‘Splits emerged at the top of government yesterday as the Brexit secretary accused the chancellor of inconsistency and Boris Johnson faced mockery. The prime minister appeared to be struggling to contain divisions within her top team after David Davis and Philip Hammond set out alternative timetables for Brexit, with different customs arrangements in place once the two-year talks had concluded. The men — two of the most powerful figures in the cabinet — appeared to disagree about a Brexit transition agreement to ensure that Britain would not go over a “cliff edge”. Last week the chancellor indicated that it could last up to four years, but yesterday Mr Davis suggested that it would be one or two.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: ToryDiary: The leading Conservative pro-Brexit group joins the Government (or rather, its leading lights do)
‘Unless this issue is gripped, public anger will grow and we’ll have seen nothing yet when it comes to political shocks. I say this because 77 per cent of the British people want us to have proper border controls and reduced immigration levels. That isn’t going away. The gulf and the disconnect between the voters and politicians in Westminster has grown wider, not narrower, since the referendum result last year. And however difficult or unpleasant the establishment found it as I campaigned on immigration numbers in the years leading up the referendum, unless something is done about this crisis, something very unpleasant will inevitably emerge.’ – Nigel Farage, Daily Telegraph
>Today: Henry Newman on Comment: Now it’s the EU that’s mishandling the future treatment of its nationals in Britain
‘Labour will try to sabotage the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday by tabling an amendment to tempt Tory MPs to vote against the Government and embarrass Theresa May. The party is demanding that the Government recruit more police officers and firefighters, scrap the public sector pay cap and praise the emergency services for the response to recent terror attacks and the Grenfell Tower fire. The contents of the amendment are likely to have been picked by Labour in a bid to try and win over Tory MPs who may be sympathetic to the measures to inflict a damaging defeat on the Prime Minister. The Labour amendment will be the first vote of the new Parliament and represents a key test for Mrs May and her newly-inked alliance between the Conservatives and Democratic Unionist Party.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Hospitals and student halls have been discovered with potentially flammable cladding, it was revealed yesterday as the government appointed an expert panel to advise on immediate measures to ensure high-rise blocks are safe. The number of blocks where cladding has failed fire safety tests after the Grenfell Tower disaster has increased to 95, with privately rented buildings included for the first time. Theresa May said that “something has clearly gone wrong” over several decades. Her spokesman said an investigation into the use of cladding could be conducted as a second phase of the public inquiry into the fire in London that killed at least 79 people this month. The Justice4Grenfell campaign is compiling its own list of victims as mistrust grows over the official death toll.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: Richard Cornelius on Local Government: In Barnet we will do whatever it takes to make our tower blocks safe
‘The head of the US army issued a veiled warning yesterday against reducing British troop numbers as a senior American academic said that Britain’s military was already too small. General Mark Milley, chief of staff of the US army, told a British army conference that “significant-sized land forces” were required to achieve a government’s objectives. He did not specify any country’s army in particular. The general said it was a myth that an army could be quickly regenerated — an excuse that some in UK defence give when they consider more cuts to soldier numbers to save money. The Ministry of Defence must make £20 billion in savings in the next decade.’ – The Times (£)
‘Hackers have unleashed a major cyber attack causing huge disruption to companies and governments across the globe including in the UK, US and Russia. The Petya ransomware hijacks victims’ computers before encrypting their files and holding them hostage until a fee is paid. Chernobyl’s radiation monitoring system has been hit by the attack with its sensors shut down while UK advertising giant WPP, the largest agency in the world, among dozens of firms affected. The ransomware appears to have been spread through popular accounting software and specifically targeted at bringing down business IT systems. The outage began in Ukraine as the country’s power grid, airport, national bank and communications firms were first to report problems, before it spread rapidly throughout Europe. Companies in the US, Germany, Norway, Russia, Denmark and France are among those to have confirmed issues so far.’ – Daily Mail
‘Hopes of restoring Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive were fading last night as Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party failed to agree a compromise on key issues such as an Irish language act. Northern Ireland has not had an executive since January when Sinn Féin collapsed the devolved government amid a row over a renewable energy scheme. The two parties must reach an agreement by 4pm tomorrow. If they fail, James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland secretary, will have to decide whether to revert to direct rule from London for the first time in a decade or, possibly, arrange an extension to existing talks. Last night at Stormont buildings in Belfast Mr Brokenshire declined to answer questions about what would happen if a deal was not done.’ – The Times (£)
‘Efforts to bridge the gap between rich and poor in the UK over the last two decades have failed “at every stage of a person’s life,” a damning report warns today. The Social Mobility Commission turned up the pressure on Theresa May by saying Britain is at a turning point and divisions will “widen not narrow” if she fails to deliver on her pledge to tackle inequality in society. Its landmark report said there is currently no prospect of the gap between poorer and wealthier children being eliminated and child poverty will not be eradicated without radical action. It will take another 80 years before the higher education attendance rate between rich and poor areas closes and one in five people are stuck on low pay – much higher than our main rivals, the Commission found.’ – The Sun
>Yesterday: James Frayne’s column: The problem wasn’t too great a focus on the Just-About-Managings. It was that there wasn’t enough.
‘The First Minister has said she remains committed to a second independence referendum but has conceded that the timetable should slip slightly following the SNP’s poor General Election. The First Minister said she would not introduce her Referendum Bill “immediately” following the loss of 21 SNP seats, but would take stock in autumn next year on how and when to proceed. The “reset” of her referendum proposal means that her original plans to hold a vote between Autumn next year and Spring 2019 will be unable to be met.’ – The Scotsman
‘Banks are “forgetting the lessons” of the financial crisis, increasing the risk of reckless lending which could land them — and the wider economy — in trouble later, Mark Carney has warned. Credit card lending is booming and the Bank of England fears that banks are becoming complacent, assuming the relatively good economic times will continue indefinitely. As a result lenders are cutting down the amount of capital they put aside to keep them safe if those loans turn bad — something that could leave them in financial trouble if there is a recession and customers cannot pay back their debts.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow has said he cannot remember chanting ‘f**k the Tories’ while having his photo taken at Glastonbury. The 69-year-old, who is one of the broadcaster’s biggest names, is alleged to have told revellers, ‘I’m supposed to be neutral’, after his comment about the Conservative Party. The veteran journalist said he took thousands of pictures during his time at the festival, but did not remember one reveller’s account of him shouting the anti-Tory chant. Yesterday @DannyMillea tweeted: ‘Boss place that Glasto. Having a dance with Jon Snow and hearing him shout f*** the Tories is what dream are made of.” – Daily Mail
‘The tax-and-spend economy championed by Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour left has won the backing of nearly half the country, according to a major report on shifting opinion. It said 48 per cent of people believe the government should raise taxes and spend more, and their numbers overtook those who want taxes to stay as they are last year. The switch in the core economic thinking of millions was detected by British Social Attitudes, a widely influential independent annual survey produced with the backing of a series of Whitehall departments.’ – Daily Mail