No deal increasingly likely. Starmer’s message: Bored of Brexit, focus on Covid

There is a “strong possibility” of no deal, the Prime Minister has told us, as he will not accept being “locked in the EU’s orbit”. Boris Johnson likes to call the alternative to striking a deal an ‘Australian-style’ relationship, i.e. World Trade Organisation terms. Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned that Britain should “be careful what you wish for” and reminded everyone on Question Time that Australia is seeking to negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU for good reason. Lisa Nandy has expressed the view this morning that the government has “lost the plot”. Keir Starmer is reiterating Labour’s message that Johnson needs to keep his 2019 promises, deliver a deal and focus on the coronavirus crisis. But to the horror of the Irish Taoiseach and Labour MPs, no deal on the 31st looks increasingly likely.

A fresh National Audit Office report has confirmed and highlighted further government failures during Covid. The last NAO investigation on the UK’s handling of the pandemic found a “lack of adequate documentation” in procurement, which gave rise to talk of Tory cronyism by Labour’s Rachel Reeves, who yesterday called attention to ten personal protective equipment contracts worth over £470m given to companies either listed in tax havens or with a parent company listed in a tax haven. The new NAO probe has offered Labour yet more evidence for its arguments, with a reference to the “choice of delivery model” as a cause for missed targets. This will be used to support the opposition’s call for more local authority involvement in test and trace. By June, the report states, the amount of time spent actively working during paid hours was just 1% for call handler staff.

On LabourList this morning, our barrister columnist Jake Richards has penned a piece looking closely at the newly announced ‘independent review’ of the Human Rights Act. Sunny Hundal has argued that Labour’s soft left needs to get its shit together, and put forward some starting points for that mission. We’ve got an exclusive story on the launch of the ‘Compass Labour Network’, which will promote a cross-party progressive alliance. And in Liverpool, the council reportedly has until 3pm today to make the case that it should keep control of planning and other areas of governance. With Joe Anderson now having stepped aside as mayor, we touched on next steps and a potential fresh selection process in this piece.

We are approaching one year since the 2019 general election took place on December 12th. How much progress has the Labour Party made since then? What work has been done so far to reconnect with voters, and what is there still to do? To what extent will the 2021 contests forecast the result of the next general election? If you’re interested in the answers to those questions, and putting others on that subject to a panel, remember to sign up to our event with the UK in a Changing Europe. Live at noon on Tuesday, we will discuss Labour a year after the election with Sir John Curtice, Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, Lucy Powell MP and myself, with Anand Menon chairing. I will also be in conversation with Andy Burnham at the start of the week – do send in suggestions for questions before tuning in at 6pm on Monday.