Keir Starmer said on Monday that the government’s plan to override elements of the Northern Ireland protocol will reduce the chances of an agreement with the EU.
The Labour leader said that issues with Brussels could be resolved “around the negotiating table with statecraft” and not with legislation that “breaches international law” and will impede negotiations.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson insisted the plan to effectively override parts of the Brexit deal with the EU was “not a big deal”.
The legislation to amend the protocol unilaterally will be introduced in Parliament on Monday amid controversy over whether the legislation will break international law.
“What it does is create unnecessary barriers on east-west trade – what we can do is fix that. It’s not a big deal,” the prime minister said on a visit to Cornwall.
Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the plan would “ratchet up” tension and breach the UK’s international commitments and that the charges marked a particular “low point” in Brexit talks.
But Mr Johnson insisted the legislation would introduce “relatively simple” bureaucratic changes and warned it would be a “gross overreaction” if Brussels sought to retaliate by triggering a trade war.
ICYMI: Rwanda scheme: George Eustice says deporting migrants is ‘right thing to do’
Majority of MLAs oppose amendment to NI protocol
A majority of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Stormont have signed a joint letter to Boris Johnson stating their opposition to proposed legislation to amend the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The letter has been signed by 52 of the 90 MLAs. They represent Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Alliance Party.
The letter to Mr Johnson states that the signatories “reject in the strongest possible terms your Government’s reckless new protocol legislation, which flies in the face of the expressed wishes of not just most businesses, but most people in Northern Ireland”.
It continues that “whilst not ideal, the protocol currently represents the only available”.
Economy shrinking in April was due to end of mass Covid-19 testing, says No 10
Downing Street said the latest figures showing the economy shrinking in April were “significantly impacted” by the end of mass Covid-19 testing and “when we exclude the falling numbers of Covid tests, the rest of the economy saw positive growth of 0.1% in April”.
“So we are focused on growing the economy to reduce the cost of living and we will continue to work to create the conditions for economic growth,” the spokesman said.
“We think we have strong foundations within our economy which will help it to grow. We recognise there are strong headwinds as we emerge from this pandemic and with war in Europe. That is challenging not just for the UK but for countries across the world.”
The spokesman said it was “too early to pass judgment” on the impact of Brexit, particularly given the effects of the pandemic,
But “we are confident that the opportunities Brexit provides will be a boon to the UK economy in the long term”.
Labour leader is ‘confident’ he has done nothing wrong amid parliamentary investigation
Changes to NI protocol will be ‘damaging to mutual trust & a formula for uncertainty’, says Šefčovič
Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice president, said he spoke to Liz Truss this morning about the government’s planned changes to the NI protocol. He said it will be “damaging to mutual trust & a formula for uncertainty.”
Fuel prices investigated by watchdog as petrol hits new record high
Fuel prices are to be investigated by Britain’s competition watchdog as pump prices hit another record high despite Rishi Sunak’s 5p per litre tax cut.
The average cost of a litre of petrol at forecourts climbed to 185p on Sunday, according to the AA – an increase of 7.1p in just one week.
The RAC described the “speed and scale” of the rises as “staggering.”
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Monday it will conduct a “short and focused review” of prices at the request of Kwasi Kwarteng.
NI protocol bill will make agreement with EU harder, says Starmer
Keir Starmer said that the NI protocol bill being published today will reduce the chances of an agreement with the EU and the government is “going down the wrong track here”
The Labour leader said: “I think the answer to this is to accept there are some problems in the way the protocol works but they can be resolved around the negotiating table with statecraft, with guile, with trust.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have those in the current Prime Minister.
“They won’t be resolved with legislation that breaches international law and that, frankly, will impede the negotiations that, in the end, will be needed to settle this.
“So the Government is going down the wrong track here.”
Boris Johnson says plan to break Brexit treaty is ‘not a big deal’
Boris Johnson has insisted a plan to break parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit deal is “not a big deal”.
The prime minister was warned by Dublin this morning that the move would “deeply damage” relations between Britain and Europe if it went ahead.
But the prime minister insisted that the legislation amounted to “a relatively trivial set of adjustments” to deal with problems caused by the agreement he negotiated.
Jon Stone reports.
‘No plans’ to cut fuel duty, say No 10
Downing Street said there were “no plans” for a further cut in fuel duty despite prices at the pumps continuing to rise.
“We know this is challenging for families up and down the country and indeed in other countries which are all suffering from high oil and gas prices globally,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
But there were no plans for a further cut in duty, with the spokesman pointing to a £37 billion package of measures already announced to address the cost-of-living crisis, including the 5p duty cut introduced in March.
Downing Street also denied that the Exchequer was benefiting from a VAT windfall as a result of high pump prices.
“There is no VAT windfall, in fact the OBR forecast lower VAT receipts for this year than they did in the autumn,” the spokesman said.
“Increases in VAT from fuel are likely to be largely offset by reductions from VAT from other areas.”
Boris Johnson has ‘nothing but respect and admiration’ for Prince Charles amid Rwanda criticism
Boris Johnson has “nothing but respect and admiration” for the Prince of Wales after he reportedly criticised the Rwanda policy, Downing Street said on Monday.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has nothing but respect and admiration for the Prince of Wales, who’s spoken out on a number of issues, not least the environment.”
Mr Johnson’s response comes after reports that the heir to the throne said the policy was “appalling” and that he was uncomfortable with the scheme as he believed it would overshadow his upcoming visit to the country.
