Brexit news – live: Starmer says PM ‘threat to fabric of UK’ as Boris Johnson calls him ‘Captain Hindsight’

In an apparent sign that Downing Street’s hostile relationship with the media could be coming to an end, Boris Johnson’s new press secretary has offered thanks to journalists for their work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Allegra Stratton took over the role on Wednesday following a number of tense exchanges between No 10 and journalists over the past year.

“The prime minister, a former journalist, I think has spoken publicly about the positive role the media has played during this pandemic, in spreading information about what we need people to do to observe social distancing and so on,” she told reporters.

Boris Johnson will need more than his commitment to create thousands of green jobs to achieve his “levelling up” agenda, according to our political commentator Andrew Grice.

The government pledged on Wednesday to support or create as many as 250,000 jobs as part of a so-called “green industrial revolution” to tackle climate change but that alone may not achieve the prime minister’s vision.

Andrew writes:

“For months a debate has simmered inside government about whether it could still afford an ambitious ‘levelling up’ agenda after pumping more than £210bn into the economy in the coronavirus crisis. Cummings’s departure has now blown the lid off. In the vacuum his absence leaves, figures including Johnson’s new press secretary Allegra Stratton and his fiancée Carrie Symonds are trying to soften the harsh edges of Vote Leave’s approach. The green agenda symbolises Johnson’s return to being the liberal conservative who was London mayor.”

You can find his full piece below:

Jeremy Corbyn was informed that he would have the Labour whip withdrawn from him over the phone by the party’s chief whip Nick Brown this morning, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesperson has said.

“Jeremy was informed of the decision this morning before Keir issued his statement,” the Labour leader’s spokesperson told reporters.

“Jeremy was informed by the chief whip. As I understand it, he spoke to him over the phone.”

They added that the door was open for Mr Corbyn to rejoin the parliamentary party but would not detail any of the steps needed for him to rejoin.

“I’m not going to pre-empt any of that,” the spokesperson said, when asked if a clear retraction and an apology would be sufficient.

Boris Johnson has fuelled further speculation of a temporary cut in the foreign aid budget after failing to rule out such a move at PMQs.

Labour’s Anna McMorrin urged the PM to “stop this retreat” from the global stage, amid reports that plans are being drawn up to pare back the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid to 0.5 per cent in next week’s spending review.

But Mr Johnson told the Commons: “I think everybody in this country can be immensely proud of the massive commitments this country has made and will continue to make in tackling poverty and deprivation around the world.

“I think they can be even prouder of the commitment that we’re now making, leading the world, to tackle the threat of climate change.”

The former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who now acts as an adviser to the UK Board of Trade, has urged Boris Johnson to focus on “climate initiatives” through mechanisms such as the UN climate summit, rather than in negotiating trade deals, our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports.

He also insisted there is an “eagerness” on both sides to secure a UK-Australia trade deal before Christmas with no tariffs or quotas, as he urged negotiators to hammer out an agreement in the coming months.

Mr Johnson and Liz Truss faced intense fire earlier this year over Mr Abbott’s appointment to the UK Board of Trade amid controversy over his past remarks about women, LGBT people and climate change.

The Mirror’s associate editor has employed the term “coronyism” to describe the revelations in a National Audit Office report revealing that firms were fast-tracked for lucrative contracts for PPE procurement following tips from ministers and MPs.

Performing a well-established move of this opposition in following up PMQs attack points with further immediate action, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has written to Rishi Sunak urging him to provide those forced to self-isolate with the necessary means to do so.

Keir Starmer had attacked the government over figures suggesting just 11 per cent of those told to self-isolate do so, stating that this all came down to the financial hit many face by staying at home.

Boris Johnson then replied: “We continue to encourage people to do the right thing. It does break the chain of transmission of the disease … we’ve given £13.5 billion so far in support for self-employed people, uplifted Universal Credit.”

Here’s the footage of Boris Johnson declaring he is “very proud” of the government’s procurement of personal protective equipment, despite US court documents revealing that a Spanish middleman was paid £21m to source PPE under Department of Health contracts totalling £200m, struck without competitive tender, by a Florida-based jewellery designer.

The train drivers’ union has said it is “delighted” with the decision by the NEC to readmit Jeremy Corbyn as a member of the Labour Party, but is disappointed that the Labour whip, in Parliament, is still withdrawn.

“We believe it is vital that we move forward, as a Labour Party and a labour movement, together. We need to look to the future, and come together, to take on the Tories and rebuild Britain after the ravages of the pandemic. We do not want – or need – factional infighting,” said Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary.

The SNP’s Commons leader has unsurprisingly seized on Boris Johnson’s comments around devolution in Scotland at PMQs, alleging that “his attack on devolution wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, it was a slip of the Tory mask.

“The chasm between Westminster and the Scottish people has never been bigger. We know that these were not just flippant remarks when Scotland faces the biggest threat to devolution with the Tory power grab bill. The fact is Scotland has been completely ignored by Westminster. 

“We now face an extreme Brexit, a power grab, and another round of Tory cuts, all being imposed against our will by a Tory government we didn’t vote for.”

Mr Johnson has not denied his reported comments to MPs that devolution north of the border was Tony Blair’s “biggest mistake”, but has clarified this to mean that the former Labour PM did not foresee the rise of the separatist SNP, who he alleged at PMQs are “not engaging in that basic work” to improve Scotland, “instead campaigning to break up the union”.