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By ANNABELLE DICKSON
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Get well soon: Queen Elizabeth decided not to attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the cenotaph this morning because she sprained her back.
3 THINGS TO KNOW
1. ASSESSING COP: After years of buildup, the Glasgow COP26 summit drew to a dramatic conclusion last night. An exhausted Alok Sharma, summit president, was left close to tears after China and India won last-minute concessions to downplay the language of the agreement on coal. Today’s papers and Sunday shows have a first stab at assessing if the summit, in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invested a huge amount of diplomatic and political capital, has been a success.
Sharma’s take: “I wouldn’t describe what we did yesterday as a failure — it is a historic opportunity,” Sharma told the Andrew Marr Show this morning. He earlier told Sky’s Trevor Phillips what had been achieved in Glasgow was “something quite remarkable.” The aspiration of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius had been kept within reach, they had “closed off all the outstanding elements of the Paris rule book” and more money for countries particularly vulnerable to climate change had been ensured, he said. “I think we can actually say that we are on the way to consigning coal to history,” Sharma told Marr.
Last minute deal: Yet it is still the behind-closed-doors deal to change the coal language from “phase out” to “phase down” which makes a lot of the headlines today, as does Sharma’s emotion as he told the summit he was “deeply sorry” the deal had been amended in that way. On Marr, he apologized for the change not being “as transparent as the rest of this process has been,” but insisted he had got a deal over the line because of the trust built up over two years with other countries.
Behind the scenes: POLITICO’s Karl Mathiesen has a must-read account at what was going on last night. “The atmosphere was tense. The Chinese were willing to put the whole conference on the line,” he says.
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Explain yourselves: “China and India of course are going to have to justify to some of the most climate vulnerable countries what happened. You heard that disappointment on the floor,” the normally very mild-mannered Sharma told Sky’s Trevor Phillips.
Coming attraction: The prime minister will hold a press conference with Sharma in Downing Street at 5 p.m., and is expected to give a COP26 statement in parliament on Monday stressing the need to enforce the deal.
More skeptical: Sharma appears to have been a hit with the opposition. Both Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband and Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner were effusive in their praise of Sharma, while being critical of some of the summit’s achievements. Miliband said the task of keeping 1.5 degrees alive was in “intensive care.”
Coal commitment: Miliband said neither of the proposed Cambo oil field in Scotland or new coal production facility in Cumbria should go ahead. “No prevarication… Frankly, it looks like total hypocrisy when we are trying to persuade other countries to act,” he told Sky News.
View from the vulnerable: “It will be too late for the Maldives,” Aminath Shauna, environment minister of the Maldives, said late Saturday, my POLITICO colleagues report in their summary of where the COP26 ended up. “What is balanced and pragmatic to other parties will not help the Maldives adapt in time,” she said.
Rhetoric busting: “Even if for the first time ever, every country does everything that it promised to do, we won’t be able to achieve 1.5,” said Dieter Helm, professor of energy policy at the University of Oxford.
Reparations: On Marr, Sharma was quizzed on what would potentially be a tricky political sell for the U.K. — the idea of Britain paying developing countries for historic damage to the environment. “There is a process that has been set up, and we will see where that goes,” he said.
‘Department for Net-Zero’: The Sunday Times says Johnson’s promise to Sharma to set up a post-COP department to work toward net-zero emissions is being opposed by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Chancellor Rishi Sunak. On Marr, Sharma said: “Those are matters for the prime minister.”
2. STANDARDS CRISIS: The conclusion of COP spared MPs another weekend totally dominated by the standards, aka sleaze, saga — but the papers still make uncomfortable reading for the two main party leaders today.
‘Minister for private jets’: Transport Minister Grant Shapps, a keen pilot, is in the spotlight after the Sunday Times alleges on its front page that he has “set up a scheme that lets private pilots claim public money for new equipment, and allegedly lobbied against a looming ban on a kind of toxic fuel used by his aeroplane.”
Spy tech: The Sunday Mirror front page focuses on Tory MP Richard Fuller who it says received over £700,000 for extra work – with a huge chunk coming from a firm which invests in spy technology in China.
Jennifer Arcuri is back: The Observer has got hold of “previously unpublished” diary extracts by the U.S. businesswoman which allege that the prime minister “overruled the advice of staff to promote the business interests of his former lover.”
Starmer’s legal fees: While Labour appears to be benefiting from the standards scandals in the opinion polls, it is not all going swimmingly. Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner had an uncomfortable time defending her boss on the Andrew Marr Show. Marr went hard on reports of Keir Starmer’s outside earnings while an MP. Labour has called for MPs to be banned from working as directors and consultants, and wants to tighten the rules surrounding second jobs. Rayner told Marr that Starmer, a lawyer and the former director of public prosecutions, had given up his certificate to practice.
And more: Marr also asked about the Mail on Sunday story suggesting Starmer used his office for “political campaigning” when he held a “Call Keir” Zoom call. Labour told the Mail he broke no rules, and engaging with the public was a fundamental part of leading the opposition.
Scum-gate: Rayner was also quizzed about her own standards following her comments at the Labour party conference in September accusing the Conservatives of being a bunch of “scum.” Rayner pointed out she had apologized for using the word ‘scum,’ but called for the PM to meet her to discuss what she described as his past comments which she alleges were “homophobic, racist and misogynist.” She wants him to apologize too. This could rumble on.
3. MIGRANT CRISIS: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for an end to the “shameful manufactured migrant crisis” on Europe’s eastern border in an opinion piece in the Sunday Telegraph. On Friday, Britain said it was joining forces with Poland by sending 10 U.K. troops to fortify the Belarus border as thousands of migrants attempt to cross the frontier into the EU.
Latest from Belarus: Its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko said over the weekend that he wanted Russia’s Iskander tactical missile system stationed in his country.
Concern: Britain’s most senior military officer Nick Carter, who is about to retire after more than four decades in the army, said during a mammoth round of interviews that he was concerned the situation could quite quickly escalate into something really serious. “I think this is a classic case of the sort of hybrid playbook where you link disinformation to destabilisation — and the idea of pushing migrants onto the European Union’s borders is a classic example of that sort of thing,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr.
On an escalation with Russia in Ukraine? Carter said: “I think we have to be on our guard and I think we have to make sure that deterrence prevails, but critically we have to make sure that there’s unity in the NATO alliance and that we don’t allow any gaps to occur in our collective position.”
On Afghanistan: Carter earlier told Sky the U.K. needed to talk to the Taliban so it could help Afghans who worked for the U.K. and were the subject of vendettas to get out, and to help with the humanitarian situation.
Kenyan murder: Carter was repeatedly asked in interviews about allegations in the Sunday Times that a British Army solider was responsible for the killing of Kenyan Agnes Wanjiru in 2012. Carter admitted on Times Radio it was extraordinary the allegations didn’t reemerge until 2021.
ALSO WORTH KNOWING
DATA CONCERNS: An alarming story on the front of the Sunday Times this morning suggesting a large COVID-19 testing provider is being investigated over plans to sell customer swabs for medical research.
TROUBLESHOOTING: The Sunday Telegraph says Michael Barber, who headed Tony Blair’s delivery unit, has been drafted in to help Health Secretary Sajid Javid drive down NHS waiting lists.
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WATCH OUT FOR THIS WEEK
RAIL TRAIL: Watch out for the small print of a rail announcement from the government due this week. The Sunday Times says “three new high-speed lines” will be constructed, but the 120-mile leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Leeds will be scrapped. The Mail on Sunday also has a write up of the planned investment. The Manchester Evening News’ Jen Williams and The Guardian’s north of England Helen Pidd give us a clue about how this week’s announcement might go down north of the Watford gap. Spoiler: Not well.
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GRAB A COFFEE AND READ
Charlotte Ivers has a good piece on Tory dynamics in today’s Sunday Times looking away from the much discussed ‘Red Wall’ MPs. “If you want to know how the Conservative Party will look in ten years’ time, look at the 2019 intake of MPs in safe seats,” she writes.
The Bulgarians go to the polls again today after a period of instability following the departure of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in the wake of a rule-of-law crisis. POLITICO’s Boryana Dzhambazova profiles 41-year-old Harvard-educated entrepreneur Kiril Petkov, who is one of the leading contenders to break the country’s political impasse.
AFTERNOON AND EVENING MEDIA ROUND
Ayesha Hazarika on Times Radio, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Former member of the House of Commons Standards Committee Martin Bell, former British diplomat Arthur Snell, Labour MP Fleur Anderson, Conservative MP Paul Bristow, former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett and documentary maker Michael Cockerell.
Rachel Johnson on LBC, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls.
Westminster Hour, BBC Radio 4, 10 p.m.: Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, Shadow Home Office Minister Sarah Jones, former Tory special adviser Mo Hussein and the Guardian’s Deputy Political Editor Jessica Elgot.
WEEK AHEAD
MONDAY
LABOUR: Labour Leader Keir Starmer will take questions from LBC listeners, 9 a.m.
COMMONS: Sits from 2.30 p.m. with defense questions followed by the Social Security (Up-Rating of Benefits) Bill and Skills and Post-16 Education Bill.
LORDS: To consider amendments to the Telecommunications (Security) Bill and hold the committee stage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
STANDARDS: Motion in the House of Commons to dissolve a new standards committee, and endorse a report on the conduct of former Conservative MP Owen Paterson.
ECONOMY: Treasury committee to question the Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey, 2.30 p.m.
HEALTH: Permanent Secretary at Department of Health and Social Care Chris Wormald to be quizzed by the Public Accounts Committee on NHS supply chain finance, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY
COMMONS: Sits from 11.30 a.m. with business and energy questions followed by the second reading of the Finance (No.2) Bill.
LORDS: To consider amendments to the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill and hold the report stage of the Dormant Assets Bill.
ECONOMY: Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen and Second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury Charles Roxburgh give evidence to the Lords Economic Affairs Committee on digital currencies, 3 p.m.
AGRICULTURE: Environment Secretary George Eustice to give evidence on labor shortages in the food and farming sector to the environment committee, 2.30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
COMMONS: Sits from 11.30 a.m. with Welsh questions followed by PMQs, and an opposition day debate.
LORDS: To hold the third reading of the Professional Qualifications Bill and committee stage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
HOME AFFAIRS: Home Office minister Tom Pursglove and Minister for Afghan Resettlement Victoria Atkins to give evidence to the Home Affairs committee, 10 a.m.
PRIME MINISTER: Boris Johnson to give evidence to the liaison committee, 3 p.m.
TREASURY: Treasury Permanent Secretary Tom Scholar to give evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on net zero and the spending review, 1.30 p.m.
THURSDAY
COMMONS: Sits from 9.30 a.m. with digital, culture, media and sport, and attorney general questions followed by the business statement and Critical Benchmarks (References and Administrators’ Liability) Bill.
LORDS: To debate the outcome of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
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