Boris Johnson news – live: Government accused of ‘whopping untruths’ by former attorney general over report into Russian meddling as PM faces Brexit Party battle

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Nigel Farage urges Boris Johnson to forge Brexit alliance

The British government is under growing pressure to release a report into the threat posed by Russian election hacking ahead of December’s general election, with former attorney general Dominic Grieve calling for its urgent publication and accusing Downing Street of “whopping untruths” in excusing its being withheld.

Prime minister Boris Johnson is meanwhile facing an uphill battle at next month’s vote after Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage pledged to field candidates in every seat to challenge the Conservatives unless the PM ditches his “dreadful” current EU withdrawal deal.

Mr Johnson is not budging, however, declaring he would not form a “Leave alliance” with Mr Farage: “I’ve ruled out a pact with everybody because I don’t think it’s sensible to do that. We’re proud of our beliefs, we’re proud of our one-nation Conservatism.”

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Key Points

• Number 10 under pressure to release Russian election hacking report
• PM facing Brexit Party battle in every seat next month
• Leadsom 'disappointed' by fracking suspension verdict
• Johnson 'to drop threat of no-deal exit from Tory manifesto'
• Rugby pundit has harsh words for PM ahead of World Cup Final

[2 November 2019 20:33 · Vincent Wood]

Boris Johnson's 'Workington man' plan might just be working - winning over constituencies that refused to budge for Theresa May, according to the Independent's John Rentoul.

The significance of the Workington polling is that it suggests Johnson could succeed where May failed. “I am interested in these Labour seats that Johnson has to win if he is to get his majority,” one veteran of the last campaign told me. “The list will be similar to the one Team May drew up in 2017, where they made zero progress.”

The conventional wisdom is that Johnson is a southern Tory toff who will never break through in such places – but this may be based on southern Remainer assumptions about what a terrible person the prime minister is. 

I certainly assumed Johnson had lost the cross-party appeal that made him a two-time mayoral winner in a Labour city, and it is true that young Remainers have gone right off him since the referendum. But this polling suggests that he still appeals across party lines among the Leave half of the population. 

Read more below:

[2 November 2019 20:44 · Vincent Wood]

Labour has struck out at its former MP Lord Mann, claiming he had made a series of  "false and misleading claims" about Jeremy Corbyn.

The non-affiliated peer who frequently criticised the leader's response to allegations of antisemitism in the party, wrote to the Labour leader alleging he had "ignored" sexual harassment cases and sided with alleged abusers.

A Labour spokeswoman said: "Tory Lord John Mann has made a series of false and misleading claims", adding "The Labour Party takes all allegations of sexual harassment extremely seriously and aims to lead the political field in the way such allegations are handled."