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| Tuesday July 21 2020 |
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By Esther Webber
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Good morning,
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Four months after his country was first gripped by a global pandemic, Donald Trump has made a plea to Americans to wear face masks in public out of “patriotic” duty. If you're just getting used to them, please don't let that put you off.
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After informing readers for 235 years, we now bring the stories of the day to life with warmth, wit and expertise from 5am weekdays and 6am on weekends until the small hours. Listen free on DAB radio, via your smart speaker, online at times.radio, and through the Times Radio app.
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The briefing
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- Boris Johnson chairs his first in-person cabinet meeting since March 17, with social distancing and hand sanitiser. Presumably ministers must leave their names at the door in case they need to be tracked down later.
- Rishi Sunak, arguably the most popular member of the cabinet, cements his Father Christmas status by announcing above-inflation pay rises for 900,000 public sector workers including doctors, teachers and police.
- The PM convenes his cabinet on one of the more optimistic mornings we've had since the outbreak of the pandemic, following the news that a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University researchers could be available this year.
- It's still early days and we don't yet know if it will work. The uncertainty is underlined by the fact that the government has placed orders for at least 90 million doses of vaccines from overseas companies in an attempt to spread its risk between different technologies.
- Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has arrived in London, and will meet Tory hawks on China before seeing the PM, a working lunch, and a joint press conference this afternoon with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary.
- Relations with China were always going to feature heavily, and going into those discussions Raab can demonstrate he's taken action by announcing an arms embargo and scrapping the UK's extradition treaty with Hong Kong.
- Popcorn at the ready for the release at 10.30am of the long-awaited report on alleged Russian interference in British democracy, with the Daily Telegraph leading today on claims that Russia tried to sway the Scottish referendum in 2014.
- More uncomfortable for the government will be its findings on financial links between Russian oligarchs and the Conservative Party.
- Ministers have been warned that EU leaders are not ready to sign off on a Brexit trade deal compromise ahead of the latest rounds of talks that get under way in London today.
- Suella Braverman, the attorney-general, is in front of the justice committee at 1.45pm and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, goes before the science and technology committee at 2.30pm.
- Blackburn with Darwen has overtaken Leicester as England’s coronavirus hotspot, with cases almost doubling but a local lockdown is still being treated as a last resort.
- Trivia question: Which West Indies cricketer went on to become a life peer? Answer at the bottom of today's email.
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Speaker speaks out
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In an age of uncertainty, cynicism and misinformation, it's a privilege to be able to bring you news of a political promise which has been kept. No, I'm afraid it's not a bespoke test-and-trace app, nor Boris Johnson's social care policy but the arrival of a cat in the House of Commons.
Interviewed by Red Box last year, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, then the deputy Speaker, vowed to bring in feline reinforcements to deal with the rodent problem. He revealed on Times Radio yesterday that his own cat, Patrick, has begun prowling the parliamentary corridors.
It comes sadly too late for Andrea Leadsom, who as Commons leader was frequently visited by a rat in her office. (The rat, like Leadsom, has apparently since moved on.)
Sir Lindsay is well known for his love of animals, with the Speaker's quarters currently home to a small menagerie. He himself turned attack dog yesterday, telling Matt Chorley that the prime minister had begun behaving more like a president than a prime minister.
“The government has to respect parliament,” Sir Lindsay said. “Any statement should be made to parliament, not to the press briefings. We don’t have a president, we have a prime minister, and that prime minister is answerable to parliament."
He later added: "I think there is the danger that he’s being pointed towards having a presidential style. I’m not sure whether it’s him or whether people around him or whatever."
Is Sir Lindsay beginning to take after his predecessor? The short answer is no. In most of the ways that matter, he has marked himself out as a very different Speaker. Debates tend to run more smoothly and PMQs is much snappier without any soliloquies from the chair.
I've also heard that he has been a support to victims of bullying and harassment at Westminster, a few of whom told me they felt he listened and took them seriously when they sought meetings with him.
Hardly anyone has a bad word to say about him - and therein lies the problem. If he's open to any criticism, it's that he finds it hard to break out of his default mode, which is affability.
There are grumblings from the Labour side in particular that he is too aligned with the traditionalist, Leave-voting sensibilities of the Conservatives and that he has not been able to resist some of the government's wilder schemes for the future of parliament.
"He is in cahoots with Jacob Rees-Mogg," one fatigued parliamentary source complained.
When MPs voted against allowing themselves to debate harassment claims on the floor of the House, members of staff told me it should never have got that far in the first place. Virtual working arrangements have now bedded in but only after the PM intervened to guarantee the right of shielding MPs to take part.
And on the beleaguered plans for the restoration of parliament, one senior MP involved from the start told me: "There's this idea it just isn't happening." He added that parliament had somehow "slid" towards this consensus, with a review initiated under mysterious circumstances and Boris Johnson dashing off flights of fancy about relocating the whole thing to York.
At a meeting of the House of Commons commission yesterday, it was agreed that Richmond House on Whitehall - previously earmarked as an alternative Commons chamber - should be scoped as a home for MPs and their staff while the dilapidated Norman Shaw buildings are refurbished, casting further doubt on any prospect of MPs moving out of the Palace.
This is not all down to the Speaker, of course. In a debate on restoration last week, the £4 billion restoration scheme did not find much support among the 2019 intake MPs. Some even suggested it would be a dereliction of their patriotic duty to relocate temporarily.
As Tom Randall, the new Tory MP for Gedling put it: "It would be very symbolic if we were to leave. This Palace symbolises Britain in the way that the Eiffel Tower might symbolise France, the Colosseum might symbolise Italy or the Brandenburg Gate might symbolise Germany."
He might be onto something there. What could be more British than soldiering on while bits of parliament fall down around our ears and slide into the Thames?
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Chart of the day
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It's early days yet but here's how the new Speaker's contributions in the House so far measure up against the last few years of his predecessor. Thanks to Dan Clark.
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Guide to the Tory tribes
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There are two fascinating insights into the make-up of the Conservative Party in today's Times. Eleni Courea, the political reporter, finds the China hawks divided between senior figures such as Sir Iain Duncan Smith and David Davis, and ambitious younger moderates of the China Research Group such as Tom Tugendhat and Tobias Ellwood.
The infighting has already started, surprise surprise, with some of the younger elements accusing the old guard of being effectively at a loose end, in search of a project. A very similar analysis reached me via one senior Tory who said there was "a divide in the party between people like IDS and DD, shouting to remind people they exist, whereas TT and Ellwood are happy with their lot in life".
Meanwhile, Kieran Andrews, the Scottish political editor, reports Tory MPs have set up a new lobby group for the Union that hopes to emulate the success of the influential pro-Brexit hardliners.
About 30 MPs are understood to have joined the Conservative Union Research Group (CURG) as part of a concerted push to ensure that the future of the UK is kept front and centre in both the government and Houses of Parliament.
Robin Millar, the Aberconwy MP who was elected in December, leads the group which is seeking recognition as a parliamentary body. At this rate there will be nothing left for any other groups to research.
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Need to know
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LEASE OF LIFE: Builders face a ban on selling leasehold homes after the government’s legal advisers called for reforms to stop freeholders exploiting flat owners. (The Times)
GOING TO TOWN: Ministers used a government regeneration scheme to target millions of pounds in grants at marginal Conservative seats before the last election. (The Times)
BEDSIDE MANNER: The NHS chief nurse has confirmed she was dropped from a Downing Street press conference after saying that she would criticise Boris Johnson’s chief aide for driving to Durham during lockdown. (The Times)
NEIGHBOUR DANGER: Northern Ireland should act to protect itself against travellers from Great Britain spreading coronavirus, Stormont’s deputy first minister has said. (Belfast Telegraph)
HARASSMENT CLAIM: Conservative MP Rob Roberts is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards two junior members of parliamentary staff. (BBC Wales)
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My sincere apologies for using the wrong link in yesterday's poll. Let's try again.
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Have your say
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Yesterday I asked what bosses could do to coax people back into the office.
Chris Greaves: "A return to the old days of real individual offices with walls and doors."
Christopher Walton: "Send them a short email saying that I have some bad news for them that it would be unfair to put in an email."
Dave Maunder: "A threat of redundancy. The shirkers would be back in droves."
Jane O'Nions: "Part-time attendance and free childcare on those days? It's the start of the school holidays, summer activities are cancelled and we are still not supposed to extend our bubbles to pairs of grandparents. What a stupid time to ask parents to commute again. Clearly childcare has never been a concern for Boris."
Jim Harbord: "Staggered attendance one day a week for catch-up time over coffee in a smaller office. Otherwise continue to do the real work from home."
Sati McKenzie: "Own office, free lunch, help with commuting costs."
TODAY: What name would you choose for a House of Commons cat? Email redbox@thetimes.co.uk and we'll use some of the best tomorrow.
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The cartoon
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Today's cartoon from The Times by Peter Schrank
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Life in Britain: do you know more than the general public do?
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Last week we set you a challenge. Inspired by studies showing that people frequently misconceive societal trends, we asked Times readers 13 questions about life in Britain.
We put the same questions to the general public via a YouGov survey, creating a unique comparison between Times subscribers and the wider populace on subjects as far-ranging as violent crime and same-sex marriage.
So how did you do? As the journalists paid to keep Times readers informed, we hoped you would answer more accurately than the general public — and you did not disappoint.
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Read the full story
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Now listen to this
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One big story will dominate the show today: how much election interference came from Russia with love?
We will find out just after 10.30am when the long-awaited, much-delayed and probably more-redacted report from the intelligence and security committee is released. I’ll be joined by experts in Russia influence around the world, and Dominic Grieve, the former ISC chairman.
Also on today’s show Daniel Finkelstein and David Aaronovitch (aka Finkelvitch) disagree about everything. Sort of.
We have Spin Class with former spin doctors Salma Shah and Jason Stein, Henry Zeffman is live from Washington and we examine the psychology of why anyone would go into politics.
If you’d like to take part in our daily quiz, Can you get to No10?, get in touch matt.chorley@times.radio
And I’ll see you from 10am on Times Radio. Listen on DAB, app, smart speaker and at times.radio
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| TMS |
| From the diary |
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By Patrick Kidd
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I say! Dan's the man we need
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We have become used to artificial crowd noise at sports events this summer but why stop there? Peter Fincham, a former controller of BBC One, would also like artificial commentators. He writes in The Idler of an idea he once had at Wimbledon (he admits it was after a few corporate glasses of Pimm’s) in which nostalgic viewers could press the red button and hear Dan Maskell, who died in 1992, commentating on current matches. “Almost any situation would surely be matched by a line he had once delivered in his fruity voice,” Finchem says. “‘And with that cross-court drop volley, the plucky Norwegian now has two match points’ or ‘that double fault suggests the pressure is getting to the champion’. Or simply, ‘I say!’” With AI much improved, Fincham feels the time is ripe. “We watch period drama,” he says, “so what’s wrong with period commentary?”
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Read more from the TMS diary
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The agenda
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Today
- Boris Johnson chairs his first in-person cabinet meeting since the beginning of the pandemic.
- UK households have experienced the biggest immediate income shock since the 1970s, according to the Resolution Foundation Living Standards Audit.
- Online misinformation about Covid-19 was allowed to spread without legislative protections, according to a report by the online harms and disinformation sub-committee.
- 9.30am Fifth round of UK-EU negotiations begins, with level playing field, horizontal arrangements, fisheries, trade in goods, energy, law enforcement, transport, and mobility and social security co-operation on the agenda.
- 9.30am Chloe Smith, a present Cabinet Office minister, and Mark Harper, a former Cabinet Office minister, give evidence to the public administration and constitutional affairs committee on the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011.
- 9.30am Witnesses including Sir Paul Nurse, director of the Crick Institute, and Professor Sir John Bell, University of Oxford, give evidence to the health and social care committee.
- 9.30am Witnesses from Which?, the CBI and the National Infrastructure Commission give evidence to the digital, culture, media and sport committee.
- 10am Academics from the Royal Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Francis Crick Institute, and Academy of Medical Sciences give evidence to the Lords science and technology committee on the science of Covid-19.
- 10am Witnesses from the University of Kent and the Centre for Global Development give evidence to the committee on the future relationship with the EU.
- 10.30am Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, and Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, give evidence to the health and social care committee.
- 11am Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, takes part in a Resolution Foundation event on crisis-hit living standards.
- 1.45pm Suella Braverman, the attorney-general, gives evidence at the justice committee.
- 2pm Major General James Illingworth, MoD director of land warfare, Susan Gray, Defence Safety Authority director-general, and Baroness Goldie, defence minister, give evidence to the defence committee.
- 2.30pm Juan Manuel Santos, former Colombian president, and Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the former UN high commissioner for human rights, give evidence to the foreign affairs committee on the government's integrated review.
- 2.30pm Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and Chris Wormald, permanent secretaryat the Department for Health and Social Care, give evidence to the science and technology committee on the UK's capability in global disease outbreaks.
- 3pm Michael Jermey, director of news and current affairs at ITV, gives evidence to the Lords communications and digital committee on the future of journalism.
- 3.30pm Greg Clark, chairman of the science and technology committee, takes part in a Social Market Foundation online event.
House of Commons
- 11.30am Business, energy and industrial strategy.
- Ten-minute rule bill on death by dangerous driving sentencing.
- Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill: Remaining stages.
- Adjournment debate on tackling the misuse of nitrous oxide.
House of Lords
- Midday Questions on Hong Kong; social mobility; the childcare sector, and a human rights threshold in telecommunications legislation.
- Agriculture Bill: committee stage (day five).
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Today's trivia answer
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Trivia question: Which West Indies cricketer went on to become a life peer?
Answer: Learie Constantine, who became the first black peer in 1969.
Thanks to Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Baroness Massey of Darwen, who once bowled out the late Baroness Heyhoe Flint first ball. Send your trivia to redbox@thetimes.co.uk
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@estwebber
