Brexit news: Boris Johnson unveils ‘book of Trump’ agenda to prevent courts challenging government and make voter ID mandatory
All the latest developments as they happened
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Boris Johnson has unveiled plans for new photo ID requirement at polling stations, sparking the move is designed to suppress voting by young people and disadvantaged groups.
The Queen’s Speech also revealed a Royal Commission on the criminal justice system and separate review of every aspect of the post-Brexit constitutional settlement – condemned by Labour as “vindictive revenge” for his defeat in the prorogation case and “another play from the Book of Trump”.
Meanwhile Emily Thornberry, the first figure to declare she is standing for the Labour leadership, has attacked Jeremy Corbyn’s closest aides – and questioned why they were not “under threat” of losing their roles in the leaders’ office.
Why Boris Johnson’s changes to courts could affect your job
The government’s proposal to permit lower British courts to overrule existing case law set by the European Court of Justice will have far-reaching consequences.
Trade unions warned that the move could allow exploitative bosses to try to challenge protections for low-paid workers, which have been built up over several decades.
Sean O’Grady explains the significance of the plan – and looks at how it could impact on employment rights.
‘Stop Brexit’ man stops shouting
Steve Bray – the man who has been shouts “STOP BREEEXIT!” outside parliament and interrupting Mark Francois’ live TV interviews – has decided to pack it in and give his vocal cords a rest after 847 days of consecutive protest.
A symbolic moment, no doubt. But the Europhile wants his warning cry to linger as an echo, long after he’s gone. “When the proverbial s*** kicks in, we will look into how we can get back into the EU,” he told The Metro.
Bray had a cheery message for us all before he walked off into the sunset: “I don’t blame those people that voted to leave after being promised the Earth, but the sad fact is that we are all going to end up in hell after Brexit happens.”
Steve Bray outside parliament (Reuters)
Piers Morgan tells Stormzy criticising Boris Johnson ‘isn’t cool’
Piers Morgan loves a good spat. He has decided to make the focus of his latest feud Stormzy, condemning the grime artist for telling a group of schoolchildren Boris Johnson is a “bad man”.
The Good Morning Britain presenter said the music star should “wield [his] power more carefully” after telling Year 3 students at his old school what he thought of the PM.
“Come off it Stormzy – saying stuff like that to a bunch of very young schoolkids isn’t cool, and you know it.”
Some voters said they ‘wanted to shoot Corbyn’, says former Labour MP
The former Labour MP and Jeremy Corbyn backer Laura Pidcock, who lost her seat in North West Durham to the Tories, has written an open letter to her former constituents.
In truth it’s a dissection of where she think Labour went wrong. She said she had “repeatedly argued, inside my party, that we should respect the result of the [EU] referendum and avoid a second one”.
She also blamed the media, in part, for a shift in Corbyn’s popularity.
When knocking on doors at the 2017 election, Pidcock said “so many of you talked about what a good guy he seemed, that he was on the side of the people and that he was getting a very hard time from people inside the Labour Party and out”.
She added: “People who were less friendly to Labour spoke about how damaging a divided party is, about things like the IRA and the connections internationally that you didn’t understand or agree with.
“By 2019, you seemed so much angrier about Jeremy Corbyn. I had a handful of angry people say “I would shoot him” or “take a gun to his head” whilst in the next breath calling him an extremist.
“I don’t want to patronise anyone by saying that this was all the fault of the media. I know people make up their own minds. But I cannot and will not accept that the media had no part.”
Laura Pidcock, with Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer (AP)
Sir Ed Davey on Lib Dem leadership run: ‘I’m not ruling it out’
Sir Ed Davey has hinted that he will run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats following Jo Swinon’s loss of her seat. He and party president Sal Brinton are currently joint acting leaders until a leadership election in the new year.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier if he would run for leader, he said: “I’ve got a job to do as acting leader, I’m going to do that … Let me help you: I’m not ruling it out.”
Sir Ed was a hopeful in the last leadership contest, held only six months ago when Sir Vince Cable stepped down.
It saw Sir Ed and Swinson - the only two contenders - face a postal ballot of the party’s membership, with Swinson beating Sir Ed by 47,997 votes to 28,021.
He told Today that his party knows it “made mistakes” in the election campaign, but added: “The evidence we have from around the country, particularly in the seats we were fighting, was that people were voting for the Conservatives with a washing line of clothes pegs on their nose because they were opting to stop Corbyn rather than what they also wanted to stop, which was Brexit.”
Looking ahead to his party’s future, Sir Ed said: “I think we need to bring liberalism to life for people, by proving, for example, our passion for social justice.”
Other leadership contenders include Layla Moran, Wera Hobhouse and Christine Jardine.
Sir Ed Davey, joint acting leader of the Lib Dems (PA)
Labour staff warned about potential jobs losses: report
Labour’s HR director has reportedly sent an email to employees warning them the big reduction in “short money funding” – the amount given to parties depending on seat numbers – could have an impact on staffing’s .
Labour MP Wes Streeting said it was unfair for lower paid staff to face uncertainty while “the architects of our defeat” show no sign of going.
His colleague Neil Coyle said: “Labour Party staying classy. Dreadful way to treat people - whilst those at the top protected themselves from departure.”
It comes as Emily Thornberry said she was “calling out” unnamed aides who “undermined” the Labour leader – leaving little doubt that she was referring to Seumas Milne, the party’s communications chief, and Karie Murphy, a key figure in the election campaign.
More on Thornberry’s remarks here:
Why the monarch won’t be wearing her crown
The Queen has left Buckingham Palace and is on her way to Westminster for the state opening of parliament.
There will be “reduced ceremonial elements” for today’s occasion, with Her Majesty traveling in a car rather than a coach.
Sabrina Barr has taken a look at why she won’t be wearing her crown or any regal attire, and Prince Charles will be wearing a morning suit instead of service uniform.
Tributes paid to retiring Lady Hale – and her ‘symbol of swashbuckling womanhood’
As we wait for Her Majesty, a word on the queen of the spider brooch.
The outgoing Supreme Court president Lady Hale has been hailed as “an inspiring role model” in a ceremony ahead of her retirement. Lord Reed, who will succeed her as president of the court in January, paid tribute to her “remarkable achievements”.
He said “her greatest achievement as president was probably her handling of the prorogation case” in September, when the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful.
Lord Reed added that the famous spider brooch which she wore when giving the court’s unanimous ruling “has become a symbol of swashbuckling womanhood”.
Lady Hale in Supreme Court (PA)
The Queen arrives in parliament for speech
Her Majesty has arrived in the Royal Gallery, as proceedings begin for the state opening of parliament.
Describing the procession through the building, BBC host Huw Edwards described the statue of David Lloyd George as “far more important” than the statue of Winston Churchill. “And I won’t take any complaints from viewers on that.”
There will be complaints from viewers about that.
Corbyn and Johnson walk in silence
As the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg notes, Jeremy Corbyn looked pretty stern, apparently “absolutely determined not to say a single word” to Boris Johnson as they walked together from the Commons’ chamber to the Royal Gallery.
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn (BBC)
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