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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Brexit: Boris Johnson says people 'shouldn't get hopes up too soon' about prospects of deal - as it happened

Boris Johnson speaking to patient Wenona Pappin, 70, during a visit to Torbay Hospital, south England, this afternoon.
Boris Johnson speaking to patient Wenona Pappin, 70, during a visit to Torbay Hospital, south England, this afternoon. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/AP

Afternoon summary

  • Boris Johnson has played down the prospect of an early breakthrough in talks with the EU intended to resolve the Brexit crisis, saying people “shouldn’t necessarily get their hopes up too soon”. (See 3.36pm.)

It is just plain wrong for Boris Johnson to label refugees crossing the Channel as ‘illegal migrants’.

Quite apart from the dehumanising language, there is nothing illegal about seeking sanctuary in the UK, and it is shameful that we have a prime minister who says it is.

We know that many of these people have fled persecution in Iran. For the prime minister to casually dismiss their rights to asylum with no evidence whatsoever is unlawful and inhumane.

The way to stop these dangerous crossings is through an effective and compassionate response: investing in a stronger Border Force to stop the smugglers and traffickers, while ensuring safe, legal routes to sanctuary for those forced out of their home countries.

  • MP Jared O’Mara has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, according to multiple sources, the BBC is reporting.

That’s all from me for today.

I’m not in next week, but hopefully a colleague will be writing a blog on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn holding 9-month-old Narrah Godfrey-Collin during a visit to a kids’ lunch club in Swansea, Wales, this afternoon.
Jeremy Corbyn holding 9-month-old Narrah Godfrey-Collin during a visit to a kids’ lunch club in Swansea, Wales, this afternoon. Photograph: Jacob King/PA

A reader has been in touch to say that Boris Johnson’s comment about migrants, “if you come illegally, you are an illegal migrant and I’m afraid the law will treat you as such”, is misleading. (See 3.44pm.) As this Full Fact briefing explains, the UN Refugee Convention says that people can legitimately make a claim for asylum in the UK even if they enter the country without legal authorisation.

Boris Johnson posted this on Twitter about his breakfast with Prue Leith, after she was appointed to advise a government review looking at hospital food.

Later, visiting Torbay Hospital in Devon, Johnson where he met staff and patients catering and hospital staff and patients and served a ham salad lunch to patient Wenona Pappin, 70, from Paignton.

“Good afternoon, this is your lunch, I’m Boris,” Johnson told her. “Is that really what you want? You don’t want fish and chips?”

Explaining why the review was needed, he said:

We get too many complaints from patients about the quality of the food and I think it does affect their experience when they are in hospital.

And sometimes it can be something as simple as not having hot toast, and having toast actually made on the wards, so one thing you want to deliver is hot buttered toast for the patients of this country.

Boris Johnson serves food to Wenona Pappin, aged 70, during a visit to Torbay Hospital in Torquay,
Boris Johnson serves food to Wenona Pappin, aged 70, during a visit to Torbay Hospital in Torquay, Photograph: POOL/Reuters

Boris Johnson has also told migrants not to cross the English Channel to get to the UK as “we will send you back”. Speaking to reporters on his Devon visit, Johnson said:

Clearly the most important thing is to stop them coming across from France so we are working very closely with the French authorities.

The point I would just make to people thinking of making this journey - one, it is very hazardous, you may think the weather looks great but it’s a very, very dangerous thing to do.

The second thing is - we will send you back. The UK should not be regarded as a place where you could automatically come and break the law by seeking to arrive illegally.

If you come illegally, you are an illegal migrant and I’m afraid the law will treat you as such.

As the Press Association reports, authorities were called to at least seven incidents on Thursday involving 94 people who were trying to cross the water from France to get to the UK. The wave of attempted crossings continued today - with UK authorities understood to have been called to the Kent coast near Lydd. Priti Patel, the home secretary, is due to discuss the situation with her French counterpart in the next few days.

UPDATE: Johnson’s explanation of the legal position is misleading. See 4.29pm for details.

Updated

Boris Johnson says people 'shouldn't get hopes up too soon' about prospects of Brexit deal

Boris Johnson has played down hopes of an early breakthrough in talks with the EU intended to resolve the Brexit crisis. In comments that suggest he thinks some of the reporting of what he achieved this week has been over-optimistic, he said that while the “mood music” when he visited Berlin and Paris was “very good”, people “shouldn’t necessarily get their hopes up too soon”.

Speaking to reporters on a visit to Devon, he said:

[Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron] could see that we want a deal, they can see the problems with the backstop. Clearly Angela Merkel thinks that the solutions can be found within 30 days - actually what she meant was if you can do it in two years you can certainly do it in 30 days.

But I want to caution everybody, OK? Because this is not going to be a cinch, this is not going to be easy. We will have to work very hard to get this thing done ...

We have to have an arrangement that allows the whole UK to come out of the EU and have frictionless trade at the border in Northern Ireland. There are lots of ways that we can make sure that happens. But to persuade our EU friends and partners, who are very, very, very hard over against it, will take some time ...

I’m afraid we will have to prepare to come out without an agreement and we can do that, we are very confident that we will be OK because we will have all sorts of preparations in place.

We are making progress but I am just telling people not to hold their breath, because I have seen the way these Brussels negotiations work.

Johnson said that it was “always on the steps of the court, as it were, that the deal is done”. He went on:

I must urge people - we are going to be working very hard on this but they shouldn’t necessarily get their hopes up too soon.

Boris Johnson waving as he leaves following a visit to Torbay Hospital.
Boris Johnson waving as he leaves following a visit to Torbay Hospital. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Updated

My colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels has been checking out the Sun story flagged up earlier (see 11.23am) saying the EU is considering a compromise on the backstop. This is what she’s found.

Boris Johnson backs Macron's call for Amazon fires to be treated as international crisis

Boris Johnson has said he strongly backs President Macron’s call for the fires in the Amazon rainforest to be treated as an international crisis. On a visit to a hospital Johnson said:

I passionately share the view of Emmanuel Macron, and one of the things I am going to be raising at the G7 is the horrific loss of habitats and species around the world.

We are going through an extinction of diversity, of biodiversity across the planet, we are down to about 15,000 lions left in the wild, perhaps 3,000 tigers in India, the population of elephants has declined at about 8% a year.

What we in the UK want to do is lead the world now in setting targets for the retention, the maintenance, and the improvement of habitat, and stop this terrible loss of biodiversity, so set targets for keeping the species that we inherited on this planet.

Here is Macron’s tweet on the topic from yesterday.

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson Photograph: BBC

Jake Berry, the minister for the Northern Powerhouse, told the World at One that Boris Johnson’s trips to Berlin and Paris this week showed that the EU is “softening its stance” on Brexit. Berry claimed:

The government has refocused absolutely on no-deal planning, but it is really important that your listeners realise that that is not our preferred route.

Of course, our new prime minister, Boris Johnson, was in Germany and Paris this week, and I thought we started to see a crack or a chink of light with Europe softening its stance.

The common view amongst informed observers (see here for some examples) is that this is an over-optimistic interpretation of what Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron were saying.

Jake Berry.
Jake Berry. Photograph: James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock

The Department for International Trade has posted this response to the Labour complaint about a tweet from its minister, Conor Burns. (See 9.56am.)

And Burns himself has said this.

Corbyn condemns Bolsonaro over fires burning in Amazon rainforest

Jeremy Corbyn has urged Boris Johnson to take a stand against the Brazilian government over its failure to protect the Amazon rainforest. In an interview with broadcasters, he said:

[The Brazilian president Jair] Bolsonaro has allowed and indeed encouraged these fires to take place, to clear the forest in order that the land can then be used for actually very short term agriculture production and after that it becomes desert.

That is what’s happening to the rainforest. The rainforest is an international resource, it’s a carbon sink that we all need and rely on.

And so we, the Labour party, the shadow cabinet, have written to the prime minister to say: put all the pressure you can on President Bolsonaro to deal with this issue, and when you’re at the G7 summit raise the issue because it is one of global concern.

If the Amazon rainforest is destroyed, if the West African rainforest is destroyed, then actually we all suffer. We’re in this together, we have to save this planet together. That means taking the climate emergency very seriously and speaking out on the international stage to those people that have it in their power to stop the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Here’s a copy of the letter.

Number 10 has said that Johnson is “deeply concerned” about what is happening to the Amazon rainforests and that at the G7 summit he will be discussing what can be done to protect nature and tackle climate change.

Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn Photograph: Jacob King/PA

Updated

Caroline Lucas urges Corbyn to back another MP for leader of interim government if he cannot become PM himself

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, has urged Jeremy Corbyn to back another MP for leader of an interim government to stop a no-deal Brexit if he cannot become PM himself. She made the call in a statement ahead of the meeting Corbyn has organised for next week with other opposition MPs, and some Tories, to discuss how they can work together to block a no-deal Brexit. Lucas said:

A no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for this country and parliament must prevent it in any way possible. Jeremy Corbyn has done the right thing by reaching out to colleagues and I welcome the fact that all the opposition parties in the House of Commons have accepted his invitation for discussions. I would urge all MPs who have been approached and who recognise the danger this country faces to join these talks with an open mind. We all need to put our country’s future first.

That means either pursuing legislative measures or a vote of no confidence in a Boris Johnson government which is showing every intention of driving this country off the edge of a cliff, and replacing it with a caretaker government which is committed to giving the people the right to decide on the Brexit deal.

I am prepared to support Jeremy Corbyn as leader of this caretaker government, as should any MP who wants to stop a no-deal Brexit. But if he cannot gain the support of a sufficient number of colleagues across parliament, I hope he will be prepared to back another MP from his party, or another, who can. I will ask him again to make his position clear in our discussions next week.

I will also continue to make the case that we need a people’s vote before a general election, as the only certain way of ensuring that the British people have the final say on Brexit.

Corbyn has said that, as leader of the opposition, he should be the person to form government in the event of Boris Johnson losing a vote of no confidence. Corbyn has said that in those circumstances he would form “a strictly time-limited temporary government” which would aim to negotiate an extension to article 50 and then call a general election.

Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

From Sky’s Ireland correspondent, Stephen Murphy

There was one local council byelection yesterday. Britain Elects has the result.

On a visit to a kid’s lunch club in Wales Jeremy Corbyn will accuse the government of failing a whole generation of children. In a news release issued in advance, Corbyn highlights the recent report from the children’s commissioner for England saying 210,000 young people are living in temporary accommodation, with thousands staying in converted shipping containers. He also cites figures showing that 30% of children in England are living in poverty and that poorer children are much more likely to get low grades in their GCSEs than their richer peers.

In a statement in the news release Corbyn said:

Working class children are still being held back while their wealthy peers get ahead. The next Labour government will take radical action to unlock the potential of every child, not just a lucky few.

The Tories are failing a whole generation of children.

A child growing up in a shipping container or a B&B, or going to school hungry, cannot be expected to reach their full potential.

The measure of our society is how we treat our most vulnerable. And who could be more vulnerable than a homeless child?

We have a moral responsibility to end the scandal of child poverty and homelessness.

Corbyn also cited a range of Labour policies that would help disadvantaged children, including free school meals for all primary school pupils, introducing a £10 an hour living wage and ending the benefit freeze.

But Plaid Cymru criticised Corbyn for using a trip to Wales to criticise the UK government for its policies on issues some of which are devolved, and under the control of the Labour-run Welsh government. Bethan Sayed, a Plaid member of the Welsh assembly, said:

The press release issued by Labour to mark Mr Corbyn’s visit ‘to Wales’ spoke of a report by the children’s commissioner for England and plans that Mr Corbyn has for a UK Labour government. Much of what he has in mind is devolved, and so would have no effect in Wales.

At best, Mr Corbyn is politically illiterate and simply doesn’t understand how devolved government works. At worst, he is purposefully ignoring the fact that his own party – which runs the Welsh government – has run out of ideas and motivation to improve the lives of people in Wales.

Jeremy Corbyn during a visit to Rakefoot Farm, Castlerigg, Keswick, in the Lake District yesterday.
Jeremy Corbyn during a visit to Rakefoot Farm, Castlerigg, Keswick, in the Lake District yesterday.
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here. I’ve already mentioned the Telegraph story about Brexiter Tories telling Boris Johnson that the backstop is not the only problem with the withdrawal agreement. (See 8.37am.) Here are some other interesting stories from the day’s papers.

Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, and his officials will now be ordered to “turbocharge” work on how to find alternative arrangements to the Northern Ireland backstop.

Their work is expected to focus on examining proposals in a 270-page report drawn up by Greg Hands, the former Tory minister, and Nicky Morgan, now the culture secretary.

It is understood the officials will be asked to update David Frost, the prime minister’s Europe adviser, on progress, as he plans to hold meetings with European countries next week, after the G7 meeting of world leaders.

  • Greg Hands, the former minister and co-chair of the Alternative Arrangements Commission, says in an article in the Daily Mail that, although EU officials have dismissed the AAC’s plans for an alternative to the backstop, others are more supportive - including Angela Merkel.

In June, I presented a report on the issue to a gathering of German cabinet members and senior German entrepreneurs and industrialists who showed great interest in finding solutions to the backstop.

Unlike the ideological technocrats in Brussels who have refused point blank to consider any way of getting around this seemingly intractable problem, politicians and business folk are more pragmatic – including Chancellor Merkel. She has been indicating her willingness to be more practical on Brexit for some time.

Now it is clear that she is prepared to give serious consideration to well-thought-out and practical ways of getting rid of the backstop so we can achieve four key objectives:

Leave the EU without remaining half-shackled to Brussels for ever; avoid establishing a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; protect the Good Friday peace agreement; and safeguard the economies and living standards of those on both sides of the Irish border.

A plan under consideration would see the scope of the backstop whittled down and largely confined to covering livestock, plus animal and plant products.

The private discussions amongst diplomats in Brussels at still at an early stage, but still contrasts with the EU’s public line that the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened.

An EU source told The Sun: “That’s where Boris is already having success - at least we’re thinking at the highest levels about alternatives”.

Under the compromise solution, Northern Ireland would mirror Brussels rules on animal and plant health to allow “seamless” trade in agricultural products.

But in return Brussels would agree to take a “controlled risk” on all other goods crossing the border from the UK into Ireland.

Goods would be tracked by a system of alternative arrangements championed by Brexiteers, such as trusted trader schemes.

The EU would not apply tariffs to any goods crossing the border from Britain, including those falling outside the scope of regulatory alignment – a major “concession” on their part, Brussels sources said.

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, another think-tank, said there was a rich history of UK politicians and pundits drawing the wrong conclusions from remarks made by the German chancellor. “The British like to assume that Germany will solve their problems. [Former British prime minister] David Cameron made this mistake several times.”

Mr Cameron was accused by the opposition Labour party of relying far too much on Ms Merkel during his efforts to secure new EU membership terms for the UK before the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Mr Grant said UK misunderstanding of Ms Merkel was partly “because the British Eurosceptic class is very ignorant about the EU and how it works and what drives it. So they clutch at straws. They mistake Merkel because her tone is polite and moderate.”

The rebels, who are described as the “Remain alliance” and are led by Philip Hammond, have been working on plans to push through legislation that will force Boris Johnson to request an extension of the article 50 process.

However, Downing Street sources have pointed out that Brussels could simply reject any request for an extension, even if Mr Johnson is legally bound to ask for one.

One Tory rebel said that the group would hold its own discussions with Brussels and European leaders about the length and terms of any proposed extension to ensure it was accepted.

The MP said that Mr Hammond, the former chancellor, had retained an “extensive” list of contacts from his time in office, which included leaders and finance ministers from across the European Union. “The next step is likely to be something that seeks to direct the government to seek an extension,” the MP said. “They will need to have an idea of what extension they should be asking Brussels for.”

Workers at a centre dealing with universal credit are to stage a two-day strike in a row over workloads and staffing levels, the Press Association reports. Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the office in Stockport, Greater Manchester, will walk out from August 27. More than 200 UC staff in Stockport will go on strike for two days next Tuesday in a row over workloads and staffing levels. The union said staffing at the centre has been in decline since the flagship benefit was introduced three years ago, but the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP) said it is confident that staffing levels are sufficient, PA reports.

The Office for National Statistics has released a report on population numbers this morning. It says that the population of the UK was 66.4m in mid 2018, that population growth is at its slowest level since 2004 and that, in 50 years’ time, there will be an extra 8.2m people aged 65 and over living in the UK.

Sarah Coates, from the ONS’s centre for ageing and demography, said:

In 2018, the UK population reached 66.4 million people and migration remained the main driver to population growth.

The structure of the UK’s population is changing: people living longer and having fewer children means the age structure is shifting towards later ages. The ways in which people live are also changing with cohabiting families the fastest-growing family type and more young adults living with their parents.

From YouGov

Labour has criticised the international trade minister, Conor Burns, for this tweet he posted while on an official visit to Brazil. In it Burns describes the Brazilian trade minister Marcos Troyjo as “superb”. But Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, said Burns should not be “cosying up to” Troyjo because he has defended the Brazilian government’s deforestation policies.

Gardiner said:

While [Brazilian president Jair] Bolsonaro lets agribusinesses burn the Amazon, this week a UK government minister has been busy cosying up to the Brazilian president’s officials.

Instead of posing for photographs with far right Brazilian politicians, Ministers should be calling on Brazil to do everything they can to protect the rainforest. The government must insist that Brazil honours environmental clauses in existing trade agreements and fulfils their commitments under the Paris agreement.

Here is my colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels on the Telegraph story. (See 8.37am.)

Prue Leith to advise government review into hospital food

This is what the Press Association has filed on the government plans to improve hospital food.

Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith is to advise a government review into hospital food following the deaths of six people due to a listeria outbreak.

A “root and branch” review launched by the Department of Health and Social Care will examine whether the number of hospitals catering in-house can be increased.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock called for the comprehensive review in June after six people died after contracting listeria from pre-packaged sandwiches and salads either purchased on site or given out by hospital staff.

The review will also consider whether kitchen facilities can be changed to bring more chefs into hospitals as well as using less frozen food and sourcing local fresh produce where possible.

Celebrity cook Leith has previously criticised the current standard of hospital meals and called for NHS trusts to make appealing and nutritious food on-site for patients.

And this is what Leith is saying about her appointment.

Millions of pounds are wasted in hospitals with food ending up in the bin, unpalatable food being the main complaint.

I’m delighted that, at long last, Downing Street and the Department of Health have decided to do something about it.

A hospital meal should be a small highlight, a little pleasure and comfort, and it should help, not hinder, the patient’s recovery.

Prue Leith.
Prue Leith. Photograph: Ian West/PA

Brexiter Tories tell Boris Johnson backstop is not only problem with withdrawal agreement

Boris Johnson is back in the UK after his trips to Berlin and Paris. Despite the attempts of some in the media to suggest that he has achieved some sort of breakthrough (take a look at the Daily Express splash here - and then compare it with the Guardian’s take here, which of course is much more reliable), a solution to the Brexit crisis seems no closer than ever. And, as the Daily Telegraph (paywall) is reporting this morning, even if Johnson were to find an alternative to the backstop acceptable to the EU, Tory Brexiters are telling him that that would not be enough to persuade them to vote for the withdrawal agreement because there are other aspects of it that they want to change.

David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, told the Telegraph’s Brexit podcast that he had a whole shopping list of desired changes. He said:

I’d argue for contingency on the money. I’d argue for tighter limits, timetable limits, sunset clauses on ECJ and things like that. I’d have a small shopping list.

It wouldn’t be a ridiculous one, but one I think that any serious European Parliament and any European Council that wants a deal could go with.

If I were doing this for Boris, I would be insistent on is that they make the bill - the £39bn, the second half of it - contingent on progress on the future economic partnership.

And Sir Bill Cash told the paper:

You can’t restore self-government as a cut and paste operation and I am sure they understand that - taking parts of the withdrawal agreement.

We will be governed for a number of years by the other 27 member states under the existing draft withdrawal agreement ... even with the backstop removed.

None of these concerns are new. But it is worth flagging them up as a reminder that the backstop is not the only factor that makes the withdrawal agreement unacceptable to many Brexiter Tories.

It looks relatively quiet today, although Jeremy Corbyn will be in Wales promoting Labour plans to help disadvantaged children, and Boris Johnson is doing a hospital visit to promote government plans to improve the quality of hospital food.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

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.

Updated

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