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Canada has vowed to put hormone-pumped beef on UK supermarket shelves, as the two countries opened post-Brexit trade negotiations.At a press conference, Canada’s trade minister argued its beef – which, as in the US and Australia, is given the synthetic treatment to boost growth – is “second to none”.Confirming she wanted “access to the British market” for that meat, Mary Ng added: “I am here to sell brand Canada, boy-oh-boy, and I’m going to keep doing that.”The comments confirm the contents of a leaked government memo, last month, which suggested Ottawa would seek to include hormone-treated beef in any deal.Its negotiators were asking “probing questions” about the controversial issue – despite London insisting its ban on such imports will survive leaving the EU, the document admitted.Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UK’s international trade secretary, standing alongside Ms Ng in the Canadian capital, did not respond to the pledge made about exporting beef with hormones.She hailed the opening of talks and said the two countries will be “working at pace to get to a transformational trade deal” – with the aim of reaching agreement within two years.However, in reality, the economic benefits are likely to be tiny, because 98 per cent of goods exports are already tariff-free under an existing agreement rolled over from EU membership.Ministers are under increasing pressure over a collapse in trade since Brexit, which has fallen by 15 per cent with the EU because of substantial new red tape.The Treasury watchdog is warning that no mooted new trade deal will make any “material difference” – with the new Australia agreement adding just 0.1 per cent to GDP over 15 years.And the United States has all-but ruled out a free trade agreement, suggesting the approach is archaic and that new ideas are needed.The UK hopes to agree new digital terms with Canada to boost trade, while arguing the its data-protection standards can be protected.It also wants greater recognition of qualifications such as architecture to boost trade in services, which already account for 48 per cent of current exports to Canada.The leaked memo warned that Canada could threaten UK hopes of being admitted to the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).“On hormone treated beef Canada asked some probing questions and stated this will be an important issue for Canada in judging the UK’s compliance with CPTPP,” it read.Questioned about Canada’s stance, Ms Ng told reporters: “What I would say is that these negotiations are beginning.“And what I would say to all markets across the world, including the United States, is that the high quality of our beef and of our products and of our producers is second to none.” More

Rishi Sunak’s spring statement measures will have a “negligible impact” for country’s most vulnerable, a Tory MP has warned.In some of the strongest criticism of the chancellor so far from the Conservative backbenches, Peter Aldous stressed those on benefits will see a “significant fall in their spending power”.The former Conservative work and pensions secretary, Stephen Crabb, also insisted on Thursday that there is “certainly more to be done” by ministers in supporting those on the lowest incomes.Their remarks came after the Resolution Foundation warned that 1.3 million, including 500,000 children, could be pushed into absolute poverty by the cost-of-living squeeze.The Institute for Fiscal Studies also claimed Mr Sunak had failed to protect the country’s poorest households, saying: “It is hard to understand the lack of action on this front”.Benefits will increase by 3.1 per cent, but with inflation set to average over 7.4 per cent, campaigners have warned the government more of the most vulnerable will be forced to rely on emergency food parcels.While Mr Aldous welcomed measures to reduce fuel duty and remove VAT on energy efficiency materials, he said he was “disappointed” the chancellor didn’t introduce targeted support for the poorest.In an article for Politics Home, the Tory MP said: “This means that universal credit and other benefit claimants, who are most exposed to inflationary pressures, will once again see a significant fall in their spending power following a decade of real-terms freezes or cuts”.He said the effects of the this could “imperil the livelihoods of those who are a long way from the workplace”.“Whilst the measures announced will go some way to alleviating the crisis for many families, it is worth putting in context the more negligible impact they will have for the most vulnerable”.Mr Aldous said he continued to believe the decision to remove the £20-per-week uplift to universal credit — despite repeated warnings from anti-poverty campaigners — was a “strategic mistake”.“Having not remedied this mistake in his in his statement, I fear the chancellor has now doubled down on it,” he added.“With the economy in a state of near full employment, we must recognise the prevailing attitude that ‘more work is always the answer’ cannot spare everyone from the potential destitution some now face.”Mr Crabb — a former work and pensions secretary — also told the BBC: “The measures announced yesterday should not be dismissed – they will make a meaningful difference to a great many families in Wales where take home pay is lower than average and where running a car is essential for many.“But there is certainly more to do when it comes to supporting those on the very lowest incomes and I don’t think waiting until the autumn budget for further action is sustainable.”Speaking on Friday, Boris Johnson insisted the chancellor had done a “huge amount to address the increase in cost of living” and cited the announcement on cutting the national insurance contribution threshold.However, he told LBC: “Yes… as we go forward, we need to do more.”He added: “I’ll be bringing forward a British energy security strategy, which is intended to make good some of the mistakes of the last 25 years in which we haven’t really done enough to ensure that we have our own energy supplies, we need to go big on nuclear in this in this country.“We need to go much bigger on offshore wind, we can make sure that by investing in energy production, domestic energy production, independent energy production, we can have sustainable, long term supplies and that will bring down the costs for consumers over the long term.” More

220324 – Rishi SunakA promise by Rishi Sunak to cut income tax by 1p in 2024 will come “too late” for families struggling with the current cost-of-living squeeze, a Conservative MP has warned.Richard Drax, the Tory MP for South Dorset, welcomed some of the announcements in the chancellor’s spring statement but called on the Treasury to “go further”.“I welcome the chancellor’s talk of more tax cuts to come, but in my humble opinion, and certainly for my constituents for the reasons I’ve stated, they will come too late,” he said.Mr Sunak also slashed fuel duty by 5p and raised the threshold at which workers pay national insurance contributions by £3,000.But Peter Aldous, the Tory MP for Waveney, said Mr Sunak’s failure to provide a real-terms increase to Universal Credit payments would see those “most exposed” to inflationary pressures hit with a further fall in their spending power, “following a decade of real-terms freezes or cuts.”Show latest update

1648133718Income tax will come too late, Tory MP warnsA promise by Rishi Sunak to cut income tax by 1p in 2024 will come “too late” for families struggling with the current cost-of-living squeeze, a Conservative MP has warned.Richard Drax, the Tory MP for South Dorset, welcomed some of the announcements in the chancellor’s spring statement but called on the Treasury to “go further”.“I welcome the chancellor’s talk of more tax cuts to come, but in my humble opinion, and certainly for my constituents for the reasons I’ve stated, they will come too late,” he said.Matt Mathers24 March 2022 14:551648133141Sunak borrows Sainsbury worker’s hatchback for mini-Budget photo-shootThe car which Rishi Sunak was pictured filling with petrol to highlight his 5p cut to fuel duty last night did not belong to the chancellor, it has emerged.Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock reports: Matt Mathers24 March 2022 14:451648132723Patel meets G7 leadersAlongside the photograph she tweeted: “Meeting of G7 Interior Ministers today to discuss our response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – I set out the UK’s humanitarian response and our schemes to welcome Ukrainians to the UK & the various forms of aid we are sending to Ukraine and the region.“International allies must continue working together to denude (Vladimir) Putin of his ability to wage his barbaric war.“There must be coordinated and robust enforcement of sanctions and firm action to protect the integrity of international law enforcement tools from Russian abuse.”The Home Secretary Priti Patel has posted a photograph of herself on Twitter at a meeting with G7 interior ministers to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Matt Mathers24 March 2022 14:381648129925Are you doing enough for Ukraine, Johnson asks Nato alliesBoris Johnson is understood to have asked allies at the Nato summit to question whether they have done enough to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion.According to a UK official, the Prime Minister said: “We all want Putin to come to his senses, put his tanks into reverse.”He’s gonna grind on. Only has forward gears. He’s already crossed the red line into barbarism. The heroism of the Ukrainians has fundamentally changed the geopolitics of Europe…”He added: “People will ask, did we do enough? I don’t think we can deny them in their moment of agony. We have the means and they have need.”Matt Mathers24 March 2022 13:521648128627PM not ‘anti-Russian’, Downing Street saysDowning Street rejected a Kremlin claim that Boris Johnson was “anti-Russian”.The prime minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson was among the “most active” leaders in opposing Vladimir Putin but had no issue with the Russian people.”The prime minister is among the most active anti-Putin leaders. We have no issue with the Russian people and in fact we have seen many bravely protest – not least Alexei Navalny – against Putin’s regime and call on them to cease this war,” the spokesman said.”But we are among some of the world leaders that have been the most proactive when it comes to taking steps to both defend Ukraine’s interests and up pressure on Putin to change course.”The spokesman said there were “very strong defences in this country” in case the UK was targeted by Russia with retaliatory measures.Matt Mathers24 March 2022 13:301648127431PM one of ‘most active anti-Putin leaders’, No 10 claims Downing Street has hit out at suggestions from the Kremlin that Boris Johnson is “anti-Russian”.Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the British prime minister “the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian.”No 10 responded by saying: “The prime minister is one of the most active anti-Putin leaders. We have no issue with the Russian people.”Here are more details from our political editor Andrew Woodcock: Rory Sullivan24 March 2022 13:101648126686Government does not rule out further cost-of-living supportTurning back to the cost-of-living crisis, the government has said it could offer more support to households if needed.The statement follows criticism of Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that people earning £27,500 a year would still be £360 worse off next financial year. No 10 said: “We need to keep a close and watchful eye.“As the chancellor has said before, we are there to support the public when needed, as we have been throughout,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.“These are unprecedented times coming after the global pandemic and war in Europe.”Rory Sullivan24 March 2022 12:581648125981No powers’ to prosecute P&O, government concedesThe government has said it will not take P&O ferries to court, despite its boss admitting that the firm broke the law over its mass sacking of staff.A senior official at the the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said there are “no powers to injunct” P&O ferries. Given the UK’s relatively loose redundancy laws, the workers will need to take the firm to an industrial tribunal themselves.This comes a day after Boris Johnson said P&O “clearly aren’t going to get away with it”. Rory Sullivan24 March 2022 12:461648125081P&O Ferries intentionally broke law over mass sackings, CEO admitsThe chief executive of P&O Ferries has admitted his firm broke the law by sacking 800 employees without consultation.Peter Hebblethwaite told MPs on Thursday there was “absolutely no doubt” the company should have spoken to unions first.My colleague Zoe Tidman has the full story:Rory Sullivan24 March 2022 12:311648124491People will be worse off despite Sunak’s measures, says IFSThe measures set out by chancellor Rishi Sunak will not be enough to stop people becoming worse off, the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said.Speaking the day after the Spring Statement, Paul Johnson said: “It looks like a median earner on around £27,500 a year will be about £360 worse off in the next financial year than in the current year.”“Someone earning around £40,000 will be getting on for £800 worse off.”“He had tough decisions to make. Other choices were available,” the IFS boss added. Rory Sullivan24 March 2022 12:21 More

A Conservative former international development minister has joined a cross-party appeal for the UK to drop its support on a patent monopoly which is denying developing countries access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.A cross-party letter signed by 31 parliamentarians warns that a draft compromise deal thrashed out by the US, EU, India and South Africa in talks at the World Trade Organisation does not go far enough to ensure equitable access for patients in the world’s poorest countries.And the letter, seen by The Independent, warns that, without access for all to new technologies and treatments, the global pandemic – and with it, the threat of virulent new coronavirus strains which can evade vaccines – cannot be brought to an end.Signatories – including former international development minister Liz Sugg and the Tory chair of the all-party parliamentary group on global health Dan Poulter – urge international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan not to sign up to the compromise deal.Instead they say that, in the so-called TRIPS negotiations which are coming to a head at the WTO, she should throw the UK’s weight behind the full intellectual property waiver first proposed by India and South Africa in October 2020 and backed by US president Joe Biden last year.Along with the EU and Switzerland, the UK has so far set its face against a waiver on the grounds that pharmaceutical companies must be able to profit from their discoveries.The leaked draft compromise has not yet been endorsed by the states involved, and governments in Delhi and Pretoria are under pressure to disown it, amid warnings that it will not adequately deal with the barriers to effective healthcare in developing countries, where fewer than 15 per cent of people have received even a first dose of a Covid vaccine.Campaigners complain that the compromise covers only vaccines and not tests or life-saving treatments and that its terms would exclude countries like China and Brazil, which have some homegrown vaccine production capacity.An IP waiver would allow developing countries to produce low-cost generic versions of vaccines and treatments available in the rich world.Dr Poulter said: “In a global pandemic that has resulted in nearly 20 million deaths, we must use all tools at our disposal to save lives. This text leaves too much left in the toolbox.”“The UK has a key opportunity to play a leading role in bringing this pandemic to an end by supporting a full waiver at the WTO, and I urge the international trade secretary to build consensus toward the original TRIPS waiver proposal.”Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said that the compromise deal was “not nearly as effective” as the original India/South Africa proposal.“Low- and middle-income countries must have control over which vaccines they receive and have the sovereign right to manufacture the health tools their countries need, manage delivery timelines and set the price,” said Ms Lucas.“With cases rising again here in the UK and around the world, the Government must seize this moment to change course and support a full TRIPS waiver. We cannot afford to be in this same position a year from now facing another – and potentially more deadly – variant.”Saoirse Fitzpatrick, advocacy manager at health campaign group STOPAIDS, said:“The recognition that intellectual property monopolies present a barrier to global equitable access to Covid-19 health tools is welcome, but this leaked text which has not been endorsed by India and South Africa does not present a solution to addressing these monopolies.“The status quo model of pharmaceutical companies supplying to the highest bidder and maintaining strict control over who gets vaccines and treatments, when, and at what price has caused this global access inequity.“We need the UK Government, and all WTO members, to call for the original full TRIPS waiver proposal and we need pharmaceutical companies to share their technology. These steps will help diversify the manufacturing of pandemic tools so everyone around the world gets access to the vaccines, tests and treatment they need.” More

P&O Ferries will not be taken to court by the government despite admitting it broke the law by sacking 800 workers without consulting them, a minister has admitted.MPs were told that – because of looser redundancy laws in the UK than other countries – the workers would have to take a firm to an industrial tribunal themselves.There are “no powers to injunct” P&O Ferries, a senior official at the department for business admitted – although the firm is still being investigated under other possible offences.The admission comes despite Boris Johnson promising, just 24 hours earlier, that the firm had landed itself in court, telling MPs: “P&O clearly aren’t going to get away with it.”It prompted incredulity from Huw Merriman, the Tory chair of the Commons transport committee, who demanded to know why ministers were not taking “immediate action today”.But Paul Scully, a business minister, said: “It is for the individuals concerned and their representatives to approach the tribunals.”He told the emergency inquiry: “Some people may actually be satisfied with the enhanced offer,” – after P&O said it was paying out more than £36m in compensation.Asked if P&O’s ability to sack the workers without consultation exposed the weakness of the UK’s “flexible labour market”, Mr Scully urged people to consider the “wider landscape”.It was the “flexible labour market” that had allowed the UK to “create more jobs than the whole of the European Union put together,” since the 2008 financial crash, the minister claimed.However, his officials admitted they had not consulted the attorney general before reaching the view that the government has no power to injunct P&O.And he refused to commit to changing the law to prevent a repeat in future – despite Mr Merriman calling for legislation in May’s Queen’s Speech.“This company has broken the law because it knows it can get away with it,” protested Ben Bradshaw, a Labour member of the Commons transport committee.“This hasn’t happened to the French and the Dutch because they have better legal protections,” he told Mr Scully.The minister said the Insolvency Service is looking into whether other notification laws were broken by P&O – but it told the inquiry that work would not be completed until 8 April.Furthermore, a leading maritime lawyer has argued the firm could legally sack 800 staff without informing the government, because of a law change brought in by Chris Grayling.In 2018, the gaffe-prone former transport secretary quietly amended legislation meant to protect workers to create an exemption where there are mass redundancies on ships registered overseas.Mr Scully also admitted that a failure to notify Cyprus properly about redundancies on the Cypriot-registered ships would only be an offence “under Cypriot law”. More

It would be “beyond comprehension” for football’s ruling authorities to award Russia the right to host the Euro 2028 tournament, Boris Johnson has said.The prime minister was speaking after it emerged that Vladimir Putin has launched a last-minute attempt to challenge the bid by the United Kingdom and Ireland.It had been hoped that the joint UK/Ireland bid would be selected unopposed, but Russia’s Football Union put in an application just hours before the deadline on Wednesday – despite being barred from international football because of the invasion of Ukraine.The decision will force English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and Republic of Ireland authorities into a multi-million pound contest to be selected by Uefa in September to host the festival of sport, second only to the World Cup in the global footballing calendar. Turkey has also submitted a last-minute entry.The UK/Ireland bid remains the hot favourite to secure hosting rights, and Mr Johnson said he did not believe that the Russian application was “a runner”.Speaking to LBC radio, the prime minister said: “I think it beyond satire that any any football organisation – no matter how bonkers and driven by lucre they may be – would want to give Russia in the present circumstances the right to host a tournament .“It simply seems beyond comprehension. So I can’t believe it’s really a runner.”Mr Johnson later appeared to suggest that the 2028 tournament should go to Ukraine – which hosted the Euros jointly with Poland in 2012.Speaking on his arrival for a Nato summit in Brussels, the PM said: “The idea of Russia holding any kind of football tournament or any kind of cultural event right now is beyond satire. I can’t believe that anybody would seriously consider their suggestions. “I think the best thing possible would be for the entire Russian armed forces to retire forthwith from Ukraine and hand the tournament to them, of course.”However, his official spokesperson later insisted that the UK/Ireland bid retains the PM’s “full backing”. More

The car which Rishi Sunak was pictured filling with petrol to highlight his 5p cut to fuel duty last night did not belong to the chancellor, it has emerged.The photograph, posted on Mr Sunak’s social media feeds at the moment when the cut announced in Wednesday’s spring statement took effect, sparked incredulity among Twitter usersMany did not believe that the chancellor – a former banker whose wife is a multi-millionaire – drives a Kia Rio, a modest family hatchback which retails from around £13,000 new.One tweeted: “Sunak definitely pulled up in his Tesla and gave the person in the Kia Rio £500 so he could fill up their car for the photo op.”And another wrote: “Sunak does not in any lifetime drive a Kia Rio, I fail to believe it. Another trying the impress and come across as a normal fella.“A charlatan of the highest order, don’t fall for the spin and mirrors.”The photo was one of 34 glossy and artfully staged snaps taken by a taxpayer-funded photographer and released on the Treasury Flickr feed to illustrate Mr Sunak’s spring statement mini-budget on Wednesday.Four showed the chancellor filling the shiny red car at the pump of a Sainsbury’s forecourt in New Cross, south London, his shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal a set of wristbands.Others depicted him apparently shopping inside the store. It emerged today that the Kia car used for the photo-shoot belonged to a Sainsbury’s employee, but The Independent understands that Mr Sunak paid for the petrol from his own pocket.The picture was released on Twitter on the dot of 6pm, when the 5p cut in fuel duty came into effect, meaning that the chancellor must have missed out by moments on benefiting from his tax change, which would have saved him around £2-3 on the cost of a tankful. More

Downing Street has rejected a Kremlin claim that Boris Johnson is “anti-Russian”, saying: “The prime minister is one of the most active anti-Putin leaders. We have no issue with the Russian people”The rebuff came after Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described Mr Johnson as “the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian,” adding: “It will lead to a foreign policy dead end.” The war of words erupted as Mr Johnson announced new sanctions against Russian oligarchs and businesses and pledged more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself against Mr Putin’s invasion during a visit to Brussels for emergency talks with Nato allies.Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson said that the UK had no argument with the Russian people, including jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the thousands of ordinary citizens who have taken to the streets to protest against Putin’s Ukraine war.Responding to Peskov’s allegation, Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “The prime minister is among the most active anti-Putin leaders. We have no issue with the Russian people. “In fact, we’ve seen many bravely protest – not least Alexei Navalny – against Putin’s regime, and call on them to cease this war.“We are among the world leaders that have been most proactive when it comes to taking steps to both defend Ukraine’s interest and up pressure on Putin to change course.” More