Boris Johnson news: Labour vows no confidence vote in government as Downing Street says no way Brexit can be stopped
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has defended his NHS funding as “new money” on visit to Lincolnshire after health experts dismissed the £1.8bn cash injection as a “drop in the ocean”.
It comes as No 10 is reportedly preparing a “people versus politicians” general election campaign after pushing the UK out of the EU without a deal in the autumn.
Health minister Matt Hancock has claimed a no-deal Brexit cannot be stopped by MPs in parliament before 31 October, leading Jeremy Corbyn to state he would call for a no confidence motion in the government in the autumn.
The Lib Dem MP Chuka Umunna has said businesses in the UK will not be ready for a no-deal Brexit until 2021 if applications for European Union registration and identification (EORI) numbers continue at the current rate.
The Streatham MP said businesses exporting to the EU would need to apply for an EORI number to continue trading. “Without it, they are not going to be able to trade as they were before,” he told the Today programme.
More on health secretary Matt Hancock’s claim that parliament can longer block a no-deal Brexit.
Remember, Mr Hancock said as recently as June: “No deal is not a policy option available to the next prime minister, whether they like it or not.”
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock looks at the details.
The People’s Vote campaign is targeting 100 seats in a bid to oust Brexiteer MPs and security a majority for a second referendum if an early general election is called later this year, a leaked document has revealed.
Here’s our correspondent Benjamin Kentish with more.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has arrived in the Derbyshire village of Whaley Bridge, where he is inspecting the work being done to stop the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir from bursting. Emergency work continues to repair the damage sustained during following heavy rainfall, as police warn there could be “catastrophic” consequences if remaining residents refusing to evacuate their homes and the dam collapses.
Jeremy Corbyn inspects the reservoir damaged in heavy rainfall (PA)
With Boris Johnson set to begin his visit to a hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, a reminder that he is announcing a £1.8bn cash injection for the health service, including £850m for 20 NHS hospitals in England to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment. So where will the money be spent?
East of England
- Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (FT): £99.5m for a new block in Luton to provide critical and intensive care, as well as a delivery suite and operating theatres
- Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS FT: £69.7m to provide diagnostic and assessment centres in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn
- Norfolk and Suffolk NHS FT: £40mto build four new hospital wards in Norwich, providing 80 beds
- NHS South Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group: £25.2m to develop and improve primary care services
Midlands
- University Hospitals Birmingham: £97.1m to provide a new purpose-built hospital facility, replacing outdated outpatient, treatment and diagnostic accommodation
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust: £21.3m to improve patient flow in Boston by developing urgent and emergency care zones in A&E
- Wye Valley NHS Trust: £23.6m to provide new hospital wards in Hereford, providing 72 beds
- University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust: £17.6m to create three new modern wards to improve capacity and patient flow in Stoke, delivering approximately 84 beds for this winter
London
- Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge CCGs and North East London NHS Foundation Trust: £17m to develop a new health and wellbeing hub
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust: £12.7m to extend and refurbish critical care units at the Croydon University Hospital
- North East and Yorkshire
- South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System: £57.5m for primary care investment
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS FT: £41.7m to improve paediatric cardiac services in the North East
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: £12m to provide a single laboratory information management system across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, covering all pathology disciplines
North West
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT: £72.3m to build a new adult mental health inpatient unit
- Mersey Care NHS FT: £33m to provide a new 40-bed low secure unit for people with learning disabilities
- Stockport NHS FT: £30.6m to provide a new emergency care campus development at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, incorporating an urgent treatment centre, GP assessment unit and planned investigation unit
- NHS Wirral CCG: £18m to improve patient flow by improving access via the urgent treatment centre
- Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS FT: £16.3m to provide emergency and urgent care facilities at Tameside General Hospital
South East
- Isle of Wight NHS Trust: £48mto redesign acute services
South West
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust: £99.9m to build a new women’s and children’s hospital in the centre of the Royal Cornwall Hospital site in Truro
Despite the breakdown of hospital funding, shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth is sceptical about the prime minister’s claims that the money is “new”. Here’s the Labour MP talking on BBC News.
Lord Ashcroft was briefly trending on Twitter this morning. It’s because he has another intriguing poll out – this one revealing that the majority of Scots are now ready to back independence. It comes only days after Boris Johnson was booed and jeered on a visit to Edinburgh.
Here’s our correspondent Lizzy Buchan with all the numbers.
Jeremy Corbyn has just arrived at a school in Whaley Bridge where he is now talking with residents from the Derbyshire village. Earlier he met with emergency officials about the risk of the Toddbrook Reservoir dam collapsing and work going on to shore up the structure.
A reminder that deputy chief constable Rachel Swann has told the remaining residents who have defied orders to evacuate that are not only putting their own lives at risk, but also those of emergency services staff who may have to look for them if the dam does break.
Jeremy Corbyn meets residents in Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire (AFP)
More on those Treasury figures which show how unready British exporters are for a no-deal Brexit, as revealed by Liberal Democrat MP Chuka Umunna earlier.
Data obtained by the Lib Dems shows less than three in 10 exporters are not ready for the country to crash out without a deal, and most won’t be ready until 2021.
In a no-deal scenario, businesses only trading with EU countries will need to apply for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number to move goods into and out of the UK.
Since December 2018, approximately 66,000 traders who currently trade just with the EU have been issued with an EORI number.
However, based on 2018 data, HMRC estimate that there are approximately 150,000 VAT registered traders who currently trade with the EU and may therefore need to obtain one.
A leading food policy expert has claimed the UK faces food shortages in the aftermath of a no-deal Brexit that will disproportionately hit poorer households – yet the government is being secretive about the problem.
Here’s our business reporter Ben Chapman with all the details.
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