Markus Andrews

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is heading to Northern Ireland on Monday to try to end a political deadlock that is preventing the formation of a regional administration. The trip comes amid threats by Johnson’s government to break the Brexit agreement with the European Union that it blames for the crisis.Voters in Northern Ireland elected a new Assembly this month, in an election that saw Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein win the most seats. It was the first time a party that seeks union with the Republic of Ireland has won an election in the bastion of Protestant unionist power.The Democratic Unionist Party came second and is refusing to form a government, or even allow the assembly to sit, until Johnson’s government scraps post-Brexit checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.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 nationalist and unionist parties.Johnson will urge political leaders in Belfast to get back to work and deal with “bread and butter” issues such as the soaring cost of living, his office said Sunday. It said he will also accuse the EU of refusing to give ground over post-Brexit border checks and warn that Britain will have a “necessity to act” unless the bloc changes its position.Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. that shares a border with the EU. When Britain left the bloc in 2020, 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, 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 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 British government agrees that the regulations are destabilizing Northern Ireland’s peace agreement, which relies on support from both Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist communities. The prime minister’s office said Sunday that the trade agreement — which Johnson’s government negotiated and signed — had “resulted in the unionist community feeling like its aspirations and identity are threatened.” The U.K. has said it may pass a law allowing it to override parts of the Brexit treaty if the EU doesn’t agree to scrap the checks. If that happened the EU would hit back with legal action — and potentially trade sanctions. The 27-nation bloc is Britain’s biggest economic partner. Ivan Rogers, a former British ambassador to the EU, said “I think there’s a severe risk that we are heading into a trade war.” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Britain’s “saber-rattling and grandstanding” was undermining Northern Ireland peace “at a time when the world needs the Western world to be united, to be acting in concert to solve problems together.”“The last thing the EU wants, the last thing that Ireland wants, is tension with the U.K., particularly at the moment given what’s happening in Ukraine, Russian aggression, and the need to work together on an international stage,” he told Sky News. More

Priti Patel has repeatedly overridden Home Office legal advice on immigration and asylum cases, adding to record costs for the taxpayer, The Independent can reveal.The department spent £35.2m on legal bills for lost cases and paid out a further £9.3m to people wrongly held in immigration detention in 2020-21.The figures stand at their highest level since the Conservatives came to power, having rocketed from £17.1m and £2.2m respectively in five years.Home Office sources told The Independent that Ms Patel and other Home Office ministers had rejected legal advice in individual cases on numerous occasions. Legal experts had shown clear instances where “immediately settling cases offered best value to the taxpayer, and set best precedent for presenting future cases to the courts”, a Home Office source said.The revelation comes as the government prepares to spend an undisclosed amount on sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, following a £120m up-front payment for the deal, and follows an official warning from the Home Office’s top civil servant, Matthew Rycroft, who said that the department was “uncertain” whether the scheme offered “value for money”.According to Home Office sources, lawyers acting for the government had clearly advised when the department was likely to lose an asylum case in several instances. Such advice has been “overridden on several occasions”, they added.The overriding of advice by the home secretary came late at night, the Home Office sources said, with clear expectations of a swift response. One former official said Ms Patel would become “fixated on individual cases”, adding that she “regarded the need for legal processes or adhering to protocols as an inconvenience”.Interventions by Ms Patel and her ministers had slowed down cases, wasted taxpayers’ money and resulted in more court decisions against the government, they added.The claims came as figures released by the Home Office in its annual report showed a sharp increase in adverse legal costs, which are incurred when cases are not found in the government’s favour. Asylum and immigration decisions are made in the home secretary’s name, but the vast majority are delegated to officials, working from detailed guidance set out by the government according to its policies and the law.Civil servants and lawyers can choose to alert Ms Patel to cases that are particularly sensitive or high-profile, but sources say it is unusual for ministers to intervene themselves. The home secretary is entitled to override legal advice and order cases to proceed even if it is considered likely that the Home Office will lose in court. More

A statue of Margaret Thatcher was egged less than two hours after being installed in her home town of Grantham.Others voiced their disapproval of the new memorial to the divisive former prime minister, with several motorists booing loudly as they drove past.One man shouted “tear it down” while another said “this is no good for Grantham, is it?”The £300,000 statue was lowered into place in the Lincolnshire town on Sunday after plans to put it in Parliament Square in London were opposed due to fears of vandalism.In Grantham it was decided the statue be placed on a 10ft granite plinth with a CCTV camera installed directly opposite in an attempt to deter vandals.Reports originally presented to South Kesteven District Council showed the statue was moved to the area due to fears of a “motivated far-left movement… who may be committed to public activism”.After a large-scale £100,000 unveiling ceremony was approved by the council in 2020, a Facebook group proposing an “egg-throwing contest” at the event attracted interest from more than 13,000 people.Around 2,400 others visited the Facebook page to say they would go to the event including “egg throwing … and potentially graffiti art”.On Sunday, a man in a white shirt showed up to the installation with a carton of eggs and began hurling them at the statue from behind a surrounding temporary fence. A cry of “oi” was heard after an egg landed on target and police arrived within minutes.The statue remained behind the fence but a council spokesman said the Public Memorials Appeal, which funded the statue through donations, will host an official unveiling ceremony at a later date. More

Former Conservative leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt has declined to say that Boris Johnson is an honest man in the wake of the partygate scandal.Mr Hunt was asked the question on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme with Sophie Raworth. In response he twice replied that “talking about personalities is not a helpful thing to do”, despite being told by Ms Raworth that it was a “simple question”.On the issue of whether Mr Johnson was the best person for the job, Mr Hunt said: “I hope he can turn things around.” He did say, however, that he thought that Tory MPs should support the prime minister “in the situation we are now in” with the war in Ukraine.And asked if Mr Johnson would take his party into the next general election, he said that he hoped so. However, he acknowledged that the Tories have a “mountain to climb” to win back some of the party’s traditional voters. Mr Johnson has been accused of presiding over Covid lockdown breaches on a “record-breaking scale” following the revelation police have now issued 100 fixed-penalty notices as part of an investigation into parties in Downing Street.Mr Hunt made it into the final two during the last Conservative leadership contest, ultimately losing to Mr Johnson.He again refused to rule himself out of a future Tory leadership bid, but said that now was not the right moment.The ex- health secretary, who has written a book detailing his thoughts on the failings within the NHS, told the programme: “I don’t rule out the return from my politics myself, but I don’t think now is the right moment.”Britain has been the most robust member of the Western alliance in the face of the first major war in Europe in our lifetimes and I think the only person who would rejoice if we had a hiatus of several months in the leadership in Britain would be (Russian president) Vladimir Putin”.He also warned his party it would be a “mistake” to put losses in this month’s local elections down to mid-term blues, saying it was failing to offer voters economic growth or the prospect of lower taxes.He did, however, appear to back Mr Johnson in his row with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol.Government must be “prepared to do difficult things,” he insisted. “The situation we have now in Northern Ireland is not sustainable. It is just not acceptable that you can’t export goods freely from England to Northern Ireland.”I think it is right to say that we have to be prepared to do difficult things because what we have now isn’t working.”But he played down the risks of a full-blown trade war with the EU, suggesting there was “goodwill on all sides”.”I think we can understand why they’re annoyed that we’re asking to change this protocol so soon, but the protocol itself foresaw the possibility that you might have to change it in a situation where there was a risk to peace and stability, and we don’t have a functioning government in Northern Ireland,” he said. More

“Still trying to work out what happened. I hope Mr Gove is ok.”Those were the words of BBC presenter Dan Walker, following a bizarre interview Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary on Wednesday.The Surrey Heath MP mimicked two different accents, complete with a sprinkling of sarcasm, as he answered questions on the cost of living crisis.Such was the peculiar nature of Mr Gove’s performance that some people online, a few MPs among them, jokingly asked if the cabinet minister had been under the influence.Mr Gove is described by some of his colleagues as an eccentric who can sometimes take a novel approach when trying to get his message across.He has had a few controversial moments over the years too, ranging from him admitting to taking cocaine as a young journalist to being filmed alone “on a night out on the tiles”, raving the night away in Aberdeen. More

Boris Johnson will put pressure on the DUP to re-enter powersharing in Northern Ireland as the government seeks to ease an escalating war of words with the European Union over Brexit.Government sources suggested ministers want to take some of the heat out of the debate, which in recent days has led to claims the UK is heading for a trade war with the EU.But they also made clear no decision has yet been taken on whether or not the UK will unilaterally tear up part of its Brexit deal with the EU. The idea is expected to be discussed at a meeting of ministers next week.The prime minster will make his call on Monday when he visits Belfast for the first time since the Stormont assembly elections earlier this month. Sinn Fein made history by becoming the first nationalist party to win the right to nominate a first minister, but the DUP has refused to re-enter government with the party until the Northern Ireland protocol, which it warns has created a border down the Irish Sea, is reformed.Mr Johnson is expected to deliver a “tough message” as he meets all the party leaders in Belfast, that politicians must “get back to work” to deal with bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living, NHS backlogs and crime. Any action to fix the protocol must result in all parties coming together to form an executive and assembly, he will add.He will also stress that, although it believes it must be reformed, the government does not want to scrap the protocol and accepts the need for a treaty to prevent a hard border in Ireland and protect the integrity of the EU single market.The UK and the EU should have a “shared objective” to find a reformed Brexit deal which enjoys “the broadest possible cross-community support” in Northern Ireland, he will say.He will update leaders of the main political parties in Northern Ireland on the UK’s discussions with EU leaders in recent days. Ministers will always keep the door open to “genuine” dialogue but if the EU does not change its position there will be a “necessity to act” to protect the Good Friday Agreement, he will add.Unionists oppose the protocol which put checks on goods coming into Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK, warning it has created an artificial border separating them from Great Britain.But other parties, including Sinn Fein, support the protocol, arguing it gives Northern Irish businesses the best of both worlds of the UK and the EU’s single markets.Downing Street sources last night played down suggestions Mr Johnson was preparing to give a speech on the protocol imminently.At the weekend Mr Johnson suggested talk of a trade war with the EU was overblown. “I think in the scale of things at the moment, in the sweep of things, what we’re really trying to fix is we’re trying to solve a very difficult political problem in Northern Ireland itself with what is actually some pretty simple bureaucratic fixes,” he told the Daily Mail, adding that he was not “bluffing” in his concern about the need to get Stormont back up and running.In Belfast, Mr Johnson will also guarantee the delivery of three pre-existing commitments: a language and culture package, access to abortion services, and new measures to deal with the legacy of the Troubles. More

Cabinet ministers have reportedly criticised the Bank of England over rising inflation and urged Rishi Sunak to do more to hold the institution’s Governor, Andrew Bailey, to account.Boris Johnson’s party is currently under pressure to to help struggling families as the cost of living crisis worsens and now in an unprecedented move government figures are taking aim at the BoE for failing to keep inflation down.A senior minister told The Telegraph: “It has one job to do – to keep inflation at around two per cent – and it’s hard to remember the last time it achieved its target.”Other government insiders are keen for the chancellor to do more to hold Mr Bailey accountable as keeping inflation under control is one of the core functions of the BoE.Currently inflation sits at 7 per cent, but could reach 10 per cent later this year as the economy heads towards a recession, the Bank of England warned in early March. The troubling economic outlook, cost of living crisis and sharp increase in inflation, has rankled Tory MPs and caused unexpected criticism of the BoE, which was made independent of government in 1997.Dr Liam Fox called for the Treasury Committee to launch an “investigation into why the Bank of England so comprehensively under-estimated the inflationary threat”.On the levelling-up agenda, he added: “Unless we are able to tame inflation, none of our ambitions will be realised.”Maria Miller, Conservative MP for Basingstoke, said: “I’d suggest the Government needs to heed the words of (Dr Fox) very heavily indeed because he’s right that one of the levers they can pull in their response to the challenges we face is around inflation, and it’s very much in the Government’s gift to be able to make those changes to bring inflation more under control.“I think, by looking at different countries around Europe and seeing the different levels of inflation, you can see how the fiscal responses that governments have given have driven those changes inherently.“But the cost-of-living problems that we’re struggling with at the moment need to come first and foremost into the eyes of every minister, regardless of their department.”In other developments, Mr Sunak has indicated he could be willing to intervene in the cost of living crisis as families wrestle with surging food, energy and gas prices.He told the Sunday Express: “The global challenges we’re facing are constantly changing, and I’ve always said that I stand ready to take further action as we get more information on pressures we are likely to face later this year. “Be reassured, I’m alive to the problems people are facing and I’m looking to do everything in my power to help where I can.” More

Former Tory health ministers have condemned Boris Johnson’s U-turn on junk food, with one denouncing the plans as ‘unConservative’.The cost of obesity-related illnesses places a huge financial burden on taxpayers and the NHS, Lord Bethell said.The latest move was not “aligned with the kind of Conservative principles that I’m familiar with”, he added. Another former Conservative health minister Steve Brine told The Independent the decision was “extremely short sighted” and would cost money as well as the “health and well-being of the poorest in society”.The government last week U-turned on plans to restrict junk food promotions inside supermarkets. Both a proposed ban on buy-one-get-one-free (bogof) deals on unhealthy food and a 9pm watershed for television adverts have been delayed for a year.Mr Johnson was elected Conservative leader with a platform to resist moves he considered part of a ‘nanny state’ agenda. But he changed his mind after he was hospitalised with Covid in 2020. He later talked about how he lost weight after his time in intensive care and his desire to get a grip on the problem of obesity. But the plans to restrict junk food promotions have come under pressure in recent weeks, amid fears of shoppers struggling with food prices and the cost of living.Mr Brine, a former minister for public health and primary care, told the Independent the decision was “extremely short-sighted”. “The child obesity and wider prevention piece was always a package of measures to try and turn around our growing problem with weight management and all the associated problems that can cause in later life. In the end it will cost money as well the health and well-being of the poorest in society,” he said.Lord Bethell said the delay could “blow a hole” in the government’s obesity strategy.“That has a massive follow-on effect on all of our health targets,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.”More people are getting cancer due to obesity-related effects. So the cancer 10-year plan… and many more of our health targets are damaged by this.”All of this illness that is caused by (being) overweight from junk food is being carried by the NHS and by the taxpayer. We do need to account for all of the costs of the obesity crisis in this country.”He added that there was a huge cost for taxpayers, saying: “That’s why this move is so unConservative… This is not a move that is in any way aligned with the kind of Conservative principles that I’m familiar with.”He also accused supermarkets of indulging in an “arms race on junk food”, warning “that needs to change”.Meanwhile, celebrity chef and obesity campaigner Jamie Oliver said that banning junk food adverts was vital to protecting children’s health, as he described the delay as a “wasted opportunity”.Maggie Throup, the current public health minister, has insisted that the government remains determined to tackle the issue of childhood obesity. More