Inside Politics: Boris Johnson mulls reshuffle and shrugs off story about his dad

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Friday 07 February 2020 10:32 GMT

Brexit briefing: How long until the end of the transition period?

If you’re still worried Brexit could bust the economy, bear in mind our entire Milky Way could go on the blink any minute. Scientists are puzzled after discovering a “monster” galaxy that mysteriously turned dark. It created a vast number of stars in a frenzy of activity – then suddenly became inactive. Boris Johnson is still fizzing with energy after the election win. But the PM is desperate to make sure his big plans don’t disappear into a black hole. As he ponders a cabinet reshuffle, Johnson is ready to create a new set of political stars – and switch the lights out on a few ministerial careers. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:

Ministers will be making a series of small-scale, but important, announcements today. Transport secretary Grant Shapps will reveal a plan for every child in England to be offered cycle training, education secretary Gavin Williamson will vow to put more money into vocational courses, and justice minister Wendy Morton will be outlining a funding boost for rape support centres. Meanwhile, in the Labour leadership race, Rebecca Long-Bailey will try to regain the impetus at a big campaign event in Sheffield.

Daily briefing

STANLEY THE MANLY: No doubt Boris Johnson has said a lot of sorries to women over the years, and he has a week to work out who is next in line for his apologies. The PM is holding his reshuffle ahead of Valentine’s Day on 13 February – with No 10 apparently worried about the impact of getting rid of too many female ministers at once (Andrea Leadsom and Therese Coffey are among those said to be at risk of the chop). The PM could always go down the utterly shameless route and install his own dad in cabinet. Stanley Johnson blundered his way into frontline politics after he accidentally sent an email to the BBC revealing he had met the Chinese ambassador to discuss the coronavirus. The Johnson clan patriarch was trying to tell British officials that Beijing was unhappy about the PM’s failure to offer a message of support. “I was copying in someone who happened to have the same name as a lady at the BBC,” Stan later explained. No 10 was forced to insist he’d been acting as “a private citizen”. I’m sure a private citizen like you or I could get a meeting with the ambassador at the drop of a hat.

DEEPER SHADE OF ORANGE: Maybe Johnson should send his old man to Washington to sort out the Huawei mess with the Americans. Details have emerged of the PM’s “very difficult” call with Donald Trump over the Chinese tech giant getting a role in our 5G network. Trump was utterly “apoplectic”, according to the Financial Times. International trade secretary Liz Truss doesn’t seem to think it’ll do any lasting damage. She told the Commons a trade deal with the US will magically “lower prices and increase choice for UK consumers”. Could we be talking about forging a trade deal with an independent Scotland one day? There’s a lot of apoplectic conversations to be had before it ever happens. Johnson’s official spokesman was forced to deny the PM had called Nicola Sturgeon that “wee Jimmy Krankie woman”. According to The Sun, the alleged remark was made when the PM was asked if the SNP leader should play a role in the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. “The PM did not make those comments,” the No 10 spokesman insisted. Fan-dabby-dosey!

FANTASTIC MR FOX: If the Labour leadership contest was putting you to sleep, wake up – we have a genuine argument on our hands! Lisa Nandy rubbished Richard Burgon’s plan to give Labour members a veto on any military action overseas. “I couldn’t disagree with him more,” she said of the deputy leadership candidate’s “peace plan” concept. Defending the idea of liberal interventionism, she said the late Robin Cook, former Labour foreign secretary, would be “ashamed”. Labour MP Neil Coyle called Burgon’s idea “horse s***”. Speaking of animal excrement, a fox did a poo at the office of Labour MP Kerry McCarthy last night. The creature cause panic in parliament when it made its way to the highest level of Portcullis House and left a mess at McCarthy’s door. A political statement? Staff managed to capture and safely free the fox, so there was no need to call Jolyon Maugham and ask him to bring his baseball bat.

HERO TO ZERO: A 42-year-old politician sending 270 text messages to a 16-year-old boy he hardly knows is definitely 270 text messages too many. The SNP’s Derek Mackay was a party favourite and tipped as possible successor to Nicola Sturgeon. But his career is now in jeopardy after the inappropriate communication – he called the boy “really cute” and invited him to dinner – was revealed by The Scottish Sun. He quit as Scotland’s finance secretary, was suspended by his party, and faced calls to resign as MSP for Renfrewshire North and West. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard claimed his behaviour was “nothing short of predatory”. It emerged this morning Mackay had enthusiastically backed a campaign to protect teenagers from harassment, reportedly writing to head teachers to say how keen he was for students to visit him at Holyrood.

CARE FROM THE CHAIR: Jeremy Hunt, the new chair of the health and social care select committee, is not going to take a back seat in the role. In an interview with The Independent, the Tory MP called for an inquiry into maternity safety across the NHS in the wake of a string of hospital scandals and backed our campaign to reinstate the maternity safety fund. “The case is becoming unanswerable,” Hunt said of a potential investigation. In November we revealed Britain’s largest maternity scandal at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust – where dozens of babies and mothers died due to poor care. In another of our exclusives this morning, Keir Starmer has urged ministers to use the upcoming domestic abuse legislation to overhaul universal credit. The Labour leadership hopeful says joint payments of the notorious benefit risk trapping women in abusive relationships.

On the record

“I have behaved foolishly and I am truly sorry.”

Scotland’s finance minister Derek Mackay quits after texts to 16-year-old boy come to light.

From the Twitterati

“There is a fox lose in parliament! Cops are trying to shoo it out but it’s on the upper floor of PCH now.”

The Sun’s Kate Ferguson on the animal invasion...

“Reports a fox was running loose inside Parliament this evening, it has thankfully been contained although it continues to make claims about trade deals.”

...prompting anti-Brexit campaigner Dave MacLadd to wonder about a future role for the fox.