Related: Starmer criticises PM over NI take hike
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman has rejected industry warnings that shortages of some food products on supermarket shelves due to Britain’s ongoing supply chain crisis could be permanent – insisting that people will be able to enjoy a “normal Christmas”.
Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, had earlier made the extraordinary claim that the days when UK consumers could pick up almost any product they like are over.
“The result of the labour shortages is that the just-in-time system that has sustained supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants – so the food has arrived on shelf or in the kitchen, just when you need it – is no longer working,” he said.
“And I don’t think it will work again, I think we will see we are now in for permanent shortages.”
Elsewhere, Labour has taken a surprise poll lead after support for the Conservatives slumped to its lowest level since the general election on the back of Boris Johnson’s tax rise.
EU’s former Brexit negotiator demands French ‘sovereignty’ from European courts
The EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has stunned ex-colleagues in Brussels by launching a blistering attack on the power of the European courts, my colleague Adam Forrest reports.
Mr Barnier – who is running for the French presidency against Emmanuel Macron – said it was time for France to “regain sovereignty” lost to the European judiciary.
The politician who negotiated the Brexit deal on behalf of Brussels – spending months hashing out a deal which sought to balance the bloc’s needs with London’s demands regarding the UK’s “sovereignty” – appears to have adopted Eurosceptic rhetoric in his bid to win the presidency for the centre-right Republicans.
DUP accuses European Commission vice-president of dismissing unionist concerns
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has accused the European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic of dismissing the “real and genuine concerns” of unionists over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Sefcovic gave a speech on Friday in which he said any attempt to renegotiate the protocol would create instability in Northern Ireland and said the post-Brexit agreement needed to be implemented in full.
But Sir Jeffrey – who yesterday threatened to collapse Stormont over the protocol – responded: “I think it’s unfortunate that Mr Sefcovic would be so dismissive of the real and genuine concerns that there are out there and I think that the meeting that we had yesterday with him was much more constructive and what I had to say yesterday reflects the concerns of many people in Northern Ireland.
“It is not mere rhetoric, it is articulating the views and concerns of unionists.
“In the end, the agreement that we have, the political institutions that we have can only work if both unionists and nationalists support them so the EU needs to move, and quickly, to address the concerns of unionists.”
Supermarket food shortages will be over by Christmas, Downing Street claims
Downing Street has rejected industry warnings that shoppers must get used to “permanent” gaps on shelves – insisting that supermarket food shortages will be over by Christmas.
Quizzed by The Independent, the prime minister’s spokesman rejected the warning from the boss of the Food and Drink Federation, saying: “We don’t recognise those claims.
“We have got highly resilient food supply chains which have coped extremely well in the face of challenges and we believe that will remain the case.”
Pressed on whether the shortages will ease to allow people to enjoy a “normal Christmas”, the spokesman replied: “I believe so, yes.”
Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has the full story here:
Culture secretary accuses Churchill charity of ‘pandering to noisy woke brigade’
The culture secretary has accused charities of pandering to a “noisy woke brigade” amid a row about the legacy of wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill.
My colleague Liam James reports:
UK set to drop from Germany’s top 10 trading partners
The UK is on course to lose its status as one of Germany’s top 10 trading partners for the first time since 1950, official German statistics suggest.
My colleague Leonie Chao-Fong has more details below:
Delta reality bites as data shows summer economic slowdown
The latest GDP figures are a reminder that the UK isn’t out of the pandemic’s woods just yet, writes Anna Isaac.
Read Anna’s full analysis here:
Ministerial reshuffle as Suella Braverman returns from maternity leave
Suella Braverman has been reappointed attorney general following her time away from government on maternity leave, Downing Street has announced.
During her absence, she was designated minister on leave (attorney general) while her deputy solicitor general, Michael Ellis, was made attorney general.
No 10 confirmed on Friday that, as part of a mini-reshuffle, Mr Ellis and Ms Frazer would return to their previous roles.
Ms Frazer, who had been promoted to solicitor general, will return to the Ministry of Justice, where she was previously prisons minister.
Met chief Cressida Dick to stay in post until 2024, Priti Patel confirms
Dame Cressida Dick will continue to lead the Metropolitan Police Service until 2024, Priti Patel has confirmed.
My colleague Lamiat Sabin reports:
Boris Johnson to mark 9/11 anniversary from Chequers
Boris Johnson will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks from his official country residence at Chequers, Downing Street has said.
A spokesman for the prime minister said Mr Johnson would not be attending the memorial in New York – the city of his birth – in person on Saturday, though it is believed an ambassador will attend.
Peers sponsor bill for ‘proper contracts’ for workers
Supermarkets and restaurants have been warned to pay their staff “whatever it takes with proper contracts”, as peers supported a bill which seeks to guarantee in law rights for all workers other than the genuinely self-employed.
Under existing arrangements it is feared hundreds of thousands of people, including those in so-called “false” self-employment, are missing out on benefits or protections such as the minimum wage or paid annual leave. Construction workers and delivery drivers are among the affected sectors.
Lord Hendy, a Labour peer, who is sponsoring the Bill, told the House of Lords: “It will, if passed, extend employment rights to hundreds of thousands who do not currently enjoy them.
“It will protect those who already have such entitlement from the danger of being downgraded to, or being undercut by, workers with less rights.”
