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Boris Johnson says he wants to 'end rough sleeping' for good as he unveils homelessness plan - live news
Brexit: Michael Gove gives MPs details of UK's negotiating mandate for trade talks with EU - live news
(30 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Michael Gove publishing the government’s negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the EU
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Michael Gove publishing the government’s negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the EU
Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, is now making a Commons statement about the government’s negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the EU.
Here is paragraph 9 from the document in full.
The government will not appeal against the court of appeal decision ruling against a Heathrow third runway, the FT’s Jim Pickard reports.
In this passage, the government is threatening to walk away from the talks in June if at that point the “broad outline” of a deal is not apparent.
According to the official rough sleeping figures for England published by the housing ministry this morning homelessness fell in 2019 for the second year in a row. It says.
Instead the government would revert to preparing for what used to be called a “no deal” scenario - trading with the EU on WTO terms - although ministers are now banned from calling that “no deal” (on the grounds that this would not be the same as leaving the EU with no deal of any sort, because the withdrawal agreement was signed).
As mentioned earlier, Labour has asked the UK Statistics Authority to conduct an investigation into this data because BBC research shows that other measures of homelessness suggest that the real level of rough sleeping is five times higher than the ministry is saying.
Gove tells MPs he wants to get a free trade agreement so that EU nations can benefit from “the dynamism of the UK economy”.
Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal by the court of appeal because ministers did not adequately take into account the government’s climate change commitments, my colleague Damian Carrington reports.
You can read the government’s document setting out its approach to the trade talks with the EU here.
Turning back to homelessness, a reader has been in touch to point out that, soon after he became mayor of London in 2008, Boris Johnson also promised “to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2012”. Obviously he failed dismally.
The SNP’s Pete Wishart accuses Gove of “unicornism”. He says the UK will not get a better deal than the one it has now.
When Boris Johnson signed the Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU, he endorsed the non-binding political declaration on the future relationship that was published alongside the withdrawal agreement. That document (pdf) said “the future relationship must ensure open and fair competition, encompassing robust commitments to ensure a level playing field”. But Downing Street has recently made it clear that it does not view these commitments as absolute, and this is reflected in some of the briefing ahead of this morning’s announcement.
Ian Duncan Smith, the Tory Brexiter, asks Gove to confirm that the UK will not leave itself under the control of the European court of justice when it comes to enforcing state aid rules.
Here is an extract from Gordon Rayner’s preview story in the Telegraph (paywall).
Gove says that is correct.
David Allen Green, the Financial Times’ legal commentator, has posted a Twitter thread on whether it matters if the government disregards the non-binding political declaration. It starts here.
From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn
And here is one of his conclusions.
Gove is responding to Blomfield.
Peter Foster, the Telegraph’s Europe editor, has also posted a Twitter thread on this issue. It starts here.
He says the government is “wholly committed” to implementing the withdrawal agreement, including the Northern Ireland protocol, and to giving effect to the political declaration.
There will be four statements in the Commons today.
But he says the government does not accept that it has to align to EU law to protect environmental standards.
I will be focusing on the Brexit one.
He says the UK is just seeking a relationship for which there is already a precedent with the EU. So it should be possible to conclude the negotiations in time, he says.
Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has said the government is “all talk and very little action” when dealing with rough sleeping. In a statement responding to Boris Johnson’s announcement (see 9.21am), Khan said:
He says there will be no border down the Irish Sea. There will be “unfettered access” for Northern Ireland business to the rest of the UK, he says.
Good morning. We have got two major news announcements coming this morning - the court of appeal decision on the Heathrow third runway, which could kill off the scheme given that Boris Johnson has reportedly decided not to appeal to the supreme court if the proposal is ruled illegal, and the UK’s negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the EU - but first we are getting rough sleeping figures for England being published.
In the Commons Michael Gove has finished his opening statement. I will post a full summary once I’ve seen the text.
As my colleague Robert Booth reports, the credibility of the official figures is being questioned following BBC research showing that the true level of rough sleeping seems to be five times higher than the government statistics imply.
Paul Blomfield, a shadow Brexit secretary, is responding for Labour. He says that, although Gove claims the government has got Brexit done, that is not the case.
The publication of the new figures coincides with Boris Johnson announcing a major initiative in this area. Johnson, who is visting a homelessness charity this morning, has said that he wants to end rough sleeping within this parliament (ie, by the end of 2024). In a statement issued overnight he said:
From Sky’s Beth Rigby
A press release with more details says the government is allocating an extra £236m to address the problem. As well as appointing Casey, who “will provide the government with advice on additional action required to end rough sleeping within this parliament”, the government says the extra money will go “towards offering Housing First style ‘move on’ accommodation for up to 6,000 rough sleepers and those at immediate risk of rough sleeping”. Housing First is a strategy for tackling rough sleeping pioneered in Finland which is rated by the experts in this area.
Boris Johnson is asking the EU for a Canada-style trade deal but will consider whether to walk away from talks in June and prepare for an “orderly” exit from the transition period, my colleague Rowena Mason reports.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Annual rough sleeping figures for England are published.
9.30am: Quarterly migration figures are published.
9.30am: Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, takes questions in the Commons.
10am: The court of appeal will rule on legal challenge against the plan for a third runway at Heathrow.
After 11.15am: Gove is expected to make a statement to MPs about the government’s negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the EU.
At some point today Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, is meeting the US trade representative Robert Lighthizer.
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 post 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.
