Boris Johnson news – live: PM accused of ‘steering country off cliff’ after Gove says no need for EU trade deal, as climate change response labelled ‘amateur hour’
The day's events as they happened
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Cabinet office minister Michael Gove sparked anger after claiming the UK doesn’t “need” a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, insisting it is better to “stand up for Britain” than accept any rules from Brussels.
It comes as a former Tory minister and ex-president of the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow – sacked last week by the government – launched a blistering attack on Boris Johnson’s record on climate change.
Claire Perry O’Neill claimed Mr Johnson “doesn’t really get” climate change and said his promises “are not close to being met”. Ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband said the PM didn’t understand the scale of the issue and described his handling of the COP26 summit as “amateur hour”.
However Mr Johnson spent the day alongside ir David Attenborough and Giuseppe Conte, prime minister of summit co-host Italy - while saying the nation should lead the way to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Meanwhile in the commons the SNP railed against a vote on NHS funding in England which they were barred from voting on amid increasing frustration from the nationalists as they seek to hold a second independence referendum.
Here are the day's events as they happened:
Voting delayed as Scottish MPs protest
Voting on NHS funding has been delayed in the aye lobby, with the serjeant at arms - who carries out the task of ensuring order in the Commons - tasked with investigating.
It appears it may have something to do with a number of SNP politicians remaining in the area, with the party's Pete Wishart posting a picture of them holding up signs referencing the English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) rule.
Aside from most of the SNP MPs rising from their seats and moving to the lobby when they are not allowed to vote on the legislation, Mr Wishart's picture may also be an issue - it comes just days after those on the estate were reminded they are not allowed to take photos in or around the chamber.
Speaker's attachment to lanyard captured for posterity
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the house, is a man who likes to hold on to his lanyard.
So attached is he to the identification worn by workers across the parliamentary estate that during December's Queen's Speech he was the only person who continued to wear it under the ruffles of his ceremonial robes.
Now his fondness for the security measure will be captured for the future - after he decided to wear the ID badge for his official parliamentary photo.
He appears to have been the only person in the commons to have done so.
Scottish nationalists continue opposition to NHS bill as it passes
A bit of silliness going on in the chamber as the Scottish Nationalists attempt to express their criticism of the system of English Votes for English Laws, which stops them from voting when a matter does not effect Scotland.
While introducing a piece of funding legislation for English MPs to vote on for second reading, she accepted the 'ayes' from the Conservative benches - and dismissed the cries of 'No' from the SNP benches, adding that she "is more than capable of discerning an English no as opposed to a non-English no".
SNP MPs responded by shouting 'no' in upper class English accents.
The bill, a statutory instrument which increases government funding for the NHS in England, has since passed.
Lisa Nandy calls for 'failed' Universal Credit policy to be scrapped and rebuilt
Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy has urged the Government to scrap and rebuild Universal Credit - labelling the benefit a "failure".
The Wigan MP, who is seeking to replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the opposition, will call for a different approach as she addresses a party members' event in Sheffield on Tuesday night.
She will say: "For too long the benefits system has been designed from the top-down and the Tories have shown little regard for the brutal reality facing those who need it.
"Too many people end up destitute and in despair at the hands of a system that is supposed to help them. Universal Credit should be scrapped and rebuilt with the people it should be supporting.
"Universal Credit is a failure yet the Tories can't bring themselves to admit that they are part of the problem. It is time for a different approach which allows the people who rely on the state for help, with the expertise of advocacy groups, to change it for the better."
This journalist-banning government tried to defend the indefensible... and failed miserably - Tom Peck
Poor Chloe Smith was sent to claim the mass journalist walkout from Downing Street had all been ‘standard practice’ - Tom Peck writes - It was nothing of the sort.
He adds: "It was, in the end, an MP called Chloe Smith who was sent to the despatch box of the House of Commons to account for the government’s behaviour on Monday afternoon, when journalists arrived at No 10 to find themselves being sorted on to separate sides of a large rug, and told which would be allowed into a special briefing and which would not, before they all walked out in protest.
"You almost have to feel sorry for her. Not for the first time in her life, one suspects, a lot of names will have to have been crossed off the list before they got to her.
"It should really have been Nicky Morgan, the culture secretary. But she’s not allowed in the Commons, because she stood down as an MP at the last election, having refused to serve in the government in which she now serves."
More below:
Bercow dismisses claim he 'brutalised staff'
Ex-Commons Speaker John Bercow has dismissed as "total and utter rubbish" claims he "brutalised" parliamentary staff.
David Leakey, who served as Black Rod until 2018 and has threatened to produce a dossier of evidence against Mr Bercow, told Sky News that the former speaker had "brutalised staff in the House of Commons and elsewhere, and I include myself in that".
Responding to the comments, Mr Bercow told the broadcaster the claims were "Total and utter rubbish - from start to finish".
He added: "First point is that David Leakey didn't work for me, he wasn't employed by me, he wasn't an employee of the House of Commons.
"He worked in and was the protocol officer of the House of Lords. He is in absolutely no position whatsoever to comment on my relations with my parliamentary colleagues, of which he is completely and utterly ignorant.
"He doesn't know what my relations were with my clerks. He has absolutely no intelligence on those matters whatsoever.
"What we have got here is somebody who left the House, who is thrashing about, desperate to remain relevant, popping up at every turn, trying to make himself seem very important, very centre stage, very at the heart of things in the way that I went about my work."
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