The Times - UK (2020-07-21)

8 1GM Tuesday July 21 2020 | the times

News

Boris Johnson’s cabinet will meet in
person for the first time in four months
today, around a huge table equipped
with hand sanitiser and individual
water jugs, but ministers will probably
not wear face coverings.
The 26-member top team will hold its
first in-person meeting in a large room
in the Foreign Office, where they will be
able to sit a metre apart. “We’ll be
following all the Covid-secure

Cabinet meets in person for first time since March

guidance that we set out for businesses

when they’re considering having this

kind of meeting,” the prime minister’s

spokesman said.

The government’s latest guidance on

social distancing advises “wearing face

coverings when distances of two metres

cannot be kept in indoor environments,

where possible”.

Ministers have faced criticism for

sending mixed messages on face cover-

ings. They will become compulsory in

shops from Friday and are already

required on public transport but Matt

Hancock, the health secretary, said this

month that there were no plans to ex-

tend this rule to offices.

Ministers will enjoy grander sur-

roundings today than they normally do

in the smaller Cabinet Room in No 10.

They are expected to use the Locarno

Room, used to host foreign dignitaries.

Mr Johnson has ordered his cabinet

back to Westminster to set an example

and to help to coax more people back to

the office. The government is revising

its guidance from August 1 to remove

advice to work from home and is

instead leaving it up to businesses to

reach arrangements with employees.

“As we move forward with the

coronavirus recovery and more people

return to work in person, the PM felt

that it was right for the cabinet to come

together,” the spokesman said.

Ministers are expected to discuss

Britain’s deteriorating relations with

China as well as the latest update on the

coronavirus pandemic.

Eleni Courea Political Reporter

Boris Johnson and his advisers have

sidelined parliament through a

“presidential” approach to govern-

ment, Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said.

The Commons Speaker suggested

that the prime minister’s move to estab-

lish daily press briefings risked under-

mining MPs’ ability to hold ministers to

account.

Speaking to Matt Chorley on Times

Radio, Sir Lindsay dismissed the sug-

gestion that MPs and peers should

move to York while the parliamentary

estate was refurbished. Any move

north “isn’t going to happen”, he said.

Asked if Mr Johnson could be said to

respect parliament in the wake of last

week’s row over No 10’s attempt to

impose Chris Grayling as chairman of

the intelligence and security commit-

tee, the Speaker said that he had been

“disappointed” by the government’s

engagement with the Commons.

“The government has to respect par-

liament,” Sir Lindsay said. “Any state-

ment should be made to parliament,

not press briefings. We don’t have a

president, we have a prime minister

[who] is answerable to parliament.”

Referring to the hopes of Mr John-

son’s aides to reform Westminster and

Whitehall, Sir Lindsay said: “There is

the danger he’s being pointed towards

a presidential style. I’m not sure [if] it’s

him or people around him. It’s about

trying to change the face of politics.”

Sir Lindsay has clashed with minis-

ters over government statements

which, by convention, are delivered to

MPs. In recent years, however, govern-

ments, including Mr Johnson’s, have

announced policy shifts via the media.

JOANN RANDLES/COVER IMAGES

Brexit trade

agreement in

the balance

Oliver Wright

Ministers have been warned that EU
leaders are not ready to sign off on a
Brexit trade deal compromise in ad-
vance of the latest rounds of talks that
get under way in London today.
Senior government figures played
down talk of a breakthrough after two
weeks of informal discussions between
Michel Barnier and David Frost, Boris
Johnson’s chief negotiator.
They said that although the talks had
been constructive Mr Barnier had made
clear that the kind of trade-off proposed
by the British side went beyond his ne-
gotiating mandate. He is said to have
warned Mr Frost that it would require
prior approval of member states and
that such approval would not even be
considered until the autumn.
Key sticking points remain the “level
playing field” of measures designed to
ensure fair competition between the
UK and EU and fisheries.
However, a source played down sug-
gestions that the UK would walk away
from the talks.
Mr Johnson’s official spokesman also
dampened suggestions that the latest
round of talks would prove decisive.
“The discussions... have continued to
be constructive but significant differen-
ces still remain,” the spokesman said.
“Our position on our sovereignty, laws
and fisheries is clear: we will not give up
The day is done A pony trots into the sunset after grazing on the marshes at Crofty on the Gower peninsula. Sunshine will be back in many areas today. Weather, page 56 our rights as an independent state.”

The revelation could put

pressure on Robert Jenrick

Ministers used a government regenera-
tion scheme to target millions of
pounds in grants at marginal Conserv-
ative seats before the last election, an
analysis by The Times suggests.
Today a report by the National Au-
dit Office (NAO) reveals the pro-
cess by which ministers selected
101 towns in England to each bene-
fit from a £25 million boost to their
economies last September.
It shows 61 of the towns were
chosen at the discretion of
ministers led by Robert Jen-
rick, the housing and com-
munities secretary. An ana-
lysis shows that all but one of
them were either Conserva-
tive-held seats or Tory tar-
gets before the election.
Of those held by Con-
servative MPs, 80 per cent
had majorities of less than

Ministers lavished millions on towns

in marginal Tory seats before polls

Oliver Wright Policy Editor
George Grylls

‘Presidential

PM sidelines

parliament’

5,000. Every single Labour seat target- Patrick Maguire Red Box Reporter

ed for funding fell to the Conservatives.

Only two towns chosen had Tory

majorities of more than 10,000 before

the election, one of which was Mr

Jenrick’s seat, Newark.

The revelation is likely to put pres-

sure on Mr Jenrick after controversy

over his approval of a housing develop-

ment backed by a Tory donor against

the advice of officials.

Last night Meg Hillier, who chairs

the Commons public accounts

committee, said it would look

into the matter.

“Taxpayers’ money is not

other people’s money and if

ministers were so closely in-

volved it might be seen by

some as political,” she said.

“Nine out of ten towns were

ruled out with no explana-

tion before they reached

the starting line, while some affluent

towns are still in the running. Those

that lost out have not yet had the

chance to make their case.”

Steve Reed, the shadow communities

secretary, said: “There are now serious

concerns that ministers may have allo-

cated funding for political gain at the

2019 election, something which breaks

strict rules on impartiality.

“The secretary of state must explain

as a matter of urgency how ministers

decided where to spend this money and

why so many communities lost out.”

The £3.6 billion towns fund was un-

veiled last summer shortly after Boris

Johnson entered Downing Street as

part of his early pledges to “rebalance

growth” across England after Brexit.

Those towns selected to benefit from

the scheme were announced by Mr

Jenrick in September but his depart-

ment refused to publish the selection

criteria amid criticism that affluent

towns had been prioritised over poorer

communities. The NAO’s report

reveals that officials attempted to

create a set of seven criteria for deciding

which towns should benefit, including

income and skill deprivation, low pro-

ductivity and exposure to Brexit.

But while ministers accepted a

recommendation that all 40 high-pri-

ority towns identified be selected to bid

for funding they retained discretion

over the remaining 61 places allocated.

The NAO report shows that these

towns were often less in need of assist-

ance — 12 were officially classed as “low

priority’” of which, The Times’s figures

suggest, nine were in marginal seats.

A spokesman for the Ministry of

Housing, Communities and Local Gov-

ernment said: “As set out in the report

the department put in place a robust

process to identify towns for Town

Deals, which ministers followed

throughout. The selection criteria was

set by officials and took into account

factors including income deprivation,

skills, productivity and investment

opportunities.”