The PM has suggested the UK is poised to trigger a legal battle with France over the ongoing fishing dispute as early as next week.
Boris Johnson said he was “worried” Paris “may be about to become in breach, or is already in breach” of the free trade deal agreed between the UK and the EU, and left the possibility of escalating the issue on the table.
It comes after the French president suggested that the UK’s “credibility” is at stake, with Paris threatening to retaliate against Britain’s limited granting of licences for French boats.
Speaking to the FT, Mr Macron said: “When you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility.”
Paris is threatening to increase checks on British boats, stop them landing in French ports, slow customs arrangements in Calais and increase tariffs on energy bills in Jersey from Tuesday.
The Queen is ‘on very good form’, PM says
Boris Johnson has described the Queen as being on “very good form” in an interview with Channel 4 News earlier today.
It comes after she was advised by her doctors to rest for at least the next two weeks and to undertake only “desk-based duties”, according to Buckingham Palace.
The Prime Minister said: “I spoke to her majesty and she’s on very good form.”
“She’s just got to follow the advice of her doctors and get some rest and I think that’s the important thing. I think the whole country wishes her well.”
Britain has failed poorest nations on climate, chief government adviser warns
Lord Deben, chair of the Climate Change Committee, told The Independent the UK had “caused climate change more than anyone else”, but not done enough to secure global funding for those now hit hardest by its effects.
He also described the UK’s decision to slash the foreign aid budget as “immoral.”
He said: “The one weakness we go in with is over helping the developing countries.
“Britain has caused climate change more than anyone else. We invented the Industrial Revolution, it’s part of our history. We’ve caused climate change and we’ve got to pay for it.
“The fact that we haven’t yet put together the money which we promised to help the developing countries move from where they are to where they ought to be is a considerable drawback.”
No 10 has said they are working to resolve post-Brexit fishing dispute with France
Downing Street has said the Government wants to resolve the dispute with France over post-Brexit fishing rights but have declared they will “act in a calibrated manner” should Paris proceed with their threats.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We have been working with the French government to issue more licences. We stand ready to continue that work.
“We have seen a number of comments from the French government at varying levels in recent days and weeks that we don’t think are justified.
“If France were to proceed with the threats that they have set out, we will act in a calibrated manner.”
Sinn Fein deputy leader says balance of power in NI has “shifted irreversibly”
Michelle O’Neill has hit out the DUP after their boycott of the North-South Ministerial Council, calling their “continued denial” of equality and rights “dead-end politics.”
Ms O’Neill said during her opening speech at the party’s Ard Fheis that the balance of power at Stormont has “shifted irreversibly” and the political unionist majority is gone.
“It is for the people to decide the next first minister, not the DUP. Sinn Fein is aiming to return as the biggest party, not for the sake of it, but to deliver change.
“[The DUP’s] boycott of the North-South Ministerial Council has been declared unlawful by the High Court.
“Their futile stunt to provoke outrage is in vain. Harking back to a bygone era of unionist rule is a lost cause too.”
Disgraced MP Rob Roberts to have Conservative membership reinstated
Chair of the Labour Party Anneliese Dodds described the move as “scandalous”, saying Mr Roberts “should have resigned as an MP the moment he was suspended”.
“That he is now set to return to the Conservative party shows they’ve let him off the hook,” she added. “Yet again, there’s one rule for Tory MPs and another for everyone else.”
PM warns of new ‘dark ages’ if world fails to tackle global warning
The world could be hurtling toward a new “dark ages” if it fails to confront global warming, the prime minister has warned as in an appeal to the world’s leading economies to do more to cut emissions.
“Civilisation could go backwards and history could go into reverse,” he said in an interview with Channel 4 News.
“Here we are in the Colosseum of Vespasian, the Roman Empire, they weren’t expecting it and they went into reverse. We had a Dark Ages.
“It’s important to remember things can get dramatically worse.”
Mr Johnson was in the Italian capital for a summit of the G20 leaders ahead of the crucial Cop26 climate change talks which start in Glasgow on Monday.
Food banks will have to ‘pick up the pieces’ after Budget, the Trussell Trust has warned
Britain’s largest charity of emergency food parcels has warned foodbanks will have to “pick up the pieces” this winter after Rishi Sunak resisted calls to reverse a cut for all universal credit claimants at the Budget.
Speaking to The Independent, Garry Lemon, the director of policy and research at the Trussell Trust foodbank group, stressed that among all the spending announcements on Wednesday “there just wasn’t enough for some of those in our society who need it the most”.
He added: “From the point of view of someone who represents food banks, I’m deeply disappointed by the Budget. Obviously it’s a welcome thing to see low-earning people being able to keep more of what they earn, don’t get me wrong, absolutely welcome that, but foodbanks are once again going to be left to pick up the pieces for people can’t work.
