LONG READ: On Boris and Biden’s not-so-special relationship. Some of the facts in there...
1/ Boris+Biden have had 2 phone calls in the first seven months of 2021. Boris+Trump in the same period in 2020 had 7 calls. telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/…
2/ Biden administration figures who served Obama still bristle at Boris’s “part-Kenyan” comment. One who’s discussed it with them said: “Some of them really, really resented it and haven't forgotten.”
3/ Boris is frustrated by Biden (who prides his Irish heritage) too easily adopting Dublin’s line on N Ireland Protocol.
That’s per 2 sources who’ve discussed it with PM. One: “He worries that Biden deep down is too uncritical in his acceptance of Ireland's view of everything”.
4/ Remember that bike Biden gave Boris at their first meeting at G7? Painted with UK and US flags. It has been hit by Whitehall red tape: Ministers can’t accept gifts of £140+. PM either needs to pay the difference or it gets reclaimed by the Cabinet Office.
5/ Boris is due to fly out to America next month, attending the UN General Assembly in New York. But it remains tbc whether he will be invited to the White House. Two years into his premiership he still hadn’t gone.
6/ UK officials are demanding US stump up more cash for COP26. They believe current pledge is “pitiful”. Fear if they don’t give more the flagship $100bn/year pledge (developed countries giving climate finance to developing countries) could be missed.
7/ Expect more Brexit tensions to kick off next month. With NI Protocol cliff edge looming at the end of Sep, when new customs checks are due, flying into the country will be... Nancy Pelosi, Dem House Speaker. She’s warned before no UK-US trade deal if NI peace is undercut.
8/ Trade deal doubt. 5yrs after the Brexit vote still no agreement with US. Stalled since Biden team took over + set new strategy.
Will Biden really spend the political capital to force a deal through Congress when Senate is 50-50, left wing critical, other bigger priorities?
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Telegraph tomorrow publishes a load of intel on PM’s social care reforms.
Expected next week... breaks manifesto pledge by raising tax on c.25m... in order to cap lifetime care costs (at higher than expected)... No10-No11 at loggerheads on exact tax rise... Big political gamble.
To unpack some of our reporting tomorrow, a few tweets...
TIMINGS: Widely expected to drop next week. One source said pencilled in for Tuesday cabinet briefing then announcement. Makes sense to go early as rest of the spending review revolves around fixing this package.
Why do we keep seeing planes flying off not full from Kabul? The explanation emerged yesterday... /1
US, UK, Nato ally planes are flying in and out on an endless rotation. Touch down, get people on, take off, fly them to regional hubs, repeat. Given the constant flow planes can’t sit for hours and hours on the tarmac before taking back off... 2/
...which is a long way of saying the problem in the operation isn’t supply of planes. It is the supply of people who have been issued documents and have got through to the airport ready to be flown. 3/
“Was our intelligence really so poor? Was our understanding of the Afghan government so weak? … Or did we just think we had to follow the United States and on a wing and a prayer it would be alright?"
Theresa May continuing her scathing intervention.
Says it's "incomprehensible and worrying" UK and allies couldn't find an alternative solution as US pulled out
"Surely one outcome of this must be a reassessment of how Nato operates". Warns Russia and China will be emboldened.
Theresa May's withering close. "We boast about Global Britain. But where is Global Britain on the streets of Kabul?" UK foreign policy will be judged by "deeds" not "words".
This is what has been happening on the ground at Kabul airport, per a UK defence source. Helps explain the footage we’re seeing.
The airport perimeter was meant to be manned by Afghan security forces. But that disintegrated on Sunday as Afghans surged in trying to flee... 1/
Instead it was left to US soldiers to man a chain fence that is right by the Kabul airfield. That effectively became the new perimeter to be secured. The problem was it was very easy to penetrate... 2/
Afghans broke through the barrier on Sunday night and made it in their hundreds onto the airfield. Then again on Monday morning. And again on Monday afternoon. (Per this UK military source). 3/
The scramble is underway to control Kabul’s airport. @Telegraph reporting tomorrow the US has taken over air traffic control. US soldiers leading on security there with UK help. RAF aircraft flew in today. UK defence source tells me “the next 48 hours will be crucial”.
One of many unknowns: will the Taliban let evacuations take place? Indication from their spokesman today is yes. Also US+UK on ground there so an incentive perhaps to let them carry on, knowing they’ll soon go. But for how long? And if the Taliban decide ‘time for troops to go’?
Write-up of today’s shocking developments with @benfarmerDT below. Also in there: Afghan President explains why he fled: “In order to avoid the bloodshed, I thought it was best to get out." telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…