POLITICO London Playbook: Last-ditch diplomacy — Trump unleashed — Women MPs descend on parliament

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By JACK BLANCHARD

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Good Thursday morning.

SCOOP — SW1 TECH-OVER: Playbook hears of yet another big hire for big tech from the world of Sw1. Food delivery giant Deliveroo has poached former lobby hack Peter Dominiczak from his current role at Lynton Crosby’s political consultancy CTF Partners. Dominiczak, previously political editor at the Daily Telegraph, will become Deliveroo’s global director of public affairs. He joins a growing band of Westminster veterans at the City-based delivery firm — ranked Europe’s fastest-growing company by the FT this year — including George Osborne’s former chief of staff Thea Rogers, ex-Labour Party and Britain Stronger In official Joe Carberry, and former Tory SpAd and Vote Leave spokesman Robert Oxley. And it comes just a few weeks after Dominiczak’s wife Lottie quit her own SpAd position to join ride-hailing app Uber, as head of U.K. comms. Where will it all end?

DRIVING THE DAY

LAST-DITCH DIPLOMACY: Theresa May heads to Europe today on what should be a final round of whistlestop diplomacy before the outline Brexit deal is done. The PM flies to Brussels this evening for a working dinner with NATO leaders where — the Sun reports — she will take the opportunity to hold talks with Dutch PM Mark Rutte. May then heads on to France tomorrow for a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, ahead of a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. It follows phone conversations throughout this week with senior EU figures including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Donald Tusk, Irish PM Leo Varadkar and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who holds the revolving EU presidency. Downing Street is still insisting the deal is not yet done — but there is every sign now that the big moment is upon us.

All sides on stand-by: Saturday or Monday look like the most likely days for the Cabinet meeting to agree the final deal, given May’s weekend schedule. The FT reports that in Brussels too, “preparations are being made on the choreography of handling any provisional agreement, should Britain give its negotiators a clear mandate to close a deal.” The Guardian is somewhat less optimistic, however, reporting sources in Brussels are “deeply skeptical” that a breakthrough is imminent.

While you’re waiting: Keep a close eye on the EPP conference in Helsinki this morning, where many of the main players will be speaking. The focus of the summit is definitely not Brexit, but given today’s speakers include Merkel, Tusk, Varadkar, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his chief negotiator Michel Barnier, it’s worth watching out for news lines dripping out.

Le grand diplomate: Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will do his bit for the Brexit diplomacy cause today with a speech at the British Embassy in Paris. Speaking in French — the old charmer — Hunt will speak of the “solidarity” between the two nations in the wake of shared threats, such as in the aftermath of terror attacks in Paris in 2015 and Manchester two years later. He will speak too of how Britain and France “fought and bled side by side” during World War I, and how “in the end we prevailed.” The underlying message could hardly be clearer as Hunt stresses that Britain and France must “remain tied by bonds of friendship and commerce for decades to come.” He’s due on his feet at 10 a.m., with a Q&A (in English) to follow.

Back home in Blighty: The row over whether May should publish the full legal advice on the Irish backstop is gathering pace, with Labour threatening to use a so-called “humble address” motion in its Opposition Day debate next Tuesday to force the government to show its hand. There would surely be enough Tory Brexiteer rebels — plus potentially the DUP MPs too — for Labour to win such a vote, though whether that would actually result in the advice being published remains to be seen. For now, Labour says it is awaiting the government’s response.

The government’s response: Health Secretary Matt Hancock spelled it out last night when asked on ITV’s Peston show if May should publish the advice. “No, that’s not the normal approach,” Hancock said. “We’ve got a brilliant attorney general who sets out the legal position … He can answer questions in the Commons, but it’s not normal to publish the legal advice. That’s a decision in exceptional circumstances for the prime minister.” Which isn’t *quite* the same as ruling it out. Watch the clip.

More Cabinet grumblings: Cabinet support for the final deal looks likely but remains far from guaranteed, with Environment Secretary Michael Gove making clear this week he wants to see the full legal advice before any final decision. And in the Times today there are suggestions Transport Secretary Chris Grayling — an ardent Brexiteer, but also a May loyalist — is unhappy about the commitment to maintain a “level playing field” with EU rules and regulations, at least until a final trade deal is done. “The transport secretary is understood to have told Mrs May he was concerned this ‘would mean a single market through the backdoor,'” Sam Coates reports. He may have a point.

But here’s your alternative: No. 10’s big argument will be that the only other option is a chaotic no-deal scenario — and there are certainly plenty of agencies out there happy to warn of imminent chaos. POLITICO’s Helen Collis reports on a letter sent to Matt Hancock last week by eight health organizations including NHS providers, pharmaceutical companies and patient groups that says no-deal preparations to maintain medicine supplies are failing badly. “We do not believe the current medicine supply plans will suffice, and we will have widespread shortages if we do not respond urgently,” the letter states. “On medicines supply, on what we know and can glean from public information, we think we are at (warning level) ‘red.’” Hancock responded on Peston last night — watch the clip.

Town halls spooked: My colleague Charlie Cooper reports this morning that local authorities across the country are also pretty spooked at the lack of preparedness for a no-deal scenario. He has obtained papers presented to the latest board meeting of the Local Government Association that show councils in England and Wales are fearing “local economic shocks.” The LGA has told ministers the government’s no-deal guidance does not “address the impact across all services at a local level,” and that further work is urgently needed. “Under the no deal scenario these issues are stark,” the LGA paper warns.

Raab’s borderline conversion: Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab meanwhile was speaking at a tech event last night where he confirmed the choice of goods available to buy in the shops will be hit unless we maintain frictionless trade at the French border. “I hadn’t quite understood the full extent of this,” Raab admitted, “but if you look at the U.K. and look at how we trade in goods, we are particularly reliant on the Dover-Calais crossing. And that is one of the reasons why we have wanted to make sure we have a specific and very proximate relationship with the EU, to ensure frictionless trade at the border. I don’t think it is a question so much of the risk of major shortages, but I think probably the average consumer might not be aware of the full extent to which the choice of goods that we have in the stores are dependent on one or two very specific trade routes.” Gulp.

Second referendum watch: The likelihood of an imminent Brexit deal has not daunted the People’s Vote campaign, which has pinned its hopes on parliament voting down the final agreement. Today a new group called Business for a People’s Vote launches in Westminster, featuring well-known Remainiac business leaders including Karan Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer, and Richard Reed, the founder of Innocent Drinks. In an interview with Business Insider last night, the former head of the U.K. civil service, crossbench peer Bob Kerslake, also threw his weight behind the campaign for a second referendum.

MEANWHILE IN WASHINGTON

TRUMP UNLEASHED: The mid-term elections are out of the way and the U.S. president is now going “Full Trump” over in Washington. On a whirlwind Wednesday, Trump held a raucous and sometimes abusive press conference lasting almost two hours, then sacked his attorney general, before concluding the day by banning CNN’s chief reporter from the White House indefinitely. Expect plenty more of this in the days ahead.

First read this: POLITICO’s Steven Shepard has the seven key takeaways from Tuesday’s mid-term elections.

Progression Sessions: By far the most important news from last night was Trump’s decision to sack his beleaguered attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who oversaw the justice department. Sessions will be replaced — at least on an interim basis — by his own chief of staff Matt Whitaker, who is now expected to oversee the Mueller inquiry into Trump’s links to Russia. And guess what? There’s TV footage of Whitaker from last year — before he was hired — suggesting ways that a new attorney general might stymie the whole investigation. “I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment,” Whitaker said, “and that attorney general doesn’t fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget to so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.” The Washington Post has the clip.

Quick, look over there: Trump’s tactic, however, is to keep moving the news agenda on to his own power struggles with his chosen enemies — and they don’t come any bigger than the White House press corps. Last night Trump revoked the press credentials of CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta following their altercation at the afternoon’s press conference. If you haven’t seen the clip, Acosta and Trump were sparring over the president’s depiction of Latin American migrants, and Acosta then tried to ask more questions on a different topic. The president attempted to move on to another reporter, but Acosta refused to give up the mic, even when a (young, female) White House aide grabbed for it. The White House is now accusing the CNN man of “placing his hands on a young woman trying to do her job.” Acosta said this was a “lie.” The press corps is up in arms … and the row will run for days.

Make your own mind up: There are plenty of videos of the altercation, but this one probably has the best angle. Last night the White House released its own video, complete with repeats, slow-motion and close-ups of Acosta’s hands.

Meanwhile in the real world: Tuesday’s loss of the House of Representatives means the Republicans have now abandoned their eight-year campaign to repeal Obamacare, the Washington Post reports.

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TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

PARLIAMENT: Is now in recess until Monday, November 12.

BUT IN THE COMMONS CHAMBER: Female MPs from around the world will come together today to discuss their triumphs and challenges in the first “Women MPs of the World” conference. There are morning and afternoon plenary sessions in the Commons chamber for an event co-hosted by International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, Commons leader Andrea Leadsom and “Mother of the House” Harriet Harman. Delegates from more than 100 countries will discuss how to advocate for greater representation of women in parliament and public life, and explore the specific challenges facing women MPs and how they might be overcome. Theresa May held a reception for attendees in No. 10 last night.

DRUG STATS: Annual Home Office figures for drug seizures in England and Wales are out at 9.30 a.m.

FAREWELL TO NICK AND FI: The last vestige of the draconian reign of Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill has been put to bed. Playbook hears the pair’s notorious “CoS submissions” email address has at last been shut down, to the eternal relief of the Whitehall machine. Chiefs of Staff Hill and Timothy had insisted all policy submissions to the prime minister had to be channeled through this CoS inbox — and until they responded, nothing would get done. The rest of Whitehall absolutely despised it, and the submissions process has gradually softened since their hasty departure following the 2017 election disaster. Now the final nail in the coffin has been hammered home — a message went round recently saying the mailbox has been closed. It’s truly the end of an era.

CLEGG OVER: It seems California-bound Nick Clegg supports two premier league football teams — Arsenal and Fulham (h/t Tom Moseley). Is this allowed?

GULP: Kevin Maguire reports in his New Statesman diary that Andrea Leadsom wants a ban on all alcohol sales in the Commons before 6 p.m. Playbook is shocked and dismayed — but Maguire suggests it will merely be boom time for the bars and restaurants of the House of Lords. Not to mention the Commons gift shop, which sells 70cl bottles of Speaker Bercow’s own malt whisky.

UNIVERSAL PRESSURE: The Times piles the pressure on ministers over welfare cuts today with a five-page investigation into poverty. The paper leads on calls from five former Cabinet ministers including David Davis, Iain Duncan Smith and Justine Greening for the benefit freeze to be ended, and for payments to be raised in line with inflation. The paper also publishes new analysis about the impact of Universal Credit and warns in-work poverty and malnutrition are soaring.

BANKS HOLIDAY: Leave.EU founder Arron Banks will not be appearing on Question Time tonight, after being bumped by the BBC at the last minute. Instead viewers will get the pleasure of narcissistic right-wing psychologist Jordan Peterson taking on forgetful Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott. It should be quite a thing.

CRIPES: Members of the public are being invited to deface a £10,000 portrait of Boris Johnson this evening — by the same artist who painted it. Helen Masacz will invite guests at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery tonight to daub paint over her 2010 work, before selling it off in a charity raffle. The Mail diary has the story.

MEDIA ROUND

Today Program: Tory MP and Chair of Health and Social Care Select Committee Sarah Wollaston (6.50 a.m.) …. Former NATO Secretary-General and U.K. Defense Secretary Lord Robertson (7.30 a.m.) … Harvard Law School professor and civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz (7.50 a.m.) … Former Brexit Secretary David Davis (8.10 a.m.) … Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson (8.30 a.m.)

TalkRADIO: DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson (7.05 a.m.) … Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat (7.20 a.m.) … Tory MP Peter Bone (8.05 a.m.).

All Out Politics (Sky News, 10 a.m.): Former British Ambassador to the United States Peter Westmacott (10 a.m.) … The Mirror’s head of politics Jason Beattie and former Tory spinner Jo-Anne Nadler review the newspaper comment sections (10.15 a.m.) … Crossbench peer Karan Bilimoria, Tory MP Crispin Blunt and the Institute of Directors’ Allie Renison debate Brexit (10.30 a.m.) … Labour MP Harriet Harman and Kenyan MP Sophia Abdinoor discuss the “Women MPs of the World” conference in Westminster (10.45 a.m.).

Question Time (BBC1, 8 p.m.): Tory MP Kwasi Kwarteng … Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott … Vice-President of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness ... Times columnist David Aaronovitch … Psychologist and author Jordan Peterson.

TODAY’S FRONT PAGES

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

City A.M.: All change — John Lewis and Redrow chairmen to step down.

Daily Express: “I’m not that stupid” — Charles says he would not “meddle” as king.

Daily Mail (not online, again): Charles — I won’t meddle when I’m king.



Daily Mirror: What have we become? War hero battered by thugs.

Daily Star: Corrie star stalker hell.

Financial Times: Trump urges bipartisan approach as Democrats take control of House.

HuffPost U.K.: How “money mules” as young as 13 are paid to launder cash.

i: Fightback against Trump begins.

Metro: My funeral pact with knifed lad.

The Daily Telegraph: “I won’t be a meddling king … I am not that stupid” — Charles.

The Guardian: Trump issues threat of warlike response after Democrat gains.

The Independent: Now 60 countries caught up in Windrush scandal.

The Sun: Oldest U.K. mum to give birth to four babies.

The Times: Trump points to second term.



On the Continent: Read what the rest of Europe’s papers are saying in POLITICO’s EU press review blog here (updated daily at around 8 a.m.).

TODAY’S NEWS MAGS

New Statesman: Revenge of the nation state — The crumbling of the liberal world order.

POLITICO: The women shaping Brussels.

The New European: Breaking Point — How Britain has turned on Farage.

The Spectator: Brexit is served — It’s her deal or no deal. Neither option is palatable.

BEYOND THE M25

From Brussels

THE WOMEN WHO SHAPE BRUSSELS: POLITICO’s Ryan Heath and Eline Schaart present the 20 female figures driving change in the EU capital this year.

From Helsinki

DECISION DAY: The all-powerful EPP will today pick its candidate to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president next year, with German MEP Manfred Weber looking like a shoo-in for the candidacy. But writing for POLITICO, Dalibor Rohac argues that it’s time Europe’s conservatives broke with their business-as-usual approach. “Euroskeptics are poised to make large gains in the European Parliament,” he writes. “By refusing to face reality and endorsing a political grandee like Weber to lead the party in the European election, the EPP is missing a major opportunity to show it’s been listening to Europe’s voters.”

**There’s a fresh wind blowing in from the U.S. when it comes to weighing up vertical and conglomerate mergers, and it could mean trouble for tech, telecom and media tie-ups, Thibault Larger has the full story in his weekly Competitive Edge analysis. Email pro@politico.eu to request a trial of our Competition Pro service.**

LONDON CALLING

Westminster weather: ⛅️⛅️⛅️ Dry day with decent spells of sunshine and highs of 14C.

Spotted: Some famous SW1 faces — and some potential friction — at the South Kensington Club last night for the launch of Imogen Edwards-Jones’ new book “The Witches of St. Petersburg,” including … Former PM David Cameron … designer Samantha Cameron … Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine … New European columnist Rachel Johnson … Adam Smith Institute’s Sophie Jarvis … authors Simon Sebag Montefiore and Santa Montefiore … Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson … “Life on Mars” actor Philip Glenister … and many more.

Spotted: Tory MP Bernard Jenkin in the Kennington Tandoori last night.

Wonk watch: Filmmaker and former Channel 4 staffer Jess Search has been appointed chair of the trustees at the IPPR think-tank.

Happy birthday to: South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck, who turns 40 … Former Torbay MP Rupert Allason … Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols … High Court Judge Laura Cox.

PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: Esther King, Jillian Deutsch.

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