Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson has admitted he cannot guarantee a normal Christmas this year, as Britain grapples with disruption to goods supplies caused by gas price hikes and shortages of lorry drivers, as well as the potential of another spike in coronavirus cases.The prime minister insisted that it was “very much not the plan” to cancel Christmas for a second year in succession, after he ordered Britons to avoid family get-togethers as the Kent variant of Covid-19 sent cases soaring last December.But he stopped short of promising that the festive season would be back to normal, stressing that the winter plan set out by the government earlier this month envisaged possible Plan B restrictions – including mandatory face-masks and vaccine passports – if the NHS was coming under unsustainable pressure.Asked whether he could guarantee Britons a disruption-free Christmas, the PM said: “I just want to go back to what I said about Plan A and Plan B. Plan A is what we’re on, and Plan B is what we might have to do.“It’s a graduated series of steps and we certainly don’t want or expect to have to do anything like last Christmas.”Asked whether he would cancel Christmas for a second year, he replied: “That is very much not the plan”. More

Boris Johnson has accepted that the UK will not get a quick trade deal with the US, in an embarrassing admission as he prepares for his first White House meeting with president Joe Biden.Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s encounter, the prime minister made clear that he recognised a free trade agreement (FTA) with Britain was not a priority for Mr Biden, who he said had “a lot of fish to fry”.A swift transatlantic FTA was repeatedly trumpeted by Leave campaigners, including Mr Johnson, as the biggest prize from Brexit, and the prime minister made clear on his arrival in Downing Street in 2019 that he was hopeful of a quick deal on tariff-free commerce with the then president Donald Trump.The Department for International Trade has estimated the benefits of a deal at up to £7.7bn, or 0.36 per cent of GDP – well short of the predicted losses from EU withdrawal.But the chances of a deal with Mr Trump foundered over UK concerns about chlorinated chicken, hormone-pumped beef and protections for the NHS, and Mr Biden’s arrival in office has pushed the prospect of agreement further into the future.Speaking on Monday, Mr Johnson suggested that the issue would not feature prominently in his first face-to-face talks with the president since June’s G7 summit in Cornwall.Instead, he hopes that a big announcement from the president on fresh US contributions to a $100bn climate finance package for November’s global warming summit in Glasgow will allow him to claim the meeting as a success. Mr Johnson was blindsided by a US announcement on Monday of a relaxation in its Covid rules, which will allow vaccinated Britons to fly to America.“On the FTA, the reality is that Joe has a lot of fish to fry,” said the PM. “He’s got a huge infrastructure package, he’s got a ‘build back better’ package.“We want to do it, but what we want is a good FTA, a great FTA. And I have quite a lot of experience of American negotiations, and they are pretty ruthless, the American negotiators. And I would much rather get a deal that really works for the UK than get a quick deal.”Mr Johnson’s comments are a humiliating reminder of former president Barack Obama’s 2016 warning that a vote for Brexit in that year’s referendum would put the UK to “the back of the queue” in seeking a deal with Washington – something for which he was derided by Leave campaigners at the time.Last September, before Mr Biden’s election, the then international trade secretary Liz Truss said that she hoped to strike a deal with the US by 1 July this year – the deadline for the US president to fast-track trade agreements through Congress.But Ms Truss, in the US with Mr Johnson in her new role as foreign secretary, has since indicated that she does not believe any agreement will come before next year’s mid-term elections.Despite his FTA disappointment, Mr Johnson insisted that Mr Biden’s arrival had allowed the UK to make progress on long-standing trade differences dating back to the Trump era and before.“When we last flew out a couple of years ago, we had all sorts of pebbles in the shoe,” he said.“But I can tell you today we’ve got the British beef ban lifted. British beef is being exported to the United States. We’ve lifted the tariffs on whisky to the United States. We’ve sorted out the Boeing/Airbus dispute that bedevilled our relations for many years, and we’ve launched a historic pact, with our Australian friends as well, which will enable the UK and US to develop a defence technology partnership and more, for decades ahead.“That prospect brings with it the opportunity of high-wage, high-skilled jobs in the UK for decades to come.”Mr Johnson said the UK was “at one” with the Biden administration on the fight against climate change, and on the need for a “green industrial revolution” that would deliver millions of clean technology jobs.He said his relationship with the president was “genuinely terrific”, but was hesitant when asked if he considered himself a personal friend of Mr Biden.“Yeah, look, I’ve only had long conversations with Joe Biden either on the phone or at Carbis Bay, and then Nato,” he said. “You know, it hasn’t been a relationship that’s been very long in gestation.“But it’s terrific, I mean genuinely terrific. We see eye to eye on all sorts of things. Have we bonded over any particular thing? He’s a bit of a train nut, as am I. He likes trains, which is a good thing.”Mr Johnson will tip his hat to the president’s famed decades-long train commute between his Delaware home and Washington by making the trip from New York to the US capital by rail – something that will also allow him to avoid accusations of hypocrisy on a visit that has been dominated by his pleas for action on climate change.As well as environmental concerns, White House discussions are expected to focus on the fallout from the Aukus defence partnership with Australia, which has sparked fury in France and China, and the continuing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.Mr Johnson described the situation in Afghanistan as “very sad and deplorable”, but said it was necessary for democratic countries to engage with the country’s Taliban rulers.“I think it is odious that young women and girls don’t get the education that they need, absolutely odious,” said the PM.“But I think the way forward is for us to continue to engage. I think engagement is the right thing, you shouldn’t just push people into a corner and refuse to talk to them, that never works.“We should engage, but also set the conditions we’ve made: We can’t disburse the overseas development aid the Taliban wants – unfreeze their assets – until people can see that Afghanistan isn’t going to relapse into being a breeding ground for terror, human rights are observed, people are allowed safe passage out of Afghanistan, and the freedoms and rights of girls are respected. I know that Joe Biden shares that perspective.” More

Kwasi Kwarteng has insisted there is “absolutely no question of the lights going out” this winter, as he said the government will not be bailing out failed energy companies due to the escalating price of gas.Seeking to allay fears after crisis talks with the industry, the business secretary also dismissed “alarmist, unhelpful and completely misguided” suggestions of three-day working week or people being unable to heat homes.Insisting Britain had “sufficient capacity”, he also told MPs the energy price cap, would remain in place, saying: “It’s staying – it’s not going anywhere”. His remarks came after No 10 said the government was “confident of the security of supply” and was not a cause for “immediate concern” when asked whether the country faced a “winter of discontent”.Wholesale prices have spiked 250 per cent since the start of 2021 leading to calls for support from some in the energy industry and the collapse of some smaller firms.But Mr Kwarteng insisted the government will “not be bailing out failed companies”, adding: “There will be no rewards for failure or mismanagement. “The taxpayer should not be expected to prop up companies which have poor business models and are not resilient to fluctuations in price.”However, with rising bills, and an imminent cut to universal credit for some of the lowest income families in the UK, the government is also facing further calls to re-think the decision to end the £20-per-week uplift.Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary, warned some families faced a “triple whammy” of fuel costs, the cutting of universal credit and the manifesto-busting decision earlier this month to hike national insurance tax.“I want to make two points extremely clear,” Mr Kwarteng added in his statement. “Firstly I must stress that protecting consumers is our number one, our primary focus and will shape our entire approach to this important issue.“Secondly, I also want to reassure the House that while the UK like other countries in Europe has been affected by global prices, Britain benefits from having a diverse range of gas supply sources.“We have sufficient capacity, and more than sufficient capacity to meet demand and we do not expect supply emergencies to occur this winter.”“There is absolutely no question of the lights going out or people being unable to heat their homes. There will be no three-day working weeks or a throw back to the 1970s – such thinking is alarmist, unhelpful and completely misguided,” he said.The cabinet minister added that as economies re-open across the globe following the Covid-19 pandemic, “we are seeing a dramatic uptick in global gas demand” and “much faster” than anticipated.Mr Kwarteng also told MPs he would making a joint statement later on Monday with the energy watchdog, Ofgem – a move that prompted criticism from the Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.“If you want to make a statement afterwards, I’m hoping you’ve got it covered by someone making it at the same time [in the Commons],” the speaker said.“This House deserves its respect. People here on all sides are elected, elected to hear from you to be told here first. Not second hand by the media. It’s not right, it’s not acceptable – we’re going to have to get this right.” More

Sir Keir Starmer must distance Labour from its “disastrous decade”, with the party’s annual conference being a pivotal moment in the “long march back to electability”, Peter Mandelson has warned.Speaking to The Independent, one of the architects of New Labour argued the party had come a long way from “ground zero” at the 2019 general election but was yet to “re-establish” its credentials among voters in Britain.Lord Mandelson, who served as a cabinet minister under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said the Labour leader – elected during England’s first lockdown – now had a “second chance” to set out his stall, as the “suffocating grip” of Covid on politics receded.He also suggested that there was now a “huge opportunity” for Sir Keir to seize on, claiming Boris Johnson was unravelling in the eyes of voters with “half-baked” policies and no coherent political agenda.His remarks come just a week before Labour’s first in-person conference since 2019, in what is being billed as a major opportunity for Sir Keir to set out his vision following a bruising year and the party’s poor electoral performance.With Labour trailing the Conservatives in almost all the polls, Sir Keir has previously vowed to set out in “primary colours what post-pandemic Britain needs to look like” during the conference in late September.Just one poll since the beginning of 2021 has placed Labour ahead of the governing party, with a YouGov poll last week showing support for Mr Johnson’s party slumping to its lowest level since the last general election in the winter of 2019.“The public’s disillusionment with Johnson and his government is growing faster than restoration of trust and faith in Labour is growing,” Lord Mandelson told The Independent.“I think that explains the gap in the polls,” he said. “The reason for that is Labour has not yet done enough to signal that distance, and those changes it wants to make, to move on from what has been a disastrous decade for the party”.Asked how crucial the upcoming conference would be, he replied: “It is a pivotal moment, but as long as he [Sir Keir] understands that it has to be the beginning of the long march back to electability, and not some flash in the pan taking place over two or three days in Brighton.“Sometimes I feel that Labour ticks a box and thinks the job is done. That mindset woefully underestimates the brand damage done to Labour during the last 10 years, and how far we have to come back.”On the direction of the party under Sir Keir – 18 months after he was elected leader with a clear majority – Lord Mandelson said: “We are not at ground zero, we’ve come a long way since 2019, but we have yet to re-establish our credentials as a party that believes in Britain: that for us, patriotism is not just about flying the flag, but changing the country so that everyone can have better lives.“No one will believe we can change the country unless we are able to change ourselves. The Labour Party of the last 10 years is simply not one that people will put back into government. That has to be our starting point, and I think that has to be very clearly established at the party conference.” Lord Mandelson also argued that the public were “waking up to Johnson’s modus operandi”, claiming: “Everything is focus-grouped to death to refine the message, but the content is half-baked. People are realising, with Johnson you have to read the small print – the detail that doesn’t interest him, but everyone else is affected by.“Now they [the voters] are beginning to question his competence, and I think this is the key emerging factor in British politics. Voters expect Johnson to deliver above all on jobs, health, crime and education. He’s also promised radical levelling up and [to] transition to net zero. Where is the economic growth plan that will pay for all this? It’s not there.“People are beginning, therefore, to see him in a different light, and I think there’s a huge opportunity opening up for Labour to seize back the mantle of change and reform.”One senior left-wing Labour MP echoed the sentiment, saying: “It feels to me as though the government are on the cusp of getting into some difficulties, and therefore the Labour conference suddenly becomes quite an important moment, if we can speak for the country.”But they added: “What he [Sir Keir] has to do is capture the moment, then offer a way forward. If he doesn’t succeed, then I think he will be in some difficulty.”Another MP on the left of the party, however, underplayed the significance of the conference, saying: “It’s not as if he’s this amazingly charismatic speaker who will have everybody electrified. He’s just not like that.”They added that the absence of “substantial policies” offered by Sir Keir was more concerning in the wake of the prime minister’s manifesto-busting decision to hike national insurance in order to provide funds for the NHS and social care.“We don’t have a plan,” the MP said. “It goes to the nebulousness of Keir Starmer’s thinking – the only thing he’s clear about is the importance of crushing the left.”Instead of establishing “over-specific policies”, Lord Mandelson argued, the party should set out policy themes in the build-up to the next general election, such as “a desire for fair chances and greater equality in society”. “Secondly, the need to invest in public services and infrastructure with better delivery,” he said. “Thirdly, making security a priority both in the neighbourhood, through effective policing, and internationally through strong alliances and defence spending.“These have got to be set out as the parameters of Labour’s thinking and policy offer. They’ve all got to become Labour’s brand strengths.”Lord Mandelson also stressed that the Covid-19 crisis had left “little space” for Sir Keir to define himself, adding: “I think it would have been impossible for any leader to do differently.“But now we are re-entering the familiar contours and landscape of politics, and this conference is his first chance to speak properly to the country and to start constructing the platform he needs to have in place by the time of the next election.“What everyone in the party needs to understand is just how distant we became from the voters in the last decade. Even many of our core supporters were perplexed by what we were saying and doing. This chasm has to be bridged, and the building of the bridge starts at this conference.”He later added: “Covid has operated a suffocating grip on politics, but we’re now emerging from that. In a sense it’s Keir’s second chance. I think what he needs to do, as I’ve said, is develop clear policy themes that serve as good identifiers – that enable us to build support for Labour.”The former Labour cabinet minister David Blunkett agreed that Covid had hindered Sir Keir’s leadership in his first 18 months, saying: “He’s had the most difficult possible time for what is already designated historically the worst job in politics: being the leader of the Labour Party in opposition.”On the subject of the party’s annual conference, he said it would be a “major staging point”, telling The Independent: “I wouldn’t call it a reset, I would call it an opportunity to actually be heard, and to demonstrate that what we stand for has been shown to be, and will be, the only answers for the future of Britain.“It is a real opportunity he’s not had, because doing stuff down the line, standing in a room on your own, just doesn’t crack it. I don’t believe it’s make or break, I just think it’s a great opportunity that he’ll need to take.” More

Not everybody who helped the British armed forces in Afghanistan will be repaid by being allowed to flee to the UK, ministers have admitted. In a parliamentary exchange Defence minister James Heappey told MPs it was “not possible” for everyone MPs considered to be at risk to be granted assistance under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap).Labour MP Clive Efford said he and other parliamentarians knew of people who had “assisted in our operations in Afghanistan” and who “clearly qualified” who were being refused under the scheme.”Surely the minister accepts that these people are at severe risk, and surely under Category One of Arap they should qualify? Yet they’ve been refused,” he said.Boris Johnson said earlier this month during the Kabul airlift that Britain would help “Afghan friends of this country who guided, translated and served with our soldiers and officials, proving their courage and loyalty beyond doubt, sometimes in the heat of battle”.But defence minister Mr Heappey, responding on Monday for the government said: “I know that’s a disappointment to many members of the House who are working hard to support people who are in Afghanistan, and who they consider to be at risk. “But it’s not possible for us to bring out everybody who’s had a connection with the UK armed forces under the Arap scheme. That’s why the terms were sent out as tightly as they were.”He said 15,000 people had been brought out under the airlift from Kabul. The at minimum hundreds of Afghans accepted under the assistance policy but who could not be airlifted out have been told they will be allowed to come to the UK by other meansBut MPs have previously warned that the number of people approved for the scheme is likely a significant underestimate of those who should be eligible. Europe is bracing itself for an increase in the number of people travelling from Afghanistan as refugees in light of the Taliban takeover of the country, which came as US and other Nato forces completed their withdrawal from 20 years of occupation. The Home Secretary Priti Patel has in recent months pushed for harsher treatment of people trying to flee for asylum to the UK, including ordering dangerous “pushbacks” of small boats in the channel and increasing criminal penalties for people arriving by small boat.The government says it will allow 20,000 Afghan refugees to come to the UK over the next five years and “start a new life in safety” in addition to those allowed to come to Britain under Arap – but those making journeys in irregular circumstances are set to face the same hostile reception as others on small boats.Defence minister Mr Heappey added: “311 was the number of people who had been called forward, so they have successfully applied and been cleared by UKBI for travel, but we were unable to get them onto a plane”That is different from the number of people who had applications in process at the time and haven’t been called forward for travel. “I’m sure that – in fact I know – from all of my engagements with colleagues across the house, they will understand that those two and a half weeks in Kabul were somewhat hectic. “It will take some time for the dust to settle on exactly who is out and who we have yet to bring out, but we are still working very hard to do so. The security situation is dynamic, our partnerships in the region are being developed, but we have every confidence, we’ll be able to help those that need help.” More

Boris Johnson has issued a warning to the leaders of the world’s biggest economies that history will judge them harshly if they fail to deliver on climate change at the crucial COP26 summit in Glasgow in November.Addressing a top-level meeting on the margin of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the prime minister voiced “frustration” that some of the world’s richest economies have failed to come good on demands to cut carbon emissions and fund a $100bn-a-year drive to help developing countries adapt.And he urged them to show “leadership”, warning: “When the summit ends, when most of the world has committed to decisive, game-changing action, it will be clear to all which of us has lacked the courage to step up.”Those who try to “do the minimum” on climate change will be “complicit” in the fate of poorer nations which fall victim to extreme weather as the planet heats, and they will not escape the same problems themselves, he warned.The PM did not name any specific countries in his speech, but it was clear his words were aimed at countries like Japan and Russia which have failed to sign up to improved commitments on emission reductions, as well as Brazil, where widespread burning of the Amazon rainforest has contributed to global warming. Mr Johnson has vowed to tell Brazilian president Jair Bolsanaro that he must halt the destruction of the Earth’s “lungs” in a face-to-face meeting today.His comments came shortly after he issued a gloomy assessment that the chances of success at the crucial Glasgow summit were no more than six in 10.Mr Johnson last night held back from criticising the world’s biggest emitter China – which has put off its net-zero commitment until 2060 and is still building new coal-fired power stations – saying only that Beijing “shows real signs of making progress”. President Xi Jinping has yet to confirm whether he will join scores of world leaders at Glasgow.Speaking in New York today, Mr Johnson had a blunt message for leaders who have limited themselves to making “low-hanging fruit” pledges on climate, rather than following the UK in cutting out coal, increasing contributions to the $100bn fund and bringing forward deadlines for ending petrol vehicle production and hitting net-zero.When the climate emergency is discussed in international forums, “everyone nods and we all agree that Something Must Be Done”, said Mr Johnson.But he added: “I’m increasingly frustrated that the ‘something’ to which many of you have committed is nowhere near enough.“It is the biggest economies in the world that are causing the problem, while the smallest suffer the worst consequences.“And while progress is being made all over the world, the gulf between what has been promised, what is actually being delivered, and what needs to happen remains vast.“Too many major economies – some represented here today, some absent – are lagging too far behind.“And tinkering around the edges, simply denuding the tree of its lowest fruit, simply won’t achieve the change the planet needs.”He warned that countries which “abdicate responsibility” over the climate emergency will reap the consequences in future.“In the years to come, the only great powers will be green powers,” he said.“If you abdicate responsibility today, do you think those who pay the price for that decision will rally to your side tomorrow?“If you say that the lives of their children are not worth the hassle of reducing domestic coal consumption, will they vote with you in fora such as this?“Will they work with you, borrow from you, stand with you if you tell the world that you don’t care whether their land and their people slip below the waves?“These countries need allies. They need help now… To be merely a bystander is to be complicit in their fate – yet that is exactly what you will be if you fail to act this year.”For developing countries, net-zero should not mean foregoing the benefits of fossil-fuel energy, but “leapfrogging the outdated methods of yesteryear” to go straight to the “cheaper, cleaner, cutting edge technology that will power the 21st century”, like solar and wind, said Mr Johnson. More

Boris Johnson has avoided a potentially humiliating Commons showdown on cuts to universal credit — just weeks before claimants’ payments are reduced.The Independent understands the speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has not accepted the rebel amendment put forward by Conservative MPs, including the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, calling for the £20-per-week uplift to be maintained.While a defeat would have been non-binding on the government, the MPs had sought to use legislation on the annual uprating of pensions being debated on Monday to highlight the controversial issue in a Commons vote just three weeks before the cut takes effect.Conservative disquiet over the decision to end the uplift has been growing over the summer months, but Boris Johnson and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, have repeatedly rejected calls for a re-think.One of the rebels and senior Conservative MP Damian Green told the BBC “now is not the time” to reduce the benefit, saying “we are clearly coming into a huge problem for the cost of living” amid concerns over energy prices.And on Monday, Mr Johnson’s former senior adviser, Dominic Cummings suggested there was a “70%” chance of a U-turn on universal credit, with the money taking from a “long term investment pot”, as he suggested No 10 “can’t resist media pressure”.Earlier, Downing Street insisted, however, that the £20-per-week cut in universal credit would go ahead as planned — despite concerns over the increase in energy bills putting further pressure on low-income families across Britain.The prime minister’s spokesperson said the uplift, which was introduced at the onset of the pandemic, was “always temporary” and had been designed to “help claimants through the economic shock and toughest period of the pandemic”.Highlighting the stark impact of the cut, however, research from the Resolution Foundation think-tank suggested that four in ten households on universal credit faced a 13 per cent hike in energy bills in the same month the benefit is cut by over £1,000 per year.The organisation said that 4.4 million claimants could see their bills increase significantly, with families on universal credit also four times as likely as the wider population to use pre-payment meters for energy.Jonny Marshall — a senior economist at the Foundation — said: “Low income families are facing a cost of living crunch on several fronts this autumn with energy bills rising alongside wider price increases, while universal credit is also due to be cut by £20 a week.“Around 15 million households are set to face higher prices next week when the energy price cap is raised. This will be particularly acute for low income families on universal credit, who are four times as likely as the rest of the population to be on pre-payment meters, and therefore face even bigger increases to their bills.” More

Alok Sharma insists gas supplies are secureBoris Johnson has warned that post-Brexit trade complications with Northern Ireland “can’t go on forever”, as his government considers whether to override parts of its agreement with the EU. Speaking from New York on Monday, the prime minister said he was not trying to “stoke” the situation up for “political purposes”, insisting he just wanted “common sense” to prevail. Critics, however, suggest that his government signed up to an agreement it knew would cause trade friction between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, Mr Johnson has admitted the energy crisis could last for months, as ministers scramble to protect businesses and consumers from a sharp increase in gas prices, brought about by a surge in global demand and a shortage of wind power in the UK this summer. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will meet gas industry bosses on Monday to discuss the issue, after wholesale costs spiked 70 per cent in August alone. Four energy firms have gone bust in recent days, with others warning they could follow suit. Show latest update

1632147923PM rebukes world leaders over climate crisis Boris Johnson has rebuked other world leaders over their climate change record. Co-chairing a discussion at the UN General Assembly, the prime minister said: “It is the biggest economies in the world that are causing the problem, while the smallest suffer the worst consequences.“And while progress is being made all over the world, the gulf between what has been promised, what is actually being delivered, and what needs to happen… it remains vast.“Too many major economies – some represented here today, some absent – are lagging too far behind.”Mr Johnson is expected to put pressure on the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro – a climate change sceptic – during a meeting later on Monday. Rory Sullivan20 September 2021 15:251632146723Sinn Fein criticises DUP over protocol threat Sinn Fein has criticised the DUP for threatening to withdraw ministers from the executive unless Westminister acts over the Northern Ireland protocol.Deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill called the move “reckless” and “irresponsible”, adding that the pandemic and the health service is currently the population’s top priority. “It’s about ensuring that we prioritise the one billion in peace funding that we can have to distribute across communities here,” she said. “So I think that it is totally irresponsible and reckless given the high stakes that are involved that the DUP is threatening to pull down the institutions whenever all the rest of the executive parties are here to do business and actually serve the public.”Rory Sullivan20 September 2021 15:051632145683Watch House of Commons proceedings live Watch live as UK Defence and Energy ministers speak in parliamentRory Sullivan20 September 2021 14:481632145523Climate campaigners damaging their own cause, claims PM Boris Johnson has claimed environmental activists damage their own cause by repeatedly blocking motorways and other roads. The prime minister spoke as 41 people were arrested in the latest Insulate Britain protests on Monday morning, which affected motorways and other major transport links. He said: “I don’t think these people do any favours to their cause.“I think what they do is detract from a very important moral mission that is widely shared by the people of this country.”Rory Sullivan20 September 2021 14:451632144203Ministers attempt to reassure public over winter gas supply and price capThe government has tried to reassure the public about winter gas supply, as it insisted energy price cap would remain in force.Speaking of the cap, a No 10 spokesperson said: “It’s in place to protect people’s energy bills.“That’s what it does, that’s what it has done, and as I say, it’ll continue to do so.”Rory Sullivan20 September 2021 14:231632143008Farmers may have to slaughter pigs due to lack of feed, expert warns Farmers might have to kill their own animals due to a shortage of space and feed, the chairman of the National Pig Association (NPA) has warned.Rob Mutimer told the PA news agency: “If the situation doesn’t change, it’s going to spiral completely out of control.“And the only end game there is we as farmers are going to end up slaughtering our livestock – not for the food chain but to put them into rendering, to dispose of carcasses like what happened in foot and mouth.“And that’s a terrible situation to be in.”Rory Sullivan20 September 2021 14:031632141923France ‘remains a close ally’, No 10 insists France is still “a close ally and friend” of the UK despite the recent diplomatic fallout, No 10 has insisted. Tensions between the countries grew after Australia ditched a submarine deal with France in favour of an agreement with the US and the UK. The British governmeny has insisted the Aukus deal was “in no way intended to be exclusionary”. Speaking on Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “France remains a close ally and friend of the UK, and we are proud of the relationship we have with France.“We will continue to work closely with them. We work extremely closely in many areas – Mali being a good example, on counter-terrorism operations and in many other areas, and that work will obviously continue.”Rory Sullivan20 September 2021 13:451632140590Post-Brexit trade issues with Northern Ireland ‘can’t go on forever’, says PM The prime minister has said that post-Brexit trade complications with Northern Ireland “can’t go on forever”. Speaking from New York, Boris Johnson said: “I hope everybody knows this isn’t something that the UK government is trying to stoke up for our own political purposes.“On the contrary, we want to fix this, we want common sense. We want no barriers in the UK for trading in our country and it’s crazy at the moment that we’ve got the protocol being enforced or being used in the way that it is.”Critics, however, suggest that his government knew full well that the Brexit agreement it signed would lead to trade friction between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Mr Johnson’s latest comments on Brexit come the day before he meets US president Joe Biden, who has been clear that the British government should do nothing to imperil peace in Northern Ireland. Rory Sullivan20 September 2021 13:231632139508Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, will update the House of Commons on the energy crisis around 3.30pm.Liam James20 September 2021 13:051632138961Universal Credit cut will go ahead despite rising energy billsThe government is not considering a delay to the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit despite the additional cost households will bear from rising energy bills.Downing Street said the “uplift to Universal Credit was always temporary” and was designed to “help claimants through the economic shock and the toughest period of the pandemic”.The end of the uplift is set for 6 October.Liam James20 September 2021 12:56 More