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Boris Johnson used one of his final speeches in the Commons to suggest Sir Keir Starmer was plotting with the “deep state” take Britain back into the EU.The prime minister used the phrase beloved by paranoid conspiracy theorists, as he repeatedly claimed the Labour leader wanted to undo Brexit.“We got Brexit done, and the rejoiners and revengers were left plotting and planning and biding their time,” Mr Johnson said, before suggesting his legacy was under threat.He said: “Some people will say as I leave office that this is the end of Brexit … and the leader of the opposition and the deep state will prevail in its plot to haul us back into alignment with the EU as a prelude to our eventual return.”Challenging Tory MPs to uphold his hard Brexit deal, Mr Johnson added: “We on this side of the House will prove them wrong, won’t we?”RecommendedLast month Sir Keir vowed not to take the UK back into the EU single market or customs union, or restore freedom of movement, as he set out his plan to “make Brexit work”.Mr Johnson pointed to Starmer’s record voting against Brexit deals, claiming he had tried to “overturn the will of the people” – and would attempt to overturn Brexit again if he became PM.The outgoing PM said: “Be in no doubt, if he were ever to come to power with his hopeless coalition of Liberal Democrats and Scottish nationalists, he would try to do so again at the drop of a hat.”Sir Keir fired back by accusing Mr Johnson of indulging in sheer fantasy when it came to his legacy. “The delusion is never-ending – what a relief for the country that they finally got round to sacking him,” he said.The Labour leader added: “He’s been forced out in disgrace, judged by his colleagues and peers to be unworthy of his position and unfit for office.”Mr Johnson won cheers from Tory MPs when boasting of his party’s 2019 election victory over Labour, claiming they had “sent the great blue ferret so far up their left trouser leg they couldn’t move”.He also added he believes Tory MPs will prove Sir Keir “totally wrong” over the prospect of a Labour election triumph, adding they will send the opposition leader “into orbit”.MPs will stage a vote of confidence in the government on Monday evening at around 10pm, amid renewed calls from the opposition for Mr Johnson to step down immediately and hand over to a caretaker.Labour former minister Dame Margaret Hodge said: “This debate is essential to call a halt to the dangerous Trumpian assault on everything we value in our British democracy.”RecommendedBut Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh said he “wholly regrets the departure of this prime minister and I remain completely loyal to him to the very end … And I think we will ask ourselves, what have we done?”“Where is any sense of kindness? Or magnanimity? Why do we need to throw these insults around?” he added about Sir Keir’s condemnation. The loyalist said it was not as if Mr Johnson was “the worst sort of mass murderer and criminal in political history”. More

Tory MPs voting for a new leader do not understand what “deep s***” Boris Johnson has left the party in, a former major Conservative donor has warned.Hedge fund billionaire John Armitage blasted all of the contenders to succeed Mr Johnson as “slick and superficial” apart from Kemi Badenoch, who he said was “really top class”.But he said he would wait to see how any new leader performed as prime minister before deciding whether to resume donations, which have totalled around £3m in recent years, including £500,000 under Mr Johnson.Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One, he warned that voters would not accept a new leader continuing with Mr Johnson’s “boosterism” in which attractive policies were launched but “nothing happens”.And he denounced the focus of the Tory leadership hopefuls – with the exception of Rishi Sunak – on offering tax cuts.Recommended“I profoundly disagree with the idea that it’s Thatcherite to cut taxes when there’s a massive deficit and when our debt’s never been higher,” said Mr Armitage. “I really don’t think that’s what Mrs Thatcher would have done.”Mr Armitage ceased donations to the Tories in February, complaining of a “lack of honour” in the party, and has since donated to shadow cabinet member Wes Streeting. He today described Sir Keir Starmer as “a very good person and very sensible”.In order for him to switch back to funding Tories, he said he would need to see a new leader “address any of the fundamental problems of the country in a coherent, serious way”.He told World at One: “In the Westminster bubble most MPs and most commentators don’t really realise what deep s*** the Conservatives are in.“I think people in the country are fed up with a regime that tolerated a dishonourable and bad prime minister for a long time.“Brexit has actually happened and the debate has moved on to doing something about it and making it good. I think most people are fed up with what I would call boosterism, or you could call it policy by press release, where nothing happens.”Asked if any of the candidates could turn voters’ views around, he replied: “If the Conservatives get a leader who will actually do something, and isn’t guided by opinion polls above all, yes, it might make a difference.”But he signalled his dissatisfaction with almost all of the candidates on offer.In a swipe at foreign secretary Liz Truss, he said: “I don’t like having foreign ministers who go in furs in tanks astride the world stage, looking like Mrs Thatcher.”On Sunak, he said: “It would worry me having a leader whose wife has been a non-dom … The danger is that anytime Rishi Sunak takes a hard economic decision, or any time his chancellor does, what will get flung back at him is, ‘It’s all very well for you’.”Penny Mordaunt’s credo had been delivered in a book co-written with a PR agent, he said, adding: “PR executives are very good people. But they are all about presentation … And I feel that that removes an element of genuineness.”On Tom Tugendhat, Mr Armitage said: “I don’t like having MPs who say that we should have enforced a no-fly zone over Ukraine and put ourselves into conflict with Russia, which is Tom Tugendhat.”The only candidate he rated was Ms Badenoch, saying: “I think she’s fresh, she’s different, she’s not associated with the old regime.“There’s something very slick and superficial about the campaigns of many of these aspirant PMs. Kemi Badenoch gives me the impression that she is genuine.”RecommendedResponding to Mr Armitage’s comments, former Tory chair Brandon Lewis said: “Different donors will always support different leaders. One of the jobs a leader that serves the party has to do is ensure that they can deliver the policies that work for the country in a way we encourage our donors to support us as well.“If you look back, David Cameron’s big donors were different from Boris’s and different from Theresa [May]’s. I’m sure the next leader will get that support from different donors and some of the same donors as well.” More

The minister in charge of the government’s emergency response to the heatwave has defended the UK’s vague laws about maximum temperatures at work.Kit Malthouse, who chaired chaired this weekend’s meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, cited the difference in temperature between offices and blast-furnace facilities as a reason why a maximum limit could be unworkable.Mr Malthouse was asked in the Commons by Labour MP Nadia Whittome whether the government would “legislate for maximum working temperatures” – a key demand of trade unions in light of the heatwave.The Trades Union Congress has previously called for a maximum temperature of 30°C, or 27°C for those doing strenuous work, while the GMB union on Monday union said 25°C should be the maximum.Responding for the government, Cabinet Office minister Mr Malthouse replied: “The law as it stands says that employers have an obligation to maintain a reasonable temperature at work. Recommended”They haven’t defined it because circumstances may change, so if you are working in front of a blast furnace that is different from working in an office.“What we may find, certainly for many people during this period, that actually being at work is cooler than being at home.”Under existing UK law, employers must make sure indoor workplaces stay at a “reasonable” temperature and also manage the risk of working outdoors in the heat.And under section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 workers also have the right to withdraw from and to refuse to return to a workplace that is unsafe.Some countries in Europe and around the world have maximum workplace temperatures written into law or collective agreements. These laws usually apply to particular kinds of work, or have contextual conditions – a simple solution to the point about blast-furnaces raised by the minister.According to figures collated by the House of Commons library, in Spain places where sedentary of light work take place must be between 17°C and 27°C. The Spanish laws are applied while taking into account “limitations or conditions resulting from the particular characteristics of the workplace”.In Germany, a maximum temperature of 26°C is the norm, though this can be exceeded in certain conditions – such as if the outside temperature is higher. RecommendedTrades Union Congress general secretary, Frances O’Grady said: “We all love it when the sun comes out, but working in sweltering conditions in a baking shop or stifling office can be unbearable and dangerous. Indoor workplaces should be kept cool, with relaxed dress codes and flexible working to make use of the coolest hours of the day.“Bosses must make sure outdoor workers are protected with regular breaks, lots of fluids, plenty of sunscreen and the right protective clothing.” More

A Conservative police and crime commissioner has been banned from driving after being found guilty of five separate motoring offences.Caroline Henry, 52, who was elected to run the police service in Nottinghamshire last year, was banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay a £2,450 fine.The five separate speeding offences took place within the space of just 12 weeks, including two offences on consecutive days. More

Cutting taxes at the moment would “be a mistake”, according to a top official at the International Monetary Fund. Four of the final five Tory leadership candidates have pledged to cut taxes if they become prime minister. But not Rishi Sunak, who has argued that slashing taxes would fuel rising inflation. “I think debt-financed tax cuts at this point would be a mistake,” Mark Flanagan, who leads the IMF’s UK team, told BBC News. More

Labour have accused Boris Johnson of “clocking off”, after it was confirmed he will miss a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee today to discuss the current heatwave.It came after Mr Johnson missed his third meeting on the UK’s first red extreme heat warning on Saturday, while attending a farewell party for close allies at Chequers.Instead, the prime minister was paying a visit to the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire – just days after finding time to fly in a Typhoon jet with the RAF. Later in the day, Mr Johnson was due to defend his record in office from the despatch box as the Commons debates a confidence motion in the government.Downing Street said that today’s Cobra will be led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Kit Malthouse, and insisted the prime minister was being constantly updated on the situation.The PM’s official spokesperson also confirmed that Mr Johnson will attend his final session of prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.RecommendedIt followed speculation that he might duck the clash with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in order to travel to a memorial service for assassinated Japanese ex-PM Shinzo Abe.Mr Johnson’s spokesperson insisted it was “not unusual” for cabinet ministers, rather than the prime minister, to chair meetings of Cobra, which bring together top politicians, officials and outside experts to respond to emergencies.But shadow cabinet minister Lisa Nandy said the PM had “clearly clocked off”, adding: “And so have many of his ministers in his government.”The shadow levelling up secretary told Sky News: “We think the government ought to do a number of things: first is to turn up to work.”Ms Nandy called for a dedicated Cabinet Office minister to co-ordinate an emergency response to the soaring temperatures – predicted to top 40C over the coming days – and urged Whitehall to work with local areas to ensure resilience plans are in place to end the current “patchwork” approach.Starmer said: “I think for millions of people, particularly with the heatwave today, they’ll be saying ‘I want a government that’s focused on the day job, that’s getting on with resilience for today and tomorrow, however long this heatwave goes on, and focused on the cost-of-living crisis’.”Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson confirmed that Mr Malthouse will chair the Cobra meeting in Whitehall at 2.30pm. A Cabinet Office minister will also respond in the Commons to an urgent statement from Green MP Caroline Lucas on the government’s response to the soaring temperatures.The spokesperson said: “Kit Malthouse has made the point that he is taking the lead on the government’s response to the heatwave. He’s keeping the prime minister fully briefed, including over the weekend when the prime minister also spoke to a number of secretaries of state about the work they are doing.“It is not unusual in cabinet government for cabinet ministers to chair these sorts of things.”But Ms Lucas said: “The government is turning up at this national extreme heat emergency with a watering can, when we need a giant fire hose.“We are seeing a total absence of leadership. The prime minister refuses to chair the Cobra meeting taking place today, and is instead filling his time with lavish parties at Chequers and juvenile photo ops on an RAF fighter jet.“Tory ministers and MPs are branding Britons as ‘cowards’ and ‘snowflakes’ for taking precautions during the country’s first ever national heat emergency. And as a result, the government’s utter lack of preparedness for this crisis has been laid bare. Where are the guidelines for schools? For the NHS? For employers?”The PM notoriously missed a series of Cobra gatherings at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, staying at grace-and-favour residence Chevening to finalise details of his divorce and work on a book on Shakespeare.Asked what justification there was for the PM’s Typhoon flight from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire last week, the spokesperson said: “The Typhoon’s quick alert reaction role is an integral part of both UK and Nato security and the PM does have a specific role in directing RAF action in worst-case scenarios. So it is important he is aware of some of these capabilities they have.”Asked if he needs first-hand experience to understand this, the spokesman said: “It’s important that he has a detailed understanding of the working capabilities of the RAF.”Mr Johnson today compared taking the controls of the fighter jet to his experience as prime minister over the past three years, telling business leaders at Farnborough: “I hauled the joystick right the way back and we did a loop the loop… After three happy years in the cockpit, performing some pretty difficult if not astonishing feats, I am about to hand the controls over seamlessly to someone else.”Downing Street said a “range of measures” was in place to cope with the impact of the heat.The PM’s official spokesman said: “In the NHS, for example, we are increasing ambulance control room staff and on NHS 111.“There are specialist teams from Network Rail and Transport for London monitoring the impact of higher temperatures so they can keep services running.”The Department for Transport is in touch with port operators, highways agencies and the police to “check their contingency plans”.Recommended More

There is a “major hole at the centre of government” over the resilience of the UK’s critical national infrastructure to climate change, a parliamentary committee has warned.The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) said no ministers were currently responsible for the issue, and that the minister previously in charge had refused to give evidence.Amid a heatwave seeing the potential for new record temperatures in Britain, the committee released a letter hitting out at a “pattern of disrespectful behaviour by government ministers towards select committees”.It comes days after Priti Patel and Dominic Raab cancelled their appearances before other parliamentary committees because of the Conservative leadership election, despite remaining in their posts as home and justice secretary.The Home Affairs Committee and Joint Committee on Human Rights both voiced concerns over government accountability and the scrutiny of new laws.RecommendedThe JCNSS session was to examine how critical national infrastructure, which includes power networks, railway lines and roads, is being prepared for the effects of climate change.The committee said the Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis was due to give evidence at a session on 4 July but cancelled days before with a letter saying he was “not best placed to give evidence at the session”, which he regarded as a “technical and specialist matter”. He remained in his post following the breakdown of Boris Johnson’s government but wrote to the committee claiming that other ministers would be more appropriate because he was a “convening minister only, rather than a minister with responsibility for the policies in question”.Dame Margaret Beckett, chair of the JCNSS, wrote to the head of the Cabinet Office, calling the letter “extraordinary”, pointing to written evidence from April where Mr Ellis called himself the minister “responsible for resilience and security” adding: “I am committed to tackling and improving the chronic risk posed by climate change”.Dame Margaret said: “The unfortunate impression that we are gaining from this exchange is that there are no ministers with responsibility for the resilience of critical national infrastructure to the effects of climate change, nor for cross-government climate adaptation efforts… this would be quite a shocking admission from the government at this stage in our inquiry, and one on which we might be forced to draw some quite damning conclusions in our forthcoming report. “It would suggest a major hole at the centre of government in preparation and planning on a crucial area of national security.”The committee chair warned that the incident “forms part of a pattern of disrespectful behaviour by government ministers towards select committees, including late cancellations and refusals to give evidence”.RecommendedThe exchange of letters was made public on Monday, which was forecast to see new record high temperatures in parts of the UK.The heatwave was having widespread effects on critical national infrastructure, with people urged to avoid unnecessary travel because of buckling railway lines and melting roads. More

Keir Starmer has ruled out striking “any” agreement with the Liberal Democrats after the next general election.The Labour leader had previously ruled out an electoral pact or coalition with the Scottish National Party, saying there would be “no deal going into the general election and no deal other side”.But he had not previously explicitly ruled out working with the Liberal Democrats, either as part of a coalition or under a looser supply and confidence arrangement.Asked specifically whether he would entertain a confidence and supply agreement with the Liberal Democrats in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency published on Monday, Sir Keir said: “I’m ruling out any arrangement.”Under a coalition agreement, MPs from both parties take jobs as government ministers, such as in the 2010-2015 Cameron government. RecommendedUnder a supply and confidence arrangement, a minority Labour government would be supported by the Lib Dems on major votes to keep it in power, in exchange for policy concessions. The arrangement is relatively common around the world, with Canada’s liberal government now propped up by the left-of-centre NDP under such a deal. The UK most recently saw such an arrangement between the Conservatives and DUP in 2017. The Lib Dems themselves have themselves strongly hinted they would be open to working with Labour, saying they want to oust the Conservatives – though deputy leader Daisy Cooper said in May it was “too early” to talk specifics. While Labour has opened up a consistent poll lead over the Conservatives in recent months, it may not be able to win a majority on its own because of the SNP’s dominance in Scotland. The liberals are thought to want electoral reform – a longstanding priority for the party – as the price for supporting a minority government. RecommendedThe Liberal Democrats have polled as high as 15 per cent in some recent surveys and have pulled off a string of stunning by-election successes in Conservative-held seats in the south of England. But the party has struggled to gain traction nationally since going into coalition with the Tories in 2010, which obliterated their levels of support. Despite a strong set of European Parliament elections in 2019 the party failed to capitalise in the general election later that year. More