Health secretary Matt Hancock has denied a claim that he is “hopeless” after leaked texts by former No 10 aide Dominic Cummings suggested that this was how Boris Johnson described him early in the coronavirus pandemic.
The prime minister said Mr Hancock was “totally f*****g hopeless” last year, according to a message published by the former advisor on social media.
Mr Cummings, who has blamed Mr Hancock for failings during the Covid-19 response, published a screenshot apparently showing a WhatsApp exchange between himself and the PM on 3 March last year.
The former aide also claimed that Mr Johnson plans to quit no more than two years after the next general election.
It came as Lord Frost told MPs that talks with the European Union were making little progress. The two sides are locked in a dispute over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the part of the Brexit divorce deal aimed at avoiding a hard border with Ireland.
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Tariffs axed immediately on Australian beef and lamb, triggering fears that farmers will be sent ‘to the wall’
Tariffs will be scrapped immediately on imported beef and lamb from Australia, triggering accusations that the trade deal struck by Boris Johnson will send UK farmers “to the wall”.
The small print of the first major post-Brexit agreement – revealed by Canberra, as the UK government tried to keep it under wraps – revealed a pledge to protect farmers for 15 years has been dropped.
Instead, Australian farmers will effectively be handed tariff-free access from day one, up to a “cap” on sales that is 60 times the current level of imported beef, writes The Independent’s deputy political editor Rob Merrick.
Nick Watt: Man charged after BBC journalist chased by anti-lockdown protesters
A man has been charged after a BBC journalist was chased by anti-lockdown protesters in Westminster.
Video footage showed Newsnight’s political editor Nicholas Watt being pursued by protesters from Whitehall into Richmond Terrace on Monday afternoon.
Chiara Giordano has the latest on this breaking story
PM seeks path through ‘restrictive regulation’ as he plots UK’s Brexit future
Boris Johnson has said that a path through the “thicket of burdensome and restrictive regulation” must be cleared to fulfil the potentials of Brexit.
The Prime Minister welcomed a report from a taskforce of senior Conservative MPs setting out their ideas for taking advantage of life outside the European Union’s regulations.
Mr Johnson pledged to give the “detailed consideration it deserves” to the document from the taskforce led by Brexiteer Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader.
The Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) set out more than 100 recommendations including to cover a new regulatory framework and reforms for high-growth sectors.
In a letter to the taskforce, the Prime Minister thanked them for the “substantive plans that will really put a TIGRR in the tank of British business”.
Sir Iain, former environment secretary Theresa Villiers and ex-minister George Freeman were tasked earlier this year with reshaping regulation and seizing opportunities borne from Brexit.
Their proposals include replacing General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with a UK Data Protections Framework.
They further recommend allowing pension schemes to invest in start-ups and building a new UK clinical trials network building on the success of the coronavirus vaccine development.
UK less prepared for climate crisis than five years ago, advisers warn
The UK is less prepared now than it was five years ago for the escalating effects of the climate crisis on people and wildlife, according to the government’s own advisers.
As carbon dioxide levels continue to climb, the UK is experiencing more intense heatwaves, wildfires and floods, and greater risks to its food supply and health systems, the experts say.
But the rise in climate effects is not being met with sufficient action from the government, says the assessment from the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee (CCC).
The Independent’s climate correspondent Daisy Dunne has the details
Gove promises July 19 will be end of Covid lockdown restrictions
Michael Gove has promised that July 19 will be the end of lockdown restrictions in England when pushed for clarity by Susanna Reid on GMB.
Mr Gove responded with simple “yes” when asked by the presenter if the country would finally open up in mid-July.
He added: “The data shows we should be in a position to have vaccinated so many people by that date in July that we will be able to lift restrictions.
“None of us can predict the future with 100 per cent certainty, there could be something bizarre and unprecedented that occurs.
“But on the basis of all the information we have then we will have successfully protected such a large section of the population and of course children will be facing the summer holidays and that brings the infection rate down. So we are as confident as confident can be.”
Ministers ‘appear complacent’ over risk of care home closures
The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the urgent reforms needed in adult social care with many providers living “hand to mouth”, an influential group of MPs warns today.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found the pandemic has had a devastating impact on the sector and emphasised that care is not properly funded.
The committee also accuses ministers of appearing “complacent” about the potential for care home operators to fail.
The Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the details
Treasury set to ‘extend ban on evictions for unpaid commercial rent’
The Treasury is expected to extend the current ban on evictions for unpaid commercial rent past the end of this month after delaying the easing of further restrictions, according to reports.
The ban, which stops landlords from taking tenants with rent arrears to court, is due to end on June 30 but could now be extended into the new year, as reported by the Daily Mail.
A new arbitration system could also come into force in a bid to solve disputes between landlords and commercial tenants affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 1,100 UK nightclubs remain unable to reopen, while thousands more hospitality and leisure firms have seen trading constrained by virus curbs.
On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said plans to remove remaining pandemic restrictions on June 21 have been pushed back to July 19 amid concerns over the spread of the Delta variant, which was first identified in India.
Hospitality leaders had called on the Government to extend the current rent moratorium and provide further financial support.
Last week, the chief executives of trade groups UKHospitality and British Retail Consortium (BRC) told MPs that both sectors have accrued a combined £5 billion in rent debt.
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Lord Frost admits ‘not much progress’ in EU talks
Brexit minister Lord Frost acknowledged talks with the European Union were making little progress.
The peer is facing MPs this morning at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, amid a disagreement between the UK and EU over the way the Northern Ireland Protocol – the part of the Brexit deal aimed at avoiding a hard border with Ireland – is being implemented.
Lord Frost again restated the UK’s threat to unilaterally suspend parts of the arrangement, a point made repeatedly by Boris Johnson in recent days.
He told MPs “there are discussions going on the whole time” with Brussels.
“It’s happening all the time, it’s just that we are not making much progress despite all the ideas that we have put in,” he said.
He added that “all options remain on the table” over the NI Protocol but that the Government would prefer to “find a negotiated way forwards if we can.”
Asked about the uncertainty the row was causing for businesses, he said “there comes a point where the unsatisfactoriness of the current situation and the attempts to operate it contributes to the uncertainty and instability”.
“And then a responsible effort to bring stability and certainty can improve the situation rather than make it more difficult,” he said.
“So obviously if we judge that’s the situation then we look at the range of options that might bring further stability.”
