Brexit news – live: EU may not turn up to trade talks as foreign aid cut to stay for ‘foreseeable future’

Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has said the Conservative Party “does not need to break” its 0.7 per cent spending commitment on foreign aid, adding that the proposal will “drive a horse and cart” through aid plans.

The Tory MP told the Commons: “It will withdraw access to family planning and contraception for more than seven million women, with all the misery that that will entail, 100,000 children will die from preventable diseases, two million - mainly children - will suffer much more steeply as a result of these changes from malnutrition and starvation.”

Although Mr Mitchell welcomed commitments to improve girls’ education around the world, he warned targets were at-risk of not being met.

“On existing plans, probably a million girls will not be able to go to school,” he said.

“I hope he will bear in mind these reductions make little difference to us in the United Kingdom but they make a massive difference to them.”

In response, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “With respect I don't think it's possible to say with the precision he did about the implications because we're not going to take a salami-slicing approach of just saying we'll cut a third from all areas of ODA [official development assistance].

“We're going to take a strategic approach, we'll safeguard those areas that we regard as an absolute priority - including many of the things he mentioned, particularly on international public health alongside Covid, climate change and girls' education.”

Downing Street has insisted that the government remains committed to the Tory manifesto commitments to not raise income tax, VAT or National Insurance, despite breaking its funding pledge on foreign aid this week.

“You have seen the manifesto,” Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said, when asked about future tax plans.

“The chancellor - as any chancellor rightly does - does not speculate on future tax policy. But we obviously remain committed to the manifesto pledge.”

Efforts to avert a no-deal Brexit faced another obstacle today as Downing Street admitted it did not know if EU negotiator Michel Barnier would turn up for face-to-face talks due to resume tomorrow.

Mr Barnier was expected in London this evening ahead of talks with UK chief negotiator David Frost on Friday, but reports suggested he was pulling out of the talks unless there is a major shift in the UK’s negotiating stance.

Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, has the full story below:

The UK government’s controversial £4bn-a-year cut to overseas aid will not be restored in “the foreseeable future”, the foreign secretary has admitted.

Dominic Raab told MPs that the cut - from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of national income - would not be reversed soon, despite being described as “temporary”.

Our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, has the full story below:

The chancellor's Spending Review could bring in a “new age of austerity” for many public sector workers, Nicola Sturgeon has warned.

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions in the Scottish parliament, Ms Sturgeon said she welcomed many of the measures announced on Wednesday as part of the response to Covid-19.

She added that she also understood “how difficult it is for the UK government to balance the financial challenges and fiscal challenges right now, as it is for all governments.”

However, she raised concerns about measures in the review, saying: “As we come out of this pandemic and start to rebuild we cannot have the natural Tory instinct of allowing the burden of that financially to fall on those who can least afford it.

“I think many aspects of the chancellor's statement yesterday seem to herald a new age of austerity for public-sector workers, for low-income people and for those already living in poverty.”

The new No 10 chief of staff Dan Rosenfield will begin working in Downing Street next month following four years at Hakluyt - a strategic advisory firm for businesses and investors, where he worked as the global head of corporate clients.

Mr Rosenfield is also the chairman of World Jewish Relief, the British Jewish community's humanitarian agency, and worked as a Treasury official for over a decade.

During his time in government, he served as principal private secretary to chancellors Alistair Darling and George Osborne.

Mr Rosenfield is expected to spend his first weeks in Downing Street meeting with ministers, Conservative MPs and the wider No 10 team.

His previous employers, Hakluyt, have a reputation for discretion - having been founded by former MI6 officers - and are reported to maintain a close relationship with the intelligence agencies.

PA

George Osborne's former chief of staff Rupert Harrison has welcomed the appointment of Dan Rosenfield as Downing Street’s new chief of staff.

Former Tory MP David Gauke, who was ousted by Boris Johnson over his stance against Brexit, has also approved of the decision.

Downing Street has insisted Boris Johnson believes the UK will “thrive” even if it does not secure a trade deal with the EU despite official forecasts warning of major economic damage.

The Office for Budget Responsibility warned on Wednesday that failure to reach an agreement could result in a 2 per cent hit to gross domestic product (the standard measure of the size and health of a nation's economy).

“The PM believes that the UK will thrive with or without a deal with the EU,” Mr Johnson’s spokesperson said.

“But it remains our ambition to reach an FTA which is why we continue to negotiate.”

Talks have been stuck for months on the issues of fishing rights, the governance of any deal and the “level playing field” conditions aimed at preventing unfair competition through cutting standards or increasing state subsidies.

British businesses are rushing to stockpile goods with just weeks to go before Brexit checks on customs come into force on 1 January.

The rush for goods comes amid rising fears that the end of the transition period will bring chaos, even if a UK-EU trade deal is struck in time to avoid a no-deal exit.

Our reporter, Adam Forrest, has the full story below:

Dan Rosenfield, a former banker and Treasury official, is also chair of the humanitarian agency World Jewish Relief, which yesterday said it was “deeply disheartened” at Rishi Sunak’s decision to cut the foreign aid budget.

He also worked as a close aide to Alistair Darling as the Labour chancellor bailed out the banks during the global financial crisis of 2007-08, before managing the transition to Mr Osborne’s austerity-led regime.

Mr Rosenfield, who served for a decade at the Treasury, could not be further in still from the iconoclastic clique around Dominic Cummings, who derided the civil servants and advertised for “weirdos and misfits” from outside the Westminster bubble to take jobs at No 10.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has this and more in his report on the PM’s new appointment: