Inside Politics: Boris Johnson urges patience with tier system until spring

Tory MPs are lobbying for London to escape the toughest measures, as the PM set out plans for post-lockdown restrictions, writes Adam Forrest

Boris Johnson (Reuters)

Has Boris Johnson just shaken up the Premier League title race? Footie fans will soon be allowed back in the stands, except in parts of the country with very high infection rates – setting up the possibility that northern clubs could be denied the advantage of a home crowd atmosphere. Speaking of home crowd atmospheres, the prime minister is still preparing final plans for special rules on family gatherings this Christmas. While some are cheering Johnson on from the sidelines, there is some booing for the tougher rules placed on pubs and restaurants until the spring.

 

Inside the bubble

 

Chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:
The Priti Patel story will rumble on this morning when Lord Evans, a former spy who is chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, gives evidence to MPs at 11.30am. Matt Hancock will be in front of another committee, talking about the role of testing in bridging to vaccines. The Digital, Culture, Media and Sports committee has some music biz glamour, hearing from Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien, among others, about the economics of music streaming. 

 

Daily briefing

 

MARCHING ORDERS: Boris Johnson has told the nation tiered restrictions will be needed until at least the end of March, but pledged  the picture “will look and feel very different” after Easter. Toughened rules mean pubs in tier 2 will only be able to serve alcohol as part of a “substantial” meal, while the hospitality industry in tier 3 while have to shut down except for takeaways. UK Hospitality said the extra measures “rub salt into the wounds”. Regions won’t find out their tier until Thursday, and London remains the great unknown. Sir Iain Duncan Smith is demanding London be put into tier 1 since it drives the economy, The Mail suggests the capital could be set for tier 3, while The Telegraph says it would be placed in tier 2. Meanwhile, the PM gave little away on his Christmas plan, saying: “Tis the season to be jolly, but also the season to be jolly careful.”

 

IRISH EYES, SMILING: Downing Street is giving little away, but the Brexit news coming out of Dublin is pretty cheerful. Irish premier Micheal Martin revealed that European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had provided one of the more “hopeful presentations made to date”, with legal texts now in play on all areas of the prospective trade deal. “I would be hopeful that by the end of this week we could see the outline of a deal,” said Martin. Meanwhile, the Bank of England governor’s Andrew Bailey has warned that the economic damage of a no-deal scenario would be even bigger than the wreckage of Covid. “No question about it,” he told MPs. Regardless of a deal, the logistics industry is still anxious about the end of the transition. Haulage chiefs told a Lords committee that ministers have failed to set out plans for roadside toilets for hauliers trapped in huge queues for Channel ports.

 

SORRY SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD: Labour’s chief whip Nick Brown has asked former leader Jeremy Corbyn to provide an “unequivocal” apology for claiming the scale of antisemitism problem had been “overstated for political reasons”. The harsh tone of the letter – which accuses Corbyn of causing “distress and pain” – suggests he won’t have the whip restored without a major mea culpa. In other letter-writing news, the PM has penned a pointed warning about the evils of bullying, sending it to all ministers and top civil servants. Johnson also said he was “reassured” that Priti Patel “inadvertently upsetting those with whom she was working”. Meanwhile, the PM is under pressure to explain just how often he plans to cut the foreign aid budget from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Although it was thought to be a temporary proposal for next year, No 10 is reportedly planning to pass a new law to free them up on aid spending – raising fears the reduction could be permanent.

 

SING WHILE YOU’RE WINNING: Culture secretary Oliver Dowden is beaming about his work with the country’s big sporting bodies, which will soon see 4,000 fans allowed at outdoor stadia in the lowest-risk areas. Up to 2,000 people will be allowed in tier 2 areas, but none in tier 3. “I’m delighted we are able to get the turnstiles turning sooner than expected, taking a cautious approach and starting with the lowest-risk areas first,” said Dowden. Nicola Sturgeon insisted Scotland would be taking a cautious approach to any break in the Covid rules at Christmas – and revealed there would be no such break for Hogmanay parties. “Why Christmas and not new year? Well, maybe Christmas is a more important time for the kids.” Meanwhile, transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced travellers arriving back in returning England will soon able to cut their quarantine time – so long as they pay between £65 and £120 for a private Covid test after five days.

 

CHEAPER BY THE MILLION: Johnson hailed the welcome news on Oxford University’s working vaccine – and said the UK has bought 100 million doses, enough to vaccinate the adult population in 2021. Current data suggests the Oxford vaccine is only 70 per cent effective, but could go as high as 90 per cent by tweaking the dose. However, the Oxford jab is far cheaper than others at £3 a dose, and has the advantage of being stored at fridge temperature – making it easier to get to every part of the world. The PM announced that mass testing will be introduced in all England’s tier 3 areas, the highest alert level. Health secretary Matt Hancock claimed cases in Liverpool had been brought down “quite remarkably” following the pilot scheme there. In other testing news, Johnson promised daily tests would soon be offered to close contacts of people testing positive as a way to cut the current 14-day quarantine.

 

SORE LOSER: Donald Trump has finally accepted his unhinged huff will have to continue in opposition. The outgoing president has told officials to “do what needs to be done” and allow the formal transition to a Joe Biden administration – though he vowed to carry on his legal “fight” against the election result. The General Services Administration, the US government’s civil service body, has acknowledged Biden as the “apparent winner”, which means he now gets briefings and the grown-ups can get started on their work. The president-elect will formally announce his cabinet today, with John Kerry set to become his climate envoy and Anthony Blinken taking the secretary of state job. Blinken, incidentally, has referred to Brexit as “a total mess” and compared the process to a dog being run over by a car. So perhaps not the ideal appointment for Downing Street.

 

On the record

 

“Christmas cannot be normal and there’s a long road to spring – but we have turned a corner and the escape route is in sight.”

Boris Johnson urges patience.

 

From the Twitterati

 

“So the prime minister can’t answer MPs’ questions on Covid because he can’t work his laptop – and no one can come in and help him work it because he’s self-isolating.”

The Telegraph’s Michael Deacon dismayed at the PM’s lost connection…

 

“The prime minister’s connection to parliament from No 10 has now been down for 25 minutes. If anything sums up Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic, this is it.”

…while Piers Morgan thinks it’s a mighty great metaphor.

 

Essential reading

 

Tom Peck, The Independent: Rishi Sunak is no different from the rest – a Brexiteer fantasist

 

Kim Sengupta, The Independent: G20 leaders must now wait until Biden is in the White House

 

Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian: Not everyone wants a ‘normal’ Christmas from the government

 

Gail Collins, The New York Times: Can Trump’s enablers get any more pathetic?

 

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