Uk politics

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Why did Corbyn talk about buses not Brexit at PMQs?

Today’s PMQs could have been very tricky for Theresa May. Jeremy Corbyn had an array of targets to choose from. He could have pressed for Brexit detail ahead of Chequers, mocking the Cabinet divisions on the topic. He could have gone on the National Audit Office excoriating Esther McVey over her claims on Universal Credit. Or he could have asked about the Electoral Commission finding against Vote Leave – a campaign that two of her Cabinet Ministers were at the heart of. If these options weren’t enough, he could have got her to respond to the US letter demanding that the UK spend more on defence if is to maintain its status as the US’s premier military ally, a tricky issue for May ahead of Donald Trump’s visit.

Steerpike

Watch: Theresa May’s Brexit gaffe

Theresa May has promised repeatedly that 'Brexit means Brexit' but it seems she is still confused about what exactly Britain's departure from the EU involves. In PMQs today, May said: 'As we leave the UK...as we leave the EU...' https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1014467863883575296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw This mixup is unlikely to inspire confidence ahead of this week's crunch Chequer’s summit. Perhaps it's time for the PM to brush up on some Brexit detail...

Ross Clark

The problem with Theresa May’s Brexit compromise

At Chequers over the next couple of days Theresa May, along with her chief Brexit-sceptic ministers Philip Hammond and Greg Clark, will attempt to convince others to agree to a soft Brexit. The latest thinking, according to reports today, is that the UK would more or less remain in the single market for goods but would face greater restrictions on trade in services. There would also be some degree of freedom of movement, though it would be more restricted than at present. A necessary compromise that will stave off the fear of ‘no deal’, or a cave-in which will hugely favour the EU? The problem is that the UK economy is hugely weighted in favour of services – while all developed economies have a bias towards services it is especially strong in Britain.

James Kirkup

Labour and Tories finally see the truth about the gender debate

You might not have noticed that yesterday the Government announced possible changes to the Gender Recognition Act. That’s what ministers wanted: the announcement was carefully made late in the day and was partly obscured by an earlier promise to ban “conversion therapy” that tries to stop gay people being gay. Why did the Government bury its transgender announcement? The approach was very different last autumn when the Prime Minister herself fronted a prominent media drive which Tory spinners said showed that the Conservatives were inclining towards a system of “self-identified” gender.

Steerpike

Jared O’Mara, Labour MP

Good news for people who love bad news. Jared O’Mara, a former member of the Labour Women and Equalities select committee, has been reinstated as a Labour MP. He had the whip removed in October over a series of online posts and claims he verbally abused a woman – from his time before becoming an MP. However, an investigation by the Labour Party yesterday ruled the Sheffield MP should have the party whip restored – and a formal warning for good measure. For those who need a refresher, here are a few facts about the newly reinstated Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam: Jared on Angelina He favourably compared a 'shredtastic' Sheffield band to receiving fellatio from Angelina Jolie.

Tuesday

Robert Peston

Revealed: Theresa May’s soft Brexit plan

This is one of the more important notes I've written recently, because it contains what well-placed sources tell me are the main elements of the Prime Minister's Brexit plan – which will be put to her cabinet for approval on Friday. I would characterise the kernel of what she wants as the softest possible Brexit, subject to driving only the odd coach over her self-imposed red lines, as opposed to the full coach and horses. And I will start with my habitual apology: some of what follows is arcane, technical and – yes – a bit boring. But it matters.

Steerpike

The Guardian fails to get into the World Cup spirit

England's crunch World Cup game against Colombia is only a few hours away now and the whole country is getting excited. Over at the Guardian, however, the big game is a perfect opportunity to take a pop at Brexit voters. According to a piece on the paper's website, 'If this England team represents anyone, it’s the 48%: the remainers'. It goes on to say: Of course, what the article doesn't make clear is what stop and search actually has to do with Brexit. And nor does it have much time apparently for the third of Asian voters, or the 27 per cent of black voters, who voted in favour of Britain leaving the EU. Still, it seems that some people are determined to read the referendum into every situation – including the World Cup. In the spirit of unity, Mr S.

Steerpike

Watch: Siri interrupts Gavin Williamson in the Chamber

It's safe to say that Gavin Williamson has had a difficult few weeks. After the Mail on Sunday splashed on the Defence Secretary's supposed threat to bring down Theresa May over a funding row, Williamson has been on the receiving end from his colleagues. So, is Williamson close to handing over the reins to someone else? Mr S only asks after he appeared to leave it to his phone to do the talking today in the Chamber. Williamson's Siri staged an intervention while he was at the despatch box: https://twitter.com/BBCParliament/status/1014136145989513218 Siri: I've found something of the web for Syrian democratic forces supported by... JB: What a very rum business that is GW: I'm not sure I'd call that an intervention.

Katy Balls

How is Theresa May’s NHS funding boost landing with voters?

How is Theresa May's big £20bn funding pledge landing with the public? That's the question Tory MPs are beginning to ask. The Prime Minister's – currently unfunded – early birthday present for the NHS to celebrate its 70th birthday was announced to much fanfare last month. It was meant as an agenda setting policy that would help to define her premiership, show there was more to Mayism than Brexit and boost the Tories' standing with voters. As of yet though, signs of an immediate Tory boost are absent. A YouGov poll – taken 25-26 June about a week after it was announced - puts the Tories ahead with a five-point lead on 42pc and Labour on 37pc. However, it's not that the Tories have gained since the last poll – just that Labour have fallen behind.

Steerpike

Tory Brexit wars: Ed Vaizey vs Owen Paterson

The big Brexit crunch meeting at Chequers isn't until Friday but already Tory civil war is breaking out into the open. The divisions in the Conservative party on Brexit had previously been confined to a couple of spats on Twitter. Not any longer if today's Daily Politics bust-up between Ed Vaizey and Owen Paterson is anything to go on. While Tory MPs who appear alongside each other on TV can usually be relied on to back each up, it seems that when it comes to Brexit, these rules don't apply: https://twitter.com/edvaizey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Paterson: “You cannot dismiss the election and neither can the Labour party. Theresa May, forget the seats, she got the second largest number of votes since John Major.

Steerpike

DexEU chief: staff should try 10 minutes of ‘chairobics’ a day

As the Cabinet's Brexit crunch meeting draws closer, there's heightened speculation that it's Olly Robbins – the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and former DexEU Permanent Secretary – who is calling the shots rather than Brexit Secretary David Davis. On Monday, Davis met with Theresa May but it's not clear he was even updated on the 'third way' customs plan in the works. Rumours are circulating that the official Brexit department is being forced to take a back seat in the big Brexit decisions. So, Mr S was curious to note the message sent out by the Permanent Secretary, Philip Rycroft, for the Department for Exiting the European Union to kick off Civil Service Active Wellbeing Week.

Monday

Robert Peston

Could the ‘True Brexiters’ topple May?

As is often the case, the foreign secretary tonight summed up the PM’s worst nightmare, when tweeting that surely everyone can agree that Jacob Rees-Mogg is a principled MP who only “wants the best for our country”. Note well that he didn’t say his fellow Brexit purist only wants the best for his party. And there lies why May has struggled to even describe a detailed policy for the UK’s future relationship with the EU, let alone secure agreement for it. The point is she fears - correctly - that when it comes to what Brexit represents, for a Mogg, a Cash, a Bone, there are versions of it regarded by the True Brexiters as so toxic to the national interest they would rather see this minority government fall than collaborate with it.

Isabel Hardman

Number 10’s new customs plan doesn’t fully exist, sources insist

Has Theresa May finally cracked the customs arrangements problem? The Prime Minister needs to get sign-off from her Cabinet on Britain's future relationship with Europe at this week's Chequers summit, and it was briefed overnight that there was now a third option on the table, separate to the customs partnership or the maximum facilitation plan. But this option turned out not to be on the Cabinet table yet, with David Davis and other key ministers finding themselves as in the dark as the rest of us on the matter this morning. I understand that they still haven't been told what this new model is, but this is largely because the model hasn't yet been firmed up.

Isabel Hardman

Why Whitehall is failing to solve the social care crisis

The government's cash boost for the NHS isn't going to solve its problems. That's the verdict of pretty much every independent spending scrutiniser, including the National Audit Office's Comptroller, Amyas Morse. He's said today that the £20bn founding increase announced by Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt will maintain current standards, but won't enable the health service to grow as the population needs it to. There is also no way that the cash set out recently will solve one of the biggest drains on the health service: the crisis in social care. The Treasury only agreed money for the NHS, not the services that many patients need to be able to go home, and ministers are clear that spending on social care now needs to be discussed separately.

James Forsyth

Theresa May: Brexit does mean Brexit

Theresa May’s appearance in the Commons today debuted some new language but didn’t tell us much about what she’ll set out to the Cabinet on Friday. May repeated that membership of the European Economic Area would not respect the result of the referendum. Now, she has said this several times before but her comment will reassure some Brexiteers. They’ll be less reassured, though, by her dodging the question when Jacob Rees-Mogg asked her if the UK would continue to be bound by the Common External Tariff after Brexit. May was conciliatory in her tone at the despatch box, but she seemed particularly keen to calm Brexiteers.

Steerpike

Watch: Kit Malthouse wrong-foots his boss

Oh dear. Esther McVey has rather a lot on her plate right now with the faltering universal credit roll out. Today, however, her problems became physical while answering work and pensions questions in the Chamber. Only it wasn't the Opposition causing the issue. Junior minister Kit Malthouse lost his balance as he stepped away from the despatch box – causing the muscular Tory to almost sit down on a petite McVey. See if you can spot it.

Steerpike

No more BBC Mairs for Boris Johnson

The news that Eddie Mair is departing the BBC for LBC has been met with disappointment by his former comrades. However, Mr S suspects that there is one man who will today be breathing a sigh of relief. Step forward Boris Johnson. It’s no secret that the foreign secretary has a frosty relationship with the broadcaster - in fact, the majority of Boris’s broadcast gaffes have been when Mair was the one asking the questions: Mair to Boris – 'you're a nasty piece of work' In the first interview in 2013, Mair branded Boris a 'nasty piece of work'. He was referring to Mr. Johnson’s integrity, which came under scrutiny in Michael Cockerell’s contemporary documentary. The allegations had been made before, and indeed partially faced by Boris in a memorable HIGNFY.

Steerpike

Sajid Javid takes the lead

According to weekend reports there are now 20 Tory MPs preparing leadership bids should Theresa May fall. However, one minister tells Coffee House that's not right – it's actually more like 40. So, with ambitious politicians plotting their next move, who is the frontrunner? Mr S was curious to note that Sajid Javid – the newly installed Home Secretary – has taken the lead for the first time. Javid has topped ConHome's leadership poll – this is notable given that since the site revived their Next Tory Leader question after the snap election, it has been topped either by a candidate by the name of 'other' or by Jacob Rees-Mogg. id Watch this space.

Isabel Hardman

Exclusive: MPs advised to stay off Twitter accounts

Remember when, as a child, you were astonished to discover that not only did your teacher not retreat to the resources cupboard to charge overnight, but that they had a life outside work and even a family? Some adults still seem not to have grasped this about MPs. Last night, Labour MP Luciana Berger posted a thread on Twitter in which she justified not attending a rally for the NHS's 70th birthday in London at the weekend. It was quite a lengthy thread, in which Berger set out all the NHS-related work she had done that week, and rather plaintively said that while also knocking on doors over the weekend in Liverpool, 'I also spent some precious time catching up with my partner and 1 year old daughter'.

Steerpike

Confirmed: Cameron did ask Obama to say Brexit Britain would be ‘back of the queue’

When Barack Obama warned Brits on a visit to the UK ahead of the EU referendum that a vote for Leave would see Britain put to the ‘back of the queue’, on trade deals there was much anger – and also bemusement. As Brexiteers were quick to point out, Americans rarely use the word 'queue' – leading some to ask: did No 10 ask the US president to intervene? At the time, Cameron's allies strongly denied this suggestion. However, it seems that the truth is quite different. Speaking on the Today programme, former White House staffer Ben Rhodes claimed that Cameron's aides did ask their side for Obama to say Brexit would put the UK 'at the back of the queue'.