Keir Starmer says Boris Johnson has ‘missed Brexit opportunities time and time again’ before speech unveiling Labour plans – live
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No 10 admits Johnson was aware of some allegations about Pincher before he was made deputy chief whip
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, which has just ended, the prime minister’s spokesperson confirmed that Boris Johnson “was aware of some reports and some allegations” about Chris Pincher when he appointed him as deputy chief whip in February.
But these allegations had either been resolved, or no action had been taken, and so they were not regarded as a barrier to his being appointed as deputy chief whip, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also pointed out that Pincher was already a housing minister at the time (implying that no evidence was available to stop him serving as a member of the government).
The spokesperson also said the propriety and ethics team at the Cabinet Office gave advice relating to this appointment and said there was no reason to block it.
No 10 admits Johnson was aware of some allegations about Pincher before he was made deputy chief whip
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, which has just ended, the prime minister’s spokesperson confirmed that Boris Johnson “was aware of some reports and some allegations” about Chris Pincher when he appointed him as deputy chief whip in February.
But these allegations had either been resolved, or no action had been taken, and so they were not regarded as a barrier to his being appointed as deputy chief whip, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also pointed out that Pincher was already a housing minister at the time (implying that no evidence was available to stop him serving as a member of the government).
The spokesperson also said the propriety and ethics team at the Cabinet Office gave advice relating to this appointment and said there was no reason to block it.
Sarwar confirms Labour committed to scrapping House of Lords and replacing it with senate of nations and regions
A Labour government would scrap the House of Lords and create a “senate of the nations and regions”, in its place, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has announced.
Giving a speech in Westminster, in which he also ruled out any pact or coalition with Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP, Sarwar said, “a central part of the mission of the Labour party must be to renew democracy”. He said:
The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st century politics. It is unacceptable, and has been for far too long, to have unelected representatives wielding such power.
The House of Lords must be abolished and replaced with an institution which better reflects the make-up and the identity of the United Kingdom.
He said that would mean an elected senate, with more details to be set out in a report on constitutional reform from former prime minister Gordon Brown, expected to be published later this year.
Abolishing the House of Lords was in Labour’s 2019 manifesto, and Keir Starmer mentioned it in his leadership pitch to the party; but asked about it last November, he appeared to back away from the idea, saying only that the Lords, “needs change”. Sarwar made clear Starmer is now fully signed up to the plan, however.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, delivered a speech on Scotland and constitutional reform this morning. I will post a summary shortly. The speech is not available online yet, but Sarwar set out the main themes in his Daily Record column.
Updated at 07.07 EDT
In interviews about his plans to relax nursery staff-to-child ratios, Will Quince, the minister for children and families, was asked why childcare costs were so much cheaper in other European countries. He told PA Media it was because workers in other countries paid more in tax. He said:
We currently invest around £4/5bn a year on childcare and early years education … there are other countries – France, Sweden, the Netherlands – who do put far more money into early years education.
They also pay a lot more in tax. So take Sweden, for example, where nearly all of your childcare costs are covered. Even the lowest-paid workers pay 35% tax, whereas we’ve lifted millions of people out of paying tax altogether.
So these are all choices that we need to make.
Updated at 06.53 EDT
Labour’s five-point to make Brexit work – in full
And here, in full, is what Labour has said about its five-point plan to make Brexit work.
Much of it sounds like a recipe for a Theresa May-style Brexit. Keir Starmer seems to be assuming that Labour would be able to negotiate concessions from the EU that the government has not been able to obtain. But Labour/EU talks would start with a presumption of good faith on both sides (which does not exist now), and the trade expert David Henig thinks it is realistic to assume progress could be made. (See 9.55am.)
But Starmer’s approach to the Northern Ireland protocol would not satisfy the hardline demands of the DUP, and he does not explain what he could do to get them to return to the power-sharing executive.
Here is the Labour briefing.
Point 1 – Sort Out The Northern Ireland Protocol.
Sorting out the Northern Ireland protocol must be the starting point to make Brexit work.
Agreement here can be the springboard to securing a better deal for the British people.
There is a clear landing zone to a deal. The Government just don’t want one.
Instead, their only plan is to stoke up old Brexit divisions. We must move on.
Labour will seek a new veterinary agreement for trade in Agri-products between the UK and EU. Something countries like New Zealand and Canada already have in place.
This would eliminate most checks created by the Tories’ Brexit deal between the British and Northern Ireland border.
For all other goods we will work with business in Northern Ireland to put in place an enhanced and specialised trusted trader scheme to allow low-risk goods entering Northern Ireland without unnecessary checks.
Point 2 – Tear Down Unnecessary Trade Barriers.
Labour would extend the new veterinary agreement to cover all the UK which would tear down barriers for our Agri-product exporters.
We would seek to agree mutual recognition of conformity assessments across specified sectors so that our producers no longer need to complete two sets of tests, or two processes of certification, to sell their goods in both the UK and the EU.
Labour has no intention from diverging standards below current levels, so agreeing these common standards will not only help our exporters but create a safety net to ensure our food standards are world leading.
Labour do not support the return of freedom of movement.
However, we will seek to find new flexible labour mobility arrangements for those making short-term work trips and for musicians and artists seeking short-term visas to tour within the EU.
Point 3 – Support Our World Leading Services And Scientists.
Labour will seek mutual recognition of professional qualifications to enable our world leading service industries to do business in the EU.
Labour will maintain Britain’s data adequacy status meaning our data protection rules are deemed equivalent to those in the EU, enabling UK digital services companies to compete.
We will not seek regulatory equivalence for financial services as that could constrain our ability to make our rules and system work better.
However, Labour will make sure Britain’s world leading scientists are not missing out by giving our researchers access to funding and vital cross border research programmes.
Point 4 – Keep Britain Safe.
There is no reason why leaving the EU should weaken our security capabilities.
Bad relations, lack of trust and failure to secure cross-border and security measures in the Brexit deal is doing just that.
At a time when European security is under threat, we must strengthen our security cooperation with trusted allies.
Labour will seek a new security pact with the EU to defend our borders, by allowing us to share data, intelligence, and best practice.
We cannot take risks with terrorism, organised crime, and people trafficking.
Labour will seek to set up joint intelligence working to boost capabilities in Britain and the bloc.
And we will seek to create new models of joint working with EU and other countries to combat cyberattacks and the spread of state sponsored disinformation.
Point 5 – Invest In Britain.
Labour will use green investment and a commitment to buy, make and sell in Britain to ensure we are best placed to compete on a global stage.
Labour will embrace global trade outside of the EU. Labour wants Britain to lead the way in developing a new global trade approach that puts people, communities, rights, and standards at its very heart.
The government have missed Brexit opportunities in the past 18 months, including missing the opportunity to cut VAT on energy bills.
Labour will use flexibility outside of the EU to ensure British regulation is adapted to suit British needs.
Updated at 06.54 EDT
Starmer says Johnson has ‘missed Brexit opportunities time and time again’
Labour has now sent out a lengthy preview of what Keir Starmer will say in his speech on Brexit to the Centre for European Reform tonight. It is not the full text of what he will say, but it seems to contain all the points of substance.
The briefing does not seem to be available online yet, and so here are some extracts.
There are some who say ‘We don’t need to make Brexit work. We need to reverse it.’
I couldn’t disagree more. Because you cannot move forward or grow the country or deliver change or win back the trust of those who have lost faith in politics if you’re constantly focused on the arguments of the past.
We cannot afford to look back over our shoulder. Because all the time we are doing that we are missing what is ahead of us.
So let me be very clear: with Labour, Britain will not go back into the EU. We will not be joining the single market. We will not be joining a customs union.
The reason I say this is simple. Nothing about revisiting those rows will help stimulate growth or bring down food prices or help British business thrive in the modern world.
It would simply be a recipe for more division, it would distract us from taking on the challenges facing people, and it would ensure Britain remained stuck for another decade.
Starmer is certainly right to say that rejoining the single market would be “a recipe for division”. But the argument that such an approach would do nothing to “stimulate growth or bring down food prices or help British business thrive in the modern world” is much more questionable. Many economists would agree with Dr Swati Dhingra, an economics professor who has just been appointed to the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, who wrote in 2019: “From an economic perspective, the best policy would be to cancel Brexit.”
While the Conservatives are flailing around, lashing out, and attempting to sow division, Labour has been claiming the centre ground of British politics once again.
The government have missed Brexit opportunities time and time again. It beggars belief that during a cost of living crisis that they still haven’t cut VAT on energy bills.
This line is particularly likely to anger arch remainers who contend that any “Brexit opportunities” are so minimal as to be virtually non-existent.
The Tory plan, as set out by Jacob Rees-Mogg, is about cutting standards, regulations, and protections before stepping back and gawping at the power of the market.
Labour’s plan looks very different. We will work hand in hand with business to bring the good, clean jobs of the future to our shores harnessing the power of government alongside the ingenuity of our brilliant private sector.
While Labour’s approach to Brexit is very different to Rees-Mogg’s, Starmer may be overestimating the power of the Brexit opportunities minister. Rees-Mogg seems to have failed to persuade his cabinet colleagues to back his plan for all EU retained law to lapse after four years.
Updated at 06.34 EDT
Minister claims he can’t imagine PM describing disgraced MP as ‘Pincher by name, pincher by nature’
Will Quince, the minister for children and families, was the government’s spokesperson on the morning interview round. He was there to talk about the plan to relax nursery staff-to-child ratios, but inevitably he spent much of his morning talking about Chris Pincher, and Boris Johnson’s handling of the umpteenth sleaze scandal to hit his premiership.
As Peter Walker reports in his story, Quince said he had been given a “categorical assurance” by No 10 that Johnson was not aware of any “specific” allegation made against Pincher when he appointed him to the post of deputy chief whip earlier this year. But he would not comment on whether Johnson might have known of general allegations about Pincher’s conduct at the time of the reshuffle, saying he had not asked that question when he was briefed before he took to the airwaves.
It has been widely reported that Johnson did know there were concerns about Pincher’s conduct when he made the appointment, and that this was one reason why Pincher only got the deputy job, not the full chief whip promotion he had been expecting.
Here are some more lines on this topic from Quince’s interviews.
I think that quote came from Dominic Cummings, who’s not someone who I give a huge amount of credibility to, given past experience.
Asked if he could imagine the PM using this phrase, Quince told LBC: “No, I can’t.”
Here is Cummings’ tweet.
I think these cases are hard because, like any professional organisation, you can’t act on rumour or gossip. As you know, in Westminster there is a lot of rumour or gossip.
But Johnson was not being asked at the time of the reshuffle to punish Pincher on the basis of unfounded allegation; he was just being urged by some colleagues not to promote him. In another tweet on this matter, Cummings claimed it was routine for matters like this to be taken into account during a reshuffle.
There are lot of rumours and gossip around Westminster … If I had a pound for every rumour that I’d heard about another MP then I’d be a very wealthy man.
I was booked in four days ago, in fact five days ago I think it was, to talk about a very important childcare announcement.
The claim that cabinet ministers are refusing to defend the PM on the airwaves is in the Daily Telegraph. In their story, Camilla Turner and Dominic Penna report:
One [cabinet source] told The Telegraph that it was likely that junior ministers would be “wheeled out” on broadcast interviews as their more senior cabinet colleagues were likely to try to “pull rank” and refuse to go on the airwaves.
“Most have done their fair share of excruciating interviews already – you might discover more with dentist appointments or bereavements this week,” they said.
Here is an example of one of those “excruciating interviews”, given by Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, yesterday.
Thérèse Coffey: PM wasn’t aware of any sexual misconduct allegations against Chris Pincher – video
Updated at 06.00 EDT
These are from David Henig, head of the UK Trade Policy Project and a former official at the Department for International Trade, on Labour’s Brexit policy being set out tonight in a speech by Keir Starmer.
Nobody believes Johnson did not know about Pincher claims, says Labour peer
Boris Johnson still has questions to answer over the appointment of Chris Pincher as Conservative deputy chief whip, Labour has said. My colleague Peter Walker has the story here.
Starmer to set out Labour’s Brexit policy, saying rejoining single market would ‘be recipe for more division’
Good morning. In his speech to the Labour party conference last year Keir Starmer summed up his party’s new Brexit policy by saying he wanted to “make Brexit work”. It was a clever slogan because it simultaneously signalled Labour’s acceptance of Brexit (in the hope of confounding Tory claims that he wanted to reverse it), while simultaneously branding it a failing policy (a propositon that has the support of almost all remainers, and an increasing number of leavers too). As with many Labour initiatives, though, there was little follow-up, and over the next few months we heard very little about the “make Brexit work” approach.
Tonight that will change when Starmer gives a speech fleshing out more details of this policy. In it, Starmer will confirm that a Labour government would not rejoin the single market or the customs union, or reintroduce free movement for EU citizens. According to a preview of his remarks in the Financial Times, he will say that to do so would just be “a recipe for more division”. He will say:
Nothing about revisiting those rows will help stimulate growth or bring down food prices or help British business thrive in the modern world – it would simply be a recipe for more division.
There are many on the left who will find such a firm rejection of the notion of rejoining the single market disappointing. Even Daniel Hannan, the Tory peer and ultra-Brexiter, was much more positive about the single market in a recent Sunday Telegraph column in which he said it would have been much better for the UK to remain in it. Like Starmer, though, Hannan concluded it was now too late to revisit that decision.
According to the FT, Starmer will also use his speech to give details of how Labour would make Brexit work. He will propose: a veterinary agreement with the EU to reduce agrifood checks; a mobility deal to cut the need for visas for artists touring in Europe and people making short business trips; mutual recognition of product standards and professional qualifications; alignment on data adequacy rules; and more cooperation on justice and police matters including a new “security pact”.
Here is the agenda for the day.
10.30am: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, gives a speech in Westminster on Labour plans for reform of Scotland’s place in the UK.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
12.30pm: Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative former foreign secretary and potential future leadership candidate, takes part in a Q&A at the Institute for Government.
After 3.30pm: Boris Johnson is expected to make a statement to MPs about the Nato, G7 and Commonwealth summits.
5pm: Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, speaks about the “representation gap” at Westminster at an IPPR event.
Evening: Keir Starmer delivers a speech on Brexit to the Centre for European Reform.
Also, Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, is attending the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland.
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Updated at 06.02 EDT