Inside Politics: Dominic Cummings’ No 10 ‘weirdo’ says goodbye

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Tuesday 18 February 2020 09:05 GMT

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

It must be nice to play around with large amounts of taxpayers’ money. The royal family’s Instagram account has given us a glimpse of the painstaking operation to take apart Queen Victoria’s “fragile” wallpaper “piece by piece” as part of a £369m effort to freshen up stuffy old Buckingham Palace. Boris Johnson is expected to meet his young chancellor Rishi Sunak to the country retreat Chevening House today. Together the pair will conduct a painstaking operation to take apart the fragile budget – piece by piece – in an attempt to freshen up the stuffy old spending plan left behind by Sajid Javid. 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:

Parliament is in recess this week, so it’s time for new ministers to read up on their responsibilities and to work out who Dominic Cummings will let them have as advisers. Recess means no briefing session for journalists by the prime minister’s spokespeople. After yesterday’s stonewall/filibuster of questions about Boris Johnson’s views on No 10 adviser Andrew Sabisky’s views on eugenics, you can see why the government will be glad of that. The main government business for today is the publication of the annual NHS staff survey, which last year found high levels of stress and low morale.

Daily briefing

MISHAPS, MISTAKES, MISFITS: Rishi Sunak is loving life as the new chancellor. Reports suggest he is entirely comfortable with No 10’s desire to raise taxes to pay for a “giveaway” budget. Former chancellor Sajid Javid is not bitter. But he has enacted a tiny form of revenge by liking a tweet that claimed Britain is “overtaxed”. Downing Street’s supreme commander Dominic Cummings has other things to worry about. Andrew Sabisky, the weirdest of “weirdo” new recruits, has resigned. It follows a major backlash over the misfit’s interest in eugenics and the IQ of different races (he suggested black people were mentally inferior). Sabisky said he did not want to become a “distraction” for the government. “If I can’t do the work properly there’s no point and I have a lot of other things to do with my life,” he tweeted. Back to the subreddits he goes. Labour chairman Ian Lavery said Boris Johnson still has “serious questions to answer” about whether he agrees with Sabisky’s “vile” views after a No 10 spokesperson refused to say whether the PM agreed with them or not. Which was pretty weird, to be honest.

SCRAPPY DO VS SCRAPPY DON’T: The twins stars at No 10 are not completely aligned on the future of the BBC licence fee, it seems. According to The Times, Cummings wants to scrap it, while Johnson remains wary of doing so. An ally of the PM told the newspaper. “With Dom it’s ideological ... With the PM it’s more reform than revolution.” Tory minister John Whittingdale has expressed concerns about the practicalities of ditching present funding arrangements. In an interview given before the reshuffle he said it would mean the end of Freeview. “Politically that would be utterly impossible.” The PM is also under pressure over his handling of the flooding crisis. Labour said Johnson’s decision not to visit flood-hit areas was a “disgrace” after the environment secretary George Eustice struggled to explain to Sky News’ Kay Burley why the PM was staying “in his bunker” rather than getting out there to reassure victims. “I don’t manage the prime minister’s diary,” a grumpy Eustice huffed.

FROSTY TURNS ICE COLD: Sounding like a football manager who has taken on a tough job with a fallen giant, Johnson’s Brexit negotiator David Frost has shared his thoughts on “the project”. The man the No 10 dressing room calls “Frosty” suggested the UK could walk away from trade deal talks if the EU insists on setting “level playing field” rules. Britain’s ability to “set laws that suit us … is the point of the whole project,” Frost said at public lecture in Brussels. “We only want what other independent countries have.” With a no-deal crash-out looking more and more likely, the government is preparing for “the project” to cause economic disruption at the end of the transition period. Transport secretary Grant Shapps revealed £60m plans for a moveable concrete barrier on the M20 motorway in Kent to prevent traffic jams sparked by cross-Channel chaos. The Lib Dems’ Munira Wilson said: “Kent deserves better than being turned into a car park because of Boris Johnson’s reckless unwillingness to take no-deal off the table.”

ROYAL TWEE: The Labour leadership candidates continue to generate headlines about things that really matter: like the future of the royals. Lisa Nandy said she would vote to scrap the monarchy if there was a referendum on it – even though she would “quite like to see Queen Meghan at some point”. Appearing together on a Channel 4 debate, the candidates were asked to choose their favourite Labour leader of the past 50 years. Rebecca Long-Bailey said Clement Attlee. Keir Starmer said Harold Wilson. Nandy? “I’m hoping we are about to elect her,” she smiled, before saying Barbara Castle was “the best Labour PM we never had”. Speaking of Labour PMs we never had, it has emerged Long-Bailey would like Jeremy Corbyn to be part of her shadow cabinet if she wins. “It’s up to him,” she told a group of supporters. “I love him so.” Becky is very much her own person, remember, but she loves him so.

FEELS LIKE WE ONLY GO BACKWARDS: If you were somehow under the impression parliament remains a haven of enlightened attitudes and behaviour, think again. A majority of black, Asian and minority ethnic MPs have said they have experienced racism or racial profiling on the Commons estate, a survey by ITV News has found. Some 62 per cent said they had experienced racism there, while 51 per cent said they had suffered it from fellow MPs. New Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare said a Tory MP asked her to “look after” his bag. Labour MP Tulip Siddiq revealed one elected member said they were was surprised she was having a girl, since the unnamed individual believed Asian people were more likely to abort baby girls.

On the record

“These are really not acceptable headlines for any government to be generating.”

Nicola Sturgeon in No 10’s refusal to condemn eugenics’ fan Andrew Sabisky.

From the Twitterati

“Nandy says Corbyn was a problem because he “wasn’t for people” & nobody thought he’d “stand up for people”. Labour members might bristle to hear that but it is (obviously!) what voters felt.”

The Huff Post’s Rachel Wearmouth predicts Nandy’s debate remark will cause anger among Corbyn supporters...

“I cannot believe what I have heard come out of Lisa Nandy’s mouth. She just said of Jeremy Corbyn, “He just wasn’t FOR people & he wouldn't stand up for people”. She’s unbelievable.”

...as Corbyn supporter Clare Curran gets angry.