Brexit news – live: UK deliberately undermined trust with EU, says Irish minister, as trade with bloc slumps

Stephanie Flanders, head of economics at Bloomberg, said economists concluded that even an extraordinary trade deal with the US would not come close to replacing the trade lost through Brexit.

“You’d need to find four or five Americas to do a trade deal with and unfortunately there is only one America, there’s only one economy we could get that kind of benefit from,” she told BBC Newsnight.

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister accused, the UK of “perverse nationalism” and “narrow-minded thinking” in attempting to race ahead of the EU to reach a trade deal with Washington alone.

In his Times interview, Mr Coveney said: “The idea that Britain can get their first is narrow-minded thinking, frankly. It’s a perverse nationalism when actually Britain and the EU should work together as partners.”

When later pressed on his remark in a separate interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Coveney appeared to soften his language, saying: “I was asked a question about a transatlantic trade deal and I said I don’t think it makes any sense for some in the UK to see this as a race to see who can get a trade deal with the US first.”

He added: “We should be looking at a transatlantic trade deal that involves the EU, the UK, the US and Canada and others if they want to be involved.

“We all run economies that are based on very similar rules and structures and in my view a transatlantic relationship involving Britain should be a powerful one economically and globally.”

Several politicians have marked the 25th anniversary of the Dunblane massacre, in which 16 primary school pupils and their teacher were killed by a mass shooter.

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the victims are “forever in our hearts” and flags at the Scottish parliament were lowered to half-mast in memory.

Residents of the small, Scottish town where the massacre took place will mark the occasion privately as ever, a local minister said.

The first minister was joined by Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Tories, in marking the anniversary.

Boris Johnson also spared thoughts for the victims and survivors of the tragedy.

A “National Day of Reflection” will be held on the anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 lockdown, with the backing of political leaders including Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford.

On Tuesday 23 March – a year after a sombre Boris Johnson imposed the first lockdown – a nationwide minute’s silence will be held at midday, bells will tool and and, at 8pm, prominent buildings and iconic landmarks will be lit up across the UK.

Several other events will also be staged to mark the occasion.

The prime minister has thrown his weight behind the idea, saying: “My thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and who have not been able to pay tribute to them in the way they would have wanted.”

The government is seeking further views from the public on how to tackle violence against women and girls in response to calls for attitudes to change following the Sarah Everard case, with many saying the onus should be on men to stop the attacks.

The Home Office is reopening a public consultation that will help shape an update of its strategy on tackling violence against women and girls.

An online survey forming part of the consultation had received more than 15,000 responses from across the UK. Now, many more people are expected to give their views.

Competition between the UK and EU following Brexit has got out of hand, Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney said in his Times interview.

Touting his anglophile credentials, a love of cricket and lager among them, Mr Coveney shared his fears over the competitive nature of the two sides’ new relationship.

“We need to work together as friends and neighbours as opposed to seeing this as some kind of arm wrestle between the UK and EU where one side tries to get one over on the other,” Mr Coveney said, referring to attempts by both sides to woo America’s new president and the UK’s boasts over its successful vaccine rollout.

“The world is too divided a place for the EU and the UK to have that kind of fractious relationship,” he said.

“Rather than the EU and UK competing for attention in Washington, looking to be first to do a trade deal, it makes sense for UK, EU and US and Canada to do one together.”

“This idea that Britain can get there first is narrow minded thinking, frankly. It’s a perverse nationalism when actually Britain and the EU should work together as partners.”

The government’s move to unilaterally extend the post-Brexit grace period for goods shipped into Northern Ireland must have been calculated to “undermine the trust” between the UK and EU, Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney said.

The UK decided to extend the grace period – allowing importers time to adjusto new checks and procedures at the border – without EU approval, but member states have backed a proposal by the European Commission to take legal action against the decision.

“This move this week by the British government will force a much more rigid legalistic approach to negotiation because there simply isn’t the relationship and the trust there to find a way forward,” Mr Coveney said in an interview with The Times.

“I hope there won’t be legal action as it could reinforce the division, I hope we can resolve this through discussion.

“But David Frost is an experienced negotiator, this was a deliberate move. They must have calculated it would undermine the trust between London and Brussels.”

At least 30 Tory MPs could rebel in a vote on the Trade Bill unless ministers accept the so-called genocide amendment that aims to prevent trade deals with countries deemed to be committing atrocities, The Independent has been told.

The latest threatened rebellion follows a third crushing defeat for the government in the House of Lords over the issue that has been given renewed focus amid international outcry over allegations of human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in China’s Xinjiang province.

The amendment calls for the creation of a “parliamentary judicial committee” of five members of the Lords who have held senior positions in the judiciary, differing from an earlier, narrowly defeated, amendment that would have given the decision-making power to the High Court.

Political Correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the details:

Sinn Fein’s leader Mary Lou McDonald has criticised Boris Johnson for refusing to meet to discuss legacy issues and the fallout from Brexit.

Ms McDonald said Mr Johnson was trying to “evade his responsibilities” over investigating legacy killings in Northern Ireland:

The majority of Britons believe Brexit has been bad for the economy and trade, according to newpolling for The Independent.

The findings offer the first indication that the damage caused by leaving the EU’s single market and customs union in January is cutting through with voters.

Official statistics showed on Friday a precipitous 40.7 per cent fall in goods sales to the EU in January, with experts blaming Brexit for a large chunk of the lost exports.

Boris Johnson has said the Northern Ireland protocol is not operating as he had expected.

The prime minister said he did not think arrangements he agreed with the EU would involve restrictions on the movements of food products such as sausages, on parcel deliveries and on soil from Great Britain entering Northern Ireland.

In a virtual press conference on a visit to the region, Mr Johnson said: “It needs to be corrected, you can’t have a situation in which soil or parcels or tractors with mud on their tyres or whatever are prevented from moving easily from one part of the UK to another – it’s all one United Kingdom.”

Asked about several legal challenges against the protocol, he said: “Before we get to other people’s legal actions against the protocol, what we want to see is to work with our friends in Dublin, in Brussels, to make sure that we iron this thing out, because at the moment it feels to me like it’s not operating in the way that it’s intended to do,” he said.

“It’s there to protect the EU single market but also the UK single market and the Good Friday Agreement, and all we’re looking for is some balance and some common sense.

“There are more immediate ways of addressing the issues with the protocol and more practical and commonsensical ways than doing it through the courts.”

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of politics today.