Boris Johnson has clashed with Jeremy Corbyn over NHS funding and waiting times at PMQs. The prime minister claimed the Tories were “the party of the NHS” after the Labour leader said “urgent action” was needed to fix the crisis.
While Mr Corbyn expressed concerns about the “racial undertones” in coverage of the Duchess of Sussex, the Tory MP Mark Francois has predicted that the £500,000 needed to get Big Ben to bong for Brexit will be raised within 48 hours.
It comes as Matt Hancock said the public can carry on flying as often as before despite the climate emergency, rejecting the idea of “sacrifices”. The health secretary also drew fury for suggesting the four-hour A&E waiting time target could be scrapped.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster, as Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn prepare for PMQs and nominations open from constituency parties and affiliated groups in the Labour leadership contest.
Labour contest opens up to registered supporters
For the sum £25, Labour will let you take part in their leadership contest. The 48-hour window for registering as a party supporter is now open and closes at 5pm on Thursday.
Nominations are also now open from constituency parties and affiliated groups. To get on the ballot, the five candidates must win the backing of either 33 local parties or three groups, including two trade unions.
Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long Bailey and Lisa Nandy might win union backing – but Jess Phillips and Emily Thornberry might have to rely on local parties to make the cut.
Momentum faces backlash over ‘ludicrous’ ballot
The left-wing activist group Momentum is facing a backlash over its “ludicrous” ballot of members for the Labour leadership, with just one option for both leader and deputy leader roles available to supporters.
The group’s National Coordinating Group (NCG) unanimously voted at the weekend to support Rebecca Long-Bailey for leader, and Angela Rayner for the deputy position.
The ballot simply asks members for a “yes” or “no” response to the question “should Momentum follow the NCG recommendation to endorse Long-Bailey as the next leader of the Labour Party”. The same question is also asked of Rayner for the deputy role.
Owen Jones said it was “silly”, while fellow pundit-intellectual Paul Mason likened it to a survey by a “South American dictatorship”.
Momentum faces backlash over ‘ludicrous’ Labour leadership ballot of members
Organisation asks members to endorse Rebecca Long-Bailey in 'confirmatory ballot'Farage wants to play Big Ben bong recording on Brexit Day
This Big Ben bonging for “Brexit Day” stuff is getting very, very silly. It was already quite silly, then Johnson made it extremely silly by suggesting the public could help fundraise the £500,000 needed to have the under-repair clock chime at 11pm on 31 January.
The PM described as “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong” in his BBC interview on Wednesday.
The House of Commons Commission responded by putting out two statements arguing the use of public donations for such a pointlessly expensive operation would be “unprecedented”. Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “You are talking about £50,000 a bong.”
And now Nigel Farage has upped the absurdity a notch by claiming the Brexit Party would bring loudspeakers to their Parliament Square “celebration” event and play a recording of the bongs to mark the moment we quit the EU.
His chairman Richard Tice told The Telegraph: “If not, we will provide the sound of the famous bell tolling from our excellent speaker system. This will, of course, be watched and listened to around the world.”
The Greater London Assembly hasn’t yet given permission for the event – but 15,000 Brexiteers have already applied for tickets.
British children of Isis recruits could be repatriated – if mother stays in Syria
Four British children whose parents joined Isis in 2014 may be repatriated from a Syrian refugee camp if their mother agrees she cannot return with them.
ITV News reported the government has said it will “urgently investigate” bringing the children back to the UK, which could lead to the return of dozens of children trapped in camps following the defeat of IS.
East London’s Mehak Aslam joined the terrorist group with her husband Shahan Choudhury, who became an IS gravedigger and was later imprisoned. Both have been stripped of their British citizenship.
Mohamed Aslam urged his daughter to sign a proposal from the government which promised to begin investigating the process of the children’s return.
He told ITV he recognised the need for children to be raised by their parents but it was just not possible for his grandchildren.
“That’s a hard reality but at least they’ll be safe here - at least they’ll be safe and secure,” Aslam said.
He said a fifth grandchild was killed in an explosion in Syria. “She passed away - I can never forgive them (her parents) for that. They wanted to take this step for themselves – that’s fine, that’s their problem. Why involve the kids in this?”
A Foreign Office spokesman declined to comment on the Aslam children’s case.
Will the bells ring out for Brexit?
Brexit-backing campaigners and Tory MPs are urging vicars and bell-ringers across the nation to ring their church bells on the morning of 1 February to mark the UK’s “independence” from the EU.
The Leave.EU group has urged Church of England folk to defy the “powers that be” in their parish if necessary.
Founder Arron Banks claimed his group been “overwhelmed by bell-ringers” who wanted church bells to ring “with or without permission”.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who said: “I think church bells ringing at 10am on February 1 would be a very fitting celebrations … It’s our independence day.”
The Rev Andy Bawtree, vicar of St Peter & St Paul in Kent, wants his church bells to ring – but will discuss the matter with his local church council first.
But there are plenty of dissenting voices in the Anglican community. And the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers said it did not support the idea.
The Bishop of Buckingham, the Right Rev Alan Wilson, told The Times: “It’s deeply divisive to ring church bells for something like this. Churches are there for the whole community, not for a political faction to crow over people they have beaten.”
The Bishop of Burnley, the Right Rev Philip North, said: “The purpose of the church bell is to call people to worship and I regret any attempt to politicise this lovely tradition.”
Should we be flying less? ‘Nope,’ says Matt Hancock
The health secretary says the public can carry on flying as often as before despite the climate emergency, rejecting the idea of “sacrifices” to save the planet.
Matt Hancock said the solution was greener planes, such as those powered by electricity – although he admitted he did not know when they could be introduced.
Asked if people should be “flying less” because of the “climate catastrophe” – following the controversial bail-out of Flybe – he replied: “Nope”.
Speaking on Radio 5 Live, Hancock was also asked if he would fly from London to Aberdeen. He said: “Yes of course it that’s necessary ... if I needed to get to Aberdeen and I didn’t have time to take the train.”
All the details here:
No need to fly less to save planet despite climate emergency, health minister says
Matt Hancock says electric planes will cut carbon emissions – then admits he has no idea when they can be brought inEU confirms there will be border checks inside UK
The EU’s chief negotiator has said there will be border checks on trade inside the UK under the Brexit deal – directly contradicting claims made by Boris Johnson.
Michel Barnier confirmed there would be “checks and controls” between Britain and Northern Ireland under the agreement that will govern the UK’s exit from the EU.
Our Europe correspondent Jon Stone has all the details:
EU contradicts Boris Johnson’s false claim about border checks in UK after Brexit
Barnier says there will be ‘checks and controls’ on GB-NI trade after keeping quiet during election‘Don’t stand in the way’ of public who want to donate cash for Big Ben to bong, says Mark Francois
Mark Francois has been arguing about the Big Ben bongs – at what exactly our exit from the EU at 11pm on 31 January signifies – with anti-Brexit campaigner Femi Oluwole on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Oluwole said: “The moment Big Ben bongs we will be objectively less sovereign … So congratulations, three years well spent.”
The Tory MP responded: “That is literally nonsense. You lost the referendum. You were slaughtered at the general election.”
On the idea of a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the under-repair Big Ben to bong, he added: “Some people want to celebrate leaving. If they want to pay their own money to do it, why stand in their way?
Francois has pledged to chuck in £1,000 to help cover the estimated £500,000 cost for getting the clock to chime after Boris Johnson suggested people “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong”.
British ambassador in Tehran is coming back home
The UK’s ambassador to Iran is returning to London for talks following his arrest by the Tehran authorities.
The Foreign Office said Rob Macaire’s visit to the UK “has been planned for quite a while” and he intends to return to Tehran.
The envoy was labelled “persona non grata” by Iran’s judiciary after arrest on Saturday over his attendance at a vigil for the 176 people, including four Britons, killed when Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jet.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here.”
UK ambassador leaves Iran after being arrested at Tehran protest
Rob Macaire is returning to London for talks following his arrest by the Tehran authoritiesScotland will re-join the EU, says separatist MEP
The SNP MEP Christian Allard has told his fellow Europe parliamentarians that Scotland would re-join the EU one day.
“When the people of Scotland voted to stay in Europe, we meant it … Scotland is a future member state,” said the Scottish nationalist.
Trump ‘agrees’ with Johnson over Iran pact replacement
Donald Trump responded to Boris Johnson’s latest BBC interview. The prime minister backed the president to come up with a new agreement to “replace” the existing Iran nuclear deal, describing his ally as “a great deal maker”.
Trump, unsurprising, tweeted: “I agree!”
Nandy says UK should back out of US trade deal – if Trump backs out of Paris accords
Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy believes the UK should hold out on signing a trade deal with the US if Donald Trump withdraws from the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In a speech in London today, the Wigan MP will say Labour should rule out signing trade deals with countries that fail to sign up to the accords, which committed nearly 200 nations to keeping rising global temperatures below 2C.
Our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan has the details:
UK should refuse US trade deal if Trump quits Paris climate accord, says Labour's Lisa Nandy
Exclusive: 'To take people with us we need to show we’re willing to live our values and stand by them,' says NandySNP minister says Scotland has ‘many options’ on independence – but won’t reveal them
The Scottish government has “many options” it could use to push for a second independence referendum if Boris Johnson continues to deny such a vote, a SNP minister has said.
Constitutional relations secretary Mike Russell spoke out after the PM rejected first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s demands for Holyrood to be given the power to stage a second ballot.
Sturgeon has refused to rule out taking legal action in a bid to win the right to hold a fresh independence ballot.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Russell said SNP ministers had “many options” but added he did “not want to go into them”.
“As we move forward, they will all become clear,” he added.
“I think you can either have democracy or you can have dictatorship, you can’t have both.”
SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC has, however, warned there is “no shortcut to an independent Scotland through litigation”.
Brexiteers’ Parliament Square party will go ahead
According to Nigel Farage, the Leave Means Leave group have obtained a license from the Greater London Assembly to throw a Brexit “celebration” party in Parliament Square on 31 January.
“Great news! It is a big moment in the history of this nation to celebrate,” the Brexit Party leader tweeted.
The matter of the bongs remains unresolved.
Matt Hancock suggests A&E waiting targets could be scrapped
The four-hour A&E waiting time target could be scrapped after the NHS in England recorded its worst figure on record, the health secretary has hinted.
Matt Hancock said performance must be “judged by the right targets” after official data showed only 81.4 per cent of emergency patients were seen within four hours in November.
NHS England was already piloting new targets so patients with the most serious conditions receive treatment within an hour while others with more minor complaints wait longer.
Hancock suggested the trials could become permanent across the country when he was questioned about the NHS’s performance under the Tories.
“We will be judged by the right targets,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Targets have to be clinically appropriate.”
He continued: “The four-hour target in A&E – which is often taken as the top way of measuring what's going on in hospitals – the problem with that target is that, increasingly, people can be treated on the day and able to go home.
“That is much better for the patient and also better for the NHS, and yet the way that’s counted in the target doesn’t work.”
Jess Phillips says she could be persuaded to back drug decriminalisation
Labour leadership hopeful Jess Phillips has said she is “open” to the case for decriminalising drugs.
“I am absolutely open minded to be brought round on that matter,” she told The Daily Record on her visit to Scotland.
Phillips also she would support safe consumption rooms for addicts.
The candidate re-iterated her strong support for the union, and criticised John McDonnell for diluting Labour’s message on Scottish independence.
In the run-up to the election the shadow chancellor suggested a Labour government would not block another referendum. “What John McDonnell did harmed Scottish Labour,” she said.
“I am proud to be from the United Kingdom. I would never, ever want to see the break-up of our nation.”
Jess Phillips ‘out of touch’ with Scotland, says Nicola Sturgeon
Despite saying it was not for her to advise a candidate for the Labour leadership, Nicola Sturgeon has offered some advice to a candidate for the Labour leadership.
Speaking about Jess Phillips, the SNP leader said: “I think she badly needs some better advice – If found out yesterday she’s been advised by the former director of Better Together.
“I think she is seriously out of touch with opinion in Scotland.”
She accused Phillips of “singing from the same hymn sheet” as Boris Johnson when it came to independence.
Tom Watson has a novel coming out
While five candidates battle it out to succeed him as Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson has been busy working on a political thriller called The House.
It’s been billed by the publisher as “A study of cold-blooded ambition, hope, friendship … and betrayal.”
You know what they say – write what you know.
Government will back steel industry, says PM
PMQs is now under way in the House of Commons, with Boris Johnson asked about the loss of steel jobs in Sheffield.
“The government is indeed embarking on a plan to do everything we can to make sure steel made in this country has all the competitive advantages it needs.”
Liberty Steel has plans to cut around 350 jobs in south Yorkshire and south Wales.
