Cabinet ministers meet in Boris office to plot on eve of Chequers summit
Russia and England may well meet in the World Cup semi-final, and what a spectacle it will be if that happens. But we were reminded today that Russia-UK relations are dire after statements were made in the Commons on the newest phase of the Salisbury-novichock case.
Two residents of Amesbury, Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, went for a day out to do some shopping in nearby Salisbury. The next day they collapsed.
Initially, they were treated for drug overdoses, but it was concluded that the couple had suffered a reaction in response to exposure to the poison that was used in the failed attack on the Skripals.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid ramped up the rhetoric and made some robust calls for the Russians to admit culpability: “It is now time that the Russian state comes forward and explains exactly what has gone on” and that the “strongest working assumption” is that novichok was involved.
Diane Abbot said that the UK’s cities could not become “killing fields for state actors.” Unusually strong stuff from the leadership of the opposition, which has so far toed the Kremlin line on chemical weapon use.
Russian state media repeatedly denied the allegations, and Russia Today, the international propaganda arm of the Russian state, reported the development in typically brazen style. RT claimed the story had been timed to coincide with the “hugely successful FIFA World Cup” where, in a bizarre twist, “British fans seem to be enjoying themselves … and berating British politicians and media for their efforts to scare them away from the event.”
And while the World Cup might be fun, it’s a welcome reminder that it is legitimising a brutal and remorseless regime, for whom the grave injury of two innocent people is just another anti-Western canard.
We recorded the Reaction podcast today. Do have a listen by following the link below. It’s crunch time for May at Chequers.
This evening, there are potentially ominous signs in Whitehall. Pro-Brexit cabinet ministers – David Davis, Michael Gove, Esther McVey, Penny Mordaunt and Andrea Leadsom – met with the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in his office ahead of the Chequers showdown with May.
But will they really defy May or walk out? Unless there is a mass resignation by key Brexiteers in Cabinet or maybe an unexpected move against her by a significant May ally, she may well be able to move forward with some degree of consensus after a lot of argument tomorrow.
As long as the ‘third way’ fudge on customs can be balanced by the totemic ending to freedom of movement, then even the parliamentary optics could look okay.
That leaves her with the next key question. Will the EU buy it if May does get her proposal through cabinet? Unfolding events in the EU might work in her favour on freedom of movement. Merkel’s recent attempt to reform migration rules are already a step towards unravelling freedom of movement in its current form.
If several EU member states are making to preserve some notion of limits on movement at a nation-state level, that shift in thinking gives May more credibility in saying she must preserve her key red line, that is full British control over Britain’s borders.
I’m off on holiday next week so Finn McRedmond, Reaction staff writer, will be with you providing the daily email from tomorrow.
Thank you for reading.
Alastair Benn
News editor