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Your support makes all the difference.Tory MPs have voted down a House of Lords amendment to Boris Johnson’s Brexit legislation, which would have guaranteed family reunion rights for unaccompanied child refugees after EU withdrawal.
It comes as Mr Johnson is warned the EU is preparing a trade deal offer on tougher terms than those given to Canada and Japan. Washington has also threatened to hike taxes on British car companies if the PM presses ahead with plans for a levy on US tech giants.
Elsewhere, Labour leadership contender Lisa Nandy has won a place on the ballot, attacked New Labour for allowing Thatcherism to flourish – and rejected party chairman Ian Lavery’s demand that frontrunner Keir Starmer stand aside for a female leader.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster.
PM vows to overturn Brexit bill amendment on child refugees
Boris Johnson is coming under pressure to drop his opposition to measures to allow unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with their families in the UK after his Brexit bill went down to a fourth defeat in the House of Lords.
The PM has vowed to overturn all Lords amendments as the Withdrawal Agreement Bill completes its passage through parliament on Wednesday.
But charities including the British Red Cross and Safe Passage urged him not to strike out a provision, introduced by Labour peer Lord Dubs, to guarantee the family reunion rights of child refugees stranded in camps on mainland Europe.
Think tank directed by Dominic Cummings wanted ‘Fox News equivalent’ in plot to undermine BBC
A think tank linked to Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser Dominic Cummings reportedly called for the “end of the BBC in its current form”.
The No 10 strategy was the director of the New Frontiers Foundation when it described the Beeb as the “mortal enemy” and urged people on the right to push for a British news network similar to Fox News in the US.
According to The Guardian, one post from 2004 on “things that need to happen” suggested there should be “the creation of a Fox News equivalent / talk radio shows / bloggers etc to shift the centre of gravity”.
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said Cummings and some Tory MPs “would like nothing more than to replace the BBC with a right-wing propaganda channel like Fox”.
The Lib Dems’ interim leader responded: “The BBC is a national treasure and if Dominic Cummings thinks he has got a mandate to go after Strictly and David Attenborough he has got another thing coming.
“Every politician and party will have their problems and frustrations with the BBC, but often that’s because the Beeb are doing their job. The Liberal Democrats will fight for the BBC tooth and nail.”
Cummings in Downing St with an American football (AP)
Lisa Nandy lashes out at New Labour – and rejects idea next leader ‘must be a woman’
Labour leadership contender Lisa Nandy said Tony Blair and Gordon Brown allowed Thatcherism principles to continue during the New Labour government.
Nandy is preparing to praise Jeremy Corbyn in a speech on Wednesday morning for breaking the consensus that “economic conservatism was a bigger priority than people”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m not going to trash the legacy of the last Labour government because things like the minimum wage were complete game-changers in towns like Wigan, and the investment that went into health and education was really important.
“But it is certainly true to say that the consensus that Thatcher built lasted all the way through the New Labour years.
“I came into politics after 10 years working in the voluntary sector with homeless teenagers ... And the reason I did was out of frustration with a system under the last Labour government that took small amounts from people at the very top of the system and handed it with conditions to those at the bottom.”
She rejected Labour chairman Ian Lavery’s demand that Keir Starmer should make way for a female leader, saying: “It’s not up to him, it’s up to our members.”
Nandy also advocated an “overhaul” of the entire welfare system. “What I’m going to say today is that the type of change we need has to be much deeper,” she told the BBC.
“It’s not just a question of do we raise Universal Credit rates, it’s a question of do we overhaul the entire system so that it genuinely empowers people.”
Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy (EPA)
EU preparing a trade deal offer ‘worse than Japan’s’
Boris Johnson has been warned the EU is preparing a trade deal offer on tougher terms than those given to Canada and Japan.
According to The Telegraph, Brussels is reportedly planning to withhold Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) to stop UK industry bodies easily certifying goods that conform to EU standards.
Although the MRAs have been arranged with key partners such as Japan and Canada, one EU source told the newspaper they did not wish to “rush into providing the UK a competitive edge”.
Earlier this month an internal slide presentation drawn up by the European Commission for member states revealed Brussels’ emphatically ruling out any “mutual recognition” of regulations between the UK and EU.
It was an idea previously toyed with in Westminster to give Britain a continued advantage of the single market despite having left it.
Union and European flags ahead of UK's exit from EU (PA)
‘Stand aside Keir’: Labour chairman wants female leader and hails ‘Baileyism’
Labour chairman Ian Lavery has urged Sir Keir Starmer to stand aside as a contender in the leadership race so the party can have its first female leader.
The intervention from the senior Labour figure came as he introduced the left-wing candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey at a rally in London.
Lavery said: “We’ve got Rebecca Long-Bailey – Baileyism.”
He added: “She’s got the determination, the compassion, the passion that we need in a leader. And
I’ll tell you something else: we need a female leader of the Labour Party… stand aside, Keir.”
Long-Bailey outlined plans to introduce open selections for all Labour MPs ahead of the next general election.
She claimed the current system of trigger ballots had produced a culture where party members have to campaign negatively against an incumbent MP.
But Labour MP Wes Streeting was critical. “How about we concentrate on winning new ones, rather than getting rid of the ones we’ve got left?”
SNP chief demands audience with the Queen over Brexit bill
The SNP is making a last-ditch bid to stop the Brexit bill from becoming law, on the final day of its passage through parliament.
The Scottish nationalist leader in Westminster Ian Blackford has demanded the right to attend a meeting of the Privy Council to argue the case to the Queen – or one of her Majesty’s representatives – that the Withdrawal Agreement Act should not be given Royal Assent.
It follows a symbolic defeat for the government in the Welsh Assembly. AMs joined their counterparts in the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly by voting to reject the bill.
Nandy confronts Morgan over Meghan racism: ‘How would you know?’
The Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy has gone up against Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan – and criticised him for dismissing the idea Meghan Markle had suffered racist treatment.
She told Morgan: “If you don’t mind me saying, how on Earth would you know? As someone who’s never had to deal with ingrained prejudice.”
Asked whether the next Labour leader had to be a woman, Nandy replied: “I’d dearly like to see us have a woman leader, not just because we never have and it matters on a personal level, but because for the country I think this is a bit existential for the Labour party.
“If we talk about equality, the fact we’re the only party, I think, that hasn’t had a woman lead the party on a permanent basis is a real problem for us.
“But this contest really has got to be about raising our game – and all of the candidates have something to offer.”
Huawei should deliver UK’s 5G technology, says George Osborne
The former chancellor George Osborne said he would consider allowing Chinese communication company Huawei to deliver the UK’s high-speed 5G network upgrade if he was still in power.
The US has reportedly been putting pressure on Boris Johnson’s administration to look elsewhere for finding a supplier for the infrastructure upgrade due to security fears over China's influence on the firm.
He told the BBC: “You can keep Huawei out of your most sensitive core bits of your national security infrastructure, but frankly if you want Britain to have 5G technology, Huawei is a massive supplier of that 5G technology.
“Some of its products are frankly much cheaper and better than its competitors at the moment.
“If our choice is to allow Huawei in and have a competitive playing field or delay 5G and fall behind other European nations, then I think we need to work of course with companies like Huawei.”
Huawei's UK headquarters in Reading (PA)
Phillips backs Nandy for Labour leadership
Jess Phillips will support her former rival Lisa Nandy’s bid to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.
After dropping out of the contest on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Birmingham Yardley MP has said she will endorse Nandy – voting her as her first preference and Keri Starmer as second preference.
Having encouraged new people to sign up and get a vote in the leadership race, there has been speculation many new members backing Phillips will switch their support to Nandy or Starmer.
Jess Phillips has quit Labour leadership race (PA)
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