Inside Politics: Dominic Cummings to exit No 10 in Vote Leave clear-out

Boris Johnson’s top adviser is expected to jump before he is pushed, writes Adam Forrest

Dominic Cummings (Rex)

What do you get the woman who has everything? Selecting exactly the right gift for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 was viewed as such a vitally important question that a special committee of MPs has been set up to choose a “fitting” present. If only we took such care over goodies for her subjects. Should Boris Johnson be interested in choosing exactly the right gift for the nation right now, it might well be a trade deal with the EU, after it emerged an agreement with Canada might not be possible. Meanwhile, Dominic Cummings’ enemies are getting the ultimate Christmas present – the PM’s strategist is set to leave No 10 by the end of December.

Inside the bubble

 

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

Brexit trade talks in London will be concluding this afternoon, ready for a pause over the weekend. All indications suggest things aren’t going too well, so both sides will have to consider how much they really want a deal before meeting again on Monday. In the meanwhile, the future of the Labour party will become clearer: we should get the results of the elections to its ruling NEC (national executive committee). They’ll be a useful barometer of Kier Starmer’s internal power.

 

Daily briefing

 

CUMMINGS AND GOINGS: The dark prince looks set to leave No 10. Boris Johnson’s senior adviser Dominic Cummings is expected to make his exit by Christmas, according to the BBC. A Downing Street insider told Laura Kuenssberg that he has “jumped” because otherwise “he would be pushed soon”. Cummings himself told the Beeb his “position hasn’t changed since my January blog” – when he said he would make himself redundant by the end of 2020. Tory backbenchers told The Independent that the exit of Vote Leave figures was Johnson’s big chance to reshape his administration. One MP said he would finally have to listen to people outside “the Take Back Control boy band”. Labour scoffed at all the shenanigans, claiming the the big power shift was like watching “rats in a sack”. Keir Starmer said: “This is pathetic. We’re in the middle of a pandemic ... Pull yourselves together.”

 

KEEP THEM WAGONS ROLLING: There’s been a lot of talk about Joe Biden’s influence on the government’s Brexit calculations. Perhaps Justin Trudeau might hold some sway? The Canadian PM has cast doubt over the UK securing a trade deal with his country – one that would roll over the terms of the existing EU-Canada deal – before the 31 December deadline. Trudeau suggested London does not have “the bandwidth” to get it done on time. Canada is the largest of 15 deals that trade secretary Liz Truss still needs to roll over. Experts told The Independent that failure to complete the rollovers could disrupt as much as £80bn worth of imports and exports. Meanwhile, Michael Gove claimed “the penny is dropping” in Brussels that the UK must remain truly independent after Brexit. Vague rhetoric at this stage? Michel Barnier made fun of Brexit’s buzz terms when he tweeted a picture of himself on some London football pitches. The EU negotiator said he was “looking for level playing fields”.

 

CRY ON OUR OWN SUPPLY: Business secretary Alok Sharma repeatedly failed to rule out the possibility that the supply of a coronavirus vaccine could be affected by Brexit disruption. “This is an issue ... across many sectors, but that is precisely why we have been investing hundreds of millions of pounds in border infrastructure,” he said. It comes as the scientist behind the Pfizer vaccine said people in the UK could start to receive the first jabs by the middle of December. Professor Ugur Sahin, the co-founder of German firm BioNTech, also predicted life could return to normal “by the middle of next year”. The short-term picture is not looking great. A record 33,470 people tested positive for Covid in the latest daily figure – around 10,000 above the rolling daily average. Ministers hope it’s a blip, since cases had been fairly stable for the past fortnight. Some experts claim the rush to pubs and restaurants just before lockdown may be behind the spike.

 

WORKING CLASS HEROES: Two senior Labour figures from the Jeremy Corbyn – ex-chair Ian Lavery and former elections boss Jon Trickett – have called for the current leadership to issue a “full throated apology” for its anti-Brexit stance. In a new report, Lavery and Trickett claimed backing a second referendum last year wiped out trust in Labour’s working-class heartlands. “Leave voters were too often sneered at,” they said. The pair also recommended that Keir Starmer bring in quotas for those from working-class backgrounds. “People repeatedly claimed that Labour had become too southern and too middle class,” they said. Starmer may not care about the backgrounds of his new National Executive Committee (NEC) – so long as they are with him, and not pining for the Corbyn era. Polling closed on Thursday for the election of nine grassroots members to the ruling body, so we find out today whether the party really is “under new management”, as Starmer continues to insist.

 

EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY: Rishi Sunak said there were “reasons for cautious optimism” after the economy rebounded with 15.5 per cent growth between July to September. The chancellor hinted that he could bring back the Eat Out to Help Out scheme in the New Year. “We’ll look at a range of things,” he said. One lonely Conservative MP will have to stick to restaurants once lockdown is lifted, after he received a lifetime ban from pubs in his home town. Warrington South MP Andy Carter has been barred from 30 venues by the local Pubwatch group over his support for the 10pm curfew. The Tory politician is livid, complaining that the pub safety scheme had been brought “into disrepute” by cheap politics. It he fancies a cheap pint, a few holiday options have opened back up: travellers returning from Chile, Iceland, Cambodia, Laos, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and the Turks and Caicos Islands won’t have to self-isolate from 4am this Saturday.

 

DEEP STATE OF CALAMITY: Donald Trump continues to rage against the dying light of his administration. He said the “medical deep state” had conspired against him by keeping the Covid vaccine a secret until after the election. It seems the grand conspiracy extends to the Department of Homeland Security too. The official election monitoring unit at the agency said the 2020 vote was the “most secure in American history”. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the “absurd circus” of Trump’s refusal to concede meant the pandemic was being neglected, while Barack Obama said senior Republicans were now undermining democracy by “humouring” their wild leader’s delusions. Elsewhere, the Pope offered Joe Biden – the first Catholic president since JFK – his “extending blessing and congratulations”. It seems a blessing from his Holy Father is still not enough for the Republicans to give in.

 

On the record

 

“I don’t buy that simplistic narrative. He loves Ireland and he has great time for the UK.”

Micheal Martin when asked if Joe Biden sides with Dublin over London.

 

From the Twitterati

 

“Oh no if Lee Cain goes, things might descend into chaos.”

Comedian Al Murray suggests Cain’s exit makes no difference…

 

“I read in The Telegraph that the relationship between Carrie Symonds and Lee Cain broke down because she posted some pictures on Instagram and that annoyed him. That may change what sort of Brexit we get. That’s one hell of a butterfly effect.”

…while space boffin Brian Cox is amazed at how much it might matter.

 

Essential reading

 

John Rentoul, The Independent: The vaccine news has changed the mood in Westminster

 

Mark Steel, The Independent: We always suspected No 10 was run by children – the latest row proves it

 

Katy Balls, The Guardian: This is only the beginning of the battle for control at No 10

 

Jim Newell, Slate: Republicans have no way to get off the Trump train

 

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