London Playbook: Planet Boris — Lawyers’ misery — Labour’s reckoning

SPOTTED: Keir Starmer watching Coldplay with his family (hospitality tickets, obvs) on Thursday night at the Etihad Stadium. One’s a generic, middle-of-the-road populist whose left-field fans got disillusioned long ago, and the other … well, you get the idea.

Good Friday morning. This is Dan Bloom. Rosa Prince returns on Monday.

DRIVING THE DAY

HAPPY FRIDAY: And with warm June sunshine, the FA Cup final and the Epsom Derby, what a glorious weekend! Except, that is, if you work for the government legal team. After an all-nighter into Thursday, they’re trudging back in to carry on trawling through 25 of Boris Johnson’s handwritten notebooks — and redact bits they don’t want to give to the COVID public inquiry. At the same time, they’re preparing for a High Court showdown over the much more important issue: The inquiry’s demands to get hold of a spree of ministers’ notes and WhatsApps, no redactions at all.

Quick recap: The Cabinet Office’s decision to fight a judicial review against handing over the goods in full splashes the Mail (“Ministers go to war with judge”), Metro (“See you in court”), Times, Guardian, FT and i. The Independent turns the narrative firmly back on the PM with the headline: “What have you got to hide, Mr Sunak?”

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Where we’re up to: Officials have given the COVID inquiry redacted versions of Boris Johnson’s WhatsApps that run to 300 pages — but only dating back to April 2021. Not a typo, more below.

Where we go next: Lawyers have set themselves a 4 p.m. Monday deadline to give the inquiry redacted versions of his 25 notebooks. They’re up from 24, and LBC’s Henry Riley hears they contain “post-it notes, newspaper cuttings & bits of paper falling out.” But the inquiry still wants uncensored versions instead.

NEED FOR SPEED: Former permanent secretary of the government legal department Jonathan Jones tells Playbook the judicial review should be “pretty quick” with a hearing in “a small number of weeks” — even possibly next week. A ruling would then likely be handed down “weeks or days” after that. It’s because the legal point of whether or not to redact is “relatively narrow” and the government has asked for an expedited hearing.

But but but … Either side could yet head to the Court of Appeal if the battle over redactions doesn’t go their way.

NOW FOR THE JUICY BIT: As part of its legal fight, the Cabinet Office dumped out 227 pages of documents on Thursday night that are a treasure trove of news lines about Boris Johnson and the COVID inquiry. We’ll take you through them.

JOHNSON’S LOST PHONE: The big revelation is that Johnson has at no point handed over any messages from before April 2021, when he changed his phone in a security alert. That basically skips all three lockdowns. Who’d have thought a Popbitch email — which revealed his mobile number was on the internet for 15 years — could lead to this?

Found! The phone isn’t in the North Sea, Team Johnson insists. His office says Johnson does still have the old device — and has written to the Cabinet Office asking for security and technical support to retrieve messages from it. His team insist he was told at the time never to turn the phone back on.

Big offer: Determined to show how open he is, Johnson has also written directly to the inquiry — offering to give them his unredacted messages and bypass the Cabinet Office.

BUT BUT BUT … This phone business rather stretches Johnson’s claims to have been champing at the bit for transparency. The Mirror points out that Johnson’s office claimed it had handed over “all material requested by the COVID inquiry” to the Cabinet Office. It hasn’t. The inquiry clearly requested material starting in January 2020.

Not to mention: The docs paint a picture of Johnson cooperating … but cautiously. When Cabinet Office officials first asked for permission to collect his notebooks on March 31, he refused and they visited the books in situ. Johnson also asked on April 5 that only “a particular counsel” be allowed to see his unredacted WhatsApps.

GET ALL THE POPCORN: The document dump shows the extraordinary breadth of grilling that will face not just Johnson, but dozens if not hundreds of ministers, officials and the like in the three-year inquiry.

Boris in the stocks: The inquiry asked Johnson 150 (150!) questions on February 3. They include: “When and how” did you first learn of COVID … Did you receive advice to sack Matt Hancock … Was there any scientific advice on Eat Out to Help Out …

And breathe: Did you say “let the bodies pile high” rather than have a second lockdown … Did you initially think COVID was “akin to swine flu” … “Why did you not attend any COBR meetings” before March 2 … Did you tell Italy’s PM you “wanted herd immunity” … Did Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill suggest “chickenpox parties” … How did meetings with newspaper editors on September 18-23 affect the decision not to impose a second lockdown …

Wrong crowd: “Why did you attend a personal/social meeting” on March 19 with newspaper tycoon Evgeny Lebedev three days after telling people to stop all nonessential contact? (Lebedev was nominated for a peerage soon after).

And finally: Did you suggest “that you be injected with COVID-19 on television to demonstrate to the public that it did not pose a threat?”

ALL-STAR CAST: There is no full list of who has been told to hand over their WhatsApps. But a letter dated April 23 confirms 14 of their names, apparently by chance — as requests for them were outstanding at the time. They are ex-PM Liz Truss … Cabinet Secretary Simon Case … serving Cabinet ministers Michael Gove, Kemi Badenoch and Penny Mordaunt … ex-deputy PM Dominic Raab … and former No. 10 officials Martin Reynolds, Dan Rosenfield, Tom Shinner, James Slack, Ben Warner, Eddie Lister, Munira Mirza and Simon Ridley.

SECRECY DEFENDED: The government argues to cover all business “would be absurd” and leave the inquiry “utterly swamped.” It says this is about redacting “personal and family information, including illness and disciplinary matters,” “comments of a personal nature” and “discussions of entirely separate policy areas.”

But but but … Critics point out the inquiry could just do the redactions itself. Bereaved Families for Justice spokesperson Rivka Gottlieb is quoted in the Guardian saying: “You have to assume that they’re sitting on evidence that will devastate Rishi Sunak’s reputation.”

Spot the difference: The government says it has handed 55,000 documents to the inquiry — but previously said it had “well over 20 million” with “potential relevance.” H/T ITV’s Anushka Asthana.

For the defense: Science Minister George Freeman didn’t sound bursting with confidence that the government will win the judicial review, telling Question Time: “I happen to think the courts will probably take the view that Baroness Hallett, who’s running the inquiry, is perfectly entitled and empowered to decide whatever she wants.”

FRUITLESS STUNT OF THE DAY: In the last hour, the Lib Dems have announced they will use a humble address in the Commons ordering “all material” requested by the COVID inquiry to be handed over. But because they are the fourth party it’ll probably never get a vote. At least they haven’t called for Parliament to be recalled this time.

BUT OTHERWISE: The diary looks dead quiet (jinxed it!), with Sunak in No. 10 over the weekend but neither him nor Starmer doing any media today. It’d be quite the day to release someone’s resignation honors, wouldn’t it? Just for the bantz?

MORE FROM PLANET BORIS

BORIS IN ACTION: My colleague Graham Lanktree has a jaw-dropping, blow-by-blow account of the dinner between Boris Johnson and Aussie PM Scott Morrison that sealed the U.K.-Australia trade deal on June 14, 2021 — the one since panned for giving too much away. Described by a Johnson spokesman, naturally, as “rubbish,” it tells how Johnson gave the Aussies a crucial concession — to measure beef imports by the weight of just the cuts of meat, rather than the entire cow, bones and all.

How this stuff works: Australian High Commissioner George Brandis, who joined the dinner in No. 10, scrawled down Johnson’s pledge on a piece of paper, fled to the loo, and handed the paper to an aide. The aide took a picture which sped to the High Commission on the Strand, was turned into a trade document, printed out in Downing Street and placed in an official folder — all in time to be brought back into the dinner for Johnson to sign.

PESTMINSTER RETURNS

RECKONING: Labour has been plunged into recriminations after suspending MP Geraint Davies while sexual harassment claims are investigated, report my colleagues Esther Webber and Aggie Chambre — who broke the original story on Thursday.

Fallout: Two MPs say women in the party long warned each other about Davies’ alleged behavior but there was inertia in confronting it. Elsewhere, Labour MP Charlotte Nichols said: “In a few weeks’ time, it’ll be someone else.” General Secretary David Evans, who has launched a review of the complaints system, admitted recent stories “have caused some of you to question our processes,” in an email seen by the Guardian.

Response: Davies said in a statement responding to the initial story that he did not “recognize” the allegations, adding: “If I have inadvertently caused offence to anyone, then I am naturally sorry.”

FAR AND WIDE: The Swansea West MP’s suspension makes the front page of the Western Mail, while several national papers nose their stories on the claims to Sky News that Davies “boasted” about bringing sex workers to parliament for drinks. Sky said he did not respond to its request for comment.

WHAT’S NEXT: Generously putting not one but two POLITICO stories on its front page, the Times leads on the looming vote to ban MPs who are accused of serious criminal offences from the parliamentary estate. While my colleague Rosa Prince covered this last week, the Times adds that union reps are calling for the proposals to go further — with talks about whether rules should kick in at the point of arrest.

More than enough for a football team: The Times leader laments the “unstoppable” growth of independent MPs who have been suspended, resigned or expelled — “a symptom of the sickness pervading a broken parliamentary culture.”

MEANWHILE IN BRUSSELS: My Brussels colleagues Barbara Moens and Eddy Wax have their own investigation, showing EU authorities have repeatedly failed to protect victims of politicians’ bullying and there is a “culture of indifference.” One victim said waiting months for a response was like being “prisoners on death row.”

BACK IN THE CONSTITUENCY

BURNING QUESTION: Who, for the love of all things holy, would marry an MP? On today’s Westminster Insider podcast, Aggie Chambre talks to half a dozen partners of MPs about ups, downs, long-distance romance and — for Labour’s Cat Smith and the SNP’s David Linden — love across party lines.

The low points: Will Fletcher tells Aggie he “cried every day for a month” after his husband Mark won Bolsover in 2019 as he was so isolated (after seeking professional help he is now on the mend). Veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer’s wife Felicity “burst into tears” after being sent a dirty nappy in the post. And opera singer Nevana Bridgen, the wife of Andrew (yep, that Andrew), says women hit on him “even in front of me” — “imagine what’s going on when the wife’s not there?”

POWER COUPLE NEWS: Labour’s selection for Lanark and Hamilton East opened on Thursday, and among those Playbook hears will run is Imogen Walker. The long-time Labour figure, a former deputy leader of Lambeth Council, lives in Lanark with a partner Westminster folk may find very familiar … Keir Starmer’s all-powerful campaign director Morgan McSweeney. He commutes weekly from Scotland to London and is said to have devised Labour’s strictly-run selection process (via the New Statesman).

Known unknowns: It’s hardly the top of Scottish Labour’s target seats list, given the party came third in 2019. But the seat vanishes in boundary changes, and barely half of it is being absorbed into the new Hamilton and Clyde Valley (whoever wins the Labour selection is due to be transferred there). Walker’s name was previously tipped in a Scottish Times feature … but she is now thought to be a dead cert to go for it.

HEATING UP: Both Labour and Tories are now motoring on with their pre-conference wave of selections, with each weekend bringing new eye-catching, contentious or just plain awkward races. In Birkenhead, shadow minister Alison McGovern will face off against left-wing incumbent Mick Whitley at a Labour hustings on Saturday after both went for the same seat following boundary changes. Postal ballots are counted on June 16.

Medway matters: Labour’s ruling body continues its tight grip (denounced by the left) on the longlisting process, which is thought to have turned this week to Rochester and Strood. The Medway towns seat (your author’s old patch) turned blue in 2010 and Labour now hopes to turn it back after seizing the council in May. Councillor Lauren Edwards is most often tipped to face NHS nurse Kevin McKenna.

Juicy plum: Or so tireless selection-watcher Michael Crick calls Henley, where a star-studded list of Tory hopefuls makes a Boris Johnson chicken run look ever more difficult. They are said to range from former diplomat Caroline Newton to Olympic gold medal rower James Cracknell.

DELAYED: The Tory shortlisting for London mayor has been pushed back by a week to June 11. Times Radio’s Ollie Cole tweeted the news.

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TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

DERAILED: Thousands of trains are canceled today and Saturday due to strikes by the RMT and ASLEF. Manchester United and City fans have been told not to take the train to the FA Cup final.

LABOUR POLICY CORNER: After ditching Starmer’s pledge to scrap tuition fees, Labour is hinting it will cut monthly student loan repayments instead — by restructuring the way existing loans are paid back. Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has a Times op-ed (and story) arguing it could be done “without adding a penny to government borrowing or general taxation.”

How’s that then? Detail is sparse but the party is studying proposals from consultancy firm London Economics — which include replacing the 9 percent rate at which loans are repaid with a “stepped” system of 3 percent on some earnings, then 5 percent on higher earnings etc.

WINDS OF CHANGE: The Guardian and FT both hear Keir Starmer is under pressure from allies to broaden out Labour’s £28 billion-a-year “green prosperity plan” — to put more emphasis on job creation and investment, rather than purely branding it an environmental blitz.

Whispers on the wind: Your author has heard similar, with one ally suggesting it could be “repurposed” into a British version of Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. They argue the long-committed capital pot — which survives despite Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ watchful eye — was never actually that specific about what it would be spent on.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: Labour is also promising to fine parents £1,000 if their kids commit repeat antisocial behavior, the party tells The Sun.

What Labour wants to talk about: Its research saying 35,000 more patients a month wait more than two weeks for a cancer appointment, compared to 2010, makes the i.

SOLID DAY 2: After Liz Truss’ allies backed scrapping inheritance tax, the Telegraph has … Liz Truss on page 1 saying the same.

SPEAKING OF TRUSS: The register of MPs’ interests shows post-PM life isn’t too terrible — she and her husband were sent on spenny flights and put up in a Hawaii hotel worth £600 a night to attend a meeting of the Pacific Forum think tank in May. The Times has written it up.

Freebies galore: The latest register also shows mega-donor David Sainsbury has given shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves £14,500 … Rishi Sunak has taken more domestic private jet flights worth £38,500 (via the Mirror) … and Glyndebourne treated Partygate inquiry chair Harriet Harman to a night at the opera. Which sounds like a nice break from deciding the fate of Boris Johnson.

NEW DEAL: The Times and Mail report that the returns agreement with Georgia that began Thursday will allow migrants to be sent there even if they’ve passed through the country — regardless of their nationality. Usually a person has to be from the country in question to be sent back there.

IN LIMBO: Former Afghan interpreters tell the Mail they are “prisoners” trapped in hotels after being stuck in Pakistan for up to 18 months with “no clue” of when they can come to Britain.

OOPS: Labour has accused Transport Secretary Mark Harper of “misusing the civil service” after a press officer emailed a journalist a quote about Labour being “in the pockets of union barons,” the Mirror’s John Stevens reports. The DfT has blamed an admin error.

HOT PROPERTY: A report to No. 10 by Tory MP Kieran Mullan has suggested using geothermal energy to help the north — since 44 percent of the highest-potential locations are also in the top 100 target areas for leveling-up, including Middlesbrough and Hartlepool.

AUDIT CORNER: PoliticsHome has started a series by Jonn Elledge asking whatever happened to policy pledges — starting with the ban on no-fault evictions. The i similarly voices fears that some of the 28 ongoing bills won’t make it through before an election.

WORST DINNER PARTY GUEST EVER: Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride has started telling his over-50s friends to get jobs, he tells the Chopper’s Politics podcast: “I always say … ‘Why don’t you do a few hours a week? Why don’t you just go and serve in the local restaurant?”

NO BREGRETS: Science minister George Freeman admitted Brexit “has had some costs” on Question Time and “we’re now in that very difficult bit where the costs are obvious.” He added: “I also think there are some real advantages.”

IDENTITY PARADE: Labour should have backed Theresa May’s Brexit deal and should introduce ID cards to curb illegal immigration, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson tells the Power Test podcast.

HOME TO ROOST: The Express splashes on Thursday morning’s figures showing that house prices have fallen at the fastest rate in 14 years as mortgage costs surge.

PARLIAMENT: Back in action Monday.

BEYOND THE M25

BALLOT BOXING: “King of the North” Andy Burnham called (again) for Labour to adopt proportional representation at a Thursday night rally in Edinburgh, backed by Labour Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford — via the Guardian. Fair to say that’s not the LOTO line.

New power base: The pair joined ex-PM Gordon Brown, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin to form the “Alliance for Radical Democratic Change” (via PA). Brown told the rally Johnson and Sunak would be remembered not for their convictions, but COVID penalty convictions … geddit?

SLIPPY JOE: U.S. President Joe Biden tripped and fell over at an air force graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs. He continues to seek reelection as the oldest serving U.S. president in history — the Times has a write-up.

Unexpected comparison of the year: Former U.S. President Donald Trump compared himself to the Mona Lisa because people keep going back to see him. He spoke to, er, Welsh-language TV channel S4C, reports the Mirror’s Ben Glaze.

UKRAINE UPDATE: Pro-Ukraine Russians said they were conducting a raid on Shebekino, just over four miles from the Ukrainian border and inside Russia. My colleague Nicolas Camut has more.

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MEDIA ROUND

Shadow Leveling-Up Minister Alex Norris broadcast round: 5 Live Breakfast (7.15 a.m.) … LBC News (7.30 a.m.) … TalkTV (7.45 a.m.) … Sky News (8.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (8.35 a.m.) … GB News (9.05 a.m.).

Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine broadcast round: LBC News (7.10 a.m.) … Sky News (7.45 a.m.) … GB News (8.05 a.m.) … TalkTV (9.05 a.m.).

Also on LBC News: RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch (7.50 a.m.).

Also on Sky News Breakfast: Mick Lynch (7.30 a.m.) … Child Poverty Action Group Head of Policy Sophie Howes (8.30 a.m.).

Also on GB News Breakfast: Former Jeremy Hunt Adviser Charlie Rowley (7 a.m.).

Good Morning Britain: Barrister Michael Mansfield (6.40 a.m.).

Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland (7.05 a.m.).

TODAY’S FRONT PAGES

POLITICO UK: How Boris Johnson sold out Britain’s farmers over dinner with the Australian PM.

Daily Express: Biggest house price fall in 14 years.

Daily Mail: Ministers go to war with judge over Covid WhatsApps.

Daily Mirror: Holly — I’ve nothing to hide.

Daily Star: Your chippy needs you.

Financial Times: Government seeks legal block on Johnson messages for Covid inquiry.

i: Cabinet Office vs Covid inquiry — legal clash over secret WhatsApps.

Metro: See you in court.

The Daily Telegraph: Boat at center of beach tragedy.

The Guardian: Ministers launch court bid to defy Covid inquiry.

The Independent: What have you got to hide, Mr Sunak?

The Sun: I’m broken and ashamed … but not a groomer.

The Times: Battle over Johnson messages.

TODAY’S NEWS MAGS

The Economist: Scotland’s holiday from reality.

THANK POD IT’S FRIDAY

EU Confidential: The team discuss the second meeting of the European Political Community with Moldova’s Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu.

Westminster Insider: POLITICO’s Aggie Chambre asks Westminster spouses about the ups and downs of life married to a British MP.

Plus 6 of the other best political podcasts to listen to this weekend:

Iain Dale All Talk: Dale is joined by Labour peer Helena Kennedy to talk about her life and career.

Leading: Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell reflect on the New Labour years with the only senior adviser to last the whole period of Tony Blair’s premiership: Jonathan Powell.

Political Thinking: Nick Robinson speaks to environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey.

Politics Weekly U.K.: Gaby Hinsliff speaks to former Downing Street Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell and former Chief Prosecutor Nazir Afzal about the Cabinet Office and COVID inquiry’s tug of war.

Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards: Richards interviews academic Tim Bale about how the Tory party has changed.

The Political Party: Matt Forde is in conversation with Rob Burley, editor of Beth Rigby Interviews, about his career and book.

**POLITICO Pro Central Banker makes sense of the structural transformation of monetary policy in Europe. Start your free trial of Morning Central Banking, the daily newsletter of our brand-new policy coverage service, today! Click here.**

LONDON CALLING

WESTMINSTER WEATHER: Sunny intervals with a moderate breeze. Highs of 19C.

IN MEMORIAM: Birmingham Six member Hugh Callaghan has died aged 93. Wrongly jailed for 16 years over the 1974 IRA Birmingham pub bombings, a campaign led by then Labour MP Chris Mullin led to their exoneration and freedom in 1991. The Guardian has a write-up.

NEW GIGS: The Charity Commission has named Rory Brooks — a former chair of the Center for Social Justice Foundation — as a commissioner in charge of philanthropy.

MOVING ON: ITV News Central’s Barnaby Papadopulos moves to ITV News Border covering southern Scotland in July.

LISTEN TO: Fit for Work, a Radio 4 series investigating how governments have toughened benefit rules to encourage disabled people into work, begins at 11 a.m.

DON’T MISS: The work of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen is explored in Kings in the North this Saturday on Radio 4 at 11 a.m.

SUEHELLA OF A WEEK: Home Secretary Suella Braverman is the subject of Radio 4’s Profile at 7 p.m. on Saturday and repeated on Sunday.

AUDIO TREAT: The BBC’s International Editor Jeremy Bowen is the guest on Desert Island Discs this Sunday at 11.15 a.m.

FRIDAY FILM CLUB: Oscar Best Picture winner Rocky is on ITV1 at 10.15 p.m. on Saturday … and the utterly charming Paddington is on BBC One on Sunday at 3.05 p.m.

NOAH’S WEEKEND CULTURE FIX: Join a National Gallery tour exploring race and representation from 11 a.m. on Sunday … and the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, pianist Lambert Orkis and cellist Maximilian Hornung perform in a concert celebrating 19th and 21st century chamber music at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday at 6 p.m. — both only a 15-minute walk from Westminster.

SOMEONE’S HAVING A WORSE DAY THAN YOU: Truckloads of potatoes spilled on a bridge connecting two Danish islands, with police not ruling out that it could be deliberate. Where’s the cast of The Bridge when you need them?

NOW READ: The FT investigates how the U.S. is deepening military alliances in China’s back yard to better prepare for potential conflict over Taiwan.

SO LONG, FAREWELL: After four months writing this newsletter, I’ve had quite enough. I’m packing my bags … and heading to my dear brother’s wedding in Vietnam, where he lives and works as a teacher. I can’t wait. My excellent colleagues Rosa and Eleni, and of course reporter Noah, will carry the morning Playbook baton — see you in a few weeks.

BIRTHDAYS: Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi … DWP Minister Mims Davies … Bridgend MP Jamie Wallis … Cabinet Office SpAd Fergus Cameron-Watt … Former Welsh Office Minister Jonathan Evans … BBC Politics’ Alex Partridge … Impressionist Jon Culshaw.

Celebrating over the weekend: York Outer MP Julian Sturdy … Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly … Bexleyheath and Crayford MP David Evennett … SNP Attorney General Spokesperson at Westminster Angela Crawley … Scottish Transport Minister Kevin Stewart … Former FCO chief Simon Fraser … Chief Whip SpAd Emma Pryor … Former Scotland Secretary Michael Moore … Former Cuban chief Raúl Castro … Shadow Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne … North Herefordshire MP Bill Wiggin … Loughborough MP Jane Hunt … DCMS Minister Julia Lopez … Former International Trade permanent secretary Martin Donnelly, now of Boeing Europe … Labour peer Elizabeth Smith … Lib Dem peer Claire Tyler … Labour PAd Leila McIntyre … Times columnist Melanie Phillips … Former U.N. special envoy on refugee issues Angelina Jolie.

PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Joe Stanley-Smith, reporter Noah Keate and producer Dato Parulava.

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