Inside Politics: Boris Johnson urged to come clean on Australia deal

MPs are demanding the chance to scrutinise the agreement – as small print revealed by Canberra shows some protections for farmers have been dropped, writes Adam Forrest

Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson (PA)

Due diligence: dull, but necessary. Former BBC chiefs are well aware they could have spared the corporation decades of grief with proper checks on Martin Bashir. Lord Hall conceded that Beeb bosses failed to scrutinise his spin properly – admitting that he should have been sacked after the Diana interview. Britain’s farmers, food bodies and opposition MPs are keen to properly scrutinise the spin around Boris Johnson’s free trade deal with Australia. They fear decades of grief lie ahead if they don’t check the fine print of the agreement now.

Inside the bubble

Political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Busy day ahead. A double dose of Boris Johnson versus Keir Starmer, with PMQs at noon followed by a Johnson statement on the G7 and Nato. Brexit minister David Frost will be quizzed by a select committee on the protocol at 9.30am. And the Commons will vote later on extending Covid restrictions for another four weeks.

Daily briefing

SQUINT AT THE FINE PRINT: Trade secretary Liz Truss has dismissed all the negativity about cheap imports because of the deal with Australia. “We need to be positive about what we’ve got to sell rather than being defensive,” said Truss. But farmers aren’t buying it. The small print – revealed by the Australian government – shows that a meaningful cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years has been dropped. Instead, Australian farmers will effectively be handed tariff-free access from day one. The “cap” on beef imports is 60 times the current level of sales. With lamb, it’s around three times last year’s sales. National Farmers’ Union demanded ministers come clean on exactly what has been agreed. “We need to know more.” MPs from all major parties demanded a chance to properly scrutinise the deal, while Labour said it would “send thousands of farmers to the wall”. The European Centre for International Political Economy predicted the deal might not even deliver the 0.02 per cent GDP boost promised by the government – and that the true impact could be closer to zero.

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF? MPs will vote today on extending the Covid laws needed to push the England’s reopening on for another four weeks. The government will have to rely on Labour support, with a big Tory rebellion expected. Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group, said we could have “moved ahead perfectly safely” without the delay. Could it be they don’t trust their leader? Harper said Boris Johnson’s comments about 19 July were “exactly the same words as he was using about 21 June”. The government insists it will definitely, probably, maybe stick to the 19 July date. Michael Gove pledged it would only be delayed again if something “unprecedented and remarkable” happened. It’s not like anything unprecedented and remarkable has happened in last 18 months, is it? It comes as the government moves to make Covid jabs mandatory for staff in care homes in England. Care staff are expected to be given 16 weeks to get the vaccine, according to reports – but sector bodies have warned some workers could quit rather than get the jab.

CULTURE (WAR) VULTURES: Enjoying the culture wars? BBC Newsnight’s political editor Nicholas Watt was given an uncomfortable ride on the frontline – harassed and abused by anti-lockdown demonstrators near Downing Street. Boris Johnson condemned the incident as “disgraceful” after footage showed Watt having to run through the crowd to chants of “scum”. The Metropolitan Police later said several “possible offences” were identified and a suspect in his fifties was being interviewed last night. It comes as Johnson’s former race adviser warned of another Stephen Lawrence or Jo Cox tragedy if ministers keep on stoking the culture wars. “There are some people in the government who feel like the right way to win is to pick a fight on the culture war and to exploit division,” Samuel Kasumu told The Guardian. But Jacob Rees-Mogg can’t help himself. This anti-woke stuff is too much fun. He said fans booing England players were reacting to the “underlying political message” of Black Lives Matter – which he insisted was a sinister cause “not sympathetic to the United Kingdom”.

SEE NO EVEL: The government is considering a plan to give Scottish MPs the right to vote down English legislation again – a move aimed at boosting support for the union. Michael Gove is bringing forward proposals to scrap the English Votes for English Laws (Evel) procedures brought in after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, according to The Times. A Whitehall official said: “Abolishing Evel would reaffirm the fundamental constitutional principle that we are one United Kingdom.” Will the SNP care? Nicola Sturgeon has her hands full at the moment. The first minister said the next step in easing Scotland’s Covid curbs – which had been expected on 28 June – is likely to be pushed back by three weeks. Sturgeon said “we need to buy sufficient time for vaccination to get ahead and stay ahead of the virus”. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar questioned “inconsistent decision making” after the announcement. “Why is it okay to have 3,000 [football] fans at a fan zone, but parents cannot attend a nursery graduation outdoors?”

IN LIMBO: Tens of thousands of children in the UK could be left in limbo within weeks amid mounting delays in the processing of EU settlement scheme applications. Experts have warned of a “disaster waiting to happen,” with over 80,000 youngsters still waiting for a decision. Luke Piper, head of policy at the 3 million group, accused the Home Office of focusing too heavily on “rigid requirements” on proof of residency – rather than applying case-by-case discretion. Today is the day for grim warnings, it seems. Government advisers say the UK is “woefully” unprepared to deal with the havoc climate change will bring. The Climate Change Committee predicts it’s going to hit us harder than first thought – urging the government to invest now to make homes and infrastructure resilient to floods and higher temperatures. “They think they can put adaptation off until tomorrow,” said CCC chair Baroness Brown. “But now’s the time for urgent action.”

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS: Things are getting very tense indeed in Northern Ireland. There is now a five-day countdown to resolve a dramatic stand-off over Irish language legislation – or power-sharing arrangements could fall apart. Sinn Fein has said it will not agree to a new DUP first minister without movement on the Irish Language Act. “There is simply no basis for power-sharing if we do not have movement,” said the party. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald called on the UK government to step in and agree to legislate on the issue at Westminster. But DUP MP Sammy Wilson said the UK government “must not interfere in devolved issues at the behest of Sinn Fein” – accusing Sinn Fein of playing “the politics of ransom”. We have until Monday before the meltdown stage. If either one of the parties fails to agree to the nominations, the UK government assumes responsibility for calling a snap election in the province.

On the record

“The trade negotiation team must come to a public hearing of the committee. This is too important for a ‘pig in a poke’ deal.”

Angus MacNeil, chair of the Commons trade committee, demands the government explains itself.

From the Twitterati

“The UK government just sold out British farmers, undermined environmental protections and gave Australia everything it wanted – in exchange for a tiny 0.025% increase in UK growth according to the most optimistic projection the government could come up with.”

Labour MP David Lammy is not impressed by the outline of the deal…

“Congratulations to the government on the trade deal with Australia worth about 0.02% of GDP – or roughly 0.005% of the estimated cost of Brexit.”

…and comedian David Schneider says it won’t make up for Brexit.

Essential reading

John Rentoul, The Independent: Is Labour right to blame the delay in lifting lockdown on Boris Johnson?

James Moore, The Independent: Sunak’s refusal to extend furlough is a hammer blow

Katy Balls, The Spectator: The political advantages of the UK-Australia trade deal

Ido Vock, New Statesman: Can Biden and Putin find agreement in Geneva?

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