Boris Johnson news: PM faces Tory rebellion over HS2 go-ahead, as EU chief ridicules ‘Australia-style’ Brexit trade plan
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Your support makes all the difference.EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she was “a little bit surprised” to hear Boris Johnson propose an “Australian-style” Brexit – suggesting it would amount to a no-deal scenario at the end of 2020.
It comes as retail chiefs warned consumers to expect price hikes and food shortages at the end of the Brexit transition period – even if a deal is forged. It follows an admission by Michael Gove there would be trade “friction” and checks on goods at the border.
The PM faced backbench Tory anger after telling the Commons HS2 had been given the “green signal”. Jeremy Corbyn mocked Mr Johnson’s plan for a bridge connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland – noting his record of failed “shiny” projects.
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PM to approve full HS2 roll-out
Boris Johnson is expected to announce his approval of the HS2 rail project in the House of Commons today.
Widespread reports indicate he will finally, formally give the whole high-speed rail project the green light today (although the second phase, building out from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester, is set to be subject to a review).
The government is expected to attempt to find ways of reducing the cost of the project in its latter stage – with a review set up to identify savings and plans to integrate new lines along existing railways.
Johnson will also be announcing £5bn of funding for 4,000 “zero-emission buses”, new buses routes and 250 miles of new cycle paths.
Dislike of Corbyn to blame for Labour’s election defeat, huge survey finds
A major survey commissioned by Tory pollster Lord Ashcroft has found the main reason Labour voters deserted the party at the general election because they disliked Jeremy Corbyn.
The report – entitled “Labour’s turn to smell the coffee” – lays bare deep antipathy to Corbyn as weak, indecisive, unpatriotic and “stuck in the past”.
In contrast, the survey of 10,000 people found that no fewer than 53 per cent of people who deserted Labour between 2017 and 2019 did so because they “did not want Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister”.
“Labour had a proper numpty in charge,” one voter said. “He went from bad to worse, he got dafter and dafter,” said another.
PM pledges £5bn for buses – but Labour says it won’t make up for cuts
As well as the HS2 announcement, Boris Johnson will also unveil a £5bn, five-year package for bus services, as the government attempts to reverse some of the damage of austerity cuts to public transport.
Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, said: “After years of underinvestment and cuts, this unambitious announcement is nowhere enough to make the difference that transport users, our economy or our environment need.”
Despite more individuals using buses than any other mode of public transport, funding for those services has dramatically fallen over the last decade with over 3,000 routes altered, reduced or withdrawn.
The PM will also pledge to introduce over 250 miles of new, separated cycle routes across England as part of the package.
Backlash after Gove admits on post-Brexit trade ‘friction’
The senior cabinet minister Michael Gove has admitted to years of confusion at Britain’s borders because of Brexit, with goods checks now “inevitable” – and a new IT system not ready until 2025.
“You have to accept we will need some friction,” he told businesses at the Cabinet Office event, adding: “We will minimise it, but it is an inevitability of our departure.”
Gove insisted the checks must come in on 1 January 2021 – despite acknowledging it’s likely to take five years to deliver a smart border, allowing smooth online checks on goods, yet firms must be ready for “significant change” in under 11 months.
Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh said the promise of “frictionless trade” after Brexit had been exposed as “another Tory lie and u-turn”. He added: “We’ll all pay the price and be hammered by the incompetence of this Tory hard-Brexit.”
The Food and Drink Federation warned of potential problems ahead – expressing concerns that “any additional friction into the UK-EU trading relationship will inevitably have a cost for businesses, consumers and shoppers”.
Elizabeth de Jong, the UK policy director at the Freight Transport Association, said: “Gove put to rest Javid’s assertion that industry had plenty of time to prepare. It is encouraging for industry that he said he does not underestimate what needs to be done.”
Retails chiefs warns of price hikes and food shortages
Shoppers have been warned to expect price hikes and shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables at the end of the transition period – even if the government strikes trade deal with the EU.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC)’s warning follows the admission by Michael Gove there would be border checks for “almost everybody” from January 2021.
Andrew Opie, the BRC’s director of food, said higher prices and some empty supermarket shelves were the inevitable consequences, without a dramatic upgrade of channel ports.
“This is going to hit us in January – that’s our peak import season for things like fresh fruit and vegetables,” he warned.
“Customers are really going to see the problems on supermarket shelves unless we get that infrastructure.”
Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has the details:
Jamaica deportation flight leaves – but some detainees win reprieve
A deportation flight to Jamaica has now left the UK – but a court ruling which meant dozens of those scheduled to be removed were granted a last-minute reprieve last night.
The Court of Appeal ordered the Home Office not to deport men who had not been granted adequate access to legal advice in the Heathrow detention centres.
They had been denied access to working sim cards following a mobile phone signal outage that prevented them from consulting lawyers.
Asked how many people were on board this morning’s flight, Sajid Javid told Sky News: “I don’t know the exact number but I think it is around 20 – or above 20.”
More than 50 people were originally thought to have been due to be deported.
Javid said that “every single person on board is a foreign national offender … they are not British they are not members of the Windrush generation and they are all guilty of serious crimes”.
EU chief ‘surprised’ PM would be happy with no trade deal
The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she was “surprised” that Boris Johnson had highlighted an Australian-style relationship with Brussels as a potential post-Brexit model.
She told MEPs that Australia does not have a trade deal with the European Union and said the UK-EU relationship should be “way more ambitious”.
“Honestly, I was a little bit surprised to hear the prime minister of the United Kingdom speak about the Australian model. Australia, without any doubt, is a strong and a like-minded partner, but the European Union does not have a trade agreement with Australia.
“We are currently trading on WTO terms and if this is the British choice, well, we are fine with that, without any question.”
But the EU was trying to negotiate a trade deal with Australia to end that situation.
“Of course the UK can decide to settle for less, but I personally believe that we should be way more ambitious,” she said.
We will look back and regret HS2, says Tory MP
Backbencher Michael Fabricant has been talking about his disappointment that HS2 is set to go ahead – and made clear he and other MPs in the HS2 Review Group would continue to oppose it.
“I think people in years to come will look back on this project and just say they could have done it so much better,” he told BBC Radio4’s Today programme.
“I for one cannot support this. My constituents would quite rightly say, having argued so long and hard about why HS2 is so flawed in its design – for me to say, ‘I’m now going to vote for it’ would be a nonsense.”
Deportation flight an ‘outrage’, says David Lammy
The Labour MP said it was “outrage” that the deportation flight to Jamaica was allowed to depart this morning – and said: “The lessons from Windrush have not been learned.”
“The Government wants to give the impression that everyone who was deported was a hardened violent criminal, but the reality is many of those who were scheduled to be deported had committed non-violent one-time drugs offences.
Lammy added: “Lives are being ruined because we don't remember our history.”
It is not yet known how many detainees were on board the flight, but chancellor Sajid Javid said earlier “I think it is around 20 – or above 20”.
Our social affairs correspondent has all the latest details:
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