Inside Politics: Boris Johnson’s bill moves forward, as Barry Gardiner steps back

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The most brutal part of this whole Megxit mess? The ruthless speed at which Madam Tussauds got rid of their Meghan and Harry figures. Now Boris Johnson knows what’s in store for his own replica if he ever decides to muck the Queen about and ditch Britain for North America. Johnson is counting on the waxwork dummies in the House of Lords not to muck up his Brexit bill after it finally cleared the Commons. The Labour leadership mannequins, meanwhile, are running out of time to catch attention in the showroom window. Two of them still don’t have the endorsements they need before nominations close on Monday. 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 in SW1 today:

No business in parliament today – we have to wait until Monday for the House of Lords to begin scrutinising the Withdrawal Agreement Bill after it cleared its third reading in the House of Commons with a comfortable majority of 99. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab will be returning from Canada after meeting with his Canadian counterpart Francois-Philippe Champagne on Iran. And Labour leadership and deputy leadership hopefuls yet to receive enough endorsements will be desperate calling colleagues to win the 22 nominations needed to meet Monday’s deadline.

Daily briefing

A SERIOUS MAN: January was supposed to be the month Boris Johnson gorged on glory, with his Brexit bill getting oven-cooked and seasoned in parliament. But the not-over-yet Iran crisis has all his attention at the moment. The prime minister has concurred with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau that evidence suggests an Iranian missile downed the Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran. Johnson said there was a “body of information” indicating it was shot down, but added that it “may well have been unintentional” (Iran has denied the idea as “propaganda”). The PM also called for investigation and confirmed four Britons had died in the disaster. On Friday morning the Foreign Office updated its travel advice, warning against all travel to Iran. With a whole series of disputes and tensions now in play, it looks as though that advice will hold for quite a while yet.

FAB FOUR: Keir Starmer now has some company in the next round of the Labour leadership bun fight. Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips have all secured the minimum of 22 endorsements from fellow MPs. It looks like Emily Thornberry (lagging behind with only nine backers) and Clive Lewis (with only four) are in danger of being kicked to the curb. Thornberry actually picked up a bit of steam yesterday after she mischievously suggested Jeremy Corbyn deserved a “zero of 10” for his election performance. A zero? That’s lower than poor Phil Jones gets when he’s picked for Manchester United. Phillips, meanwhile, mischievously suggested people should support her just to “annoy the trolls”. She shared a campaign poster on Twitter with one of her haters’ hashtags: “Gobs****fishwife”.

UP THE GARDINER PATH: Oh Barry. Barry, Barry, Barry (*shakes head*). I’m afraid to inform you the shadow trade minister Barry Strachan Gardiner won’t be running for the Labour leadership after all. Having teased us all so delightfully, the notorious B.S.G. confirmed last night that he hadn’t been able get enough support – after a furious round of calls to MPs from Abu Dhabi – to join the contest. He tried though; he really tried. Speaking live from the Persian Gulf on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show, he claimed he could win a general election, and pleaded for the Unite boss Len McClusky’s backing. “Len, if you’re watching … I’d love to talk.” Earlier Labour MPs Louise Haigh and Tonia Antoniazzi burst out laughing on Sky News when asked about Gardiner’s late intervention in the contest. After she stopped giggling, Haigh called it “surreal”. Antoniazzi said: “You have to be in it to win it. So come on Barr – get in.” But sadly Barr won’t be getting in. He will remain out in the cold of the Abu Dhabi sunshine.

WE CAN WORK IT OUT: Good news from Belfast for fans of functioning government. The British and Irish governments have published a draft deal aimed at restoring power-sharing arrangements at Stormont. The blockbuster agreement even has its own title: “New Decade, New Approach.” Why couldn’t the Brexit deal have a good, vaguely Star Wars-esque title like that? Anyway, we have to wait and see if the various parties sign up today, but after a three-year absence they seem keen to get back to work. Meanwhile, the government has been accused of being overly “generous” with holidays after Jacob Rees-Mogg unveiled a recess timetable showing MPs will get an extra 20 days off from work in the Commons this year. Lucky blighters.

SLURRING HIS WORDS: It’s not often Rees-Mogg is one of the good guys. The Commons leader has called on Lord Maginnis to apologise for using a “disgraceful” homophobic term about gay SNP MP Hannah Bardell. But it looks like it’s too late for apologies. Bardell said she would be reporting the Northern Irish peer to the police after he used the term “queer” in reference to her in an interview with The Huffington Post. The website released the audio after the unionist peer initially made a rather half-hearted denial. Attempting to explain himself – and the whole messy row with Bardell over his alleged bullying of security staff – Lord Maginnis didn’t exactly help himself by talking dismissively about the “LGBT brigade”. Anyway, the Met’s parliamentary liaison team are now looking into the alleged hate crime.

On the record

“I am now clear that at this late stage I cannot secure sufficient nominations to proceed to the next round.”

Barry Gardiner brings his whirlwind 24-hour bid to an end.

From the Twitterati

“Genuinely no part of the Labour leadership race will entertain me as much as the 24 hours that contained all of Barry Gardiner’s leadership bid, from start to finish. RIP.”

The Manchester Evening News’ Jennifer Williams enjoyed all of Barry’s efforts...

“We all love Barry Gardiner ... But he’s not the leader the left of the party are looking for.”

...while Labour blogger Ed Poole thinks the dream was doomed from the start.

Essential reading

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Boris Johnson’s real battle with the EU is only just beginning

James A Smith, The Independent: Keir Starmer is a bad choice for Labour – it’s just too easy for Boris Johnson to destroy his reputation

Katy Balls, The Spectator: The Labour candidates the Tories are worried about

David Edgerton, The New York Times: Boris Johnson might break up the UK. That’s a good thing

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