Trump told repeatedly plan to overturn election was illegal, January 6 committee hears - Financial Times

Donald Trump pressured his vice-president Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election despite having been told repeatedly that doing so would be illegal, a Congressional committee has heard.

Members of the bipartisan panel investigating the attack on the US Congress were told on Thursday that Pence made clear his opposition to the former president’s plan to block the certification of the election results, including in a heated telephone call on the morning of January 6.

Nevertheless, Trump continued to insist that Pence could and might refuse to certify the election, helping to incite the mob that stormed the US Capitol after Pence announced he would not do so.

Pete Aguilar, a Democratic member of the committee, said: “Despite the fact that the vice-president consistently told the president that he did not have and would not want the power to decide the outcome of the presidential election, Donald Trump continued to pressure the vice-president, both publicly and privately.”

The hearing, which was the third in a series of public sessions, focused almost entirely on the role of the vice-president before and during the January 6 attack.

Members showed how Pence refused to bow to pressure from Trump not to certify the results, even after he had to be evacuated from the Capitol building as a mob of the president’s supporters stormed it demanding his execution. Aguilar revealed that some of the rioters got within 40 feet of the vice-president as he was being evacuated.

Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chair of the committee, said: “We are fortunate for Mr Pence’s courage. On January 6, our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe. That courage put [Pence] in tremendous danger.”

In the weeks before January 6, Trump had been advised by a John Eastman, a constitutional scholar, that the vice-president had the power to simply reject the results during a Congressional session on that day.

Others around the former president vehemently disagreed. Eric Herschmann, one of Trump’s lawyers, called the idea “completely crazy”, arguing it would lead to riots on the streets.

Herschmann said he told Eastman at the time: “You’re going to turn around and tell 78-plus-million people in this country that your theory is this is how you’re going to invalidate their votes because you think election was stolen.”

“‘They’re not going to tolerate that,’ I said. ‘You’re going to cause riots in the streets,’” he added.

Witnesses said that several others in the former president’s legal team agreed, as well as his chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Greg Jacob, one of Pence’s former legal advisers, told the committee that even Eastman conceded in private conversations that the US Supreme Court would vote 9-0 against the theory if it were ever tested in court.

Members also saw evidence suggesting that in a draft letter to Trump written in October 2020, Eastman himself rebutted the theory, arguing: “Nowhere [in the constitution] does it suggest that the president of the Senate [the vice-president], gets to make the determination on his own.”

They also heard that Pence himself decided at an early stage such an attempt would be illegal. Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff, said he had made his position clear that “he wouldn’t want that power bestowed upon any one person”.

Pence repeated his position during a call with Trump on the morning of January 6.

In response, said Nick Luna, Trump’s former personal assistant, Trump had called Pence a “wimp”. Julie Radford, the former chief of staff to Ivanka Trump, said the former president’s daughter had told her that her father used “the p-word” about his vice-president.

Even after that call, Trump continued to insist that Pence could overturn the election, and his frustration with his vice-president helped incite the mob which then stormed the Capitol building, members argued.

The committee played video of rioters screaming “Hang Mike Pence” after he announced he would certify the results.

Michael Luttig, a judge who also gave Pence legal advice at the time, argued that had the vice-president caved to Trump’s demands, it would have thrown the country into a constitutional crisis.

“The declaration of Donald Trump as the next president would have plunged America into what I believe would have been tantamount to a revolution within a constitutional crisis in America,” he said.

In a video preview of the hearing, Herschmann recalled telling Eastman the day after January 6: “Get a great effing criminal defence lawyer, you’re going to need it.”

The committee also revealed that Eastman emailed Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s lawyers, a few days after the attack asking to be granted a presidential pardon.

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2022-06-16 20:23:35Z
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European leaders back Ukraine's bid to apply for EU membership - Financial Times

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania pledged on Thursday to back Ukraine’s bid to apply for EU membership after travelling to Kyiv and meeting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to show support in the face of Russia’s invasion.

“Europe is at your side and will stay there for as long as it takes,” French president Emmanuel Macron told Zelenskyy at a news conference, condemning Russia for “war, destruction and chaos” and the “barbarity” committed in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin, which the leaders visited earlier in the day.

“All four of us support the immediate granting of EU candidate status for Ukraine,” Macron said ahead of an EU summit next week that will consider the application and is expected to impose conditions on Kyiv including improving the rule of law and fighting corruption.

Macron also pledged to continue sending weapons to help Ukraine’s war effort and announced the addition of a further six Caesar howitzers on top of the 12 already offered. The EU leaders also called for Russia to end its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to allow the export of grain needed to ease a global food crisis.

Italian prime minister Mario Draghi said Zelenskyy understood that “the path from [EU] candidate to member is a path, not a point. It is a road that will have to see profound reforms of Ukrainian society”.

He added: “Every day, the Ukrainian people defend the values of democracy and freedom that are the basis of the European project. We cannot delay this process. We must create a community that unites Kyiv with Rome, Paris, Berlin and all the other countries that share this project.”

Germany’s Olaf Scholz also emphasised the importance of Ukraine meeting the criteria for membership and said the EU should at the same time open the door to the states of the western Balkans. He and his EU colleagues, he said, had come to Kyiv with a “clear message . . . that Ukraine belongs to the European family”. 

Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis also made the trip by train from Poland to Kyiv. The day before he had hosted Macron who travelled to Romania to visit French troops deployed for Nato.

EU leaders in Kyiv’s Mariinsky Palace. From left: Italy’s Mario Draghi, Olaf Scholz from Germany, Zelenskyy, Macron and Romania’s Klaus Iohannis © Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Zelenskyy welcomed the pledges from his visitors, saying that Ukraine becoming a candidate to join the EU could “historically strengthen Europe” and insisted on the need for extra weapons from the west.

“We expect further supplies, foremost heavy weaponry, modern multiple launch rocket systems, anti-missile defence systems,” he said. “Each batch of such supplies saves the lives of Ukrainians. And each day of delays or putting off such decisions gives Russian soldiers the chance to kill Ukrainians, or the opportunity to destroy our cities.

“The faster we get such weaponry, the faster we can liberate our lands,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia does not want peace.”

In Moscow, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the western supply of arms to Ukraine was “futile” and would cause the country further harm.

The European Commission is expected to recommend on Friday that Ukraine should be granted EU candidate status, a first step towards membership.

Soon after the European leaders reached the capital, air raid sirens rang out in the city and across Ukraine, warning of possible missile strikes.

Russia’s armed forces have conducted almost daily strikes on Ukrainian military sites and infrastructure since president Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of the country on February 24.

Scholz said he had invited Zelenskyy to take part in the summit of G7 leaders later this month in Bavaria.

The damage in Irpin said “a lot about the brutality of Russia’s war of aggression, which is all about destruction and conquest”, he said. “The destruction we’ve seen here . . . should be an admonishment to us to act.”

The visit comes as the leaders of the eurozone’s three largest economies have been accused by some in Kyiv, the Baltic countries and Poland of being too accommodating to Russia — accusations that Paris, Berlin and Rome have denied.

Before his trip to Kyiv, Macron, who has been criticised for urging allies not to “humiliate” Russia, insisted he was in constant touch with Zelenskyy about the war and reminded Nato allies that “we are not waging war against Russia”.

“The only desirable outcome of the conflict is either a Ukrainian military victory or at some point a negotiation because there will have been a ceasefire, which could allow for an agreement between Ukraine and Russia,” he said on Wednesday.

US president Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the US would provide an additional $1bn in security assistance to Kyiv, including artillery, coastal defence and advanced rocket systems.

Additional reporting by Amy Kazmin in Rome

Video: Volodymyr Zelenskyy: ‘No one is humiliating Ukraine. They are killing us’

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2022-06-16 16:24:40Z
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Russian gas flows to Europe fall, hindering bid to refill stores - Reuters

• Summary
• Companies

• Nord Stream 1 pipeline capacity down to 40%
• Europe's gas price jumps up to 30% after disruption news
• Gazprom blames cuts on equipment delays from Canada
• Freeport LNG terminal in U.S. offline until September

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Russian gas supply to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline fell further on Thursday and Moscow said more delays in repairs could lead to suspending all flows, putting a brake on Europe's race to refill its gas inventories.

The faltering flows came as the leaders of Germany, Italy and France visited Ukraine, which is pressing for swifter weapons deliveries to battle invading Russian forces and wants support for Kyiv's bid to join the European Union. read more

Russia's state-controlled Gazprom said it was reducing gas supply for a second time in as many days via Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic to Germany. The latest move cuts supply to just 40% of the pipeline's capacity.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said reductions in supply were not premeditated and related to maintenance issues, a reference to earlier comments saying Russia was unable to secure the return of equipment sent to Canada for repairs. read more

Germany said Russia's excuse was technically "unfounded" and was instead aimed at driving up gas prices. Italy said Moscow might be use the issue to exert political pressure. read more

Dutch wholesale gas prices , the European benchmark, jumped around 30% on Thursday afternoon.

Russia's ambassador to the European Union told state news agency RIA Novosti flows via the pipeline could be completely suspended because of problems in repairing turbines in Canada.

Alexey Miller, the chief executive of Gazprom, the state-controlled company with a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, said Western sanctions made it impossible to secure the return of equipment from Canada for the pipeline's Portovaya compressor station. read more

EUROPE RACES TO REFILL STORAGE

Nord Stream 1 has capacity to pump about 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year to the European Union, which last year imported about 140 bcm of gas from Russia via pipelines.

Germany, like other European countries, is racing to refill its gas storage facilities so they are 80% full by October and 90% by November before winter arrives. Stores are 52% full now.

Cutting flows through Nord Stream 1 would make that job harder, the head of the Germany energy regulator said.

"We could perhaps get through the summer as the heating season is over. But it is imperative that we fill the storage facilities to get through the winter," Klaus Mueller told Thursday's edition of Rheinische Post daily.

Uniper (UN01.DE), Germany's biggest importer of Russian gas, said supplies were down a quarter on agreed volumes but it could fill missing volumes from other sources. Power producer RWE (RWEG.DE) said it had seen restrictions in the past two days.

Slovakia's state-owned gas importer SPP said it expected Thursday's Russian gas deliveries to be reduced by about 30%, while Czech power utility CEZ (CEZP.PR) said it had seen a similar fall but was filling the gap from other sources.

The European Union aims to ensure gas storage facilities across the 27-nation bloc are 80% full by November. read more

The latest reduction in supply could mean northwest European storage only 88% full by the end of October - 1 bcm less than planned - instead of 90%, analysts at Goldman Sachs said.

DRAWING UP CONTINGENCY PLANS

Germany is not alone in facing falling supplies.

Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI) said Gazprom informed it of reduced deliveries, France's Engie (ENGIE.PA) said flows had down but clients were not affected, while Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) said it would receive 65% of the volumes it had requested from Gazprom.

The Italian government said all possible measures were in place to deal with the situation if gas supply cuts from Russia continued in coming days. Other European countries have also drawn up contingency plans.

Adding to the challenge, Nord Stream 1 will shut completely during the pipeline's annual maintenance on July 11-21.

Norway, Europe's second biggest exporter behind Russia, has been pushing up production to help the European Union towards it target of ending reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027.

Britain's Centrica (CNA.L) signed a deal with Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) for extra gas supplies to the United Kingdom for the next three winters. Britain does not rely on Russian gas and can also export to Europe via pipelines.

European states have also boosted liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports but Europe has limited LNG import capacity and the already tight LNG market has faced additional challenges with disruptions to U.S. LNG production. read more

A fire last week at a U.S. LNG export plant in Texas, operated by Freeport LNG, means the plant will be offline until September and will operate only partially from then until the end of 2022.

The facility, which accounts for about 20% of U.S. LNG exports, has been a major supplier to European buyers.

"There is risk of further delay, in our view," analysts at investment bank Jefferies said, adding that regulators need to approve the restart while two investigations were ongoing into the cause of the LNG leak at the plant.

Reporting by Reuters, Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich in Vienna, Jan Lopatka in Prague, Madelaine Chambers in Berlin, Nina Chestney in London; Writing by Nina Chestney; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2022-06-16 14:24:00Z
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Is Putin really ill? Expert says he is probably 'a hypochondriac' - and uses Botox frequently - Sky News

Rumours constantly circulate about Vladimir Putin's health - but is there anything to back up the claims?

During a live session of questions and answers on Sky News with defence and security analyst, Professor Michael Clarke, one viewer asked: Is Putin really ill or is it just wishful thinking?

Mr Clarke said speculation about Mr Putin's health will "circulate", and people often ask "has he got cancer, has he got pancreatic cancer, has he got Parkinson's disease?"

"When you see him in these clips that we're seeing increasingly frequently now that COVID is over and he's now coming out of the shadows, where he's been for over two years, and he's making it clear that he's in control - he looks alright.

"I've spoken to a number of people who say you cannot detect Parkinson's disease from the way he walks, you cannot detect symptoms of cancer just by looking at photographs."

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He said there is "no convincing evidence".

Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, denied there were any concerns over Mr Putin's health when he was interviewed on French television at the end of May.

He said "you can watch him on screens, read and listen to his performances" and "I don't think that sane people can see signs of some kind of illness or poor health".

Rumours about his health are sparked by observers who have speculated about how Mr Putin has looked during meetings, including whether he is gripping the table in pain - or that he has a puffy face which could show evidence of steroid use.

'I suspect that he's only a hypochondriac'

Mr Clarke said: "On 7 October he will be 70. He is known to hit the Botox quite heavily, I always say that he's trying to embalm himself while he's still alive - he does take a lot of Botox.

"He moves around with doctors, there's known to be a little team of doctors who are never far away, and it's said that he leaves meetings at frequent intervals to go and consult with somebody.

"I suspect that he's only a hypochondriac, to be honest."

Read more:
Why Russia's leader is so fixated on taking Ukraine

What if the Russian leader does become ill?

"If he is ill, or becomes ill, that would be one way out for Russia to say that the president has stepped down and the war will now be prosecuted by Nikolai Patrushev - who's every bit as nasty as he is," said Mr Clarke.

"At least it would be a change of face which the West might then be able to do something with, but that's just a side possibility, really."

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2022-06-15 10:52:19Z
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The next hole in UK’s Rwanda asylum plan: Conflict in Congo - POLITICO Europe

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LONDON/BUKAVU, Congo — Lawyers aren’t the only obstacle to Boris Johnson’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The U.K. prime minister will soon also have to grapple with the fallout of a dramatically escalating regional conflict that Rwanda is accused of stoking in the east of neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Britain’s first planned flight transporting refugees more than 4,000 miles away to Kigali was ultimately canceled on Tuesday night after an 11th-hour intervention from the European Court of Human Rights. Undeterred by farcical scenes of passengers being pulled from the plane one-by-one in the minutes before take-off was scheduled, Johnson’s government is vowing to press ahead with its highly contentious new migration policy.

Britain’s portrayal of Rwanda as a safe haven to which anyone the U.K. government determines to have entered illegally — like undocumented refugees crossing the English Channel — can be deported to apply for asylum has already run into strong headwinds from critics, who point out the African nation has a dismal record on political and media freedoms.

Those fears about Kigali’s suitability as Britain’s partner are now only being further compounded as Congolese officials and a Nobel laureate accuse Rwanda of being behind an upsurge of violence in eastern Congo that is forcing thousands to leave their homes.

Congo said this week that Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and Rwandan defense forces occupied the Congolese town of Bunagana. Sylvain Ekenge, a Congolese general from North Kivu province, described the attack as “nothing more nor less than an invasion” of Congo.

Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who won a Nobel prize for his work combating sexual violence in conflict zones, said an increasing number of victims were heading to his clinic in eastern Congo and pointed the finger squarely at Kigali. “Rwanda is hoping that everyone will look at the Ukraine war and that it will be left alone here,” he told POLITICO at the Panzi hospital in Bukavu.

Michela Wrong, a journalist and author who has worked extensively in the region, accused both the Rwandan and British governments of “breathtaking” hypocrisy.

“On the one hand you have Rwanda opening its arms to refugees and being relentlessly hyped as a safe haven by [Home Secretary] Priti Patel and [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson; on the other hand you have a rebel group which has always been regarded as a Rwandan proxy going on the attack and sending tens of thousands of villagers fleeing their homes in Congo and Uganda in the space of a few weeks. It’s jaw-dropping,” she said.

Andy Slaughter, a senior parliamentarian in Britain’s opposition Labour Party, condemned the U.K. government for attempting to fly refugees to a third nation and added that deportation to Rwanda “has additional risks given its questionable human rights record and alleged involvement in conflict in the region.”

Rwanda repeatedly denies both accusations linking it to the M23 rebels and that it sends troops into its neighbor’s territory, but international pressure is growing. In comments that were widely viewed as a signal to Rwanda, Belgium, which is a significant diplomatic player in the region because of its colonial history in Congo, last week urged regional countries to take responsibility in the conflict.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told reporters in Kinshasa that Congo, like Ukraine, has the right to defend its border and even went as far as to say Belgium was ready to take up a role in the conflict in eastern Congo.

President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi (C) greets Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo (C-L) as Belgium’s King Philippe (2nd R) and Belgium’s Queen Mathilde (R) greet official upon their arrival at the N’djili International Airport in Kinshasa on June 7, 2022 | Arsene Mpiana/AFP via Getty Images)

His comments followed a plea from Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, who said “there can be no development without security” and stressed that Congo must “ensure our national defense and security.” In outrage at what it sees as Rwanda’s involvement, Congo has summoned the Rwandan ambassador and halted flights to Congo by Rwanda’s national airline.

Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the fighting “is an internal Congolese conflict” but accused Congolese groups of shelling Rwandan territory.

“While it would be legitimate for Rwanda to respond to the repetitive attacks … on our territory, Rwanda is not involved in the ongoing fighting in eastern DRC and has no intention of being drawn into an internal matter of the DRC. Rwanda wants to collaborate with neighboring countries for a sustainable solution to insecurity in our region,” she said.

Conservative MP and former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said Rwanda had legitimate self-defense concerns, and argued links between the government and M23 rebels are not as clear now as in the past.

He said it was “generous” of the Rwandans to agree to take in refugees from the U.K., but blasted the British government for going ahead with a plan he insisted would not prevent people-smuggling and would end up being expensive for British taxpayers. 

Britain is paying Rwanda £120 million (€138 million) to act as its partner in its new migration policy, and the main defense of the scheme from the ruling Tory Party is that it will kill the trade of profiteering people smugglers, who charge refugees a fortune to risk a perilous Channel crossing to the U.K. in a small boat.

Under the new U.K. law, migrants who enter Britain illegally or have their asylum applications rejected will be sent to Rwanda from where they can choose to apply for asylum in the east African nation or return to their country of origin. They will be given accommodation while they wait, and if accepted will be allowed to remain for five years, after which they can apply again. There is no path to return to the U.K.

A U.K. government spokesperson said the deal with Rwanda “will see those who make dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys to the U.K. relocated to Rwanda and, if recognized as refugees, they will be supported to build a new life there. Rwanda is a safe and secure country. No one will be relocated if it is unsafe or inappropriate for them.”

A Home Office official called on leaders in the region to increase efforts to pursue dialogue and resolve disputes.

The war between Congo and Rwanda officially ended in the early 2000s, but violence has continued in the east of Congo, leading to thousands of deaths, mostly through disease and malnutrition, and a huge flux of refugees. Conflict minerals in the region have played a major role in the strife.

Undaunted by criticism from human rights groups and church leaders, Johnson insisted to his ministers he would “get on and deliver” the deportation plan.

One man who was due to be deported on the first flight told the BBC he would “prefer to die” than be sent to Rwanda, due to concerns over its human rights record. He said he had been kidnapped and abused by human traffickers on his route to the U.K.

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2022-06-15 07:35:45Z
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ECB calls unscheduled meeting to discuss market turmoil - Financial Times

The European Central Bank has started an emergency meeting of its rate-setters, sparking speculation it could announce measures to tackle surging borrowing costs in weaker eurozone economies.

The ECB said earlier on Wednesday: “The governing council will have an ad hoc meeting on Wednesday to discuss current market conditions.” The meeting began at 11am CET.

The meeting, which comes less than a week after the rate-setting governing council’s last vote, has raised investor expectations that the central bank is preparing to announce a policy instrument to stave-off another debt crisis in the region.

Italian government bonds rallied in price following news of the planned meeting, reversing some of the recent sell-off that analysts said brought the country’s borrowing costs towards the “danger zone”.

Gilles Moec, chief economist at Axa, an insurer, said the “stakes are high” for the ECB “now that everyone is dusting off their debt sustainability spreadsheets for Italy, they probably need to go up an extra notch”.

The 10-year yield on Italian government bonds fell about 0.2 percentage points in choppy early trading on Wednesday to about 3.98 per cent, according to Tradeweb data. It had risen to almost 4.2 per cent in the previous session from just over 1 per cent at the end of 2021.

The eurozone central bank disappointed investors last Thursday with a lack of detail over when or how it would intervene in government bond markets to tackle so-called financial fragmentation, which had raised the costs of borrowing for vulnerable southern European countries more than for their northern neighbours.

Moec said investors would expect the ECB to “at least say they will launch a new instrument” as well as give more detail on how it will use flexibility in reinvesting the proceeds of maturing bonds to tackle fragmentation in eurozone bond markets.

The gap, or spread, between Italian and German borrowing costs had widened to 2.4 percentage points, double last year’s level and up from about 2 percentage points before last week’s ECB meeting, when rate-setters signalled an end to ultra-loose monetary policy by announcing plans to stop buying more bonds and start raising interest rates.

The euro reversed some of its losses, rising 0.6 per cent against the dollar to $1.047 early on Wednesday after the ECB statement was reported by newswires.

European bank shares also rose on Wednesday. The Euro Stoxx Banks index gained 3.7 per cent with big Italian lenders UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo jumping more than 6 per cent.

The meeting comes ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision on Wednesday with the market expecting the US central bank to raise rates by 0.75 percentage points.

ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel indicated in a speech on Tuesday evening that the central bank was getting closer to the point where it would intervene in bond markets, saying “some borrowers have seen significantly larger changes in financing conditions than others since the start of the year”.

She added: “Such changes in financing conditions may constitute an impairment in the transmission of monetary policy that requires close monitoring.”

Schnabel, the ECB executive who oversees its market operations and one of the most influential voices on its board, said the central bank’s commitment to the euro had no limits. “And our track record of stepping in when needed backs up this commitment,” she added.

Analysts estimated the ECB already had an additional €200bn to spend on stressed government debt from bringing forward some reinvestments of maturing sovereign assets by up to a year.

The last time the ECB called an unscheduled board meeting was at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, when it launched a vast bond-buying scheme to counter the sharp sell-off in bonds of more vulnerable eurozone countries such as Italy.

ECB president Christine Lagarde is planning to continue with a trip to the UK on Wednesday evening to receive an honorary degree from the London School of Economics, where she is due to speak at an event.

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2022-06-15 07:24:05Z
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London Playbook: Legal challenges galore — A load of Geidt — Fresh CCHQ attack - POLITICO Europe

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What’s driving the day in London.

By ELENI COUREA

Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser

Good Tuesday morning. This is Eleni Courea, with you until Thursday.

DRIVING THE DAY

SO SUE ME: Boris Johnson will chair Cabinet this morning as Downing Street deals with heavy backlash on two fronts — its move to disapply swathes of the Northern Ireland protocol and the decision to push ahead with the first deportation flight to Rwanda later today.

Legal challenges galore: Brussels preparing to launch retaliatory legal action against the U.K. government with three lawsuits on Wednesday. Here’s the POLITICO team’s wrap of yesterday’s developments. Meanwhile, human rights lawyers have been working round the clock to prevent the first migrants from being deported to Rwanda today under the government’s controversial policy to tackle Channel crossings. The flight is due to take off at 9.30 p.m., according to the Times’ Matt Dathan.

Why it’s in doubt: A Home Office source told Playbook last night that just seven people were now due to be on it, but that the ongoing “legal merry go-round” was likely to mean “the removal of every last person” from the flight. Deportations can be prevented until the last minute before take-off by lawyers acting for migrants and Clare Moseley, founder of the refugee charity Care4Calais, told the Indy that the group was “very hopeful” of stopping them all.  

Leading the charge against the policy: First, the heir to the throne, now the entire senior leadership of the Church of England. The 25 bishops who sit in the Lords have signed an excoriating letter in today’s Times calling it “an immoral policy that shapes Britain.” Kaya Burgess has a write-up.

As for the ‘lefty lawyers’: Two last-minute legal challenges failed to block the planned deportation yesterday — the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier ruling in favor of Home Secretary Priti Patel and a separate injunction by charity Action Aid also failed. The Mail splash declares victory “for the court of common sense” (but also calls the small number of people on the flight “a farce”).

The rest of today’s front pages: The Times, FT, Guardian and Indy all splash the EU’s planned legal action over the NI protocol. The i leads on the Rwanda flight and the Telegraph goes on Tory backlash to No. 10 plans to hold off on cutting taxes until inflation is under control. A senior government source told the paper: “The more you spend, inflation spirals. We’ve got to be responsible.”

Out batting for the government: Liz Truss is on this morning’s broadcast round and will no doubt face questions on the NI protocol.

Protocol round-up: Downing Street seems to have pulled off a difficult internal balancing act on this issue for now, Oli Wright argues in his essential Times analysis, with neither the European Research Group of hardcore Brexiteers nor the One Nation group of Tory moderates kicking off in earnest about the legislation. The ERG is convening its “Star Chamber” to comb through the bill line-by-line, the Telegraph’s Chris Hope reported in his newsletter yesterday, and the FT says they are meeting today. Meanwhile Playbook is told that the One Nation caucus — which consists of MPs in both Leave- and Remain-voting seats — was broadly split on the legislation during discussions at its weekly meeting last night.

The problem ahead: This is just “the start of the diplomatic tightrope” for Johnson, Wright says — and on the one hand, pushing ahead will trigger a costly trade war that the U.K. can’t afford, while on the other agreeing a compromise risks the wrath of Tory Brexiteers.  

The good news: The legislation won’t scupper the U.K.’s ongoing trade talks with the U.S., the White House suggested last night. POLITICO’s Emilio Casalicchio took down the comments made by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. In a call with Liz Truss last night, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Brits to continue “good faith” talks with the EU. More here from POLITICO’s Matt Honeycombe-Foster, Shawn Pogatchnik and Nahal Toosi.

Snap happy: Expect photos from Cabinet to filter out later today, with cameras invited to the meeting for the umpteenth time in the past few months. Allowing cameras into Cabinet used to be a rare occurrence, someone recently pointed out to Playbook — but lately No. 10 has seemed eager to showcase pictures of the PM’s top team looking busy and united. A No. 10 source said it was just about being more open.

LABOUR LAND

KEIR DRAMA: The Labour leader is facing an embarrassing probe by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone into late declarations on his register of interests, including several tickets he accepted for football matches. The Times says seven of Starmer’s 15 declarations since July last year were made late.

And there’s more: The Tories smell blood and have launched a bid to get Stone to widen the scope of her investigation to include income for legal advice that Starmer declared in 2020. Alex Stafford, the Tory MP for Rother Valley, wrote to Stone last night accusing the Labour leader of breaching the code by not disclosing the source of the funds. The Sun’s Natasha Clark has his letter.

Beergate update: Could Durham Constabulary’s investigation be nearing its conclusion into claims Starmer broke lockdown rules over curry in Durham in 2020? The Sunday Times reported on May 8 — five weeks ago — that it would take “four to six weeks.”

Painting in primary colors: The Times’ Matt Chorley and Patrick Maguire have written a great in-depth piece after collecting the shadow Cabinet’s views of Keir Starmer. Spoiler: They aren’t very flattering. One shad cab member tells them the Labour leader is “boring everyone to death” and adds witheringly: “To loads of my constituents he just doesn’t exist in their minds at all.” Several others make the point that he hasn’t fleshed out much of a vision, and the paper tallies up 10 different slogans Starmer has used over two years (starting from “another future is possible” to “under new management” and most recently “on your side”).

CCHQ on the attack: Tory strategists — who won’t have failed to notice the up-tick in Westminster grumbles about the Labour leader’s performance — have launched what they are calling their “Stop Labour’s Strikes Campaign.” CCHQ has mocked up various sleek graphics depicting Starmer, Angela Rayner and Lisa Nandy supporting planned RMT strikes that threaten to disrupt school exams, Glastonbury and the England vs. New Zealand test match. The campaign now takes pride of place on the Conservative Party website’s homepage.

Lab response: Shadow transport sec Lou Haigh tweeted in response to Tory Chair Oliver Dowden last night: “This is embarrassing. You’re meant to be in government. You actually have the power to stop these strikes. Act like it.”

Opposition day: Labour is going for the government over passport office delays and Channel 4 privatization today, a policy that has its share of critics on the Tory backbenches. Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell urged Tory MPs overnight to vote with the opposition to “show they’re brassed off with the government’s decision to sell off one of Britain’s cultural crown jewels and kill off our home-grown film industry.”

**Mark your calendars! POLITICO is going live on July 5 with “Offshore wind: the green energy panacea with some hurdles”. Tune in to this virtual event from 10:00 a.m. CEST for a frank discussion to look at the prospects for offshore wind and the hurdles that are hampering wider acceptance following the publication of the Commission’s RePower EU strategy. Register now!**

TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 11.30 a.m. with health questions followed by any UQs or statements at 12.30 p.m. … After that, Labour has control of the chamber with its two opposition day debates.

A LOAD OF GEIDT: Brace for news lines, Playbook reporter Andrew McDonald writes — the PM’s independent adviser on minister’s interests Christopher Geidt is up at PACAC (the public admin committee) this morning from 10 a.m. Among other things, MPs might fancy quizzing Geidt on Johnson’s update of the ministerial code … Geidt’s own annual report that suggested Johnson may have broken the ministerial code … The persistent rumors he might quit at any moment … Wallpapergate … His calls for greater authority to tackle rule-breaking ministers … and more.

Also on committee corridor: The DCMS committee will question Arts Minister Stephen Parkinson on funding given to local authorities (10 a.m.) … The BEIS committee will zoom in on travel chaos at airports with Aviation Minister Robert Courts (10.30 a.m.) … The justice committee will look at the government’s Victims Bill with the Victims, Children’s and Domestic Abuse Commissioners Vera Baird, Rachel De Souza and Nicole Jacobs (2.30 p.m.) … and Treasury Minister John Glen will be giving evidence on energy supply and investment at the Lords economic affairs committee (3 p.m.).

Lords: Sits from 2.30 p.m. with questions on leave for carers, banning fur imports and expenditure on unusable PPE … and then the main business will be the committee stage of the U.K. Infrastructure Bank Bill.

ROYAL PAIN: Great goss here from the Times’ Steve Swinford, who reports that the PM takes such a dim view of Prince Charles, he struggled to come up with something nice to say about him when the BBC filmed eulogies in 2020 to use in case either he or Princess Anne died. (Nor does Charles think much of Johnson since he showed up at the prince’s home in the Scottish highlands “in a shambolic state,” according to last week’s Mail on Sunday). On the other hand Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, became friends with Carrie Johnson after contacting her to offer support while the prime minister was in intensive care, Swinford reports.  

LIBERATION DAY: In an interview with the Sun’s Harry Cole, Liz Truss warns China that the U.K. is “fully committed” to the Falkland Islands’ self-determination after Beijing expressed support for Argentina’s claim over the territory earlier this year. Boris Johnson will be attending a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the Falklands War today.

FAMILY TIME: The Sun has a photo of the PM posing with his youngest son Wilfred on his shoulders while on a seaside walk in Seaton on Saturday.

NEW GIGS I: Just Eat co-founder David Buttress has been appointed the government’s cost of living czar and will take part in a roundtable meeting with supermarkets and sports organizations today. Sky has a write-up.

NEW GIGS II: Tory whips carried out a reshuffle of ministers’ parliamentary private secretaries yesterday to fill five vacant spots. The Spectator’s James Heale has a full list of the appointments. The ones who have raised eyebrows are Selaine Saxby, now a Treasury PPS, and Luke Evans, appointed a Home Office PPS, despite both declining to say whether they backed the PM in last week’s confidence vote. Sam Freedman makes the good point that some of the loyalists who have been appointed will be vacating seats on the exec of the 1922 committee — which could end up tipping the balance against the PM in any discussions around changing the rules to allow another leadership challenge.

TODAY IN SCOTLAND

INDYREF2 REDUX: The Scottish government will this morning publish the first of a series of papers outlining the case for leaving the U.K., as Nicola Sturgeon kicks off a new campaign for Scottish independence. In interviews with the BBC and STV yesterday, the first minister described the paper as a “scene setter” which compares a hypothetical independent Scotland to other, independent and successful European countries — hammering home the SNP’s key tactic of trying to downplay the risks of a Yes vote. Further papers will follow on currency, defense, EU membership and more.

How today will work: Sturgeon will present the document in a (livestreamed) press conference at Bute House in Edinburgh at 11 a.m., alongside the Scottish government minister and Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie. Both will give opening remarks and then take questions. The paper — entitled “Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland?” — will go live as Sturgeon starts to speak.

I GOT (NO) BILLS: Though the papers shift the focus away from a rocky few months at Holyrood for Sturgeon back onto her party’s preferred territory, the first minister still declined during her interviews to give further details on how the Scottish government will proceed with plans to hold another referendum next year while Westminster remains opposed. The Scottish government is yet to publish a referendum bill at Holyrood, and has only a few weeks to do so before the summer recess. Failing to do so would leave the SNP with a tight legislative deadline when parliament returns in September. Sturgeon told the BBC the 2023 referendum plan remained on course, but that she would only get into the detail of how exactly her government would navigate that tricky legal ground or the parliament bill “in the weeks to come.”

UKRAINE UPDATE

BATTLE FOR SEVERODONETSK: Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a plea to Western leaders for missile defense systems amid warnings the key eastern city Severodonetsk could fall to Russia within days. Intense fighting in the city has seen all of its bridges destroyed and the city effectively cut off, with Russia targeting the city’s capture as a top military goal. More here from the Times’ Catherine Philip.

Digest: The BBC has a report from the ground in nearby Lysychansk … Another mass grave has been found in Bucha, according to Kyiv police chief Andriy Nebytov … and the European Commission will recommend granting Ukraine official status as an EU candidate country, several officials familiar with deliberations told POLITICO’s David M. Herszenhorn and Maïa de La Baume.

MEDIA ROUND

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss broadcast round: Sky News (7.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (7.20 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (7.30 a.m.) … LBC (7.50 a.m.) … Today program (8.10 a.m.) … ITV GMB (8.30 a.m.) … GB News (9 a.m.).

Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell broadcast round: GB News (7.30 a.m.) … Sky News (8.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (8.35 a.m.) … talkRADIO (9.05 a.m.).

Also on the Today program: Bishop of Chelmsford Guli Francis-Dehqani (7.20 a.m.) … Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland Simon Coveney (7.50 a.m.).

Also on Kay Burley (Sky News): Irish Europe Minister Thomas Byrne (7.30 a.m.).

Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast (LBC): IfG senior researcher Jess Sargeant (7.20 a.m.).

Also on Times Radio breakfast: Irish Ambassador to the U.K. Adrian O’Neill (8.15 a.m.) … Bishop of Manchester David Walker (8.20 a.m.) … Former Conservative leader William Hague and Sunday Times Editor Emma Tucker (9.10 a.m.).

Also on talkTV breakfast show: Tory MP Marcus Fysh (8.05 a.m.).

Politics Live (BBC Two 12.15 p.m.): Tory MP Tom Hunt … Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson … POLITICO UK Editor Jack Blanchard … City AM’s Sascha O’Sullivan.

The Briefing with Gloria De Piero (GB News noon): West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and Shadow Rail Minister Tan Dhesi.

Tonight with Andrew Marr (LBC 6 p.m.): Former Chancellor George Osborne … Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Cross Question with Iain Dale (LBC 8 p.m.): Tory MP James Sunderland … TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady … Comedian Eshaan Akhbar … Telegraph columnist Juliet Samuel.

Reviewing the papers tonight: Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): The Observer’s Sonia Sodha and former Tory adviser Alex Deane.

TODAY’S FRONT PAGES

(Click on the publication’s name to see its front page.)

Daily Mail: The court of common sense — Rwanda flight latest.

Daily Mirror: Wills — It’s Andrew or me.

Daily Star: Hell’s bells.

Financial Times: Brussels threatens legal action on bill to tear up N Ireland protocol.

HuffPost UK: Boris’ Brussels bust-up.

i: Church versus Boris Johnson — bishops tell PM Rwanda flight ‘shames U.K.’

Metro: Clear for take-off.

POLITICO UK: Boris Johnson picks (another) big Brexit fight.

PoliticsHome: Government sets out powers to override most of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Daily Telegraph: No tax cuts before inflation cools off.

The Guardian: EU to fight U.K. in court over bid to scrap Brexit checks.

The Independent: EU threatens legal action to protect Brexit deal.

The Sun: Wills’ house of Windsor — Family move to 4-bed Adelaide Cottage.

The Times: EU pledges legal action over Brexit ‘violation.’

LONDON CALLING

WESTMINSTER WEATHER: ⛅️⛅️⛅️ Sunny in spells and breezy. Highs of 25C.

REMEMBERING GRENFELL: Today marks five years since the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people and exposed the scandal of dangerous flammable cladding on high-rise buildings across the U.K. The BBC’s Tom Symonds has a piece looking at whether anyone is likely to go to prison.

MEDIA NEWS: Journalist Carole Cadwalladr said she was “grateful and relieved” after winning her libel battle against Arron Banks yesterday. Banks tweeted that he was likely to appeal.

WEDDING BELLS: Nice news from Scotland over the last few days, where SNP Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth and former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale announced their marriage … and SNP MP Mhairi Black announced her marriage to partner Katie. Big congrats all round.

INSIDE SPAD LAND: Former SpAd Peter Cardwell’s book on the secret life of special advisers is out in paperback today with a new preface.

MEA CULPA I: Playbook had a brain fade over how the legal system works and implausibly said that Mr Justice Swift would hear an appeal against his own decision to allow the Rwanda flight to go ahead — of course the appeal was heard (and dismissed) by three other judges in the Court of Appeal.

II: The “consent mechanism” in the Northern Ireland protocol involves a vote in 2024 by the NI assembly, not the general public.

BIRTHDAYS: Daily Telegraph Associate Editor Camilla Tominey … Labour peer Paul Boateng … Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams … Labour peer Roger Liddle … Deputy EU Ambassador to the U.K. Nicole Mannion … and former U.S President Donald Trump turns 76.

PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Zoya Sheftalovich, reporter Andrew McDonald and producer Grace Stranger.

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