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       Watch live as new UK cabinet arrives at Number 10 following Boris Johnson's reshuffle

       Senior Conservatives will stage a Commons showdown in a last-gasp bid to force ministers to rethink the looming reversal of the ￡20-a-week universal credit uplift, tabling an amendment to block the annual uprating of pensions unless funds are diverted to stop the cut.

       Elsewhere, ministers are eyeing a post-Brexit return to imperial measurements, with shops to be again allowed to sell products in pounds and ounces only, some 55 years after the UK first moved to adopt the metric system.

       Other new “freedoms” contained under the proposals announced by Brexit minister Lord Frost are plans to permit the voluntary printing of the crown stamp on pint glasses and the introduction of digital driving licences.

       It came as former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King warned Brexit will ultimately have a bigger impact on the food and drink industry – which he described as “mid-crisis” – than the Covid pandemic, suggesting that rising prices and the supply chain woes currently triggering shortages as are part of “the new normal.”

       Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s new Cabinet met for the first time on Friday morning following the reshuffle, which notably saw Dominic Raab removed as foreign secretary and Nadine Dorries become the new secretary for culture, media and sport.

       The prime minister is reported to have told them to “spit out the orange peel” in a rugby-themed “half-time pep talk” and joked about having seen a lot of delivery rooms, appearing to compare the “delivery” of his government’s agenda with the “superhuman effort” of giving birth.

       Recommended Ministers plan post-Brexit return of imperial pounds and ounces in review of EU laws Why Dorries and Dowden have been awarded top jobs in the reshuffle New cabinet minister denied climate change in string of tweets

       Key Points Tories launch last-ditch bid to stop universal credit cut Boris Johnson gives new Cabinet rugby-themed ‘half-time pep talk’ Ministers eye post-Brexit return to imperial measurements

       Show latest update 1631891177

       That’s us wrapping up the liveblog for today, thanks for following with us.

       You can find all of The Independent’s latest articles on UK politics here.

       Or else keep scrolling to read about the day’s events, as we reported them.

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 16:06

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       Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of UK politics, where we’ll be providing rolling updates on the latest happenings in Westminster and beyond.

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 07:54

       1631861918 New Cabinet to meet for first time

       Boris Johnson’s newly re-shuffled Cabinet is set to hold its first meeting at 9am this morning.

       New to the table after 15 years in parliament will be Nadine Dorries, the new secretary for culture, media and sport.

       Dominic Raab may be somewhat less pleased with the new seating arrangements – with Downing Street having insisted yesterday that the ousted foreign secretary will continue to play an “important senior role” as deputy PM.

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 07:58

       1631862319 Ministers plan post-Brexit return of imperial pounds and ounces in review of EU laws

       My colleague Conrad Duncan has more on our headline story this morning – the looming post-Brexit return of imperial measurements.

       The move comes within plans set out by Brexit minister Lord Frost to ditch EU rules that no longer suit the UK, reviewing the content of retained EU law which was preserved in UK law for continuity after the transition period ended in December 2020.

       Boris Johnson had pledged to bring imperial units back to shops as part of his pitch to voters in the 2019 general election, promising “an era of generosity and tolerance towards traditional measurements”.

       Ministers plan post-Brexit return of imperial pounds and ounces Government to legislate to end compulsory metric measures ‘in due course’

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 08:05

       1631863188 Priti Patel urges ‘decisive’ police action over climate protesters

       Priti Patel has criticised the “guerrilla tactics” of “selfish” climate protesters who brought traffic to a halt on the M25 and is urging police to take “decisive” action – despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that found protest can be a “lawful excuse” to block roads under human rights law

       Protesters from the Insulate Britain group – which is demanding government action on home insulation – stopped thousands of motorists at four junctions on Britain’s busiest motorway at rush hour on Wednesday for the second time in three days. More than 85 protesters are thought to have been arrested.

       Insulate Britain has accused the government of “criminal negligence” for “refusing to get on with the job” of insulating every home in the country, which it said would bring “proper jobs for hundreds of thousands of people” and “pound for pound, gives us the biggest reduction in carbon emissions”.

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 08:19

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       Members of Boris Johnson’s new Cabinet are slowly arriving at No 10 ahead of their first meeting post-reshuffle.

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       New UK cabinet arrives at Number 10 following Boris Johnson's reshuffle

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 08:25

       1631864400 Politics Explained: Why Dorries and Dowden have been awarded top jobs in the reshuffle

       Amid much speculation over the motivations and machinations behind Boris Johnson’s reshuffle, our associate editor Sean O’Grady takes a look at the political qualities of two of the biggest winners in his new Cabinet – and how they could serve the prime minister’s interests.

       He writes that the new Tory Party co-chair Oliver Dowden and his surprise successor as secretary of state for media, culture and sport Nadine Dorries “highlight two important aspects of what Boris Johnson is up to”, adding:

       “In his first public utterances, Mr Dowden, a little mischievously, told the nation to be ready for a general election. Perhaps what he, this time, meant to say was that his party should be on a war footing and in permanent campaign mode as it launches wave after wave of new culture wars against the opposition, with Ms Dorries in the thick of it.”

       Why Dorries and Dowden have been awarded top jobs in the reshuffle More than a few eyebrows were raised when Nadine Dorries and Oliver Dowden came out of the reshuffle with better positions. Sean O’Grady explores their track records, and why Johnson has chosen them for their new roles

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 08:40

       1631864968 Watch live: Nancy Pelosi gives London speech on ‘state of American democracy’

       US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is due to speak at London’s Chatham House at 9am on “state of American democracy following the January attack on the US Capitol and efforts to restrict voting rights in various states“.

       You can tune in below to watch her speech live:

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       Watch live as Nancy Pelosi speaks in London on ‘state of American democracy’

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 08:49

       1631865524 Minister plays down Oliver Dowden’s general election remarks

       Doing the media rounds this morning, the environment secretary was asked whether the newly-appointed Conservative Party chairman had put the party on an “election footing”

       “I think what Oliver Dowden said is that we should be ready for an election whenever it might come,” said George Eustice. “That is what every party chairman will always do. Their task is to make sure the party is ready.

       “But, for Cabinet as a whole, our priority is to deliver. We've still got several years left of this Parliament and we've got a lot that we want to achieve.

       “There are going to be a lot of challenges that need addressing post this pandemic – that is going to be our absolute focus.”

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 08:58

       1631866083 Cabinet sub-committee meeting could sign off on travel rule changes today, minister says

       A Cabinet sub-committee meeting could sign off on travel rule changes later today, George Eustice has said.

       The green and amber lists are expected to be merged to form one category of low-risk countries while the number of destinations on the red list will be reduced. There is also speculation that fully-vaccinated arrivals will no longer need to take a pre-departure lateral flow test or a post-arrival PCR test.

       “My understanding is that no decisions have actually been taken yet, although I understand there may be a meeting today to review this. We regularly review those travel restrictions,” the environment secretary told Sky News.

       “Obviously we took an important step earlier this summer when we removed the need to quarantine for those countries coming from amber list countries – that was a really big step forward – but we have retained the need for testing, and that's really so we can pick up any variants of concern through that PCR test.

       “But, look, I know this has been raised by the travel industry, that they think some of that testing may be unnecessary, may be onerous – the government will be listening to that and the Covid sub-committee of Cabinet that decide these things will be considering that probably later today.”

       Andy Gregory 17 September 2021 09:08

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