Boris Johnson news: Brexit deal ‘closer and closer’ as PM says life cannot go back to normal
The latest developments from Tuesday 6 October
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Your support makes all the difference.The UK and the EU are getting “closer and closer” to a Brexit trade deal, according to diplomats in Brussels. EU officials are said to be gearing up to negotiate until as late as mid-November to avoid a damaging no-deal scenario at the end of the year.
It comes as Boris Johnson claimed life “cannot go back to normal” after the pandemic – but said he expected no more social distancing by October 2021. The PM promised 5 per cent deposits for first-time buyers and extra investment in wind power at his conference speech.
MPs voted to retain the rule of six restricting gatherings to six people - despite a backbench rebellion as senior Tory MPs urged the prime minister to change direction. The regulation was approved by 287 votes to 17, with Labour abstaining.
Raab hints UK could boycott 2022 Beijing winter Olympics
The foreign secretary cites evidence of China committing “serious and egregious” human rights violations towards the Uighur people. Ashley Cowburn reports:
Dominic Raab hints UK could boycott 2022 Beijing winter Olympics
Foreign secretary says his ‘instinct is to separate sport from diplomacy - but there comes a point where that may not be possible’
Bar council brands attack on ‘lefty human rights lawyers’ shocking
Boris Johnson claimed the criminal justice system was being “hamstrung”. Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
Boris Johnson’s attack on ‘lefty human rights lawyers’ branded shocking by Bar Council
Prime minister claims criminal justice system ‘hamstrung’ by do-gooders
Exclusive: ‘Absurd’ to exempt hunters and shooters from rule of six, Tory MP says
A veteran Conservative MP has slated Boris Johnson’s exemption of hunting and shooting from the coronavirus “rule of six”, writes Jane Dalton.
Sir Roger Gale said: “Do hunters and shooters not catch or transmit Covid 19?”
Tory MP slams 'absurd' rule exempting hunters and shooters from rule of six
Exclusive: ‘It is apparently in order to assemble in large groups to hunt and to shoot mostly hand-reared birds,' says party grandee
Row as ministers reject idea of jab for over-50s only
Ministers are on a collision course with their own vaccine experts, after rejecting advice that under-50s should not be given a Covid-19 jab. Rob Merrick reports:
Ministers on collision course with advisers after rejecting warning of no vaccine for under-50s
Matt Hancock describes statement – by his vaccine task force – as ‘interim’ only, insisting he still wants a ‘full roll-out’
Government did plan to send asylum-seekers to Ascension Island, Raab says
Ministers did consider sending asylum seekers to Ascension Island, 4,000 miles away in the South Atlantic, Dominic Raab has admitted.
A string of reports on possible ideas for how to make changes to the asylum system, including placing people on disused ferries in the sea, was greeted with outcry over the past couple of weeks.
A leaked document even suggested the government had launched a secret consultation on building floating walls to block asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel.
Mr Raab told MPs today that Priti Patel “leads on this” subject.
He added: "Obviously her commitment, which I support unflinchingly, is to make sure that we have got a system which achieves two dual objectives: one, it continues our tradition of being a haven for those fleeing persecution; two, it's fair and not ripe for abuse.
"She is leading the reform agenda on that ... we have looked at all the different possibilities for strengthening the system, whether it is to rule things in or out, and the Home Secretary will set out our proposals in due course."
At the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Raab was asked whether Ascension had been considered as a possible destination for asylum seekers.
He said: "We have looked at the whole range of opportunities. We have looked at whether the overseas territories might be involved, we've looked at international partners that might be involved.
"I think it's the job of the Foreign Office and the Home Office and their secretaries of state to look to scope all options, even if it's just to rule them out."
Mr Raab said the leaked document was a "very initial preliminary scoping exercise", and "it's not like it's the government's policy".
Progress on Brexit deal but ‘big gulfs’ remain
British and EU negotiators are making some progress on side-issues in Brexit trade talks but are still unable to find common ground on the big issues – with just a week to go until a make-or-break summit, writes Jon Stone.
With the clock ticking down to the European Council meeting, EU diplomats from member states have been briefed by the Commission that the two sides are close to a deal on social security rights.
UK and EU negotiators making minor progress but ‘big gulfs on big issues’
Time running out before deadline summit next week
Funding doesn’t match rhetoric on wind power, say Greens
Boris Johnson’s announcement to power every home in the UK with wind power has been welcomed by environment campaigners and organisations, but there is scepticism that the £160m earmarked for kickstarting such a large expansion is sufficient, writes Harry Cockburn.
At the Conservative Party conference on Tuesday Mr Johnson said he wanted to make the UK what he described as “the Saudi Arabia of wind”, and said the sector would provide “hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs.”
Can Boris Johnson really turn the UK into the 'Saudi Arabia of wind’?
Prime minister’s ‘newly found enthusiasm’ for renewable energy must be followed with concerted action, experts say
Sketch: Johnson does his best to laugh off his past stupidity, but the rest of us are stuck with it
Ten months ago, Boris Johnson won a general election with a vacuous promise to “make Britain the greatest place on earth to live”, writes Tom Peck.
It is especially unfortunate that there are now many graphs to show that what he has in fact done is make Britain the greatest place on earth to die, with the possible exception of Belgium.
Boris tries to laugh off his past stupidity, but we’re stuck with it – and him | Tom Peck
To promise to turn this country into “the best place in the world to live”, even after your disastrous response to the pandemic, would be bold to the point of stupidity. But lo, that is where we are with this prime minister
‘Johnson’s vision for the future will do little to win round rebellious Tory MPs’
Boris Johnson tried to raise the spirits of his party and the country in his closing speech to the Conservatives’ virtual conference by mapping out an upbeat vision of the UK in 2030, writes Andrew Grice.
Talking about the sunlit uplands is an old political trick. It did answer one of the grumbles from the many Tory MPs losing confidence in him: that he has lost his trademark bounce and optimism. He addressed the doubters head-on, insisting his own brush with coronavirus had not robbed him of his mojo.
But the weakness of speaking about a country transformed in 10 years’ time - by a “levelling up” agenda made even more urgent by the pandemic, a green industrial revolution making the UK world leader in wind power and Brexit - is that it will not raise his party’s or the public’s sights from the nation's immediate crisis.
Boris Johnson’s vision for the future will do little to win over Tory rebels | Andrew Grice
The weakness of speaking about a country transformed in 10 years’ time is that it does not lessen the daunting task ahead in the short term
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