11:55

This morning’s Downing Street lobby briefing was dominated by questions about the performance of Chris Grayling, after the beleaguered minister’s department agreed to pay out to ensure the Channel Tunnel is ready to continue to keep passengers and freight moving in a no-deal Brexit scenario. A Downing Street spokesman insisted that the prime minister continued to have confidence in the transport secretary, despite the payout, citing progress he had made on Heathrow development and with rail investment as successes for the minister.

Downing Street was also forced to defend Grayling’s time as justice secretary, following a critical report by the National Audit Office into the part-privatisation of the probation service, and said that while his successor David Gauke had been forced to bring back the contracts in-house, 40,000 low and medium risk offenders were now being monitored after release from prison in a way they had not been before.

