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Boris Johnson has been suggested to “control” the coronavirus and save him a moment, his successor as mayor of London said.
Sadiq Khan also accused the government of being “offensive” to homeworkers by suggesting that they were less productive, despite the strain it took them to return to the office.
Meanwhile, ministers have been warned of “border chaos” at the end of the Brexit transition period, while a leaked government document found that attempts to prepare the UK for industry until 1 January 2021 are “unmanageable.”Johnson insisted Friday that the government “prepared for any eventuality.”
And former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been named one of the country’s most sensible industry envoys despite complaints from previous comments about women and the LGBT community.
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s sometimes policy in Westminster and beyond.
Note on Brexit draws chaos on the border
There is a sense that our transition to 2021 will be bleak, whether there is or is an industrial agreement with the EU. Attempts to prepare UK borders for industry until 1 January are “unmanageable,” according to a government document leaked through Bloomberg..
The Cabinet Office memorandum warns of “critical deficiencies in new IT systems: thirteen key issues that need to be addressed urgently before the end of the transition period.”
Eight logistics teams have warned ministers that the UK’s chain of origin will be “seriously disrupted” if these problems are addressed.They called for an “urgent” assembly with Michael Gove, Rishi Sunak and Grant Shapps.
Rachel Reeves, shadow minister at the Cabinet Office, said this increases the threat of “border chaos,” while the organization of the Best for Britain crusade warned: “If this is not resolved Array …Britain will be in a position to spend an incredibly dark winter.””
Conservative MPs for Quarantine
Portugal and Greece will be added to England’s quarantine list, at least for the time being.Grant Shapps told us it would be the subject of “constant review.”
There is a transparent department across the UK to stick to now, with Wales adding Portugal and six Greek islands to their quarantine list on Friday from 4 a.m., while Portugal and French Polynesia will be added to Scotland’s list from 4 a.m.Saturday.
Jeremy Hunt and Chris Grayling have joined calls for tests at airports to update the 14-day quarantine rule from an organization of conservative advocates who forced a debate on the factor in Parliament next week.
Henry Smith, conservative chairman of the aviation group’s long-term interpartisan party, added: “Countries like Germany and France are testing arriving passengers.This puts the UK at a competitive disadvantage in terms of economic recovery.”
Sir Ian McKellen asks number 10 to call Tony Abbott
Actor Sir Ian McKellen and Doctor Who screenwriter Russell T Davies are among the celebrities and LGBT activists who have written to the government that it is not easy for Tony Abbott to be selected to form the UK on the Board of Commerce.
Highlighting the former Australian prime minister’s track record in campaigning against same-sex marriage, the organization said: “This guy is fit to constitute the UK as an industry envoy.”
Raab calls for investigation of Navalny’s ‘deplorable’ poisoning
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab asked his allies abroad to paint in combination with an investigation into the alleged “completely deplorable” poisoning in Novichok by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Raab held talks Thursday with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, during which the two men agreed on Russia’s need for what had happened.
This comes after Downing Street warned that there would be “serious consequences” for those who suffered the attack, and it did not disdain additional sanctions or expulsions from diplomats.
Raab said on Twitter that Navalny’s poisoning is “completely deplorable and a violation of foreign law.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman, insisting on whether sanctions can be imposed on Russia or expelled diplomats, did not explicitly blame Moscow and said it will not “prejudt what will happen next.”
He said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons would play a key role in investigating what it described as an “assassination attempt” and said the UK had submitted its own to the German investigation.
Dozens more truck fleets to be in England
Up to 29 more truck fleets will be built in England to deal with the chaos of the post-Brexit border industry, the powers of the emergency government.
Local citizens will have no say in the structure of the sites, due to developing fears that truck drivers will face long delays in joining the EU, or are completely rejected.
Some are discovered in the interior spaces (Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Solihull), as well as in coastal industry hotspots such as Kent, Essex, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
The heads of transport, adding the Road Transport Association, demanded an urgent assembly with ministers for a typhoon of new computer systems and the lack of education for the promised customs officers.
Transport chiefs call for crisis meeting with ministers
Transport chiefs have called for an “urgent” assembly with cabinet ministers amid developing considerations on “significant gaps” in UK border arrangements for Brexit.
Eight logistics organisations, adding the Road Haulage Association (RHA), have written to Cabinet Minister Michael Gove to highlight fears that the chain of origin between the UK and the EU will be “severely disrupted” next year if the uphauls are resolved before Brexit.
The organization needs a roundtable talk with Gove, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to discuss spaces such as computer systems and physical border infrastructure.
The letter reads: “As key participants in the chain who will be required to gain a functional operational frontier for investors in the UK and Europe next year, we have visibility into the existing state of readiness which, as it is, has significant deficiencies.
“If these disorders are resolved, the disruption of UK operations and the chain of origin on which we all depend so much will be seriously affected.”
Hancock accused of ‘nauseating’ hypocrisy
Labour MPs Chris Bryant and Wes Streeting, both homosexuals, accused Matt Hancock of hypocrisy after the fitness secretary tweeted about the new inclusive “fantastic” relationships for other LGBT people and the sex education that schools brought.
Bryant replied, “Then why the hell would you settle for Tony Abbott as an ad envoy?”
Streeting tweeted: “Matt, we know you’re a liberal social with a decent voting record on LGBT equality.That’s why your Tony Abbott defense is even more nauseating.”
Have a drink with Tony Abbott? Shapps ‘check the record’
Grant Shapps said he would like to “check the record for myself” if former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott asked for a drink.
The shipping secretary said Sky News host Kay Burley had “had time” to verify the story of Abbott’s comments on women and homosexuality.
Shapps that Abbott had not received a high-level publicity role amid tension to abandon the plan due to allegations of homophobia and misogyny.
He told Sky News: “I hate to bring us back to reality, yet it wasn’t designated at all and, as far as I know, no dates have been made.
“There are many other people with whom your comments vehemently disagree, but I am not protecting other people who do not play any role for the British government.”
He pledged to return to the screen to talk about Abbott’s case “if” is appointed.
Or a sign that he’s got cold eyes?
Massive airport testing is a miracle solution, Shapps says
The boarding secretary stated that various quarantine councils arriving in other British countries “create confusion” amid calls for clarity.
Grant Shapps has defended the resolution not to impose restrictions on others entering England from Greece and Portugal; Scotland and Wales have ordered periods of isolation to stop the spread of coronavirus.
“I realize that it creates confusion for other people not having a singles rule, yet we have this decentralized technique across the UK and I can only be guilty of the English component of that,” he told Sky News.
The minister also stated that airport tests are not a “miracle solution” to complete quarantine and that the “vast majority” of asymptomatic cases would not be detected by a singles test.
Shapps also described the airport’s tests as “completely useless.”In statements to Times Radio, he said: “This is the solution, which is the absolute key point.If that were the case, I probably would do it today, without a doubt..
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