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Wednesday July 11 2018 |
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By Matt Chorley
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Good morning,
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After some swift but careful planning, the exit strategy was executed and even with some tight spots everyone got out alive, to the delight of the nervous waiting crowds, and millions around the world.
Perhaps we should put the Thai navy Seals in charge of Brexit.
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A bumper edition of the Red Box podcast this week, recorded in Westminster, as we try to work out what is happening after the most chaotic period since the last one.
Alastair Campbell describes helping Robin Cook write his resignation letter. Katie Perrior, Theresa May's former director of communications, and Rupert Harrison, George Osborne's former chief of staff, discuss the threat posed by Boris Johnson and the PM's chances of fighting the next election. And Sam Coates reveals why the scale of May’s crisis is linked to the size of the hole in his trousers. Well worth a listen
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Must reads
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- Facebook faces a record fine of £500,000 from Britain’s data watchdog for failing to protect users whose data was obtained by Cambridge Analytica.
- The family of a woman killed by a nerve agent have paid tribute to a “gentle soul who was generous to a fault” as her boyfriend’s condition improved slightly.
- A foreign secretary who resigned on a point of principle for something that few thought was actually his fault. Imagine that. Widespread warm tributes to Lord Carrington, who quit after Argentina invaded the Falklands and has died at the age of 99. A fantastic Times obituary of the man who served under six prime ministers from Churchill to Thatcher.
Vacancy: The Times is looking for a senior political correspondent. Apply with a covering letter and your CV at newscareers.co.uk by August 3.
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Trump: ‘My friend Boris’
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No one wants to have their domestic situation described as "turmoil" by another world leader but coming from Donald Trump it's got to hurt. It's like Chris Grayling telling you: "I don't think you've handled that terribly well."
Yet this was not even the biggest thing Theresa May had to worry about as the US president left the White House for Europe ahead of his visit to Britain, which starts with the Nato summit in Brussels today.
Oh no. Trump wants to meet Boris Johnson. You might remember him. He used to be foreign secretary. “Boris Johnson’s a friend of mine, he’s been very nice to me, very supportive and maybe I’ll speak to him when I get over there. I like Boris Johnson, I’ve always liked him,” Trump told reporters.
To be clear, he is not talking about the Boris Johnson who during the presidential campaign said Trump was "clearly out of his mind", was “portraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him, frankly, unfit to hold the office of president of the United States" and said he "wouldn't want to expose Londoners to any unnecessary risk of meeting Donald Trump”.
No, I think the president is talking about the Boris Johnson who praised his "exciting agenda for change", suggested he would make a better job of Brexit and at one recent cabinet meeting urged May to "engage" with him.
"I am looking forward to seeing President Trump," May said yesterday. "There is much for us to discuss."
Like the giant inflatable of Trump wearing a baby's nappy which will be flown over London by protesters. Sadiq Khan, the London mayor who approved the blimp, had a rough ride on ITV's Good Morning Britain, as Piers Morgan told him: "I don't think you'd allow in a million years a topless blimp of Hillary Clinton if she'd won ... I don't think you'd allow a black balloon depicting Obama as a baby."
As it turns out, Trump might not see the balloon very much. Although he is staying in London, all of his visits are outside the capital: dinner tomorrow night at Blenheim Palace, tea with the Queen on Friday at Windsor Castle, talks and a press conference with May at Chequers. Officially there is no time in Trump's packed schedule for meetings with former foreign secretaries. Downing Street hopes that by keeping him busy, there is less chance for him to go off script, though the planned press conference should be interesting.
Asked yesterday by American media whether May should remain in power, Trump replied: “Well, that’s up to the people. I get along with her very well. I have a very good relationship. That’s certainly up to the people, not up to me.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Explaining his trip to Europe, Trump added: "So I have Nato, I have the UK which is in somewhat turmoil, and I have Putin. Frankly, Putin may be the easiest of them all. Who would think? Who would think? But the UK certainly ... they have a lot of things going on.”
We do indeed, Mr President. We do indeed. Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to London, tried to smooth things over on the Today programme, insisting "there is always turmoil in every country" and "the UK is proceeding in the way it always does".
Having rushed to embrace this larger-than-life character after that shock electoral victory, May must now be having her doubts.
The inexplicable hair, the inability to knot a tie properly, the questionable record with women, the attitude to foreigners, the belief that winning one vote makes them right about everything, the overwhelming sense that this is all a game played out for the benefit of the media.
But at least he's not her foreign secretary anymore.
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Keeping quiet ... for now
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Boris Johnson is likely to “keep his powder dry” until the autumn and has no intention of challenging Theresa May, according to friends.
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Read the full story
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YESTERDAY'S QUESTION: I asked if this was normal. You said no. Full result here
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Today's cartoon from The Times by Peter Brookes
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It's coming home
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Labour have two opposition day debates this afternoon: the first will try to dock Esther McVey's pay for her bungled handling of universal credit, but the second is on "recognising the important contribution of the defence industry to the UK". Unity is expected to break out, and the government will not oppose the motion.
Why? So there will be no vote at 7pm so MPs can get themselves parked in front of a big screen in time for kick-off as England face Croatia in the World Cup semi-final.
All Conservative MPs have been invited to No 10 to watch the game but not everyone is terribly grateful. Henry Smith, a Tory backbencher, tweeted: "Seeing as the Prime Minister isn’t bringing Brexit home I’m concerned attending would be a bad omen for football coming home ... I’ll pass."
Julian Smith, the chief whip, responded: "Henry if you would like to transfer your invite to a constituent let me know. Let me have their name first thing - they will be welcome." Before Sally Bercow, wife of Speaker John, piled in: "We won’t be childish and bad-mannered. One Speaker, one wife and three kids would love to come..."
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Quote of the day |
“Our country has been through some difficult moments recently in terms of its unity — and I think sport has the power to do that, and football in particular has the power to do that."
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Gareth Southgate, England manager
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‘Labour's coming home’
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If you thought people saying "it's coming home" every three minutes, and even hiding it in cow memes, was annoying, can I introduce you to the time Tony Blair riffed on "Labour is coming home" during his 1996 conference speech.
"Seventeen years of hurt never stopped us dreaming. Labour’s coming home! As we did in 1945 and 1964, I know that was then, but it could be again – Labour’s coming home. (Applause) Labour’s coming home."
It sounds like a terrible idea but he manages to pull it off. Sort of. Watch the clip here
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Ben behaving Bradley
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Whoah. The prime minister survived losing her Brexit secretary and foreign secretary but now she’s lost that guy who said the unemployed should have vasectomies. Can she come back from this?
Ben Bradley, who was put in charge of winning over the youth vote and succeeded in going viral with his old blog posts about poor people having children and his apology for libelling Jeremy Corbyn, quit as a Tory vice-chairman yesterday, claiming he could not defend May's Brexit plan.
This came as a surprise to anyone who saw him tweet on Thursday night: "Whilst everyone gets very excited about Chequers tomorrow, truth is PM has been consistent with her #Brexit wishlist from day one - control of money, borders and laws. We should support her, get behind her and deliver precisely those things!" Maria Caulfield, another vice-chair, also quit yesterday.
On the face of it, not the seismic loss that two senior cabinet members might be, but each person who quits is another rebel who (presumably) will vote against whatever deal Theresa May does finally get.
The Telegraph quotes one Brexiteer saying they have enough "letters in hand" to trigger a vote of no confidence unless she ditches the plan within a week. It is not clear they have the numbers yet to defeat her in that vote. Christopher Howse, the paper's columnist, reveals several readers have sent in letters accusing the PM of "treason".
William Hague, the former foreign secretary, had a warning for anyone thinking of replacing May. He told the Today programme: "Even if there were to be a different leader they would face exactly the same constraints."
Ministers have drawn up secret plans to stockpile processed food in the event of EU divorce talks collapsing - to show Brussels that “no deal” is not a bluff, The Sun reports.
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The Sketch
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May gets the hump as Merkel awaits the bump
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Patrick Kidd
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There was not much Ode to Joy from Angela Merkel as the German chancellor appeared at a press conference in London with Theresa May. She had the weary, resigned look of an elderly family pet who knows that the next outing to the vets will be a one-way trip, all turned-down mouth and rheumy eyes. It is a rare double act when Mrs May is seen as “the sunny one”.
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Read the full sketch
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May's darkest hour
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The Times' Francis Elliott has a fascinating insight into how Jeremy Hunt came to Theresa May's rescue during her darkest hour after her disastrous party conference speech, paving the way for his promotion to foreign secretary this week. Apparently Hunt likes to quote the American boxer Mike Tyson, who once said: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Well worth a read here.
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Bricking it
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Think you know nothing about Jeremy Wright, the new culture secretary? The Times can help with that. “The only thing I really know about Jeremy is that he has a monster Lego collection,” said one fellow minister yesterday.
So that's one thing you know now.
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Ones to watch today
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- David Lidington, the de-facto deputy PM, stands in for Theresa May at PMQs while she attends a Nato summit.
- Labour uses an opposition day debate to call for the the pay of Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, to be docked for a month for her handling of universal credit. Read the full story
- Jared O'Mara, the Labour MP suspended for making misogynistic and homophobic comments online, says he finally plans to make his maiden speech "this month", more than a year after being elected. He has given an interview to ITV Calendar in which he says that after his suspension he tried to kill himself three times. Read the full story
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Labour's existential crisis
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John Stolliday suddenly quit as the Labour Party's director of governance in March when it became clear that Jennie Formby, the former union official, was going to become general secretary.
Last night he used his leaving speech to issue a dire warning about the direction of the party under Jeremy Corbyn, invoking Tony Blair's belief that "simplistic opposition for its own sake is an easy path to take but it is one that ends in the overgrown wilderness".
Stolliday, a popular staffer who has worked in various roles for the party for 14 years under four elected leaders (Blair, Brown, Miliband and Corbyn), said: "The Labour Party might have brought into its ranks those many people in the country who are disaffected, who want to oppose, who were previously attracted to the political fringes. But by choosing this path they ignore the great majority out there who put Labour into government three times in the past 25 years and are waiting for a credible alternative to what we have now."
He claimed voters have been left with "an opposition which provides no alternative and has no coherent thinking or progressive offers to this country except tired slogans and policies rejected by the electorate so many times before" and has "nothing to say" on Brexit. He also said that planned changes to the party rules risked upsetting the balance of power, in favour of the "tyranny of a majority".
He ended by warning that Labour faces an "existential crisis", adding: "Is it a party of opposition and protest or is it a credible party of leadership in the national interest to better the lives of millions of working people?
"It was Dora Gaitskell who told her husband Hugh in 1962 that the problem with his policy is that 'all the wrong people are cheering'. I love the Labour Party and want it to do well more than anything. But I’m afraid right now: all the wrong people are cheering."
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Corbyn's reshuffle
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Jeremy Corbyn carried out a mini-reshuffle last night, which was most notable for appointing Naz Shah as shadow minister for women and equalities. She had previously been suspended over antisemitic slurs, backing calls for Israelis to be relocated to America. The Sun has the story.
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Quote of the day |
"I know that my honourable friend likes nothing more than donning his budgie smugglers and sitting in the back garden on a Sunday afternoon."
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Johnny Mercer, a Tory MP, became the first person to use the phrase "budgie smugglers" in the Commons, to the bafflement of his honourable friend, prisons minister Rory Stewart
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In others we trust
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Fascinating new research from NatCen's British Attitudes survey which reveals that on many issues we are now as divided as you might think, and the warring factions in Westminster might suggest.
The proportion who think that generally people can be trusted has also leapt to 54 per cent, the highest since the survey began in 1984. So we're not all bad. Read more here
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Picture of the day
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Crowds gathered in Parliament Square for the flypast to mark 100 years of the RAF. More pictures here
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Parliament stinks
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John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, has pledged to walk around the Houses of Parliament to check claims that the entrances “are filthy with a smell of urine and vomit”, the i reports.
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Pray for Nigel
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Remember how last year poor Nigel Farage said he was skint? Well new figures from Transparency International, a campaign group, show he actually earned up to €790,000 on top of his €100,000-a-year salary, putting him sixth in a list of the highest-earning MEPs.
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Read the full story
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Around the world
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US: Democrats’ hopes of blocking President Trump’s Supreme Court justice nominee were waning yesterday after centrist senators gave a cautious welcome to Brett Kavanaugh. Read the full story
TURKEY: President Erdogan has used his first decree to appoint a new head of the military, one of a series of rapid rulings on his first day in office. Read the full story
ISRAEL: The president has rejected part of a bill that would enshrine the state’s Jewish identity in law, saying that he could not accept a section which allowed “Jewish-only” towns to be built. Read the full story
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Also in the news
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- COURT BATTLE: Legal fight in Windrush cancer case (The Times)
- OFF SALE: Ban children from consuming energy drinks, urges health minister (The Times)
- WEB OF DECEIT: Rail websites caught selling tickets for cancelled trains (The Times)
- TESTING TIMES: Don’t stress about Sats, urges minister (The Times)
- DISHONOURABLE MEMBERS: Bullying by MPs before 2017 election likely to escape scrutiny (The Guardian)
- COUNTRYSIDE COSTS: Kids from villages are being left behind as the cost of turning schools into academies is too high, MPs warn (The Sun)
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TMS |
From the diary |
By Patrick Kidd
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Carrington’s running gag
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The pomposity-pricking spirit of Lord Carrington, who has just died, might be needed as Nato gathers to listen to bombast this week. At a Nato meeting in 1973, the delegates endured a lecture from Paul Vanden Boeynants, the Belgian defence minister, who announced a new initiative to improve physical fitness and challenged the others to send soldiers to compete in a military marathon round the Brussels ring road. Standing on his chair and wagging his finger, Vanden Boeynants boasted: “And I can assure you that the Belgian army know how to run.” At this, Carrington, hero of the Battle of Nijmegen, muttered: “So we noticed during the war.” A witness tells me that the American delegate, sitting next to Carrington, laughed so much that he fell off his chair.
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Read more from the TMS diary
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Agenda
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Today
- Theresa May attends the Nato summit in Brussels.
- Tom Watson, the shadow culture secretary, speaks at a Sport and Recreation Alliance Sports Summit.
- The government should consider the impact of the migration target on Scotland, according to the Scottish affairs committee.
- 9.30am Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, gives evidence on disability employment to the work and pensions committee.
- 9.30am Michael Gove, the environment secretary, gives evidence to the environmental audit committee.
- 3pm Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, gives evidence to the Brexit committee.
- 5pm Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, meets Quim Torra, the Catalan leader.
House of Commons- 11.30am Scottish questions.
- Midday Prime ministers questions: David Lidington stands in.
- Ten-Minute Rule Motion: National Health Service (Eleanor Smith)
- Opposition debates: Universal Credit & UK defence industry and shipbuilding
- Adjournment: Visas for non-EEA citizens employed in the fishing industry (Alistair Carmichael)
House of Lords
- 3pm Questions on prevention of contract cheating in UK universities; ensuring disabled children are not unfairly excluded from school; publication of the government's green paper on the future funding of adult social care; establishing the new train timetables around the country.
- Debate: 5th report from the select committee European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018: Sifting of proposed negative instruments by the secondary legislation scrutiny committee; consideration of Commons amendments; and grand committees on questions for short debate.
- Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Bill
- Debate: Combating neglected tropical diseases
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