Tories and Labour tied for first time since 2019 as Starmer demands Covid Cobra meeting

Amal Clooney condemns Boris Johnson’s ‘lamentable’ willingness to break international law over Brexit

Government could tighten national lockdown measures

Labour have pulled level with the Conservatives in polling for the first time since 2019, according to YouGov research, amid mutiple crises over Brexit and coronavirus. 

The new poll showed both Labour and the Tories on 40 per cent, with the Lib Dems on 6 per cent, after a series of chaotic weeks for the government.

It came as Sir Keir Starmer and Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon called on Boris Johnson to hold a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee over the recent spike in coronavirus cases.

Please see below for how the news happened.

[19 September 2020 11:40 · Conrad Duncan]

‘He now seems to be a shadow’: Newspaper reports suggest Johnson is struggling amid multiple crises

A couple of reports in the Saturday newspapers this morning have suggested that Boris Johnson is struggling personally with leading the UK through the coronavirus crisis.

The Times quoted a senior Conservative source who said a “sort of misery” had been etched over Mr Johnson’s face recently.

“This is all weighing very heavily on him. I think you can see it even in some of his public appearances — the sort of misery etched on his face,” they said, as reported by the newspaper.

“He doesn’t seem to be enjoying being at the helm in rough seas.”

Meanwhile, the Financial Times has reported on the rift between the government and Tory backbencher over a number of issues, including Brexit and coronavirus.

“I don’t understand what’s happened to Boris,” a long-term ally of the PM said, according to the FT.

“We drummed up support for him for years to get him into the top job, but he now seems to be a shadow… Boris the journalist would not recognise Boris the prime minister."

[19 September 2020 11:54 · Conrad Duncan]

Our Whitehall editor, Kate Devlin, has more details below on Labour’s call for the government to fix the adult social care system:

[19 September 2020 12:09 · Conrad Duncan]

Labour groups push for Starmer to back proportional representation

Labour activists have mounted a new push for their party to back electoral reform ahead of the party’s virtual conference.

The new campaign, Labour for a New Democracy, has the backing of groups such as Open Labour, Compass and the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform, as well as strong support among party members.

A YouGov poll conducted at the end of 2019 found three quarters of Labour members backed moving elections to proportional representation (PR).

Our policy correspondent, Jon Stone, has the full story below:

[19 September 2020 12:21 · Conrad Duncan]

Tributes from the UK for US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of cancer at the age of 87 on Friday

[19 September 2020 12:37 · Conrad Duncan]

UK devolved leaders join forces to demand ‘urgent intervention’ to save aerospace sector

The leaders of the UK’s devolved nations have joined forces to demand “urgent intervention” from the UK government to help the struggling aerospace sector.

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford and Northern Ireland’s Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill have written to Boris Johnson urging him to set up a specialist task force to help the industry during the coronavirus pandemic.

Such a move would show “all our governments remain committed to working together in order to preserve this sector”, the letter said.

“Urgent intervention is now required to preserve capability and avert further damaging losses,” the leaders added.

The proposed task force would include “active participation” from the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as unions and companies working in the sector.

“As we approach the closure of the furlough scheme at the end of October, there is a real possibility of significant job losses across the UK,” Ms Sturgeon said.

“We have repeatedly called for the UK government to reconsider its position and to extend the scheme, especially for sectors that have been particularly hard-hit like aerospace.

“Recognising where key economic powers lie, we need to see sector-specific approaches for these parts of the economy from the UK government or the long-term impact will be severe.”

A UK government spokesperson said the aviation and aerospace sector remained a “critical part” of the UK economy.

“The UK government is supporting the aerospace and aviation sectors with over £8.5bn in grants, loans and export guarantees,” they said.

“Through major R&D investment of nearly £2bn to 2026, we are also developing new tech to make air travel safer and greener while creating new, well-paid green jobs for decades to come.”

[19 September 2020 12:57 · Conrad Duncan]

Johnson urged to act ‘sooner rather than later’ on coronavirus spike

Boris Johnson needs to act “sooner rather than later” to control the recent surge in coronavirus cases and prevent further deaths, a leading scientist has warned.

Professor Neil Ferguson, whose modelling informed lockdown plans in March, said the UK was facing a “perfect storm” following the easing of restrictions over the summer.

“Right now we are at about the levels of infection we were seeing in this country in late February,” Professor Ferguson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“If we leave it another two to four weeks we will be back at levels we were seeing more like mid-March. That's clearly going to cause deaths because people will be hospitalised.”

He added: “I think some additional measures are likely to be needed sooner rather than later.

“We have in some sense a perfect storm right now of people, as they have been told to, getting back to normal, schools reopening, a surge in cases, so therefore the testing system is under strain.

“So unfortunately we do have to roll the relaxation of measures back a little bit and get contacts down in the population.”

[19 September 2020 13:22 · Conrad Duncan]

Starmer reiterates call for living wage for care workers

Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated his party’s call for care workers to be paid at least the living wage following the coronavirus crisis.

“We stood on our doorsteps every Thursday at the start of the pandemic and clapped care workers,” Sir Keir said.

“But appreciation isn't enough, it doesn’t pay the bills and it doesn’t put food on the table.

“We need a plan for social care, where all care workers are paid at least the living wage.”

[19 September 2020 13:35 · Conrad Duncan]

Boris Johnson’s friends believe he is worried about affording a nanny after taking pay cut

Friends of Boris Johnson have suggested the prime minister is worried about how to afford a nanny after taking a government salary of about £150,000 a year.

Mr Johnson is understood to have taken a significant pay cut to become the PM as he reportedly earned more than £350,000 a year as a newspaper columnist, speaker and backbench MP.

“He doesn't have a housekeeper, he has a single cleaner and they're worried about being able to afford a nanny. He's stuck in the flat and Downing Street is not a nice place to live,” an ally of the Conservative leader told The Times.

Our Whitehall editor, Kate Devlin, has the full story below:

[19 September 2020 13:53 · Conrad Duncan]

Starmer pays tribute to ‘champion of justice’ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[19 September 2020 14:25 · Conrad Duncan]

Opinion: 'Coronavirus has saved Keir Starmer from a fractious Labour conference’

The coronavirus pandemic has helped Sir Keir Starmer to avoid confrontation from supporters of former leader Jeremy Corbyn at this year’s Labour conference, according to our columnist John Rentoul.

Like other political parties, Labour was forced to cancel its in-person event earlier this year due to Covid-19 and is instead holding a virtual event this weekend, with speeches broadcast online.

John writes:

“With Labour conference reduced to a few speeches on Zoom – no one can heckle, or walk out, or hold up a placard – Starmer’s allies can concentrate on the postal ballot for seats on the party’s national executive. For the first time this year, they are being allocated by proportional representation to the rival slates, and ‘Labour to Win’, the Starmer-loyalist slate, is likely to secure at least three of the nine seats representing grassroots party members."

You can find his full piece below: