Inside Politics: Boris Johnson reveals action plan for coronavirus

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Tuesday 03 March 2020 08:54 GMT

Brexit trade talks kick off in Brussels

Madame Tussauds has wasted no time adjusting to the big changes coming in Boris Johnson’s life – adding a baby and baby carrier to the front of his tourist-attracting replica. As he sets out his COVID-19 action plan today, the PM is adjusting to the big changes coming to all of our lives – admitting the outbreak could become widespread. If we do end up with “no go” zones across the country, perhaps Johnson could send his waxwork dummy out on public engagements while he’s hunkered down at No 10 learning how to change a nappy. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our senior political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:

It is Tuesday, so the cabinet meets this morning. Boris Johnson recently moved cabinet meetings to Thursdays, just to be different from Theresa May, but that happened only once and has now been quietly shelved. So the PM can today update ministerial colleagues on his plans to contain the coronavirus. The cameras will be outside hoping home secretary Priti Patel might say something about her spat with her former top civil servant, Sir Philip Putnam, but I suspect they will wait in vain.

Daily briefing

MAKE BELIEVE YOU’RE BRAVE: Like the old Rogers and Hammerstein song, it’s good to whistle a happy tune when things get a bit scary. Boris Johnson said “the single most useful thing” we can do to deal with coronavirus is to wash our hands “two times to Happy Birthday with hot water” (around 20 seconds). The PM admitted there could be a “very significant expansion” of the number of cases in the UK, and ministers have been told the likely peak of transmission is still months away. The government is set to introduce legislation seeking extra powers to ban mass gatherings and create “no go zones” if necessary, while recently-retired doctors and nurses could be asked to return to the NHS. Considering we’re going to need all the expertise we can get, a City Hall source said it was “a bit strange” Sadiq Khan had not been invited to Monday’s emergency Cobra meeting. Jacob Rees-Mogg turned up for the meeting using the old slogan “coughs and sneezes spread diseases”. Ignoring the PM’s Happy Birthday times two advice, Rees-Mogg suggested people “wash your hands to the national anthem”.

FAMOUS BLUE PASSPORT: The coronavirus means we’re all going to have to adjust to “social distancing”. Two men with a head start on staying aloof are the UK’s chief negotiator David Frost and his counterpart Michel Barnier. They met without a handshake on the first day of trade talks (having agreed it was good health precaution). More than 100 British officials, handed Union Jack lanyards, were given a “rousing pep talk” by Frost about delivering on the PM’s manifesto pledge, according to The Times. Elsewhere, the Department of International Trade (DIT) set out its plan for US trade deal – estimating it could boost the UK economy by a mighty, staggering 0.16 per cent over the next 15 years. While the Lib Dems complained that it would “not come close to outweighing what we expect to lose from leaving the EU”, Labour MP David Lammy asked: “In what planet does this boost wages or create jobs for anyone except the Tory Cabinet?” Still, there’s always the blue passport to get excited about. After the Home Office boasted about the new design in a promo video, former Labour MEP Seb Dance jibed: “It’s a lovely thing to stare at in the long passport queues.”

CODE BREAKER? Priti Patel may not have had much time to inspect the new passports: bullying allegations rumble on for the home secretary. According to the BBC, one of Patel’s former aides at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) received a £25,000 payout in 2017 after alleging she was bullied by the minister. Legal letters seen by the broadcaster claim the woman took an overdose of prescription medicine after an alleged incident involving Patel in 2015. Michael Gove announced that cabinet secretary will lead an investigation into whether Patel had broken the ministerial code of conduct, as accusations fly about her behaviour at the Home Office. But Gove did not say whether the probe would look at Patel’s time at the DWP. In the Commons, Jeremy Corbyn claimed the Tory government was “led by bullies” and called for an “external lawyer” to lead the investigation. Tory MPs were having none of it. Julian Lewis asked what Margaret Thatcher would have made of the “smears and sexism” faced by the “current Iron Lady in the Home Office”.

DAMNING DOSSIER: More grim allegations involving the Conservatives. The Tory party has suspended several members following fresh claims of Islamophobia. The anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate released a dossier outlining what appear to be anti-Muslim remarks made by party members – including six Tory councillors. According to the group, one former councillor claimed online that “Moslems [sic] do not deserve ‘Human Rights’ as we understand them, partly because of their animal-like behaviour”. The Conservatives did not say how many people had been suspended. Elsewhere, a new report revealed how keen many people were went to avoid voting for the Tories at the recent general election. The Electoral Reform Society has found that tactical voting was highest among those who opted for the Lib Dems or Labour – at 39 per cent and 36 per cent.

BLOWING IN THE WIND: Some good news, just for a change. The government has lifted a ban on subsidies for new onshore windfarms. Environmentalists welcomed the end of the four-year ban, brought in following a nonsensical 2015 Tory manifesto pledge to “halt the spread” of this particular form of clean energy. “This is great news for anyone who pays an energy bill, and it’s great news for our climate,” said Greenpeace UK’s John Sauven, who hopes investment in technology can help bring down the price of onshore wind energy. Labour said it was glad the government had “finally relented”, but managed to get a dig in. “We now need to catch up on five lost years,” said shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead.

On the record

“What has traditionally been referred to as robust and forceful exchanges is too often routinely referred to as bullying nowadays.”

Tory MP Martin Vickers attempts to defend Priti Patel in the Commons.

From the Twitterati

“They’ve made the birth date on that passport 1973. Cute ... we’re expected to believe that this is a recent picture of a 47 year old woman. Thus we are forced to consider the possibility that the Home Office has released a video of a fraudulent passport.”

New Statesman writer Jonn Elledge points on the limitations in the Home Office promo video...

““Wow this passport’s fancy. Must have some kickass features. How many countries do you have the right to work in on this bad boy?” “1” “Huh. Still, blue though... Pretty f***ing snazzy.””

...while comedy writer James Felton points out the limitations in the passport.