Boris Johnson news – live: EU calls for Brexit talks to ‘intensify’ and Sturgeon urges Covid breach MP to quit

Sturgeon calls on infected MP to quit

Inevitable after the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford made clear she should go, but Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has now told Margaret Ferrier to resign as an MP. The SNP boss hopes she will “do the right thing”. A matter of time now, surely? 

‘Compare the responses’

The Twitterati is impressed by the speed at which Nicola Sturgeon has decided her MP must go for breaking Covid rules – contrasting it favourably with Boris Johnson providing his backing to Dominic Cummings after the eyesight test trip to Barnard Castle.

“The contrast between N Sturgeon and B Johnson … should not be a key framing of case for independence but it has become one,” says commentator Steve Richards.

No ‘tunnel’ talks – but significant moment, says Brexit analyst

Respected commentator Mujtaba Rahman was on Newsnight last night – and predicted the first or second week of November would be a “realistic” timeframe for when a trade deal might get done.  

He suggested negotiators David Frost and Michel Barnier may have gone as far as they can – and it would need high-level leaders to take over now. So Rahman is quite excited by the announcement of a meeting between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen.

MI6 bosses wants to recruit his Twitter followers

The new head of the Secret Intelligence Service has promised to start a MI6 recruitment drive among his Twitter followers.

Richard Moore, a regular social media user before his appointment as “C”, acknowledged there were now “limits” to what would be deemed suitable – but he vowed to carry on tweeting and said: “I’ll also try to persuade some of you to come and work for MI6.”

SNP must ‘come clean on the facts’, say Labour MP

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said Margaret Ferrier’s position as an MP is now “completely untenable”.  John Lamont, Scottish Tory MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, added that she should be permanently chucked out of the SNP. “I think it’s sufficiently serious to warrant expulsion.”

Despite SNP chiefs removing the whip and asking her to resign, Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray said it was “not good enough.” He said both Nicola Sturgeon and the party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford still had questions to answer “about what they did and didn’t know”.

Speaker Hoyle angry about delay in Ferrier Covid news

Labour MP Ian Murray has asked what the SNP knew in the time between Margaret Ferrier’s positive diagnosis on Monday evening and Commons officials being informed on Wednesday. Sounds like Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is wondering that too.  

Speaker Hoyle told Sky News he learned Ferrier had Covid while in the Speaker’s Chair at around 4pm on Wednesday.

He said the reaction was immediate and “within 20 minutes we were in full swing on what we needed to do to ensure the safety and security of staff and members”.

The Speaker added: “Obviously this is completely reckless behaviour for a member of parliament … What made it worse was only being told on Wednesday on something that people knew about on Monday – well the MP themselves knew about it on Monday.”

Trump envoys warns of danger in PM’s Brexit bill

Donald Trump’s envoy to Northern Ireland is in London today – and he has warned that No 10’s plan to rip up parts of the withdrawal agreement could present a “challenge” to the Good Friday Agreement.

Mick Mulvaney’s comments today are the strongest signal yet of concern from the Trump administration over Boris Johnson’s Internal Market Bill.

“One of the messages I will take back is ok, there’s still a lot to be worked out but the British are working to make sure there’s not a hard border, the Irish are working to make sure there is not a hard border, and the Europeans are working to make sure there is not a hard border,” he told think tank Policy Exchange.

Trade talks ‘none of our business’, says Trump envoy

Trump envoy Mick Mulvaney appears to have a tread a fine line between showing concern about peace in Ireland and keeping out of trouble during his appearance in London.  

The top US official said trade talks are “none of our business” and although the US is “interested” in the implementation of the withdrawal agreement, it is a matter for the UK and the EU. Mulvaney also told Policy Exchange the US remains “invested” in the Good Friday Agreement.

Von der Leyen: ‘We want a deal’

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has been speaking, again expressing her opposition to the Internal Market Bill – but making clear it shouldn’t prevent the sides from reaching a possible trade deal.

“We asked the UK government to withdraw this within a month. This didn’t take place, so we launched an infringement procedure. This is going its way.”

On her talks with Johnson tomorrow, Von der Leyen said: “My phone call tomorrow, actually, it is going to be a video conference, with Boris Johnson, will serve to take stock of the negotiations at that time. And, to have a look at the time coming up."

“We want a deal because we think it is better to have a deal as neighbours … but not at any price.”  

She mentioned fisheries and level-playing field issues remaining “very difficult”, adding: “So we will see how we will progress on that.”

‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’ says EU chief

A bit more now from Ursula von der Leyen, who has finished speaking to reporters in Brussels. The EU Commission president said progress had been made on a number of trade talk issues – but the “most difficult problems” were still “completely open”.

“We have in German a saying: ‘Wo ein wille ist, ist auch ein weg’ – translated it is more or less ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’. So I think we should intensify the negotiations because it is worth working hard on it.”

Yet she also warned: “We are running out of time – around 100 days to the end of the year so it is worth to step up now.”

Our correspondent Jon Stone has more: