Inside Politics: Labour braced for damning antisemitism report

Keir Starmer’s party is preparing for a verdict that it unlawfully discriminated against Jewish people under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, writes Adam Forrest

Keir Starmer will respond to EHRC report (AFP via Getty Images)

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wins best quarantine beard. The tech genius sported some spectacularly-strange facial hair – Rasputin, Gandalf and Mr Tumnus all rolled into one – as he faced down US politicians and insisted his platform acts in “good faith”. Michel Barnier and David Frost have been locked away for a while, so maybe we can expect some stubble and whiskers as the Brexit geniuses move talks to Brussels today. It seems negotiations are finally happening in good faith, with the two sides inching closer to a deal. Elsewhere, expect good and bad faith claims in Labourland, as the long-awaited antisemitism report is finally released.

Inside the bubble

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

Brexit trade talks move from London to Brussels today. There’s been very little coming out of the negotiations, which usually means they’re working hard on details. Thursday’s biggest event will be the publication of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report into Labour officials’ response to antisemitism complaints. And communities secretary Robert Jenrick will be doing the morning media round for the government.

Daily briefing

NEWS FROM FRANCE: Many of today’s front pages raise the prospect of another full lockdown, after Emmanuel Macron announced a second national shutdown for France. “Don’t do it Boris!” screams The Daily Mail. The PM will certainly be made aware of Imperial College London’s latest study – which shows nearly 100,000 people are catching Covid in England every day, and the pace of the epidemic is accelerating. The authors said: “Something has to change.” The whole of Nottinghamshire will move into tier 3 on Friday morning, health secretary Matt Hancock announced. And just to confuse you, Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees said his city would move into something called “tier 1 plus” (it doesn’t really mean much, other than Covid marshals patrolling the streets). Environment secretary George Eustice, meanwhile, warned the government could bring in extra restrictions to crack down on family get-togethers this Christmas. Merry Crimbo.

PUT THE BLAME ON HIM: A majority of the British public – 57 per cent – would blame Boris Johnson if Brexit talks now fail to reach a deal, a YouGov poll has found. Thankfully for the PM, the UK and EU teams are thought to be “inching” closer to an agreement. Bloomberg claims the two sides have begun work on the text covering level playing field issues, and are also close to finalising a joint document covering a state aid mechanism. It would leave fishing quotas as the last major stumbling block. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove suggested No 10 won’t back down, saying the UK could “no longer be bound by the Common Fisheries Policy”. Meanwhile, the bid by Spain and Gibraltar to agree a side-deal and avoid a hard border is said to have stumbled. There is a “lack of political will” in London, a Spanish diplomatic source told Reuters. “The ball is in the United Kingdom’s court.”

COSTLY MISTAKES: We’re expecting the EHRC’s antisemitism report around 10am this morning. Labour is braced for a verdict that it unlawfully discriminated against Jewish people under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, sparking a flood of damaging – and potentially costly – compensation claims. Today’s response marks the biggest leadership test yet for Keir Starmer. “This is the time for Keir to show that he is not just going to offer warm words,” Margaret Hodge told The Independent. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called the whole episode “the most shameful moment” in the party’s history. “We have to be clear that we are never going back to that.” Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls also chimed in ahead of the report’s release. “I don’t think Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite. He’s not a racist man, but he undoubtedly not only stood with antisemitic people, but said things which were antisemitic.”

CHOAS THEORY: There’s been no real half-term break for many Tory MPs – the angry emails about food poverty keep on coming in. Tory MP John Penrose – husband of test and trace boss Dido Harding – didn’t help matters by suggesting “chaotic parents” were to blame for sending their children to school hungry. Police in Northumberland are investigating after Blyth Valley MP Ian Levy said he was threatened with violence for voting against the extension of free meals over the holiday. He claimed the threats were “orchestrated” by people outside his constituency. Marcus Rashford’s petition to expand free school meals has now reached 1 million signatures, and Labour pledged to “force another vote” on the issue. The footballer isn’t the only star causing a political stir. Danny Dyer called for a “working-class” takeover in government. “The people who went to Eton can’t run this country,” said the EastEnders actor. “They’ve tried to do it ... It doesn’t work.”

SAUCY DEVILS: The government has been forced to backtrack after making a false and “naughty” claim that the price of soy sauce would drop after Brexit. The Department for International Trade tried to appeal to fans of The Great British Bake Off (where the condiment had featured) by saying the ingredient “will be made cheaper thanks to our trade deal with Japan”. It was later forced to admit soy sauce would only be cheaper “than it otherwise would be under WTO [World Trade Organisation] terms”. Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, described it as “naughty”. Labour’s shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry was not amused. She said it illustrated this government’s love of “exaggerations and mistruths”.

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: Speaking of exaggerations and mistruths, Nigel Farage appeared onstage with Donald Trump at a rally in Arizona. Trump exaggerated ever-so-slightly by introducing our Nigel as “one of the most powerful men in Europe”. Farage then spent several minutes sucking up big-time. “This is the single most resilient and bravest person I have ever met in my life,” he said, claiming Trump was “the only leader in the free world to stand up to the Chinese Community Party”. In a more substantial development, if you can call it that, Trump urged US states to shun any more coronavirus lockdowns. “I caught it … And then you get better. And then you get immune.” Joe Biden, meanwhile, said he couldn’t promise to end the pandemic “by flipping a switch”, before adding: “I do promise this: We will start on day one doing the right things.”

On the record

“I feel we need some working-class people, people that have lived a real life … to come to the front now and start to get involved in how this country is run.”

Danny Dyer thinks it’s time for a change.

From the Twitterati

“People say there are no benefits to Brexit, but what about the price of soy sauce not changing?”

Satirist Dave MacLadd is impressed…

“I’m so proud to live in a country that celebrates the free movement of soy sauce, but removes the free movement of its own people.”

...while anti-Brexit campaigner Marina Purkiss is proud.

Essential reading

John Rentoul, The Independent: Why isn’t Labour 20 points ahead in the polls?

Rachael Revesz, The Independent: Sunak’s furlough scheme has propped up the sham of the white-collar economy

Joel Golby, The Guardian: England’s food is awful – and yet the Tories still refuse to give it to children

Dylan Scott, Vox: Rust Belt workers drifting away from Trump

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