POLITICO London Playbook: Another fine Cress — Rebellion extinct — Vac of the net

Presented by UK Fisheries.

By ALEX WICKHAM

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Good Monday morning.

DRIVING THE DAY

ANOTHER FINE CRESS: Boris Johnson this morning backs Cressida Dick to stay in her job, with a senior No. 10 insider telling Playbook that the Metropolitan Police commissioner retains the prime minister’s “full confidence.” As the outpouring of anger continues over the Met’s violent policing of Saturday’s Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard, Johnson will hold crisis talks with Dick, senior ministers and the Crown Prosecution Service today. The timing is highly politically charged as a controversial policing bill comes to the Commons this afternoon — with the government, opposition and police all struggling to maintain the support of the public on fighting violence against women and girls.

PM SPEAKS: Johnson has broken his silence following Saturday’s violent scenes. The PM said: “Like everyone who saw it I was deeply concerned about the footage from Clapham Common on Saturday night. I have spoken with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner who has committed to reviewing how this was handled and the Home Secretary has also commissioned HM Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct a lessons learned review in to the policing of the event.”

Translation: After a phone call with her yesterday, Johnson is not throwing Dick under a bus, and instead there will be two “reviews” of what happened — one by the Met marking its own homework, the other by the independent HMIC. Neither have any official timeframe (though the word is around two weeks) and there is no suggestion either will result in any serious consequences for the Met leadership.

Cress-party support: Dick’s position was undoubtedly helped by Labour leader Keir Starmer coming out on Sunday afternoon and saying she shouldn’t resign. Home Secretary Priti Patel also has full confidence in her. So far the senior politician with the sternest words for the Met commissioner is London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who says he is “not satisfied with the explanation” given to him by Dick for her officers’ behavior on Saturday (the Lib Dems are also calling on her to quit). Dick is accountable to both Patel and Khan, who as mayor has a direct mandate for policing in London.

A message from UK Fisheries: Kirkella will soon be back in Hull with no more licences to fish. We’ve updated our distant-waters fishing scorecard, but it’s still a story of missed opportunity. Talks with Norway have stalled: the government needs to seize the fantastic opportunity that is on the table before it’s too late.

Not sorry: Emboldened by the support from the government and opposition, a defiant Dick came out swinging yesterday — refusing to apologize, and doubling and tripling down in defense of the Met’s policing of the vigil. In a pretty extraordinary response to the immense public criticism, Dick insisted: “I feel for my officers. They are policing during a pandemic. I don’t think anybody should be sitting back in an armchair saying what they would do differently.”

Armchair critics latest: That statement jars somewhat with the testimony of 27-year-old Georgina, who tells Left Foot Forward’s Josiah Mortimer she was flashed on her way home from Clapham and reported it to a police officer, who allegedly responded: “No, we’ve had enough tonight with the rioters.” The Met say they’re “looking into” the incident.

Strong leadership: Johnson, Patel and Starmer are all suggesting they oppose what the police did on Clapham Common. Dick is defending what happened to the max. Yet none of Johnson, Patel or Starmer have anything to say about her having a completely different position — and all remain 100 percent behind her.

Another inconsistency: Dick said yesterday that she’d have attended the vigil herself “if it had been lawful.” Which sounds a lot like she is accusing the Duchess of Cambridge and her Met Police protection officers of breaking the law. Good luck to the prime minister’s official spokesperson having to answer whether the PM thinks Kate is a criminal at today’s Lobby briefing.

If Dick is in any doubt … as to how strongly the public feels about the events of the last week, there have been 53,000 responses since the government reopened its survey on tackling violence against women and girls on Friday. You’d have thought that might lead to ministers requiring some humility from the Met, but apparently not.

What happens next: Patel will make a statement in the Commons at 3.30 p.m. on the events of the weekend. Johnson will today chair a meeting of his Crime And Justice Taskforce “to discuss further steps to protect women and girls and make sure our streets are safe.”

Cast list: Dick, Patel, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill.

On the agenda: The government’s strategy on violence against women and girls, “listening to the powerful experiences of people across the country”, “increased street lighting and CCTV” and other measures to make streets safer, plus an update on the government’s review into how the criminal justice system handles rape and sexual assault cases.

What Labour say: “At a moment when the country is demanding action to tackle violence against women and girls, the Conservatives have responded with yet more meetings and another consultation,” reckons Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds.

GOVERNMENT SPLIT: Playbook spoke to two dozen or so ministers, Tory MPs and Whitehall officials over the weekend, and found a government divided over both Dick’s position and the police’s handling of the vigil. Several prominent Tories agreed with the police’s decision to remove women from the bandstand on Clapham Common, claiming the vigil had been “hijacked by lefties and extremists,” drawing attention to political chants from some present, and arguing that the police had to enforce coronavirus restrictions. One minister said Dick was right not to apologize and that it would not be consistent for the government to vote through COVID measures then criticize the police for implementing them.

On the other hand … a fair few senior Tories who Playbook spoke to, including some in Downing Street, were privately highly critical of Dick and the Met. A couple thought she should resign. A Whitehall source suggested Dick was not yet safe and that her statements in public and in private over the next few days could still decide her fate. One was particularly furious at the tone of the Met’s response and its failure to show any contrition in the face of public outcry. Several asked why police danced with Extinction Rebellion protesters but manhandled women at a vigil. One senior government insider said Dick had shown she was “out of her depth” and was not fit for her role, citing the Operation Midland false VIP sex abuse scandal. A Tory MP said senior colleagues were “depressed” by the general incompetence of the Met.

Clean sweep: Dick is facing “mounting pressure to quit,” according to the Mail’s splash on the “shaming of the Met” … the Times says she is “fighting to save her job” and “needs to explain what went wrong” … the Sun says the police reaction has been “utterly tone deaf” … though the Telegraph does her a favor and blames the government’s coronavirus restrictions instead.

13 months: How long Dick’s contract as Met Police commissioner has left to run.

NEW BILL FOR OLD BILL: By stunning legislative coincidence, the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill has its second reading in the Commons today and tomorrow. Labour had previously been expected to abstain but will now vote against the legislation this week, with Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy warning it would impose “disproportionate controls on free expression and the right to protest.”

Why it’s controversial: Doughty Street barrister Adam Wagner explains that the bill would “hugely expand” police powers “to allow them to stop protests which would cause ‘serious unease’ and create criminal penalties for people who cause ‘serious annoyance.’” Wagner says: “This would effectively put the current situation where COVID regulations have given police too much power over our free speech rights on a permanent footing.”

What Labour want instead: Starmer’s team say they support several measures in the bill, such as increased sentences for terrorists and other dangerous offenders, but will vote against it due to the protest regulations and what they say is a failure to deal with the underlying issues on violence against women and girls. They’re calling for increasing minimum sentences for rapists and stalkers, creating a new street harassment law, and introducing a whole life tariff for anyone found guilty of a stranger abductor murder.

Key soundbite: Expect Labour frontbenchers to talk about how the bill is 296 pages long, with 176 clauses and 20 schedules, and that its explanatory notes make no mention of women, but do talk about statues.

How the Tories will respond: The Tories sense an opportunity to hammer Labour for voting against a series of measures that they say will protect women — Playbook would imagine Tory MPs will be banging on about this on Twitter and elsewhere for some time.

Key soundbite: Here was Tory chairman Amanda Milling last night: “Labour are voting against tougher sentences for child murderers, sex offenders, killer drivers and measures that protect the vulnerable.”

Getting nasty: A Labour insider describes this as “offensive b*llocks.” Shadow Domestic Violence Minister Jess Phillips says: “This is a disgusting and untrue statement. The Conservative Government’s Bill does absolutely nothing currently to increase sentences for rapists, stalkers, or those who batter, control and abuse women. It does nothing about street harassment and assaults.”

Point of order: Expect Tory MPs to pick up on Phillips’ catchy claims on the Andrew Marr show that “you should get more for rape than you do for defacing a statue … You can currently get more for fly-tipping than you can get for stalking.” A Tory MP tells Playbook that the government has doubled the maximum sentence for stalking to 10 years, while the maximum sentence for fly-tipping is five years.

Rebellion extinct: This could all get pretty unseemly in the Commons, but what really matters is how many Tory rebels agree with Labour that the bill oversteps on the right to protest. As of last night, government insiders were confident they had the numbers — it appears that the backbench Tory libertarian hatred of limits on free speech has been superseded by their desire to crack down on Extinction Rebellion protesters. Backbencher Steve Baker tells Tony Diver in the Telegraph: “I think you will see many Tories expressing some misgivings, especially about ‘serious annoyance’ but I don’t think you’ll see a mass rebellion. The bill is necessary to deal with radical new tactics by political protesters.”

TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 2.30 p.m. with an hour of defense questions, followed by any UQs or ministerial statements … Then it’s on to the main event — the second reading of the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill. The debate will last until 10 p.m.

STATS DUMP: At 9.30 a.m. the Office for National Statistics releases its “Coronavirus: A Year Like No Other” report.

JAB SURGE: 512,108 people in the U.K. got their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, in the first sign that the government’s much-promised March ramp-up of the jab rollout is finally here. After a relatively disappointing couple of weeks, the FT’s Seb Payne and Sarah Neville report: “The U.K. will scale up its coronavirus vaccination programme this week,” with “a significant increase over the next three weeks, although rates may drop again in April.” They’ve got hold of a letter from NHS leaders saying Britain is on course to hit 4-5 million jabs per week this month.

Stat watch: Some helpful maths from former government adviser Sam Freedman: “U.K. will hit 50 percent of adults with a dose of vaccine this week and will be the first country with a population above 10m to get there by a distance.”

Sorry to be a downer: “I have no doubt that in the autumn there will be a further wave of infections,” the ONS’ Ian Diamond told Andrew Marr yesterday.

One for the inquiry: The Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner quotes “close allies” of Boris Johnson admitting that he should have locked the country down sooner at the beginning of the pandemic, but claiming he was let down by his scientific advisers. “With hindsight it’s unarguable that we should have gone into lockdown earlier,” says a senior figure.

VAC OF THE NET: Premier League footballers will be enlisted to encourage under 30s to get vaccinated, reveals the Sun’s Kate Ferguson.

Nurses’ pay latest: Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has an interview with the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar in which she calls for a “significant real terms increase” in NHS staff pay. One to watch: Rayner said that while she didn’t want health unions to strike, if they were forced to then she’d back them. Starmer has previously opposed a nurses’ strike.

YESTERDAY’S UK STATS: 4,618 new cases, ⬇️ 916 on Saturday. In the past seven days, the U.K. has recorded a total 39,918 new cases, ⬇️ 2,050 on the previous week … 52 new reported deaths within 28 days of a positive test, ⬇️ 69 on Saturday. In the past seven days, the U.K. has recorded a total 1,015 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, ⬇️ 465 on the previous week.

VAX STATS: A total 24,196,211 people have received the first dose, ⬆️ 512,108. A total 1,584,909 people have received the second dose, ⬆️ 52,155.

WHERE’S WALLACE? The government’s hugely-anticipated integrated review of security, defense, development and foreign policy will finally be published tomorrow. Your best primers are from Larisa Brown and Steve Swinford in the Times on Friday — revealing that the 0.7 percent aid spending commitment will be restored and detailing how it will “build a bulwark against China” — and Tim Shipman in the Sunday Times, who says Russia will be treated as a “hostile state” and Britain’s “No. 1 danger.”

Overnight announcement: New warships will be built in Scotland and armored vehicles made in Wales, as the review seeks to strengthen the union, the government announces this morning. The Telegraph’s Lucy Fisher has the story.

NZR latest: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will have to wait a week to learn the outcome of her latest trial in Iran, the Times’ Catherine Philp reports.

On the buses: The government is today launching the biggest overhaul of England’s bus network in decades — with a pledge to invest £3 billion on 4,000 new zero-emissions vehicles, among other things. The BBC has the full details.

Stay tuned: Tory chairman and money man Ben Elliot faces questions over the refurbishment of the PM’s Downing Street flat when the Conservative Party board meets today, the Times’ Steve Swinford and Henry Zeffman report.

NO MORE MP ZOOM MESS-UPS: The Commons’ procedure committee has published its report and recommendations for the future of House procedures as coronavirus restrictions are lifted. Though the committee calls for virtual participation to be developed in case they are of use in the future, the committee concludes that the House should revert to “all aspects of its pre-pandemic practice and procedure” once possible. First, though, the committee says the government should ensure virtual proceedings continue until stage four of the lockdown roadmap (June 21).

HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 1 p.m. with questions on racism in the U.K., the Northern Ireland Protocol and steps to address the levels of self-harm among women prisoners … Peers will then debate recommendations from their procedure committee on internal business. One of the recommendations to be debated would see a 30-minute question time in the Lords put in place for David Frost, in his new role as a Cabinet minister overseeing post-Brexit relations with the EU (2 p.m.) … Then peers will move onto Day 3 of the Domestic Abuse Bill’s report stage (2.30 p.m.) — and will consider an amendment that would make misogyny a hate crime.

BEYOND THE M25

THE ROSS REVOLUTION: Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross will today outline plans for a “skills revolution” in his keynote speech to the Scottish Conservative Party’s conference this afternoon. He will accuse the SNP of focusing only on independence — as they “close doors and limit opportunity” — while unveiling a manifesto “Retrain to Rebuild” policy that would provide grants to help unemployed or low-paid workers retrain. Ross is up from 2 p.m. to close the conference.

Previously in Scottish Tory Conference … Scotland Secretary Alister Jack used his speech to hail the U.K.’s vaccine program as the “envy of the world,” as No. 10 continues its not-so-subtle effort to counter the SNP by bigging up the U.K’s vaccine success … Interim Holyrood leader Ruth Davidson told the conference that Scotland has reached “peak Nat” … and PM Johnson also bigged up the vaccine drive and U.K. government spending in Scotland, as he insisted the “dynamic duo” of Ross and Davidson would prevent an SNP majority.

SARWAR SAYS: It’s also a big day for the new(ish) Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who will make his first major speech this morning since he won the leadership two weeks ago. Speaking from party headquarters, Sarwar will make his pitch for voters who are “prioritizing the national recovery” from coronavirus instead of returning to what he will call “the old divisions” of arguing for or against Scottish independence. The battle between Sarwar and Ross over the next month and a half will be an interesting one, with both taking different strategic paths as they seek to become the largest pro-union alternative to the SNP at Holyrood. Sarwar will also have an interesting fight with Nicola Sturgeon — who he will be standing against in her constituency in May. The Scottish Labour leader’s speech will be live on the party’s Facebook and Twitter feeds from 10.30 a.m.

IRISH VACCINE BORDER: Northern Ireland will continue to use the AstraZeneca jab despite its suspension in the Republic of Ireland. The latter’s advisory committee recommended the suspension following reports of serious blood clotting events in Norway, with Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirming the “precautionary” move. AstraZeneca have said there is no evidence of an increased risk of clotting due to the vaccine. Northern Ireland continues to operate under the guidance of the U.K.’s MHRA and Oxford jabs will continue to be administered there — full story from the BBC.

MEANWHILE IN EUROPE: Two regional elections in Germany on Sunday saw a collapse in support for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party and a great night for Germany’s Green party. POLITICO’s Matthew Karnitschnig has the story.

Here we go: The New York Times’ media pundit Ben Smith has a column out on how “Piers Morgan can’t wait to bring the worst of America home.” Smith has spoken to GB News boss Andrew Neil, who tells him Morgan would be “a huge asset for the channel.”

A message from UK Fisheries: A smart deal could rescue the government’s battered reputation on fisheries. For every below-par mark on our distant-waters scorecard, there is a ‘B’ or an ‘A’ within reach. Our coastal partners are ready to talk. The Norwegians are heavily dependent on access to our waters and our markets. The UK directly linked trade and access in its Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU, so there is no sensible reason for HMG not to use its full bargaining power with Norway, winning an improved deal for British fishers and setting a benchmark for productive talks with other coastal states. UK Fisheries has tens of millions of pounds to invest in the future of distant-waters fishing in the North-East, but no business will invest in a future without some degree of certainty. We currently have none at all, and the government must land a good deal NOW.

MEDIA ROUND

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse broadcast round: Sky News (7.05 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (7.30 a.m.) … LBC (7.50 a.m.) … Today program (7.50 a.m.) … ITV GMB (8.30 a.m.) … talkRADIO (9.06 a.m.) … Times Radio (9.35 a.m.).

Shadow Policing Minister Sarah Jones broadcast round: ITV GMB (6.50 a.m.) … Today program (7.10 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (7.20 a.m.) … Sky News (7.30 a.m.) … BBC 5 live (8.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (9 a.m.) … talkRADIO (9.20 a.m.).

Also on the Today program: One of the women arrested during Saturday’s vigil, Dania Al-Obeid (7.10 a.m.) … Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (7.10 a.m.) … Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group (7.30 a.m.) … Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey (8.10 a.m.)

Also on BBC Breakfast: Lib Dem leader Ed Davey (6.50 a.m.) … Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation member Anthony Harnden (7.50 a.m.) … Victims’ Commissioner Vera Baird (8.10 a.m.).

Also on Sky News at Breakfast: Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething (7.45 a.m.).

Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast (LBC): Former Met Police Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman (7.05 a.m.) … Lib Dem leader Ed Davey (7.10 a.m.) … Daily Mail Associate Editor Stephen Wright (7.20 a.m.) … Daily Mirror royal editor Russell Myers (7.25 a.m.) … Former Home Office SpAd James Starkie (8.05 a.m.).

Also on Times Radio breakfast: Former Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Peter Fahy (7.07 a.m.).

Also on Julia Hartley-Brewer breakfast show (talkRADIO): Women’s Equality Party deputy leader Tabitha Morton (7.05 a.m.) … Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation member Jeremy Brown (7.33 a.m.) … Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe (7.50 a.m.) … Tory MP Desmond Swayne (8.12 a.m.) … Former Lib Dem MP Norman Baker (8.20 a.m.).

Good Morning Scotland (BBC Radio Scotland): Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross (7.30 a.m.) … Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney (8.05 a.m.).

Politics Live (BBC Two 12.15 p.m.): Labour leader in the Lords Angela Smith … Tory MP Simon Clarke … The Guardian’s Rafael Behr … Writer Timandra Harkness.

Reviewing the papers tonight: BBC News (10.40 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): The House Magazine editor Rosa Prince and New Statesman’s Rachel Cunliffe … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): The FT’s Seb Payne and broadcaster Rachel Johnson … Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Former foreign editor at the Times Martin Fletcher and former Labour MP Ann Clwyd.

TODAY’S FRONT PAGES

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

Daily Express: ‘British spirit’ beating COVID.

Daily Mail: Shaming of the Met.

Daily Mirror: Pain & anger.

Daily Star: Cough up before you sup up.

Financial Times: Stripe rides wave of ecommerce growth to land $95bn valuation.

HuffPost UK: Patel — police still have questions to answer.

i: Safer streets for women — PM acts as police chief faces inquiry.

Metro: Met chief — I’m going nowhere.

POLITICO UK: Organic food hit by U.K.’s ‘1970s’ Brexit red tape.

The Daily Telegraph: Yard chief defends vigil crackdown.

The Guardian: Defiant Met chief refuses to quit and hits out at ‘armchair’ critics.

The Independent: Met chief defies calls to quit over vigil crackdown.

The Times: Defiant Met chief fights for job after vigil chaos.

LONDON CALLING

Westminster weather: ☁️ ☁️ ☁️ Cloudy and breezy. Highs of 12C.

Jab watch: Over the weekend … Labour leader Keir Starmer … Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething … Tory MPs Lucy Allan and David Warburton … Shadow Defra minister Daniel Zeichner … West Midlands Mayor Andy Street … Social Market Foundation director James Kirkup … and journalist Saima Mir all received their first coronavirus vaccine. Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans also received his first jab — bonus point for the volunteering fellow MP Andrew Stephenson who administered Evans’ jab. Let us know if you’ve got or are getting yours.

New gig: The Washington Post has announced that Sara Sorcher will become the editor of the paper’s new London Hub. Read the announcement here.

Congrats to: The Times’ Patrick Maguire, who has taken on the role of Red Box editor.

Birthdays: Former Supreme Court judge Robert Carnwath … Crossbench peer David Alton … Labour peer Richard Layard … Channel 4 News Political Editor Gary Gibbon … and former No. 10 Chief of Staff Nick Timothy.

PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Emma Anderson, reporter Andrew McDonald and producer Miriam Webber.

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