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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Nadeem Badshah (now); Andrew Sparrow (earlier)

Brexit: MPs vote down Lords amendments to internal market bill – as it happened

That’s it from me, Nadeem Badshah, signing off for the night.

You can continue to follow our coverage of the latest coronavirus updates from around the world at:

The government has said it may drop key clauses from a bill that would breach international law by letting the UK unilaterally rewrite parts of the Brexit departure agreement.

On Monday night the House of Commons voted down a series of five Lords amendments that had removed the controversial clauses from the internal market bill.

MPs have voted to reinstate some contentious sections of the bill that could potentially override the Brexit divorce deal.

It comes after the sections were stripped out by peers.

MPs voted to reinsert key pieces of the Internal Market Bill that have sparked consternation in Westminster and abroad for potentially breaking international law by taking precedence over the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

The move means the draft legislation will now be sent back to the House of Lords.

MPs are now voting on the government motion to reject amendment 48 made by the Lords.

Lords amendment 48 removed the clause allowing the UK government to spend money using the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the replacement for EU structural funds.

The result is expected in around 5 minutes time.

The House disagrees with Lords Amendment 47: Northern Ireland protocol.

Yes - 357

No - 268.

Majority - 89.

MPs are voting on the government motion to reject amendment 47 made by the Lords to the UK internal market bill.

The result is expected in around 5 minutes.

Updated

Updated

Government overturns first of Lords amendments on Internal Market Bill

MPs have voted on the Internal Markets Bill.

Ayes have voted 360, noes 265, to vote down a Lords amendment.

Updated

From The Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier leaves the EU Borschette building after a meeting with Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost in Brussels.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier leaves the EU Borschette building after a meeting with Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost in Brussels. Photograph: Francisco Seco/AP

Updated

Boris Johnson and European commission president Ursula von der Leyen have confirmed that they will meet in Brussels in an attempt to unblock the deadlocked post-Brexit trade deal negotiations.

For months, the main sticking points in the negotiations have been the following:

Fisheries

The EU wants to continue to maximise access to UK waters for its fishing fleets after 31 December.

The British argue the UK is now an independent coastal state and should be able to prioritise its own boats.

However, most fish caught by UK fishermen are sold in Europe and Britain needs to maintain access to EU markets.

There was talk on Sunday of a breakthrough on fishing, but that has been denied by Downing Street.

Reports suggest UK negotiators are proposing removing pelagic fish - the likes of mackerel and whiting - from the fisheries aspect of the negotiations in a bid to break the impasse on the turbulent issue.

Those fish types would instead be negotiated separately on a rolling annual basis with the EU and other countries, such as Russia, Norway and Iceland.

The level playing field

The so-called “level playing field” rules are intended to ensure businesses on one side do not gain an unfair advantage over those on the other side.

In return for continuing access to the single market, the EU is seeking a high degree of alignment by the UK with its standards on workers rights, the environment and particularly state aid for businesses.

The British deny they want to undercut EU measures, but say the point of leaving is for the UK to be able to set its own standards.

Governance

The two sides are still at odds over the mechanisms for enforcing any agreement and resolving disputes.

The British have been adamant that the UK is an independent sovereign state and cannot accept the jurisdiction of the European court of justice.

Where does this leave the negotiations?

The UK’s concession that it will remove elements of the controversial internal market bill relating to Northern Ireland in the event of a trade deal is being read in some quarters as a sign an agreement could be in the works.

Johnson’s jaunt to Brussels is similarly being viewed as a precursor to a breakthrough, but government sources on Monday continued to warn that no-deal remains an option.

Updated

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove met his counterpart on the UK-EU joint committee in Brussels, although the discussions are separate from the trade negotiations.

But in an olive branch to Brussels, the government said it was prepared to remove three controversial clauses from the UK internal market bill relating to the Irish border.

In a statement, the government said the UK and EU have “worked constructively together through the withdrawal agreement joint committee”.

Discussions continue to progress and final decisions are expected in the coming days. If the solutions being considered in those discussions are agreed, the UK government would be prepared to remove clause 44 of the UK internal market bill, concerning export declarations.

The UK government would also be prepared to deactivate clauses 45 and 47, concerning state aid, such that they could be used only when consistent with the United Kingdom’s rights and obligations under international law.”

Updated

From the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot:

Updated

Labour MP Angela Rayner tweets her reaction to the protracted talks.

From the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot.

Updated

From the BBC’s Lewis Goodall.

Updated

A Downing St source said there was no guarantee of a deal - and said it was clear only political intervention could save the talks.

“Talks are in the same position now as they were on Friday. We have
made no tangible progress,” the source said.

It’s clear this must now continue politically. Whilst we do not consider this process to be closed, things are looking very tricky and there’s every chance we are not going to get there.”

Updated

Ireland’s Simon Coveney, who was in Brussels today to meet fellow foreign affairs ministers, was downbeat on return to Dublin.

He said the EU wanted a deal but many member states were steeling themselves for a potential no deal.

The next two days need to be “very different” from the last two he said in order for things to change, he told RTÉ news.

I think there is a great deal of frustration on the EU side, not just within the EU negotiating team, but also across member states.

Many of the ministers I spoke to today are just getting increasingly frustrated and increasingly resigned to the fact that there may be no deal, when it comes to a trade deal or future relationship deal possible this week. In Brussels certainly the mood is starting to shift to contingency planning for a no deal, as opposed to the compromises that are necessary to get a deal done. That is not where we want this to go.

Updated

Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, urged the UK government and the European Union to “get on with reaching an agreement”.

She said:

Day after day we see this government failing to deliver their promises to the British people and failing to get the deal they promised done.

Securing a deal is critical to the British national interest for jobs and security. Even at this 11th hour, we urge both sides to get on with reaching an agreement. We can then focus on the job at hand which is securing the economy and rebuilding our country from the pandemic.

Updated

In a joint statement, Johnson and Von der Leyen said: “As agreed on Saturday, we took stock today of the ongoing negotiations.

We agreed that the conditions for finalising an agreement are not there, due to the remaining significant differences on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries.

We asked our chief negotiators and their teams to prepare an overview of the remaining differences to be discussed in a physical meeting in Brussels in the coming days.

Updated

Johnson and EU president to meet this week to try to solve Brexit stalemate

Boris Johnson and European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, look set to meet in person this week in a bid to break the stalemate in post-Brexit trade deal talks.

The UK prime minister and Von der Leyen spoke on the telephone on Monday evening, and agreed to ask their chief negotiators to prepare an overview of the “remaining differences”.

Boris Johnson speaking on the phone
Boris Johnson speaking on the phone to Ursula von der Leyen. The pair said ‘significant differences’ remained. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/No10 Downing Street

The leaders will then discuss them in person in a physical meeting in Brussels “in the coming days”.

Updated

Early evening summary

  • Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have spoken for at least 90 minutes, but without so far anything being announced as to whether they can see if the UK and the EU will or will not be able to agree a trade deal. They paused their conversation within the last hour, and at this point there are conflicting reports as to whether their conversation will be resuming this evening, or has already.
  • Earlier in the day Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said talks between the two negotiating teams would have to wrap up on Wednesday, ahead of the EU summit starting on Thursday. We may get a definitive statement tonight, or the uncertainty may drag on until at least tomorrow.
  • The government has said it may drop sections of its internal market bill that would breach international law by letting the UK unilaterally rewrite parts of the Brexit departure agreement, in a potential sign of softening attitudes.
  • The government has been defeated in the Lords over giving parliament a bigger say in the approval of post-Brexit trade agreements. As PA Media reports, peers backed by 308 votes to 261, majority 47, a cross-party amendment to the trade bill calling for greater accountability and transparency of deals. The legislation will enable the UK to forge new commercial ties with other countries after breaking from the EU. But members of the Lords said negotiating objectives should be put before parliament and approved by both Houses before talks on potential trade agreements start.
  • Another lockdown may be needed in Wales to stop the NHS being overwhelmed as the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital soared to a record high, the Welsh government has admitted.
  • More than a million of the UK’s poorest people are regularly struggling to pay for food and are in “severe financial trouble”, and most do not believe politicians care about helping them, a survey by the centre-right thinktank the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has shown.

That’s all from me for tonight. But this blog, like the Johnson/VDL telephone negotiation, has notionally just been paused. If or when there are further developments, a colleague will pick it up and reactivate it.

Updated

And this is from the BBC’s Laura Kuennsberg, who has heard something quite different.

From the Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner

There is no steer yet as to whether the pause in the talks between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen (see 5.44pm) is just to allow them to stretch their legs, or whether they have broken off to discuss new proposals with their respective teams. And we’ve got no clue yet as to when the talks might resume.

From the Sun’s Nick Gutteridge

Johnson and Von der Leyen take a break in their telephone call

Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have taken a break in their call, which started about an hour and 40 minutes ago, AFP’s Clément Zampa reports.

A new guide to Covid-era etiquette published by the Scottish government advises people to back away from awkward confrontations and use “subtle reminders” if someone breaks the rules on physical distancing.

Urging people to assume the other person has not noticed they are infringing the rules or their personal space, it offers a series of scenarios including one where “a stranger in the supermarket is way too close”.

In that situation, the eight-page guide suggests, just say: “I’ll step back and give you some space - it’s tricky in busy spaces to keep 2 metres, isn’t it?”

If the same happens on a bus or train, the guide recommends saying “I’m happy to move if that’s easier for you.” If a family member is walking too close to you “a subtle reminder may be all that is needed.” The guide suggests this phrase: “Sorry, I know this is a bit odd, isn’t it, having to stay apart. I’ll just move back a little and that’ll keep us right.”

A friend sees you in a coffee shop and takes off their mask to say hello: “Always assume that people have the best intentions, and that they may have forgotten or misunderstood the current guidance. In this situation, you could offer an explanation and an alternative.” The guide recommends one says: “Let’s catch up outside? Where there’s space to keep a wee distance.”

Scottish Twitter was silent on whether this was sage, useful advice or verging on the passive aggressive.

Updated

The Penny Mordaunt urgent question in the Commons has now finished. Conservative backbenchers who spoke were overwhelmingly supportive of Boris Johnson’s approach to the trade talks with the EU, and generally they were not calling for compromise in the interests of getting a deal.

Mordaunt repeatedly stressed that a deal would have to be “compatible with our sovereignty”. (See 3.43pm.)

Updated

Northern Ireland has recorded 397 further coronavirus cases. A week ago today the figure was 290.

And there have been nine further deaths. A week ago today there were 10.

After a fall in case numbers in Northern Ireland for most of November, numbers now seem to be flattening or rising against. This is from the Northern Ireland dashboard.

Rolling average of positive case numbers in Northern Ireland
Rolling average of positive case numbers in Northern Ireland Photograph: Department of Health, NI

The UK government has updated its coronavirus dashboard. Here are the key figures.

  • The UK has recorded 14,718 further coronavirus cases. That is a a fall from the total for yesterday (17,272), but an increase on the total for a week ago today (12,330). In the second half of last month case numbers fell quite dramatically, but now they appear to be levelling off again. The number of cases in the last seven days, 105,918, is now just 0.6% lower than the number for the previous week.
UK cases numbers, by date reported
UK cases numbers, by date reported Photograph: Gov.UK
  • The UK has recorded 189 further deaths. That is down from 231 yesterday and down from 205 a week ago today. Week on week, deaths have fallen by 7%.

This is from Sky’s Adam Parsons on the EU reaction to the government announcement about the internal market bill. (See 3.59pm.)

And these are from the BBC’s Katya Adler.

Checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea into Northern Ireland will be imposed from 1 January with no delays in implementation despite protests from local business and farming leaders, the government has confirmed.

Local businesses implored EU leaders last month to delay the new trading arrangements saying they were being given just weeks to prepare for a new system that would normally take up to 18 months.

But the Cabinet Office confirmed after a meeting between Michael Gove and the European commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, in Brussels on Monday there would be “no grace period”.

Businesses had argued that the rest of the country was being given six months to get used to the changes with new customs and standards checks in Dover and other ports being phased in in three stages between January and July.

They said they were like the “rope in a tug of war” between the UK and the EU and warned of a “huge black hole” in information and a “disconnect” with Westminster and Brussels over the reality of Brexit checks kicking in just 24 days time.

The head of the Ulster Farmers Union said it was only now sinking in that British businesses who wanted to sell them goods such as farm machinery needed to get special trading numbers, known as EORI numbers, that were specifically for Northern Ireland.

And last week it emerged that four in 10 food suppliers said they would pause or reduce supply of produce to Northern Ireland because of the checks, which kick in whether there is a deal or no deal.

The Cabinet Office said “further measures to support agrifood traders will be announced shortly” and it was “working to resolve all outstanding issues for supermarkets and other traders through the joint committee”.

Updated

Here is the Daily Mirror’s take on the government’s statement on the internal market bill. (See 3.59pm.)

Updated

No 10 offers to abandon contentious parts of internal market bill in event of deal with EU

The government has formally offered to withdraw or deactivate the clauses in the internal market bill that would enable it to over-ride parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement if a trade deal is agreed this week. It has said so in a statement just released. It says:

Discussions [on a trade deal] continue to progress and final decisions are expected in the coming days. If the solutions being considered in those discussions are agreed, the UK government would be prepared to remove clause 44 of the UK internal market bill, concerning export declarations. The UK government would also be prepared to deactivate clauses 45 and 47, concerning state aid, such that they could be used only when consistent with the United Kingdom’s rights and obligations under international law.

The statement also suggests the government could abandon its plan to include another power to over-ride part of the withdrawal agreement, relating to tariffs, in the taxation bill, which is due to be debated on Wednesday. It says:

Good progress continues to be made regarding the decision as to which goods are ‘at risk’ of entering the EU market. Talks continue this afternoon. In the light of those discussions, the government will keep under review the content of the forthcoming taxation bill.

It has always been assumed that, if there were a deal, the government would be willing to abandon these contentious proposals – not least because the ones relating to tariffs and state aid would mostly become redundant anyway in the event of a free trade deal. But this statement makes that offer explicit.

Updated

Rachel Reeves, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, is responding to Penny Mordaunt.

She says Boris Johnson said failing to get a deal would be a failure of statecraft.

She asks about the impact of a not having a deal on farmers and the car industry.

She asks how many of the 50,000 extra customs officers promised by Michael Gove have been hired.

And she reminds Mordaunt that Liam Fox, the former international trade secretary, said getting a trade deal with the EU would be the easiest trade deal in history.

In response, Mordaunt accuses Labour of not having a position on Brexit. She says MPs should support the government in its efforts to get a deal.

Level playing field 'most difficult' of outstanding issues in trade talks, Mordaunt says

In the Commons Penny Mordaunt, the paymaster general and Cabinet Office minister, is responding to an urgent question on preparations for the end of the post-Brexit transition.

She says Lord Frost, the UK’s negotiator, has been in talks with the EU almost every day since 22 October.

She says the level playing field issue is currently the “most difficult” of the outstanding issues.

We are at a critical moment in the talks, she says.

She says they are working to get a deal.

But the only deal that is possible is one that is compatible with our sovereignty and takes back control of our laws, trade, and waters.

Earlier Jason Groves, political editor of the Daily Mail, posted this on Twitter. I was tempted to post it on the blog, but refrained just in case it was a joke.

It wasn’t. This is from the Sun’s Harry Cole.

No doubt Uxbridge has superb fishmongers, but it’s an odd place to visit to show solidarity with the fishing industry, being a landlocked suburban constituency on the western edge of London.

We’ve found out what Boris Johnson was doing in Uxbridge, his constituency, earlier. (See 12.34pm.) He was at a campaign event with Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for London mayor. According to a news release, they were highlighting Bailey’s pledge to reopen 38 London police stations.

NHS England has recorded 190 further coronavirus hospital deaths. The details are here. That is down from 195 yesterday, but up from 183 a week ago today.

A pharmacy technician from Croydon Health Services taking delivery of the first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Croydon University hospital today.
A pharmacy technician from Croydon Health Services taking delivery of the first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Croydon University hospital today. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA/EPA

Updated

Shadow faith minister resigns over same-sex marriage conscientious objection comment

The Labour MP Janet Daby has resigned as shadow faith minister after a backlash prompted by her claim last week that registrars with a religious objection to same-sex marriage should be allowed not to have to officiate over one.

As the Telegraph (paywall) reports, Daby said:

There needs to be something in place that protects people of faith as well as those who think the other way. It is an issue of conscience. It is like people having a choice who for reasons of conscience cannot participate in conducting an abortion.

Updated

From Matt Hancock, the health secretary

Boris Johnson is placing huge faith in the potential for mass testing (or community testing, as the government now calls it) to drive down coronavirus numbers, and he talks it up a lot. His scientific advisers have been a bit more sceptical, but Johnson will be encouraged by the findings of a new report from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine which says a combination of mass testing, the lockdown, and a 10-day quarantine for people who tested positive along with those they lived with, led to a reduction in transmission in the country of about 60%.

Updated

Wales records more than 2,000 new daily Covid cases for first time

Public Health Wales has today recorded 2,021 further coronavirus cases in Wales. This is the first time Wales has recorded more than 2,000 new cases in a day. Yesterday the daily figure was 1,916, a week ago today it was 802 and two weeks ago today 892 new cases were recorded.

And two further deaths have been recorded, but these figures are always low after a weekend for administrative reasons. A week ago today three deaths were recorded.

Here are the slides presented at the Welsh government’s briefing earlier (see 12.57pm) highlighting the growing coronavirus problem in the country.

This one shows case numbers.

Case numbers in Wales
Case numbers in Wales Photograph: Welsh government

And this one shows hospital numbers.

Hospital numbers in Wales
Hospital numbers in Wales Photograph: Welsh government

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman also defended government plans to issue cards to people who have had a coronavirus vaccine. They were not immunity passports, the spokesman said. He said:

We have been clear that there are no plans to introduce immunity passports. The cards ... are NHS reminder cards that prompt people to get the second dose that they need. That’s a well-established practice in the NHS to offer people cards to remind them of their next appointment.

Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, also insisted last week that the government was not planning to issue people with “vaccine passports” - even though the vaccination minister, Nadhim Zahawi, had suggested businesses might see a case for them..

Micheál Martin, the Irish taoiseach (PM), has said it would be a “significant failure” if the UK and the EU fail to agree a trade deal. He told reporters:

A deal can be arrived at. It would be a significant failure if we were to end up with no deal.

These are from the BBC’s Europe editor, Katya Adler.

Updated

No 10 says it is willing to keep negotiating 'as long as we have time available'

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s official spokesman said they had no intention of allowing the trade talks with the EU to continue beyond this year, as has been suggested in some quarters. The spokesman said:

We are clearly in the final stages now. But we will continue to negotiate.

We’ve been clear on our negotiating team are over there with the aim of reaching an agreement. And that’s what we’ll continue to work on.

Our team is in Brussels now, continuing to negotiate. Our aim is to reach an FTA and that’s what we’re working towards.

Asked about reports that Michel Barnier wants the talks to concluded by Wednesday (see 12.51pm), the spokesman said:

Time is obviously in very short supply and we’re in the final stages, but we’re prepared to negotiate for as long as we have time available if we think an agreement is still possible.

The spokesman reiterated Boris Johnson’s declaration Britain would “continue to prosper” in the event of there being no deal.

And he said the government would be putting out a statement this afternoon about its plans for the internal market bill. He stressed that the government has already tabled amendments to overturn all the defeats it suffered in the Lords.

But he also said that “the bill won’t necessarily complete ping pong this week”. That means it might not become law this week. The process of “ping pong” (when a bill shuttles between the Commons and the Lords until they agree) could continue into next week, the spokesman suggested.

This would create extra time during which the government could drop the contentious clauses in the bill allowing it to over-ride parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. (See 11.38am.)

Updated

All 11 Scottish councils in toughest level 4 to move down on Friday, Sturgeon confirms

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed all 11 Scottish councils will leave level 4, the toughest tier of Covid restrictions, on Friday but has hinted they will shift down to the next-highest level until Christmas.

The first minister said the Scottish government’s cabinet would make a final decision on the new controls for all 32 local council areas on Tuesday, and confirmed that may include councils with increased cases moving up a level. There is speculation Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire could move up a tier, from level two to three.

She said the level four restrictions, which affect more than 2 million people, had begun to work: Scotland’s overall rate of positive cases was getting closer to the 5% rate identified as an important indicator by the World Health Organization; the positive testing rate was at 6.7% over the last 24 hours.

Her update follows confusion yesterday from Jeane Freeman, the Scottish health secretary, over whether the level 4 controls would remain in force. Freeman implied in a BBC Scotland interview some areas could stay within that tier for several weeks, only to clarify on Twitter later on Sunday that none would remain at that level.

Sturgeon said that only one death was recorded yesterday, of a person with a positive Covid test, but said the number of confirmed cases in Scotland had passed 100,000 over the weekend. The latest total reached 100,783 on Monday, with 974 people in hospital, up by 23 overnight, while 59 people were intensive care, down three on Sunday.

Freeman said Covid testing of approved visitors to care homes, using the less sensitive lateral flow test system, would start this week. There could also be an update on Tuesday whether Scotland’s Higher exams would take place next year.

Updated

Here is my colleague Daniel Boffey’s story on this morning’s developments in Brussels.

The story includes new detail on fishing, and explains why progress on fishing that the Guardian reported on Sunday night subsequently stalled. Daniel reports:

Progress on the issues of EU fleets access to British fishing waters, as reported by the Guardian, was upended late on Sunday night when David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, tabled new demands about the ownership of boats.

Under the proposals, any vessels majority-owned or staffed by EU nationals would not be allowed to sail under the UK flag, sources in Brussels said.

Vessels currently need only an “economic link” to the UK, such as landing more than half their catch at British ports or having majority British crews. Companies based in Iceland, Spain and the Netherlands fished 55% of the UK’s fishing quota in 2019, according to research published this year.

EU sources had said the two sides were close to a deal earlier in the day, but Barnier quelled any optimism, telling ambassadors on Monday morning that the negotiation was “difficult” as he explained the new British demand.

One senior EU diplomat said: “This has really caused a lot of problems. A paper was handed over late on Sunday night. This is serious.”

Wales considering tighter restrictions as Covid hospital numbers hit record high

There are more than 1,800 people in Welsh hospitals with confirmed or suspected coronavirus – the highest recorded figure and 400 more than the peak in April. At the regular Welsh government briefing, the health minister, Vaughan Gething, said the situation was “incredibly serious”.

Gething said the latest data shows that the all-Wales case rate is almost 70 points higher than it was on Friday. “This shows you how just fast coronavirus is spreading,” he said.

Gething said there were eight local authorities with rates higher than 400 cases per 100,000 people – four times as many areas as on Friday.

“Sadly, we are seeing a return to the very high rates of more than 500 in Blaenau Gwent and 600 in Neath Port Talbot,” he said. Gething added that in 19 of the 22 local authority areas cases were rising.

Asked how seriously the government was considering another lockdown, Gething said:

We’re actively considering each day whether the measures we have are the right ones or not. We’re actively considering what we may need to do after the Christmas period.

When asked if changes to the rules before or during Christmas could be needed he said:

If we need to act at a different point in time we will do ... If we need to act further, we will do. We’re still committed to doing everything we can to keep Wales safe.

Vaughan Gething.
Vaughan Gething. Photograph: Wales Pool

Barnier 'tells MEPs talks could continue until Wednesday'

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has also been speaking to the European parliament’s Brexit coordination committee this morning. According to RTE’s Europe editor, Tony Connelly, Barnier said that the trade talks could continue until Wednesday, but that by Thursday a decision would have to be taken about whether or not a deal would happen.

According to Downing Street, Boris Johnson has been doing a visit in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in west London this morning. We have not been given further details yet.

Perhaps constituents will get the chance to ask him about their local hospital, Hillingdon hospital. On Friday a report from the Care Quality Commission rated it as inadequate.

Updated

Johnson to speak to Von der Leyen at 4pm UK time

This is from Eric Mamer, the European commission’s chief spokesman; 5pm in Brussels time is 4pm in London.

On Saturday No 10 and the European commission said today’s call would take place “on Monday evening”.

Updated

A temporary contraflow is to be set up on the A55 on Anglesey in north Wales to hold lorries that are turned away from the port of Holyhead from 1 January, the Welsh government has said.

HGVs turned away from the port will be stacked while they sort their paperwork or redirected to other sites if there is space.

A business park on the island is being prepared as a stacking site and should be ready by mid January and the government is also negotiating to use a truck stop.

The Welsh transport and north Wales minister, Ken Skates, said:

Introducing a contraflow is not something we want to do but it has become the necessary thing to do. The uncertainty we face means we have to take every step to protect the port and town of Holyhead from disruption.

This is a situation we have never faced before and while we have reasonable worst case forecasts that between 40 and 70% of hauliers could be turned away initially, the actual situation could be different.

Trucks unloading from the ferry at Holyhead port.
Trucks unloading from the ferry at Holyhead port. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Updated

A former court of appeal judge has been appointed to lead a review into how the Human Rights Act (HRA) is being interpreted in UK courts, my colleague Owen Bowcott reports.

The review will run alongside a parallel review of the way judicial review operates.

Lawyers have been worried about the government’s plans for human rights law, particularly after it emerged in March that Boris Johnson was refusing to commit to applying the European convention on human rights as part of a UK-EU trade deal.

But today, in its news release about the new review, the Ministry of Justice stresses that the government remains committed to the ECHR. It says:

The UK remains committed to the European convention on human rights. The review is limited to looking at the structural framework of the Human Rights Act, rather than the rights themselves.

Updated

Penny Mordaunt, who as paymaster general serves as a minister in the Cabinet Office, will respond to the urgent question on Brexit (see 11.03am), No 10 has said.

Some readers have been asking why so little is being said this morning about the Commons debate on the internal market bill this afternoon? If the government reinserts the clauses allowing it to overrule parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement (in breach of international law), doesn’t that crush all prospects of a trade deal? And why isn’t the EU saying so explicitly, as the pro-European Labour peer Andrew Adonis was yesterday?

The bill remains a stumbling block, but this evening’s vote will not be the final word. If MPs do vote to reinsert the offending clauses into the bill, it doesn’t become law automatically. The bill will return to the Lords on Wednesday and peers are likely to remove them again. (The government lost the first division last month by 268 votes.) So the government still has time to abandon these aspects of the bill as part of an overall trade agreement. (Some of them would become redundant anyway; one involves giving the UK government a say over tariffs for goods that might be heading for the EU market, but under a free trade deal there would be no tariffs.)

It is thought that Michael Gove is likely to be discussing this with Maroš Šefčovič, the European commission vice-president, in Brussels today.

Gove and Šefčovič are co-chairs of the joint committee, the body set up to oversee the implementation of the withdrawal agreement. Earlier I said they were attending a meeting of the committee. That’s wrong. It is actually a political meeting outside the formal joint committee process. They will “discuss issues related to their work as co-chairs of the joint committee”, the Cabinet Office said.

And why is the EU not vocally insisting this morning that the offending clauses in the internal market bill will go? Out of tact. It wants a deal, it knows the UK government understands its objections, but it also accepts that it would be easier for Boris Johnson to drop the contentious provisions in the bill seemingly as a gesture of goodwill, rather than as an obvious climbdown forced by the EU.

Updated

There are two urgent questions in the Commons today, one of which covers the end of the post-Brexit transition and is addressed to Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister. But Gove is in Brussels for a meeting, and so one of his ministerial colleagues is more likely to be replying.

Michael Gove arriving at the EU HQ in Brussels this morning for a meeting with the co-chair of the joint committee overseeing implementation of the withdrawal agreement.
Michael Gove arriving at the EU HQ in Brussels this morning for a meeting with the co-chair of the joint committee overseeing implementation of the withdrawal agreement. Photograph: Olivier Matthys/AP

Updated

James Cleverly has also condemned as “completely wrong” Millwall fans who booed players for taking the knee at the weekend, while saying this did not denote support for the political aims of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

The comments by Cleverly, a Foreign Office minister who was formerly the Conservative party chair, contrast with the view of George Eustice, the environment secretary, who declined to criticise the Millwall fans’ behaviour yesterday.

Some of the 2,000 fans of the south London club, attending a home game for the first time this season, loudly booed the knee-taking, adopted by players in English football this season in solidarity with victims of racial injustice.

Asked about this on Sunday, Eustice said BLM was “a political movement that is different to what most of us believe in”, and did not condemn the booing.

But speaking on LBC Radio, Cleverly said the players were “acting in a way that demonstrates solidarity with those people fighting racism and those who have been the victims of racism. Booing that is completely wrong, I’m totally comfortable saying that.”

But Cleverly added that he thought existing anti-racism campaigns in football should be given more exposure, saying BLM were “pushing a very extreme political agenda”.

Updated

Foreign Office minister repeats Gove's claim 'we hold all the cards' in trade talks

James Cleverly, the Foreign Office minister, sought to adopt a reassuring tone as he answered questions about the UK-EU trade talks when doing the morning broadcast round on behalf of No 10 this morning. Here are the key points from his various interviews.

  • Cleverly said that a trade deal with the EU was “nearly there” and that most elements were agreed. He said:

The vast majority of the elements of this agreement have been resolved and we’re now hanging on a small number of important areas where we don’t have agreement.

We’re nearly there but we are not quite there yet. And it may well be that we will not be able to resolve this in the timescale we’ve got, but we’re nearly there.

  • He said it was “not surprising” that talks were going to the wire. He said:

Whilst it would’ve been lovely to get something earlier than this, it’s not completely surprising that it’s going to the wire but we’ll keep negotiating hard on behalf of the British people to get a good trade agreement.

  • He said he thought a deal was still possible. He said:

I think a deal is possible and we’ll keep working towards it until we get it.

  • He claimed the UK did “hold all the cards” in the negotiation. He said:

Outside the EU we can actually sign trade agreements more quickly with more countries than previously, so we do indeed hold all the cards.

I think if the EU recognise this they will see that actually making a few small but significant concessions can get this deal done and that will be in their interest and in our interest.

Cleverly was referring to a famous comment by Michael Gove, the Brexiter Cabinet Office minister, in a speech (pdf) he gave during the referendum campaign on 16 April 2016. Gove said: “The day after we vote to leave we hold all the cards and we can choose the path we want.” This is frequently cited as evidence of how Brexiters exaggerated or misunderstood the strength of Britain’s post-Brexit negotiating position. Gove has recently defended his claim, implying he meant not that Britain would hold all the best cards, but just that it would hold its own cards.

  • Cleverly rejected claims that a no-deal Brexit would amount to some sort of “Armageddon”. He said:

Countries can trade perfectly well without a formal trade agreement, as Australia does with the EU, There have been people trying to paint the idea of us leaving without a trade agreement as some kind of Armageddon. It is less preferable than having a trade agreement but ... you can trade successfully with the EU without a formal trade agreement.

Yesterday ITV’s Robert Peston reported on the contents of a government document setting out the “reasonable worst case” for what no-deal might involve. The scenario may not involve Armageddon, but it’s not that far off either. There is a link here.

James Cleverly on ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning.
James Cleverly on ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning. Photograph: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

This is from Nigel Farage, who as Ukip leader was instrumental in creating the conditions that led to the UK voting to leave the EU in 2016. He currently leads the Brexit party, which is struggling to find a role in UK politics now that the Conservative party is associated with a hard Brexit position.

(Quite why he is conflating the migrant boats issue with the trade negotiation isn’t clear, other than to insinuate that the French are inherently unreasonably.)

Updated

Michel Barnier briefing a meeting of Coreper, the EU’s permanent representatives committee, in Brussels this morning.
Michel Barnier briefing a meeting of Coreper, the EU’s permanent representatives committee, in Brussels this morning.
 Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

RTE’s Europe editor, Tony Connelly, has posted a thread on Twitter with the full comments from Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, this morning.

Updated

Here are some more reports from reporters who cover Brussels on what happened when Michel Barnier briefed EU diplomats this morning.

From my colleague Daniel Boffey

From Sky’s Adam Parsons

From Bloomberg’s Maria Tadeo

From the Wall Street Journal’s Laurence Norman

From Die Welt’s Stefanie Bolzen

From the Independent’s Jon Stone

The pound is down this morning following reports that the UK-EU trade talks are not making progress, Bloomberg reports.

Sky News doorstepped Lord Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, in Brussels this morning as he arrived for the latest round of meetings. When asked what was happening, all he would say was that he was still “working very hard”.

David Frost
David Frost Photograph: Sky News

Barnier gives EU diplomats 'very gloomy' assessment of progress in UK-EU trade talks

Good morning. After numerous false starts (and apologies for any reporting on this that may have been misleading), we have finally, finally arrived at what will be the decisive week for the UK-EU trade talks, or even the decisive 24/48 hours. Or at least that’s Whitehall consensus. A deal agreed in the next day or so could be approved by the EU summit starting on Thursday and then rushed through parliament next week. Other timetables would be conceivable, but much more problematic.

Here is our overnight story on the talks.

This morning Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has been updated EU ambassadors in Brussels on developments. Here is the latest updated filed by Reuters within the last few minutes.

British and European Union negotiators have still not bridged gaps on the three main issues standing in the way of a post-Brexit trade deal and the talks could still go either way, an EU diplomat said on Monday.

Despite intensive negotiations until late last night, the gaps on level playing field, governance and fisheries are still not bridged. The outcome is still uncertain, it can still go both ways,” the diplomat said.

He was speaking after a briefing for EU member states’ ambassadors to Brussels by the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier.

“EU-UK negotiations have entered the endgame, time is running out quickly,” the diplomat said. “The EU is ready to go the extra mile to agree on a fair, sustainable and balanced deal for citizens in the EU and UK. It is for the UK to chose between such a positive outcome or a no deal outcome.”

And these are from RTE’s Europe editor, Tony Connelly.

Here is the agenda for the day.

12pm: Downing Street is expected to hold a lobby briefing.

12.15pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is expected to hold a coronavirus briefing.

12.15pm: Vaughan Gething, the Welsh health minister, holds a coronavirus briefing.

After 3.30pm: MPs resume their debate on the internal market bill. The government is reinserting the clauses taken out in the House of Lords allowing the UK to over-rule parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Early evening: Boris Johnson is due to hold talks with Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, about the UK-EU trade talks.

Also, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, and Maroš Šefčovič, the European commission vice president, are holding a meeting in Brussels. They are co-chairs of the joint committee, the body set up to oversee the implementation of the withdrawal agreement.

Politics Live is now doubling up as the UK coronavirus live blog and, given the way the Covid crisis eclipses everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will be covering non-Covid political stories too, like Brexit, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.

Here is our global coronavirus live blog.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Updated

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