Inside Politics: Boris Johnson urged to visit Northern Ireland for talks

No 10 is said to be considering formal discussions with Dublin government over rising tensions, writes Adam Forrest

(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

There is a time to heal and a time to build up, as it says in the Bible. Jordan’s King Abdullah and half-brother Prince Hamzah have reconciled in public after claims of a royal rift and wild plots to divide the kingdom. Our own not-so-united kingdom will spend the week obsessing over the prospect of brothers William and Harry repairing their royal rift at Philip’s funeral. The mourning period sees an unusual truce at Westminster, as Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer come together to pay tribute to the duke today. But they will be back at each other’s throats soon enough, after the parties agreed to restart campaigning for the May elections asap. The divisions in Northern Ireland can’t be put on hold for long either, with the PM urged to pay a visit to Belfast.

Inside the bubble

Political editor Andrew Woodock on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson had expected to make the most of pub gardens, non-essential shops, gyms and hairdressers reopening on Monday, but Prince Philip tributes will dominate the day instead. The Commons will return from recess a day early, with MPs marking his death from 2.30pm. Tributes will begin at Holyrood and the Sennedd at 11am, and at Stormont at 12 noon.

Daily briefing

(BRIEF) PAUSE FOR THOUGHT: Politics should get back to something like normality this week, after a pause to mark Prince Philip’s death. Election campaigning for the Scottish, Welsh and English local votes on 6 May will resume tomorrow after politicians pay tribute to the duke at Westminster, Holyrood, the Senedd and Stormont today. “The respectful pause to campaigning will end on Tuesday morning,” said Tory co-chair Amanda Milling said. Labour said it would make a “full return to campaigning” then too. Despite Monday’s big moment in lockdown easing, No 10 won’t hold any Covid briefings and will continue to limit announcements this week (Boris Johnson’s plan to raise a pint in a pub garden has been cancelled). Former Tory PM Sir John Major said this Saturday’s funeral will bean “ideal opportunity” for William and Harry to reconcile. “They share grief at the present time … I hope very much that it is possible to mend any rifts that may exist,” he said.

ACROSS THE WATER: Downing Street is said to be considering talks with the Republic of Ireland government over rising tensions in Northern Ireland. The Observer claimed an intergovernmental conference in the province had been met with “no enthusiasm” on the British side, but The Times says No 10 is now mulling it over. Former NI secretary Lord Hain said the PM should visit Belfast. “It took six nights of rioting before Boris Johnson even issued a tweet,” he said – adding that he fears another collapse of power-sharing arrangements at Stormont “if we don’t get a hands-on approach from No 10”. Thankfully there was calm on the streets of the six counties over the weekend. Hopes are also rising that EU-UK talks about making the protocol more “flexible” could produce results. “Technical talks are ongoing,” an EU official told the FT. “Depending on the progress made at technical level, a political-level meeting may be held soon.”

OOPS! … HE DID IT AGAIN: The revelation in the Sunday Times that David Cameron met Matt Hancock for a “private drink” in 2019 to discuss a new payment scheme for the NHS appears to have forced the former PM to finally break his his silence. Cameron insisted he broke no rules by lobbying for the proposal from failed finance firm Greensill. He did, however, admit he should have communicated with ministers “through only the most formal of channels”. He claimed he had “very little to do with Lex Greensill” during his time at No 10, but conceded he should have done things differently as a post-No 10 Greensill lobbyist “so there can be no room for misinterpretation”. An ally of Hancock, meanwhile, claimed he had “acted in entirely the correct way” with his private drink with Dave – updating his officials afterwards about the proposed payment scheme (later rolled out in the NHS). Labour said “every day brings fresh revelations about the culture of cronyism”.

CHOOSING MY RELIGION: Labour leader Keir Starmer has confirmed he does not believe in God, but does believe in the power of religion. “I am not of faith, I don’t believe in god – but I can see the power of faith and the way it brings people together,” he said. A big deal? Maybe not. But if Starmer won power he would be the first openly atheist leader at No 10. In his interview with the Sunday Times, Starmer promised to introduce a Labour bill to protect women in the wake of the death of Sarah Everard. The bill would make it an offence to harass women on the street, increase sentences for rapists and stalkers and introduce “whole life” jail terms for those guilty of abduction and sexual assault and murder of a stranger. Starmer said it was “astonishing that in 2021 we do not have a comprehensive piece of legislation” to protect women and girls. In a swipe at Johnson, the Labour boss also said the PM lacks “principle and integrity and dignity”, adding: “I don’t want to be Boris Johnson.”

STRETCHING CREDIBILITY? Downing Street has been accused of rewriting the controversial race report, under fire since its publication last month. One of the 11 members of the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (Cred) accused the government of “bending” its work to fit a political narrative – claiming that commissioners did not see the whole thing before it was published. One unnamed commissioner told The Observer: “We did not read Tony [Sewell]’s foreword. We did not deny institutional racism or play that down as the final document did … That end product is the work of very different views.” But No 10 denied the claim, telling The Independent: “I would refute the assertion. It was an independent report.” It comes as new analysis shows young black Britons (16 to 24) have been particularly badly hit by the pandemic. 41.6% of young black people are unemployed, three times the proportion of young white workers.

WON’T STOP ME NOW: Nicola Sturgeon has claimed that Boris Johnson won’t block another Scottish independence referendum if the SNP wins a majority next month. “If people in Scotland vote for a party saying, ‘when the time is right, there should be an independence referendum’, you cannot stand in the way of that.” Despite Sturgeon’s rhetoric, most believe Johnson will indeed stand in the way. But some senior Tories are now agonising over the best strategy – with a growing number of figures hoping the PM will say yes to Sturgeon and try to lance the boil. One senior minister told the Sunday Times: “I don’t see how we keep saying ‘no’ forever. The time to do it would be in the middle of economic chaos, not when it’s all looking rosy.” Meanwhile, former Labour first minister Henry McLeish has urged current Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to back indyref2 after the election because it “will happen some time … merely saying no has never been a vote winner”.

On the record

“I don’t want to be Boris Johnson. I’m not like Boris Johnson in any respect. There’s almost nothing we have in common.”

Keir Starmer on his opposite number.

From the Twitterati

“David Cameron could have saved himself a lot of trouble by just selling the government PPE.”

The FT’s Henry Mance thinks there was an easier way for the former PM to make money…

“If I were David Cameron, I would simply avoid lobbying scandals by retiring with the vast wealth I had already accrued.”

…and Matt Zarb-Cousin thinks he probably had enough money.

Essential reading

Andrew Grice, The Independent: Boris is part of the problem in Northern Ireland, so he must be part of the solution

Michael Fallon, The Independent: Climate change will be a major cause of stability in the Middle East

Catherine Bennett, The Guardian: Down with statue politics! Time to leave Churchill and others in peace

Phil Mattingly, CNN: White House hopes pandemic gives rise to new progressive era

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