The UK will offer some Hong Kong residents a new route to British citizenship after Beijing imposed a draconian new “national security” law, Boris Johnson has confirmed. He and, earlier, Dominic Raab, said the new law violated the city’s autonomy which had been agreed when the UK handed control to China in 1997.
Mr Johnson faced a grilling at PMQs as Keir Starmer said he was “blind to the risks” of easing lockdown. Sir Keir blamed the prime minister for scenes of crowded beaches last week and suggested the impending reopening of pubs – on a Saturday – was cause for concern.
Earlier, the PM issued a plea for Israel to abandon plans to annex more Palestinian territory in the West Bank, warning it will risk the country’s security in the long run and that the UK will regard expansion as against international law.
Local councils face 'perfect storm' from Covid and funding gap, Starmer warns
Local authorities are facing a double whammy of coronavirus and a massive £10bn "black hole" in their finances, Labour has warned.
Sir Keir Starmer is to tell the Local Government Association's annual conference today that he will commit a future Labour administration to building a new relationship with councils.
Sir Keir will also use his online address to reaffirm his commitment to replacing the House of Lords with an elected second chamber representing "the nations and regions" of the UK.
"A Labour government would win power in order to hand it back to the nations, regions, cities and towns across our country," he will say.
"We would give local government a much bigger say over investment and services, not through plans devised by someone in an office on Whitehall, but ones created and rooted in communities, so that they truly serve the people.
"We would put local government, its power and its innovation, straight at the heart of Westminster by replacing the House of Lords with a democratic second chamber representing the nations and regions of the UK.
"And we would give councillors, communities and people on the front line in our public services a bigger say over the decisions that affect them."
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was giving councils "unprecedented support" through the pandemic with a £27bn package of help.
"This government is committed to levelling up prosperity and opportunity across the country," a spokesperson said.
Johnson to face questions over Leicester lockdown
Boris Johnson is expected to face a string of questions over his government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, f,ollowing confusion over the reimposition of lockdown controls in Leicester.
Ministers are being asked whether they were too slow to act following a spike in cases in the east Midlands city.
Sir Keir Starmer - who faces Mr Johnson in the Commons at Prime Minister's Questions at midday - has said people in Leicester were "crying out" for answers and suggested the Government should have moved quicker.
Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby criticised the government and Public Health England for delays in sharing case and testing data which showed how the disease was spreading.
Lizzie Dearden has more on the situation in Leicester:
Labour warns Johnson plan could see 'substandard' homes created
Boris Johnson's plans to ease some planning restrictions as part of his "build build build" drive could allow developers to create substandard housing, a senior Labour MP has warned.
Clive Betts, the chairman of the Commons housing, communities and local government committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We need to build 300,000 homes a year in this country to keep pace with the demand and remove housing shortages - I don't think this is really going to add much to it.
"What you could do [under the PM's plans] is build some very substandard homes which aren't really fit to live in.
"If you remove the planning restrictions and roles then of course those sorts of homes, inadequate homes, could be built, we don't want those sort of homes adding to the stock in this country.
"What we should've seen yesterday, if we're really going to get Britain building, is a big injection of cash and grants into councils and housing associations.
"We know if they get planning permission to build they will build them because they will build houses that people can afford and really need."
Rob Merrick has more on the government's plans here:
Review 'discriminatory' lockdown fines, MPs say
More than 40 MPs and peers are calling for a review of over 18,000 fines given to people for breaking coronavirus lockdown rules in England and Wales, writes Lizzie Dearden.
A letter sent to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said the penalties had been handed out in an “inconsistent and discriminatory” way, amid racial and regional disproportionality.
Police leaders have commissioned analysis looking at why black and Asian people have been fined at a much higher rate than white people for breaking lockdown rules, but the letter said that explanations given so far have been “unconvincing and unevidenced”.
Your morning politics briefing
A Bristol pub named after slave trader Edward Colston has temporarily changed its title to “Ye Olde Pubby Mcdrunkface”. The boozer formerly known as The Colston Arms wants the public to help come up with a permanent rebrand, writes Adam Forrest.
Boris Johnson is not a big fan of revising history. But he does appear to be fond of sprucing up ye olde spending commitments and calling them new. The prime minister has been accused of rebranding existing infrastructure plans as part of a coronavirus response – something he’s sure to face a grilling on at PMQs today.
Welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.
Raab to address Hong Kong situation
The foriegn secretary will make an oral statement in the Commons after PMQs today about the situation in Hong Kong.
Beijing's draconian new "national security" law has come into effect, sparking protests.
Images from the Agence France Press news agency showed police pepper-spraying journalists, while one reporter tweeted that she had been targeted with a water cannon.
One arrest has apparently already been made under the new law.
Some of the UK's objections to the law are reported in Adam Withnall's story below. It's likely we'll hear similar sentiments from Dominic Raab this afternoon.
'I'm not a communist' - Sharma
The business secretary has ruled out the (to be fair, unlikely) possibility he is a closet communist.
Alok Sharma echoed Boris Johnson's own declaration that he was "not a communist" despite the state intervention he promised on Tuesday.
"I am not a communist, I am what the prime minister is, which is a one-nation Conservative," Mr Sharma told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Mr Sharma also said the best way to support jobs was to reopen the economy. "The support in the job retention scheme is being provided until October," he said.
"But the best way of providing support for business is to open up the economy, and we have been doing that in a phased and cautious manner."
'Lives will be lost' through poor data management
Lives will be lost in fresh outbreaks of coronavirus because local health chiefs are being starved of the data they need, doctors’ leaders are warning, writes Rob Merrick.
The British Medical Association has hit out at the failure to provide local leaders with the addresses and workplaces of people becoming infected – preventing them from taking swift action.
The data gap has been partly blamed for the delay in imposing the local lockdown in Leicester, where it was thought the city had recorded just 80 new Covid-19 cases between 13-26 June.
The data confusion is being blamed on the separate “pillars” system set up by Mr Hancock, in his ill-fated attempted to hit his 100,000 daily testing target in April.
UK will not accept Israeli annexation of Palestinian land, Johnson warns
Boris Johnson has warned that Britain will not accept Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory, which is being pushed by Benjamin Netanyahu.
The PM said he believed the plan would work against Israel's long-term interests, and would be a violation of international law.
In an op-ed for Ynet News, Mr Johnson wrote: "As a life-long friend, admirer and supporter of Israel, I am fearful that these proposals will fail in their objective of securing Israel’s borders and will be contrary to Israel’s own long-term interests.
"Annexation would put in jeopardy the progress that Israel has made in improving relationships with the Arab and Muslim world.
"Israel’s enemies would seize upon it, and use it against those in the Middle East who want to see progress.
"Annexation would represent a violation of international law. It would also be a gift to those who want to perpetuate the old stories about Israel."
The UK will not recognise any changes to demarcation lines drawn up in 1967, except where they are accepted by both sides, the PM added.
Rob Merrick has more:
Exclusive: Government's new fire safety plan 'funds just 12 new officials'
The government's new Fire Safety Bill would fund just 12 new officials to help cover safety inspections in two million homes, firefighters have claimed, writes Jon Stone.
The Fire Brigades Union accused the government of risking another Grenfell-style catastrophe and said the 951 inspectors currently in the field needed to be doubled.
The new legislation would require inspections on cladding, balconies, windows and firedogs in blocks of flats, with as many as 2.2 million flats covered by the legislation, according to ministers' estimates.
Hong Kong police make first arrest under new 'national security' law
A look at what Dominic Raab will be talking about in the Commons today after PMQs.
Hong Kong police fired water cannon and pepper spray at protesters marking the anniversary of the city’s handover to China on Wednesday, as the first arrest was made under a controversial new national security law, writes Adam Withnall.
The new law, which critics say will undermine the right to protest and end the city’s judicial autonomy, was signed into law by Chinese president Xi Jinping and came into effect on Tuesday night, almost 23 years to the day after Britain returned Hong Kong to Beijing.
Turkey expects to be on UK's safe-to-visit list
Turkey expects to be on the list of destinations to be exempted from the UK's quarantine measures.
The nation's ambassador to the UK said on Wednesday that his country believed it would be among those to form so-called air bridges when an announcement is made later this week.
Umit Yalcin insisted it was safe to open up travel with Turkey despite a recent spike in cases after lockdown restrictions to combat the spread of Covid-19 were eased.
Are you thinking of going abroad this summer? Simon Calder has everything you need to know here:
Join our expert team to dissect PMQs at 12.45pm
John Rentoul and Lizzy Buchan will take you through every cut and thrust of PMQs once the session finishes later today.
Councils' coronavirus funding gap 'hits £7.4bn'
A survey by the Local Government Association has found that, between March and June councils incurred £4.8bn extra cost pressures and income losses because of coronavirus.
Overall, the lobby group says, local authorities expect to be on the hook for £10.9bn to cover the costs of the pandemic.
In a press release, it added: "The government has provided £3.2bn of emergency funding to councils and CCGs [local health boards] have provided funding of £300m, which has helped meet some of the pressures so far - leaving councils facing a funding gap of £7.4bn."
The LGA is holding its annual conference virtually this year.
Sir Keir Starmer is due to address it later today.
DHSC and Royal Mail create faster way of sending back Covid-19 tests
The Department of Health and Royal Mail have designated "priority post boxes" for people to use in sending back their Covid-19 home tests.
It will help speed up the processing of results, the department said.
Johnson urged to abolish Public Health England
Boris Johnson has been urged to scrap Public Health England (PHE), the government body facing criticism for delays in sharing data that shows how the coronavirus is spreading in different parts of the country, writes Adam Forrest.
Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith said he would “abolish PHE tomorrow” if he was in charge, claiming the agency was guilty of “arrogance laced with incompetence”.
The prime minister admitted on Tuesday that “some parts of government” had responded to the coronavirus crisis “sluggishly” — prompting widespread speculation he was referring to PHE in particular.
Passing of worst of Covid-19 an illusion, expert warns
This will be nails on a chalkboard to the ears of Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson.
A former government adviser has warned it is an "illusion" that the UK is past the worst of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London - who quit as a his role after breaking lockdown rules - said the UK should be braced for regional flare-ups.
Already this week Leicester has been locked down after a spike in cases.
"This is far from over, so I think lessons can be learned from what happened in the UK up to now," said Prof Ferguson. "I would prefer to focus on getting the next six months right before looking back in earnest [at how the government has performed].
Expect some semblance of this issue to feature at PMQs shortly...
SNP 'could withdraw from Commons'
The SNP could withdraw from UK institutions - including the House of Commons - if ministers do not allow a second Scottish independence referendum, one of its MPs has claimed.
Pete Wishart, an SNP MP for almost two decades, said the party could consider "withdrawing from the apparatus of the UK state" if Westminster continued to oppose a new plebiscite.
This could be "escalated" to the extent of impacting on the SNP's "participation in institutions of the UK parliament", he added.
Mr Wishart argued if Westminster continued to refuse, Holyrood could try to gain the support of the European Union and the international community for such a ballot.
The Perth and North Perthshire MP said getting Westminster's permission remained his preferred option.
Chinese 'security' law violates Hong Kong autonomy, Raab says
A preview of the foreign secretary's planned statement to the Commons.
Speaking to reporters outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Wednesday, Dominic Raab said: "We have very carefully now assessed the contents of this national security legislation since it was published last night.
"It constitutes a clear violation of the autonomy of Hong Kong and a direct threat to the freedoms of its people, and therefore I'm afraid to say it is a clear and serious violation of the joint declaration - the treaty between the United Kingdom and China."
But Mr Raab will have to wait. First up, PMQs...
Boris Johnson is 'blind to risks' of lifting lockdown, Keir Starmer says
Keir Starmer has accused prime minister Boris Johnson in the House of Commons of being “blind to the risks” of easing the coronavirus lockdown.
