Inside Politics: Trade disruption ‘deeper and longer’ than we thought, says Michael Gove

The government has pushed back its deadlines on post-Brexit import controls, writes Adam Forrest

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove (PA)

Always keep your paperwork in order. Meghan Markle has kept “plenty of receipts” for her bombshell claims, according to Oprah’s best pal Gayle King. Meanwhile one of Meghan’s closest friends has revealed “there are plenty of emails and texts” still to come out. All the Brexit paperwork has clearly proved too much for Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. Having admitted trade problems are worse than teething, the government has decided on a whole series of delays on border checks. Downing Street now needs to get its paperwork in order for a looming lawsuit from the EU.

Inside the bubble

Policy correspondent Jon Stone on what to look out for today:

New trade stats from the ONS this morning should give us the clearest clue yet about whetherBrexit has caused overall disruption to business with the continent. Elsewhere, MPs on the public accounts committee are expected to warn of the “staggering”cost of failure in border security tech, following a delayed upgrade of a Home Office computer system.

Daily briefing

ON THE BACKBURNER: So it looks like parts of the oven-ready Brexit trade deal will spend a bit more time in the oven. A series of checks on EU goods coming into Great Britain have been delayed to give businesses more time to get ready. Michael Gove said disruption had “lasted longer and has been deeper than we anticipated” – but he blamed the pandemic rather than Brexit itself. Health certificates for meat and milk imports will be delayed until October, while in-person checks on animal products won’t take place until January 2022. The British Retail Consortium’s Andrew Opie said the delays come “in the nick of time” – with many of the new border posts “little more than a hole in the ground”. Labour said the whole thing “smacks of ill-preparedness and incompetence”. It won’t stop the EU forging ahead with legal action over unilateral changes to the NI protocol. Joao Vale de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to the UK, warned there needed to be “high levels of trust – mutual trust”.

RAKING OVER THE COALS: Is that another U-turn on the horizon? The government has decided to hold a public inquiry into plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria. Less than a week after Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry expressed his dismay at the idea, communities secretary Robert Jenrick said the government would have to intervene. In a letter seen by The Independent, Jenrick told local leaders the proposal was damaging the UK’s reputation ahead of the big COP26 climate summit. Looks like there’s also a reversal coming on the tiny NHS pay rise. One government official told The Times was a matter of “when, not if” the current 1 per cent increase offer is increased. Downing Street has obviously panicked at poll numbers showing three in four people think the offer was too miserly. In other reversal news, France has eased travel restrictions for seven countries, including the UK. The foreign ministry said a “compelling reason” was no longer needed for travel.

GOING GETS TOUGH: Keir Starmer has seized on the NHS pay issue – promising Labour would deliver a “proper pay rise” for staff as he launched his party’s campaign forMay’s local and elections. So a U-turn from the government in the next couple of weeks would leave him looking for another focal point. Starmer refused to say if his party would will make gains in May’s elections – suggesting the vaccine programme and campaign restrictions would cost the party votes. “They’re going to be tough, these elections,” he said. Covid contract cronyism offers Starmer another issue to campaign on. Speaking of which, new WhatsApp messages between Matt Hancock and Alex Bourne – the former landlord at the health secretary’s local pub – are pretty damning. Messages published by The Guardian show Hancock joking in matey fashion with Bourne, calling the paper “a rag”. Bourne, whose company won contracts for Covid test kit test tubes, told Hancock his lawyers were “all over” investigations into their connection “like a tramp on chips”.

NOT NOW, NICOLA! Boris Johnson is expected to make crystal clear that he won’t be granting a second Scottish independence referendum this year – even if the SNP wins a majority at the upcoming Holyrood election. In his speech to the Scottish Tory conference on Sunday, the PM is set to argue a ballot during the Covid crisis would be reckless. On source told The Telegraph he will tell Scots: “We’re not having a referendum in the middle of a pandemic.” Surprisingly, most Scots seem to agree with Johnson. YouGov found 50 per cent of voters in Scotland do not want a referendum in 2021, while only 36 per cent do. Two polls out on Thursday showed support for the union holding a narrow lead over separation. The Savanta ComRes survey showed a six-point fall in constituency vote support for the SNP, which would mean the party would win only 64 seats – missing out on its precious majority by one seat. Polling guru John Curtice said it was clear the Salmond saga has had a damaging impact.

NAMING OF THE DEAD: The government is under pressure to do more to protect women’s safety, as the discovery of human remains in the hunt for Sarah Everard caused an outpouring of anguish. Jess Phillips, Labour’s shadow domestic violence minister, said our society “just accepted” dead women as “one of those things”– as she read the names of 118 women and girls killed this year alone. No 10said that the government was working with police and charities to develop a strategy on women’s safety – but campaigners said funding for domestic abuse services “falls far short” of what’s required. Meanwhile, equalities minister Kemi Badenoch is under pressure to resign, after three members of the government’s LGBT+ advisory panel quit over the failure to ban conversion therapy. Jayne Ozanne claimed Badenoch did not understand the LGBT+ community and should step aside for someone who “had more heart for the work”. Starmer accused the government of having a “blind spot” on the issue, promising he would “absolutely” ban conversion therapy if PM.

FOUR NATIONS TOUR? Our MPs could head out on tour every autumn, according to reported plans under consideration by Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg. He is said to be mulling a proposal for the House to sit for a fortnight in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland every September. “It would bring parliament closer to the people,” one source told The Telegraph. What would Nicola Sturgeon make of that? Meanwhile, Rees-Mogg has blown a massive hole in plans for the renovation of parliament –telling MPs they may have to meet virtually on a lockdown-style video link while the Palace of Westminster is closed for works expected to last six years or more. He said that a £1.5bn scheme to house parliament elsewhere in Westminster was “for the birds”. Rees-Mogg also made it pretty clear where he stands on the Palace royals vs California royals row. He delivered a spoken version of the national anthem in the Commons, making a made a point of reciting the line:“Scatter her enemies and let them fall, frustrate their knavish tricks.”

On the record

“We have listened to businesses who have made a strong case that they need more time to prepare.”

Michael Gove accepts businesses may have been right on Brexit disruption.

From the Twitterati

“Very welcome news that buys hauliers and businesses more time at a tough economic point.”

Road haulage chief Rod McKenzie welcomes Gove’s announcement...

“Looks like oven-ready Brexit is back under slow grill: UK needs another 6-12 months beforeJohnson’s government is actually capable of operating its own customs &trade system. So much for ‘taking back control of our borders’. Brexit really is such a massive f***ing con trick.”

…but Prof Michael Dougan is not impressed by the delays.

Essential reading

Cathy Newman, The Independent: Boris Johnson says he’s a feminist – now it’s time to prove it

Tom Peck, The Independent: Labour is not so much asking for your vote as begging for it

Larry Elliot, The Guardian: If Boris Johnson thinks he can charm his way to success at Cop26, he is mistaken

Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic: What Kamala Harris could do for voting rights

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