Inside Politics: Boris Johnson set to reveal four-phase lockdown exit plan

The prime minister is ready to allow outdoor meet-ups before the end of March, writes Adam Forrest

(AP)

Martin Scorsese says data-driven streaming services are killing the art of cinema. The great director thinks they’re using data to “demean” us – pumping us full of the same content over and over again. Boris Johnson has promised to be driven by the data in bringing us out of lockdown – pumping us with the same message of caution over and over again. But the great showman also has to return to the art of politics today, as he finally unveils the content of his road map.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson will set out his government’s road map for lifting Covid curbs in England in the Commons around 3.30pm. The PM is also expected to lead a press conference on the way ahead at around 7pm. As MPs return to work today, communities secretary Robert Jenrick faces Commons questions from 2.30pm.

Daily briefing

FORWARD MARCH: Downing Street has trailed the March phase of Boris Johnson’s four-phase lockdown easing. We know the PM will reopen schools in England on 8 March, while care home residents will be allowed one regular visitor from the same date. The next milestone is 29 March, when up to six people or two households will be allowed to meet up outdoors. Outdoor sports could return on the same date. We’ll have to wait until this afternoon to find out about what might happen in April, May and June. “The data was very good,” said one official on recent meetings with the scientific advisors. Despite the optimism, the PM does not yet have voters’ trust that he can take the country safely out of the lockdown. The Savanta ComRes survey for The Independent found that fewer than a quarter (24 per cent) of people in England trust the PM “completely” or “a lot” to lift restrictions in a safe way. Almost one in three (31 per cent) said they do not trust him to do so.

FROSTY THE NO MAN: Boris Johnson’s appointment of David Frost to lead future talks with the EU is dashing hopes of a deal with the EU to lift harsh border checks, food industry insiders have said. One industry source told The Independent that the decision to bring him back showed that “ideology” – rejecting any and all alignment with Brussels – had trumped the desire for improving the agreement in practical ways. “The problem is not technical, but political,” said another. It comes as another layer of bureaucracy has comes into effect, with health certificates on GB sausages and mince moving to NI now required. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s biggest unionist parties have teamed up to launch a legal bid to challenge the protocol. The Democratic Unionist Party, Ulster Unionists and Traditional Unionist Voice are all backing judicial review proceedings. DUP chief Arlene Foster claimed they would challenge the protocol’s “compatibility” with the Good Friday agreement.

RIGHT TO BE WRONG: How useful is knowing Matt Hancock? The company run by the former landlord of Hancock’s local pub, which won a £30m contract to produce vials for the NHS, is under investigation by the UK’s medical regulator. Alex Bourne – who reportedly offered his services via a WhatsApp message to the health secretary – made vials through his firm Hinpack. Hancock put in a defiant performance on Marr on Sunday – arguing his recent breach of the law had been about trying to save lives. The minister said wrongly delaying the publication of contracts was “the right thing to do”, despite last week’s High Court ruling that he’d acted unlawfully by failing to reveal details within 30 days. Hancock said his team “spent all of their time buying life-saving equipment, even if the paperwork was a little bit late …. You tell me that that’s wrong. You can’t.” Keir Starmer managed to anger many on the left by saying he wouldn’t call for Hancock to resign over the court ruling. The Labour leader said it was “not what the public really want to see”.

CARRIE THAT WEIGHT: There’s an awful lot of important stuff going on at the moment, but some Conservatives find their minds wandering back to Carrie Symonds. Tory think tank The Bow Group has called for an independent inquiry into Boris Johnson’s fiancée and the extent of her “possible influence” in government. The group said No 10 must clarify how much power Carrie carries following reports the former PR official was “taking a central role”. The complaints around Symonds, David Frost’s unexpected elevation and the sudden resignation of union unit chief Oliver Lewis suggest plenty of infighting in and around No 10. Some “insiders” told The Mail that Dominic Cummings still harbours a grudge against Johnson and Symonds’ dog Dilyn because it once “humped his leg” during an away day at Chequers. Ruff business, politics. Meanwhile, William Hague said he can “smell the improvement” at No 10 since the exit of Cummings and Lee Cain. “Maybe running governments wasn’t their greatest skill.”

DON’T WOKE ME UP: Keir Starmer has refused say whether or not he is a “woke” guy – instead insisting that both he and Joe Biden are “values driven”. Pressed on recent comments by his shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy, the Labour leader told Sky News: “Well, look ... this bandying of words around doesn’t help.” Starmer is treading very carefully at the moment – saying he wanted all children in England back in school on 8 March, despite the teaching unions’ desire for a more “cautious” and “phased” return. Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell urged Starmer to listen those unions’ concerns. “If we have to have a staggered reopening of schools, let’s listen to those on the frontline,” said the big beast of the Corbyn-era. McDonnell also called for a windfall tax on those who have profited from the pandemic to help cancel household debts caused by the crisis. Writing in The Independent, he said it was time to “wipe the slate clean” on unmanageable debt.

MY PARTY AND I’LL TRY IF I WANT TO: Could Donald Trump be tempted to start his own political party? A new USA Today poll has found that nearly 46 per cent of Republican voters would abandon the party and support a new one controlled by the Mar-a-Lago golfer. Over half of the respondents said the Republican party need to become “more loyal” to Trump. There were reports last month he was considering creating a third party in order to discourage GOP senators from voting to convict him. He had apparently been talked out of it, then, but polls like the latest one may encourage him to think again. Elsewhere, the new US secretary of state Antony Blinken told the BBC that “America is back” and is ready to engage on the climate emergency and other pressing international issues. Blinken also claimed China had failed to share vital info on the origins of Covid-19. “It requires countries to be transparent,” he said on dealing with future viruses. “Things that unfortunately we haven’t seen from China.”

On the record

“You tell me that that’s wrong. You can’t. And the reason you can’t is because it was the right thing to do and legal cases about timings of transparency returns are completely second order compared to saving lives.”

Matt Hancock won’t apologise over delaying contract details.

From the Twitterati

“So you’re telling me Matt Hancock’s mate and his old local pub landlord is apparently not the most qualified person to be producing testing kits?”

Angela Rayner is furious at Hancock and alleged cronyism…

“I’m astonished that [Starmer]’s not demanding Hancock’s head on a platter, this isn’t leadership its political cowardice Sir Keir.”

…but Loz Argyle is one of many on the left furious at Starmer.

Essential reading

Femi Oluwole, The Independent: The Tory party’s free speech reforms are staggering hypocritical

John McDonnell, The Independent: A windfall tax on Covid profits is vital to help public debt

Nesrine Malik, The Guardian: The culture war isn’t harmless – it’s having a chilling effect on equality

Alexander Burns, The Independent: Democrats beat Trump – but now they’re asking what they got wrong in 2020

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