Inside Politics: Boris Johnson faces grilling over economic recovery plan

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A Bristol pub named after slave trader Edward Colston has temporarily changed its title to “Ye Olde Pubby Mcdrunkface”. The boozer formerly known as The Colston Arms wants the public to help come up with a permanent rebrand. Boris Johnson is not a big fan of revising history. But he does appear to be fond of sprucing up ye olde spending commitments and calling them new. The prime minister has been accused of rebranding existing infrastructure plans as part of a coronavirus response – something he’s sure to face a grilling on at PMQs today. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our political correspondent Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

As Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer will lock horns at PMQs, an increasingly acrimonious battle over recent weeks. The Labour leader might choose to fight on the new battleground of the economy, and also raise the Leicester lockdown. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab will make a statement on the controversial security law China has imposed in Hong Kong. Witnesses at the select committees probing the government’s response to the crisis include Jonathan Van-Tam, the plain-speaking deputy chief medical officer.

Daily briefing

THE V SIGN: There wasn’t a hugely enthusiastic response to Boris Johnson’s £5bn “new deal” promises to build new homes and infrastructure. Labour leader Keir Starmer said there was “not much of a deal and not much that’s new”. When it was pointed out to the PM much of the plan was in the Tory manifesto, Johnson claimed commitments would now be speeded up and “intensified”. The PM also talked about an “opportunity guarantee” for young people – but couldn’t put a number on how many apprenticeships would be created. There was some more reassuring news from elsewhere, however. Andy Haldane, the chief economist at the Bank of England, said the green shoots of the UK’s recovery had come “sooner and faster” than expected – pointing to signs of a “V-shaped” bounce back. “It is early days, but my reading of the evidence is so far, so V.”

WHATEVER NEXT: Are more cities set to follow Leicester into lockdown? Dr Bharat Pankhania from the University of Exeter Medical School said further local restrictions were inevitable. “Going forward … we will have outbreaks in Manchester, Birmingham, other big cities.” New Public Health England data shows 36 local authorities in England have seen an increase in coronavirus cases over the past fortnight. Will the government act quickly enough to “whack” the next mole (to borrow the metaphor Johnson keeps using)? The British Medical Association said the government must get testing data to local officials sooner, while Leicester’s mayor Sir Peter Soulsby complained the process had been far too slow. Sir Peter, incidentally, has apologised for “an error of judgement” after he was found to have broken lockdown by spending several nights at his girlfriend’s home in April and May.

HAD ENOUGH OF EXPERTS? Theresa May – clearly in no mood for messing about in the Commons – attacked Boris Johnson’s decision to hand Sir Mark Sedwill’s national security advisor role to David Frost. Grilling Michael Gove on how it squared with his own remarks on the need to “promote people with proven expertise”, she asked: “Why is the new national security adviser a political appointee with no proven expertise in national security?” Gove claimed Frost was a “distinguished diplomat in his own right” – only for May to shake her head fairly vigorously. It followed some lurid-but-believable claims about “humiliating and bullying” phone conversations between Donald Trump and May. A CNN report by Carl Bernstein claimed May became “flustered and nervous” by Trump’s consistently “intimidating” behaviour. Sources close to the ex-PM said the idea she had been “flustered” were “utter nonsense”.

ARE YOU GONNA GO HUAWEI: Ministers have suggested that new US sanctions imposed on Chinese tech giant Huawei could force the government to rethink the company’s role within the UK’s 5G network. The sanctions prevent Huawei – and third parties making its semiconductor chips – from using US tech on any of its products. “It is likely to have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a provider for the 5G network,” said culture secretary Oliver Dowden. A sign of a U-turn, perhaps? Dowden said he wanted to see the playing field become more diverse, adding that it’s the government’s ambition to remove Huawei from the network “over time”. Defence secretary Ben Wallace, present at the same committee hearing, denied suggestions the US was “bullying” the UK into changing its stance on Huawei.

OUT OF CONTROL: Dr Anthony Fauci said he was “very concerned” that US coronavirus cases could grow to 100,000 a day. Speaking at Senate hearing, the country’s leading infectious disease expert predicted a “very disturbing” rise from the current level of 40,000 a day. “Clearly we are not in control right now.” Joe Biden accused Donald Trump of “waving the white flag” on the spread of the disease as the US death toll surpassed 125,000. Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign cancelled plans for a rally in Alabama next week after local officials expressed concerns about a mass gathering. It came as New York governor Andrew Cuomo doubled the number of states whose citizens are required to self-quarantine if they visit from eight to 16.

BACK DOWN UNDER LOCKDOWN: Australian authorities are putting more than 300,000 people in the suburbs in and around Melbourne back into lockdown for a month following two weeks of double-digit rises in new coronavirus cases. The state of Victoria recorded 73 fresh cases on Tuesday after an increase of 75 cases on Monday. So from midnight tonight, 36 suburbs in Australia’s second-biggest city will return to stage three restrictions – meaning residents will be confined to home except for grocery shopping, health appointments, work or caregiving, and exercise. “Ultimately if I didn’t shut down those postcodes I’d be shutting down all postcodes. We want to avoid that,” said state leader Daniel Andrews.

On the record

“Ed Davey is a proven winner and he understands what we need to do to win right across the country, including in Conservative facing areas like mine.”

Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron backs Ed Davey in the leadership contest.

From the Twitterati

“Absolutely blistering intervention from Theresa May over the appointment of the National Security Advisor. Gove floundering. Remarkable.”

Labour MP Wes Streeting is impressed by May’s remarks…

“Oh, now you like Theresa May!? Name three of her albums.”

…but The Huff Post’s Graeme Demianyk finds all the love for May a bit much.

Essential reading

Ben Chu, The Independent: Boris Johnson’s new deal sounds depressingly like the old deal

Ahmed Aboudouh, The Independent: The UK’s willing to stay in Trump’s shadow – the Russia bounty allegations show it

Marina Hyde, The Guardian: Stand aside everyone, the Tory cowboy builders are back on the job

Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic: Trump is boring now, and he can’t do anything about it

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