Inside Politics: Priti Patel wants Navy to block migrant boats

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It’s not really the time for companies to come up with fancy new roles and ridiculous job titles – what with a huge wave of redundancies on the horizon. But the government has managed to come up with a fancy new senior role and ridiculous job title to boot. An ex-marine commando has officially been put in charge of stopping migrants crossing from France in small boats, becoming – wait for it – the UK’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander. We’ll have to wait and see if the hastily made-up position actually results in some kind of plan.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:

Dan O’Mahoney starts work for Priti Patel as a Clandestine Channel Threat Commander to block migrants coming over from France. The home secretary has also asked the Ministry of Defence (MoD) send in Royal Navy warships. With Tory MPs in a frenzy, the MoD will be under pressure to reveal if it will agree with the request. And immigration minister Chris Philp is expected in Paris to try to forge some kind of agreement to combat trafficking.

Daily briefing

CHANGING THE CHANNEL: Defence chiefs are still scratching their heads over a request from the Home Office for help to deal with migrants crossing the English Channel. Although the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was “working hard” to figure out how best to assist, one unnamed MoD source told the PA news agency the idea of using Navy vessels was “completely potty”. The Home Office said the new commander of the crackdown on crossings would help make the route “unviable” for small boats. But it’s still not clear how. Human rights groups warned that using the military to turn boats back could lead to people being drowned. The French government has insisted it is doing what it can – pointing to the fact five times as many migrants had been prevented from leaving since January compared with the same period last year. According to The Times, the French want £30m for resources to do more.

WEEK ON, WEEK OFF? Boris Johnson is thought to be preparing for a two-week staycation in Scotland from this weekend. But there’s still a spot of work to do. The PM is due to visit a school today to make the point he wants all pupils across England back in classrooms next month – saying there is “moral duty” to do so. The unions remain wary. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said a rota system – including one week, one week off – could be needed to limit pupil numbers if there is a second wave. Children’s commissioner Anne Longfield also clashed with government, saying pupils would have to be routinely tested for coronavirus. Can the issue be resolved soon? Weekend reports suggest education secretary Gavin Williamson’s will be “on the chopping block” if pupils aren’t back in September.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: So what of the much-discussed second wave? Well, the latest worrying figures show daily coronavirus cases in the UK rose by 1,062 – the largest such increase in six weeks. Reports suggest an official daily death toll may not be brought back, however bad things get in the months ahead. The conclusions of a review into Public Health England (PHE)’s methods of counting fatalities are expected this week and one possibility would see a new weekly death toll, according to The Telegraph. Elsewhere, the latest economic statistics make for grim reading. Figures for June show over 1,700 large firms told the government about plans to cut 20 or more jobs – a total of 139,000 roles. Tony Wilson, head of the Institute for Employment Studies, said he expects the numbers to go higher for July and higher again in August. He said it was now “inevitable” redundancies will be worse than the financial crisis of 2008.

SWEET DEAL: One leading UK company could be in line to save £73m from a post-Brexit trade shake-up. Tate & Lyle Sugars – after campaigning to leave the EU and donating money to the Tory party – has secured a deal that would see cane imported from countries with lower employment and environmental standards, according to a Greenpeace investigation. In other news, Labour MP Dawn Butler has claimed she was racially profiled when she was stopped by police in east London. She later said she thought there was “an institutional racism” in the police which was “cancerous” and “needs to be taken out”. Elsewhere, an inquiry in racism in the Tory party has yet to begin, eight months after it was launched by Johnson – prompting claims that it has been “kicked into the long grass”. The Independent understands a dispute over the terms of reference is partly holding it up. One insider described the approach so far as “a balls up”.

ROCK AND A HARD FACE: White House aides approached the office of Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor, in 2019 to ask about the possibility of Donald Trump’s face being carved into Mount Rushmore, according to a report in The New York Times. Noem revealed Trump himself first brought it up in 2017. “He goes, “Do you know it's my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?” I started laughing. He wasn’t laughing, so he was totally serious.” Trump has angered Democrats (and even some Republicans) by using executive orders to bypass Congress and push through his own “coronavirus relief” measures. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the president’s move “depletes money” out of social security and Medicare trust funds.

FRIEND IN NEED: International donors have pledged £228m in aid to Lebanon following last week’s deadly explosion that killed at least 158 people and injured more than 6,000 others. Johnson – pledging £20m in British aid – said the UK would “stand by the country in its hour of need”. French president Emmanuel Macron had more interesting things to say. Warning the country’s future was “at stake”, he urged the Lebanese authorities to co-operate with its regional allies and Western nations to thwart those interested in sowing “division and chaos” in the aftermath. There were further clashes in Beirut on Sunday, as protesters threw projectiles at police. The blast at a warehouse has sparked outrage at perceived government failings.

On the record

“We are working to make this route unviable … arresting the criminals facilitating these crossings and making sure they are brought to justice.”

Priti Patel pledges to make Channel crossings tougher – without explaining how.

From the Twitterati

“Priti Patel goes full 1984. Britain we now have a ‘Clandestine Channel Threat Commander’.”

The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr find the new role sinister…

“Is this the most emotive rabble-rousing fire-fuelling job title ever? How came up with this, 5 x 10 Yr olds? Like seriously! It sounds like a villain from a s**** 70s comic book.”

…while Aodhán Michael Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, finds it merely ridiculous.

Essential reading

Diane Abbott, The Independent: Even coronavirus won’t stop the Home Office from deporting people

Kate Townshend, The Independent: I love this island but also hate Brexit. So I can’t leave

John Harris, The Guardian: It’s no use shouting ‘back to work’ when Britain is in a jobs meltdown

Joe Baerlein, Politico: I observed Joe Biden at close range for 20 years. Here’s how he wins – or loses

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