Markus Andrews

Britain’s reputation is in danger of being damaged if it breaks its word on Brexit, the EU’s former chief negotiator has warned.Speaking to French radio on Monday Michel Barnier urged Boris Johnson to “respect his signature”.It comes after the the UK unilaterally overode parts of the withdrawal agreement negotiated with Mr Barnier’s team to better suit British businesses.Unionists and companies in Northern Ireland say the Northern Ireland protocol and the new checks it introduces that make trade with Great Britain more difficult is damaging to their interests.Mr Barnier, who retired from the Commission earlier this year in line with its mandatory retirement age of 70, told France Info radio: “The United Kingdom needs to pay attention to its reputation.“I want Mr Johnson to respect his signature.”Lord Frost, the UK’s Brexit negotiator, last week said the protocol had been more damaging than the UK had expected when it agreed to it.He and Mr Johnson have accused the EU of being inflexible. The European Commission and member states say the UK should implement what it has negotiated, and that Brussels will use all tools at its disposal to ensure this happens. Under the terms of the agreement these could ultimately include trade sanctions.The UK and EU have been locked in technical talks over the issue of Northern Ireland since the spring, and occasional high-level meetings between Lord Frost and his EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič have showed little progress.Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Friday that a new veterinary agreement between the UK and EU could help remove the need for most checks under the existing framework.He cited statements by Joe Biden’s administration in the US that such a new treaty would not affect UK chances of negotiating a free trade agreement with the US.But the UK is reticent to sign up to the Swiss-style “dynamic alignment” with EU rules Brussels says this would require, claiming it would be a breach of sovereignty. The situation, under which disruptive checks are affecting trade across the Irish Sea, is expected to worsen significantly later this year when exemptions and grace periods end for supermarket suppliers. The UK has already unilaterally extended the grace periods once, which the EU says is unlawful and a breach of the agreement. More

US President Joe Biden will be deliver “tough messages” to Vladimir Putin when he meets the Russian leader later this week, Boris Johnson has said.The warning came as world leaders gathered in Brussels for a Nato summit, at which concerns about Russia look set to dominate. Ahead of the meeting the Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said relations with Russia were at the “lowest point” since the end of the Cold War.Mr Johnson said that although he was hopeful the UK’s relationship with Russia could improve, more than three years after the Salisbury poisonings, progress thus far had been “pretty disappointing”.He added: “Nato allies stood by Britain then. I know that President Biden will be taking some pretty tough messages to President Putin in the course of the next few days.”The prime minister also insisted that Nato did not want a new Cold War with China, although he acknowledged that he superpower posed “challenges” for the Western nuclear alliance.President Biden is due to meet Mr Putin for talks in Geneva on Wednesday.Mr Johnson is expected to use the Nato summit to highlight the way the Covid crisis has exacerbated a number of security threats – including cyber attacks.Earlier Mr Stoltenberg warned such attacks formed part of a pattern of Russian behaviour that Nato allies could not afford to ignore.”We see attempts to meddle in our political democratic processes, to undermine the trust in our institutions and efforts to divide us. We have to take that very seriously,” he told Times Radio.”We need to strengthen our cyber defences, we need to exchange intelligence, we need to be vigilant and aware of all these different tools of aggressive actions, military and non-military.”Elsewhere, the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace suggested former prime minister Theresa May would make an “excellent” candidate to succeed Mr Stoltenberg when he steps down next year. More

Democratic Unionist Party leader Edwin Poots has claimed peace in Northern Ireland is “at risk” if Sinn Fein attempts to block the appointment of a new first minister.The DUP and Sinn Fein are engaged in an intense dispute over the process to replace departing first minister Arlene Foster, who formally resigned in the Assembly chamber on Monday.In her resignation speech, Ms Foster said Northern Ireland will only move forward when the region’s differing “identities” are respected by all.But a stand-off on the vexed issue of Irish language legislation has the potential to derail power-sharing arrangements unless a resolution is found within the next seven days.Ms Poots suggested it would be “inappropriate” for Sinn Fein to demand an Irish language act – which would give the Irish language equal status to English – in return for a smooth nomination process.“We cannot be in a circumstance where we have pre-conditions set for the selection of our first minister,” Mr Poots told BBC Radio Ulster on Monday. “I’m not setting pre-conditions to the selection of Sinn Fein’s deputy first minister.”Newly-elected DUP chief Mr Poots wants his party’s Paul Givan to become first minister – but Sinn Fein must nominate a deputy first minister for that to happen under power-sharing rules.The joint nature of the office Mrs Foster has shared with deputy first minister Sinn Fein Michelle O’Neill means Ms O’Neill must also be re-nominated to her role within those seven days.If one of the parties fails to renominate within the time period, then a functioning executive cannot be formed and the UK government assumes responsibility to call a snap election in Northern Ireland.“Our community is at a very tense situation at this moment in time,” said Mr Poots. “We saw riots on the streets of Belfast earlier this year. And I have serious concerns about the potential for conflict once again on our streets.He added: “Not only if Sinn Fein do not nominate the deputy first minister are all of those issues not going to be served well, we are putting our very peace at risk as a consequence of that action.“If Sinn Fein are going to play fast and loose with the very peace that people enjoy at this moment in time, then that is a very, very serious consideration for them to take. Hopefully they won’t.” More

Footballs fans have a right to boo and jeer the England team for “taking the knee” in protest at racism, the Home Secretary has said.Priti Patel said the anti-racism protest associated with the Black Lives Matter movement amounted to “gesture politics” and dodged a question about whether she would boo herself.She claims Black Lives Matter protests had had a “devastating” impact and criticised the pulling down of the “famous” Bristol statue of slave trader Edward Colston.“I just don’t support people participating in that type of gesture – gesture politics, to a certain extent, as well,” she told broadcaster GB News.“It’s all well to support a cause and make your voices heart but actually quite frankly, and we saw quite frankly in particular as some of the protests that took place – I speak now very much in what I saw in the impact on policing – it was devastating.“Not only that, I just don’t subscribe to this view that we should be rewriting our history – pulling down statues, the famous Coulson statue, and what’s happened there. Toppling statues is not the answer, it’s about learning from our past, learning from our history and actually working together to drive the right outcome.”And Ms Patel declined to answer whether she would boo the England team herself, stating that she had not been to a football match to contemplate doing so.Asked whether England fans had a right to boo England’s national team, she said: “That’s a choice for them quite frankly. I’ve not gone to a football match to even contemplate that.”A minority of fans oppose England taking the knee to protest systemic racism, and have been booing the team – including during their Euro 2020 opener against Croatia on Sunday.But a larger majority fans cheering drowned out the booing at the start of the game – a display in line with wider polling. A survey by YouGov for Sky Sports found 54 per cent of England fans support the move, with just 39 per cent opposed and 7 per say saying they don’t know. Jo Stevens, Labour’s shadow culture secretary, said: “It beggars belief that a day after the excellent win against Croatia, senior government ministers are still trying to provoke a fight with the England football team. “Ministers should get on with their jobs and get behind the home nations.”Ms Patel’s comments put her at odds with England manager Gareth Southgate, who said players had to “recognise the impact they can have on society” and “give them the confidence to stand up for their teammates and the things that matter to them as people”.”I have never believed that we should just stick to football,” he expalined in a lengthy article setting out his views.Mr Southgate spoke of a “responsiblity to the wider community to use my voice”, adding: “So do the players.”In a statement over the weekend the Football Association backed Mr Southgate, saying: “There can be no doubt as to why the players are taking the knee and what it represents in a footballing context. We encourage those that oppose this action to reflect on the message you are sending to the players you are supporting.”Ms Patel in February described Black Lives Matter protests as “dreadful” and said she would not take the knee herself in solidarity. More

A Conservative MP has been ordered to make a public apology in the House of Commons after an investigation found he had bullied parliamentary staff.Daniel Kawczynski acted in a “threatening and intimidating manner” after technical issues meant he was unable to join a committee hearing early last year.The incident occurred in April 2020, just weeks after the first coronavirus lockdown was announced and as parliament was adapting to new ways of remote working.The Independent Expert Panel (IEP), which oversees sanctions in such cases, said that it accepted that the life of an MP could be stressful but said that was no excuse for bullying staff members.It found that Mr Kawczynski should make a public apology in the Commons.Sir Stephen Irwin, the chairman of the IEP, said: “We accept that the circumstances which arose … were difficult.”But they were difficult for everyone. Whilst we fully grasp that the life of an MP can be highly pressurised, these responsibilities and stresses do not justify a loss of courtesy, an exaggerated sense of importance or entitlement, or bullying.”A report released today says the MP showed a “worrying lack of insight and contrition in relation to the appropriateness and impact of his behaviour”.He made “critical and untruthful comments” on a WhatsApp group shared with other members of the committee, it adds, and described one staff member as a member of “the snowflake generation.”“It is also clear that as this day proceeded, the (MP) consumed a significant amount of alcohol,” the report states.It adds: “In respect to the issue of insight, we note that (Mr Kawczynski) has taken steps to better understand his personal drivers and the impact of his behaviour on others; however, we conclude that although his insight is developing, it is still quite limited”.The panel said the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham had been repeatedly rude, aggressive and impatient with staff members.The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found that Mr Kawczynski had acted in an intimidatory and threatening manner and that he had abused his power as a MP by making exaggerated and malicious claims. He did not appeal that decision.Mr Kawczynski did, however, appeal a decision by a sub-group of the IEP that he should apologise on the floor of the House of Commons. But that appeal was rejected. More

The prime minister’s sleaze watchdog should be given the power to launch investigations and have the final say on whether ministers have breached their code of conduct, an independent review of government standards has recommended.The finding by the Committee on Standards in Public Life comes seven months after Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser resigned when his bullying verdict against Priti Patel was rejected..But the independent committee said the PM should retain the power to decide the punishment for errant colleagues – and should have the option not to sack them.The report also recommended a ban of up to five years on ex-ministers taking on jobs lobbying government after leaving office, in the wake of the scandal surrounding David Cameron’s persistent texts and emails to senior members of the Boris Johnson administration on behalf of collapsed finance firm Greensill.And it said that government transparency rules should be updated to include modern forms of communication – noting that the current rules meant that Mr Cameron’s WhatsApp messages did not have to be disclosed in the regular published list of ministers’ contacts with lobbyists.Mr Johnson’s former independent adviser on ministerial interests, Sir Alex Allan, quit in November after the PM cleared Ms Patel from his report’s finding that she bullied Home Office staff.His replacement Christopher Geidt has been given a new power to recommend the launch of an inquiry into a minister’s behaviour, but – like his predecessors in the post – must wait for the green light from the PM to launch an investigation.The CPSL’s new recommendations, which are not binding on Mr Johnson, would see Lord Geidt initiating investigations on his own authority and making a final decision on innocence or guilt – something which is currently in the gift of the PM alone.The committee said the PM’s current ability to block investigation was undermining public confidence in the system.“The perception has taken root – fairly or not – that an allegation of a breach that may be politically damaging to the government of the day will not be investigated,” the report said.However, the committee’s report said that the PM should be given a graduated range of sanctions for breaking the ministerial code, moving away from the current system where breaches inevitably spell dismissal or resignation. And it said the final decision on whether a minister should keep his or her job should stay with the prime minister.The current expectation that any minister breaching the code will leave the government has “constrained” efforts to increase the independence of the adviser, as PMs insisted on holding onto their ability to decide who sits in their cabinet, said the report. Its recommendations on the range of appropriate sanctions for breaches is to be published in its formal report later this year.Committee chair and former MI5 boss Lord Evans said government should take sleaze allegations “seriously”.“Any government will find that they stay out of trouble if they proactively uphold standards, rather than wait for a problem to arise and then have to be investigated,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour.Allowing the PM to rule out an inquiry when allegations are raised against ministers “leaves a question mark in the air and that’s not good”, he said.“The best thing is for the allegations to be investigated and tested independently and then appropriate action to be taken,” said Lord Evans.“If issues aren’t addressed then it’s unresolved and I think that’s politically damaging and it undermines public trust.”Lord Evans said he was “surprised” at the scale of lobbying of ministers and senior officials in the Greensill affair, saying: “It didn’t look to me to be appropriate that that level of intervention should be going on without it having been properly declared.”He added: “There’s nothing wrong with lobbying in principle, but there needs to be a level playing field and it needs to be done visibly.“We need to have detail about what was discussed. Just saying ‘a meeting to discuss Brexit’ or whatever, that doesn’t tell you anything. We need to know more about what happens… It doesn’t matter whether it’s in a formal meeting or at a dinner or it’s on WhatsApp. It’s the fact of lobbying and the pressure being brought that needs to be visible.”The report said that business appointment rules for ministers, Whitehall mandarins and special advisers should be expanded to ban them for two years after leaving government from taking any job where they had significant and direct responsibility for policy, regulation or the awarding of contracts for the hiring company.Government departments and the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments should also be given powers to ban lobbying jobs for up to five years after leaving office.And the committee recommended that requirements to publish details of meetings with external organisations should be extended to include special advisers and senior civil servants below head of department level. More

The government’s “pathetic” policy on border control is responsible for the expected delay to lifting the last lockdown regulations, Keir Starmer has said.Speaking on Monday ahead of Boris Johnson’s announcement the Labour leader said the expected four-week extension to regulations was “the net result” of the prime minister’s “pathetic approach”.Addressing a radio phone-in Sir Keir lambasted the government for being slow to introduce hotel quarantine, allowing people travelling from high-risk and low-risk countries to mix at airports, and being slow to put India on the red list.”Here we are, June 21 was supposed to be Freedom Day, and why are we not going to hit it? And it looks like we’re not: Answer, because of the government’s pathetic borders policy, absolutely pathetic,” he told LBC radio.”They didn’t introduce hotel quarantine until I think February of this year, and then only 1 per cent [of travellers]. “Then we went through this ridiculous ‘red, amber, green’ [traffic light system] … nobody knows where they are on that. “And then the inexplicable delay from the 9th I think to the 23rd of April in putting India on to the red list, with lots of people coming in, and then on top of all of that and mixing at Heathrow Airport of people on red lists and green lists. Pathetic. “That is why we are here and the Delta variant has got in because of the government’s pathetic control of the borders.”The government had hoped to end all legal restrictions by 21 June but rising cases of the more transmissible Delta variant have made ministers think twice, with an announcement expected by Mr Johnson at 6pm.Polls suggest relatively strong support for a delay to the final lifting of regulations which include the reopening of some final hospitality venues like nightclubs.Health minister Edward Argar told the BBC on Monday morning that delaying the lifting of restrictions by a month would allow allow another 10 million second coronavirus vaccine doses to be put into people’s arms. More

Labour has suggested that new checks on goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland should be axed, amid a row between the EU and UK over the new arrangements.Speaking on Monday leader Keir Starmer argued the controls, which have been in place since 1 January, are “not the way forward”.But he criticised Boris Johnson for attacking the deal the prime minister himself had negotiated, stating: “He didn’t read it, didn’t understand it, or he didn’t tell us the truth about it when he said what it had in it.”.”We do need to remind the prime minister that he signed on the dotted line: this is what he negotiated,” Sir Keir told LBC Radio.”If he’s saying it doesn’t work he should look in the mirror and say, well, did I sign something, then that wasn’t very sensible? But we’ve got to find a way forward. “Having checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not the way forward. Having any checks between the Republic and Northern Ireland is absolutely not the way forward. “So we need to make some real progress. There’s probably going to have to be flexibility on both sides, as ever. But this mess is the one the Prime Minister, negotiated and mis-sold.”The UK and EU agreed to introduce some checks on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland so that the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic could be kept open without leaving a hole in the EU’s external trade border.Under Jeremy Corbyn, with Sir Keir as Brexit secretary, Labour voted against the withdrawal agreement in December 2019, which introduced the new controls – but the new leader has over the last year said he would not renegotiate the status quo. He whipped his party to vote in favour of the government’s free trade agreement with the EU, arguing that a “thin deal” was better than no deal. In January this year Sir Keir told the BBC: “I don’t think that there’s scope for major renegotiation. We’ve just had four years of negotiation. We’ve arrived at a treaty and now we’ve got to make that treaty work.”Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Friday that a new veterinary agreement between the UK and EU could help remove the need for most checks under the existing framework. He cited statements by Joe Biden’s administration in the US that such a new treaty would not affect UK chances of negotiating a free trade agreement with the US. Mr Johnson and his chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost have previously suggested that they consider so-called “dynamic alignment” with EU rules a breach of sovereignty – but the government is under pressure from unionists and business groups in Northern Ireland to ease the burden of the new regulations.The European Commission says the UK should implement what it has negotiated, and that Brussels will use all tools at its disposal to ensure this happens.The UK and EU have been locked in technical talks over the issue since the beginning of spring, but occasional high-level meetings between Lord Frost and his EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič have showed little progress.The situation, under which disruptive checks are affecting trade, is expected to worsen significantly later this year when exemptions and grace periods end for supermarket suppliers. The UK has already unilaterally extended the grace periods once, which the EU says is unlawful and a breach of the agreement. Sir Keir has shied away from talking about Brexit as leader despite his previous role as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the EU under Jeremy Corbyn and his previous support for Labour adopting a position supporting a second EU referendum. More