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As it happenedended

Brexit news: Time now ‘very short’ for deal, says No10 as non-British rough sleepers face deportation

Follow Westminster’s events as they happened

Samuel Osborne,Adam Forrest,Zoe Tidman
Thursday 22 October 2020 21:08 BST
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Barnier calls for 'compromise on both sides' to resolve Brexit deadlock

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Time is “very short” for a Brexit deal to be agreed upon, No10 said ahead of talks resuming.

UK and EU Brexit negotiators prepared to embark on an "intensified phase of talks" on Thursday after Brussels said both sides needed to compromise on trade issues following a recent stand-off.

Key issues of contention are fishing rights, the governance of any deal and the “level playing field” aimed at preventing unfair competition.

Meanwhile, new immigration rules set to come into force after the Brexit transition period mean non-British rough sleepers face being deported from the UK.

Campaigners have described the plan as “completely unreasonable” and “cruel”.

Labour accepts it is too late for October half-term circuit breaker

Jonathan Ashworth told MPs he accepts that it is now too late for a circuit-breaker to be held over October half-term.

The shadow health secretary said: "Now, I accept we've probably missed the window of opportunity now with... unless the Secretary of State or the minister of state is going to get up at the end of this debate and say actually, we're going to do a circuit-breaker over half-term next week - I accept the Government have probably missed that window of opportunity now.

"But at some point, they will have to take further action."

On Test and Trace, Mr Ashworth added that "the statistics have been bad every week".

Intervening to defend the system, Matt Hancock said: "I just want to leap to the defence of Test and Trace because in the last fortnight, the number of contacts and cases that have been reached has doubled, the distance travelled over the last just over a month to get a test has halved and the turnaround time for tests that are sent to care homes, which are critical to saving lives, that has come down."

Samuel Osborne22 October 2020 15:20

How Andy Burnham became UK’s latest political crush

This week’s politics news has forced lots of people to face up to another reality: 2020 is the year Andy Burnham became hot, Louis Staples writes.

We’re not sure how this happened, but this shift occurred sometime over the last week when Burnham found himself in a face off with Boris Johnson.

Read more:

How Andy Burnham became Britain's latest corona crush

2020 has been full of surprises. A pandemic turned the world upside down and shocked us all (apart from Dominic Cummings, of course, who saw it coming long before he had his eyesight tested at the castle). Wildfires burned just about everywhere, “murder hornets” threatened an invasion and a global movement against racism was ignited. But in the UK at least, 2020 still has

Samuel Osborne22 October 2020 15:36

Stoke-on-Trent councillor asks for city to be moved into tier 2 restrictions

Abi Brown, Stoke-on-Trent city council leader, said she had written, with the support of the city's three MPs, to the health secretary yesterday asking for the city to be moved up to Tier 2 restrictions.

She said the "dominant reason" for rising infections was community transmission and "people not being careful enough" in homes, and smaller indoor spaces.

Addressing city councillors today, as Matt Hancock announced Stoke's move to high risk in the Commons, Ms Brown acknowledged the move meant "more sacrifice" for residents.

But she said: "Let me be clear, without decisive action, tier 3 is where we are heading and that would mean bars and other facilities closing, as well as other very tough measures we do not want to see in the city."

Samuel Osborne22 October 2020 15:47

Job Support Scheme ‘more generous’, says director of Institute for Fiscal Studies

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: "The chancellor has made the Job Support Scheme much more generous.

"In many respects, it has much in common with the current version of the furlough scheme which comes to an end this month."

The extra grant funding "gives significant discretion to councils on how much different businesses will get".

"This is a welcome recognition of the role of local decision-makers in supporting their local economies rather than relying on central allocations," he said.

But Mr Johnson said the Treasury had "remarkably" failed to put a formal cost estimate on "a substantial package of announcements".

Samuel Osborne22 October 2020 15:55

Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Sir Patrick Vallance are speaking to the public on coronavirus.

Watch the press conference below:

Zoe Tidman22 October 2020 16:06

Tier 2 grants

Speaking about new support - which will be backdated until August - for businesses in Tier 2 areas, Rishi Sunak said: “We are being more generous to businesses and places that have been in higher alert levels for longer."

Here’s Andrew Woodcock’s report on the new grants announced today:

Rishi Sunak announces grant scheme for businesses affected by tier 2 lockdown

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham ‘open-mouthed’ that support announced only after London entered local restrictions

Zoe Tidman22 October 2020 16:14

"Our plan for jobs will support British people and businesses wherever they live and whatever their situation," Rishi Sunak said.

"Just as we have throughout this crisis, we will listen and respond to people's concerns as the circumstances evolve."

The government has been under fire from northern leaders who called for greater support amid new restrictions.

Zoe Tidman22 October 2020 16:22

Boris Johnson said he “strongly rejects” suggestions the government has been “at war with local leaders”. 

“We have had fantastic and extensive local cooperation,” the PM said. 

Zoe Tidman22 October 2020 16:25

Here is a reminder of criticism the government has faced from Greater Manchester’s mayor just today:

Andy Burnham ‘open-mouthed’ after government unveils tier 2 support ‘to help London’

Mayor accuses the government of only unveiling support now it is needed by the capital

Zoe Tidman22 October 2020 16:28

Here is Patrick Vallance’s staggering estimation of how many people are being infected with Covid-19 every day:

Up to 90,000 people now infected in England each day, Patrick Vallance says
Zoe Tidman22 October 2020 16:29

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