Boris Johnson news live: Latest Brexit updates as UK unemployment surges

Country no longer a ‘great power’, John Major says

John Major has claimed the UK is no longer a “great power” and slammed Brexit as a ‘bitterly divisive policy,” Joe Middleton reports.

The former prime minister warned that “complacency” and “nostalgia” are the routes to a national decline and that the UK’s global influence has relied upon history, fortified by membership of the EU and close ties to the US.

UK faces ‘serious and enduring’ threat from terrorism, Downing Street says

The UK faces a “serious and enduring” threat from terrorism, Downing Street has said as Cabinet ministers received an update on the UK terrorism threat level from the head of MI5.

Following this morning’s Cabinet meeting, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Cabinet received an update on the UK terrorism threat level from MI5 director general Ken McCallum.

“This follows last week’s announcement that the threat from international terrorism has been raised from Substantial, meaning an attack is likely, to Severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

“The director general reiterated this is a precautionary measure and is not based on any specific threat. However, there is a risk that the recent attacks in France and Austria could have a galvanising affect in other parts of Europe – including the UK.

“It also remains the case that the UK faces a serious and enduring threat from terrorism and since March 2017 UK police and security services have foiled 27 plots, including eight motivated by right-wing ideologies.

“Cabinet thanked the security services for their tireless work to keep us all safe.”

Johnson ‘looking forward’ to working with Biden

Boris Johnson told Cabinet ministers this morning he is “looking forward” to working with the US president-elect, Joe Biden, on tackling climate change, boosting free trade and standing up for human rights.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Cabinet began by discussing the US election.

“The PM congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and said he was looking forward to working with the president-elect on tackling climate change, boosting free trade and standing up for human rights and the rules-based international system.”

The spokesman said Mr Johnson and Mr Biden had not yet spoken, and declined to say whether a call would take place on Tuesday.

Ministers pushing to ensure non-essential retail and hospitality can reopen in December

Ministers are pushing to ensure non-essential retail and hospitality businesses “can reopen safely on 2 December”, Business minister Nadhim Zahawi has said.

Speaking in the Commons, Tory Julian Sturdy (York Outer) said: “The government’s new support measures for businesses provide a genuine lifeline, however support to stay closed is not the long-term answer and many will only remain viable if they can be opened as normal pre-Christmas season.

“So, can I ask what the minister is doing to urgently lobby government and the prime minister on the necessity of keeping businesses and getting them reopen from 2 December – including hospitality, which is so important to a city like York?”

Mr Zahawi replied: “(Mr Sturdy) makes a very powerful point. I absolutely agree with him, it is not the long-term answer and I fully appreciate that retailers across England will be desperate to reopen in time for the important Christmas trading period.

“The regulations, as the prime minister said, will expire on 2 December and we will return to the local restrictions thereafter, the tiered system, and of course ministers and officials are regularly engaging across government, including my colleagues in BEIS, to ensure the sector can reopen safely on 2 December.”

Former health secretary questions impact of NHS Test and Trace

Jeremy Hunt has questioned the impact of NHS Test and Trace because it only reached a fraction of the estimated cases – largely due to asymptomatic people not being captured by the system.

With not all cases providing all of their contacts, and then a large proportion of those not following self-isolation rules, the former health secretary suggested as few as 3 per cent of those who should be in quarantine actually were staying at home.

He said the proportion was certainly not above 20 per cent but NHS Test and Trace chief Baroness Harding told him: “If it’s a tool that contributes to 20 per cent-plus of our fight against Covid, then it’s a hugely valuable and important tool.

“I describe it as our second line of defence. Our first line of defence is actually our own behaviour – social distancing, wearing of face masks, washing our hands.

“The harsh reality is that that first line of defence and that second line of defence on their own have not been enough to prevent a second wave, and that is true across the whole of Europe.”

Vaccine Task Force chief should be sacked, Business Committee chair says

The chair of the Commons Business Committee has called for the government’s Vaccine Task Force chief to be sacked over a “gross conflict of interests”.

Kate Bingham is expected to leave her post at the end of the year and has come under pressure over a reported £670,000 contract for public relations support and claims that she shared commercially-sensitive information with investors.

Darren Jones, a Labour MP, raised his concerns about Ms Bingham in the Commons on Tuesday morning.

“She has not only disclosed official sensitive documents to hedge fund managers in the United States but has spent £670,000 of taxpayers money on private PR advisors instead of using civil servants and is set to benefit financially from investments by the state,” Mr Jones said.

“Ms Bingham should be sacked. If she is not sacked, who will be held to account for this gross conflict of interests and gross misuse of public funds?”

Alok Sharma, the business secretary, responded by dismissing the request and arguing that the Vaccine Task Force had done an “absolutely brilliant job” in securing doses of potentially successful vaccine candidates.

Johnson’s congratulation to Biden appears to show earlier message for Trump

Here’s a bizarre story – An image shared by Boris Johnson on Twitter congratulating Joe Biden on winning the US presidential election appears to show an earlier message for Donald Trump underneath it.

The image below was shared on the prime minister’s official account on Saturday.

By turning up the brightness and contrast settings on the image, you can find traces of an earlier message which appears to be congratulating Mr Trump on an expected victory…

It is unclear why Downing Street did not just make a separate image to congratulate Mr Biden – especially as the former vice president was leading in the polls – but it is almost certain that the mistake will not go down well with Democrats in the US.

Most vulnerable should get Covid vaccine by Easter – unless government ‘screws up distribution’, adviser says

The most vulnerable people in the UK population should be vaccinated for Covid-19 by Easter, unless officials “screw up” the nationwide distribution of doses, a scientific advisor has said.

Sir John Bell, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said there was a “70 to 80 per cent chance” that coverage of the elderly and other at-risk groups could be achieved by spring.

Our reporter, Samuel Lovett, has the full story below:

Bring in ‘missing millions’ of unregistered voters, campaigners say

Campaigners have urged the government to bring in the “missing millions” of unregistered voters into the UK’s elections system.

Twenty-five youth organisations, academics and civil society groups have written to the Cabinet Office urging ministers to back a Lords amendment calling for an action plan to tackle a drop in voter registration, particularly among young people.

They said registration rates for eligible 16 and 17-year olds had fallen to an estimated 25 per cent in 2018, a drop from 45 per cent in 2015.

One proposal for improving registration is to automatically register people when they receive their National Insurance number.

“It’s simply wrong that millions of people are still missing from the electoral roll, with young people particularly hard hit,” Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said.

“This is not a fair and equal basis to draw up constituencies or run a democracy.”  

He added: “Young people are more likely to move and be in insecure accommodation, meaning they’re frequently left off the list. And with voters unable to check they’re registered to vote online, many will simply assume they’re already on it.”

Peer ‘should be ashamed’ for calling Kamala Harris ‘the Indian’, former Biden official says

A British peer who referred to US vice president-elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian” due to her Indian-born mother has been condemned by Joe Biden’s former special adviser.

Jon Wolfsthal, a former special adviser to the president-elect, said Lord Kilclooney “should be ashamed” of his remark and reminded the life peer that Ms Harris “is American”.

Our reporter, Adam Forrest, has the full story below: