Boris Johnson news: Government suffers first parliamentary defeat since election, as EU warns Brexit trade talks may not start until March
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson is under fire over plans to impose strict new restrictions on EU immigration at the beginning of 2021 – two years earlier than promised by Theresa May. Labour said the proposed limits on lower-skilled migrants were “damaging, ill-informed and reactionary”.
The prime minister is also facing pressure over the mounting costs of the controversial HS2 rail project. Critics dubbed it “white elephant”, as a widely leaked government-commissioned review suggested the total cost could spiral up to £106bn.
It comes as the European Commission said it might take until March to finalise its mandate for trade deal negotiations. Meanwhile, prospective Labour members have until 5pm on Monday to join and vote in the leadership contest – with over 100,000 people believed to have signed up in recent weeks.
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EU says it won’t be ready for trade talks in February
The European Commission confirmed it might take until March to draw up its own mandate for negotiating a trade deal with the UK.
Asked about the time frame for starting negotiations with the UK, The commission's chief spokesman Eric Mamer said: “The commission can adopt its proposal for the negotiation directives only once the UK has actually withdrawn from the EU.
“But then there is still an institutional process for these to be adopted by the (European) Council. This we know will take some time, which is why we have said we will start negotiations as quickly as we can, but it will certainly not be before the end of February, beginning of March.
“This is not a slowing down or speeding up of the process. This is simply the nature of the institutional process and the consultations that need to take place before the negotiation directives can be formally adopted.”
The commission representative also reiterated that the UK would have to accept less access to the single market if it carries out its threat of diverging from EU rules after Brexit.
“We have had this conversation a number of times and we have made our position very clear,” said Mamer.
“There is a link between moving away from EU regulations and the degree of access that is possible into the single market.”
Union and EU flags ahead of exit on 31 January (PA)
PM and the duke meet for 20-minute ‘catch-up’
The Duke of Sussex has met Boris Johnson at the UK-Africa Investment Summit just hours after saying he had “no other option” but to step back from royal life.
Harry carried out what is likely to be one of his few remaining official engagements before the Sussexes take a “leap of faith” and leave the monarchy for a new life in Canada.
Looking relaxed and wearing a suit, shirt and tie the duke arrived at London's Docklands where Johnson was hosting the global event.
The PM and the duke had an informal “catch-up” chat, meeting for 20 minutes one-to-one without any aides present.
Harry gave an emotional speech on Sunday night where he told the “truth” about leaving royal duties behind in a bid for a more peaceful life for his family.
Prince Harry and Boris Johnson (AFP)
‘We shouldn’t talk ourselves out of this’: Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham on HS2
More on HS2 controversy. Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, has urged the government “get on and make the investment … We shouldn’t talk ourselves out of this. We should.”
Support for the rail project has also come from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and the British Chambers of Commerce.
But lots of others have been objecting to the costs today, after the leaked government document showing the high-speed rail link connecting London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds could now cost £106bn.
David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, said: “This white elephant must be scrapped so we can invest in regional infrastructure projects.”
The draft report, first seen by the Financial Times, recommends that the southern part of the line should go ahead. But it urges a six-month “pause” in developing Phase 2 to evaluate whether the use of existing conventional tracks could save billions of pounds compared with a new line.
Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has the details:
Gibraltar considers joining EU’s Schengen open borders area
The British overseas territory is considering joining the EU’s Schengen open borders area to limit disruption caused by Brexit.
The territory’s chief minister Fabian Picardo said it did not “make sense” for Gibraltar to be cut off from the rest of Europe – given its location bordering Spain.
A decision to join the full Schengen area by the micro-state could mean UK travellers would have to apply for a mini-visa known as ETIAS to visit after Brexit.
Our Europe correspondent Jon Stone has the details:
Gordon Brown: Without change, 300-year-old union may soon be over
The former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has been setting out his ideas on the future of the UK at a speech in London, calling for a nationwide constitutional convention, region-by-region citizens’ assemblies and a new “forum for the nations and regions”.
Brown dismissed the Tory government’s reported plan to move the House of Lords north, possibly to York or Birmingham as “cosmetic” and “PR gestures”.
He said: “An outdated institution 200 miles or so north of its current location is still an outdated institution.”
Brown also suggested a new “Northern Exchequer board” be set up and given control of Treasury spending in the north.
Speaking to the BBC he explained: “Unless the regions and nations feel they have a voice that is respected in the United Kingdom, the UK’s 300-year-old history may at some point soon be over.
“We have to give more power to people in the communities and in the localities and the regions. We have a far too over-centralised state based in one part of the country – an administrative, political and financial centre that excludes power from people out in the regions.”
Moderate Tories stuck by Johnson, admits David Gauke
The former Tory MP David Gauke – a government minister this time last year – has been asked on BBC Politics Live whether he may have misjudged Boris Johnson.
“I had a political concern for the Conservative party that I thought he would a lot of alienate moderate Conservatives,” said Gauke, who rebelled in the summer over Brexit and lost his seat at the December election.
“Those moderates Conservatives by and large stuck with the Conservative party … My big concern is that we are heading in the direction of a very hard Brexit.”
PM urged to halt UK aid for fossil fuel projects
More on Boris Johnson’s pledge earlier to stop committing aid money for countries continuing to support coal-mining and coal-fuelled power stations. Environmentalists have called on the PM to also end UK funding for gas and oil energy projects overseas.
Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Rachel Kennerley responded: “Ending support for overseas coal is long-overdue – the prime minister must now demonstrate his determination to confront the climate crisis by pulling the plug on UK funding for gas and oil projects abroad too.”
Andrew Norton, the director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), called it “a welcome step in the right direction ― but it needs to go further”.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has all the details:
PM’s claim to ‘put people before passports’ mocked
Plenty of criticism of Boris Johnson’s claim to be creating a “fairer” immigration system. “Change is coming, and our [immigration] system is becoming fairer and more equal … treating people the same wherever they come from,” he told the UK-Africa Investment Summit.
“By putting people before passports, we will be able to attract the best talent from around the world.”
The comedy writer David Schneider responded: “I for one am totally confident that the best person to form a strong partnership with African leaders is a man who once referred to Africans as “piccaninnies… with watermelon smiles”.
The SNP MSP Michael Russell said: “No, that is the system you are abandoning - freedom of movement which allows passport free travel across Europe and is enriching culturally & financially.”
Maya Goodfellow, author of Hostile Environment, added: “Johnson claims he’ll put “people before passports”. The government talk about people as “low-skilled” or “high-skilled” and decide what rights they can access depending on how they’re categorised – doesn’t look like putting “people” first to me.”
Corbyn under pressure over nominees for peerages
More on former speaker John Bercow – who could be blocked from getting a peerage unless he joins Labour – and the peerages row.
Reports over the weekend suggested Bercow is on a list of nominees for peerages drawn up by Jeremy Corbyn, alongside his own chief of staff Katie Murphy.
In a break with convention, Corbyn has reportedly stepped in to nominate the former Tory MP for a seat in the House of Lords after Johnson broke with convention by failing to put him forward for a peerage.
Meanwhile the decision to nominate Murphy has also sparked a major row, as her role in the handling of Labour’s antisemitism complaints is still under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more details:
Labour must stop pandering to the right and be clear – immigration is what makes Britain great
Leadership contender Jess Phillips writes: "One of the key things that all of us should look to achieve during this Labour leadership contest is changing how we discuss immigration. At least since the Empire Windrush docked in 1948, the arrival of people into this country to live, study and work has been treated at best as a necessary evil, couched in terms of the need for people to drive buses or work in the NHS; at worst a threat to the nation, our culture, wages and safety. Both attitudes fail to recognise the reality: that immigration is what makes us British."
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