Brexit negotiations have resumed today in London, with just five weeks until the current trading relationship ends.

With Dominic Cummings departure sparking hopes for a less hostile Downing Street operation, democracy campaigners have urged the Tories to abandon threats to abolish the Electoral Commission and to “reset” its relationship with the electoral watchdog.

In a letter to Michael Gove, the leaders of six organisations said an independent elections regulator is a “cornerstone of a functioning democracy” and warned that bringing it under the auspices of the government risked its independence.

“Threatening to shut it down, simply because it fined the Tory party for breaching the rules, it is a tactic worthy of President Putin, not the British PM,” said Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake.

Kate Devlin and Ashley Cowburn have the full story here:

Joanna Cherry QC has said Scotland is on a “highway” to independence and will leave the UK at the next “exit” as she pushed for her party to pursue a “Plan B”.

The SNP MP called for more investigation into legal arguments which could see Holyrood call another referendum without Westminster consent, which has never been tested in courts, during an address at the Wales Governance Centre’s annual conference.

“Scotland most certainly does not stand where she did,” Ms Cherry said. “She is not so much at a crossroads, as on a highway to independence.

“A couple of exits have been missed but the indicator is now on and I’m confident Scotland will now take the next exit.”

A British Airways tweet cheering on England to beat Wales in the Autumn Nations rugby tournament has sparked anger.

Nationalist Plaid Cymru politicians were among the most prominent voices highlighting the apparent blunder.

Boris Johnson “underlined his commitment” to reaching a Brexit deal that “respects the sovereignty” of the UK in a call with Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Downing Street has said.

“The leaders also reaffirmed the need to prioritise the Good Friday Agreement and avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland,” a No 10 spokesperson said.

The UK’s chief negotiator has suggested a deal with the EU is “still possible” ahead of today’s crucial talks, while also laying the ground to defend any failure to strike a deal as he highlighted that any deal must “fully respect” the UK’s sovereignty.

EU access to UK fishing waters was a fair exchange for UK access to the common market, French MEP Pierre Karleskind, who chairs the European Parliament’s fisheries committee, has suggested.

“We have this question of access to our common market – this is exactly the same, this is symmetrical,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“You asked for your companies to access the common market of the European Union, and we ask our fishermen to access your waters.

“I think there is something simple – it is reciprocity.”

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart Lord Frost will resume in-person Brexit talks in London later today.

Arriving in the capital last night, Mr Barnier told reporters that he would continue to work with “patience and determination” to reach an agreement, just hours after tweeting:

The Scottish first minister will tell her party faithful to “reach out to all of Scotland like never before” at this weekend’s annual SNP conference.

“Independence is in clear sight — and with unity of purpose, humility and hard work I have never been so certain that we will deliver it,” Nicola Sturgeon will say. “The people of Scotland have the right to choose their future.”

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full details of what to expect here:

Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of today’s events in UK politics.