Boris Johnson TV pool iv 1
** Record deaths record figures "appalling" and "there will be more to come" because of the new variant just before Xmas.
** Tho rates of infection in country overall may be peaking or flattening they're not flattening very fast
Boris Johnson TV pool iv 2
** 4.2 million have received vaccine
** "As the vaccine goes in and that programme accelerates, there will be a really big difference by the spring."
** we have tough weeks to come now
Boris Johnson TV pool iv 3
** "Obviously it’s the job of all UK prime ministers that have a ... close working relationship with the president of united states and actually When you look at what unites me and Joe Biden .. there is a fantastic joint united agenda"
Boris Johnson TV pool iv 4
** "I really congratulate Biden and Harris on their inauguration. It’s fantastic thing for America, for a country that’s been through a bumpy period and for us and America, it’s a big moment"
Boris Johnson TV pool iv 5
Do you think that Biden is woke?
** "I can’t comment on that – what I know is that he’s a firm believes in the transatlantic alliance and that’s a great thing and believer in lots of things we want to achieve together…
Boris Johnson TV pool iv 6
Woke answer /2
"... insofar as, nothing wrong with being woke but what I can tell you is I think it’s v imp for everybody… certainly I would put myself in the category of people who believe it’s imp thinking its very imp to stick up for your history"
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Perhaps the most important number in the spending review today is £27 billion
It’s the best guess by the OBR at how much taxes may have to rise or spending fall to close the permanent deficit
And the government just doesn’t want to talk about it.
But we do/
£27 billion/
Here it is on page 5 of the OBR
“Even on the loosest conventional definition of balancing the books, a fiscal adjustment of £27 billion would be required to match day to day spending to receipts by the end of the 5 year forecast”
£27 billion/
Why does this matter? That is what it’ll take to close the current deficit according to the OBR.
In 2010, the figure George Osborne announced was £40 billion: this gives you a sense of Parliament defining scale of the challenge ahead.
OBR on Brexit
We continue to assume that the UK and EU conclude a free-trade agreement (FTA) and that there is a smooth transition to the new trading relationship after the transition period ends on 31 December 2020
OBR on Brexit /2
However, there is evidence that neither the Government nor
businesses are fully prepared for the imminent changes even if a deal is agreed.
OBR on Brexit /3
But some short-term disruption, especially to exports, remains a downside risk – the Bank’s latest forecast assumes that such disruption will reduce GDP by around 1 per cent in the first quarter of 2021.
Also Lord O’Shaughnessy did act as a paid advisor to the NHS Test & Trace team on innovations. And Lord Feldman did work as an unpaid advisor to the Ex lobbyist Lord Bethell, to provide additional capacity to the Department in its work with industry to tackle coronavirus.
George Pascoe Watson and Lord Feldman were not involved in any procurement decisions which were made by officials, the government says on background
Westminster somersaulted overnight at the scoop by @elliottimes that Lee Cain, currently Director of Communications is “poised” to be made Boris Johnson’s chief of staff. Congratulations to Times political editor on throwing a pebble which has caused **quite** so many waves.
This thread is not about household names. But the issues matter - because it touches on two key things in government, its direction, and who exercises grip on the prime minister. How powerful is the Vote Leave faction? And the rest?
What’s going on? Lee Cain is a long standing senior aide to the prime minister. He worked with BJ on the 2016 Vote Leave campaign. Alongside him in the Foreign Office and - importantly - during the wilderness years after he resigned from Theresa May’s government. Boris trusts him
Interestingly emphatic message from a govt source that arrival of President Elect Biden does *not* make a difference to their approach to Brexit. We're in the final countdown on brexit - 5 to 10 days left - and big gaps remain.
1/
2/ This despite it being likely that Biden's arrival does change the context: next US administration will give more credence to Irish viewpoint on Good Friday Agreement. No reason to think Biden will alter September view that no EU-UK trade deal means no UK-US trade deal
3/ Are we tiptoeing closer to no trade deal? The UK government is thinking about argument to make over why the EU Commission hasn't treated us fairly. Gvt dug in on the Internal Market bill. Dominic Raab suggested the EU putting peace in NI at risk this morning.
YouGov voting intention puts Labour 5 points ahead of the Tories
L 40 (+2)
C 35 (-3)
LD 7 (+1)
BXP (+2)
** It'll cause a shiver down Tory spines but individual C and L changes IS within +/-3 margin of error (just)
BUT some notable changes:
BUT....
If you do a comparison with Oct 21/22
** Leave voters two weeks ago was C 60, L 13. In the current poll Leave voters C 56, L 20
** Two weeks ago 85% of GE2019 Tory voters would vote Tory again, now 78%. The L % unchanged at 87%
** BXP is bouncing around and so their two relaunches have had no measurable impact - over the last 4 weeks their poll number has been 5%, 3%, 4%, 6% so too early to say they're keyh. The amount they're eating into GE2019 Tory vote in latest poll (7%) similar to Oct 21/22 (5%)