Inside Politics: Boris Johnson adopts ‘mad man’ strategy with EU

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Tuesday 04 February 2020 08:47 GMT

Boris Johnson Says UK Wants A Free Trade Agreement 'Similar To Canada's'

There’s nothing like breathing new life into an old classic. Everyone’s excited about the new trailer for Top Gun: Maverick showing Tom Cruise revving up the afterburners and feeling the need for speed once again. Boris “Maverick” Johnson has revived his own over-the-top macho rivalry with Michel “Iceman” Barnier – attempting to outdo the EU negotiator in an early bout of trade deal posturing. But the prime minister’s ego is writing cheques his country can’t cash. And his renewed threat to walk away and force a no-deal exit might just see the UK tail spinning and nose diving over the cliff edge at the end of 2020. 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:

The main non-event today is the cabinet not meeting this morning, because the prime minister has decided it should be moved to Thursdays. Each PM since Gordon Brown has switched from the day favoured by their predecessor. This latest change has prompted speculation a ministerial reshuffle might start today. Instead of chairing cabinet, though, Boris Johnson will be pre-launching, with Sir David Attenborough, the big UN climate change conference to be held in Glasgow in November, designating 2020 as “the year of climate action” in the UK.

Daily briefing

MAN OF ZEAL: Boris Johnson believes Britain is ready to throw off our “Clark Kent spectacles” and be a free trade “superhero”. But in Johnson’s fantasyland, superheroes don’t do compromises. Setting out his desire for a free trade deal like one forged by the EU and Canada, he also set out his refusal to adopt “Brussels-made” rules – and his willingness to walk away if necessary. One senior ally told The Sun this new no-deal threat was the “mad man” strategy. More Lex Luthor than Superman, then. Michel Barnier is proving to be Johnson’s Kryptonite. The EU’s chief negotiator said the UK would have to abide by certain standards to ensure a “level playing field”. The prime minister, meanwhile, insisted he doesn’t want to use the b-word (Brexit) anymore. “It’s not banned. It’s just over.” And he shrugged off concerns about US food safety standards ahead of a potential transatlantic deal with an apparent joke about obesity. “I look at the Americans, they look pretty well-nourished to me.”

PARANOID ANDROIDS: The latest twist in No 10’s ongoing quest for omnipotence saw several major media outlets told they could not attend a Downing Street briefing for the “inner lobby” lobby (there is no such thing as the “inner lobby”). Asked to explain why some publications – including The Independent – were being asked to leave, communications director Lee Cain said they could brief “whoever we want whenever we want”. The whole press pack – including the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg and ITV’s Robert Peston – then said they were walking out in protest. Cain stormed off in an apparent huff. Labour MP David Lammy said the incident was “straight out of the Trump playbook”, while Michelle Stanistreet, head of the National Union of Journalists, said No 10 “must stop this paranoia and engage with all the press, not just their favourites”.

DELAY DISASTER: From his No 10 bunker, Dominic Cummings is aiming to transform Whitehall through the power of technology and his own intellectual genius. But the government is still struggling to implement universal credit – 10 years on from its initial introduction by the intellectual genius Iain Duncan Smith. The full roll-out of universal credit is to be delayed yet again – pushed back to September 2024 at the cost of another £500m. According to the BBC, DWP officials claim too many people remain “scared” to move onto universal credit because of the five-week delay in receiving money. Margaret Greenwood, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, said it was “hugely embarrassing” for the Tory government. An exasperated Neil Couling, the civil servant in charge of the never-ending roll-out, was filmed telling staff: “Three, six or nine months, it doesn’t matter. The headline will be ‘Delay disaster’”. Thanks Neil – good headline.

SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE: Does the PM get the scale of the climate emergency? Not according to former Tory energy minister Claire Perry O’Neill. She’s mad as hell about beings stripped of her role organising the big COP26 climate conference in Glasgow this November – and is threatening to sue over the dismissal. One source close to O’Neill told the BBC: “Boris doesn’t really know anything about climate change ... hasn’t got a clue.” The PM will ignore the row and announce today that the last date anyone can buy a new petrol, diesel or hybrid car will be brought forward by five years to 2035. He’ll be hoping the appearance of national treasure Sir David Attenborough at a COP26 launch event today will smooth over any cynicism about government inaction on climate change. Michael Gove is said to be keen to oversee the Glasgow conference. What’s the opposite of a national treasure?

PANIC STATIONS: This government doesn’t mind a good legal battle, even when they end up in the Supreme Court. There’s another one brewing after justice secretary Robert Buckland told MPs about plans for emergency legislation to end the automatic release of terror offenders and ensure they’re only considered for release after serving two-thirds of their sentence (and meet the approval of the Parole Board). Lord Carlile, a crossbench peer and QC, said applying the change retrospectively to current offenders was “certainly going to be challenged”, while Geoffrey Robertson QC described it as “panic legislation”. But No 10 actually hopes to go further. Offenders could be jailed indefinitely under plans being considered as part of a government review. “I’m sure there are people who would view this as controversial,” a Downing Street source told The Independent. No doubt.

On the record

“When I hear prophecies of doom I’ve heard them before, I don’t believe in them.”

Boris Johnson rejects the naysayers over the prospects for UK-EU trade deal.

From the Twitterati

“For four years under Tony Blair’s government I worked for the Daily Mail. His No 10 absolutely hated us – you might say justifiably – and yet we were never banned from any briefing involving civil servants under his government, ever.”

Journo Jane Merrick puts the attempted briefing ban in a bit of perspective...

“These are the tactics of Donald Trump. I would urge Tory MPs and members of the Cabinet to call this behaviour out for what it is: divisive and undemocratic.”

...while Labour’s Keir Starmer hopes for condemnation from the Tories.