Inside Politics: Johnson won’t block new oil field and Sharma’s globetrotting

PM says ‘we can’t just tear up contracts’ and Sharma, COP26 president, travelled to red list countries without quarantining on arrival home, writes Matt Mathers

Friday 06 August 2021 09:41 BST

(PA)

Footballer Jack Grealish further endeared himself to the nation during the Euros. And now the England international and fans’ favourite is swapping the Midlands for the northwest, following a big money move to Pep Guardiola’s swashbuckling Manchester City. A few northern Tory MPs might be considering putting in a transfer request after their boss’s latest comments praising Thatcher’s coal mine closures. Elsewhere, the PM hinted he won’t stop a new North Sea oil field and COP26 president Alok Sharma is said to have flown to 30 countries this year.

Inside the bubble

Parliament is in recess.

Coming up shortly:

-Shadow justice secretary David Lammy on Sky News at 8.05am

-Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford on LBC radio at 8.50am

Daily Briefing

BO NO: At the end of another chaotic week for the government, which included two U-turns on Covid rules and suggestions that Johnson’s COP26 plans are in “deep trouble”, the PM has sparked outrage by suggesting that Margaret Thatcher’s closure of coal mines gave the UK an advantage over other countries in helping to reduce emissions. “We’ve transitioned away from coal in my lifetime,” he said. “Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we’re now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.” This was no gaffe. That the remarks came in Scotland underlines they were a deliberate attempt to wind people up and generate headlines, which the PM subsequently confirmed himself. “The prime minister laughed and added: ‘I thought that would get you going,’” according to this morning’s Times.

‘SHAMEFUL’:The backlash from Labour was swift and sharp. “Boris Johnson’s shameful praising of Margaret Thatcher’s closure of the coal mines, brushing off the devastating impact on those communities with a laugh, shows just how out of touch he is with working people,” Labour leader Keir Starmer said. But it wasn’t just the opposition riled up by the comments. A number of Tories in ‘red wall’ seats, where many voters “lent” their votes to the Conservatives, were bemused. “It’s not really the smartest thing to say is it?” one MP in a former mining area said.

CAM GO AHEAD: As a former journalist, the PM’s talents at generating headlines are well documented. And his Thatcher remarks came on a day when he dropped a big hint that he will do nothing to stop a new North Sea oil field. Ministers are expected to green light the Cambo site, off the coast of the Shetland Islands, in what is being described as a national embarrassment ahead of the UN climate talks later this year, where Johnson will attempt to tell world leaders that he’s serious about tackling climate change. Speaking on a visit to a windfarm in the northeast, the PM said “we can’t just tear up contracts” when asked if he would oppose the Cambo site. Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP has been accused of fence sitting on the issue. Labour earlier this week said the plans should not go ahead.

NOT ALOK DOWN: Some top reporting by the Daily Mail today, which reveals that Alok Sharma, the climate minister and COP26 president, has flown to 30 countries this year – including six on the government’s Covid red list – without isolating on his return. A government spokesperson told the paper Sharma had hosted many video calls but that it was important that he met world leaders in person ahead of the climate summit. “Sustainability will be at the core of Cop26,”the spokesperson said.“The UK will be offsetting all carbon emissions associated with running the event and working closely with sustainability experts to make this happen.” While accepting that it’s necessary for ministers to travel and to meet their counterparts in person, critics said Sharma’s flying was excessive. That he travelled to a number of banned countries without self-isolating on his return is likely to infuriate voters, who have made tremendous sacrifices over the past year and a bit for the greater good. “As usual with this government, it’s one rule for them and another for everybody else,” Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney said.

JABS DRIVE: Tens of thousands of children are living with long Covid, new figures show, amid concerns that the vaccination of teenagers is coming too late to stop the spread of the virus in schools from September. Warnings have also been raised over the continuing refusal to vaccinate all 12- to 15-year-olds. Experts are fearful that children will be left vulnerable to infection and long-lasting symptoms upon their return to school next month, unless the rollout is expanded to this age group. In other Covid-related updates, influencers and bus adverts will be used in an attempt to increase uptake among the young, with the campaign plans splashing today’siandTimes, which says the government is framing the effort as “get jabbed or miss the fun”.

On the record

“This was a contract that was signed in ... 2001 and we can’t just tear up contracts. There’s a process to be gone through.”

Johnson when asked if he would stop the Cambo Oil field.

From the Twitterati

“It’s not a ‘clanger’ or a ‘mistake’, people like Boris Johnson really do find it hilarious that huge swathes of the country were crippled for generations by the closure of coal mines. And they laughed themselves stupid when Corbyn gift-wrapped the so-called ‘red wall’ for them.”