Boris Johnson news: Brexit deal ‘closer and closer’ as PM says life cannot go back to normal
The latest developments from Tuesday 6 October
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The UK and the EU are getting “closer and closer” to a Brexit trade deal, according to diplomats in Brussels. EU officials are said to be gearing up to negotiate until as late as mid-November to avoid a damaging no-deal scenario at the end of the year.
It comes as Boris Johnson claimed life “cannot go back to normal” after the pandemic – but said he expected no more social distancing by October 2021. The PM promised 5 per cent deposits for first-time buyers and extra investment in wind power at his conference speech.
MPs voted to retain the rule of six restricting gatherings to six people - despite a backbench rebellion as senior Tory MPs urged the prime minister to change direction. The regulation was approved by 287 votes to 17, with Labour abstaining.
Chemical weapons body confirms nerve agent Novichok in Navalny's blood
Blood samples taken from Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny confirmed the presence of a nerve agent from the banned Novichok family, the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Tuesday.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement that the biomarkers in his blood and urine had "similar structural characteristics as the toxic chemicals belonging" to the Novichok group.
The findings confirm results released by Germany, where Navalny was treated after falling ill on a flight in Siberia on 20 August. Berlin asked the OPCW to take samples from Nr Navalny and test them after German doctors concluded he had been poisoned with Novichok.
The precise substance in Nr Navalny's samples that was detected by the OPCW's designated laboratories was not on the list of banned chemical weapons, but is a new and undeclared variant in the Novichok family, the statement said.
That concludes our political coverage for today. Make sure to tune back in tomorrow for more updates, reaction and analysis - see you then!
Infected Trump working from White House residence
US president Donald Trump is working from makeshift office space in the White House residence rather than the Oval Office, with only a few senior staff gaining face-to-face access while he receives treatment for Covid-19, officials said on Tuesday.
They said aides were looking at potential West Wing work spaces while he recover, with the Oval Office, where Trump normally works, off limits now that several staffers have been infected and forced to work from home.
Aides said they were looking at where else he might safely work in the West Wing.
"He has space up in the residence and we are working out additional work space for him with appropriate medical precautions and logistics, so that he can fully carry out his duties and maintain the safety of himself and all those around him," said one official.
Social care groups call for action, not words, from Johnson on funding
Social care organisations called for action from Boris Johnson on funding reform for the sector after the prime minister again pledged to set out a plan to deal with the situation.
Mr Johnson used his address to the virtual Conservative Party conference to insist he would "fix the injustice of care home funding".
However, groups and charities involved in social care insisted a detailed strategy was now urgently needed.
The Prime Minister told the virtual conference: "We will fix the injustice of care home funding, bringing the magic of averages to the rescue of millions.
"Covid has shone a spotlight on the difficulties of that sector in all parts of the UK - and to build back better we must respond, care for the carers as they care for us."
Nuffield Trust deputy director of policy Natasha Curry branded the speech a "missed opportunity".
Simon Bottery, senior fellow at The King's Fund, said the Prime Minister's words were a long way from his original promise to take action.
He said: "The social care system is not fit for purpose and while the Prime Minister's speech puts welcome focus back on the issue, this is still a long way from his earlier promise to fix social care 'once and for all’.”
Raab condemns ‘serious and egregious’ human rights violations by China
The UK has sought to increase international pressure on China over human rights abuses, with Dominic Raab refusing to rule out a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
At the United Nations, the UK was one of 39 countries to raise concerns about the security crackdown in Hong Kong and the abuse of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab told MPs at Westminster that evidence of abuses in Xinjiang was being reviewed to see whether it amounted to genocide.
He told the Foreign Affairs Committee: "I have made clear that there is evidence of serious and egregious human rights violations, gross human rights violations."
But to be classed as genocide, Mr Raab, a former war crimes lawyer, said it had to be proved that the deliberate intention was the destruction of a minority group.
"Certainly, I think the more that we see of that evidence, and I think the more the international community addresses its mind to it, the more I think we do need to look very carefully at what action we take," Mr Raab said.
"I think the concerns of what's happening to the Uighurs - the detention, the mistreatment, the forced sterilisation - is something that we can't just turn away from."
Biden victory could be problem for Johnson government, says Lord Darroch
Former British ambassador to the US Lord Darroch believes a Joe Biden victory could present a problem for Boris Johnson’s government.
"I think Joe Biden is an anglophile, but I think that a UK-US trade deal may not the priority that it would be if it was a second Trump term,” he told Channel 4 News.
He added some of Mr Biden's team were "not massive fans" of Mr Johnson but said the fundamentals of the US-UK relationship would likely be as strong as ever.
Lord Darroch also said that “most Americans have decided how they're going to vote” in next month’s election.
“If you're going to vote for Donald Trump you will be impressed by the sort of superpower appearance, the theatre of his resurrection, his return to the White House,” he said.
"If you were going to vote Joe (Biden), you'd probably be appalled by the theatre and disturbed by the idea that he may be infecting the staff in the White House and some of his colleagues by his reappearance too soon.
"I kind of doubt that what's happened is really going to make much difference to the election."
Former pensions secretary Esther McVey explains why she voted against the regulations:
Tory rebels fail to block rule of six regulations
Boris Johnson has faced a backbench rebellion over Covid-19 gathering restrictions, as senior Tory MPs urged the prime minister to change direction.
Twelve Conservatives voted against the rule of six regulations in England, while several others abstained after voicing concerns during an at times testy debate in the Commons.
They questioned the rationale behind children not being exempt from the Government's restriction, which bans social gathering of more than six people.
The motion on the regulations was approved by 287 votes to 17, majority 270, with Labour abstaining.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, asked whether the Government had considered a "rule of eight" instead, and Tory Huw Merriman said he could not vote in favour of the motion as he fears the rule of six would "do more harm than good".
Tory former minister Steve Baker added: “We're hearing about people who are being destroyed by this lockdown, strong, confident people, outgoing people, gregarious people who are being destroyed and reduced to repeated episodes of tears on the phone.”
Priti Patel ‘living in a whole other reality on immigration’
How the home secretary can blame the mess of the system after a decade in power on lefty lawyers and “do-gooders” is unclear, writes Jess Phillips:
Priti Patel isn’t just wrong about immigration – she’s living in a whole other reality | Jess Phillips
The government are distracting from their failings by returning to what they know - getting tough on immigration
Heseltine joins anti-no deal rally
Tory grandee Lord Heseltine is among MPs speaking at an online rally on Thursday against a no-deal Brexit.
The #No2NoDeal is organised by European Movement UK.
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