giving. Online shoppers have complained about unexpected customs, VAT and delivery charges on parcels from the EU – with some asked to pay one-third extra to release orders from warehouses. One shopper was asked to pay £77 extra for £245-worth of clothes from France. The Cabinet Office, meanwhile, has reportedly told haulage bosses that they could see more disruption in the coming days as traffic begins to increase at the border. Border delivery group chief executive Emma Churchill said that an average of about 5 per cent of trucks – up to 200 a day – have been turned back for having the wrong paperwork. And HMRC revealed that taxes totalling £800m could go unpaid this year because of border checks on lorries being scaled back to avoid queues. Still, it’s not all bad. Japanese car giant Nissan has revealed it will not be pulling out of Sunderland. Hooray for those Brexit benefits.

F FOR FRANK: Gavin Williamson said he “certainly hopes” that schools in England will reopen before Easter. The education secretary – who has earned the unfortunate nickname Frank Spencer in Westminster – admitted he was “not able to exactly say” when pupils would go back – but promised teachers would get two weeks’ notice before reopening. Keir Starmer said it was “good news coming from an education secretary who normally gives them about 24 hours’ notice”. The unusually-scathing Labour leader said many voters would give Williams ‘F’ for his performance – and asked the minister to “get on with the blindingly obvious” task of putting testing in place for schools. Elsewhere, Boris Johnson hinted he was in favour of keeping the £20-a-week universal credit uplift, setting up a clash with Rishi Sunak – who is thought to be reluctant to agree to the £6bn-a-year move.

BUST WE DO THIS AGAIN? A leading Conservative peer has accused the government of pursuing a “pathetic” anti-woke agenda. Former culture minister Ed Vaizey singled out new legislation aimed at protecting historic statues as “ridiculously provocative”. Vaizey did not appreciate Robert Jenrick’s recent article for The Telegraph promising to defend memorials from “baying mobs” of woke protesters: “If you’d cut and pasted that and put it in Private Eye as a parody article, nobody would have batted an eyelid,” said David Cameron’s old ally. It comes as No 10 sought to sidestep a row with Joe Biden over a small desk statue, which now seems to cause diplomatic difficulties every four years. The new president is removing a bust of Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. The PM’s spokesman said “it is up to the president to decorate it as he wishes”. It was Johnson, you may recall, who described it as a “snub” when Barack Obama removed the same bust.

IN HIS DEFENCE: With Donald Trump moping around in Mar-a-Lago, Republicans in the Senate have asked Democrats to give the poor guy a bit more time to prepare his defence at the upcoming impeachment trial. Party leaders want to delay proceedings until mid-February. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to comment on the idea of a delay, but she did say Trump didn’t deserve a “get out of jail card” just because he had left office. Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump has already hired a lawyer from South Carolina called Butch Bowers to represent him at the trial. What news of the new guy in the White House? Joe Biden has promised to move “heaven and earth” to get 100 million people vaccinated in 100 days. He said the Trump administration’s efforts on the vaccine roll-out had been a “dismal failure”.

On the record

“He’s failed as education secretary. He’s failed over and over and over again. You would struggle ... to find many people who would give him more than an F.”

Keir Starmer’s scathing assessment of Gavin Williamson

From the Twitterati

“We have repeatedly called for ministers to act to protect our world-renowned festivals like this one with a government-backed insurance scheme. Our plea fell on deaf ears and now the chickens have come home to roost.”

Julian Knight MP is vexed over the Glastonbury cancellation…

“Nobody prattling on about how Glastonbury is the cornerstone of their inner quest for discovery for the second year in succession. Covid isn’t all bad.”

…but The Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman is gleeful.

Essential reading

John Rentoul, The Independent: Starmer must surprise voters rather than sticking to politics by numbers

Christopher Meyer, The Independent: The UK-US alliance can become close once again

Isabel Hardman, The Spectator: When will Boris Johnson come clean to Tory MPs on the end of lockdown

Andy Kroll, Rolling Stone: The Democrats have power. How do they keep it?

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