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5 Dec 2019

Johnson Lays Out First 100 Days, Including Brexit: U.K. Votes

Author: admintech | Filed under: World

Johnson Lays Out First 100 Days, Including Brexit: U.K. Votes(Bloomberg) — Boris Johnson laid out his plan for his first 100 days in office as the U.K. general election enters its final week. The prime minister said a budget and delivering Brexit by Jan. 31 are his priorities.Labour pointed to nearly 3,500 “days of failure” under the Tories, and said more of the same won’t work as it plugged its plans for hiring new teachers and tackling the housing crisis.Must Read: Key Election Task for U.K. Tories: Tame Boris JohnsonFor more on the election visit ELEC.Key Developments:Johnson tells ITV the NHS is not on the table in U.S. trade talksTories unveil plan for first 100 days in government, promising budget and delivery of BrexitLabour pledges investment in education and trainingFour Brexit Party MEPs Quit to Back to Tories (11:50 a.m.)Four Brexit Party members of the European Parliament, including Annunziata Rees-Mogg, the sister of Conservative Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, have left the party to support Boris Johnson’s Tories.https://youtu.be/dJMPj7W1rMY (link to video)In a video explaining their decision, Rees-Mogg said: “Boris Johnson says ‘we must get Brexit done’ and he is right.” The other MEPs are Lance Forman, Lucy Harris and John Longworth, the former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce who had the Brexit Party whip removed on Wednesday.In a statement, Party Leader Nigel Farage said he’s “disappointed.” The defectors “don’t seem to understand that we both saved the Conservative Party from large scale losses to the Liberal Democrats in the South and South West of England, but we are also hammering the Labour Leave vote in its traditional heartlands,” he said.Israel Minister Slams Corbyn Over Antisemitism (11:30 a.m.)Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he hopes Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t win the U.K. general election on Dec. 12. It’s yet another blow to the Labour Party leader, who has struggled to overcome allegations over antisemitism.“I personally hope he doesn’t get elected,” Katz, who also serves as minister of Intelligence, told Israeli Army Radio, according to the Associated Press. He cited a “wave” of anti-Jewish racism in the party.Corbyn has repeatedly said he’s against all forms of racism and prejudice, but accusations of antisemitism have dogged his leadership. Adding to the Labour leader’s problems, the U.K. Jewish Labour Movement accused him of failing to tackle the problem as it filed its submission to the Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry into antisemitism in the party.Labour Aims to Govern Without Smaller Parties (11:10 a.m.)Labour Treasury spokesman John McDonnell said, in the event of a hung parliament, his party would try to govern without a formal arrangement with other parties.The Liberal Democrats have already ruled out such a deal, and the idea of Labour making an agreement with the Scottish National Party — likely to involve another independence referendum — has proved toxic in the past.“We will implement our manifesto… no negotiation, no deal, no coalitions,” McDonnell told the Financial Times.With Boris Johnson’s Conservatives the only alternative, Labour sees the Liberal Democrats and SNP having no choice but to back a Jeremy Corbyn-led government if no party has an overall majority. Even so, it might struggle to get support from those parties for much of its program beyond another Brexit referendum.Johnson Compares NHS Warnings to UFO Theories (11 a.m.)Boris Johnson was again forced to deny he would put the National Health Service on the table in talks on a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S.In an interview with ITV’s “This Morning,” Johnson compared the idea to conspiracy theories about UFOs. But the questioning on the issue suggests it may be one that’s cutting through with the public, along with the other focus of the interview: trust.Asked why he thought people don’t trust him, the prime minister replied: “There’s a big trust issue with the whole of politics.”Javid Says Quick EU Trade Deal Possible (Earlier)Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid said it will be possible to agree a “comprehensive free trade agreement” with the European Union by the end of 2020.“In the time that we’ve been negotiating over the last 100 days or so, it wasn’t just the exit agreement,” Javid told BBC Radio 4. “We have also negotiated and worked to agree the outline of the ambitious free trade agreement.”Javid promised “zero tariffs, zero quotas,” in the deal, adding there would be “an agreement on services, having an equivalence on financial services” by the end of the year. “There’s already an agreement. There’s already an agreement in principle. It’s already there, it’s done there,” he said.He dismissed concerns from the opposition that the timetable would be too tight to complete such a complex trade deal.Earlier:U.K.’s Johnson Promises Brexit, Budget, New Laws in 100 DaysPresident Who? Johnson Plays It Safe and Doesn’t Mention TrumpJohnson Says Security Vital in Deciding on U.K. Huawei Ban (1)To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net;Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart BiggsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.