Brexit – live: Threats to override NI Protocol ‘have gone down badly’ with EU

A Conservative MP has suggested people in the UK use food banks because they “cannot cook properly” and “cannot budget”.

Ashfield MP, Lee Anderson, invited “everybody” on the opposition benches in the House of Commons to visit a food bank in Ashfield, Notts, where, when people come for a food parcel, they now need to register for a “budgeting course” and a “cooking course”.

He claimed food bank users in his constituency are shown how to cook meals for “about 30 pence a day”.

When asked by a Labour MP if it should be necessary to have food banks in 21st century Britain, Mr Anderson said there is not “this massive use for food banks” in the UK, but “generation after generation who cannot cook properly” and “cannot budget”.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West), the subsequent speaker in the debate, told Mr Anderson people do not use food banks because they do not know how to cook, but because “we have poverty in this country at a scale that should shame his Government”.

Mr Anderson told MPs: “My invitation is to everybody on that side of the House, come to Ashfield and work with me for a day in my food bank and see the brilliant scheme we have got in place where when people come now, for a food parcel, they have to register for a budgeting course and a cooking course.

“And what we do in the food bank, we show them how to cook cheap and nutritious meals on a budget. We can make a meal for about 30 pence a day. And this is cooking from scratch.”

Intervening, Labour MP, Alex Cunningham (Stockton North), asked: “Should it be necessary to have food banks in 21st century Britain?”

Mr Anderson replied: “He makes a great point and this is exactly my point. So, I invite you personally to come to Ashfield, look at our food bank, how it works and I think you will see first hand that there’s not this massive use for food banks in this country but generation after generation who cannot cook properly, they can’t cook a meal from scratch. They cannot budget. The challenge is there. Come, come. I’ll offer anybody.”

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Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said that people in Northern Ireland want their local politicians to be making decisions at Stormont.

He said: “Parties here in Northern Ireland need to make decisions for themselves in the context of, hopefully, the election of a speaker this week so that an Assembly can function.

“Obviously we need to work towards finding a way towards an Executive being set up to function as well. I think people in Northern Ireland want Northern Ireland politicians making decisions on their behalf.

“We are here to support that. We have had really positive and direct and blunt conversations this morning with Sinn Fein, with the UUP, with Alliance, we are meeting the SDLP. I spoke to Jeffrey Donaldson in the last few days.

“The Irish Government wants to be a constructive part of what is a difficult process to get devolved government up and running and to get the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement functioning again.”

He added: “The conversations have been constructive, particularly with the UUP. I recognise that many in the unionist community have serious reservations in relation to the protocol and its implementation and the consequences for trade with Great Britain.

“We are in the space of trying to address those concerns where possible but also being honest about the parameters within which we have to try and address those concerns.”

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said threats from the UK government to override elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol “have gone down really badly” with the EU.

Speaking during a visit to Belfast, where he is meeting political leaders, Mr Coveney said: “We don’t believe that the way forward in terms of solving outstanding issues can be done unilaterally by either side.

“The way to solve outstanding issues in relation to Brexit and the protocol and Northern Ireland is through partnership, through compromise and through working these issues out together in a way that both sides can move on.”

He said: “The briefing that we have seen of the British media coming from Foreign Secretary (Liz) Truss and others has gone down really badly across the European Union who believe that the Commission has been showing a willingness to compromise, wants ongoing technical discussion to work out solutions and common ground.

“What they are hearing and seeing from London is a rejection of that approach, towards a breach of international law and setting aside elements of a treaty which the British Government was central to putting in place with the EU.

“That hasn’t gone down well and I hope that decision makers in Westminster will reflect on that.”

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Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry has urged against UK unilateral action on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“We hear the briefings that are gaining momentum in terms of London and we feel any move to unilaterally scrap parts of the protocol would be grossly irresponsible on the part of the UK government,” he said.

“They would add to instability in Northern Ireland, not solve things. They would leave the UK government in breach of its international obligations and send a terrible message to the international community.”

Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused Priti Patel of being “afraid” to take questions during her speech.

She said there was an “astonishing refusal by the Home Secretary to take interventions and questions from the shadow home secretary”.

She added: “I have been taking part in Queen’s Speech debates for 25 years and I have never seen a Government minister at the despatch box afraid to take questions from her opposite number.”

As Ms Cooper spoke, MPs on both sides of the House exchanged remarks and Ms Patel accused one Labour MP of making “sexist” comments.

Ms Patel, during her speech, described how the National Security Bill would “make it an offence to be a covert spy on our soil” and introduce new offences to address foreign interference and assisting a foreign intelligence service.

Shadow Home Office minister Holly Lynch asked if the Bill “will clarify, would it have been inappropriate or unlawful for a foreign secretary to have met with a former KGB officer, as we understand the Prime Minister did back in April of 2018?”

Ms Patel said she would not comment on the “specific example” given. She said the question demonstrated the “disdain” Labour shows to the “significance of the threats that are posed”.

Priti Patel has claimed immigration lawyers and Labour members have often begged her not to deport “dangerous foreign criminals”.

Detailing the expected overhaul of the Human Rights Act, the Home Secretary said: “Our Bill of Rights will reinforce freedom of speech and recognise trial by jury. It will strengthen our common law traditions and reduce our reliance on Strasbourg case law.

“Crucially, the Bill of Rights will restore public confidence and curb the abuse of the human rights framework by criminals. This is a welcome and much-needed update 20 years after the Human Rights Act came into force and it will apply to the whole of the United Kingdom.

“Human rights are not something that should only be extended to criminals. In what has to be the most twisted logic I have seen as Home Secretary, I have lost count of the number of representations I have received from immigration lawyers and Labour members opposite begging me not to deport dangerous foreign criminals.”

A new Public Order Bill will be used to combat “guerrilla tactics” used by protesters, the home secretary has said.

Priti Patel told the Commons: “This law and order Conservative government is introducing several bills in this Parliamentary session that will further help prevent crime and deliver justice.”

She described the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act as a “major step forward”, but said elements of it had been “frustrated by the unelected” House of Lords and opposition MPs.

Ms Patel added: “We will not be deterred from our duty to protect the law-abiding majority from mob rule and the thuggery that we have seen, and the Public Order Bill combats the guerrilla tactics that bring such misery to the hardworking public, that disrupts business, interferes with emergency services, costs taxpayers millions and puts lives at risk.”

She later said a new criminal offence of “locking on and going equipped to lock on” would be introduced to “criminalise the act of attaching yourself to other people, objects or buildings to cause serious disruption and harm”.

Priti Patel said the UK is a “hospitable” and “charitable” country but insisted “our capacity to support over 18 million people worldwide who are on the move is not limitless”.

The Home secretary told the Commons: “We are hospitable and charitable as a country but our capacity to support over 18 million people worldwide who are on the move is not limitless, and many others on the party opposite and the opposite benches do not seem to understand that.

“Well, we do. That is why we have developed our world-leading migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda to deter illegal entry.

“We are providing solutions to the global migration challenges countries across the world are facing.

“But, of course, as ever, we hear very little from the party opposite, who seem to support the same old broken system and uncontrolled migration to our country.”