Inside Politics: Summer holiday ‘chaos’ after Spain quarantine imposed

Sign up here to receive this daily briefing in your email inbox every morning

If Boris Johnson is mulling over potential staycation destinations, he might want to cross Northampton off his list. Freak weather saw a tornado rip through the east Midlands town this weekend – bringing down power lines and overturning allotment sheds. Stormy conditions still hang over Westminster, despite hopes of a calm summer recess. The government’s decision to pull “airbridge” arrangements with Spain has proved a political tornado, causing outrage with holidaymakers, airlines and the Spanish government. The PM might want to book that cottage getaway asap.

Inside the bubble

Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson will launch the government’s ‘Better Health’ campaign today designed to tackle obesity – following a report from Public Health England warning of the increased risks associated with coronavirus. The PM will put to the side his libertarian views and outline measures aimed at reducing the nation’s waistline. Elsewhere, formal talks on the UK-EU future relationship resume in London – the last round until mid-August.

Daily briefing

PAIN IN SPAIN: Labour is calling for support for the hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers facing mandatory 14-day self-isolation on their return after the government removed Spain from its safe flight list (the party pointed out there’s no guarantee employers will let them to work from home for two weeks). Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the big move – announced only hours before it came into force – had “created a sense of panic”. Even transport secretary Grant Shapps was caught out by it – heading off on Spain just before the decision was made. Dominic Raab couldn’t give a “guarantee” other countries wouldn’t be pulled from the safe flight list. Could France and Germany be next? Both countries have seen significant increases in Covid cases. The Spanish government, meanwhile, expressed its frustration – but said there would be no “tit-for-tat” restrictions placed on the UK.

WAR ON SWEETIES: Boris Johnson – the man who once vowed to end the “nanny state” – will set out his anti-obesity plan today with a series of nanny-like interventions. The PM is expected to ban pre-watershed junk food ads and prohibit buy-one-get-one-free offers on sweets, crisps and chocolate. The government will also urge GPs in England to prescribe cycling, and restaurants will have to publish the number of calories in their meals. “Covid-19 has given us all a wake-up call,” said a No 10 spokesperson. Meanwhile, chancellor Rishi Sunak and his deputy Steve Barclay are preparing to set out “Silicon Valley-inspired” investment in infrastructure and energy, according to The Telegraph. Barclay, chief secretary to the Treasury, is expected to make an announcement at the Onward think tank on Tuesday.

WORLD IS WATCHING: Sir Lindsay Hoyle is worried. The Commons’ Speaker fears plans for televised press events from No 10 will sideline the primacy of parliament. White House-style briefings were “not the way forward”, Sir Lindsay told the BBC. “If there’s something new to come out ... tell parliament and let the world watch it from parliament’s eyes.” Elsewhere, there are concerns the government has developed an unhealthy addiction to polling. The Cabinet Office spent at least £833,000 on polling firms between January and May this year, according to The Times – more than the whole of last year. Labour said the public deserved to know “more about how this money was spent”. The most interesting poll of the weekend (by Opinium) showed almost half of the British public (49 per cent) think Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

SILENT TREATMENT: If you notice MPs going quiet on Twitter in the next couple of days, it’s because many have joined a 48-hour “walkout” to protest the company’s slow action to remove the splurge of antisemitic tweets posted by Wiley. Home secretary Priti Patel said she has asked for a “full explanation” from both Twitter and Instagram about why the rapper’s “abhorrent” comments were allowed to remain on his accounts for 12 hours after they were posted. Labour attacked the government’s failure to introduce “desperately” needed legislation to force social media companies to crack down on accounts spreading abuse. Shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens said it was clear that self-regulation “isn’t working”. The Met, meanwhile, is investigating Wiley’s online activities.

DEEP IN THE ROUGH: Donald Trump spent the weekend playing golf, schmoozing prospective donors and ranting about protesters on Twitter. The latest polls suggest little is working for him, showing the president falling behind his Democratic rival Joe Biden in several key battleground states. The latest national poll shows Americans are pessimistic about the direction of their country than at any point in Trump’s presidency. Roughly eight in 10 Americans say the country is going in the wrong direction, according to an AP / NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll. Trump’s handling of the pandemic received support from just 32 per cent of respondents.

FEELING HYPERSONIC: Germany has rejected a proposal by Donald Trump to invite Russian president Vladimir Putin back into the G7, the country’s minister Heiko Maas said. Maas described the relationship with Russia as “currently difficult” in many areas. One of those areas is military technology. Putin has announced that Russia’s navy will be equipped with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater drones – implying the country was drawing close to deploying the technologies. While western experts have questioned just how advanced Moscow’s military developments are, the country’s defence ministry has said the weaponry is now in its final testing phase.

On the record

“There is an element of uncertainty this summer as people go abroad.”

Dominic Raab admits we may not have seen the last of the travel chaos

From the Twitterati

“The quarantine in Spain falls mainly while you’re on the plane.”

TV critics Toby Earle is amused by Shapps’ predicament…

“What has Grant Shapps done to annoy PM and Cummings? Leaves for Spanish holiday yesterday morning, few hours later government announces 14-day quarantine for everybody returning from Spain.”

…while Andrew Neil wonders whether Shapps was in the bad books.

Essential reading

John Rentoul, The Independent: Starmer has no need to betray Corbynism – Jeremy is doing it for him

Rachel Reeves, The Independent: We wouldn’t be where we are today without the women MPs of 1945

Nesrine Malik, The Guardian: Trump has helped the US see its dark side. It will still be there when he goes

John F. Harris, Politico: The psychology behind the cancel culture debate

Sign up here to receive this daily briefing in your email inbox every morning