Inside Politics: Matt Hancock to reveal tier levels after furious lobbying

Tory MPs have been pushing for their own local areas to avoid the strictest post-lockdown rules, writes Adam Forrest

Matt Hancock (Getty Images / Dan Kitwood / Staff)

It can be hard to follow the rules if you think you’re special. Police were forced to give “suitable advice” to the producers of I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! after complaints about the potential release of non-native creepy crawlies into the British countryside. Many of our politicians have been playing a strange game called I’m an MP…Get My Constituency Out Of Here! Tories have been furiously lobbying the government to get their own area out of dreaded tier 3 status. Boris Johnson and his team insist they will be guided by only “suitable advice”, as Matt Hancock sets out post-lockdown tier status for England’s regions today.

 

Inside the bubble

 

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone on what to look out for today:

Today we’re going to find out which parts of the country are going into which Covid tiers in early December. MPs have been lobbying for looser restrictions in their areas, and some (like London) are on a knife-edge. Also, keep an eye on the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The respected think-tank will be giving their analysis on Rishi Suank’s statement yesterday, and their wonks have a tendency to trip up chancellors who try to get away with a bit of sleight of hand.

 

Daily briefing

 

TIERS FOR FEARS: Health secretary Matt Hancock today reveals whether any of the furious lobbying going on by Tory MPs desperate for their own patches to stay out of tier 3 actually worked. London mayor Sadiq Khan said he thought it was “likely” the capital would be in tier 2, but a City Hall source said they feared the decision was “in the balance”. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, said it was “more likely than not” that his area would go into tier 3, but Liverpool region mayor Steve Rotheram said he hoped was optimistic his city could avoid the same fate. We’re all hoping things will change by the spring, but the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has made the assumption that tier 2 and 3-type restrictions will remain in place until the middle of 2021. Boris Johnson told MPs he didn’t agree with the body’s “gloomy” prediction – insisting the vaccine would change the picture.

 

NOT ALRIGHT ON THE NIGHT: Strangely, Rishi Sunak didn’t actually mention Brexit is his spending review. Whatever happened to the sunlit uplands our exit was supposed to bring? But the OBR did not ignore the subject – estimating that a no-deal Brexit would knock 2 percentage points off GDP growth in 2021. It would also cause unemployment to peak at 8.3 per cent, rather than 7.5 per cent. Mercifully, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said there’s been “genuine progress” in negotiations. Meanwhile, Michael Gove claimed the EU would be to blame if there’s border trading chaos in January because of its “rules are rules” approach. The Cabinet Office minister also suggested there would be only “two to three weeks” of disruption. Speaking to the Logistics UK group, Gove minister admitted there would “inevitably be some disruption”, saying: “Not everything will be alright on the night.”

 

THE AXEMAN COMETH: The government is facing a major backlash after ditching its promise to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid. Junior minster Baroness Sugg has quit over the decision to axe it to 0.5 per cent – calling it “fundamentally wrong”. Damian Green, chair of the One Nation group of Tory backbenchers, said No 10 would have “severe problems getting it through the House of Commons” if legislation is needed to avoid the current legal commitment. Nigel Farage rejoiced at less money being spent on foreigners: “At last we have a Conservative chancellor that understands.” Rishi Sunak was also accused by Labour and the unions of playing “divide and rule”, after he justified freezing public sector pay by arguing wages in the private sector had collapsed. While the RMT threatened strike action, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner called the freeze an “attack on working class people”.

 

TELLING PORKIES? Sunak has been accused of bringing “pork barrel politics” to the UK with the launch of a new £4bn scheme for local areas. The chancellor said his Levelling Fund would “fund the infrastructure of everyday life”, but Labour said Sunak wasn’t exactly being on the level. The opposition said the scheme would see money handed out “on grounds of politics not need” – in an echo of the controversial £3.6bn Towns Fund which saw the bulk of grants go to Tory seats. Others, including Manchester United’s top striker, were unhappy that families on Universal Credit face uncertainty about whether the extra £20-a-week boost will remain after the spring. Marcus Rashford tweeted: “Is the Universal Credit uplift going to be taken away in April?” The SNP wasn’t happy either, despite an additional £2.6bn going to devolved administrations. Alison Thewliss, SNP treasury spokeswoman, suggested it wasn’t enough – claiming Scotland had been “completely ignored”.

 

TINKER TAILOR: It looks like the nationwide Christmas plan wasn’t as nationwide as we thought. Nicola Sturgeon said she would look to tinker, tailor and “tighten” the festive restrictions in Scotland – saying she thought the UK easing of rules may be “going too far”. The SNP leader said she was concerned about No 10’s policy of treating people in support bubbles as one household for the five-day special break. “Three households [in England], potentially … could effectively become six households.” In other news, the most senior judge in England condemned Tory MPs for seeking “to influence a judge” in the case of shamed ex-Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke. Character references that were sent in support of Elphicke are to be made public, after the group – including Sir Roger Gale, Adam Holloway, Bob Stewart and Theresa Villiers – lost a legal battle to keep them under wraps.

 

BEG YOUR PARDON: Donald Trump has decided to pardon another one of his old pals – this time the former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump said granting clemency was his “Great Honor”. Flynn, remember, admitted to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia’s envoy. The White House (it’s still the Trump White House for a while yet) said the pardon would finally end “the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man”. Trump also urged his supporters in Pennsylvania to keep on working to change the reality of the 3 November result, telling them: “We have to turn the election over.” Meanwhile, Joe Biden said it was time to move on from “grim season of division” in a speech for Thanksgiving – claiming Americans could look forward to a year of “light and unity” in 2021.

 

On the record

 

“I think it’s a clean sweep – bullying, harassment, leaking, wasting public money and obvious conflicts of interest.”

Sir Keir Starmer says the PM is presiding over scandal after scandal.

 

From the Twitterati

 

“The Bank of England just said No-Deal Brexit is worse for our economy than the entire pandemic and yet in Rishi Sunak's spending review, he made no mention of helping UK businesses to cope with Brexit.”

Femi Oluwole is amazed at Sunak’s Brexit neglect…

 

“I can’t believe people consider Sunak a great performer. Admittedly, it’s easy for anyone vaguely sane to shine in this Ionesco-cast-of-a-cabinet, but ye gods, it’s like listening to the overpromoted manager of a local leisure centre announcing new anti-verucca measures.”

…and Alex Andreou is amazed people think he’s a good performer.

 

Essential reading

 

James Moore, The Independent: Sunak is welcoming the return of austerity by the back door

 

Nicholas Boston, The Independent: The Home Office failed black Britons by acting unlawfully in the Windrush scandal

 

Rafael Behr, The Guardian: Johnson looks worn down, but the ‘Boris effect’ may yet return

 

Shannon Palus, Slate: America never did a real lockdown under Trump

 

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