Inside Politics: Boris Johnson mulls moving parliament to York on temporary basis

Sign up here to receive this daily briefing in your email inbox every morning

Thursday 16 July 2020 08:02 BST

Boris Johnson says Keir Starmer has had 'more briefs than Calvin Klein'

Fans of the ferocious political inquisitor Andrew Neil want answers. They’re demanding to know why the BBC scrapped the interviewer’s show – leaving it that little bit easier for politicians to avoid scrutiny. Boris Johnson, someone who has been known to hide in fridges to avoid scrutiny, has promised there will be an independent inquiry into the coronavirus crisis. But expect to see Neil back on your screens before the Covid probe actually starts. The PM remains elusive on the details. In another vaguely-mooted development, Johnson is considering moving parliament up to York on a temporary basis.

Inside the bubble

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone on what to look out for today:

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove is first up in the Commons this morning, and faces questions about trade talks with the EU and the government’s post-Brexit plans to manage trade between different parts of the UK. Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, will be grilled by MPs on the science and technology committee. He may well be asked about the recent report he commissioned warning of the potential for up to 120,000 deaths during a second wave of coronavirus.

Daily briefing

HOUSE OF YORK: Boris Johnson has, for the first time, committed to an independent inquiry into the UK’s response to the coronavirus. The PM told the Commons would “certainly” happen – but it wouldn’t be right to start “in the middle” of the pandemic. The Lib Dems’ Layla Moran was among the MPs warning the PM not to “kick this into long grass”. Will it have happened by 2025? It seems Johnson has his mind on the Palace of Westminster’s renovations due in five years’ time – and is considering moving parliament up to York on a temporary basis. He said it would “make sense to consider this as a potential location”. The best news of the morning comes from Oxford. The University of Oxford’s phase 1 human trials have shown the vaccine does generates an immune response, according to The Telegraph. But experts have urged caution, pointing out there no evidence yet of long-lasting immunity.

LOSING THE PLOT: A dramatic twist in the Russia report story. Chris “failing” Grayling somehow managed to fail to become chair of the intelligence and security committee – despite No 10 pushing him forward for the role. Tory MP Julian Lewis was appointed after opposition MPs, worried about how close Grayling would be to Downing Street, decided they would all back the same rival candidate. In a further dramatic plot twist, Lewis has now been stripped of the Tory whip for conspiring with Labour. The maverick Lewis is now in charge of the release of the report into alleged Russian meddling. Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy is amazed No 10 had been “arrogant” enough to try to install its own man. “What is in the Russia report that Johnson doesn’t want to see the light of day?”

BLAIR SCARE: British and EU negotiators meet again in Brussels today in search of an elusive trade deal breakthrough. But it is already too late to strike an agreement, according to a report commissioned by Tony Blair. The former PM’s institute said the government must now delay the completion of Brexit by 12 months to avoid “a disastrous no deal”. Meanwhile, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo will travel to the UK for talks on a transatlantic trade deal next week. The big Huawei decision may come up too. Matt Hancock was forced to deny US pressure was behind the 5G after Donald Trump took credit for it. “We all know Donald Trump, don’t we?” said the health secretary.

IS THAT ALL THERE IS? Rishi Sunak said the three million people excluded from financial support – freelancers, recently self-employed and company directors – wouldn’t be getting help beyond what’s already available. “We have to look forward. There wouldn’t now be the opportunity to have new schemes,” the chancellor told MPs on the Treasury committee. He couldn’t be drawn on tax rises, saying only he may take book-balancing action in the “medium term”. What about the only other politician who has seen his popularity rise in recent months? Keir Starmer would “probably” become PM if an election were held tomorrow, says polling guru Peter Kellner. The former YouGov president has forecast a swing of 70 seats to Labour. Such a result would leave the Tories on 295 seats and Labour on 272, and quite possibly put Starmer into No 10.

BIT(COIN) OF A SHAME: Joe Biden and Barack Obama are among the high-profile US figures hacked in a Bitcoin scam on Twitter. Elon Musk and Bill Gates were also targeted, with hackers using their accounts to request payments in return for “double” payments. “We all feel terrible this happened,” said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Biden will be happier about opening up a 15-point poll lead on Donald Trump. Elsewhere, America’s top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has lashed out at recent efforts by Trump administration officials to discredit him – calling it “bizarre”. Dr Fauci said: “Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that.”

PREPARING FOR THE PEAK: There’s growing concern in Australia’s coronavirus hot spot of Victoria. The state has moved to increase available hospital beds after reporting a record daily high of 317 infections in the Melbourne area, currently under a six-week lockdown. “We may still not have hit our peak,” said the state’s top health official. Elsewhere in the world, the governor of Japanese capital Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, has said she expects more than 280 cases to be reported on Thursday – a new daily record for the city struggling with its own second wave. China, meanwhile, will start to reopen cinemas in low-risk parts of the country as early as 20 July.

On the record

“Standing up every week saying it’s a stunning success is kidding no-one.”

Keir Starmer attacks Boris Johnson’s defence of Test and Trace.

From the Twitterati

“In perhaps the pinnacle of his career, Chris Grayling has failed to be elected chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, a job he was specifically parachuted into.”

The Mirror’s Mikey Smith gives Grayling a round of applause…

“On his long list of failures, he must surely be at the summit now, or are there more?”

…while Labour’s Angela Rayner wonders what lies ahead for him.