News in brief

I have been away for three days, with little or no time to keep track of Brexit and/or the pandemic.

Two items do stand out:

One, that meetings between Liz Truss and a number of political lobby groups in relation to a UK/US trade deal have been reclassified as private, and all notes have been deleted from the official record.

A meeting between a Minister of the Crown and lobby groups/think tanks are political, to pretend otherwise is an act of misleading.

And two, yesterday, the Express lead with a story, which is months old, that in the even of no deal, the EU will only issue a few hundred permits for HGV drivers to operate in the EU.

This is the reality of taking back control; you actually lose control.

We said this would happen, they knew better.

But didn't.

Meanwhile, another month has nearly gone by, and time has nearly run out. Micheal Barnier is not hopeful of a deal. Any deal. One cobbled together at such a late stage would be barely better than no deal.

And this morning, the Mail lead with photos showing Johnson "glamping" in Scotland, while the pandemic rages, and three more countries get added to the restricted travel list, but there is 36 hours notice. I mean, if they're that risky, surely the ban should come in straight away?