Boris Johnson news: PM faces Tory rebellion over HS2 go-ahead, as EU chief ridicules ‘Australia-style’ Brexit trade plan

Corbyn slams cuts to bus services – and mocks PM’s bridge plan

Jeremy Corbyn has responded to the prime minister’s infrastructure plans, and said Labour “supports HS2 as a means to boost regional economies and slash climate emissions”.

He claimed the Tory party had taken bus investment ideas from Labour but said the planned funding would not make up for cuts.

“This is a government that is unwilling to make the scale of investment needed to revive the parts of our country that have been decimated by successive Conservative governments.”

Corbyn mocked the idea of a bridge connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland – attacking “big shiny projects” that don’t come to fruition.

“Why not got the whole hog and make it a garden bridge connected to an airport in the sea? It stands about as much chance as actually being built any of those failed projects.

“Why not a cable car between Scotland and Northern Ireland? Or better still a giant zip wire. The prime minister could be the first to try it out.”

Jeremy Corbyn speaking in Commons (Parliament TV)

Daily allowance in House of Lords set to rise to £323

Members of the House of Lords look set to receive a tax-free pay rise of an inflation-busting 3.1 per cent in April.

If confirmed, the hike will take peers’ daily allowance up from £313 to £323, meaning an annual tax-free income of more than £48,000 for a member attending for the typical 150 days the Upper House sits each year.

It results from a 2018 decision to link annual increases in allowances automatically to MPs’ salaries, removing any role for peers in setting their own pay.

EU instantly shoots down UK government plea to protect City access after Brexit

The EU's chief negotiator has immediately rejected a plea by Sajid Javid to protect the City's access to EU financial markets after Brexit.

The Chancellor had called for a “reliable equivalence process” for financial services rules on which “a durable relationship” can be built with the EU.

But just hours after the proposal was published Brussels' chief negotiator Michel Barnier dealt a blow to Boris Johnson's negotiating strategy.

Europe Correspondent Jon Stone has more:

Tories turn on PM over ‘unloved’ HS2

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen told the Commons “HS2 is unloved, unwanted and has been grossly mismanaged. It very adversely affects my constituents.

“Does the prime minister appreciate my and my constituents’ concerns that this could well be an albatross around this government and the country’s neck moving forward and doesn’t it set the bar very low for the future delivery of infrastructure projects on time and on budget by all future governments?”

Boris Johnson responded: “Every great infrastructure project is opposed at this critical moment, we've got to have the guts, the foresight, to drive it through.”

Tory MP Jeremy Wright said HS2 Ltd should pay compensation to affected residents more quickly, and communicate with local people more effectively. He added: said: “I don’t agree with the decision he’s [Boris Johnson] reached on HS2 but I respect the fact it was a difficult decision.”

In a statement outside the chamber, Tory former cabinet minister Dame Cheryl Gillan said: “HS2 has long been associated with a variety of problems, not least substantial environmental destruction in my own constituency.

“I am not convinced this project will deliver value for money for the taxpayer, and its construction will prove highly disruptive and by a construction industry who by its own admission lacks the capacity to deliver on alongside other infrastructure projects in the pipeline.”

Boris Johnson answering questions (AFP)

Coronavirus will get worse better it gets better, says health secretary

Matt Hancock has said the spread of coronavirus “will get worse before it gets better” as he announced greater powers and funding to help tackle the spread of the disease.

In a Commons statement, he told MPs: “Dealing with this disease is a marathon, not a sprint. The situation will get worse before it gets better.”

Rory Stewart wants to stay over at your house

The independent London mayoral candidate has asked citizens in the capital to have him over for the night. He’s promised to bring his sleeping bag and box of chocolate.

“Please have me to stay,” Stewart said. “That’s a weird request. But the way mayors get to know their cities is by literally walking through every one of the 32 boroughs – being in other people’s shows, seeing through their eyes, staying in their houses.”

Government begins bid to rush through terror law

MPs will consider on Wednesday all stages of emergency legislation to block terrorists being automatically freed early from jail, the government has announced.

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs: “I informed the House last week of the government’s intention to introduce legislation to stop the automatic early release of prisoners convicted of terrorist offences.

“Today the government will introduce that legislation and tomorrow’s business will now be consideration of a business of the House motion followed by all stages of the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Bill.”

Why Brexit could leave Northern Ireland in different time zone

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal could lead to Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK falling in different time zones for half the year, peers have warned.

Under an EU directive, all 27 states currently switch to summer time hours on the last Sunday of March and back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on the last Sunday of October – a pattern the UK follows.

But under a potential swap by Brussels to a “double summer time” arrangement, Lords have warned that the PM’s withdrawal agreement could see Northern Ireland legally obliged to be one hour ahead for six months every year.

More details here:

Banks could leave ‘quickly’ without financial services deal, says John McDonnell

The shadow chancellor said he feared there was a “risk” that investors and banks could leave the City of London if the government did not seal a deal on financial services with the EU “quickly”.

McDonnell said: “We saw last time Macron positioning France to take a fair amount of business and play hardball, and I think that is going to happen now,” the Labour frontbencher told journalists in Westminster.

It follows a claim by chancellor Sajid Javid the government would be able conclude a full range of “equivalence assessments” related to financial services by June 2020 – allowing the UK and EU to respect each other’s rules.

But Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier said: “I would like to take this opportunity to make it clear to certain people in the United Kingdom bearing authority that they should not kid themselves about this - there will not be general, open-ended, ongoing equivalence in financial services.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell (Getty)

Dominic Cummings attacks judicial review process

Boris Johnson’s government is prepared to step up its battle with the judiciary following the Court of Appeal decision to prevent the deportation of 25 foreign offenders to Jamaica.

Downing Street said it “bitterly” regretted the decision and government sources said the row over the deportation flight showed why an examination of the judicial review (JR) process was needed.

Dominic Cummings, the PM’s right-hand man, said there must be “urgent action on the farce that judicial review has become”, ITV News reported.

According to Robert Peston, Cummings told officials support for the court ruling among some MPs and journalists “shows they still haven’t understood what the last few years has been about, the country outside London is horrified but rich London is cheering the lawyers”.

Dominic Cummings at Downing Street (Reuters)