Markus Andrews

US climate envoy John Kerry has conceded that the Cop26 summit will likely will end without nations agreeing to the carbon emissions cuts needed to stave off devastating levels of climate change.Boris Johnson is hoping the UK – as host nation of next month’s crucial talks in Glasgow – can encourage countries to sign up to reductions that would keep global warming within 1.5C.But in gloomy assessment, Kerry suggested some countries would fall short and leave “gaps” in meeting the 1.5C target once the UN conference was complete in mid-November.“By the time Glasgow’s over, we’re going to know who is doing their fair share, and who isn’t,” president Joe Biden’s envoy told the Associated Press.Asked about efforts to closing the divide between the emissions cuts pledged by countries and the cuts actually needed, Kerry said: “We will hopefully be moving very close to that.”The US climate envoy added: “Though there will be a gap and … we’ve got to be honest about the gap, and we have to use the gap as further motivation to continue to accelerate as fast as we can.”Kerry declined to single out China by name as one reason why Glasgow might not be as a success – although surprise announcements by Beijing are thought to remain a possibility.“It would be wonderful if everybody came and everybody hit the 1.5 degrees mark now,” he said. “That would be terrific. But some countries just don’t have the energy mix yet that allows them to do that.”Kerry also warned the US Congress to pass the Biden’s administration’s legislation for faster action on climate. Some Democrats are blocking measures aimed at making good on a US pledge to slash its emissions at least in half by 2030.Asked how the administration’s troubles delivering on its own promises affect his work rallying other countries, Kerry said: “Well, it hurts. I’m not going to pretend it’s the best way to send the best message. I mean, we need to do these things.”Johnson, meanwhile, has been accused of failing to show the kind of “statesmanship” required to push countries to go further on cutting their emissions at Cop26.Labour said the Conservative PM had failed to take the summit seriously enough or be “candid” enough about the scale of action needed to address the climate emergency.In an attack on Johnson’s holiday in the run-up to the talks, the opposition said: “It’s time for the prime minister to get off his sun lounger, be a statesman and make Glasgow the success we need it to be.”But Johnson’s Cop26 spokesperson Allegra Stratton insisted he was focused on the summit, saying the success of talks would be judged on “getting to the end and feeling that 1.5 has been kept alive”.Tory minister Alok Sharma, president of Cop26, has also called “keeping 1.5 alive” the primary objective of the November conference.Speaking in Paris earlier this week, Sharma said pledges made by the G20 countries in could be “make or break” for limiting global temperature rises.Mr Sharma has said the summit must have a negotiated outcome that outlines increased ambitions up to 2030, as well as delivering a long-promised 100 billion US dollars a year in finance for poorer countries. More

Health secretary Sajid Javid has defended the government’s decision to publish league tables for family doctors, but denied that it amounted to the “naming and shaming” of GPs.GP surgeries which fail to provide appropriate “access” will be listed in league tables under the £250m plan – with patients given a new right to demand face-to-face appointments.Asked by Sky News if it would mean the “naming and shaming” of GPs who fail to meet targets, Javid: “We have no plans whatsoever for that … What we are doing is providing more data and more transparency.”The health secretary added: “It is important that patients have this information because I want to see a levelling up of healthcare throughout the country.”The British Medical Association (BMA) said the government was “preoccupied” with face-to-face appointments, while TV doctor and GP Rosemary Leonard accused Javid of “stirring up anti-GP rhetoric”.The government has pledged £250m for a new package of measures aimed at improving access to GPs. The blueprint says GP practices must “respect preferences for face-to-face care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary”.GP appointment data will be published at practice level by spring so people will be able to see how well their surgery performs compared to others.Practices which do not provide “appropriate levels” of face-to-face care will not be able to access the additional funding – though it is not clear what the level of appointments need to be face-to-face.Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether there will be clear targets on access to face-to-face appointments, Javid said “my only target is choice”. “This whole package today is about support,” Javid added: “This is all about helping GPs so that they can do what they do best, which is seeing their patients.”The government will reform who can provide medical evidence and certificates such as fit notes and DVLA checks in a bid to free up GPs’ time for appointments. Infection control will be assessed, which could see social distancing in surgeries being relaxed.But doctors’ groups responded with dismay to the plan – with the BMA warning that it could force many GPs to “hang up their stethoscopes”.BMA GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey said: “It’s truly frightening that we have a government so ignorant to the needs of such a core part of the NHS.”He added: “It is also disappointing to see that there is no end in sight to the preoccupation with face-to-face appointments – we need a more intelligent conversation about the variety of appointments and care that are available to patients to meet their needs.”Campaign group EveryDoctor, which represents 1,700 UK doctors, said that GPs have been “blamed” for lack of access when they had been instructed to offer initial consultations on the phone or online.Dr Julia Grace Patterson, chief executive of EveryDoctor, said: “It’s a bit of a shock for GPs to have been told vehemently by the health secretary last year that all appointments should be via telephone. And now we are told the absolute opposite and, in fact, blamed for the amount of telephone consultations that have been happening.”Javid was accused of running “scared” after he cancelled an appearance at the Royal College of GPs’ annual conference in Liverpool.Michael Mulholland, vice chair for professional development at the college, said he was told Javid had to “clear his diary to ensure he can fight for the NHS in the spending review”.Rachel Clarke, a palliative care doctor and NHS campaigner, said: “I think if the health secretary is too scared to face the frontline NHS staff he bashes – and yet purports to lead – he really shouldn’t be in post.”The Royal College of GPs has called on the government to fulfil its manifesto pledge of an additional 6,000 GPs and 26,000 other primary care professionals in the workforce by 2024.Official figures show that 58 per cent of GP appointments in England in August were face-to-face. Before the pandemic, in August 2019, four in five appointments were carried out in person.In September, leading GPs said that the current balance of face-to-face appointments was “about right”. But a new YouGov poll suggests that two-thirds of people would prefer a face-to-face appointment.Meanwhile, Javid said he is “sorry” for the losses and suffering which have occurred during the Covid pandemic.His cabinet colleague Steve Barclay has come under fire this week for repeatedly refusing to apologise in the wake of a highly critical report by MPs into the government’s delayed response to the outbreak.“Obviously I am new in the role, but on behalf of the government I am sorry for, during the pandemic, anyone that suffered, especially anyone that lost a loved one, a mother, a dad, a brother, a sister, a friend. Of course I am sorry for that,” Javid told BBC Breakfast.Javid said he still had not read the damning report by MPs on the health and science committees. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – I’ll look at it properly at the weekend,” he told Today. More

The majority of companies in the manufacturing and services sectors are reporting near record-high problems with recruiting enough staff, according to a new survey.More than nine in 10 employers in hospitality and catering are having difficulty finding staff, the poll of more than 5,600 firms by the British Chambers of Commerce suggests.Earlier this week, it was reported that the number of job vacancies across the UK reached a 20-year high of 1.1 million between July and September – more than double the number at the start of the pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics.Adrian Hanrahan is the managing director of Robinson Brothers, a chemical manufacturing company in West Bromwich.The company employs 260 people and is currently trying to fill more than 20 vacancies.Mr Hanrahan said: “We have recruitment issues right across the board, I have never had anything like it before.“What we are struggling with is getting people in full-time posts, and this has been going on for some time.“It includes everything from engineering and maintenance to research, customer services and production operators.“It is a real challenge. We have raised our salaries and we still cannot find them, but we are a family business and there are limits to what we can do.“Pre-Brexit and pre-Covid we always had one or two vacancies, but this current scale is unprecedented. Everyone is looking for people.”Jane Gratton, of the British Chambers of Commerce, called for more targeted post-Brexit immigration measures to help companies find enough workers.She said: “It’s clear that staff shortages are worsening, impacting on recovery and growth for manufacturers and services businesses alike.“Recruitment difficulties mean vacancies are left unfilled and firms are struggling to maintain normal operations. While employers are investing more in training, apprenticeships and flexible working practices, this will not improve things overnight.“We need Government help to provide a more flexible skills system, rapid retraining opportunities and targeted immigration initiatives to plug skills and labour gaps.“Wage pressures and energy prices are also ramping up the cumulative costs and there is a limit to how much more can be absorbed before firms are forced out of business.“If action is not taken to address the mounting problems revealed by these data, then businesses will also face extreme difficulty in meeting demand and consumers will see further reductions in the goods and services available to them as we progress into winter.”The warnings over the manufacturing and services industry comes after care sector bosses in England said that they are struggling to recruit and retain staff.Industry body Skills for Care said that more jobs –about 100,000 of them – are unfilled now than before the Covid pandemic.There has also been a shortage of HGV drivers, warehouse staff, and slaughterhouse workers. More

Border Force officers who participate in Priti Patel’s controversial plans to “push back” boats of migrants could be given immunity from conviction if an asylum seeker drowns.A provision in the home secretary’s Nationality and Borders Bill, which is at the committee stage, could give officials legal protections if a refugee dies in the English Channel.Last month, the Home Office said that it was training Border Force guards on jet-skis to push back small boats from the shores of the UK.It is understood that guards are at risk of prosecution if a migrant is injured or drowns under existing laws.Immigration barrister and author Colin Yeo highlights a section of the Bill that states an officer is “not liable in any criminal or civil proceedings” for actions carried out during a pushback operation at sea.This is providing that the act was done in “good faith” and with “reasonable grounds” for doing so, the Bill states.On his website Freedom of Movement, Mr Yeo claims this could “make officials immune from criminal and civil court action if a refugee dies during a marine pushback operation.”However, he stressed that the clause is unlikely to provide a legitimate defence, arguing that if a border official did not rescue a refugee in distress they would be breaking both international and British law.The family of someone who died in such a way would be able to file for compensation under human rights law, he adds.His warnings come as Ms Patel is under pressure from her party to reduce numbers of migrants entering the UK via small boats.Over the course of two days last week, more than 1,000 people in at least 40 boats made the crossing after a period of bad weather had calmed.Since the start of the year, more than 17,000 people have made the dangerous crossing – more than double the number in 2020.More than 25,000 people have risked death crossing to the UK aboard dinghies, kayaks and other small boats since the beginning of 2020, PA news agency data shows.Despite the sharp rise in the number of boats arriving on the south coast, asylum applications in the UK fell in 2020 to 29,456 – significantly lower than the 93,475 asylum applications made in France and the 121,955 made in Germany.The Bill means that anyone arriving in the UK via an illegal route, such as by a small boat, could have their claim ruled inadmissible, receive a prison sentence of up to four years, have no recourse to public funds, and could have their family members barred from joining them in the country.Labour has tried to block the legislation, but noted that it acknowledges the need to address the increasing number of “dangerous” boat crossings.Four barristers led by the human rights QC Raza Husain claim that the Bill “represents the biggest legal assault on international refugee law ever seen in the UK.”Home Office sources have suggested they are seeking to protect Border Force guards from prosecution, and that the provision in the Bill complies with all international obligations.A Home Office spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing response to these dangerous crossings, we continue to evaluate and test a range of safe and legal options for stopping small boats.“All operational procedures used at sea comply and are delivered in accordance with domestic and international law.“We will fix the broken asylum system through our new plan for immigration, break the business model of people smugglers who put lives at risk and welcome people through safe and legal route.” More

A significant majority of British voters appear to believe the UK’s 50-year “war on drugs” has been futile, with new polling suggesting six in 10 people believe making drugs illegal is an ineffective way to prevent people from using them.The findings of the survey, carried out by YouGov, are consistent across the political spectrum, with less than a quarter of all respondents believing criminalising the use of a drug is an effective way to prevent its consumption. This rose to 28 per cent among Tory voters and fell to 20 per cent among Labour voters. Correspondingly, 59 per cent and 67 per cent believed criminalisation to be ineffective.However, when pressed further, most voters supported a level of criminalisation – with 36 per cent advocating drugs be treated equally as a health and criminal issue, 28 per cent pushing solely for health, and 24 per cent believing them only to be a criminal matter.In response to a damning independent review which found England’s cash-starved drug treatment system is “not fit for purpose” and urged ministers to recognise “that addiction is a chronic health condition”, the government has recently committed “to a comprehensive, whole-system approach to tackling drugs” and has set up a new cross-government drugs unit.But despite the move to further involve health officials in its drugs response, the government is intensifying its hard-line approach to drug policy, with home secretary Priti Patel reportedly ordering a new crackdown on recreational drug use by urging police forces to “make an example” out of middle-class cocaine users and introduce “more drug testing on arrest”.As drug-related deaths hit an all-time high for the eighth consecutive year in England and Wales, with most fatalities involving opiates, the Home Office is also considering whether to criminalise the possession of nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas.The government cited a “concerning” rise in the drug’s use among young people. But Office for National Statistics data suggests that while its consumption is indeed up on 2013 levels, it has remained consistent for the past four years.Echoing the analysis of experts, who called for “smart education, not blunt regulation”, YouGov found that people in Britain largely believe that laughing gas is less harmful than both alcohol and tobacco, and causes the least harm to society of any of 12 drugs listed.On the wider issue of criminalisation, YouGov’s findings also appear to place the UK populace at odds with the government’s longstanding approach to drug use, and more in line with the general consensus among experts, many of whom argue that the 50-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act is in drastic need of overhaul.Despite the legislation having aimed to prevent drugs consumption by criminalising those who use them, both the consumption and related harms of illegal drugs have skyrocketed in the 50 years since its introduction.The illicit drugs trade is now estimated to cost the UK some £19bn a year, and – according to a Home Office-commissioned review – has “never caused greater harm to society”, with police efforts not only failing to stem supply but often fuelling increased violence in a market which now involves an “unprecedented” number of children.As a result, support for a shift towards the decriminalisation or regulation of drugs is widely spread among varying sectors and political groups. As reported by The Independent in 2019, several of the UK’s major drug treatment providers have urged the government to consider decriminalising drugs in to reduce drug-related deaths, while the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s drugs lead, Jason Harwin, told this paper last year that he believed the question of whether to regulate drugs is “a debate that we should be having here” in the UK.Some police forces have already moved to unofficially stop criminalising some people for drug possession, instead diverting those caught with small amounts of drugs towards treatment and support. The government’s £28m new Project ADDER pilot – “addiction, diversion, disruption, enforcement and recovery” – includes expanding diversion schemes, but the Home Office has also said it expects police chiefs to enforce the law.North of the border, Scotland’s lord advocate recently moved to allow police forces there to do the same, effectively decriminalising Class A drugs to the fullest extent possible under the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act, which experts say prevents wider reforms.Newspapers of varying stripes have campaigned for decriminalisation, including the Daily Record and The Times, which recently ran an opinion piece by former Tory leader William Hague, who argued: “My own attempt as Conservative leader to frame a ‘zero tolerance’ policy collapsed when more than a third of my shadow cabinet admitted to once taking drugs themselves.”Meanwhile, polls have long suggested there is appetite for reform among the general public, with voters having previously backed calls for a significant review of UK drug policy.While Labour has previously called for a royal commission into whether to legalise all drugs, the party’s current leader Sir Keir Starmer has been more guarded, suggesting the UK’s current policy is “broadly right”, and offering caged support for the recent move in Scotland while saying that retaining discretion on whether to criminalise people for drug possession in certain cases is “sensible”.“Poll after poll shows a clear majority of the public of all political persuasions realise criminalising people who use drugs simply doesn’t work,” Martin Powell, of pro-reform organisation Transform Drugs Policy, told The Independent. “Yet punishing people for drug use forms the failed foundation of the government’s whole approach. It is time all political parties caught up with the public, and treated drugs as a health issue instead. “We know from other countries like Portugal that are already taking a 21st Century evidence-led health approach, that we would then see drug deaths, other health harms, and drug related crime fall, and we’d save money as well. “The last thing we should be doing is wrecking the life chances of yet more young people by giving them criminal records for using laughing gas.”A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government has no plans to decriminalise drug possession. It would not eliminate the crime committed by the illicit trade, nor would it address the harms associated with drug dependence and the misery that this can cause to families and communities.“Our approach on drugs remains clear – we must prevent drug use in our communities, support people through treatment and recovery, and tackle the supply of illegal drugs.”“Through Project ADDER we are taking a wide-ranging and integrated approach to prevent drug use and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery.”The government is due to set out a new long-term drugs strategy by the end of the year. More

Brexit is still very much not done, with the British government demanding that the European Union renegotiate the Northern Ireland protocol, a crucial part of the withdrawal agreement. Some Remainers, meanwhile, point to the many ways in which Brexit has made the economic recovery from Covid lockdowns more difficult as evidence that “Brexit isn’t working”. This week Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, travelled to Lisbon to deliver a speech warning the EU not to make a “historic misjudgement” in dismissing the UK government’s case for a rewriting the Brexit deal – the day before the EU published its own proposals to make the protocol work better, but without a new treaty. What will happen next? Why is Boris Johnson trying to tear up an agreement he signed just two years ago? Is it because he wants to fight a forever Brexit campaign, or because, as Dominic Cummings, his former chief adviser, claims, he signed up to a deal without understanding it? Is the prime minister lazy and dishonest, as Mr Cummings says, or did he genuinely not realise how the arrangements for Northern Ireland would work out? Then there are the questions about how Brexit more generally is working out. How politically effective is Mr Johnson’s claim that ending free movement will mean that British workers get a pay rise? What should Sir Keir Starmer do? How should Labour promise to “make Brexit work” by the time of the next election? Why won’t even the Liberal Democrats touch the question of rejoining the EU? If you have any questions about Brexit, I’ll be here at 1pm on Friday (15 October) to try to answer as many of them as I can. Register to submit your question in the comments box below. If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments section to leave your question.Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they will be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them.Join us live on this page from 1pm on Friday, 15 October, as I tackles as many questions as I can. More

Lord Frost accuses EU of using Northern Ireland to try to reverse referendum resultThe EU has unveiled a series of proposals that would slash the red tape burden on Irish Sea trade created by Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol.The European Commission measures would see an 80% reduction in checks envisaged for retail agri-food products arriving in the region from Great Britain.Announcing the proposals on Wednesday night, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said the EU had “turned our rules upside down and inside out” to find a solution to the NI protocol issues.It comes after Dominic Cummings has claimed that Downing Street always intended to “ditch” the parts of the Brexit deal and that Boris didn’t actually understand what the agreement meant. The former chief adviser to the Prime Minister claimed Boris Johnson “never had a scoobydoo” on the implications of the deal as the government urges Brussels to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol.Mr Cummings’ comments – which came as the EU pledged “very far-reaching” proposals to fix the situation – were described as “very alarming” by Ireland’s deputy premier, Leo Varadkar, who warned political leaders not to enter any agreements with the UK Government until they are “confident that they keep their promises”.Show latest update

1634107565EU to announce new Northern Ireland protocol planBrussels will announce a new approach to the Northern Ireland protocol today in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock.Britain has been chafing at the provisions of the protocol, which it agreed to, and has threatened to unilaterally suspend its adherence to the deal which it now describes as too restrictive.Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice-president, has pledged “very far-reaching” changes and reports suggest he will offer to slash checks on goods by half.Weeks of negotiations are expected as officials thrash out a new deal.Mr Sefcovic has also pledged to offer more of a chance for politicians and civic society in Northern Ireland to weigh in on how the contentious trading arrangements operate.While these changes may help reduce everyday friction on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, they are unlikely to satisfy a UK government demand that the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ oversight function in relation to the protocol be removed.Under the terms of the deal struck by the UK and EU in 2019, the ECJ would be the final arbitrator in any future trade dispute between the two parties on the operation of the protocol.The UK now wants to drop that provision and replace it with an independent arbitration process. Mr Sefcovic has insisted that the EU will not budge on the ECJ issue.He has pointed out that Northern Ireland would be unable to retain single market access – a key provision of the protocol – if the arrangement was not subject to oversight by European judges.Additional reporting by PA MediaJon Sharman13 October 2021 07:461634107837Lord Frost risks inflaming tensions as he calls on EU to revise Brexit agreementThe UK government is on course for a diplomatic collision with Brussels as Brexit minister Lord Frost warned it would be a “historic misjudgement” for the bloc not to rewrite key parts of the agreement, write Jon Stone and Ashley Cowburn.Accusing the EU of being “disrespectful” to Britain, Lord Frost demanded leaders effectively tear up the Northern Ireland protocol he negotiated alongside Boris Johnson just two years ago and replace it with a new treaty.Delivering a speech in Lisbon, he risked inflaming tensions, claiming the bloc was attempting to “encourage UK political forces to reverse the referendum result or least keep us closely aligned with the EU”.Jon Sharman13 October 2021 07:501634108977UK pledges to ‘engage fully’ with new EU planBritain will “engage fully constructively” with the EU proposals on the Northern Ireland protocol, Oliver Dowden has said.Asked if the EU proposals were enough, the co-chair of the Conservative Party told Sky News: “Well clearly we’ll wait to receive the full announcement from the EU and I know that Lord Frost, as he said yesterday, and the government as a whole will engage fully, constructively with these proposals.”It is though important that there is fundamental change to the Northern Ireland protocol so we’ll be looking to see that, but let’s see exactly what the EU comes up with.”Jon Sharman13 October 2021 08:091634110117Sketch: David Frost cocked it all up, explained David Frost – but don’t worry, David Frost is here to sort it outThe day when its handling of the coronavirus pandemic was described as “one of the most important public health failures the UK has ever experienced” was certainly a good day to let it quietly but certainly be known that the government had done just as bad a job with regard to Brexit. In that sense, Lord David Frost did not disappoint, writes Tom Peck.Lord Frost – who is still described as the government’s chief Brexit negotiator because almost two full years after Brexit he is still negotiating it, and mainly with himself – flew to Lisbon on Tuesday to stand in front of some curtains, and, in front of fully 275 online viewers, gave himself an absolute kicking.Jon Sharman13 October 2021 08:281634111257Full story: EU to unveil proposals aimed at resolving political stand-off over Northern Ireland agreementThe European Union will today outline proposals aimed at resolving the political stand-off over the Brexit agreement, with an offer to significantly reduce border checks on British goods entering Northern Ireland.It comes after Brexit minister Lord Frost dialled up the government’s hardline rhetoric over the contentious issue in a speech on Tuesday, warning the bloc it would be a “historic misjudgement” not to rewrite the deal, writes Ashley Cowburn.But the minister was accused of stoking tensions by accusing the EU of being “disrespectful” and attempting to reverse the referendum result, as he set out his stall and effectively demanded the Northern Ireland Protocol he signed is ripped up.Jon Sharman13 October 2021 08:471634112397EU to ‘go the extra mile’ on Northern Ireland protocolBrussels will “go the extra mile” to settle the Northern Ireland protocol dispute, according to a French former Europe minister.Nathalie Loiseau, an MEP, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m comfortable with the fact that the Commission is looking to go the extra mile, and fix the problems and try to find a solution within the protocol.“I think pragmatism and good will is really on the EU’s side and I sincerely hope that the [British] posturing of denying the benefits of the protocol [ends], because there are many benefits of the protocol.”She added: “What can we think of David Frost negotiating the protocol, signing the protocol and pushing hard for the British parliament to ratify the protocol if now he says that he doesn’t agree with the protocol? That’s a big problem.”It was “not accurate” for Lord Frost to claim the protocol was negotiated in haste and needed to be revised, she added, saying “there was another offer on the table when Theresa May was prime minister which was called the British backstop”, which had taken months to put together.Meanwhile, Oliver Dowden has said the European Court of Justice’s oversight of trade disputes around Northern Ireland was a major problem for the UK.The Tory chair told Sky News: “There are many, many international treaties that have independent courts and arbitration mechanisms for them that don’t belong to one party or the other and I think it’s appropriate that we should engage with the EU to see how we can resolve that.”However, Brussels has said it will not budge on that aspect of the Brexit deal.Additional reporting by PA MediaJon Sharman13 October 2021 09:061634112997Brexit deal ‘half-baked’, says MilibandEd Miliband has criticised the government’s Brexit deal as being “half-baked”, ahead of fresh negotiations on the Northern Ireland protocol.Drawing on Boris Johnson’s claim his deal was “oven-ready” at the time of signing, the former Labour leader told Sky News: “I hope there’s compromise on both sides. I think people will be scratching their heads because this was an agreement signed by Boris Johnson, he said it was a fantastic triumph, it was all going to be fine – and now they want to rip up their own protocol.”I actually think there’s a case for a wider EU-UK veterinary agreement because that would then make the goods situation in Northern Ireland much easier, it would agree common standards.”Asked if he though the deal was “oven-ready”, he said: “It was half-baked.”Jon Sharman13 October 2021 09:161634113537Trade negotiations between UK and ItalyBritain and Italy have begun discussions on a new investment and export deal. Italy is the world’s eighth-largest economy and trade between Rome and London was worth £38bn last year.It will seek to help firms in both nations boost their exports particularly in the life sciences, defence and security sectors, as well as technology.It is hoped the deal will also encourage investment both ways in low-carbon industries like wind power and carbon capture, as well as the food and drink sector. The UK’s and Italy’s export credit bodies will also collaborate to promote growth among smaller firms.The UK and Italy have started discussions on a new export and investment partnership aimed at boosting trade between the two countries, the International Trade Secretary announced.Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, described the plan to boost bilateral trade as a “win-win”. She added: “Italy is our ninth-largest trading partner, while the UK is Italy’s fifth-largest export market.”Additional reporting by PA MediaJon Sharman13 October 2021 09:251634114137Free politics newsletters – read all about itFor up-to-date politics news delivered to your inbox for free each weekday morning, sign up to our Inside Politics newsletter by clicking here. At the same link, you can also receive the latest news direct from our chief political commentator John Rentoul in Westminster.Jon Sharman13 October 2021 09:351634114677Energy crisis: Thousands of UK firms will collapse without urgent help, ministers warnedThousands of UK firms will not survive the winter unless the government urgently expands a support package aimed at tackling soaring energy prices, ministers have been warned.The Treasury is currently considering a bid from the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, for financial aid to help large firms, with particular focus on energy-intensive industries like chemicals, steel and ceramics.But smaller businesses and leaders from other sectors say they too need help to cope with unprecedented spike in gas and electricity prices, writes Ben Chapman.Jon Sharman13 October 2021 09:44 More

Brussels was “preparing for the worst” over Brexit on Wednesday after the UK signalled the EU’s offer to scrap up to 80 per cent of checks on goods entering Northern Ireland was not enough to resolve the bitter dispute over the Irish border.European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic called on London to engage “earnestly and intensively” with the proposals, inviting Brexit minister David Frost for renewed talks on the Northern Ireland protocol from Friday.But the UK said that, while Lord Frost would look “seriously and constructively” at the EU package, talks over the coming weeks must also take in his demand for the removal of European Court of Justice (ECJ) jurisdiction over the deal.  A British source told The Independent: “Without new arrangements on governance the protocol will never have the support it needs to survive. It is a fundamental issue which needs to be addressed if the protocol is to be put onto a sustainable footing.”The scene was set for a Christmas showdown, with observers unsure whether Mr Sefcovic’s initiative had provided enough “wriggle room” for Mr Frost and Mr Johnson to back down from their hardline stance.Meanwhile, UK businesses urged Boris Johnson to pull back from the brink, warning that his threat to tear up the protocol could trigger punitive tariffs on British products – including 10 per cent on car exports to the EU.Brussels has made clear that it is ready to respond with tariffs if the UK takes the nuclear option of invoking Article 16 of the protocol to suspend implementation of the deal negotiated and agreed by the PM and his chief Brexit adviser in 2019.But the EU appeared ready to move further to avoid the collapse of the agreement, with sources describing the vice-president’s proposals as an opening offer which “lays the ground” for talks.In an eagerly-anticipated press conference at the European Commission HQ, Mr Sefcovic set out what he described as “a robust package of creative and practical solutions” to the bureaucracy and shortages that have bedevilled Northern Ireland since the full implementation of Brexit at the start of 2021.As well as slashing overall red tape, he said the EU was ready to ditch new regulations on medicines being moved from the mainland as well as a ban on chilled meat products like sausages destined for the Northern Irish market. Containers of food products will only require one vet’s certificate, rather than 100 or more to cover every different product in the consignment.In return, the UK must build new border control posts and provide the EU with access to real-time trade data to help prevent smuggling. Dismissing Lord Frost’s concerns over the ECJ, Mr Sefcovic said the issue had been raised only once with him in comprehensive talks with businesses and political parties in Northern Ireland. He said that with a positive response from Britain, the row could be resolved by the New Year.But raising the prospect that UK intransigence could lead to a hard border with the Republic, he said it was “very clear” that the province cannot continue to enjoy access to the single market without the supervision of the ECJ.In a speech in Lisbon on Tuesday, Lord Frost called for the wholesale replacement of the protocol, warning that enforcement powers for the Luxembourg judges meant EU law being imposed on Northern Irish citizens without democratic consent.“That, I think, has to change if we’re to find governance arrangements that people can live with,” he said.EU sources stressed that Mr Sefcovic’s “package of enhanced opportunities” came not in response to the Lisbon speech, but was aimed at “solving practical problems” affecting people and businesses on both sides of the Irish border, while preserving the peace and stability provided by the Good Friday Agreement.But he took a swipe at the UK’s failure so far to deliver on data-sharing and checks on imports promised in the 2019 agreement, saying: “We are showing flexibility, but the remaining controls must be done properly.”A UK government spokesperson said London would look at the package “seriously and constructively” and was ready to “work hard” on talks.The CBI urged both sides to “grasp this opportunity to get back round the table and agree sustainable long-term solutions”.And the British Chambers of Commerce warned the government not to allow its concerns over the ECJ to get in the way of a deal.“Both sides need to reach a balanced agreement soon, focusing on cutting checks for businesses under the protocol and not disputes about different legal systems which have not been raised by the business community,” said BCC trade policy chief William Bain.DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the EU’s proposals amounted to a “welcome acknowledgement that the NI protocol has not worked and does not have the consent of the unionist community in Northern Ireland”.But he warned that the package falls “a long way short of being the basis of a sustainable solution”, as it envisaged the survival of “a protocol that has failed”.Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney welcomed Lord Frost’s promise to “engage fully” with the proposals, saying they offered a “pathway” out of the crisis.Labour’s shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haigh also said: “It is clear that with political will there is a landing ground – now is the time for the EU, UK and representatives from Northern Ireland to get around the table and reach the agreement communities need.But the former top civil servant at the Department for Exiting the EU, Philip Rycroft, said he was “puzzled” by London’s fixation on the ECJ issue, which the UK had known was an EU red line from the start.“Seeking to overturn that does beg a question about what the UK thought it was signing up to?” he told Times Radio. “And indeed its resolve to stick with the protocol for the long term.” More