A collapse in British exports to the Irish Republic since Brexit has handed Dublin an extraordinary trade surplus with London, according to new figures.
The Irish government says new trading red tape explains the plunge in the value of goods sales – 47.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year – compared with the start of 2020. It suggests companies in the Republic have switched from buying products directly from EU countries, rather than from across the Irish Sea.
It comes as the mobile network EE announced it would join O2 in bringing back roaming charges for new customers who use their phones in Europe. It forms part of plans to change how customers are treated on the continent post-Brexit.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said “radical changes” need to be made to the Northern Ireland Protocol. “That’s what’s necessary,” he told reporters today, after the EU’s ambassador to the UK said the bloc was “turning regulations upside down to try and find a solution to” the so-called “sausage war” between Britain and Brussels.
Scottish Greens demand leaders call out SNP for ‘transphobic’ past
Hundreds of Scottish Green members have written to their co-leaders to ask why their party should agree to formal co-operation with the SNP, which they claim has “little to no respect for trans people”.
An open letter from 155 members to Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater calls on them to challenge the SNP over its record on trans issues.
With the Scottish Greens about to engage in talks on formalising a working arrangement with the SNP at Holyrood, members are also urging the leadership to demand the government repeals the Prostitution Act of 2007 that criminalised the sale of sex in public.
Warning there is a “growing transphobia problem” in Scotland, the letter continues: “It is believed to this date that the SNP has not held a single member to account for transphobia despite multiple members breaking code of conduct.
Talks between Holyrood’s two pro-independence parties are due to take place over the summer recess, but Scottish Green rules require any pact to be approved by members.
Queen will travel to Scotland for traditional ‘Holyrood week’
The monarch will carry out engagements celebrating Scottish community, innovation and history between 28 June and 1 July, Buckingham Palace announced today.
She will stay at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, her official residence in Scotland, as she always does during this visit.
The Queen will be joined by her grandson the Duke of Cambridge for engagements on Monday, and then by her daughter the Princess Royal for engagements on Wednesday and Thursday, the palace said, adding she will visit Edinburgh, the capital, Glasgow and Stirling.
Many wondered if the trip would go ahead due to coronavirus, after it was cancelled last year, but as restrictions ease in both England and Scotland it seems the head of the Royal Family is determined to get back to normal.
In line with government guidelines, though, events hosting thousands of people such as the garden party at Holyroodhouse will not take place.
Govt calls experts’ warning on lack of climate action ‘wildly off the mark’
An analysis from the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee released on Thursday warned that progress on tackling emissions in key areas such as farming had been “woeful” and that not enough had been done to protect Britons from worsening climate impacts.
But it seems the government doesn’t agree… with its own advisers who issued the caution.
Lord Deben, the Conservative peer who chairs the CCC, said the government’s recent climate commitments were “very good” – but warned not enough was being done to turn promises into action.
“There’s no doubt at all that the follow on from agreeing to net zero by 2050 has been, in policy terms, really very good, and sets a major example. The trouble is – the action,” he told a press briefing. “The delivery has just not been there.”
Our climate correspondent Daisy Dunne has the full report:
EE’s decision to reintroduce roaming ‘disappointing,’ says expert
A mobiles expert has said it will be interesting to see if Vodafone and Three follow in the footsteps of rivals EE and O2 to reintroduce roaming charges to customers visiting Europe.
Ernest Doku, from Uswitch.com, told PA the move was “hugely disappointing” especially “for consumers to see the situation change so quickly”.
“If you’re an existing EE customer, these charges won’t affect you yet, but make sure you check the small print if you’re due an upgrade in the coming months,” she advised.
“When it comes to travelling, don’t leave it till the last minute to check the roaming charges for your destination, and always use hotel and cafe wifi when on holiday where possible.”
George Osborne takes new job at the British Museum
Former chancellor George Osborne has been appointed as the next chairman of the British Museum.
Museum director Hartwig Fischer said Mr Osborne “knows the museum well and values the trust the museum enjoys around the world”.
Others took a less favourable view, with shadow heritage minister Alex Sobel reminding people that former MP had been “the architect of devastating cuts to funding arts and culture” between 2010 and 2016.
“He has enough jobs already, he doesn’t need another,” Mr Sobel added.
Labour accuses the government of ‘decimating’ the justice system
Shadow justice secretary David Lammy has hit out at the government over the large backlog of cases in the country’s Crown Courts.
New statistics reveal that a fifth of Crown Court cases have been outstanding for more than 12 months, while the average waiting time for cases to be heard has increased by 43 per cent from the previous year.
Mr Lammy said: “The Conservatives are forcing victims of rape, domestic abuse and violent assault to wait months and years for justice if they get it at all.
“This is the direct result of the government’s decade of court closures, combined with its incompetent response to the pandemic.
“Yesterday the prime minister apologised to rape victims. Now he must take urgent action to restore the justice system after his party has decimated it.”
Fears for European holidays deepen as Macron backs Merkel on ‘co-ordinated’ Covid measures
Those hoping to go on a European holiday this summer will be worried by what Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have been saying.
The French president backed the German chancellor’s call for the bloc to introduce a “co-ordinated approach” on travel restrictions from areas with large outbreaks of coronavirus variants.
Mr Macron told reporters: “We must all be vigilant because the much-talked-about Delta variant is coming, which spreads much more rapidly than the other variants and affects people who are not vaccinated or who only have had one dose.”
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the details:
Video: PM responds to Russia’s ‘barefaced lies’ accusation
Yesterday, Russia said it fired warning shots at a British vessel for allegedly entering its waters off Crimea.
However, the Ministry of Defence refuted this version of events, denying that shots had been fired in the direction of HMS Destroyer by a Russian patrol boat.
On a visit to New Normandy Barracks in Aldershot on Thursday, the prime minister was asked why Moscow had accused the UK of telling “barefaced lies” about the incident.
To which, Boris Johnson replied: “Well, they’re the bear. Those are not… that’s not my information and my understanding is that the carrier strike group proceeded in a way that you’d expect through international waters and in accordance with the law.”
Scottish Greens urge Holyrood to abandon use of Amazon services
The Scottish government has been asked to stop using the services of web giant Amazon, after reports surfaced that its Fife-based warehouse destroys unsold items.
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater pushed MSPs to end a deal for “web services”, which last year cost Holyrood millions. She also urged Nicola Sturgeon during FMQs to enshrine circular economy principles in law to curb the waste said to take place at the warehouse.
“(Amazon) is a company that has refused to pay the living wage, uses zero-hour contracts and keeps its workers in such a state of desperation that some of them are reduced to sleeping in tents,” she said, before asking Ms Sturgeon “when her government will stop giving Amazon money”.
Ms Sturgeon said the government ensures fair work conditions are attached to any grants given by Scottish Enterprise – Holyrood’s commercial wing – but added she was willing to look into Ms Slater’s specific grants.
Rees-Mogg defends govt spending Covid cash on union polling
Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said today it was “completely proper and justifiable” of the government to use Covid-allocated cash to fund polling on attitudes to the union.
He was defending the government’s spending, arguing the polling helped inform a communications strategy linked to messages about staying at home and wearing face masks during the pandemic.
The Herald Scotland newspaper had reported a request to poll attitudes to the union was submitted as part of a Covid-19 contract given to Public First, prompting the SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford to call for a “full public inquiry” during PMQ’s on Wednesday.
Downing Street since said “every responsible government” would conduct research to understand the public’s views on issues around the pandemic.
“We recognise that health is a devolved matter but there are elements where there is a UK government response required,” the PM’s spokesman told reporters.
