Failure to strike an EU trade deal will land a “serious” blow to the UK economy and a “strongly negative effect on trade, productivity and jobs in the longer term”, the OECD has warned, as Michael Gove admitted Brexit talks were “getting down to the wire”.
With just 30 days until the transition period ends, business secretary Alok Sharma has written to nearly five million firms to outline “the top actions they need to take”, urging them to prepare for new paperwork and procedures, as the government announced it would build a new Border Operation centre to ease “short-term disruption”. Ireland’s Taoiseach is braced for delays until February, joining Labour in accusing the UK government of placing a “very significant” burden on businesses.
Meanwhile, scores of Tory MPs are expected to rebel against the government over its new coronavirus tier system, after being left unimpressed with Downing Street’s costings of the rules, which claimed it was impossible to make any “meaningful” predictions about their economic impact. Labour and the SNP are expected to abstain during Tuesday’s Commons vote.
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Greater Manchester’s night-time economy tsar Sacha Lord is not impressed by the prime minister’s offer of £1,000 for hard-hit pubs.
He tweeted: “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but Boris Johnson has just offered our wet led pubs 1k.
“1k will NOT save most of the 1806 wet led pubs across Greater Manchester.
“Our community pubs, most of which our in our most deprived areas. It feels like an insulting token gesture.”
Chiara Giordano1 December 2020 14:37
Ministers fail to prove PPE spending ‘fair and transparent’
Government ministers have not demonstrated they spent billions of pounds on PPE in a way that was “fair and transparent” or represented “the best available value for money”, the head of the UK’s public spending watchdog has warned.
Deals totalling £12.5bn for personal protective equipment have come under intense scrutiny after a National Audit Office report revealed companies placed on a “VIP list” through contacts with politicians and senior officials were 10 times more likely to win contracts in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Chiara Giordano1 December 2020 14:23
No 10 defends decision not to publish economy analysis
Downing Street has defended the decision not to publish an analysis showing the impact of the pandemic on different sectors of the economy.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Any attempt to estimate the specific economic impacts of precise changes to individual restrictions for a defined period of time will be subject to such wide uncertainty as to not be meaningful for precise policy making.
“The data used on this dashboard is drawn from publicly available sources. Throughout the pandemic you have seen us publish a wide variety of data. That will continue to be the case.”
Chiara Giordano1 December 2020 14:02
Boris Johnson lambasts Starmer’s ‘heroic’ call for Labour ‘to sit on its hands’
Boris Johnson has lashed out at Labour for having “no credible plan” to tackle coronavirus ahead of votes in the Commons, and for Sir Keir Starmer’s call for MPs to abstain.
“We’re trying to look after pubs, restaurants, businesses across this entire country and no-one feels the anguish of those businesses more than this government,” the prime minister said.
“I do think however it is extraordinary that in spite of the barrage of criticism that we have, we have no credible plan from the party opposite, indeed we have no view on the way ahead.
“It’s a quite extraordinary thing that tonight, to the best of my knowledge, [Sir Keir,] who said he’s always going to act in the national interest, has told his party to sit on its hands and to abstain in the vote tonight.
He added: “I think when the history of this pandemic comes to be written, I think the people of this country will observe that instead of having politicians of all parties coming together in the national interest, they had one party taking the decisions and another party heroically deciding to abstain.”
Andy Gregory1 December 2020 13:51
PM ‘fatally split’ between appeasing Tory backbenchers and following science, Starmer says
As the prime minister arranges his face into a suitable display of baffled outrage, Sir Keir Starmer has accused him of being “fatally split between appeasing his backbenchers and following the science”, and ending up “pleasing nobody”.
The Labour leader accused the PM of pretending that restrictions might not be in place for very long despite “the reality” being that tough restrictions will be needed until a vaccine is rolled out.
“The prime minister will doubtless be back in a few weeks with another plan, but the prime minister doesn’t make that case today or provide the certainty or the consistency that we need,” Sir Keir said.
Andy Gregory1 December 2020 13:48
‘Real risks’ PM’s plan will not control virus this winter, Starmer says
Responding to Boris Johnson’s opening address in today’s vote, Sir Keir Starmer said there are “real risks that this plan is incapable of controlling the virus this winter” and – despite planning for his party to abstain – said he is “far from convinced” by the PM’s plan.
“Labour has supported the government in two national lockdowns,” the Labour leader said. “And I recognise the need for continuing restrictions and I do recognise that the tiers have been toughened as it was obvious to everyone that the previous tiers were a one-way street to tier 3.
“But I’m far from convinced by what the prime minister has said today. In particular, the economic package is nowhere near sufficient to support the communities most affected and they have been suffering for many months.
“I also fear that without the right health measures in place, in particular a working trace and isolate system, there are real risks that this plan is incapable of controlling the virus this winter.”
(Parliament.tv)
Andy Gregory1 December 2020 13:39
‘This is not another lockdown’: PM appeals to MPs over new tier regulations
Seeking to convince MPs to vote for his measures, as a sizeable rebellion brews, the prime minister said: “This is not another lockdown. Nor is this the renewal of existing measures in England.
“The tiers that I’m proposing would mean that from tomorrow everyone in England, including those in Tier 3, will be free to leave their homes for any reason.
“And when they do they will find the shops open for Christmas, the hairdressers open, the nail bars open, gyms, leisure centres, swimming pools open.”
Andy Gregory1 December 2020 13:35
‘I love Slough’: PM insists government will seek to ensure tiers are well-targeted
Asked whether he “hates” Slough, after lumping it into Tier 3 despite having lower transmission rates than areas in lower tiers, the prime minister said: “I love Slough.”
Boris Johnson acknowledged people had been put in higher tiers “than they deserve”, and insisted the government will look at how the restrictions can reflect “as closely as possible the reality of what is happening on the ground”.
Andy Gregory1 December 2020 13:31
‘Wet pubs’ to be given one-off £1,000 sum, PM says
‘Wet pubs’ which do not serve food will be given a one-off coronavirus emergency payment of £1,000 in December, Boris Johnson has told the House of Commons.
It is unlikely to offer any significant respite to publicans on the verge of closure.
MPs across the board have warned the PM that far greater support for shuttered pubs is necessary, insisting that the £3,000 monthly payments previously on offer is not sufficient.
Boris Johnson announces one-off £1,000 payment to ‘wet pubs’
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Andy Gregory1 December 2020 13:22
Questions abound over missing ‘customs agents’
In his daily Inside Politics newsletter, my colleague Adam Forrest reports that Michael Gove is claiming his new 24/7 Border Operations Centre will allow authorities to identify and get on top of any border bottlenecks “quickly and decisively”.
But Labour’s Rachel Reeves said: “The government is re-badging a basic element of preparation but still can’t tell us how many customs agents are recruited or trained or whether crucial IT is ready.”
And according to our deputy political editor Rob Merrick, Mr Gove has dodged questions again in his morning media rounds over how many of the government’s proposed target of 50,000 “customs agents” have been hired so far.
Andy Gregory1 December 2020 13:13
