Markus Andrews

Maybe Jackie Weaver could sort the Brexit mess? Handforth Parish Council’s superstar clerk has appeared on cakes, mugs and T-shirts – praised for her unflappable handling of petty behaviour and political grandstanding. Michael Gove and No 10’s Brexit envoy David Frost could do worse than call Jackie to mediate their squabbles with the EU Commission. The pair are trying to convince the EU to change the protocol. But they have succumbed again to petty behaviour and political grandstanding – blaming Brussels for failing to adjust to British sovereignty. More

The government failed to learn the lessons from the first wave of coronavirus last spring, resulting in a delayed national lockdown and a higher death rate over Christmas, Professor Neil Ferguson has suggested.The senior scientific adviser, who sits on the government’s Nervtag emergency virus committee, said a “fragmented” consensus over the correct level of restrictions meant the country was in a weaker position going into the winter.“Had we learnt the lessons properly from the first wave, then we would have been in a better situation coming into Christmas and much lower infection levels and therefore fewer deaths,” he told Sky News.By the end of January, half of the UK’s then-death toll of 100,000 had died in the weeks since mid-November. The total count now stands at more than 113,000.Ministers were advised in September by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) that a nationwide “circuit breaker” lockdown was needed to curb the rapid spread of the virus but they waited until October before bringing in the tiered system and delayed a full national shutdown until the beginning of January. “We would have been in a better position for the winter had we locked down earlier in the autumn,” Professor Ferguson said. “I think the most disappointing choice – you can always go back to March and say well people were balancing very difficult considerations, but by September we knew exactly what this virus could do.“Unfortunately, because in some sense the political consensus had fragmented, governments across Europe, and this is not particularly a criticism of this government, reacted too late. “So it was only in October that we really tightened up measures, and only in November that we locked down again and then not really for long enough.”Professor Ferguson also said it was likely that despite the rollout of vaccines, people would need to continue wearing masks and observing social distancing rules for “much of this year”.”I am hoping by this time next year, it will look a lot more normal,” he said. “Maybe there will still be mask wearing for mass gatherings and things like that but I very much doubt we will be anything like where we are now.” More

Ten-year jail sentences for travellers who conceal the fact they have come from a coronavirus hotspot have been branded “draconian” and “completely disproportionate” by a former Conservative attorney general.The remarks from Dominic Grieve comes after Matt Hancock unveiled the tough new measures for tourists, including forcing those travelling from 33 “red list” countries to pay £1,750 to quarantine for 10 days in government-designated hotels.But Mr Grieve, who was attorney general between 2010 and 2014 in David Cameron’s administration, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Ten years is entirely disproportionate. “I was trying to work out why this figure had been plucked out of the air, but my impression is it’s suggesting that individuals who do this will be charged with forgery. “But this is a regulatory offence and no regulatory offence I can think of this type attracts a 10-year maximum sentence. The reality is no-one would get such a sentence anyway. The courts are simply not going to impose it.”He added: “I recognise the government has to put down strict rules and needs to have penalties to enforce them. But to suggest that a 10-year sentence is going to result from a false declaration on a form on landing at Heathrow airport is I think a mistake because it’s exaggerated, it’s not going to happen.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday“My view is that good government is about proportionality and sounding off in this way with suggestions of draconian and completely disproportionate sentences for an offence is a mistake.”Former Supreme Court justice Lord Sumption, also attacked the plans and described the government’s hotel quarantine plan in general as a “form of imprisonment in solitary confinement”.In an article for The Daily Telegraph, Lord Sumption, who has been critical of the government’s approach to restrictions, added: “Does Mr Hancock really think that non-disclosure of a visit to Portugal is worse than the large number of violent firearms offences or sexual offences involving minors, for which the maximum is seven years?”“Penal policy seeks to match the sentence to the gravity of the crime. When policymakers impose savage and disproportionate sentences, it is usually because the rule in question is not widely respected and breaches are hard to detect.”  More

SNP MP Joanna Cherry has accused some of party colleagues of engaging in “performative histrionics” over her stance on transgender issues – comparing the abuse she has faced to the Salem witch trials.Ms Cherry was sacked from her post as the party’s justice spokesperson earlier this month, having come in for heavy criticism over her support for women’s sex-based rights.She contacted police on 1 February over a “vicious threat”to her personal safety after revealing she had been sacked in a reshuffle at Westminster.The MP claimed her belief that “women are adult human females” made her unpopular with a “small but vocal group” within the SNP – and suggested they had influenced first minister Nicola Sturgeon and party bosses in stripping her of her role.Writing in the New Statesman, she said she was being targeted by “young men (…) who seem to have a problem with middle-aged lesbians who support women’s sex-based rights”.Ms Cherry said: “The reasons for my sacking were not made clear but I was not surprised. For some time a small but vocal cohort of my SNP colleagues has engaged in performative histrionics redolent of the Salem witch trials.“The question – do you believe or have you ever believed that women are adult human females? – is one I must answer in the affirmative, but it’s not a response that is popular with some who have the ear of the leadership.”Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayShe added: “It’s frustrating because advocating for women’s sex-based rights under the Equality Act, expressing concerns about self-identification of gender and opposing curtailment of free speech, are not evidence of transphobia.”On Thursday, police confirmed a 30-year-old man had been charged with a communications offence in connection with the incident. More

The government is set to unveil a multibillion pound package of funding for work to strip homes of unsafe cladding, it has been reported following concerns some leaseholders may be loaned the money needed to fix the issue.The housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, will address the Commons on Wednesday amid increasing pressure from his own party’s MPs over his department’s response to remove potentially hazardous coverings from buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.Measures being considered include a £5bn fund on top of an already established £1.6bn grant scheme that leaseholders can apply for, according to reports. However, it has been suggested direct funding may only be offered to towers more than 18 metres in height, while smaller buildings may have to rely on loans from the government instead.The push to remove unsafe cladding was prompted by the deadly Grenfell fire three and a half years ago, a disaster fuelled by plastic-filled aluminium panels wrapped around the building. An inquiry into the blaze which killed 72 people in Kensington, west London, is currently ongoing.However, the pace of the government’s response has left homeowners across the country unable to sell their properties, while some have been saddled with bills of up to £160,000 to fix the issue.The Association of Residential Managing Agent estimates some 650,000 people in the UK are living in flats with dangerous cladding.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayLabour has called for a national taskforce to “get a grip” and said leaseholders should be protected from the cost of replacing dangerous cladding on homes.Last week Tory politicians also aired their dissatisfaction with the government over its provisions for leaseholders, with Stevenage MP Stephen McPartland saying the government had been “incompetent” in its response ahead of a vote demanding action.All 365 Conservative MPs abstained on the largely symbolic motion tabled by the Labour Party on the order of the whips, however several spoke out in the debate to argue homeowners should not have to shoulder the financial burden.Among their concerns were reports companies that own buildings would be given government loans to remedy the issue and the cost would then be handed down to residents through service charges.“I will not accept loans to leaseholders”, Mr McPartland added. “If the government announces that, I will not accept it, I will vote against it. We cannot have leaseholders paying mortgages of £150,000 which is 90 per cent and then maybe having to pay a loan on top of £75,000.”It comes as the chief lawyer in the Grenfell Inquiry said three witnesses from a company that produced the tower’s cladding were refusing to give evidence.Gwenaelle Derrendinger and Claude Wehrle, both French residents, along with Peter Froehlich, based in Germany, have all claimed they will risk prosecution in France if they speak to the inquiry.The three were employed by Arconic, the manufacturer that sold the rain screen panels that were used on the tower block when it caught fire in 2017, killing 72 people.Speaking at the start of Tuesday’s session, Richard Millett QC said: “Each of these witnesses has been given a final chance to decide whether or not to come to give evidence to the inquiry.“They still refuse to come to assist you, I regret to say.”Mr Millett said their refusal cites the so-called French Blocking Statute (FBS), which bans people from disclosing documents or information of an economic, commercial, industrial, financial or technical nature with a view to establishing evidence in foreign judicial or administrative proceedings.However, reading from a note received by the inquiry in December, Mr Millett said the French authorities “do not share the position” that the stature would stand in the way of the three attending the inquiry.Mr Millett went on: “Since this inquiry is not a court, and cannot determine a person’s civil or criminal liability, it appears to the inquiry to be very doubtful that the FBS has any application to any evidence given to the inquiry.”He added: “The inquiry’s position is that the refusal of these witnesses to come and give evidence is unreasonable.”Additional reporting by agencies More

Leading figures in Boris Johnson’s government have a “very blokey mentality” compounded by the prevalence of ministers educated in single-sex schools, a senior Tory Party MP has said.Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in the House of Commons, argued there were some “serious questions about the calibre of the women” selected for senior governmental roles.She told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “I think it’s still a very blokey mentality at the very top. I don’t think that we’re done many favours by the predominance of single-sex education round the cabinet table.“And I think it’s really important that there’s much more recognition, we need more women in parliament across every party, we need more women in government and we need to be prepared to listen to their opinions and act upon them.”Her comments come as the Women and Equalities Committee released its findings from an inquiry into the Covid emergency’s economic impact on women, with ministers finding the government has both overlooked and worsened pre-existing gender inequalities.Ms Nokes, who lost her role as immigration minister when Mr Johnson became PM, added: “I’m not convinced that they are listening. I’ve been pointing out since the start of the pandemic how few women are sat around the cabinet table, how their voices are not being played into debates and decisions that the government is making.“I think it’s absolutely crucial that the government wakes up to the fact that they need to take equalities far more seriously than they have to date.”Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayWomen are over-represented in industries most ravaged by lockdown measures such as retail, hospitality, tourism, the arts and the beauty sector, while recent research found women are twice as likely to need time off work with no pay to look after children due to schools closing.Ms Nokes’ remarks echo those made by Alex Davies-Jones, who sits on the Women and Equalities Committee, a day earlier. She told The Independent many women working in female-dominated sectors are self-employed and have fallen through the cracks of government support schemes.”Retail, hospitality, beauty salons and hairdressing were the first to close because of the virus and the last to open. These seemingly forgotten industries significantly contribute to the economy. The women working in these industries have been forgotten,” the Labour MP for Pontypridd in Wales said.“The government needs to have women around the table when they are creating these policies. It is a shocking indictment that we have only had a handful of female cabinet members fronting the daily briefings. There is a shocking absence of women at the top. Also none of the policies are fronted by women, which is really disappointing.” The MP said she had spoken to women who think the Conservative government fails to “reflect their experiences and doesn’t see them” and subsequently does not draw up policies which support them during the crisis.A government spokesperson said it had “done whatever it takes” to safeguard “lives and livelihoods” during the pandemic “and will continue to do so”.“We are safeguarding people’s jobs and incomes with economic schemes worth over £200bn, including the Self Employment Income Scheme for the 1.7 million self-employed women in the UK,” they added.“Covid-19 is prompting a culture shift, with more people than ever before working flexibly, and the government wants to harness that as we recover. By doing so, we could see more equal sharing of care work by parents, and more flexibility from employers, enabling us to unleash the potential of everyone across the country.” More

Just because “a mountain to climb” is a terrible cliche doesn’t necessarily mean that Keir Starmer was wrong to use it. The question remains, though, as to whether Sherpa Starmer is the right man for the assault on political K2.Starmer is coming under some renewed attacks from the left. The socialist tendency believes he is squandering the gains made in the Corbyn years (yes, really). Richard Burgon, secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, and a former marginal contender for the deputy leadership has issued this scarcely coded warning: “Many feel our leadership has taken the fight to its own members more than it has to a Tory government responsible for one of the worst coronavirus death rates in the world.” Of course, Starmer might well point out that he’s been on the Covid story for a year. And he might ask why Burgon and his allies are taking the fight to their leader rather than the wicked Tories. Starmer may also conclude that being attacked by Burgon suggests that the party is going in the right direction. More

Implementation of the UK’s Brexit deal with the European Union has been “more than bumpy” in the six weeks after the transition out of the single market and customs union, Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator has admitted.David Frost cited the row over Covid vaccines, disruptions to trade with Northern Ireland, the stand-off over Britain’s refusal to grant EU representatives diplomatic status and what he described as “niggling” border issues over shellfish, as he admitted London and Brussels had failed to achieve the “friendly cooperation between sovereign equals” which the UK claimed to be seeking in divorce talks.Giving evidence to the House of Lords EU Committee, Lord Frost – now Mr Johnson’s Brexit policy representative – confirmed that the European parliament was now expected to request an extension to the two-month period for MEPs to ratify the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), potentially taking the EU’s formal adoption of the deal to Easter or beyond.And he complained that the head of the UK mission in Brussels was being denied political-level contacts in what one member committee described as a “tit-for-tat” retaliation after London refused to give the EU’s representatives diplomatic status.But Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove attempted to play down the significance of the series of rows and setbacks which have followed the end of the transition period on 1 January, comparing the difficulties facing businesses as a result of Brexit to turbulence on take-off before a smooth air flight.Mr Gove insisted he did not want to “pooh-pooh” the complaints of businesses in Northern Ireland faced with extra red tape because of Boris Johnson’s trade deal with the EU, but said he believed problems could be dealt with by changes on the ground, rather than ripping up the Northern Ireland Protocol as the DUP have demanded.His comments came amid reports that Brussels will offer only a three- or six-month extension to “grace periods” to ease supermarket supply chains and parcel deliveries to Northern Ireland, rather than the longer delay to January 2023 which he has requested.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayLord Frost told the committee: “We said ad nauseam last year during the negotiations that we wanted ‘friendly cooperation between sovereign equals’ as our vision of the future. And that is still what we want. “I don’t think that’s been quite the experience of last few weeks, if we are honest about it. “I think the EU is still adjusting somewhat – as we thought they might – to the existence of a genuinely independent actor in their neighbourhood.”Listing rows over vaccines, Northern Ireland, trade barriers and diplomatic status, he told peers: “None of those things are in themselves dramatic, although some have been very, very serious.“I think it has been more than bumpy, to be honest, in the last six weeks. I think it’s been problematic. “I hope we’ll get over this. It is going to require a different spirit, probably, from the EU but I’m sure we are going to see that and see some of this subside as we go forward.”Mr Gove told the committee that the conditions of “serious economic or societal difficulties” required for the UK to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol were already in place, allowing Mr Johnson to use the mechanism to override certain provisions of the agreement.But ahead of talks with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London on Thursday, he insisted that both sides want to “proceed in a pragmatic and constructive way”.“We all know that when an aeroplane takes off, that’s the point when you sometimes get that increased level of turbulence,” he said. “But then eventually you reach a cruising altitude and the crew tell you to take your seatbelt off and enjoy a gin and tonic and some peanuts. “We’re not at the gin and tonic and peanuts stage yet, but I’m confident we will be.”Confronted with the experience of a heritage railway operator in Downpatrick who was unable to find a courier willing to ship items from the British mainland without onerous paperwork, Mr Gove compared the situation to his experience of taxi drivers in London who refused to accept Scottish banknotes.He said he wanted to “bust myths” about the difficulties created by the new customs documentation required for trade across the Irish Sea under the terms of Mr Johnson’s deal.“The truth is that there are there are some businesses who, when it comes to trade – both with the EU and also with the dispatch of goods to Northern Ireland – are taking a little bit of time to adjust to the new normal,” he said. “There is a reticence and a caution amongst some that we’re doing our very best to dispel by making clear what the processes are and how it is possible to comply with them with the least possible disruption to effective activity.” More