Inside Politics: Boris Johnson’s government accused of Brexit fairy tales

Businesses, hauliers and politicians in Northern Ireland have hit back at claims Brexit isn’t to blame for current disruption, writes Adam Forrest

Boris Johnson appears on BBC TV's The Andrew Marr Show (VIA REUTERS)

An idyllic Wiltshire village made famous by the Harry Potter films is getting swamped with visitors – despite the lockdown. Some have openly admitted they’re breaking the rules for daytrips, enjoying a brief suspension of reality in a dreamy English fantasyland. Cabinet minister Brandon Lewis has been accused of fantasyland politics after his suspension-from-reality claim that Brexit isn’t to blame for supply disruption. However hard Boris Johnson and his ministers try to wish away the chaos with the magical phrase “teething problems”, the spell just isn’t working.

Inside the bubble

Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer will lock horns at PMQs, with the former keen to talk about the vaccine programme and the latter about whether the £20-a-week universal credit top-up will be extended. On the committee corridor, the Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis faces a grilling about all the disruption to trade. And officials from Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok will be quizzed about online harms.

Daily briefing

THE NAKED AND THE DREAD: Businesses, hauliers and politicians in Northern Ireland have all hit back at cabinet minister Brandon Lewis’s claim current disruption is down to Covid, and not Brexit. Stormont’s agriculture minister Edwin Poots described Lewis as “the emperor with no clothes – but instead of a small boy pointing out he’s naked, the whole crowd is pointing it out”. Manufacturing NI said Brexit had led to serious “turbulence” and the Road Haulage Association NI said the full extent of Brexit problems had been “masked” by Covid. There was no masking the despair in Peterhead, after photos emerged showing UK’s largest fish market deserted. “What a sad sight ... like a ghost town,” said the Scotland Food and Drink group. Meanwhile, No 10 is facing calls to compensate meat exporters – with their problems expected to get worse. David Lindars from the British Meat Processors Association said 120 lorries remain stuck at Rotterdam. “The Scottish fishermen are going to get compensated ... What have we been offered so far? Nothing.”

WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN: Britain’s rock legends are angry about the end of visa-free touring in the EU. Sir Elton John, Sting and Liam Gallagher and more than 100 others have written to the government demanding action, arguing they have been “shamefully failed” over travel rules. Even Roger Daltrey from The Who – a Brexiteer who previously laughed off the idea of touring problems – has signed the letter. If Brexit is sucking the life out of the arts, it’s also sucking serious amounts of money out of the country. The Bank of France’s governor said Brexit had driven 2,500 jobs and £150bn in assets to France. A gleeful Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the EU was on its way to financial autonomy. The EU’s ambassador to the UK, Joao Vale de Almeida, also sounded pretty pleased – saying Brussels has been able to make “quantum leaps” in integration since Britain signalled its exit from the bloc. “We see support for Europe going up.” He also said Britain’s exporting crisis was a sign “decisions have consequences”.

KEEP THEM DOSES ROLLING: The government is said to be worried about the slowing pace of the vaccine roll-out. The number of first doses dispensed on Monday fell for the third consecutive day to 204,000, after a high on Friday of 324,000. Pfizer has said supplies of its jab would be lower until March, since it was upgrading its factory in Belgium. Will 15 million of the most vulnerable Britons be vaccinated by mid-February as promised? “It’s going to be very, very tight,” one government source told The Times. It comes as Matt Hancock revealed he’s self-isolating after receiving an alert NHS Covid-19 app. The health secretary said the process was “how we break the chains of transmission”. It’s still unclear whether schools will be able to reopen after half-term, the deputy chief medical officer has warned. Dr Jenny Harries said it was likely schools would have to welcome pupils at different times in different parts of the country because of uneven progress in bringing down infections.

MORALITY PLAYS: Theresa May has had a pop at Boris Johnson for “abandoning” the UK’s moral leadership around the world. In a piece for The Daily Mail, the former PM criticised his cut to foreign aid and flirtation with international law breaking over the withdrawal agreement. The UK must “live up to its values”, she said. It comes as the government very narrowly avoided a damaging defeat in the Commons over international ethics and trade. MPs voted 319 to 308 to remove an amendment to the Trade Bill aimed at ending trade deals if the UK High Court finds a country responsible for genocide. Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood was among 33 Tory MPs who rebelled, saying he was keen to encourage the government to “take the moral high ground”. The rebels now hope No 10 might accept Iain Duncan Smith’s own amendment – which would give parliament the right to debate whether trade deals can be stopped if genocide is proven.

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES: Welsh politics is in uproar after it emerged a group of politicians drank alcohol on Welsh parliament premises – only days after a ban on pub drinking took effect. Conservative leader Paul Davies and some of his Senedd colleagues were seen drinking wine together in early December. A statement on behalf of Davies, Darren Millar and the Welsh Tories’ chief of staff Paul Smith said they were “profoundly sorry”. Labour Senedd member Alun Davies – also spotted at the meeting – has denied breaking any rules, but has been suspended by his party. The Senedd authorities said they were investigating. Meanwhile, No 10 has moved to quash nap-gate. Downing Street tried to put to bed claims that the PM is partial to a power nap in the middle of the day. “The prime minister does not have a nap,” said Allegra Stratton. “His day is jam-packed from early in the morning.”

BEGGING HIS PARDON: The day has finally arrived. The end is nigh for Donald Trump in the White House. But before he decamps to his lavish Florida bolthole, the departing demagogue has pardoned former adviser Steve Bannon (who is facing fraud charges), and around 150 others – including rapper Lil Wayne and Republican donor Elliot Broidy. Trump also offered a stark warning for fans of decency democracy: “I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning.” After getting sworn at 12 noon local time, Joe Biden is expected to sign around dozen executive orders. The new president will remove Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban” (which limited immigration from Muslim majority countries) and also sign the US back up to the Paris climate accord. Deep sighs of relief all round.

On the record

“I have to say supermarket supply lines at the moment are in good fettle.”

Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis denies Brexit supply problems.

From the Twitterati

“After fish, the meat industry is going to feel biggest pinch from Brexit.”

The FT’s Peter Foster on the pain ahead for produce…

“Lots of jobs and money shifting to Paris, thanks to Brexit.”

…while Alastair Campbell notes the flight of assets out of Britain.

Essential reading

Denis Macshane, The Independent: Forget Brexit and Boris – Britain is envy of Europe because of vaccine roll-out

James Moore, The Independent: What next for Trump? He may be heading for bankruptcy

Katy Balls, the i paper: Boris Johnson will scramble to woo Joe Biden

Ta-Nehisi Coates: The Atlantic: Trump is out – are we ready to talk about how he got in?

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