Inside Politics: Boris Johnson preparing big ‘back to work’ drive

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Friday 28 August 2020 07:58 BST

Air bridges: Slovenia added to England's quarantine list

“Everyone deserves a break,” says Matt Hancock. The health secretary is looking particularly healthy at the moment, bearing a magnificent bronze tan after a week’s surfing in Cornwall. Leaders across England want to know when they’re going to get a break from local lockdown restrictions, and Hancock is set to announce today whether measures will be lifted or not. If they’re extended, surfer boy may find himself in some pretty choppy waters. He may also have to ride out a wave of anger from No 10, after clashing with the PM over a push to get office employees back to work.

Inside the bubble

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

Britons in Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic face a race against time today to get back to the UK before the 4am Saturday deadline set last night by transport secretary Grant Shapps if they want to avoid a 14-day quarantine. And new information on possible links between poverty and the coronavirus will be revealed, as the ONS releases a breakdown of deaths in terms of socio-economic deprivation.

Daily briefing

ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL: Matt Hancock is set to announce whether restrictions in areas in the north of England and Midlands can be eased. Council bosses in Yorkshire issued a joint statement complaining local measures had been “confused and bungled”. Elsewhere, leaders in Lancashire and Oldham complained to the health secretary that the new £13 a day scheme for self-isolators on low incomes was nowhere near enough. The TUC said the “paltry” payment should be hiked to £320 a week. Hancock may be more worried about complaints from his boss. Reports indicate Boris Johnson is getting ready to launch a major drive to get workers back into offices – opening up a rift with his health secretary. Hancock defended working from home on Thursday, saying the only thing that mattered was “how effectively people work”.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED: Transport secretary Grant Shapps urged all holidaymakers to “only travel if you are content to unexpectedly 14-day quarantine on return” after he added more countries to the list. Travellers in Switzerland, Czech Republic and Jamaica have until 4am Saturday before changes come in. Fellow cabinet minister Priti Patel is said to be “furious” after legal challenges forced the Home Office to stop a planned charter flight taking cross-Channel migrants to Spain. The government said the 23 asylum seekers had passed through Spain on their route to Britain. It comes as Patel’s department was forced to pull a weird, Dad’s Army-style animated video showing deportation efforts – aircraft flying from Britain to the European continent. It also accused migrants’ lawyers of being “activists” – which the Bar Council said was “irresponsible”.

SMELLS LIKE VICTORY: Sir Ed Davey won the Lib Dem leadership quite comfortably in the end – taking 63.5 per cent of the vote over Layla Moran on 36.5 per cent. He said it was time for the party to “wake up and smell the coffee” having “lost touch” with too many voters. Was it a message for activists to stop obsessing over Brexit? “The truth is, voters don’t believe the Liberal Democrats want to help ordinary people get on in life. It is time for us to start listening.” Many people’s Brexit woes have only just begun. EU citizens have launched a new “Access Denied” campaign for the government to give them physical proof of their right to remain in Britain. The3million group says the settlement scheme’s “digital-only” design is already causing problems for EU nationals – some of whom have been held up in airports and face delays in moving house.

SLUMP CHUMPS: The popularity of Boris Johnson has suffered a dramatic slump over the summer, a new poll has found. Just 29 per cent have a favourable view of the PM – down a whopping 12 points since July. It’s the lowest score Johnson has recorded since his general election victory, and puts him behind Labour’s Sir Starmer (on 30 per cent favourability). The Ipsos Mori survey found optimism at its lowest in 2020 so far, with only a quarter saying the country was heading in the right direction. Would sacking Gavin Williamson help? The respected Whitehall think tank, the Institute of Government, has taken the highly unusual step of calling for the resignation of education secretary. Incidentally, the prime minister – who has plenty of polling gurus to tell him things aren’t going great – has hired Love Island host Laura Whitmore’s personal trainer to help him lose weight.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? Donald Trump delivered his big convention speech with a warning against his barbarian enemies. The president said Joe Biden was the would-be “destroyer of American greatness” and the Democrats would give free rein to “violent anarchists, agitators, and criminals” if they win the election. Biden pointed out it was Trump who appears to be enjoying the current unrest. “He is rooting for more violence not less – he is pouring gasoline on the fire.” Ahead of the pair’s first debate next month, Trump has called for drug tests for both candidates – hinting that Biden might be on some performance-enhancing substances (offering no evidence, of course). “It’s a prize fight,” Trump said of the debates. “It’s no different from the gladiators, except we have to use our brain and our mouth.”

ABE UNABLE TO CARRY ON: Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe is to step down due to his declining health, according to a senior member of the ruling party. Hiroshige Seko, a Liberal Democratic party secretary general for the upper house of parliament, shocked the country early Friday by revealing that Abe had already told party executives he is quitting. The PM’s second hospital visit on Monday had accelerated speculation about his departure – and sparked furious political manoeuvring towards a post-Abe regime. Abe, 65, has acknowledged having ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager, but hasn’t made clear if it is related to his recent hospital visits.

On the record

“The misjudgements in education have been some of the worst the government has made since the start of the pandemic.”

The Institute of Government on why Gavin Williamson should go.

From the Twitterati

“Same old Lib Dumbs, picking as leader a tainted cabinet minister from a ConDem coalition which nearly wiped it out in Westminster. When will they move on?”

Left-wing pundit Kevin Maguire is not impressed by the Lib Dems’ choice…

“After spending years crying “b******s to Brexit!” Ed Davey just ludicrously claimed he hopes to appeal to Brexit voters There’s more chance of me flying to the Moon!”

…and neither is right-wing pundit Martin Daubney.