Inside Politics: Boris Johnson’s government can’t be trusted, says EU

Brussels is preparing ‘infringement proceedings’ over No 10’s decision to go it alone on the protocol, writes Adam Forrest

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, joins a Year 4 pupils in their reading lesson outside, during his visit to St Mary’s CE Primary School in Stoke-on-Trent, central England on 1 March, 2021. Mr Johnson’s government is furthering its efforts to combat obesity and pursuing the possibility of a ‘fit miles’ programme. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Big news. Love Island will soon be back on our screens. ITV has confirmed the nation can “look forward” to the return of romance, heartbreak, cracking on and mugging off this summer. Brexit drama is back with a bang too. The on-off “situationship” between Brussels and Downing Street has turned aggy, once again. The EU thinks the UK has pied off the protocol. The European Parliament is now threatening to dump permanent ratification of the trade deal, while the European Commission is preparing legal action. Salty.

Inside the bubble

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

Tory and Labour politicians will be battling over the Budget again during this morning’s media round, after it emerged NHS staff will get a pay rise of just 1 per cent. We may hear more from Brussels on the potential for EU Commission legal action against the UK over Downing Street’s unilateral decision to extend protocol grace periods.

Daily briefing

FAITH NO MORE: Nine weeks on from Brexit getting done, and it feels like things are coming undone. The EU has shelved plans to approve Boris Johnson’s trade deal after Brussels accused his government of violating the agreement – with No 10 accused of being untrustworthy and displaying “extreme bad faith”. The trade deal has been in provisional force but needs to pass a vote in the European parliament to become permanent. Leaders of the legislature’s political groups have agreed to hold off after the radical move by the UK to unilaterally change parts of the protocol over grace periods. Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney said the EU “simply can’t trust” the Johnson government. EU Commission VP Maros Sefcovic told the FT that legal “infringement proceedings” were now being prepared. It comes as Michael Gove’s name, address and a threatening message were spray-painted on a wall in a loyalist area of Belfast, amid rising anger over the protocol there.

SCROOGE MCPLUCKED: The past 24 hours after a Budget, when people start plucking out the details, are always tricky for every chancellor. So it has proved for Rishi Sunak – accused of turning “from Santa to Scrooge”. There was an unusually damning response from the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which condemned Sunak’s decision to cut £16bn from public spending (a further £4bn will be cut following the £12bn reduction outlined last year). IFS director Paul Johnson said the level of spending would cause “real pain” – and accused the chancellor of failing to “level with” the public. Sunak defended himself by arguing it would take “the work of many years” to pay back Covid debt. There are signs of discontent among Tory MPs too. Veteran backbencher Sir Christopher Chope said public support for the corporation tax rise “illustrates the extent of the economic illiteracy that sadly abounds”. Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the Budget was “unravelling fast”.

TEFLON TORIES: Labour claimed voters would be “astonished” by the £30bn cut in day-to-day spending on health and social care – with Keir Starmer calling on the government to give NHS “Covid heroes” a proper pay rise (it emerged that the government is recommending only a 1 per cent increase for NHS staff in England next year). But voters don’t appear to be “astonished” by anything. Nothing is sticking, from Labour’s point of view. The poll bounce enjoyed by the Tories – which stems from all the positivity around the vaccine programme – is better than anyone at No 10 could have hoped. The Conservatives now have a 13-point lead over Labour, according to latest YouGov survey. The Spectator’s editor Fraser Nelson claims there’s talk in Tory circles of an early election in 2023. Starmer will keep plugging away. He tried to stick the boot in over the £1bn towns fund, saying it was “fishy” that the government has allocated the lion’s share to Tory-held areas just weeks ahead of local elections. “It feels like pork barrel politics,” he said.

MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING: Home secretary Priti Patel is under pressure to reveal exactly how much taxpayers’ money was spent settling a bullying claim against her. Former top civil servant Sir Philip Rutnam has dropped an employment tribunal case after receiving a sum believed to run into six figures (sources told the BBC he received £340,000, plus legal costs). Patel’s Labour shadow Nick Thomas-Symonds has written to ask how much taxpayers’ cash was spent. “People are entitled to know how much they’re having to pay… to cover up the grim details of Priti Patel’s misbehaviour,” Labour MP Kevin Brennan told The Independent. It comes as retaliatory tariffs imposed by the US on UK goods including Scotch whisky have been suspended, trade secretary Liz Truss announced. “The benefits will be felt across our nation, especially in Scotland,” said Truss. Boris Johnson said he’s feeling the benefits of weight loss. The PM said he has been feeling “much more energetic” since steering clear of “late-night cheese”.

LADY’S NOT FOR SQUIRMING: Nicola Sturgeon has suggested she wouldn’t resign as first minister even if an inquiry found she broke the ministerial code during the Salmond saga. The SNP leader promised to release a report into whether she breached the code – being prepared by James Hamilton QC – on the very same day that she receives it (it’s expected to be ready within three weeks). But Sturgeon ruled out quitting, telling MSPs “we can debate in this chamber” on appropriate punishments. Ruth Davidson, Scottish Tory leader at Holyrood, said there was no debate that she’d broken the code – “only about how badly she broke it”. Meanwhile, at Westminster, Jacob Rees-Mogg said holding a second referendum on Scottish independence  would be “reckless”. The Commons leader cited “little local difficulties” in the SNP as a reason not to hold a second poll on a breakaway. A Savanta ComRes survey for ITV’s Tonight found that with 71 per cent of Scots believe the country would fare better without being part of the UK.

IS THIS REAL LIFE? YouTube has said it may soon lift Donald Trump’s suspension from the platform, so long as the threat of “real-world violence” goes down. Chief executive Susan Wojcicki said the tech giant would have to consider the level of violent rhetoric flying around the internet after the Trump-inspired siege on the US Capitol building. One of the Capitol rioters – who gained notoriety for being pictured with his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk – yelled in court during a virtual hearing on Thursday. Richard Barnett shouted: “I’ve been here a long time. It’s not fair! ... I need help!” Meanwhile, former first lady Michelle Obama hit out at Republicans who are trying to “make it harder for people with every right to vote to cast a ballot”. She tweeted: “Nothing is more important … than safeguarding our right to vote.”

On the record

“It’s the British government essentially breaking the protocol – breaking their own commitments again.”

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney on the Brexit bust-up.

From the Twitterati

“Johnson only ever signed protocol to “get Brexit done” with no real grasp of its implications / sincere intention of implementing it in good faith.”

European law professor Michael Dougan says the Brexit mess is bad...

“We’re going to end up with a ‘no deal Brexit’ aren’t we?”

…and Dee Lomas fears the worst.

Essential reading

Mark Steel, The Independent: A love letter to the magnificent Rishi Sunak

Marsha de Cordova, The Independent: The Budget completely ignores equality

Joan Smith, The Guardian: The gender politics of Salmond vs Sturgeon can’t be ignored

Paul Krugman, The New York Times: Are Republicans willing to kill Texans to own the libs?

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