Brexit news – live: EU may not turn up to trade talks as foreign aid cut to stay for ‘foreseeable future’

Follow the latest updates from parliament

Rishi Sunak announces foreign aid to be cut to 0.5 per cent

Downing Street has admitted that it does not know if EU negotiator Michel Barnier will turn up for face-to-face Brexit trade talks which are due to resume tomorrow.

The admission came after reports suggested Mr Barnier was pulling out of the talks unless there is a major shift in the UK’s negotiating stance.

It came as Boris Johnson faced a growing backlash from senior Tories over plans to cut foreign aid from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of gross national income (GNI) - a cut which would account for more than £4bn.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said in Wednesday's Spending Review that the plans were needed to repair the economy following the coronavirus crisis.

Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and ex-prime minister David Cameron were among those who criticised the proposal, while Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said it was “shameful and wrong” to remove support to some of the world’s poorest people during the pandemic.

And the prime minister risked further antagonising Tory MPs and much of England as the government announced nearly every part of the country would be subject to Tier 2 and Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions upon exiting lockdown.

• Key numbers and policies from Rishi Sunak’s spending review
• What did we learn from the latest economic forecasts in the spending review?
• Boris Johnson facing growing backbench revolt over England tiers

Key Points

• Brexit trade talks in fresh crisis as UK admits it does not know if EU will turn up
• Foreign aid cut will not be restored in ‘foreseeable future’, Raab admits
• Union leaders oppose chancellor’s public sector pay freeze
• US politicians urge Boris Johnson to set up public inquiry into murder of human rights lawyer
• Labour MP Andrew Gwynne says he may oppose tier 3 measures for Greater Manchester
• Cut in foreign aid is temporary, foreign secretary says
• Brexit: Time running out to find side-deal on Gibraltar, says Spain

[26 November 2020 11:44 · Conrad Duncan]

MPs will not be updated on EU talks until ‘there is something to say’

MPs will not be updated on the latest progress in EU talks over Brexit until “there is something to say,” the Commons Leader has said.

“I can reassure the House that statements will come when there is something to say, but it isn't beneficial for the House to have statements until that time,” Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs on Thursday morning.

[26 November 2020 11:56 · Conrad Duncan]

Speaker criticises government over revealing local tier levels before Commons statement

The Commons speaker has said it is “not acceptable” for the government’s postcode checker to reveal local coronavirus tier levels before they are announced in parliament.

Labour’s shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz told MPs that the postcode checker was announced around 11am by journalists on social media.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle replied: “This House should be informed first - we keep telling the government that is the way that good government should treat and respect this chamber. It is not acceptable to put it online.

“The only good thing about the government is it's crashed so it's not helpful, so might be that we do get the statement first.”

He added: “This House should hear it first.”

[26 November 2020 12:01 · Conrad Duncan]

Our reporter, Vincent Wood, has the full list of coronavirus tier restrictions by area below:

[26 November 2020 12:13 · Conrad Duncan]

Tory backbencher criticises government’s new tier system

Steve Baker, an influential backbench Tory MP, has publicly crticised the government’s new tier system for coronavirus restrictions after his area was put into Tier 2.

[26 November 2020 12:18 · Clea Skopeliti]

[26 November 2020 12:20 · Clea Skopeliti]

[26 November 2020 12:31 · Clea Skopeliti]

US politicians urge Boris Johnson to set up public inquiry into murder of human rights lawyer

Boris Johnson’s government has been urged by leading figures in Washington to “end years of delay” and set up a public inquiry into the 1989 murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane.

Mr Finucane, 39, was shot at his home in Northern Ireland by loyalist paramilitaries, and his family has been trying to establish the scale of collusion by British security forces for the past 31 years.

A group of 24 members of US Congress – both Republican and Democrat – have written to the prime minister to accuse the British government of a “breach of faith” over the case.

Adam Forrest reports:

[26 November 2020 12:38 · Clea Skopeliti]

No plans to make any coronavirus vaccine mandatory, Hancock says

Asked about mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus, the health secretary said he would urge everyone to get a vaccination if it is approved by the regulator. He clarified that there are no government plans to make the vaccine mandatory.

[26 November 2020 12:44 · Clea Skopeliti]

Coronavirus restrictions mapped: Which tier is your area in?

A three-tier system of coronavirus restrictions is to be reinstated in England from 3 December following the end of the national lockdown.

Most of the country will be under tougher rules than before the lockdown after government scientists warned previous measures were not effective enough to stem rising Covid-19 infections.

The Department for Health published details of which tiers areas would be in on Thursday as Matt Hancock outlined the plans in the Commons.

Chris Baynes reports here:

[26 November 2020 12:54 · Clea Skopeliti]

Labour MP Andrew Gwynne says he may oppose tier 3 measures for Greater Manchester

Labour MP for Denton and Reddish Andrew Gwynne has said he is “minded to oppose Greater Manchester being put into Tier 3” because of the “arbitrary singling out of the hospitality sector, which all the data shows is responsible for around just 3% of transmissions”.

Full statement here: