Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson and US president Joe Biden are at odds over a plane to cut the production of green fuels in a bid to free up land for food production.The prime minister wants G7 leaders to temporarily cut the amount of grain produced for biofuels, claiming the process is pushing up the cost of food.Britain is backed by Germany – also pushing for a temporary waiver on their biofuel commitments – but the US and Canada are against the move.American officials have said Mr Biden will block the plan in a bid to protect the lucrative US market for ethanol and biodiesels and the country’s climate change commitments.German officials are downbeat on the chances of an agreement. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to expect the other G7 countries will reject a temporary waiver on the green fuels.Asked about the US torpedoing the plan, environment secretary George Eustice told Sky News: “We should still argue for the right thing. They disagree with it because they are thinking as well about their fuel supply … We think that is misplaced.”Mr Johnson’s plan to scale back biofuel use would mean reneging on the government’s own net zero strategy in which it pledged to increase its production.The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said replacing fossil fuels with biofuels is one of the primary ways to decarbonise the transport sector.However, a growing number of environmentalists question the use of biofuels. Although it is a renewable form of energy, the water-intensive process uses a lot of agricultural land and has seen more deforestation.The think tank Green Alliance has said ending biofuel production in the UK would free up food for 3.5 million people and reduce food prices.Britain’s biofuel industry has grown from almost nothing in 2005 to an industry supplying 293 million litres in 2020 – largely to the transport industry, according to the governmentBut the huge amounts of land used to grow crops which go on to be burnt in combustion engines, is now under scrutiny with calls for farmers to return focus to food production instead.Ahead of talks on food security on Monday, Mr Johnson said: “From emergency food aid to reviewing our own biofuel use, the UK is playing its part to address this pernicious global crisis.”He said that Putin’s “craven blockade” of millions of tonnes of grain meant “the world’s poorest people are inching closer to starvation”.Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea has driven up global food prices, and aid charities have warned that it has placed 47 million people around the world on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.Around 25 million tonnes of corn and wheat cannot be exported and is currently at risk of rotting in Ukrainian silos.Almuth Ernsting, co-director of campaign group BiofuelWatch said: “Ending the use of food to make biofuels would immediately relieve food prices and protect millions from going without enough food.”Mr Johnson’s government will pledge £10m to help rebuild Ukraine’s railways in a bid to use trains to export grain trapped by Vladimir Putin’s blockade in the Black Sea.The PM said the UN plan to start negotiations involving Turkey to get grain out of Ukraine is a “non-starter” because Russia will continue to use food supply as a bargaining chip to ease sanctions.President Volodymyr Zelensky will urge the G7 to provide more military support on Monday, addressing leaders by video link from Kyiv as his country continues to come under attack from Putin’s missiles. More

Britain is ramping up a feud with the European Union by pressing on with a plan to rip up parts of the post-Brexit trade deal it signed with the bloc.Legislation that rewrites trade rules for Northern Ireland is scheduled to get its first major House of Commons debate on Monday, the first step on what could be a rocky journey through Parliament.The legislation, if approved by lawmakers, would remove checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K., thereby scrapping parts of a trade treaty that Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed before Britain left the EU in 2020.The British government says the rules are burdening businesses and undermining peace in Northern Ireland. It argues the unilateral move is justified under international law because of the “genuinely exceptional situation.” Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said Sunday that the aim was to “fix,” rather than throw out, the trade agreement, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.Johnson’s opponents, however, say the move is illegal and will shred Britain’s international reputation. It is also causing concern among some of the prime minister’s fellow Conservatives, already worried about Johnson’s judgment — and popularity — following a series of ethics scandals and two special election defeats.The EU has threatened to retaliate, raising the specter of a trade war between the two major economic partners.The bloc’s ambassador to Britain, Joao Vale de Almeida, said Britain’s plan was “illegal because it is a breach of international law, a breach of EU law, U.K. law and international law.”“It is a treaty that we signed, ratified and even went through a general election in this country,” he told Times Radio.Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. that shares a border with an EU country, Ireland. When Britain left the European Union and its borderless free-trade zone, the two sides agreed to keep the Irish land border free of customs posts and other checks because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.Instead, to protect the EU’s single market, there are checks on some goods, such as meat and eggs, entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.Johnson’s Conservative government claims overzealous EU implementation means the rules are not working as expected and are causing a political crisis in Northern Ireland. British unionists there say the checks are fraying the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., seen by some unionists as a threat to their British identity. Northern Ireland’s main unionist party is blocking the formation of a new power-sharing government in Belfast, saying it won’t take part until the Brexit trade rules are scrapped.“I want to see the reestablishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive, and the protocol is getting in the way of that,” Lewis told Sky News. “We have got to resolve that. That’s what this legislation will do.“Ultimately, we want to do this by agreement with the EU,” he added. “But to do that, they need to show some flexibility and actually come and negotiate in a flexible way.”___Follow all AP stories on Brexit at https://apnews.com/hub/Brexit More

New internet legislation will hand ministers “unprecedented” censorship powers, with significant implications for free speech, new research warns.The Government is facing calls to “slim down” its Online Safety Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, amid concerns over its impact on people’s freedoms and privacy, as well as innovation.The legislation is set to require platforms legally to protect users from harmful content for the first time, with penalties for breaching the new rules including fines that could run into billions of pounds for larger companies.

While the Government no doubt has good intentions, in its current form the Bill could end up being one of the most significant accidental infringements on free speech in modern timesDavid DavisCulture Secretary Nadine Dorries has said it will make the UK “the safest place in the world for our children to go online”.But former ministers have claimed the Bill “panders to the view of the perennially offended”, and could end up “one of the most significant accidental infringements on free speech in modern times”.A new briefing paper from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank warns that through the establishment of safety duties, the Bill risks digital platforms using automated tools in a “cautious and censorious” manner against content that is “only reasonably considered to be illegal”.It says the legislation will hand the Secretary of State and Ofcom “unprecedented powers to define and limit speech, with limited parliamentary or judicial oversight”. More

Boris Johnson’s government will pledge £10million to help rebuild Ukraine’s railways in a bid to use trains to export grain trapped by Vladimir Putin’s blockade in the Black Sea.The prime minister is set to call on fellow leaders to take urgent action to get essential food supplies out of Ukraine at the G7 Summit in Germany on Monday.Mr Johnson said the United Nations’ plan to get the grain out of Ukraine is a “non-starter” because Russia will continue to use food supply as a bargaining chip to ease sanctions.The PM argued that allies need to now consider plan B, as he pledged British expertise to help de-mine the Black Sea and upgrade rail infrastructure.“Global leaders need to come together and apply their combined economic and political heft to help Ukraine and make life easier for households across the world – nothing should be off the table,” he said.Russia’s actions have driven up global food prices, and aid charities have warned that the ongoing blockade has placed 47 million people around the world on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.Around 25 million tonnes of corn and wheat cannot be exported and is currently at risk of rotting in Ukrainian silos. In addition to blocking grain from leaving Ukraine via the Black Sea – the route by which 96 per cent of the country’s grain has historically been exported, Russian attacks are disrupting rail exports.Ukraine has upped the amount exported via rail, sending around 760,000 metric tonnes in early May, but it remains a tiny proportion of the amounts usually sent via the Black Sea. More

Boris Johnson rules out ‘psychological transformation’ to change his characterAt the G7 summit, Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron failed to discuss the subject of thousands of migrants risking their lives to cross the English Channel.The British and French leaders met at the summit in Germany’s Bavarian Alps, where they spoke about geopolitical crises such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine.But they did not address the situation which has seen more than 12,000 people cross the Channel so far this year.When asked why the boat crossings weren’t discussed, Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “There are very significant issues of geopolitical concern to discuss, not least the crisis in Ukraine.“They have talked about those issues previously and I’m sure they will again. But, obviously, on the eve of the G7, that’s pretty much, I’m sure, at the forefront of both of their minds.”Mr Johnson is expected to use the G7 to urge France and Germany to provide more military support to Ukraine.Back in the UK, he remains under pressure after a series of scandals and two damaging by-election losses.Show latest update

1656276647Thanks for following along with our live blog. We’re pausing it for the evening but here is the latest on the G7 summit. G7 leaders have been urged not to water down commitments on climate change amid growing fears they are set to pursue “disastrous” fossil fuel projects to ease supply problems stemming from the Ukraine war.There are growing fears of a shift back to coal and gas investment, as the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, UK, US and Canada kicked off three days of talks on the economy, energy and security issues in Bavaria on Sunday.Germany and Italy have announced plans to revive old coal plants as gas supplies from Vladimir Putin’s Russia dwindle, while Boris Johnson has hinted at support for a new mine in Cumbria.Holly Bancroft26 June 2022 21:501656273639ICYMI: PM warns Macron against giving Putin ‘licence to manipulate’In case you missed it…Boris Johnson has warned his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that any attempt now to settle the conflict in Ukraine will give Vladimir Putin a “licence to manipulate” other countries.At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr Macron had been criticised for negotiating with Putin and saying Russia must not be “humiliated”.Mr Johnson told Mr Macron that compromise will “only cause enduring instability” as the pair met to discuss the war at the G7 summit in Germany.Read the full story by Adam ForrestLamiat Sabin26 June 2022 21:001656271972Independent inquiry to review treatment of asylum seekers in ScotlandAn independent inquiry has been launched to look at the treatment of asylum seekers in Scotland during the pandemic.Campaigning organisation Refugees for Justice called for a review in the wake of stabbings at the Park Inn hotel in Glasgow which was being used to house asylum seekers during lockdown in 2020.On Sunday 26 June, the second anniversary of the incident, Refugees for Justice announced that it has commissioned an independent inquiry, which will be led by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.An inquiry report published on Sunday focused on events in Glasgow at the start of the first major Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, when 321 people seeking asylum were moved from their homes into hotels by Home Office contractors.Badreddin Abadlla Adam, 28, from Sudan, was shot dead by police after his knife attack at the Park Inn Hotel in Glasgow in June 2020, which injured six people including 42-year-old police constable David Whyte.The Home Office said it has undertaken a number of “significant changes to keep asylum seekers safe” since the incident.The report also mentions the case of Adnan Elbi who died in one of the hotels in May 2020.Lamiat Sabin26 June 2022 20:321656270032Ex-Tory MP says ‘police confiscated his guns in case he shot himself’Former Tory MP Neil Parish has claimed police took away his shotguns “for his own safety” after he was forced to resign for watching pornography in the Commons.Speaking to LBC’s Swarbrick On Sunday, he said: “The police very kindly and rightly took away, because I am a farmer you see I’ve got shotguns – so they took those away from me.”When asked why, he replied: “Because when you have blown up your parliamentary career for 12 years, you are not feeling in the best place, and they took them away for my own safety, not that I was going to shoot anybody else, in case I shot myself.“I did say to them in a moment of black humour, ‘I am a very bad shot, I will probably miss,’ but they didn’t naturally see the joke at the time, or nor was it very funny.”Full story here by Joe MiddletonLamiat Sabin26 June 2022 20:001656268232‘More than 30 MPs demand confidence vote in PM’ – reportThe Sunday Times is reporting that more than 30 MPs are understood to have submitted letters to the 1922 Committee of backbenchers.They are demanding a confidence vote in prime minister Boris Johnson’s leadership, three weeks after he narrowly won the last vote.Lamiat Sabin26 June 2022 19:301656266432PM threatened with legal action for delaying Covid public inquiryBoris Johnson is being threatened with legal action for failing to set a start date for his promised public inquiry into his handling of the Covid pandemic.The prime minister had said that the inquiry would be started in “spring 2022”.Now bereaved families have announced plans to explore a judicial review.Read the full story here by Rob MerrickLamiat Sabin26 June 2022 19:001656264668Decisions on steel tariffs to be made soon, Downing Street saysThe government said its decisions on steel tariffs would be made shortly and would “balance our international obligations and the national interest”.The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re consulting with foreign counterparts on our proposals before making a final decision ahead of the deadline.”The spokesman added: “There is more capacity to produce steel around the world than there is demand and that causes steel prices to be artificially low, damaging and potentially putting steel-makers in countries like ours, who can’t compete with lower prices, out of business.“So whilst the UK was a member of the EU, the EU placed tariffs on some steel products being imported into the EU, we kept those safeguards on when it left the EU, and also set up the TRA (Trade Remedies Authority) when we left.“Following the review last year we extended the measures and the reasons were set out there now. We are considering our position now and we’ll come forward with our decision in due course.”PA26 June 2022 18:311656262814PM: ‘Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine in face of 1922 committee’Boris Johnson has suggested that Vladimir Putin would have not invaded Ukraine earlier this year if he had the 1922 Committee of Tory backbench MPs “on his case”.The PM made the claim at the G7 summit in an interview with CNN.Read the full story here by Adam ForrestLamiat Sabin26 June 2022 18:001656259259Brexit allowed UK to lead on Ukraine crisis, claims PMBoris Johnson claimed that the UK would have not been able to be at the forefront of providing support for Ukraine if it was still in the EU.When asked if the UK is better off after Brexit, the PM told CNN: “It is (better off)”, before mentioning the Covid vaccine response and the ability to strike trade deals.He added: “We are able to change some of our regulations to take back control of our borders. We are no longer spending shedloads of money on projects that we couldn’t control. And that was a good decision.”Mr Johnson went on: “I don’t think that the UK within the European Union and within the kind of matrix of the common foreign policy and security policy that we then had, I don’t think that we would have been out in front, as the first European country to arm the Ukrainians, to give them the wherewithal to protect themselves.”Lamiat Sabin26 June 2022 17:001656258314Unite says Labour’s refusal to back potential BA strike is ‘new low’Unite the union has criticised Labour’s refusal to back a potential British Airways (BA) strike as a “new low”.Earlier today, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has said he “categorically” does not support a potential strike by BA check-in staff, who are being balloted by Unite and GMB.Speaking to BBC and Sky News, the Tottenham Labour MP said the party continues to support negotiations and a deal when it comes to disputes over pay, jobs and working conditions.Mr Lammy said: “All of us are feeling the pinch with inflation. Many of us might want a (pay) rise of 10%; in truth, most people understand it’s unlikely that you’re going to get that.“It absolutely would not be right, it would not be responsible opposition if I suggested yes to every strike.” More

Boris Johnson has suggested that Vladimir Putin would have not invaded Ukraine earlier this year if he had the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers “on his case”.Speaking at the G7 summit, the prime minister boasted to CNN that he had “a new mandate for my party” after squeaking through the recent confidence vote arranged by the powerful Tory committee.“I’m very happy … I got a higher percentage of the parliamentary votes than I did the first time. So, I’m very happy, we will move forward,” he said on the challenge by Tory rebels.“I think the great thing about democracy is that leaders are under scrutiny and that I do have, even though you say I got things going on back home, that’s a good thing. I have got people on my case, I have got people making arguments,” said Mr Johnson.The PM added: “Do you really think that Vladimir Putin would have launched an invasion of another sovereign country if he’d had people to listen to properly … arguing, if he’d had a committee of backbenchers, the 1922 Committee, on his case?”It comes as Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said the 1922 Committee rules should not be changed to allow a second confidence vote against Mr Johnson within 12 months – despite his own calls for the PM to resign.Current rules state that confidence votes can only be held once a year. But Tory MP Andrew Bridgen has outlined plans to stand for the 1922 Committee’s executive role on a manifesto pledge to change the rules.Speaking on BBC’s Sunday Show, Mr Ross said: “I’m a member of the 1922 Committee but I’m not on the executive committee and it is for the executive committee to look at rule changes.”He added: “I personally don’t think we should change the rules midway through a process. I think that’s the wrong way to do it.”Senior Tory MP Tim Loughton said on Sunday that ministers who oppose Mr Johnson should have the courage to resign, a senior Tory MP says – arguing that would provide the “momentum” to force him from power.Meanwhile, Mr Johnson also claimed that the UK would have not been able to be at the forefront of providing support for Ukraine if it was still in the EU.Asked if the UK was better off after Brexit, the PM told CNN “it is [better off]”, before mentioning Britain’s Covid vaccine response and its ability to strike new trade deals.The PM added: “We are able to change some of our regulations to take back control of our borders. We are no longer spending shedloads of money on projects that we couldn’t control. And that was a good decision.”Mr Johnson went on: “I don’t think that the UK within the European Union… I don’t think that we would have been out in front, as the first European country to arm the Ukrainians, to give them the wherewithal to protect themselves.” More

Boris Johnson is being threatened with legal action for stalling on the promised public inquiry into his handling of the Covid crisis, with no date set for it to start.Bereaved families have announced plans to explore a judicial review – accusing the prime minister of breaking a pledge that the probe would get underway in “spring 2022”.It has been six months since the former Court of Appeal judge Heather Hallett was picked to lead the inquiry and more than six weeks since she recommended terms of reference, they said.The delay is a breach of the 2005 Inquiries Act, which requires the government to announce an inquiry’s start date “within a reasonable time” of appointing its chair, it is argued.The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign called the wait of more than six months “unprecedented and totally inexplicable”.“In the vast majority of inquiries, a setting-up date is given within days or weeks of the chair being appointed,” said Elkan Abrahamson, the group’s legal representative.“The consequences are extremely serious, as it only becomes a criminal offence to destroy or tamper with evidence after the inquiry’s start date.“By failing to give one, the prime minister is opening the door to key evidence being destroyed.” More

Brandon Lewis has been criticised for referring to train driver’s salaries while discussing the RMT rail strike – just a day after Boris Johnson did the same thing.The Northern Ireland secretary appeared on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme where he said train drivers were earning between £56,000 and £70,000.He added that the dispute – which prompted industrial action on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday – is an “issue between the employer and unions” and that people want to see a resolution.However Mr Lewis’s use of the higher figures that train drivers earn is said to be misleading as most are represented by another union, ASLEF, while the RMT acts on behalf of lower paid workers such as cleaners and train guards.In an interview while in Kigali, Rwanda, the prime minister made a similar comment while bemoaning the strike action and the wages of train drivers.He received a swift riposte online from RMT, who said on Twitter: “Can someone please tell the man with the wallpaper made of gold that this is not a train drivers strike!”For example, train guards earn between £23,000-£36,000 while track maintenance staff receive wages of between £16,000-£34,000.RMT boss Mick Lynch has repeatedly made the point that most of the staff involved in the pay and conditions dispute with Network Rail and train operator firms are on between £25,000 and £30,000.According to the ONS the median household disposable income in the UK in 2021 was £31,400.After the latest walk out on Saturday Mr Lynch did not rule out further strike action with little sign of a breakthrough in discussions between the union and rail operators.Speaking outside Euston station at a picket line, he said: “We’re not ruling out strikes but we have not put down any dates for any strike action.“We’re going to review with our national executive next week, who have been all the way round the country this week on the picket line, so we’re all going to get together the leadership of the union and see where we are.“We are not going to name dates immediately and we’re going to continue working constructively with the companies to strike a deal, but that is a really steep challenge at the moment because of the agenda they’ve got and the effects they want on our members.” More