Inside Politics: Boris Johnson faces race against time on terror law

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Thursday 06 February 2020 08:58 GMT

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

Look out world: liberal legal eagle Kim Kardashian is on a mission. The reality star – about to take her first bar exam – spoke about her desire to reform the US criminal justice system as she simultaneously launched a new line of shapewear. Boris Johnson better hope the unstoppable Kardashian doesn’t turn her attention to the UK. The prime minister is hoping to rush through emergency legislation to keep terror offenders in jail longer. But he had better shape up. Johnson must hurry if he wants to get it done by the end of the month before more of those prisoners are up for automatic release. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

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

Cabinet meets for the first time on its new regular weekly slot of Thursday morning, having moved from Tuesday to fit in better with ministers’ other commitments. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab will not be present, as he’s off in Australia on the latest leg of a globe-trotting hunt for post-Brexit trade deals. As the Labour leadership race continues, Lisa Nandy is venturing to Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, one of the most totemic symbols of the December election defeat.

Daily briefing

RACE AGAINST CRIME: Boris Johnson was, by all accounts, a lazy schoolboy. But he now seems to relish a good deadline to get stuff done. His government is aiming to push emergency legislation aimed at stopping the automatic early release of terror offenders through parliament by 27 February. One of these offenders is set to get out of prison at the very end of the month, with another five due for automatic release during March. Inside No 10, Dominic Cummings is consumed by another deadline – next month’s budget. The restless genius is said to be working on spending proposals “pretty much full time”, even though it’s really supposed to be chancellor Sajid Javid’s job. One Whitehall official told the Financial Times the tension between No 10 and the Treasury has “become like the Israel-Palestine crisis”. An appropriate comparison, I’m sure you’ll agree. Cummings may not think much of Javid, but Michael Gove remains his golden boy. “They’re thick as thieves … Dom calls him Mikhail and Michael calls him Dominik,” one insider told The Telegraph. Isn’t that sweet?

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE: With so many new battles to fight, Johnson is ready to make peace with old enemies. And is there a better way to kiss and make up than the gift of an ermine cloak? According to the BBC, the PM has nominated former Tory chancellors Ken Clarke and Phillip Hammond for seats in the House of Lords. Considering he booted them both out of the party for defying him over Brexit, it’s a bit of a surprise. Will David Cameron ever be in line for peerage? Not if he keeps turning down jobs. The former PM explained he spurned Johnson’s offer of running the COP26 climate change conference because it’s a role for a “government minister”. It could be he has other stuff to worry about. A witness has revealed details of the bizarre incident in which Cameron’s bodyguard left a loaded gun in the bathroom of a plane. The shaken-up passenger who discovered it caused such a commotion he was almost kicked off the flight. “I found a gun in the bathroom ... David Cameron is on the flight,” he shouted out, before pointing to the poor bodyguard.

TIGHT SQUEEZE: Emily Thornberry is now at the desperate stage of her bid for nominations in the Labour leadership contest. Like a candidate on The Apprentice doing the gruesome interview stage, she pointed to her CV and the seven front bench jobs she has held. The shadow foreign secretary also admitted to the BBC that two “monolithic campaigns” (Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey) had led to a “good old fashioned squeeze”. Long-Bailey told The Independent the Heathrow Airport expansion must be ditched and called the Tories’ handling of the COP26 climate summit “a shambles”. Meanwhile deputy leadership candidate Richard Burgon has come up with an idea. The Corbyn loyalist has announced a “peace pledge” – advocating a veto for Labour members on any future British military intervention by a Labour PM (if we ever get another one). What happens if Labour members back a war under the “peace pledge”? Don’t ask me. Ask Burgon.

AN UNLIKELY STORY? Fresh hell in the Bercow bullying allegation saga. Lord Lisvane, the former clerk of the House of Commons who recently passed on a dossier of claims against the ex-speaker, has had a bit more to offer. He said Bercow would not accept the word of a “f***ing clerk” who accused an MP of bullying and harassing her. Bercow responded: “Lord Lisvane’s statement doesn’t accord with my recollection.” Labour’s Diane Abbott got caught up in the mess on Wednesday with a single word in a solitary tweet on the subject. The shadow home secretary said she found the allegation of bullying made by ex-Black Rod David Leakey “unlikely” – pointing out he was a former army officer who had served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. The suggestion military blokes are too tough to be bullied was beyond the pale for some. The head of the civil service union called it a “crass intervention” and “ridiculous”.

BINNED OFF: Labour MP Tracy Brabin is unrepentant over her off-the-shoulder dress that’s caused a stir in Westminster and a small, sad corner of the internet – vowing to wear the item in the Commons again. The former Coronation Street actress shrugged off the dress code puritans as “keyboard warriors sat in their mum’s back bedroom eating Pot Noodles”. Brabin was responding to flak from Twitter trolls, including one who said she looked like she’d “been banged over a wheelie bin”. Speaking of wheelie bins, a former Brexit Party candidate thinks he has a cunning plan to solve homelessness. Wealthy businessman Peter Dawe claimed he has “invented” a “bin pod” for rough-sleepers – by simply sticking two red wheelie bins together. “I was actually quite delighted,” he said of his concept. “It’s totally draught proof, in fact it’s storm proof. It’s really cosy, comfortable and dry.” Get this man a job at No 10.

On the record

“We must all be open minded about the future of the licence fee beyond this point [in 2027].”

Culture secretary Nicky Morgan puts the future of the BBC’s funding model in doubt.

From the Twitterati

“Richard Burgon wants to change Labour's rules so UK amed forces can only be used with the backing of Labour Party members ... How many elections does Labour actually want to lose.”

Commentator Dan Hodges thinks the Burgon plan is an electoral problem...

“This is a brilliant idea. Obviously it will require foreign adversaries to hold their attacks until Labour Party balloting processes have played out, but I’m sure they wouldn’t want to subvert internal Labour Party democracy simply for strategic military advantage.”

...while campaigner Brendan Cox points out another problem.