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Boris Johnson has described having “every confidence in the checks and balances of the American constitution”, after Downing Street refused to say whether the prime minister believed all votes in the US election should be counted.
Under repeated questioning, No 10 had sought to avoid the PM being dragged into controversy, refusing to make any comment on Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the presidential poll is “rigged”.
Mr Johnson later said that as the UK prime minister he is “always going to work closely with whoever is the president”.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party achieved its biggest poll lead since Sir Keir Starmer became leader in April, enjoying a five-point swing to sit at 40 per cent, above the Tories’ 35, according toYouGov.
And the week’s Brexit trade talks ended with both parties’ negotiators, Lord Frost and Michel Barnier, warning serious “divergences” remain over key issues. The latter reportedly told EU diplomats that he believes London wants a deal but has yet to “internalise” the necessary compromises and concessions needed.
Mr Johnson is to call EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the talks on Sunday, which Downing Street said would allow the leaders to “take stock” of the negotiations – but contravenes wishes expressed earlier by Mr Barnier for the prime minister not to hold one-on-one talks with the bloc’s leaders lest No 10 attempt to trigger a “tug of war” over the unresolved issues.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of UK politics today.
Barnier blocks Johnson from privately bargaining with EU leaders
Michel Barnier is believed to have refused Boris Johnson’s request to meet with EU political leaders, one-on-one, to find common ground in the ongoing rows over future access to Britain’s fishing grounds and common standards.
The Brussels diplomat reportedly claimed No 10 wanted to trigger a “tug of war” over at least 30 unresolved issues in the hope of securing a number of concessions.
Mr Johnson planned to meet with Angela Merkel and Ursula von der Leyen, among others, according to reports - but Mr Barnier has said these sessions should not take place until the overarching Brexit agreement is in its final stages.
The prime minister would attempt to play off access to Britain’s coastal waters and the level playing field in such a high stakes showdown, Mr Barnier is claimed to have said.
In an attempt to avoid another situation like Northern Ireland, in which Mr Johnson demanded the controversial Northern Ireland backstop was scrapped, Mr Barnier said the EU should avoid giving the British PM last-minute compromises at all costs.
Talks remain ongoing, with reports claiming a resolve is far from being reached between Britain and the European bloc it is no longer a part of.
UK-EU trade will face ‘significant disruption’, even if deal is reached
Billions of pounds worth of UK-EU trade faces “significant disruption” when the Brexit transition period ends in January, regardless of whether a trade dale is agreed, a government spending watchdog has warned.
The National Audit Office (NAO) blamed failures such as new IT systems, which are needed to operate fresh border controls, having not yet been tested. The NAO said there was “limited” time left for UK ports to test these systems.
The report also claimed it was “very unlikely” traders would be ready for checks the EU is due to impose at its borders.
The planned controls, which were already rated “high risk”, are said to have been hugely delayed by the coronavirus crisis.
UK officials have said Boris Johnson is not giving businesses enough time to prepare for the changes. Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee, said yesterday: “It’s incredibly worrying that, with two months to go, critical computer systems haven’t been properly tested. The government can only hope that everything comes together on the day but this is not certain.”
The Independent’s police correspondent, Jon Stone, has the full story:
UK will face ‘significant disruption’ on 1 January even if Brexit trade deal is signed, National Audit Office warns
Watchdog says government has started its preparations too late
Johnson under fire for using old data to justify second lockdown
The government’s statistics watchdog, the UK Statistics Authority, has criticised the way data was used to justify the UK’s second national lockdown.
The projection made by Public Health England and Cambridge University – which said the country could see more than 4,000 deaths a day – was used at Saturday’s TV briefing despite being out of date and over-estimating fatalities.
“Full transparency of data … is vital to public understanding,” the watchdog complained.
Meanwhile Sky’s Kay Burley, who is currently in Washington reporting live on the US election, took time on Friday morning to scold Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi for his party’s manipulation of out of date figures, and for using “confusing graphs”.
“It’s not good is it?” Ms Burley asked Mr Zahawi on her daily morning news programme, before adding: “You’re asking people to put their lives on hold for a month and yet you’re using confusing stats and graphs that we don’t understand - many of which are out of date.”
Mr Zahawi responded that he “took on board” some of the information given to the public had been confusing, but that measures taken by the government were working. “The rate of infection has dropped significantly in Liverpool and Nottingham since they entered tier 3 lockdown,” he said.
Johnson branded ‘most accomplished liar’ by former colleague
Former cabinet minister Rory Stewart has launched a blistering attack on Boris Johnson, branding the prime minister an “amoral character” and “the most accomplished liar in public life”.
Mr Stewart, who lost the Tory leadership contest last year to Mr Johnson and was later expelled by him from the Conservative parliamentary party, said the prime minister showed a “startling” lack of the virtues traditionally valued in politicians.
And he listed a string of occasions when he served under Mr Johnson in the Foreign Office when the then foreign secretary failed to follow through on projects that he had professed to support.
Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, reports:
Boris Johnson branded ‘most accomplished liar in public life’ by former cabinet colleague
Blistering assault on prime minister’s character by former leadership rival Rory Stewart
Rishi Sunak ridiculed for incorporating own name into Conservative party logo
Rishi Sunak has been called out for replacing ‘Conservatives’ with his own name in the party’s logo, as he unveiled the government’s furlough scheme extension on Twitter.
The chancellor – who has been widely mocked for his extensive use of personal branding on social media – was condemned by one of his fellow Tory ministers over the latest move.
Defence minister Jonny Mercer suggested Mr Sunak was trying too hard to take personal credit for government policy, urging the chancellor to become more of a “team” player.
“Rishi is a good lad, but what people want is good, strong Conservative government and policies, because we all stand or fall as a team, and people will remember what the Conservatives did, not what Rishi Sunak did,” Mr Mercer told Politico.
Adam Forrest has the story:
Rishi Sunak ridiculed for incorporating his own name into Tory logo
‘I’m not a fan of amending the Tory party logo,’ says defence minister Johnny Mercer
Labour achieves biggest lead since Starmer took over, YouGov poll shows
The Labour Party is enjoying a five-point swing - its biggest lead since Sir Keir Starmer became leader in April, according to the latest YouGov poll.
While Mr Starmer’s party has risen to 40 per cent, the Conservatives have dropped 3 points to sit at 35 per cent.
The figures were announced in The Times’ Red Box newsletter, for which YouGov regularly completes its own polls.
Many reacted to the news on Twitter, blaming Boris Johnson for the drop in public opinion for the Conservative Party.
One man wrote: “They’ve basically done this by sitting back and watching BJ implode. I’d probably do the same to be fair but at some stage, Labour will have to offer an alternative to policies non covid related.”
While another said: “How can 35% of the people vote for a ‘government’ that is systematically emptying our Treasury into Tory donors, sponsors and acquaintances accounts? 12 BILLION for an out of date excel spreadsheet that doesn’t work. #WeWantOurMoneyBack.”
Denmark removed from UK’s travel corridors list
Denmark has been removed from the UK government's list of safe places to travel due to an outbreak of coronavirus cases in the European country’s mink farms, the transport secretary has confirmed.
Anyone arriving in the UK from Denmark after 4am on Friday must now self-isolate for 14 days.
Grant Shapps said in a statement the decision came as Danish health authorities had reported "widespread" outbreaks at mink farms and a "variant strain" of the virus spreading to local communities.
He said: "I understand that this will be concerning for both people currently in Denmark and the wider UK public, which is why we have moved quickly to protect our country and prevent the spread of the virus to the UK."
The Danish government released a statement to say a mutation of the virus had been found in 12 people infected by minks, which farmers have been ordered to cull en masse, but experts said the significance of any variant strain and its effect on humans was unclear because it was yet to be studied.
Denmark was only added to the quarantine-free list on October 25.
The Conservative Party is believed to be using a rate of 100 as the threshold above which it considers triggering quarantine conditions. This is up from 20 in recent months. The UK's own rate is 235.
Mr Shapps has launched a taskforce to develop methods of reducing the 14-day self-isolation period for people arriving from non-exempt locations.
He said the government was considering a “test and release regime” which would still involve a quarantine period of at least a week.
Additional reporting by PA
Bloomberg projects effect of no-trade-deal Brexit on UK economy
Brexit uncertainty and Covid lockdowns to plunge EU into year-long recession, new report says
The EU has said coronavirus lockdowns and its impending separation from Britain are leading to what could be the bloc’s worst economic recession on record.
In its Autumn Economic Forecast, the European Commission said next year’s recovery would be more difficult as Britain leaves the single market and customs union, as UK-EU trade relations are left hanging in the balance.
The report said: “It is assumed … the EU and UK will trade on WTO Most Favoured Nation rules from 1 January 2021 onward. This implies a much less beneficial trade relationship with economic costs for the UK, and to a lesser extent, the EU.”
Economists previously predicted the Eurozone economy would shrink by 7.8 per cent in 2020 before growth restarted in the new year.
Economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said in the report: “After the deepest recession in EU history in the first half of this year and a very strong upswing in the summer, Europe's rebound has been interrupted due to the resurgence in Covid-19 cases.
“Growth will return in 2021 but it will be two years until the European economy comes close to regaining its pre-pandemic level.”
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