‘Donations literally flooding in’, says Francois – who says PM would be ‘mad’ to back down on Big Ben bongs

The Tory MP Mark Francois said Boris Johnson would be “mad” to back down from efforts to raise £500,000 to get the bell to sound on 31 January to mark our exit from the EU.

The PM’s official spokesman said early there were “potential difficulties” in accepting public donations for the bongs – despite Johnson’s suggestion the government was looking into ways the public could “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong” earlier this week.

Francois said his crowdfunding campaign with StandUp4Brexit would clearly meet its target.

“We launched this campaign at 7pm last night and by 12.30pm today we have raised just over £80,000, with donations averaging £16 literally flooding in.

“As the prime minister effectively initiated this campaign live on TV two days ago and as we are clearly going to hit the target, he would be mad to back away from it.”

The crowdfunding campaign StandUp4Brexit states that “we would need to raise this amount [£500,000] by this weekend”.

Ex-Labour MP Pidcock will run Burgon’s campaign

Labour deputy leadership contender Richard Burgon has announced that former Labour MP Laura Pidcock – who lost her North West Durham seat at last month’s election – will be his campaign chair.

TSSA union asks members to choose between Rebecca Long-Bailey and Keir Starmer

The transport union TSSA will ballot its members to decide on nominations in the Labour leadership contest, having whittled the candidates down to two for each post.

The union’s executive committee has put forward Rebecca Long-Bailey and Keir Starmer as the two choices for leader, while Angela Rayner and Rosena Allin-Khan are the options for the deputy position.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes, said: “Our EC has decided after meeting and questioning the runners and riders … that our members who pay our political levy will have the final say on who our union will nominate.

“It’s their view that either Rebecca Long-Bailey or Keir Starmer will make a great leader of our party and that Angela Rayner and Rosena Allin-Khan also cut the mustard when it comes to becoming our deputy leader.

“Our members will now get the final say, through a ballot, on which of these excellent candidates we will nominate.”

TSSA political fund members will receive an electronic ballot next week, and the internal election will run until 12 February, ahead of the nominations deadline on the 14 February.

Nurses suspend strike action in NI

Nurses in Northern Ireland have suspended strike action over pay in the first major coup for restored power-sharing at Stormont.

Extra money for salary parity with England and promises on safe staffing levels have been provided by the executive.

Sinn Fein’s finance minister Conor Murphy said the extra £1bn from the Treasury to support restored devolution was an act of “bad faith” and fell short of what was necessary. But the sum including £200m to end the nurses’ dispute.

The Royal College of Nursing’s Northern Ireland director Pat Cullen said: “The progress this week is testament to having political leadership in place following three years of standing still.”

Thousands of nurses took three days of strike action this year and last, which paralysed parts of the NHS and led to the cancellation of many medical appointments and delays to operations.

Corbyn allies rail against Remainer southern members

Our correspondent Lizzy Buchan has more on the remarks by Labour party chairman Ian Lavery and Jon Trickett, the shadow cabinet office minister – after they issued a rallying cry to working class northern voters to join sign up and shape the leadership contest.

“Our membership is now disproportionately one that voted to Remain in the referendum and drawn from the South, mainly from metropolitan areas and from the middle classes,” the pair stated.

The registration deadline for non-members to vote in the leadership contest is at 5pm today.

Government accused of ‘penny-pinching’ over £1bn NI deal

Labour has accused the government of “penny-pinching” over Northern Ireland, warning there is a “real issue” about the funding of the package linked to the restoration of Stormont.

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Tony Lloyd told the Commons: “The monies that the government has so far made available simply will not be adequate for this ambitious document.”

The government announced earlier the executive would be getting £1bn in extra funding – a sum the political parties in Belfast have claimed is not enough to fund public services properly.

The first minister and deputy first minister have written a joint letter to Boris Johnson “making the point that the money is not adequate”, said Lloyd.

He went on: “What we cannot now do is see this process frustrated by a penny-pinching attitude by the chancellor and a prime minister that will not accept the consequences.

“Secretary of state, I have to say directly to you – you’ve got to do better.”

Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith replied: “This is the best financial deal of any Northern Ireland talks settlement … the key task for this executive now is to focus on its priorities.”

Starmer ‘doomed to fail’ if he tries to please everyone

Labour leadership hopeful Sir Keir Starmer has set-out his vision to return the party to power by making the case for a “moral socialism” that is relevant to “everyday lives”.

But commentator Jason S Reed says the shadow Brexit secretary is “trying to please everyone and will end up pleasing no one”.

Angela Merkel: ‘EU is our life insurance’

Our Europe correspondent Jon Stone has more on Angela Merkel’s latest remarks.

The German chancellor has had little to say about Brexit, but she said the UK’s imminent exit was a “wake-up call” for the EU.

She defended the principles of the European project and issued a veiled warning that the UK could suffer from diminished influence outside the union.

“I see the European Union as our life insurance,” she said. “Germany is far too small to exert geopolitical influence on its own, and that’s why we need to make use of all the benefits of the single market.”

Read more here:

Boris Johnson backing off on Big Ben Bongs?

The prime minister’s official spokesman has been asked about the crowdfunding campaign to have Big Ben chime at 11pm on 31 January.

The spokesman said: “The House of Commons authorities have set out that there are potential difficulties in accepting money from public donations.”

He said the PM is focusing on the events the government is currently planning for Brexit day.

It follows Johnson’s suggestion the government was looking into ways the public could “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong” earlier this week.

Johnson will travel to Berlin this weekend to attend a conference on the escalation of the conflict in Libya.

“Conflict has escalated in recent months and threatens to destablise the wider region,” the official spokesperson said.

It’s hoped a ceasefire can be brokered and the PM will have a meeting with the German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Will Momentum win backing for ‘recommended’ candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey?

We’re expecting the results of the ballot sent out by left-wing activist group Momentum early this afternoon.

The exercise was widely mocked for only offering just one option for both leader and deputy leader roles available to supporters.

The ballot simply asks members for a “yes” or “no” response to the question “should Momentum follow the NCG recommendation to endorse Rebecca Long-Bailey as the next leader of the Labour Party”.

Michael Chessum – the former treasurer of the group – explains here why the process was so flawed.

Lisa Nandy: ‘More in common with Franco than Hardie’

Labour leadership candidates Lisa Nandy is getting a lot of flak from Scottish nationalists for her reference to Catalan separatism during her BBC interview with Andrew Neil.

“We should look outwards to other countries and other parts of the world we’re they’ve have to deal with divisive nationalism, and seek to discover the lessons from when in those brief moments in history places like Catalonia and Quebec we’ve managed to go and beat divisive nationalism,” she told the veteran interviewer.

Many Nats feel she was siding with the Spanish authorities, while Scottish commentator raised eyebrows at the comparison to Catalonia – which has seen violence and arrests and the imprisonment of political leaders since a thwarted referendum in 2017.

Applications for EU settlement scheme hits 2.7m

Some 163,300 EU citizens applied last month to live and work in the UK after Brexit.

The number of applications received for the EU Settlement Scheme in December takes the total number received by the end of that month to more than 2.7 million, according to the Home Office.

Overall, the number of applications finalised by the end of December was more than 2.45 million.

Of those dealt with in December (219,200), 55 per cent were granted permanent leave to remain in the country, called settled status, and 44 per cent were granted pre-settled status – which means they have temporary leave to remain and would need to apply again for permanent permission at a later date.

Six applications have now been refused on “suitability grounds”, the Home Office report said.

Ian Murray pledges to visit ‘every corner of this country’

Scottish Labour’s only remaining MP is pledging to visit every corner of the UK to try to win back support for his party if he becomes deputy leader.

Ian Murray formally launches his campaign in Edinburgh this morning – with a commitment to tour the country and speak to disaffected voters and find out why they no longer support Labour.

Murray, who was a vocal critic of departing leader Jeremy Corbyn, will argue that for the party to win power again it needs to once again be a “broad church” representing wider political values.

He will urge Labour to be a “credible alternative government, not a party of perpetual opposition”.

Murray is expected to say: “We must reach out and listen to every corner of this country and every type of person in our country.

“Our party can only win by winning support across the whole of Great Britain and by becoming a broad church once again. Central to winning is building coalitions of people with different and varied interests. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole political life.”

‘Brexit is a wake-up call’, says Merkel

German chancellor Angela Merkel has described Brexit as a “wake up call” for the whole European Union – saying the bloc has to up its game after the UK leaves at the end of the month.

“Brexit is a wake-up call for the EU,” she told the Financial Times.

“Europe must respond by upping its game, becoming attractive, innovative, creative, a good place for research and education.

“The United States’ focus on Europe is declining — that will be the case under any president.

“We in Europe, and especially in Germany, need to take on more responsibility.”

Labour leadership hopefuls sign up to anti-Islamophobia plan

The Muslim Council of Britain has welcomed commitments from all five Labour leadership hopefuls to support ten key pledges to tackle Islamophobia.

These pledges include defending religious liberty, proactively engaging with British Muslim communities, and providing funding and support to places of worship to safeguard visitors, among others.

MCB’s secretary general Harun Khan, said: “We hope the next Labour leader engages with a cross section of British Muslim communities to understand their concerns, and seeks to ensure policymaking truly works in the interest of all those across the UK.”

Pension tax break for top earners?

Ministers are preparing to give tax relief worth hundreds of millions of pounds to those earning more than £110,000 in an attempt to lift the barrier to NHS consultants agreeing to work more, according to The Times.

The newspaper claims that Treasury mandarins are considering raising the current pension threshold from £110,000 to £150,000, a move that could free-up 90 per cent of consultants to agree to extra shifts and help cut NHS waiting lists.

The reported tax break would apply to all workers, not just those in the health sector.

A Treasury spokesman said: “We do not comment on speculation about tax changes.”

Whitehall officials are currently conducting a review into how to lift the block on top doctors choosing to stay at home rather than take on more hospital hours.

If the Treasury does decide to bring in new measures, an announcement is expected to be made by chancellor Sajid Javid at the budget in March.

Jeremy Hunt warns NHS measures to stop next Harold Shipman being ignored

Dozens of NHS hospitals have yet to appoint medical examiners whose roles are aimed at preventing a repeat of Harold Shipman’s serial killings – with just months to go before the deadline.

A survey of more than 100 NHS trusts in England found that more than half had yet to set up the key posts.

The former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who obtained the new data, told The Independent the delays in appointing medical examiners were “very concerning”.

Our health correspondent Shaun Lintern has all the details.

Corbyn allies tell working-class, northern Brexiteers to join Labour party

The Labour party’s chairman Ian Lavery and shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett has urged working-class northerners who backed Brexit to sign up quickly and get a vote in the leadership contest.

In an article for The Mirror, the loyal Corbyn allies wrote: “We are calling for Labour supporters from working class backgrounds and from the North to join the party by January 20 and have their say in the upcoming leadership election.”

Calling for the party to be “rebalanced”, the pair railed against what they perceive to be a southern, metropolitan, middle-class domination of the party.

“Our membership is now disproportionately one that voted to Remain in the referendum and drawn from the South, mainly from metropolitan areas and from the middle classes.”

People have until Monday to become members and still be eligible to vote in the leadership contest, while the window for non-Labour members to sign up as registered supporters and get a vote slams shut today at 5pm.