Inside Politics: War crime

Boris Johnson’s controversial plan to override parts of Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol clears first Commons hurdle as he takes part in last day of G7 summit in aftermath of brutal Russian bombing of Ukraine shopping centre, writes Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson travels to Spain later for a Nato summit (PA Wire)

Boris Johnson takes part in the final day of the G7 summit before going to Madrid for a Nato gathering, in the aftermath of a brutal Russian attack on a shopping centre in Ukraine. Elsewhere, the government’s controversial bill to override parts of the Brexit deal passed its first Commons hurdle.

Inside the bubble

Chief politics commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for:

Boris Johnson flies to Madrid today for the third of back-to-back summits – Nato this time. Rishi Sunak will take Treasury questions in the Commons from 11.30am. Liz Truss, foreign secretary and rival leadership candidate, is in front of her select committee at 11am. Ben Wallace, defence secretary and another undeclared leadership candidate, will deliver a speech to the Royal United Services Institute. At 2.20pm Nicola Sturgeon will announce her plan for a second “pretendy referendum” in a statement in the Scottish parliament.

Daily Briefing

Leadership games

The government’s controversial plan to override parts of Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol cleared its first Commons hurdle last night, with MPs voting 295 to 221 in favour of the draft legislation, which critics say breaks international law.

What happens now? The bill has been granted a second reading, meaning it will undergo further scrutiny in the weeks ahead. The plan is likely to pass through the Commons but faces stiff opposition in the House of Lords – and there are fears that it could take until next year to get through parliament.

In a debate before the ballot, Theresa May questioned Boris Johnson’s patriotism as she declared that she would not support the bill, which she said would “diminish this country in the eyes of the world”.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, insisted that the plan would not break international law and that it was the only option remaining for the government as she accused the EU of refusing to change its negotiating mandate. Earlier in the day Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said his party would “consider what steps we can take” if the bill makes it through parliament intact.

Despite claims that the bill is illegal, no Tory MPs voted against it – but the list of those Tory MPs who either abstained or had no vote recorded is quite a long one – 72 – and includes cabinet ministers such as Priti Patel, the home secretary, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, Steve Barclay, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and Ben Wallace, the defence secretary.

So, why then, were there no votes against a bill which many Tory MPs are on the record as opposing? According to Robert Preston, ITV News’s impeccably sourced politics editor, the protocol bill is, in part, just the latest front in Tory leadership games. “Informed Conservative sources” tell Peston there was little opposition to the bill because of a combination of “dangled political honours” and MPs wanting to look “Eurosceptic enough” to secure a job in a “future leader’s cabinet”.

Are we any closer to seeing that future leader? After several false dawns including police fines, Sue Gray’s Partygate report, a confidence vote and two byelection defeats, Tory rebels are now preparing for a “lightning strike” to remove the PM if a powerful Commons committee finds he lied to parliament about Covid law-breaking at the heart of government during lockdown.

“How deep in the gutter are we willing to dive?” one ex-minister tells us. “How degraded are we willing to allow the Conservative Party to become?”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to rip up the Northern Ireland Brexit deal has cleared its first Commons hurdle (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

War crime

Johnson takes part in the final day of the G7 summit before heading to a Nato gathering in Madrid later, where he will no doubt once again join other western leaders in condemning Vladimir Putin’s barbaric attack on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk, which has killed at least 16 people and been denounced as a war crime.

As he travels there, he has been told by the new head of the army that Britain is facing a new “1937 moment” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and must be prepared to “fight and win” to prevent the spread of war in Europe.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, the chief of the general staff, is expected to tell the annual army conference on Tuesday he will focus on mobilising the army to prevent the spread of war in Europe by being “ready to fight and win alongside our Nato allies and partners”.

Elsewhere, defence secretary Wallace is set to issue a call for a significant hike in government spending on the UK’s armed forces in the face of Russian aggression.

The senior cabinet minister has reportedly asked Johnson to increase the country’s military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP – an additional 20 per cent a year. In a letter, Mr Wallace urged him to call on fellow Nato leaders to raise their own spending from the current minimum target of 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent of national income.

On the record

“I have to say to the government, this bill is not in my view legal in international law, it will not achieve its aims, and it will diminish the standing of the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world, and I cannot support it.”

Former PM Theresa May on Brexit protocol bill.

From the Twitterati

“Why Tory MPs are talking up @grantshapps as next Tory leader:

-unites party with attacks on Labour over strikes

-Tory chairman when party won 2015 elxn

-won his seat from Labour

-one of best media performers”.

i chief politics commentator Paul Waugh hears Tory MPs are talking up the transport secretary as next leader.

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