Brexit news: EU leaders vow to block any trade deal if Boris Johnson breaches withdrawal agreement as Ireland accuses PM of ‘unprecedented provocation’

Hancock’s comments ‘profoundly dangerous’, says expert

Health secretary Matt Hancock’s claim that there has been a surge in people seeking coronavirus tests without symptoms has been branded “profoundly dangerous”.

The comment came from a member of the Independent Sage group, which has published a report describing the NHS Test and Trace system as “flawed” and “inadequate”.

Professor Stephen Reicher said: “If you tell them ‘Oh you mustn't get a test if you’re not unwell’, they will delay. It will be longer before people get tests, they will be infectious for longer without doing anything about it, and the infection will spread more.

“So what Matt Hancock said is not only wrong, it’s profoundly dangerous and it will increase the pandemic.”

Scottish Labour leader faces fight to keep control

Richard Leonard will face a no confidence vote tomorrow at a meeting of the the Scottish Executive Committee, the party's governing body.

It comes after several Scottish Labour MSPs announced they no longer supported him. The rebel MSPs have indicated they would support a leadership challenge but none have said they would run against him.

But Leonard says he will not stand down and has accused his opponents of “underestimating” him, saying they have “nothing to say or offer”.

Responding to the motion of no confidence, he said: “The last thing Labour supporters and those we need to win back want to see is a party turning in on itself.”

Additional reporting by PA

PM should ‘stick to what he agreed’, says German minister

Here’s more reaction from European capitals on the British government’s refusal to pull its withdrawal agreement override plan.  

“It is clear that anyone has to stick to what he already agreed to. Treaties have to be obeyed,” Germany’s finance minister Olaf Scholz told reporters in Berlin.

“We’re in the final stretch of these negotiations, and for our part they will be carried through to the end,” EU internal markets commissioner Thierry Breton told France’s BFM television.

Meanwhile, in the currency markets, the British pound was set for its worst week against the euro and the dollar since mid-March. 

Project to cut teen pregnancy and sexual violence in Rwanda is axed as UK foreign aid cuts begin

A £12.5m project to cut teen pregnancy and sexual violence in Rwanda has been axed, as the UK begins huge foreign aid cuts – prompting criticism that promises to the world’s poorest children are being broken, our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports.

The programme – designed to help 200,000 vulnerable young people complete their schooling – is the first known to have been scrapped since £2.9bn of cuts were announced.

It had almost completed the procurement process and was due to begin early next year, the investigative news service SourceMaterial, which uncovered the decision, said.

The cancellation comes after Downing Street abolished the Department for International Aid, and suggested that strict internationally-agreed rules to prevent aid being spent on “military purposes” could be ripped up.

It was condemned by Preet Gill, Labour’s shadow international development secretary, who said: “The prime minister made a clear commitment to stand up for the right of every girl in the world to have 12 years of quality education.

“The cancellation of a programme to help Rwandan girls have access to a safe education shows that this government cannot be trusted to uphold their promises.”

Ministers urged to ‘redouble’ efforts for UK-EU trade deal following Japan agreement

As the government celebrates its “historic” new trade deal with Japan - the net benefit of which Labour said would amount to just 0.07% of GDP - ministers are being urged to "redouble" their efforts to secure a post-Brexit free trade deal with the EU.

Hopes of a deal with the bloc - which currently accounts for 47 per cent of the UK’s global trade, compared with two per cent in the case of Japan - hang in the balance after Brussels demanded the UK abandons plans to override key elements of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the Japan deal was "undoubtedly a cause for celebration" but that securing a free trade agreement with the EU "remains critical to the future of businesses in the UK".

"We urge ministers to redouble their efforts to reach a comprehensive partnership with our largest trading partner at a crucial time in the negotiations," said BCC director-general Adam Marshall.

Boris Johnson to urge Tory MPs to back changes to Brexit deal amid fears of rebellion

Boris Johnson is to plead with fractious Tory MPs to back him in his bust-up with Brussels, amid Downing Street fears of a backbench rebellion against measures which ministers admit break international law, our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.

In a Friday evening video conference call, the prime minister will try to answer deep anxieties over provisions in his UK Internal Market Bill which have been condemned by three former prime ministers and provoked Brussels to threaten legal action.

Senior and normally loyal Tories have vowed to vote against the government when the bill is rushed through the Commons next week, and while privately some were doubtful of mustering the 40 or more rebels needed to block the legislation it then faces likely defeat in the House of Lords.

Autumn budget will not come before mid-November, Rishi Sunak indicates

In a written statement to the Commons, Rishi Sunak has told MPs that he has asked the Office for Budget Responsibility to prepare an economic forecast to be published in "mid to late November", amid economic uncertainty from the coronavirus.

A budget can not come without the report, and it is understood that the Chancellor is yet to decide whether to deliver a fiscal event alongside its publication.

“The temptation to delay is understandable given that uncertainty. But whether or not a budget happens this autumn, major policy decisions are needed sooner rather than later,” said chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank, Torsten Bell.

"With a sharp rise in unemployment a real danger, and both the job retention scheme and key credit support to business set to expire around the end of October, the Chancellor will soon need to set out a fresh plan for the next phase of the crisis, budget or no budget."

Government adviser likens Moonshot mass testing plans to ‘vanity projects of minor dictators’

Stephen Reicher, a social psychologist who has sat on the Sage subcommittee SPI-B, has likened ministers’ “moonshot” plans to regain normality via mass testing scheme costing close to the annual NHS budget to the vanity projects of minor dictators.

"The 'moonshot' feels like one of those vanity projects most associated with minor dictators. It is a narcissist's dream of grandeur and legacy," he tweeted.

“It provides something you don't get from the unglamorous grind of doing the simple things well. And keeping us safe.”

According to a leaked government memo obtained by the British Medical Journal, ministers plan to use private firms such as GSK, AstraZeneca, Serco and G4S to help deliver the £100bn project.

Priti Patel condemns ‘appalling’ attack on police officer

The home secretary has condemned what is being treated as the attempted murder of a police officer, who suffered burns and “severe injuries” while on duty in Newquay.

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‘Under no circumstances’: European Parliament leaders issue post-Brexit trade deal ultimatum over Boris Johnson’s planned breach of withdrawal agreement

MEPs have threatened to block any UK-EU trade deal if Boris Johnson breaches his Brexit deal.

A statement from leaders in the European Parliament and its UK co-ordination group said the prime minister's UK Internal Market Bill - which Tory minister Brandon Lewis admitted would "break international law in a very specific and limited way” - is a "serious and unacceptable breach of international law" which threatens the current trade negotiations.

"Should the UK authorities breach - or threaten to breach - the Withdrawal Agreement, through the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill in its current form or in any other way, the European Parliament will under no circumstances ratify any agreement between the EU and the UK," it continued.