Markus Andrews

France-UK fishing row: Further escalation beckons despite Macron-Johnson meeting in RomeThe government of Jersey has issued nearly 50 additional licences to French boats to fish in its waters, in an apparent effort to stave off threats of sanctions from Paris.It comes after Britain earlier threatened to sue France within 48 hours over fishing rights, with Lizz Truss, the foreign secretary, saying London “will not roll over” in the ongoing war of words with Paris.The 49 temporary permits issued by Jersey today come on top of 66 permanent licences awarded last week, bringing to 162 the total number of French vessels allowed to fish in the area post-Brexit. However, it is unclear whether the move will be enough to stop the imposition of measures threatened by Paris, such as blocking British boats from French ports.Elsewhere, a bus was hijacked earlier by armed, masked men and set alight in a predominantly unionist area of Newtownards in Northern Ireland. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson responded by saying he will not be distracted by “thugs and hoods” in his efforts to get the Northern Ireland Protocol removed.Show latest update

1635758780Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s Brexit coverage.We’ll bring you updates throughout the day as the ongoing row between the UK and France over fishing rights escalates.Matt Mathers1 November 2021 09:261635759145Full report: London threatens Paris with legal actionLiz Truss, the foreign secretary, has given the French government a 48-hour deadline to withdraw threats against Britain over post-Brexit fishing licences.Our policy correspondent Jon Stone has more details: Matt Mathers1 November 2021 09:321635760276What did Macron say on Sunday?Britain must give ground in a post-Brexit fishing dispute or France will trigger trade reprisals, Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, warning: “The ball is in Britain’s court.”My colleagues Rob Merrick and Alastair Jamieson have more details: Matt Mathers1 November 2021 09:511635760586What started latest episode in UK/France fishing row?Britain and France once again find themselves at loggerheads over post-Brexit fishing rights in the English Channel.The latest installment of the feud kicked off on Wednesday when French maritime authorities seized a Scottish scallop trawler, the Cornelis-Gert Jan, and detained it at the port of Le Harve in Normandy, accusing it of fishing without a licence and fining a second boat for obstructing vessel checks.My colleague Joe Sommerlad reports:Matt Mathers1 November 2021 09:561635761424Owners of British fishing boat seized in France ordered to pay €150, 000 before it can leaveThe owners of the British trawler seized by France during the escalating row over fishing licences will have to pay bail of more than £125,000 before being allowed to return to the UK.Peter Allen has this dispatch from Paris: Matt Mathers1 November 2021 10:101635762983‘Ask Me Anything’ with John RentoulTensions between Britain and France escalated dramatically over the weekend – but the post-Brexit fishing row is one that has been simmering away for months.Got a burning question about what the dispute is all about, or a query about Brexit more broadly? As ever, our chief political commentator John Rentoul is on hand for a chat.Matt Mathers1 November 2021 10:361635763860Armed men hijack and torch bus in loyalist area of Northern IrelandA bus has been hijacked and set alight in an attack politicians have linked to loyalist opposition to Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol.The incident happened in the Abbot Drive area of Newtownards at about 6.30am on Monday.Two masked and armed men boarded the bus and poured fuel over the vehicle before setting it alight.The driver managed to get off the bus unharmed but has been left badly shaken by the incident.The attack in the predominantly unionist area happened on the day set by the DUP earlier in the autumn to pull down the institutions at Stormont if major changes to the protocol had not been secured.The DUP has not yet withdrawn ministers from the executive, insisting progress is being made in efforts to dismantle the contentious Irish Sea border.Matt Mathers1 November 2021 10:511635765342DUP: ‘Terrorism won’t remove protocol’The DUP leader Jeffrey Donalson has said “terrorism will do nothing to remove the Northern Ireland protocol” after armed, masked man hijacked and burnt out a bus in Northern Ireland.“There was never any justification for people with guns on our streets and damaging property – there never will be,” he said in a tweet.“Thuggery & terrorism will do nothing to remove the NI Protocol. Political action has secured progress and must be allowed to continue. Violence has no place in this.”The attack in the predominantly unionist area of Abbot Drive of Newtownards happened on the day set by the DUP earlier in the autumn to pull down the institutions at Stormont if major changes to the protocol had not been secured.Matt Mathers1 November 2021 11:151635766148Ulster Unionist Party: ‘Utterly disgraceful, depressing’Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, says those who burnt out a bus in Netownwards have “hurt their own community”.“Utterly disgraceful, depressing and stupid actions of thugs and criminals,” he said. In what way does this help address issues concerning the protocol.”Matt Mathers1 November 2021 11:291635766617Police appeal for informationThe Police Service of Northern Ireland is appealing for information after the burning out of a bus in Northern Ireland.Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information about it is being asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference 444 of 01/11/21.Full statement: Matt Mathers1 November 2021 11:36 More

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has pledged to look at lengthening the school day in England in a bid to help more pupils recover from the Covid crisis.It has been suggested an extension to the school day will help children catch-up on lost learning and prosper after the pandemic.The recently-appointed minister told MPs there are some “excellent examples” of academy school leaders bringing in longer days that he will examine.Mr Zahawi also said he wanted all schools to ensure they move to the average school day length of 6.5 hours.Speaking in the Commons, Conservative MP Robert Halfon MP – who chairs the education select committee – asked if the cabinet minister would consider making the case for a longer school day.Mr Halfon said the Education Policy Institute had found that a longer day increases educational attainment – especially amongst disadvantaged pupils. “Will he at least consider some pilot schemes in disadvantaged areas?”Mr Zahawi replied: “There are some excellent examples … of a longer school day which I’m going to look at. The average school day now is 6.5 hours and I would like to see everybody move towards that average.”Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said any possible gains from extending the school day “must be weighed against the costs … including the impact on pupils’ mental health, reduced family time and less time for extra-curricular activities”.The union leader added: “Children’s happiness and wellbeing should be prioritised as well as their education.”Speaking at education questions, Mr Zahawi also said “there is no place for anti-vaxxers harassing or coming anywhere near school leaders” – as he insisted the vaccine rollout for senior school pupils “continues at pace”.Labour has called for councils to be able to stop anti-vaccination activists from protesting outside schools by using exclusion orders. Mr Zahawi said home secretary Priti Patel would look at ways to stop harassment of parents or teachers.The education secretary said: “I have the reassurance of the home secretary that she’ll make any resources available that the sector needs to make sure those people in our schools are protected and are able to get on with the job of teaching children and protecting them.”Meanwhile, education minister Michelle Donelan appealed for university lecturers to “reconsider taking strike action” amid a dispute over pay, pensions and working conditions.The Tory MP told the Commons: “I am deeply concerned about it because there is the threat of strikes, our students are now in a position to have face-to-face teaching, and I would urge every lecturer to reconsider taking strike action.”The universities minister added: “Strikes before have not helped the situation but they have impacted students, who deserve a fairer deal.” More

The UK’s ambitious target to become a net-zero economy is in doubt as it hosts the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow. The chancellor’s budget fell as much as £21bn short of the investment needed to meet the government’s own carbon reduction targets up to 2025, according to exclusive analysis shared with The Independent.The revelation from the Resolution Foundation follows Boris Johnson’s claim that Cop26 will have failed unless the world has committed to “halve emissions by the end of this decade”.To meet its own carbon goals the government would need to invest an additional sum of at least close to £28bn by the end of 2025. Yet it committed just £7.2bn of fresh funds in Wednesday’s budget. Environmental think tank The Green Alliance separately calculated that the spending gap was closer to £55bn based on their own assessment.“Public funding for net zero remains well short of that needed to meet the government’s own targets. This is particularly acute in support to decarbonise the nation’s homes, including large gaps for households on lower incomes,” said Jonathan Marshall, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation.One senior Treasury official told The Independent that the Treasury had not been honest about how much money was being committed to net-zero efforts by lumping in old investment to cover up a shortfall in additional spending. A lack of transparency about the real costs of going green is a political challenge for the Conservative Party ahead of the next election. The gap of around £21bn could make it harder for Rishi Sunak to cut taxes while also meeting his fiscal rules. And extra green taxes on households would put fresh pressure on families.The chancellor shocked environmental groups and international partners by cutting taxes on aviation last Wednesday. The independent spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), said that the step had made the job of getting to net zero “more difficult”.A senior Treasury official told The Independent that there had been clear internal dissent at the decision, coming ahead of the UK playing host to Cop26 and after unveiling the net zero plan earlier this month. “The decision is at best inconsistent and at worst a disgrace”, the official said. They added that they had not previously engaged with the media but had made an exception because they felt that it was a moral imperative.They described a “duplicity of presenting a [net zero] strategy with the one hand and making it harder to reduce carbon emissions with the other”.Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband told The Independent: “The chancellor could barely bring himself to mention action on the climate crisis when we needed it to be front and centre of his Budget.“He is not committing anything like the investment required to genuinely tackle the climate emergency.“A Budget with no proper plan for home insulation, no help for our steel industry to go green and a Budget that cuts air passenger duty on domestic flights is a greenwash Budget – not the green Budget we needed.”Mr Miliband added that Labour would invest £28bn a year this decade on green issues.The government has said it will require significant private investment alongside public funds to turn carbon goals into a reality. At the recent Global Investment Summit Boris Johnson called on some of the world’s most powerful investors to put trillions of dollars towards going green in the UK. But estimates by economists suggests that at the present rate of investment it appears the government is expecting the private sector to provide around 80 per cent of the required cash. This is unrealistic, several said; the OBR has modelled 80 per cent of funds coming from the public sector dropping to 50 per cent by 2050. “While government rhetoric is in the right ballpark on net zero, the investment plan does not yet match up,” said Phil McNally, senior net-zero researcher at the Tony Blair Institute. “The state should not be expected to put up all the investment required for the net-zero transition. The government needs to find the right balance of public investment and policy and regulatory frameworks that will draw as much private investment as possible to fill the gap.”He added that increased public spending, as well as innovative policy mechanisms, are needed to attract private investment for the net-zero transition. Still, funding net zero will likely prove a challenge for all political parties going forward. Will Tanner, director of centre-right think tank, Onward, said that polling carried out by his organisation showed the “desire from voters is actually for further action [on cutting carbon] but where the difficulty does come is when they’re confronted with the costs”. A government spokesperson said: “The Budget and spending review confirmed that since March 2021 the government will have committed a total of £30bn of domestic investment for the green industrial revolution. This includes £26bn of capital investment to support our net zero strategy.“The funding will ensure we’re on track to meet our carbon budgets and reach net zero by 2050.” More

The prime minister’s failure to answer questions on Islamophobia for a year is an “insult to British Muslims”, an MP has said.Afzal Khan raised a point of order in Parliament on Monday, saying Boris Johnson had “ignored” a letter marking Islamophobia Awareness Month in November 2020.“This time last year to mark this month, I wrote to the prime minister raising concerns over Islamophobia, urging him to better safeguard British Muslims and to fulfil his promise to carry out an independent investigation into his party,” he told the House of Commons.“A year on, the prime minister has still not responded. This is wholly unacceptable and an insult to British Muslims.”Mr Khan asked what action could be taken and urged Mr Johnson to make a statement on this year’s Islamophobia Awareness Month.Sir Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the House of Commons, said questions from all MPs must be answered in a “timely way” by Downing Street.“I would expect the prime minister or any minister to respond to members from all sides of this house, that is what ministers are there for,” he added. “As I’ve said before they are answerable to this house, they are answerable to MPs … I hope it was a genuine mistake.”Sir Lindsay has previously issued warnings over parliamentary scrutiny, and took aim at the government for announcing Covid lockdown changes to the press before MPs.A debate marking Islamophobia Awareness Month will be held in Parliament’s Westminster Hall on Tuesday.It was founded in 2012 and sees campaigners, politicians and faith groups raise awareness of the issue.Addressing the House of Commons following Mr Khan’s question on Monday, communities secretary Michael Gove said that the equalities minister would be attending the debate.He said the government had appointed an independent adviser on Islamophobia and had an anti-Muslim hatred working group.Boris Johnson apologises for ‘hurt and offence’ caused by Islamophobia in Tory PartyMr Khan, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims, wrote to the prime minister in November 2020 warning of rising hate crime and questioning “the inaction of this government in tackling” Islamophobia.An official guide says that government departments should respond to correspondence from MPs within 20 working days, but Mr Khan has not received a reply.A report into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, published in May, found that two thirds of discriminatory incidents reported to the party’s headquarters over six years related to anti-Muslim hatred.The review was commissioned in December 2019 after accusations of Islamophobic behaviour by some Conservative party members and representatives.It considered cases including a column written by Mr Johnson comparing Muslim women who wear full-face veils to “letter boxes” and “bank robbers” in 2018.The review said such incidents “give an impression to some of a party and leadership insensitive to Muslim communities”.The government was previously accused of “utterly neglecting” Islamophobia by failing to produce a definition that can be used to combat anti-Muslim hatred for over two years.A group of MPs and peers formulated a working definition and called for it to be adopted in 2018, saying the lack of one was allowing Islamophobia to “increase in society to devastating effect”.The Conservative government rejected the proposed definition in May 2019, and announced that it would commission independent experts to draw up a different one.But only one adviser is known to have been appointed and no proposals have ever been published. More

Boris Johnson has rejected calls to give more powers and independence to his ethics advisor.The Committee on Standards in Public Life published its review of ethics in politics on Monday, and its main recommendation was to strengthen the powers of the prime minister’s independent advisor on ministers’ interests.The Covid pandemic and Brexit process had worsened the public’s view of politicians’ honesty, the review found.A survey organised by the Committee found people were “visibly angry” when they recalled how high-profile political figures had broken lockdown rules or handed out large public contracts to friends with little repercussions.There was a desperate need to reform and strengthen the rules which govern how politicians act, Lord Evans, the chair of the Committee and former head of MI5 wrote in the report.The review recommended all public ethics rules be given full legal force through legislation and that the advisors who enforce the various codes of ethics be allowed to initiate their own investigations.“From the evidence we have taken during our review it has become clear that a system ofstandards regulation which relies on convention is no longer satisfactory,” Lord Evans wrote.The previous independent advisor, Sir Alex Allan, resigned last year after Mr Johnson refused to sack the home secretary Priti Patel, despite an inquiry finding she had bullied civil servants and broken the ministerial code. As well as the Priti Patel bullying scandal, Westminster has also been rocked by a series of sleaze incidents in recent years, including David Cameron’s secret lobbying for the failed financial firm Greensill Capital and Dominic Cummings’ breach of lockdown rules during his trip to Barnard Castle last year.But Mr Johnson has already rejected the idea of giving up his powers to control ethics inquiries into his own ministers.A Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister’s views remained the same as when he had rejected a similar suggestion in a letter to Lord Evans earlier this year.The letter “sets out our position clearly, that as the ultimate arbiter of the code… the Prime Minister believes it rightly remains for the Prime Minister to instruct on investigations”.Mr Johnson wrote: “I cannot and would not wish to abrogate the ultimate responsibility for deciding on an investigation into allegations concerning ministerial misconduct.”The Public Appointments Commissioner, who guides who can be appointed to various public roles, and the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which governs what lobbying ex-ministers can undertake after they leave office, should also be beefed up and given formal legal independence from government, the review said.The punishments ministers can face for breaking the rules should also be laid out unambiguously, the Committee’s report argued. “[The code] should detail the range of sanctions that the prime minister may issue in response to a breach. We recommend that those sanctions include apologies, fines, and asking for a minister’s resignation.”Currently, how to respond to a finding that a minister broke ethical guidelines on lobbying, procurement or standards in public life is left up to the sitting prime minister.Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: “Boris Johnson and his Conservative colleagues’ actions have repeatedly undermined standards in our public life.”The system that is supposed to uphold the Ministerial Code, lobbying rules, business appointments, public appointments and transparency is clearly unfit for purpose. Ministers have disregarded the rules and it is about time for a radical overhaul of the system.”Anti-corruption charity Transparency International UK has also welcomed the report and urged it be implemented in full.Chief executive Daniel Bruce said: “It is incumbent on the PM to enact these significant but sensible reforms without delay.”Failing to do so would constitute a deliberate choice to leave the door wide open to abuses of public office for private gain.” More

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s weeks-old government cleared its first major test in weekend national elections as his governing party secured just enough seats to maintain a free hand in pushing legislation through parliament. The victory will be a key factor as his government grapples with the pandemic-hit economy, security threats and other challenges.___DID KISHIDA’S QUICK ELECTION GAMBLE PAY OFF?Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party lost 15 seats, giving it 261 in the powerful 465-member lower house of Japan’s Diet, or parliament. But that is enough to allow the governing bloc to control all parliamentary committees and easily ram through legislation.Kishda’s embattled predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, resigned after only a year in office as his popularity plunged over criticisms of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his insistence on holding the Tokyo Olympics despite widespread virus concerns. The Liberal Democrats had feared heavy elections losses had Suga stayed in power.Influential conservatives in the party saw Kishida as a safe successor who wouldn’t challenge party doctrine. He called elections soon after taking office, saying he wanted a popular mandate for his new government.Kishida said the results gave him a fresh mandate. “It was a tough election, but the results showed the will of the people to choose the stability of the (governing) coalition and the Kishida government to create a future Japan,” he said Monday. Experts say Kishida’s election gamble benefitted from massive media coverage of the governing party’s leadership race which picked him. He also was helped by a botched united front of opposition parties that turned off many of their traditional supporters because of the inclusion of the leftist Japanese Communist Party.___CAN KISHIDA AVOID BEING ANOTHER SHORT-TERM LEADER?Kishida’s better-than-expected election showing strengthened his grip on power, potentially giving his administration more time than his predecessor to work on campaign promises, including COVID-19 control, economic revitalization and a strengthening of Japan’s defense capability. His longevity hinges on the coronavirus situation, said Ritsumeikan University political science Professor Masato Kamikubo. “The election victory opens the door for Kishida’s possible long-term leadership, but it may not be easy,” he said, citing Kishida’s lack of powerful allies in his Cabinet or top party positions, which means he could be easily dismissed if his support ratings fall, like Suga’s.If another wave of COVID-19 infections hits and requires another state of emergency, “there could be a move to replace him with new leadership,” Kamikubo said. Daily coronavirus cases have dropped sharply since September. Experts cite vaccination progress, widespread mask wearing and weather factors.___WHAT POLICIES WILL KISHIDA PUSH?Climate will be his first as Kishida heads Tuesday to Glasgow to attend the COP-26 climate change summit to show Japan’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and cooperating with other countries in the region.That pushes back his domestic political schedule, such as getting reelected prime minister by parliament and reappointing his Cabinet, until next week. He is expected to compile an economic stimulus package later this month and a supplementary budget to fund it by the end of the year. He also promises to create a reinforcing cycle of growth and improved economic distribution to raise incomes under his “new capitalism” economic policy. As a former foreign minister, Kishida will continue to prioritize the Japan-U.S. security alliance and promote a vision of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” with other democracies, including Quad dialogue members the U.S., Australia and India. Kishida stresses the importance of a stronger military amid worries over China’s growing power and influence and North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats.He has opposed changes to a law that requires married couples to adopt a single surname, which forces most women to abandon their maiden names. The Liberal Democrats are widely seen as opposed to gender equality and diversity. More

The government of Jersey has issued almost 50 additional licences to French boats to fish in its waters, in an apparent effort to stave off threats of sanctions from Paris.The 49 temporary permits issued today come on top of 66 permanent licences awarded last week, bringing to 162 the total number of French vessels allowed to fish in the area post-Brexit.However, it is unclear whether the move – agreed last week at a meeting with officials from France, Jersey, the UK and European Commission – will be enough to stop the imposition of measures threatened by Paris if the situation is not resolved to its satisfaction by midnight tonight.The announcement came as foreign secretary Liz Truss said that France had 48 hours to end the dispute or face possible legal action from the UK.The new licences are the most visible outcome of efforts to prevent a Brexit meltdown in Anglo-French relations just as Boris Johnson is trying to bring world leaders together at the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow.They fall only slightly short of the total 169 licences requested by Paris. The UK last week also granted 12 additional authorisations within the limit of 6 to 12 nautical miles of its coasts — less than a quarter of the 87 requested by France.Retaliatory measures threatened by Paris if the UK does not halt what it regards as unfair treatment of its fishermen could involve blocking access to French ports for UK boats, tightening controls on British exports or even cutting off electricity supplies to the Channel Islands.Ms Truss took to the airwaves first thing on Monday to blast “completely unreasonable threats” to the fishing industry and threatened to sue France under the terms of the post-Brexit trade deal.“They need to withdraw those threats, or else we will use the mechanisms of our trade agreement with the EU to take action,” she said.Ms Truss said the UK would use the dispute resolution mechanism in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to seek “compensatory measures” against Emmanuel Macron’s government. She did not elaborate on how she believed the warnings from France breached the agreement.“That is what we will do if the French don’t back down,” she added. “Stop threatening UK fishing vessels, stop threatening the Channel ports and accept we are entirely within our rights to allocate the fishing licences in line with the trade agreement.”Downing Street said that legal action by the UK would not be automatically triggered by the passing of France’s deadline, but would be dependent on whether Paris actually takes action which breaches the TCA.A No 10 spokesperson stressed that the deadline was a matter for the French authorities, as it had been set unilaterally by Paris.“If the French carry out these threats, we will look at our options,” said the spokesperson. “The TCA is clear in terms of what it entails.”There are currently no plans for Mr Johnson to speak with Mr Macron in Glasgow, following the two leaders’ conversation at the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday.In a statement, the Jersey authorities said that the 49 new temporary licences will be valid until 31 January, allowing French vessels to continue fishing while they provide the further data required to secure a permanent right of access.They said: “Jersey remains open to receiving further data for vessels that currently have no licence, and new applications can be submitted at any time. “We will continue to work closely with French authorities, the UK and the EU Commission – in accordance with the TCA – to ensure that vessels which are entitled to a licence are able to receive one and continue fishing in Jersey’s territorial waters in accordance with their historic track record.”Under the terms of the TCA, French boats must be able to show that they have fished in the relevant UK waters for at least one day a year for the past four years to obtain a licence granting them access after Brexit.The UK government says that it has given licences to 98 per cent of all EU vessels seeking access to UK waters – nearly 1,800 in total. But the rate of approvals has been far lower for the areas around the Channel Islands.The UK maintains the rejected applications that sparked the row did not have enough supporting evidence to show the boats had a history of fishing in Britain’s or Jersey’s waters.Dimitri Rogoff, who heads the regional fishing committee on the French coast near Jersey, said French crews have been providing paperwork for 10 months and don’t understand why some boats won permits and others have not.He said he did not understand why Britain is making a big deal over “20 or 30 boats,” and that he hoped that the French government’s threats could “incite our British friends to be a bit more conciliatory”. More

New guidance on firearms licensing, which comes into force today, will make it a requirement for any applicant to provide details of their medical history to the police. Applicants for a firearms licence may also be subjected to social media checks and officers will be able to interview their friends or family, or any other relevant individuals. The new measures were prompted by the mass shooting that took place in Plymouth on August 12. In that attack, Jake Davison shot and killed five people, wounded two others, and took his own life. The 22-year-old apprentice crane operator had had his licence and shotgun removed by police in December 2020, following an alleged assault in September of that year. However Devon and Cornwall Police returned his gun to him after he completed an anger management course. Devon and Cornwall Police are currently being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct and a police officer and a member of police staff have both been issued with misconduct notices over their handling of Davison’s application for a shotgun. The serving of the notices means that the staff at Devon and Cornwall Police are under investigation but does not mean that they will necessarily be disciplined. The new statutory guidance for chief officers of police on firearms licensing aims to standardise the licensing procedures in police forces. The guidance requires that background checks must be done on every applicant for a firearms licence and a home visit should always be carried out before granting a certificate to a first-time applicant. Any applicant for a licence will have to arrange for information about their medical suitability to carry a gun to be provided by their GP. Officers considering their application should have access to this medical information for every person who applies. “An application for a certificate will not be granted without such medical information”, the guidance reads. Before the updated guidance came into force, some police forces were able to grant gun licences even if they hadn’t heard from the applicants’ GP. GPs were given a time period to respond and if they had not replied in the time then the licence would be issued. Under the new guidelines chief officers will also be asked to carry out additional, non-routine, checks if they are deemed necessary. This will include “information obtained from open source social media” and “interviews with individuals other than the applicant or their referees”.In a statement made to parliament on Monday, Policing minister Kit Malthouse said that in the light of the Plymouth shooting every police force in Britain had reviewed their firearms licensing process. He said that a total of 6,434 firearms and shotgun licences were surrended, revoked or refused in the past year. 908 licences were subsequently returned after further checks. Mr Malthouse said: “The new Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing, which was published on 20 October and comes in to force today, will help to further enhance safety checks and ensure greater consistency in licensing decisions taken by police forces. “The Statutory Guidance makes it a requirement for information to be provided to the police about any relevant medical conditions, including mental health conditions. It also makes explicit that firearms’ applicants may be subject to open source social media checks as part of the licensing process, as well as interviews with associates, and checking to see if they have any previous record of domestic violence. The police will have a legal duty to have regard to the new statutory guidance.” More