Boris Johnson news – live: PM's minister 'cosying up' to far-right Brazilian government official as Amazon burns
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A close ally of Boris Johnson has been accused of “cosying up” to the Brazilian government and failing to publicly speak out about the damage being wreaked upon the Amazon rainforest by wildfires.
It comes as No 10 claimed the PM’s meetings with Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel showed they were “willing to engage” on the idea of a new Brexit deal.
Philip Hammond, meanwhile, is reportedly preparing told hold talks with EU leaders in a bid to make sure any legislation forcing the government to seek an extension to Article 50 is supported by Brussels.
See below for live updates
Boris Johnson may have ordered No 10 officials to come up with an alternative-to-the-backstop proposal, but would taking the Irish backstop out of the Withdrawal Agreement be enough for the staunchest Brexiteers?
David Davis has suggested the EU would need to offer even more concessions to keep them happy.
The former Brexit secretary has told The Telegraph’s Chopper’s Brexit Podcast that Johnson would also have to agree not to pay the full £39bn divorce bill in order to gain the approval of Tory MPs.
“If I were doing this for Boris, I would be insistent on is that they make the bill – the £39 billion, the second half of it – contingent on progress on the future economic partnership.”
The latest YouGov survey shows 68 per cent of the public are pessimistic about the chances of a new Brexit deal being renegotiated before 31 October.
A no-deal Brexit on 31 October would reduce the value of people’s homes in the UK by a combined £240bn in six months, a poll of housing experts suggests.
A poll of housing experts predicts UK property prices will fall by around 3 per cent in the immediate aftermath, despite mortgage interest rates already close to record lows.
Gary Neville – a fan of our live blogs, apparently – thinks Britain can cope with that. But he’s more worried about a potential rise in unemployment.
The pound has fallen into the red against other major currencies – dropping 0.28 per cent against the dollar to $1.227 and 0.18 per cent against the euro to €1.104.
Sterling dropped after recording strong gains on Thursday on the back of comments from Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, which some took as evidence that a new agreement could be reached before 31 October.
It seems the optimism did not last very long.
Emmanuel Macron would not be unhappy if the UK leaves on 31 October, says our associate editor Sean O’Grady – the French president considers us a drag on his ambition for “more Europe”.
Northern Ireland’s police service has warned that Brexit uncertainty and Stormont’s political vacuum is leading to heightened tensions and security risks.
Ben Kelly says we’re not paying enough attention to an escalating situation.
The Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith is to advise a government review into hospital food following the deaths of six people due to a listeria outbreak.
A “root and branch” review launched by the Department of Health and Social Care on Friday will examine whether the number of hospitals catering in-house can be increased.
Here are all the details.
LBC has revealed the most popular calls ever fielded by James O’Brien, the radio host who regularly despairs at Brexit-related idiocy (my own particular favourite is the man who called to say he voted to leave the EU so we can still have three-pin plugs).
Tory MP Greg Hands, the co-chair of the Alternative Arrangements Commission, has claimed Angela Merkel is genuinely supportive of the idea of finding alternatives of the backstop.
Hands said his own ideas of technological solutions to border problems were received enthusiastically by German technocrats earlier this summer.
“In June, I presented a report on the issue to a gathering of German cabinet members and senior German entrepreneurs and industrialists who showed great interest in finding solutions to the backstop,” he wrote in an article for The Daily Mail.
“Unlike the ideological technocrats in Brussels who have refused point blank to consider any way of getting around this seemingly intractable problem, politicians and business folk are more pragmatic – including Chancellor Merkel. She has been indicating her willingness to be more practical on Brexit for some time.”
Hands claimed it was now “clear” that Merkel “is prepared to give serious consideration to well-thought-out and practical ways of getting rid of the backstop”.
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