Brexit news: US warns chlorinated chicken must be on the table for trade deal as UK urged to unite on eve of ‘dark day’
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Your support makes all the difference.US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said chlorinated chicken must be part of a post-Brexit trade deal, after dodging questions on the US suspect in the death of British teenager Harry Dunn.
It comes as Liberal Democrat acting leader Sir Ed Davey urged Remain voters to come together with the rest of the country after Britain’s “dark day” on Friday, as the nation prepares to leave the EU.
Meanwhile, chancellor Sajid Javid was expected to throw his weight behind the controversial HS2 rail project at a meeting with Boris Johnson and transport secretary Grant Shapps.
To follow events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below
Nationalisation ‘common sense’, says Lisa Nandy – but urges Labour to think more ‘creatively’
Rebecca Long-Bailey has challenged her Labour leadership rivals to stay loyal to Jeremy Corbyn’s commitment to nationalise a swathe of utilities.
The business secretary has pledged to retain the 2019 manifesto commitments to bring energy, water, rail and mail into public ownership.
Lisa Nandy has been the first to bite, claiming Labour should be thinking “creatively” about nationalisation.
The Wigan MP told Politics Home: “It’s common sense to bring the railways and post office back into public ownership, but that shouldn’t be the limit of our ambition.
“We should be thinking creatively about community ownership, co-ops and municipal energy companies – that’s how you genuinely empower people.”
Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy (Getty)
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt to chair committee scrutinising government's NHS performance
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been elected chair of an influential Commons committee responsible for scrutinising the government’s NHS and social care performance.
Mr Hunt, the longest serving health secretary and a cabinet minister in both David Cameron and Theresa May’s administration, defeated Tory rivals to head the committee in a secret ballot on Wednesday.
He will now serve as chair of the Health and Social Care committee for the duration of the current parliament, replacing Sarah Wollaston, a former Tory MP who defected to the Lib Dems and lost her seat at the election.
End of free roaming and pet travel looms at end of 2020
The government has revealed – one day before “Brexit day” – that British holidaymakers and business travellers to the EU face onerous changes when the transition agreement expires at the end of December this year.
New online advice says the guarantee of free mobile phone roaming throughout the EU will end.
Motorists will need a “green card” – a certificate extending their travel insurance to Europe, and the “Pet Passport” arrangements will also be scrapped.
It was already known that UK passports will be subject to new rules on validity, which means that someone with almost 15 months to run on a British passport could be denied boarding a flight to Europe.
Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has all the details:
British nationals trapped in Wuhan will return home tonight
A flight carrying British citizens stuck in China during the coronavirus outbreak will leave Wuhan airport at 9pm (UK time) tonight.
The foreign secretary said: “We are pleased to have confirmation from the Chinese authorities that the evacuation flight from Wuhan airport to the UK can depart at 0500 local time on Friday 31 January.
“The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority. Our Embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need.”
Sir Ed Davey: still worth fighting against hard Brexit
The acting Lib Dem leader said he was committed to working with “progressive” parties to push for a soft Brexit during the upcoming trade talks.
Davey used a speech in Manchester to concede that the campaign to stop Brexit was over – but he told supporters he wanted to fight for opportunities for British citizens to study and receive free healthcare in Europe to continue after the transition period ends in 2021.
“Liberal Democrats will be on a damage limitation exercise to stop a hard Brexit hurting British people,” he said in his speech at the Science and Industry Museum.
In an open invitation to other parties, the former energy secretary said the 11 Lib Dem MPs would be prepared to “work with anyone” in the UK to “reunite our country”.
And while Sir Ed said Friday would be a “heart-breaking” day for pro-Brussels campaigners, he called for the divisions of the referendum to be put to bed, adding: “We must no longer be a country that is divided by Leave and Remain.”
The 54-year-old continued: “As I accept that tomorrow at 11pm our campaign to stop Brexit is over, I do so standing shoulder to shoulder with the millions of pro-Europeans I have campaigned with over the past four years.
“Tomorrow will be a celebration for some, but for us it will be a heart-breaking day.
“Whilst some may relish this Tory Brexit experiment, many will be anxious and upset, worried about what the future holds for them, their families, communities and businesses.”
Acting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey (PA)
Rory Stewart wants to set up EU university exchange scheme for London
The independent London mayoral candidate has announced plans for a new Erasmus scheme for the capital’s universities if he wins the race for City Hall.
Speaking to The Independent, Stewart said he would set up a mayoral scholarship to enable students from London to spend time in EU universities and London universities to host visiting students from Europe.
With the future of the existing scheme uncertain for British students after Brexit, Stewart said a £15m “Erasmus More” fund would help 5,000 London students and residents to study and work abroad each year.
If the government negotiates continued participation in the existing scheme, Stewart’s initiative would go ahead in parallel, focusing on the capital's most disadvantaged populations.
The former Tory MP also said he would establish a business mission for London in Brussels after Brexit.
All the details here:
Is the PM ducking serious scrutiny?
The panel on today’s BBC Politics Live have been arguing about Boris Johnson’s “People PMQs” on Facebook Live.
The Mirror’s Pippa Crear said the staged format means Johnson is dodging more challenging forms of scrutiny.
“When you’re doing it instead of being accountable to public scrutiny … he’s done one interview since he became prime minister. He’s barely been seen. It’s very difficult to get anywhere near him. They’re certainly to exclude certain parts of the media from briefings – it’s setting a worrying precedents.”
Tory MP Andrew Bowie said: “We’ve ever had a more accessible prime minister than the one we’ve got right now.”
Answering selected questions on Facebook live on Wednesday, Johnson didn’t say much – revealing only he would be marking our EU exit at 11pm on Friday in a “dignified” manner.
Mike Pompeo dodges questions on refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas
Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has more on Mike Pompeo’s appearance alongside Dominic Raab at a Policy Exchange event – at which he refused to explain why the wife of a spy whose car killed British teenager Harry Dunn is being allowed to avoid extradition.
Declined to set out the rationale for rejecting the UK’s extradition request, saying only that the two governments were “doing everything we can to make it right” and seeking “a resolution that reflects the tragedy that took place”.
More details here:
Long-Bailey’s failure to acknowledge defeat ‘huge problem’, says Ed Balls
The former Labour minister turned TV presenter offered his tuppenceworth on the party’s leadership contest on BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme earlier.
“I don’t think any leadership candidate can turn things for Labour around unless they acknowledge the scale of the defeat and the scale of the failures – and I don’t think Rebecca Long-Bailey at all. And that is a huge problem.”
Balls added: “Labour’s got to be for patriotism, for security, for jobs for all, for uniting the towns and the cities.”
He said Labour could be in opposition for a very long time.
MPs breastfeeding in chamber ‘up to the woman’, says speaker
The new Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said he would be ready to allow female MPs to breast-feed in the chamber and in parliamentary committee rooms.
Answering questions following a Westminster lunch, Hoyle said: “My view is, it is up to the woman. I think it would be wrong for me as a man to dictate on that policy.
“If it happens, it happens. I wouldn’t be upset by it.”
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