Boris Johnson news: Brexit ‘crisis talks’ held in Berlin, as PM’s father again breaks facemask rule
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EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has met German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin for talks on the Brexit crisis, as Germany urges the UK to agree a compromise trade deal. Goldman Sachs said a deal was still “likely” in early November – but warned a breakdown in negotiations could not be ruled out.
It comes as chancellor Rishi Sunak defended his Eat Out to Help Out scheme – despite Mr Johnson’s suggestion it may have helped spread the coronavirus. Following his Tory conference speech, Mr Sunak claimed he did not want to be PM. “This is a hard enough job for me to do.”
Meanwhile Britain’s former ambassador to the US said Mr Johnson is unlikely to get a “warm welcome” from the White House if Joe Biden wins the election because of resentment over the PM’s remarks about Barack Obama’s “ancestral dislike of the British Empire”.
Brexit trade deal still ‘likely’ says Goldman Sachs – but not until November
Goldman Sachs said on Monday that the UK and the EU were likely to do a post-Brexit trade deal by early November – though warned the risk of a breakdown in negotiations could not be ruled out.
“Our core view remains that a “thin” zero-tariff/zero-quota trade agreement will likely be struck by early November, and subsequently ratified by the end of December,” Goldman analysts said a note to clients.
“The risk of a breakdown in negotiations cannot be ruled out,” the group said. “We continue to think the perceived probability of ‘no deal’ will persist beyond the next European Council meeting in mid-October.”
Talks continue this week after Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen approved a further month of negotiations. The leaders’ weekend video call appears to have gone pretty well – the pair agreed to talk on a regular basis.
Barnier in Berlin for crisis talks with Merkel
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today for talks on the Brexit trade deal crisis.
Barnier has already met with Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas this morning – who said a no-deal Brexit would be an “irresponsible” outcome.
“With today’s health and economic challenges, people on both sides of the channel have enough to shoulder, so it would be totally irresponsible to burden them in this position with the additional problems through a no-deal,” Maas said.
Barnier is also set to begin another round of negotiations with his UK counterpart David Frost this week.
No 10’s envoy said there had been progress on state aid, but the gap on fisheries is still wide. Both sides are committed, least to trying to find “landing zones” on the most difficult areas.
PM admits he doesn’t know how many Covid contacts have been missed after IT blunder
Boris Johnson has admitted he does not know how many contacts of coronavirus cases have been missed – as he blamed a spreadsheet blunder for nearly 16,000 missing positive test results.
The PM said “some of the data got truncated and it was lost”, when asked how the damaging mistakes had been made.
Asked about the scale of the contacts that had been missed, he said: “I can’t give you those figures. What I can say is all those people are obviously being contacted and the key thing is that everybody, whether in this group or generally, should self-isolate.”
Boris Johnson admits he doesn't know how many Covid contacts have been missed
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Sunak says public right to be ‘frustrated’ by 10pm pub curfew
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is about to begin speaking at the Tory conference. He is expected to commit himself to “a single priority” to “create, support and extend opportunity to as many people as I can”.
In a pre-speech interview with The Sun, Sunak has defended his Eat Out to Help Out scheme – despite Boris Johnson’s suggested the incentive “may have helped to spread the virus”.
Asked if he had any regrets, he replied: “No, definitely not. We had an industry that I care deeply about because of employment. It’s over two million people.”
He also expressed sympathy over public anger at the 10pm pub curfew brought in as an attempt to curb infections. “Everyone is very frustrated and exhausted and tired about all of this,” he told the paper.
Chancellor heaps praise on prime minister
Rishi Sunak began his conference speech by heaping praise upon Boris Johnson, as he sought to quell Westminster rumours of a rift between the Downing Street neighbours.
The chancellor said: “I’ve seen up close the burden the prime minister carries. We all know he has an ability to connect with people in a way few politicians manage. It is a special and rare quality.
“But what the commentators don't see, the thing I see, is the concern and care he feels for people every day, for the wellbeing of every person in our country.”
He added: “Yes, it's been difficult, challenges are part of the job, but on the big calls, in the big moments, Boris Johnson has got it right and that is the leadership that we need.”
Sunak promises ‘might of the British state’ will support unemployed
The chancellor praised the Conservative belief in “individual freedom”, but also said the government will always stand “between the people and the danger” of the coronavirus pandemic.
On debt, he said: “We will protect the public finances, over the medium-term getting our borrowing and debt back under control … We have a sacred responsibility to future generations to leave the public finances strong.”
On jobs, he said: “I am committing myself to a single priority - to create, support and extend opportunity to as many people as I can.
“Because even if this moment is more difficult than any you have ever faced, even if it feels like there is no hope, I am telling you that there is, and that the overwhelming might of the British state will be placed at your service.
“We will not let talent wither, or waste, we will help all who want it, find new opportunity and develop new skills.”
Chancellor accused of having ‘nothing new to say’
The shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, has said Rishi Sunak had “nothing new to say” in his speech to the Conservative party’s online conference.
“No new targeted support for millions facing the furlough cliff edge. Nothing new for the self-employed. Nothing for those excluded so far … He just blew his chance to get a grip on Britain's jobs crisis.”
Campbell on Patel: ‘Not bright’
Priti Patel and Alastair Campbell have engaged in a war of words over her accent in the past 24 hours – after Tony Blair’s former comms supremo said he didn’t want “a home secretary who can’t pronounce a G at the end of a word.”
Patel fired back in her conference speech: “If at times it means Tony Blair’s spin doctor mocking my accent, so be it.”
Campbell has now tweeted her accent is “very low down the list of reasons I wish she was not in government” – before coming up with 10 reasons to regret her role as home secretary.
Black Lives Matter not a force for good, says ex-chancellor
Tory MP Sajid Javid has said Black Lives Matter is “not a force for good” – describing the organisers behind anti-racism protests as “neo-Marxist”.
The former chancellor, who in August took up a paid job at JP Morgan Chase, told a Tory conference event: “I distinguish between the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial justice.
“I’m not sympathetic to the actual organisation, Black Lives Matter. I think it’s a sort of neo-Marxist organisation that wants to overthrow capitalism and get rid of the police. I think the organisation itself is not a force for good.”
Black Lives Matter is 'not force for good' says Tory MP Sajid Javid
Former chancellor says movement is run by ‘neo-Marxists’
Sunak: I do not want to be PM
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he does not want to become prime minister. Asked if he eventually wants the keys to No 10, in an interview after his Tory conference speech, Sunak said: “No. Definitely not seeing what the prime minister has to deal with, this is a job hard enough for me to do.”
Sunak said Johnson calls him “Rish”, adding: “I call him prime minister, he keeps trying to tell me to call him other things but I just stick with PM … We have a close personal friendship.”
Sunak also revealed said he would be interested in helping the entertainment industry recover with a Eat Out To Help Out-style scheme at the right time.
“It might not be the right time to deploy an intervention like that but I’m very sympathetic to the idea, at the appropriate time, we should be doing what we can to drive our recovery.”
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