Markus Andrews

Some of the poorest families in the country have yet to receive the £150 council tax rebate promised by chancellor Rishi Sunak to ease soaring energy bills, a leading charity has warned.National Energy Action said many of the hardest-pressed people in England and Wales who do not pay their council tax via direct debit were still waiting for their payment.Local authorities were expected to distribute the £150 rebate when the energy price cap was raised in April, but say they are struggling to pay the one-off sum to everyone. More

Brexit red tape is far worse for British exports to the EU than to Northern Ireland, a store chief is warning – with some information demanded in Latin and a particular typeface.Archie Norman, the chair of Marks and Spencer, revealed the mountain of bureaucracy that is making international trade impossible for small producers, leading many to give up entirely.The UK is preparing legislation to shred the Northern Ireland Protocol, arguing talks with the EU have failed to make the progress necessary to remove costly red tape. More

The European Commission has warned it will retaliate and use “all measures at its disposal” if the UK presses ahead with a threatened bill to override the Northern Ireland Protocol.It comes after Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, proposed new legislation overwriting parts of the post-Brexit deal, telling MPs in it will be published in the “coming weeks”.The cabinet minister argued the Good Friday Agreement is “under strain” and that it is “necessary to act” to ensure the Northern Ireland executive can be restored.Although Ms Truss did not specifically mention the European Court of Justice, Ms Truss said ”governance” would be overhauled – code for ending the remit of the ECJ.She added the legislation would create new ‘green’ and ‘red’ channels for goods travelling from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland, setting up a “trusted trader” scheme.The proposals, however, triggered an immediate response from Brussels, with the European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic saying he had “significant concerns” about the plan. He said that “unilateral actions contradicting an international agreement are not acceptable”.In his statement, Mr Sefcovic also warned of retaliatory measures, saying: “Should the UK decide to move ahead with a bill disapplying constitutive elements of the Protocol as announced today by the UK government, the EU will need to respond with all measures at its disposal.“Our overarching objective is to find joint solutions within the framework of the Protocol. That is the way to ensure legal certainty and predictability for people and businesses in Northern Ireland.”With political will and commitment, practical issues arising from the implementation of the Protocol in Northern Ireland can be resolved. The European Commission stands ready to continue playing its part, as it has from the outset.While Ms Truss’s proposed actions were welcomed by some Tory MPs, Simon Hoare, the chair of the Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, questioned if the government is committed to honouring the rule of law.He began by quoting Margaret Thatcher’s commitment to the rule of law, adding: “Respect for the rule of law runs deep in our Tory veins. I find it extraordinary that a Tory government needs to be reminded of that.“Could [Liz Truss] assure me that support for and honouring of the rule of law is what she and the Government is committed to?”The cabinet minister replied: “I can assure him that we are committed to upholding the rule of law, we’re clear that this bill is legal in international law and we will set out the legal position in due course.” More

William Hague has attacked Boris Johnson’s decision to shelve his obesity action plan as weak and immoral, warning Britain will pay a high price for it.The former Conservative leader said the U-turn – delaying action on cheap fatty foods and TV advertising of them – will be added to the “long history of failed obesity strategies”.Tory MPs who pushed the prime minister into the climbdown are “acquiescing in a future of higher dependence, greater costs, reduced lifestyle choice and endless pain,” he warned. More

A new bill to override the Northern Ireland Protocol will target the role of European judges and give UK big tax powers, setting up a momentous clash with the EU.Liz Truss revealed the legislation will go much further than seeking to ease border checks in the Irish Sea – increasing the chances that it will provoke a damaging trade war with Brussels.It would go to the heart of the 2019 agreement, hailed as “fantastic” by Boris Johnson at the time, by removing European Court of Justice jurisdiction over disputes relating to Northern Ireland.And it would allow the government to set VAT rates and decide on subsidies in the province, the foreign secretary told MPs.The legislation has not yet been published, but is expected to be released within weeks – at which point the EU is likely to set out its plans to retaliate.In a statement to the Commons, Ms Truss argued it is “necessary to act to ensure the institutions [in Northern Ireland] can be restored as soon as possible”.And, to some jeers, she insisted the dramatic move is “consistent with our obligations in international law”.Labour warned of “wide-ranging and damaging repercussions”, questioning whether future potential trade partners would want to strike deals with a country that breaks its word.And it raised fears of “fuelling divisions with our European allies”, when the priority should be to help Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion.Justifying the move to seize back control of tax-setting powers in Northern Ireland, Ms Truss pointed to the inability to cut VAT on “solar panels”, in line with the rest of the UK.“The rules on taxation mean citizens in Northern Ireland are unable to benefit fully from the same advantages as the rest of the UK,” she argued.Although she did not specifically mention the European Court of Justice, Ms Truss said ”governance” would be overhauled – code for ending the remit of the ECJ.The legislation would create new ‘green’ and ‘red’ channels for goods travelling from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland, setting up a “trusted trader” scheme.Only goods destined for the Republic of Ireland would be subject to customs checks and tough penalties for any traders attempting to dodge the rules.Ms Truss is inviting Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice-president, for talks in London to discuss the new proposals.However, there appears to be little hope of progress, after the UK rejected EU proposals to remove many of the current checks.The UK has refused to sign up to EU veterinary rules, seen by many as the key to reducing the need for much of the bureaucracy, which hits transport of food goods hardest. More

The British government dramatically escalated a fight with the European Union on Tuesday by saying it will pass a law to change the trade treaty signed by the two sides less than two years ago.Britain says its move to scrap parts of the legally binding treaty is an insurance policy in case it can’t reach agreement with the bloc to end a long-running dispute over post-Brexit trade rules.The threat of legislation is sure to rile the EU, which accuses Prime Minister Boris Johnson of trying to wriggle out of a deal that his government negotiated and signed as part of the U.K.’s exit from the bloc in 2020. It raises the specter of a trade war between Britain and the 27-nation bloc that is — even after Brexit — its major economic partner.Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the move “is consistent with our obligations in international law.”Truss said the bill will be published in the coming weeks, and she hopes to keep up talks with the bloc in the meantime.“Our preference is to reach a negotiated outcome with the EU,” Truss said.Britain says post-Brexit trade rules are hurting the economy and undermining peace in Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that shares a border with an EU member state.When Britain left the bloc and its borderless free-trade zone, a deal was 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.The arrangement is opposed by British unionists in Northern Ireland, who say the new checks have put a burden on businesses and frayed the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.The Democratic Unionist Party, Northern Ireland’s biggest unionist party, is blocking the formation of a new regional government in Belfast until the checks are scrapped.Under power-sharing rules set up as part of Northern Ireland’s peace process, a government can’t be formed without the cooperation of both unionist and nationalist parties.The British government agrees that the trade regulations, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, are destabilizing a peace agreement that relies on support from both Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist communities.While the DUP wants the Protocol scrapped, most other parties in Northern Ireland want to keep it, with tweaks to ease the burden on businesses. Johnson says his government wants to fix, rather than scrap, the arrangements, using technology and trusted-trader programs to create a check-free “green lane” for goods destined for Northern Ireland that are at little risk of entering the EU.“There are too many companies, including major supermarkets, at the moment who have no stores in the Republic of Ireland, who are moving their products from their depots in Great Britain into Northern Ireland for sale and consumption in Northern Ireland, but going through checks as if they were going into the EU,” said the U.K.’s Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis.The British government hopes its threat of legislation — which would take months to pass through Parliament — will increase pressure on the EU to compromise.The bloc insists the legally binding Brexit treaty can’t be renegotiated, though it is willing to be flexible about how it is implemented. The EU could hit back at Britain with legal action, and potentially trade sanctions, if Britain does not back down.Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Monday that Britain’s stance “calls into question” the entire post-Brexit trade agreement that the U.K. and the bloc hammered out in months of rancorous negotiations.___More AP coverage of Brexit: https://apnews.com/hub/brexit More

Boris Johnson has admitted signing up to the trade barriers created by the Northern Ireland Protocol – while saying he hoped the EU would not “apply” them.The prime minister gave the clearest acknowledgement yet that the costly red tape is the consequence of the Brexit deal he signed in 2019 and hailed as “fantastic’ at the time.On his visit to Belfast, Mr Johnson was told he “must be furious with whoever signed up to a deal this bad”.It was pointed out that the checks required from creating a trade border in the Irish Sea were all set out clearly in a government impact assessment, in 2019.A leaked Treasury paper the same year, warned the Protocol would be “highly disruptive” to the Northern Ireland economy” and would push up the price of high street goods.Mr Johnson and other ministers have repeatedly accused Brussels of implementing the trade checks in a way not justified by the terms of the withdrawal agreement.But the prime minister switched tack, telling Channel 4 News: “I hoped and believed that our friends would not necessarily want to apply the Protocol in quite the way that they have.”Chris Bryant, a Labour MP, protested: “He told a lie to the British public. Again he tells allies the UK word cannot be trusted.”In a separate interview, Mr Johnson was asked if the crisis and the risk of a trade war with the EU is “a direct consequence of the deal you signed,” replying: “Yes absolutely.”Talks to try to find a solution are on ice, with London and Brussels accusing the other of refusing to compromise to reach a deal to prevent the worst of the extra bureaucracy.Instead, Mr Johnson is pressing ahead with unilateral action to override the Protocol through new legislation – almost certainly in breach of international law.The 2019 impact assessment directly contradicts UK denials that the checks were not intended, stating:* On customs, that checks will be implemented “on trade moving East-West between Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.* On food checks, that they would include “identity, documentary and physical checks by UK authorities as required by the relevant EU rules”.* That agri-foods must “enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain via a Border Inspection Post or designated point of entry as required under EU law”.Mr Johnson dismissed fears of a damaging trade war – or even the tearing up of the entire Christmas 2020 trade deal – if he rejects cooperation with the EU.Asked if he is concerned, he replied: “No, not at all, because for us and for me, the legal hierarchy is so clear, our international legal obligations are so clear.“Our prime duty, our primary legal duty, is to the balance the symmetry of the Belfast, Good Friday agreement.” More

Foreign spies are using online networking sites to target thousands of Government officials, high-tech businesses and academics, the head of MI5 has warned.The Security Service’s director general, Ken McCallum, said more than 10,000 “disguised approaches” had been made by agents seeking to build relationships with their targets.The Government warned that fake profiles were being created on sites including LinkedIn and Facebook on an “industrial scale”, with many being used as a ruse in an attempt to gain information relating to national security.The Government’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure has launched a new app aimed at preventing people from being duped by fake accounts.

Foreign spies are actively working to build relationships with those working in Government, in high-tech business and in academiaKen McCallum, MI5Mr McCallum said: “MI5 has seen over 10,000 disguised approaches on professional networking sites from foreign spies to people up and down the UK.“Foreign spies are actively working to build relationships with those working in Government, in high-tech business and in academia.”He said the Think Before You Link app helps those who may be receiving disguised approaches to conduct their own “digital due diligence” checks before accepting unknown contacts online.Current and former civil servants can be attractive targets because of their experience.The app will boost the support and advice which Government staff, particularly those working on sensitive policy, already receive. More