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| Brexit: No deal would put lives at risk, says former chief medical officer - live news | Brexit: No deal would put lives at risk, says former chief medical officer - live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| As the Liverpool Echo reports, there is speculation that the Boris Johnson/Leo Varadkar meeting will take place in the city. | |
| This would be another reason why No 10 might want to keep the location of the talks secret, because Johnson is still unpopular in the city because of an editorial he published when he was editor of the Spectator 15 years ago that was offensive to Liverpudlians. | |
| Yesterday Steve Rotheram, the metro mayor for the Liverpool city region, posted these on Twitter. | |
| If Boris Johnson is in Liverpool this week – he should put time aside to, at long last, acknowledge the pain he caused as Editor of the Spectator, in publishing an article that smeared our city and the lives of 96 football fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough. https://t.co/s3LbHLSs1n | |
| NOTE: 96 – not “more than 50” – as the piece contemptuously put it. They were 96 innocent men, women and children who were unlawfully killed in Britain’s worst ever sporting disaster. | |
| On three separate occasions when I have raised this issue with him, and on the floor of House of Commons when pressed by @meaglemp, he has refused to apologise for the hurt those comments caused. | |
| If Boris Johnson wishes to be a Prime Minister for the whole United Kingdom – not merely parts of it – he must do the right thing and apologise unreservedly, once and for all. | |
| In fact, Johnson has apologised for the Spectator article. | |
| The most important event today will almost certainly be Boris Johnson’s private meeting with Leo Varadkar, his Irish opposite number, where the two leaders will make one final attempt to reach agreement on an alternative to the backstop, which is the key that would unlock a Brexit deal. But it is also the event that may be hardest to report. Yesterday No 10 just said the meeting would place at lunchtime somewhere in the north west of England. “There are no media opportunities and this will not be open to the media or the pool,” the Downing Street operational note said. Obviously that won’t stop journalists trying to find out where the meeting is taking place, and doorstepping the two PMs, but they may not succeed. | The most important event today will almost certainly be Boris Johnson’s private meeting with Leo Varadkar, his Irish opposite number, where the two leaders will make one final attempt to reach agreement on an alternative to the backstop, which is the key that would unlock a Brexit deal. But it is also the event that may be hardest to report. Yesterday No 10 just said the meeting would place at lunchtime somewhere in the north west of England. “There are no media opportunities and this will not be open to the media or the pool,” the Downing Street operational note said. Obviously that won’t stop journalists trying to find out where the meeting is taking place, and doorstepping the two PMs, but they may not succeed. |
| In the meantime, we had a fresh warning about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit this morning. As the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy has pointed out, in the Commons last month the Labour MP Tracy Brabin asked Michael Gove if he could give her an assurance that “no one in this country will suffer in their health because of a no-deal Brexit”. Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal planning, replied with a single word: “Yes.” | In the meantime, we had a fresh warning about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit this morning. As the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy has pointed out, in the Commons last month the Labour MP Tracy Brabin asked Michael Gove if he could give her an assurance that “no one in this country will suffer in their health because of a no-deal Brexit”. Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal planning, replied with a single word: “Yes.” |
| This morning Prof Dame Sally Davies, who has only just stood down as chief medical officer, gave a very different assessment. Speaking on the Today programme, she said that if there were a no-deal Brexit at the end of this month, people could die as a result. | This morning Prof Dame Sally Davies, who has only just stood down as chief medical officer, gave a very different assessment. Speaking on the Today programme, she said that if there were a no-deal Brexit at the end of this month, people could die as a result. |
| The health service and everyone has worked very hard to prepare. But I say what I’ve said before - that we cannot guarantee that there will not be shortages, not only in medicines but technology and gadgets and things. And there may be deaths, we can’t guarantee there won’t. | The health service and everyone has worked very hard to prepare. But I say what I’ve said before - that we cannot guarantee that there will not be shortages, not only in medicines but technology and gadgets and things. And there may be deaths, we can’t guarantee there won’t. |
| Asked if lives were at risk, she replied firmly: “They are at risk.” | Asked if lives were at risk, she replied firmly: “They are at risk.” |
| Here is the agenda for the day. | Here is the agenda for the day. |
| 11am: Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech on Northampton on Labour’s radical agenda for transforming Britain. As Kate Proctor reports, he will criticise Boris Johnson for using the Queen’s speech next week as a “party political broadcast” before the expected general election. | 11am: Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech on Northampton on Labour’s radical agenda for transforming Britain. As Kate Proctor reports, he will criticise Boris Johnson for using the Queen’s speech next week as a “party political broadcast” before the expected general election. |
| Around lunchtime: Boris Johnson meets Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM) for private talks on Brexit. | Around lunchtime: Boris Johnson meets Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM) for private talks on Brexit. |
| 12.30pm: The Institute for Government hosts a hustings for candidates for the post of Commons Speaker. | 12.30pm: The Institute for Government hosts a hustings for candidates for the post of Commons Speaker. |
| 3.15pm: The joint ministerial council, which comprises ministers from the UK government and the devolved administration, meets in Edinburgh. | 3.15pm: The joint ministerial council, which comprises ministers from the UK government and the devolved administration, meets in Edinburgh. |
| 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, although I will be focusing mostly on Brexit and on Jeremy Corbyn’s speech. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up. | 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, although I will be focusing mostly on Brexit and on Jeremy Corbyn’s speech. 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. |