Boris Johnson news – live: UK to offer new route to citizenship for Hong Kongers, as Keir Starmer says PM ‘flippant’ on lockdown easing

China: MPs demand economic policy change

MPs have demanded that Britain reconsider its economic relationship with China.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith said:  "We run to China to buy goods and to invest, it is time for us now to review every single programme here in the UK and around the free world.

"We learnt a lesson 80 years ago about appeasement of dictators, maybe that should be applied today." 

Bob Seely, another Conservative MP, added: "We were slow to prepare for the new authoritarianism in Russia and now China. Will [Dominic Raab] take the feelings and the sentiment that he's heard today from the House on Huawei, on other issues, on board?"

Mr Raab said: "It is right to say that what is at threat here is not just individual obligations in relation to the people of Hong Kong, but a wider question of China trying to recraft the rules of the international system".

He added that while the UK did not want a bad relationship with China, "we will not do anything that imperils our vital interests and we will not lie down and sacrifice our values for the purposes of trade, commerce or anything like that".

Rees-Mogg plans six-week summer recess

Jacob Rees-Mogg has tabled a motion which states the House of Commons will adjourn at close of business on 22 July until 1 September.

The recess was originally scheduled to run from a day earlier until 8 September but the government wants to rescind this arrangement.

Mr Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, has also tabled a motion to extend virtual participation for MPs in chamber proceedings during the Covid-19 pandemic until 2 September.

The motions are listed on Wednesday’s order paper and it is for ministers to decide when to move them for approval.

PM announces new route to citizenship for Hong Kongers

In case you missed it earlier, here is the moment in video form:

No10 follows up on Raab's tough talk

UK's relationship with China "does not come at any price", Downing Street has said.

Boris Johnson's official spokesperson said: "Our approach to China remains clear-eyed and rooted in our values and interests. We have a strong and constructive relationship with China in many areas.

"China has to be part of the solution to any major global problem we face, whether ensuring we do not face another global health crisis, supporting vulnerable countries or addressing climate change, but this relationship does not come at any price.

"It has always been the case that where we have concerns we raise them and where we need to intervene then we will."

Dominic Raab had earlier told the Commons that while Britain did not want a bad relationship with China, "we will not do anything that imperils our vital interests and we will not lie down and sacrifice our values for the purposes of trade, commerce or anything like that".

EU must prepare for no-deal Brexit, says Merkel

The European Union must prepare for the possible failure of Brexit trade talks with the UK, Angela Merkel has said, writes Jon Stone.

Speaking in the German parliament the chancellor said negotiations were being accelerated to try and reach a deal in the autumn that could be ratified by the end of the year.

But she told the Bundestag that the EU "must and should prepare for a situation in which an agreement does not happen".

New consultation on renovating Palace of Westminster

MPs are being asked for their ideas on plans to renovate the Palace of Westminster, which officials say is "falling apart faster than it can be repaired".

A new consultation process is looking at areas such as whether MPs and peers still need to vacate the historic building as work is carried out.

Before Parliament voted to approve the renewal works in 2018, MPs had pushed rival plans that would have seen only a partial vacating required.

Current plans will entail emptying the whole building for at least six years.

The idea of partially vacating the palace, which has gained traction again following the coronavirus pandemic, would force builders to work around the Commons schedule.

A recent report by the National Audit Office stated that the £4bn cost previously reported for the project was likely to be a "median" figure, with the final outlay on the Unesco World Heritage Site expected to be higher - up to £6bn.

The builders are expected to be in until the 2030s.

MPs, peers and other interested parties have been asked to put forward their ideas by 7 August.

'Johnson's "build" speech was disastrously timed. Now all eyes are on Sunak for the good news'

In politics, timing is everything, writes Andrew Grice.

When Downing Street planned Boris Johnson’s relaunch speech, making it four days before the lockdown relaxation in England on “super Saturday” seemed the right moment to turn the page from health emergency to economic recovery.

But events beyond Johnson’s control turned it into the wrong moment. The first city-wide lockdown in Leicester trumped his upbeat “build, build, build” message, stealing the newspaper and TV bulletin headlines.

It was a painful reminder that coronavirus is far from beaten. Even Johnson conceded that some would find a speech about Britain after coronavirus “a bit premature”.

'The PM is demanding he be praised for failure'

Another week of Prime Minister’s Questions and another week of Keir Starmer stubbornly refusing to “get behind” the government as it continues its uniquely ruinous path through the Covid-19 crisis, writes Tom Peck.

This is the only card Boris Johnson can play, and thus it is guaranteed that it will now be played multiple times, week after week from here to evermore.

Starmer warns local lockdowns could last for months

Sir Keir Starmer has warned communities could face local lockdowns lasting months unless the government provides an effective contact-tracing system.

The Labour leader told the online Local Government Association annual conference that there was a “massive problem” with the NHS Test and Trace programme, arguing figures from the ONS suggested three-quarters of infected people were not being contacted.

“If we don't get to grips with it we could be in local lockdown situations for months and months and months. It is going to be the story of the summer if we are not careful,” Sir Keir said.

He also called for local councils to be given additional powers to ensure they are able to enforce restrictions effectively.

“If you need to close down a particular area at the moment, I don't think local authorities have got the necessary powers to do it,” he said.

“What we can't have is a situation where statutory instruments or other bits of legislation have to be passed in a hurry in response to each outbreak. There is a huge amount of work to do there.”

Case not 'closed' over Jenrick’s approval of controversial development, MPs warn

Pressure on housing secretary Robert Jenrick has increased after a Commons committee said it did not regard the controversial Westferry case as “closed”.

The Commons Housing Committee wrote to Mr Jenrick telling him it disagreed with Boris Johnson’s suggestion that the minister had nothing else to explain and asking a further 26 questions about his involvement in the incident.

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