Portrait of the Week – 10 May 2018

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Although the world was led to believe that, thanks to the vote of Sajid Javid, the new Home Secretary, the idea of a ‘customs partnership’ with the EU had been killed by six to five in the cabinet Brexit sub-committee, the corpse was revivified by Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, on the Andrew Marr Show, where he suggested that 3,500 Toyota jobs were at risk. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, said: ‘The customs partnership is in a sense misnamed because it means single market as well as customs union and therefore we would not in effect be leaving the European Union.’ Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, was accused of differing from Theresa May, the Prime Minister, when he said: ‘If you have a new customs partnership, you have a crazy system whereby you end up collecting tariffs on behalf of the EU at the UK frontier.’ With temperatures reaching 28.7°C, Britain saw the hottest May bank holiday since its introduction by Michael Foot in 1978.

Elections in 150 councils in England left Labour with 2,350 wards, 77 more than in 2014, but far fewer than hoped, and the Conservatives with 1,332 wards, 33 fewer than before, but far more than feared. The Lib Dems were pleased with 536, an increase of 75. Ukip ended up with three council seats, against 126 before. Tower Hamlets re-elected a Labour mayor, driving the Aspire candidate into third place behind the People’s Alliance of Tower Hamlets. The Labour MP Dan Jarvis was elected Mayor of the Sheffield region. Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United from 1986 to 2013, had an operation for a brain haemorrhage.

Everyone should be given £10,000 on their 25th birthday, according to a proposal by the Resolution Foundation, chaired by Lord Willetts.