Inside Politics: Boris Johnson ‘delighted’ by deal for 60m doses of Novavax jab

A group of “paranormal activity investigators” have been busted by the cops for breaching Covid rules in Cheshire after they gathered to grab up ghosts at a spooky old derelict building in Cheshire. But it’s a town in Durham with a spooky old relic that’s returned to haunt the news agenda once again. By some weird, eerie co-incidence Barnard Castle is back in the headlines, after Boris Johnson announced 60 million doses of a brand-new vaccine will be bottled there – a move which might frighten a few people in Brussels.

Inside the bubble

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

With theCommons in recess, Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of his Build Back BetterBusiness Council. Other ministers are making announcements about progress towards net zero carbon. This evening the leaders of the five larger parties inScotland (but not Alex Salmond’s new Alba Party) will take part in their firstTV debate of the Holyrood election.

Daily briefing

AND AFTER ALL, IT’S THE CASTLE WALL: Boris Johnson say he doesn’t know “exactly how strong” the UK’s defences against another Covid wave will be despite the “impressive” vaccine rollout. Warning of a looming uptick in cases, Prof Chris Whitty told the latest Downing Street briefing: “We have a wall that will get stronger ... it’s not a complete wall – it’s kind of a leaky wall.” There was encouraging news from the PM of a deal with GlaxoSmithKline on the manufacture of 60 million doses of the yet-to-be approved Novavax vaccine in the north-east. They will be manufactured in Stockton-on-Tees, then bottled at … Barnard Castle. A strange and pleasing return to pandemic action for the town previously famous for eyesight tests. The original plan was for the bottling to be done in mainland Europe. Did No 10 persuade the US company to ditch the EU? Government officials insisted last night the deal was not a response to recent row with the bloc over vaccine supplies.

BRAND NEW TARIFF IN TOWN: Boris Johnson’s wooing of Joe Biden isn’t exactly paying dividends. The US is threatening to slap tariffs of up to 25 per cent on a range of UK exports in retaliation for a tax on Silicon Valley’s tech firms. Clothing, make-up and furniture are among the many products which could be hit. A No 10 spokesperson said it only wanted to “make sure tech firms pay their fair share of tax”. Switching to Brexit news now, it looks like Arlene Foster will get her big day in court. A judicial review legal challenge by DUP and other unionists over the Northern Ireland protocol is set to go to the High Court after ministers dropped their opposition to the case being heard. Meanwhile, the Home Office has revealed that Germany, France and eight other EU countries will no longer extradite criminals to the UK because of Brexit. The department revealed the big news in a letter to the Lords’ EU committee.

NEED FOR SPEED: Keir Starmer is demanding the government holds an urgent inquiry into shocking allegations of a “rape culture”in schools, after a range of claims were made about more than 100 establishments on the Everyone’s Invited website. “I’m really worried about what we are seeing,” the Labour leader said. “There’s got to be an inquiry and it has got to get going very fast, this is serious.” Robert Halfon, the Tory chair of the education select committee, also called for a “full independent inquiry to find out why so many female students have suffered from sexual abuse and harassment”. How did the education secretary respond? Gavin Williamson pledged to take “appropriate action” (without specifying what that would be). Elsewhere, No 10 refused to say whether Boris Johnson will give evidence to a Greater London Authority inquiry into whether he acted with “honesty and integrity” during his time as mayor. Friends of the PM told The Telegraph it looked like Jennifer Arcuri was pursuing a “vendetta” against him.

SORRY SEEMS TOBE THE HARDEST WORD: Nicola Sturgeon has challenged Alex Salmond to apologise to the women who accused him of sexual harassment – or she won’t work with him after the Holyrood election. “The people who he owes an apology to are the women that he behaved inappropriately towards,” she said. The SNP leader told the Daily Record her old boss only set up his Alba Party because he “loves the limelight and can’t bear not to be on the stage”. In a rare moment of vulnerability, Sturgeon admitted there is a “real danger” that Salmond could“hinder” the SNP’s chances of getting a majority in May. It comes as two more SNP councillors defected to the Alba Party. And a separate fringe party created by former SNP members has withdrawn its election candidates to back Salmond’s outfit. South of the border the Northern Independence Party said it would field ex-Labour MP Thelma Walker at theHartlepool by-election. The move fuelled a lot of Twitter chat about whether the loyal Corbynista could cost Keir Starmer’s party the seat.

BACK TO BASICS: Britain remains a long way from a post-racial society. A hefty proportion of the public believe the UK has yet to face up to its problem with racism, according to a BMG Research poll for The Independent. It found that close to a third (31 per cent) of ethnic minority respondents think the Tory party is racist. Some 20 per cent of Britons believe this, suggesting a big difference in perspectives stemming from life experiences. No 10 appeared to give its backing to calls to drop BAME (the acronym for black, Asian and minority ethnic) after the racial disparities commission said it had become “unhelpful and redundant”. Labour MP Lammy appeared on LBC to talk about the “redundant” term – only to be told by caller Jean: “You will never be English.” He calmly explained to Jean some of the basics on British history and the post-colonial era, adding: “The fact that I was born here and the fact that my sensibilities are English mean I want to claim that heritage as well.”

IN A RIGHT OLD PICKLE: David Cameron is far from out of the woods over his Greensill Capital dealings. Lord Pickles – an old Cameron ally who now vets the jobs taken by former ministers – has called for a review of murky lobbying rules. Pickles said he was “increasingly concerned” about the number of lobby organisations ex-ministers are joining. “If a person is going into a lobby group and they’re not allowed to lobby, what are they doing?” MPs on the business select committee are said to be making plans for an inquiry into the impact of Greensill’s collapse on Liberty Steel. Labour now wants the committee on standards in public life to examine Lex Greensill’s political ties. The opposition said “serious questions”remained about “the level of extensive access to ministers and departments he was granted and the role Mr Cameron played in securing it”. Various committees may want to look at the FT’s latest story – which claims Mr Greensill and MrCameron enjoyed a camping trip with Mohammed Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia last year.

On the record

“The red room? I love my office, I love it – it’s like a boudoir. It’s soothing.”

Matt Hancock on the dark red room from which he gives his interviews.

From the Twitterati

“Among the very many dispiriting things about that racist phone call to David Lammy is the fact that the woman thought it was perfectly ok to say such offensive things - on national radio. The last few years have simply legitimised bigotry.”

Otto English on the awful phone call endured by Lammy...

“People commenting on how calm and polite David Lammy is to this caller. Thing is, we often are, due to years of dealing with stuff like this + tying to avoid ‘angry black person’ accusations. What if he HAD got mad and was NOT polite? Hope he would get the same level of support.”

…while ITV’s Anne Alexander says Lammy shouldn’t be expected to be calm.

Essential reading

Tom Peck, The Independent: Time for a closer look at Boris Johnson’s ‘honesty and integrity’

Andrew Liddle, The Independent: Salmond’s party is likely to mean more pro-independence MPs

Ailbhe Rea, New Statesman: Will Keir Starmer sack Anneliese Dodds as shadow chancellor?

Russell Berman, The Atlantic: Why the Democrats need to play dirty to win more elections

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