Markus Andrews

Border Force staff have joined the legal fight to stop Priti Patel from “pushing back” migrant boats in the Channel, branding the government’s plan “cruel and inhumane”.Their union, PCS, and charity Care4Calais are demanding the Home Office publish details of the policy and the legal basis for it.Following the deaths of 27 people as they tried to cross the Channel on a dinghy this week, pressure has mounted on the government to reverse its plan to make Border Force staff prevent boats from reaching the UK, which experts have warned would put migrants’ lives at greater risk.Protesters gathered in London on Saturday to call for safe passages across the channel.Charities Channel Rescue and Freedom from Torture have launched legal challenges against the government’s plan, along with Care4Calais and the PCS.Mark Serwotka, general secretary of PCS, said: “The Pushback policy being pursued by the Home Secretary is unlawful, unworkable and above all morally reprehensible.“Our border force members are aghast at the thought they will be forced to implement such a cruel and inhumane policy.“Migrants who are trying to reach this country should be allowed to so via safe routes so that their claims can be assessed here.“The Home Office has until Monday to respond before the PCS considers further legal steps.Mr Serwotka said the union would pursue all legal routes, including a judicial review, if the government did not abandon its ”appalling approach“.He said Border Force workers would not rule out industrial action and could disrupt the implementation of the policy if the Home Secretary refuses to back down.The Independent has approached the Home Office for comment.Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais said: “We are incredibly proud to be joined in this action by PCS.”Not only will this challenge represent the interest of desperate people forced to risk their lives, it will also represent those who may well be forced to implement it.”A spokesperson for Care4Calais said charity workers were “devastated” when they heard of the deaths on Wednesday.The latest deaths come amid a sharp increase in Channel crossings this year. More than 25,700 people have made the dangerous journey to the UK so far in 2021, more than three times the number in 2020.Volunteers from Care4Calais were among 150 people who gathered near Downing Street on Saturday to call for safe passages across the channel. More

Skirmishes on Saturday erupted in Serbia between police and anti-government demonstrators who blocked roads and bridges in the Balkan country in protest against new laws they say favor interests of foreign investors devastating the environment. Hundreds of people on Saturday appeared simultaneously in the capital Belgrade the northern city of Novi Sad and other locations to block main bridges and roads for one hour in what organizers described as a warning blockade. They pledged further protests if the laws on property expropriation and referendum weren’t withdrawn.Police officers blocked the demonstrators from reaching the bridges, which led to skirmishes as police helicopters flew overhead. The protesters then marched around while managing to stop traffic at a key bridge in Belgrade and in various central streets. Organizers said a number of people have been detained. Police earlier have warned that any blockade of bridges is illegal. A number of environmental groups and civil society organizations are angry that the authorities have lowered the referendum threshold and allowed for swift expropriation of private property if deemed to be in the public interest. Activists argue this will pave the way for foreign companies to circumvent popular discontent over projects such as the bid by the Rio Tinto company to launch a lithium mine in western Serbia. Serbia’s authorities have rejected the accusations, saying the new laws are needed because of infrastructure projects. The country’s autocratic president, Aleksandar Vucic said a referendum will be organized on the Rio Tinto mine. Environmental issues recently have drawn public attention as local activists accuse the populist government of allowing for the devastation of nature for profit. Experts have warned that the planned lithium mine in western Serbia would destroy farmland and pollute the waters. Following decades of neglect, Serbia has faced major environmental problems such as air and water pollution, poor waste management and other issues. Serbia is a candidate nation for European Union entry, but little so far has been achieved with regards to improving the country’s environmental situation. Protesters on Saturday blew whistles during the blockade and chanted “We won’t give up Serbia.” Huge columns of cars and other vehicles formed at several locations as the demonstrators allowed only the emergency services to pass. More

A vaccine expert says it is “extremely unlikely” that the new Omicron variant will trigger a major new wave of the Covid pandemic in the UK, despite the sudden return of travel restrictions.Professor Andrew Pollard revealed his “optimism” that current vaccines will continue to prevent serious disease – and suggested Omicron will not outrun the dominant Delta variant in Europe.Alarm over Omicron has seen the UK impose flight bans on countries across southern Africa, where it was discovered, and warnings that domestic restrictions may be need to be reimposed.Prof Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said it is “too early” to be certain whether the new variant will be able to evade current vaccinations, something unlikely to be known for 2-3 weeks.But he said most of the mutations in Omicron are in the same parts of the spike protein as those in the other variants that have emerged.“That tells you that, despite those mutations existing in other variants, the vaccines have continued to prevent serious disease as we’ve moved through Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta,” he said.“At least from a speculative point of view we have some optimism that the vaccine should still work against a new variant for serious disease, but really we need to wait several weeks to have that confirmed.“It’s extremely unlikely that a reboot of a pandemic in a vaccinated population like we saw last year is going to happen.”Prof Pollard also reassured people that the process for developing a new vaccine – if needed – is “increasingly well oiled”.“That is something that could be moved very rapidly,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.He also cast doubt on whether Omicron would overtake the Delta variant in Europe which, unlike South Africa, has a highly-vaccinated population.“Delta is already pretty good, it’s spreading like wildfire across Europe,” Prof Pollard said.But Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Sage advisory group, called for the return of compulsory mask-wearing in crowded settings now, questioning why it was ever lifted.“I think we need to prepare, we need to run through our options. And the government needs to be prepared to act fast,” he told Times Radio.“And, unfortunately, the lessons that we’ve learned throughout this epidemic is you have to act harder than you’d like to, wider than you like to, and faster than you’d like to.”On Friday the health Secretary Sajid Javid said the government’s ‘plan B – mask-wearing, vaccine passports and working from home – would not be introduced, but told MPs: “If we need to go further, we will.”He spoke as the UK saw 50,091 daily Covid cases – the highest level in a month – and 160 further deaths and as scientists said it was highly likely that Omicron will come to the UK. More

Nadine Dorries says she does not believe a fellow Conservative MP’s allegation that she was groped by Boris Johnson’s father, sparking anger.Caroline Nokes has accused Stanley Johnson of smacking her on the backside – one of two allegations against him of inappropriate touching, prompting Labour to demand an investigation.But, asked about Ms Nokes’ allegation, Ms Dorries told a Daily Mail interviewer: “I don’t believe it happened.”The culture secretary said: “I have known Stanley for 15 years. He is a gentleman. It never happened to me. Maybe there is something wrong with me.”Ms Nokes criticised Ms Dorries for having “used her considerable influence and power in the media to denounce me in this way”.“I very much hope her attitude does not deter other women from being brave enough to report their experiences of public sexual harassment,” the former home office minister said.Ms Nokes has already accused some journalists of trawling through her sexual history to “find some sort of defence” for Mr Johnson’s alleged behaviour, when they were both parliamentary candidates in 2003.Her allegation prompted Ailbhe Rea, a New Statesman journalist, to accuse Mr Johnson of groping her at the Conservative Party’s annual conference in 2019.The 81-year-old has said he had no recollection of either Ms Nokes or the allegation – while the prime minister has ducked calls for an investigation by the party.Jess Phillips, Labour’s shadow minister for domestic violence, also criticised the culture secretary, saying: “I’m not entirely sure why she thinks Caroline would lie. Where’s the benefit?”She said it is a “common mistake” for people to refuse to believe that friends or acquaintances cannot carry out sexual harassment or violence.“It’s the thing that silences victims. It reminds them to shut up about their experiences, “ Ms Phillips said, adding: “I expected better from Nadine. I’m not surprised though, it’s the most common response to disbelieve.”After revealing the alleged incident, Ms Nokes told Times Radio: “Even 18 years later, you can see people trying to turn it back on me, victim-blaming and shaming.”But she praised Mark Spencer, the government chief whip, for having been “very supportive and very helpful”.In the interview, Ms Dorries said she had never experienced men being “handsy”, replying: “But if you ask me have I experienced mansplaining, being talked down to because I am a woman, yes and yes.”She said she did suffer the sort of abuse “that puts things in perspective”, from a vicar, who was a family friend, when she was nine. It was never reported to the police because “you couldn’t then”. More

France cannot use the excuse that it is “difficult” to police “hundreds of miles of coastline” to duck tougher action to stop refugee boats leaving for the UK, a minister has said.Damian Hinds, the security minister, again urged Emmanuel Macron to accept a UK plan to curb the crossings, insisting Boris Johnson wants to be “supportive and collaborative”.The plan sparked fury in Paris because it proposes that France takes back migrants that arrive in the UK and because a letter was made public – prompting the exclusion of Priti Patel from a multi-country meeting tomorrow.Mr Hinds sought to calm tensions, arguing the UK is not proposing “breaching sovereignty” by stationing its officials on French soil, another idea rejected by Mr Macron.Insisting the “partnership is strong”, he said: “The tone of the letter is exceptionally supportive and collaborative, it absolutely acknowledges everything the French government and authorities have been doing.”But the minister rejected the claim, made by the mayor of Calais among others, that it is impossible to stop every boat – able to be launched in just 10 minutes – leaving a coastline 200-300 miles long.France wants the UK to process asylum claims on its side of the Channel, to prevent attempts at the deadly crossing, but the UK argues that will simply increase the number of migrants and refugees.Mr Hinds acknowledged the policing task is “immense”, but said: “We can’t just say it’s difficult because it’s hundreds of miles of coastline – we have to do what’s necessary to save human life.”Charities have backed the French argument that stronger policing and security cannot solve the issue of refugees risking their life to reach the UK, after 27 died on Wednesday.Patrols have already been stepped up sharply in recent months, with more than 600 police officers working 24 hours a day, Paris says, using new surveillance equipment – some funded by the UK.Asylum seekers sleeping rough are also increasingly moved on, with tents and sleeping bags confiscated and camps broken up.But Mr Hinds repeated that the UK has no regrets about publishing the letter to Mr Macron, despite the diplomatic spat and the loss of the opportunity for Ms Patel to join face-to-face talks.Mr Johnson’s plan would see the immediate return of people crossing the Channel in return for Britain accepting unaccompanied children with links to this country.France is open to an EU-wide returns agreement, but only if the UK agrees to process asylum claims of refugees and migrants wanting to enter Britain while they are still in France.On Friday, Mr Macron accused Mr Johnson of “double talk” and of attempting the “outsourcing of problems”, describing the proposals as “mediocre”.But Mr Hinds told BBC Radio 4: “Now, particularly prompted by this awful tragedy, we have to go further, we have to deepen our partnership, we have to broaden what we do, we have to draw up new creative solutions.” More

A new variant of Covid-19 has emerged and is causing concern around the world given its “incredibly high” number of mutations, with fears rife among experts because it is both highly transmissible and effective at evading the human body’s immune response.First detected in Botswana, beginning to emerge in South Africa and already detected in Europe, B.1.1529 has been named Omicron by the World Health Organisation after the next available letter of the Greek alphabet.UK health secretary Sajid Javid has already warned that it might be able to evade currently available vaccines, a further worrying development given that its emergence coincides with a sharp rise in coronavirus infections across Europe in recent weeks, which has prompted countries like Austria and the Netherlands to impose new lockdowns.Those moves have in turn cast fresh light on the UK’s own consistently high case rate and the complacency among ministers and members of the public towards mask-wearing and observing social distancing.With winter flu season complicating the situation even further, the new variant could be the final straw that forces prime minister Boris Johnson to change his position and implement new social restrictions or even a fourth lockdown, however reluctant he may be to risk public ire and further hinder the recovery of the British economy.We want to know what you think? Should we have a fourth lockdown and should it be imposed before Christmas? Tell us in our poll below More

French fishermen who claim they have been ‘humiliated’ by Britain over post-Brexit operating licences have staged blockades at the Port of Calais and Channel Tunnel rail link in an effort to disrupt trade.Several trawlers manoeuvred inside the Port of Calais on Friday to hold up the passage of two ferries at the major entry point for British goods coming into Europe.At the Channel Tunnel, fishermen erected barricades of burning wooden pallets and lit smoke canisters on nearby roads – briefly blocking access to the freight terminal and causing long queues of traffic.Earlier in the day, French boats lined the entrance to Saint-Malo port from dawn on Friday to stop the British Normandy Trader vessel getting into the Brittany port from Jersey.The fishermen held aloft red flares as they circled their boats outside Saint-Malo to block the boat’s path. “We’re hostage to politics,” said Pascal Lecler, one of the fishermen in Saint-Malo. “It doesn’t make us happy to be here, but it can’t go on.”The Eurotunnel train service put on 12 additional freight trains to clear the backlog following the protest.The fishermen who manned the roadblocks said they wanted to see concessions from the UK by 10 December. “If we don’t get anywhere … believe me, the English will not have a magic Christmas. We’ll ruin the party,” warned Jean Michel Fournier, a fisherman from near Boulogne.Six French fishing boats from the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer blocked access to the Port of Calais in a short but impactful 90-minute operation.Gerard Romiti, the chairman of France’s powerful National Fisheries Committee, said: “This is to demonstrate how professional fishermen come together in response to the UK’s provocative, contemptuous and humiliating attitude towards them.”Mr Romiti said Friday’s blockades should be viewed as “warning shots”.Boris Johnson’s spokesman responded: “We are disappointed by threats of protest activity. It will be a matter for the French to ensure that there are no illegal actions and that trade is not affected.”Before Brexit, French fishermen had free rights to fish in UK waters under EU law and only had to apply to their own government for a licence.But earlier this year the new Brexit agreement came into force, meaning French fishermen now need to apply to the UK for a licence.At present, all vessels that fished in UK waters “for at least four years between 2012 and 2016” should be granted the same level of access until at least 2026, when it will be up to the UK and France to negotiate new deals.The UK is asking French boats to provide tracking and fishing quota data for those years to qualify for a permit. The French have protested, saying smaller vessels under 12 metres do not collect this data and are being unfairly punished. The row over fishing rights comes at a time of strained relations between London and Paris, with clashes in recent days over the issue of migrants and Channel crossings.A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We look to the French authorities to ensure the free flow of traffic and to ensure that trade is not disrupted. We’re also working closely with affected transport companies and local partners in Kent to provide any necessary support.”The spokesperson said there was no change in the UK’s position on the issue of licences to French trawlers under the terms of the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement. “We’ve been clear about our process in terms of the TCA and licencing fishing vessels, which hasn’t changed,” he said. “We’ll continue to work with fishing vessels if they can come forward and provide further evidence as per the requirements under the TCA.”Additional reporting by agencies More

Channel tragedy: Why are so many migrants crossing in small boats?Emmanuel Macron has claimed that a public letter sent by Boris Johnson after 27 people died trying to reach British shores was not a “serious” way of handling the Channel crossings crisis, as France cancelled an emergency meeting with Priti Patel in response.Labour described the tone of the letter containing proposals to prevent future crossings – and the decision to make it public – “clearly an enormous error”, after French interior minister Gerald Darmanin responded by saying that Ms Patel was “no longer invited” to Sunday’s summit with European ministers.Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who is running for the French presidency, described the letter as “frankly inadmissible” and “obviously an additional provocation from Boris Johnson, who is in a state of mind of confrontation on all subjects with the EU”.Mr Johnson had urged the French president to allow joint patrols on French beaches and more airborne surveillance, while Downing Street rejected campaigners’ pleas for more safe, legal routes for people to seek asylum – fuelling accusations that ministers are effectively “complicit with the people-smugglers”. Show latest update

1637912030Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of UK politics as ministers grapple with how to stem dangerous Channel crossings after 27 people died in a dinghy accident.Andy Gregory26 November 2021 07:331637914277Priti Patel ‘not invited any more’ to Calais summit, France saysHere’s more on our headline story this morning – France’s inflammatory move to scrap a meeting between Priti Patel and interior minister Gerald Darmanin in Calais.The prime minister had set out his proposals in a public letter to Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, telling the French president that “we must go further and faster, together” and calling for joint patrols to prevent more boats from leaving French beaches, joint or reciprocal maritime patrols in each other’s territorial waters, and airborne surveillance by manned flights and drones.Mr Johnson also suggested there could be immediate work on a bilateral returns agreement with France, to allow migrants to be sent back across the Channel, alongside talks to establish a UK-EU returns agreement.But the French interior minister accused Britain of “bad immigration management”, and France has criticised UK government moves aimed at pushing back boats in the English Channel.My colleague Adam Forrest has the details of this breaking story here:Andy Gregory26 November 2021 08:111637915080Minister ‘hopes France will reconsider’ revoking UK’s invite to Calais meetingThe transport secretary has said “I hope that the French will reconsider” its decision to revoke Priti Patel’s invite to an emergency summit in Calais, saying it is in the “interests” of France to work with the UK.Asked about the UK being excluded from the meeting, Grant Shapps told BBC Breakfast: “Quite simply no nation can tackle this alone, I hope that the French will reconsider, it’s in our interests, it’s in their interests and it’s certainly in the interests of people being trafficked to the UK.“These tragic scenes we’re seeing of people losing their lives, we absolutely need to work together and that’s the right thing to do. Let’s see what happens, friends and neighbours need to work together, there’s no other way to address the problem apart from working together.”Mr Shapps added: “I hope that isn’t the end state of it because how can we resolve these problems if we do not work together?”Andy Gregory26 November 2021 08:241637915439Government ‘complicit with people smugglers’, expert warnsAs Downing Street rejected pleas for more safe routes for people to claim asylum, the government was accused of being “complicit with the people-smugglers” by relying on security measures which force people into ever more dangerous routes to reach the UK.Zoe Gardner of the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants said the disaster should mark a “point of change” for the government.“When we try to close down routes for people to seek asylum, all we do is lose control of the situation and hand it over to the smugglers,” she said. This government, this new bill that’s in front of Parliament right now, is complicit with the smugglers who are bringing people across the Channel.“Now is the time for the government to stop, turn around, completely change their approach, get their head out of the sand and give people ways to travel to the UK for the purpose of seeking asylum safely.”But Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said the prime minister believed that establishing safe routes for migrants to reach the UK from northern France would simply increase the “pull factor” attracting them to the Channel.And a government source told The Independent: “It would be completing the smugglers’ job for them, telling them ‘You go ahead and take the money and we’ll look after the most difficult part of the trip for you’.”Our political editor Andrew Woodock reports:Andy Gregory26 November 2021 08:301637915762Wednesday’s disaster led to the deaths of 17 men, seven women and three children – mostly Kurds from Iran and Iraq, French authorities said, with rescuers told that the inflatable dinghy had been struck by a container ship.Listen: French coastguard’s mayday call after migrant boat capsizes in ChannelAndy Gregory26 November 2021 08:361637916144People stranded in France don’t know where to turn as they plan for Channel crossingPeople determined to make the crossing to the UK say they do not know where to turn, with available options either “difficult” or “dangerous”, my colleague Zoe Tidman reports from Calais.People there hoping to one day to reach England told The Independent that those going by lorry often end up being stopped by police but the journey across the Channel by boat feels perilous – especially in the cold weather.However, they continued to wait for their turn to make the crossing the day after 27 people died when their inflatable dinghy sank. “I’ve got nowhere else to go,” said one man, who fled Sudan years ago.You can read her full report here:Andy Gregory26 November 2021 08:421637916326PM’s proposals to France ‘made in good faith’, minister saysBoris Johnson’s proposals to French president Emmanuel Macron aimed at stemming Channel crossings had been made in “good faith”, a minister has said.“I think it is really important that we work hand-in-glove with the French. I don’t think there is anything inflammatory to ask for close co-operation with our nearest neighbours,” Grant Shapps told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.“The proposal was made in good faith. I can assure our French friends of that and I hope that they will reconsider meeting up to discuss it.”Andy Gregory26 November 2021 08:451637916800Letter ‘not designed in any way to be combative’, No 10 officials reportedly sayHere’s more on the sentiment regarding Boris Johnson’s letter from within Downing Street last night, via Sky News’s political editor:Andy Gregory26 November 2021 08:531637917319French anger ‘understandable’ but Paris ‘wrong’ to cancel meeting, former ambassador saysFrench anger over Boris Johnson’s letter to Emmanuel Macron is “understandable” – but Paris was “wrong” to revoke Priti Patel’s invitation to an emergency summit in Calais, a former UK ambassador to France has suggested.Lord Ricketts, who served in the post until January 2016, argued that Sunday’s meeting “will be less useful without the Brits”.Alongside his comment, he shared this analysis from The Economist’s Paris bureau chief, who suggested that “if you tried to write a letter designed to irritate France, this would be it”.Andy Gregory26 November 2021 09:011637917909Here’s more details from the prime minister’s letter to Emmanuel Macron: He had proposed that:Joint patrols would prevent more boats from leaving French beaches, with the UK “ready to begin such patrols from the start of next week, and to scale up thereafter”.Advanced technology such as sensors and radar could be deployed to track people and trafficking gangs.There could be joint or reciprocal maritime patrols in each other’s territorial waters and airborne surveillance by manned flights and drones.The work of the Joint Intelligence Cell should be improved with better real-time intelligence sharing to deliver more arrests and prosecutions on both sides of the Channel.There should be immediate work on a bilateral returns agreement with France, to allow people to be sent back across the Channel, alongside talks to establish a UK-EU returns agreement.“In particular, I welcome the fact that the Home Secretary will be invited to Calais this Sunday to meet her counterparts from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany,” Mr Johnson had written. “I stand ready to upgrade this meeting to a Leaders’ Level Summit or to arrange further bilateral discussion with you or with colleagues.”Andy Gregory26 November 2021 09:11 More