Political Headlines – Boris, Brexit, Boris and Brexit

Today’s Political Headlines include Boris Johnson causing a ruckus, a possible Brexit deal, Johnson calling for tax cuts and the leaked Brexit plan. 

Johnson allies accuse Number 10 of ‘hit operation’ after row over suicide vest comments
The Times reports that allies of Boris Johnson are accusing Number 10 of trying to discredit him after he was criticised by fellow Conservative MPs for comparing the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan to a suicide vest in a newspaper column. A ‘senior Downing Street source’ has dismissed the allegation, which included the suggestion that a ‘dirty dossier’ of Johnson’s alleged infidelities had been deliberately leaked to the press as part of a ‘sanctioned hit operation’. The Daily Mail adds that at least a dozen Conservative MPs are ready to leave the party in order to prevent him from becoming Prime Minister.

EU set to agree new guidance to ‘do the deal’ on Brexit
According to the Financial Times, the EU is to give Michel Barnier, its chief Brexit negotiator, new guidance following a meeting at Salzburg this month. A ‘senior EU diplomat’ has told that paper that should the plan be approved, Barnier’s new instructions would ‘serve as a sort of mandate to do the deal’, with another diplomat claiming that it would be a ‘save Theresa’ operation. However, diplomats do not expect any core principles to be revised.

Johnson calls for tax cuts
Boris Johnson uses his column in The Daily Telegraph to call for tax cuts, urging Theresa May to promise that ‘tax henceforward will not go up. That’s it. No new taxes and no increase in rates’. He argues for a reduction in order to help the economy and ‘show how a post-Brexit Britain will be a happy and dynamic economy that fosters enterprise’.

Tory Brexiteers’ Brexit plan leaks
The Guardian outlines the details of a leaked version of the European Research Group’s draft Brexit plan. It includes tax cuts, a new force to defend the Falklands and a UK-made missile defence system, as well as an invisible customs frontier on the Irish border and a Canada-style deal with the EU. The group’s leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has insisted that the version obtained by the press is an early draft.

Salisbury suspects will probably never face trial, Javid admits
The Times reports that Home Secretary Sajid Javid has admitted that the two Russians accused of carrying out the Salisbury attack will probably not face justice as ‘Russia will probably never let them leave the Russian Federation’. Separately, The Sun says that Russian hackers attempted to impersonate Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson in an attempt to defraud Conservative Party donors and embarrass the Ministry of Defence.

Government to launch Victims Strategy today
The Daily Mirror is claiming victory in its campaign for legislation to protect crime victims. Theresa May is to announce the Victims Strategy today, giving victims the legal right to be heard, informed and challenge decisions, and establishing an Independent Public Advocate.

TUC to call for four-day working week
The BBC reports that the TUC is claiming that a four-day working week will be possible this century, but only if businesses have to share the benefits of technology with their workforce. Frances O’Grady, the TUC’s general secretary, said that ‘technology could be a force for good, we can also make everyone’s working lives better and richer’.

Businesses will stockpile £40bn of imports to cope with no-deal Brexit
The Financial Times carries details of a study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which finds that British companies will stockpile around £40bn of imports in order to cope with a no-deal Brexit, making ‘a post-Brexit mini-recession almost inevitable, according to Douglas McWilliams, CEBR’s founder.

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