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| No 10 refuses to confirm if budget will go ahead as scheduled – live news | No 10 refuses to confirm if budget will go ahead as scheduled – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson chairing a meeting of the new cabinet and further government reshuffle developments | Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson chairing a meeting of the new cabinet and further government reshuffle developments |
| Boris Johnson’s overhauled cabinet has agreed that a new points-based immigration system will be implemented from 1 January next year, believing that it will reduce the number of people coming to the UK, Downing Street has announced. | |
| Downing Street is still refusing to say whether or not the budget will go ahead on 11 March as scheduled. (See 2.04pm.) | |
| The attempt by Boris Johnson to emasculate the Treasury and seize control of economic policy is doomed to failure, people close to the former prime minister Gordon Brown have said. | |
| Rebecca Long-Bailey has set out her four-point plan to rebuild the Labour party and said she was behind at the start of the leadership race as her focus had been on winning the general election. In a major speech in Salford, she also took a veiled swipe at her main rival, Sir Keir Starmer, saying Labour should not let the Tories present them as an establishment, “shiny suit-wearing” party. (See 1.13pm.) | |
| Bomb disposal experts have warned it would be too dangerous to build a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland if it was to involve spanning the vast offshore munitions dump that lies on the most direct route over the Irish Sea. | |
| Two Labour MPs, Lilian Greenwood and Alex Sobel, have said they are cancelling their public engagements after attending a bus summit at Westminster also attended by someone who has since tested positive for coronavirus. | |
| That’s all from me for today. | |
| Thanks for the comments. | |
| I’m away next week during the half-term recess, but will be back on Monday week. A colleague may be writing the blog next week, but that will depend on how busy the politics news diary gets. | |
| Here is Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall on the moment when Boris Johnson treated his new cabinet like children, expecting them to chant back Tory election messages at him. (See 10.33am.) | |
| It’s a Johnson party piece. He did the same thing at the first cabinet meeting after the general election. And he has tried the same trick with Tory MPs in the Commons. | It’s a Johnson party piece. He did the same thing at the first cabinet meeting after the general election. And he has tried the same trick with Tory MPs in the Commons. |
| And here is David Gauke, the former Tory cabinet minister who lost his seat after having the party whip withdrawn over a Brexit rebellion, on the same moment. | And here is David Gauke, the former Tory cabinet minister who lost his seat after having the party whip withdrawn over a Brexit rebellion, on the same moment. |
| Downing Street has just announced two more appointments. | Downing Street has just announced two more appointments. |
| Lord Callanan, who was a Brexit minister until the department was wound up at the end of January, has been made a business minister. | Lord Callanan, who was a Brexit minister until the department was wound up at the end of January, has been made a business minister. |
| Gillian Keegan has been made an education minister. She was a backbencher. | Gillian Keegan has been made an education minister. She was a backbencher. |
| From Sky’s Joe Pike | From Sky’s Joe Pike |
| The Institute for Government has been looking at how much cabinet experience Boris Johnson’s new team has. Quite a lot, it says. “Only three full members – Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Amanda Milling and George Eustice – and Suella Braverman, the new attorney general who attends cabinet - have not been around the table before,” Gavin Freeguard writes at the IfG blog. | The Institute for Government has been looking at how much cabinet experience Boris Johnson’s new team has. Quite a lot, it says. “Only three full members – Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Amanda Milling and George Eustice – and Suella Braverman, the new attorney general who attends cabinet - have not been around the table before,” Gavin Freeguard writes at the IfG blog. |
| The government reshuffle seems to be running out of steam. No 10 has just issued a press release of 25 appointments, which all involve ministers staying in the same posts. | The government reshuffle seems to be running out of steam. No 10 has just issued a press release of 25 appointments, which all involve ministers staying in the same posts. |
| Earlier today Downing Street announced seven junior-level promotions, of which more than half involved women. | Earlier today Downing Street announced seven junior-level promotions, of which more than half involved women. |
| Amanda Sollaway has been made a business minister. She was a backbencher. | Amanda Sollaway has been made a business minister. She was a backbencher. |
| Victoria Prentis has been made an environment minister. She was a backbencher. | Victoria Prentis has been made an environment minister. She was a backbencher. |
| Rachel Maclean has been made a transport minister. She was parliamentary private secretary to Sajid Javid. | Rachel Maclean has been made a transport minister. She was parliamentary private secretary to Sajid Javid. |
| Nigel Huddleston has been made a culture minister. He was a government whip, and will continue with that role alongside his ministerial job. | Nigel Huddleston has been made a culture minister. He was a government whip, and will continue with that role alongside his ministerial job. |
| Theodore Agnew was made joint minister of state at the Cabinet Office and in the Treasury. He had been a junior education minister. | Theodore Agnew was made joint minister of state at the Cabinet Office and in the Treasury. He had been a junior education minister. |
| Nicholas True has joined the government as a minister of state in the Cabinet Office. | |
| Elizabeth Berridge has been made an education minister. She was a government whip in the Lords, and will continue in that role alongside her education post. | Elizabeth Berridge has been made an education minister. She was a government whip in the Lords, and will continue in that role alongside her education post. |
| The full list of appointments is here, on the No 10 website. | The full list of appointments is here, on the No 10 website. |
| These are from my colleague Heather Stewart, who has been at the Downing Street lobby briefing. | These are from my colleague Heather Stewart, who has been at the Downing Street lobby briefing. |
| Three Labour leadership candidates, Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy, are guaranteed a place on the final ballot, and all five deputy leadership candidates – Angela Rayner, Dawn Butler, Richard Burgon, Ian Murray and Rosena Alin-Khan – have also got the CLP or affiliate nominations they need. | Three Labour leadership candidates, Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy, are guaranteed a place on the final ballot, and all five deputy leadership candidates – Angela Rayner, Dawn Butler, Richard Burgon, Ian Murray and Rosena Alin-Khan – have also got the CLP or affiliate nominations they need. |
| Emily Thornberry, a candidate for the leadership, is the only person still looking for CLP nominations. As of last night she had 30. She needs three more by the deadline at midnight tonight. Around 18 CLPs are supposed to be nominating today. | Emily Thornberry, a candidate for the leadership, is the only person still looking for CLP nominations. As of last night she had 30. She needs three more by the deadline at midnight tonight. Around 18 CLPs are supposed to be nominating today. |
| In an article for PoliticsHome, Thornberry has floated a new policy idea. She says the government is going to have problems in the decades ahead meeting its unfunded public sector pension liabilities, and she proposes a solution: letting people with only limited contributions (two years’ worth initially) take out 75% of their money now, but forgoing their pension when they retire. | |
| She says this would free up money for people who need it now, as well as reducing the long-term pension liabilities. And it would be good for the public finances, she claims. | She says this would free up money for people who need it now, as well as reducing the long-term pension liabilities. And it would be good for the public finances, she claims. |
| The Jewish Labour Movement has also announced its stance on the Labour leadership. It is nominating Lisa Nandy for leader, and Ian Murray for deputy leader. | The Jewish Labour Movement has also announced its stance on the Labour leadership. It is nominating Lisa Nandy for leader, and Ian Murray for deputy leader. |
| Here are the results of its ballot. | Here are the results of its ballot. |
| And, while we’re on about Boris Johnson’s proposed bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, my colleague Dan Sabbagh has spoken to bomb disposal experts who say the plan is flawed because the bridge would span a vast offshore munitions dump. | And, while we’re on about Boris Johnson’s proposed bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, my colleague Dan Sabbagh has spoken to bomb disposal experts who say the plan is flawed because the bridge would span a vast offshore munitions dump. |
| The leftwing TSSA transport union has announced that it is nominating Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, and Angela Rayner for the deputy leadership. Manuel Cortes, the TSSA general secretary, described them as “fantastic candidates, both of whom have made commitments to public ownership of our railways”. | The leftwing TSSA transport union has announced that it is nominating Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, and Angela Rayner for the deputy leadership. Manuel Cortes, the TSSA general secretary, described them as “fantastic candidates, both of whom have made commitments to public ownership of our railways”. |
| Starmer has posted this on Twitter in response. | Starmer has posted this on Twitter in response. |
| Ministers from the Scottish government and the Northern Ireland executive have criticised the plan floated by No 10 earlier this week for a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Press Association reports. | Ministers from the Scottish government and the Northern Ireland executive have criticised the plan floated by No 10 earlier this week for a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Press Association reports. |
| The Scottish transport secretary, Michael Matheson, has said: | The Scottish transport secretary, Michael Matheson, has said: |
| And the Stormont infrastructure minister, Nichola Mallon, has said: | And the Stormont infrastructure minister, Nichola Mallon, has said: |