Inside Politics: Michael Gove meets retailers to sort out Brexit software mess

Freight specialists say system designed to help companies submit paperwork digitally won’t be ready for 1 January, writes Adam Forrest

Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have played up the benefits of Brexit (Reuters)

A leading political scientist has predicted future societies will colonise space and use asteroids to destroy each other’s planets, since we can’t get rid of our tribal instincts. It’s hard to imagine Britain ever becoming advanced enough to have intergalactic feuds. Right now, we’re stuck squabbling about whether we can afford to give the poorest families £15-a-week meal vouchers. We’re certainly not advanced enough for a smooth Brexit transition – Boris Johnson has been warned of a major mess ahead, as vital software won’t be ready in time for 1 January. Spacefaring and asteroid wars will have to wait.

Inside the bubble

Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

The Lords will debate the Internal Market Bill, which would allow the government to override key parts of the withdrawal agreement. Peers are set to reject the controversial clauses – sparking a standoff with ministers. Boris Johnson would probably drop the offending clauses if a trade deal is reached. And the latest round of trade talks in London is due to end today before negotiators move to Brussels.  

Daily briefing

ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: Spain and Gibraltar are planning a bilateral Brexit deal aimed at making the end of the transition period less damaging. Spain’s foreign minister Arancha González told the FT that a mini-agreement could make coming changes “less costly”. Speaking of costly, those building the vital post-Brexit freight software – supposed to help transport companies submit paperwork digitally – say it’s unlikely to be ready on time for 1 January. Major retailers will meet cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Brandon Lewis today to discuss the urgent problem, which could thwart efforts to get products onto the shelves. Meanwhile, Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney said a trade deal was “likely” in the next two weeks, revealing talks were now in a “very serious zone”. Yet Coveney sounded pretty gloomy about January, predicting “a lot of disruption to trade” regardless of whether there’s a deal or not. “This is a new reality – we wish it wasn't happening, but it is.”

LET THEM EAT MARKS AND SPARKS: Tory MPs, councils, peers and bishops have all piled pressure on Boris Johnson to extend free school meals vouchers. But no sign of a U-turn. Rishi Sunak said government had to “trust local councils” to feed the poorest kids. Not everyone in the party is anxious about the issue. The Tory leader of Walsall council Mike Bird said: “It doesn’t take a great deal of money to feed a child … Marks and Spencer are supposed to be the most expensive for food but you can buy three meals for £7 there.” Sorted. Thanks Mike! Henry Dimbleby, government adviser and co-founder of the Leon chain, said food poverty is “going to get worse” – and set out a plan costing £1.2bn to address the problem. In a memorable speech in the Lords, Labour peer Lord Griffiths recalled the hunger of his own childhood. “I can remember very clearly – I can still taste and smell it – the mounting panic of school holidays because the income we had could not stretch.”

WAKE-UP CALL: Charities have said it was time for politicians on both sides of the English Channel to “wake up” after two adults and two children died when a small boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of northern France. French search and rescue teams did not manage to reach the vessel, spotted in trouble 2km from Dunkirk, in time. Charity Care4Calais said the “loss of life should be a wake-up call for those in power in France and the UK”, while Save The Children said Paris and London had to come up with a joint plan to protect migrants. “The English Channel must not become a graveyard for children.” Boris Johnson said his thoughts were with the victims’ loved ones – and blamed the “ruthless criminal gangs” for organising the dangerous crossings. Labour MP Yvette Cooper, the influential chair of the home affairs select committee, took the same tack – saying criminals were profiting from “other people’s desperation”.

LOST IN THE SUPERMARKET: Baby clothes have finally been listed as “essential” items that should go on sale during Wales’ 17-day lockdown, the Welsh government has announced. But Welsh ministers say the ban on non-essential goods will stay until 9 November – despite a huge backlash over closed-off sections in the big supermarkets. The Welsh Conservatives said the rules were “absolute madness”. Up in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon announced that pubs and restaurants in many parts of the country – those under level 2 curbs under her system – would be able to serve alcohol indoors again from Monday. Her government is set to confirm which level each of Scotland’s 32 council areas will fall under on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland have called for a “four-nations summit” to agree a shared plan for Christmas travel across the UK over Christmas. They asked national leaders to “accept the inevitability” of holiday journeys.

SPLASH THE CASH: A video attacking Rishi Sunak’s “lavish celebrity lifestyle” has caused a big stink on social media. The clip put together by pro-Labour group called One Rule For Them showed Sunak in sunglasses surrounded by wads of £50 notes – looking a bit like Harry Enfield’s Loadsamoney character (for those old enough to remember). It accused Sunak of planning tax cuts for “his old mates in the City”. Was it racist? Former chancellor Sajid Javid claimed it showed that the left “detest ethnic-minority Tory Cabinet ministers”. It came as Sunak told the 54 Tory MPs who want him to splash the cash on infrastructure in the north that the Treasury desperately wants to invest in their areas. It seems many Conservatives just want the government’s “levelling up” agenda to mean something. One MP told the Huff Post: “Levelling up doesn’t mean anything to anyone. I asked two constituents about it recently. One said, ‘Is it about Nintendo level up games?’”

HERE FOR THE HUSBANDS: Only one week to go in the US election. Donald Trump is making his way around the swing states he won four years ago – telling voters their “economic survival” is at stake if Joe Biden wins. In a remarkably patronising appeal to suburban women, the Republican said: “We’re getting your husbands back to work.” Speaking at a campaign stop in Georgia, Biden compared Trump to “the charlatans, the conmen, the phoney populists” of US history. It comes as Trump’s campaign website was temporarily “seized” by hackers for around 25 minutes last night. A message appeared claiming to have information that proved the president’s “manipulation” of the election. No doubt Trump will claim a vast Democrat conspiracy behind it all. Meanwhile, early voting in the election has now topped 70 million – an astonishing number. It’s more than half of the total turnout in 2016.

On the record

“We remember [hunger] not in our heads but in our whole bodies. An old Etonian, of course, can’t be expected to have had the same experience.”

Labour peer Lord Griffiths says he has something in common with Marcus Rashford that the PM couldn’t understand.

From the Twitterati

“The left really, really do detest ethnic-minority Tory Cabinet ministers.”

Former chancellor Sajid Javid doesn’t like the attack on Rishi Sunak…

“That’s not universally true Sajid. Don’t think the left “detested” me when I was a Tory Cabinet minister although many on the right did / still do for holding a mirror up to racism within our ranks.”

...but former Tory minister Baroness Warsi disagrees.

Essential reading

Tom Peck, The Independent: Has the Northern Research Group done any research on Boris Johnson?

Vince Cable, The Independent: Whatever happens next week, the ghost of Trump will haunt America

Matthew Syed, The Times: It’s a dark heart that scorns the altruism of Marcus Rashford

Sarah Jones, New York Magazine: Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation is proof US political norms are dead

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