Markus Andrews

The EU is poised to steal a march on the UK in the hunt for a post-Brexit trade deal with India, as Boris Johnson announced only an “enhanced partnership” with Delhi.Brussels hailed “clear momentum”, with talks on a free trade agreement to be confirmed as early as Saturday, threatening to put the UK in the slow lane in the race for negotiations.The prime minister pledged that 6,500 jobs would be created in the UK through trade and investment deals with India, centred on health, technology and vaccine development.The announcement comes ahead of a virtual meeting with Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, on Tuesday – after a dramatic Covid-19 surge forced the cancellation of Mr Johnson’s trade trip.But the “enhanced partnership” seems certain to be trumped by talks on a fully fledged trade deal between the EU and India, to be confirmed within days.Those negotiations were suspended in 2013 after disagreements over tariff rules for car parts and free-movement rights for professionals, but resuming them has been a priority for both sides.The move was discussed in a call on Monday between Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and Mr Modi, according to a Commission official.“There is clear momentum to strengthen our strategic relations on trade, digital, climate change and multilateralism,” Ms Von der Leyen wrote on Twitter. “I’m encouraged by the prospect of intensifying our trade and investment relations.”Trade deals with India and the United States are the priorities for the government, Brexit supporters having once promised they would be delivered easily and quickly.But with US president Joe Biden also stalling on talks, the UK has been forced to focus on deals with far-flung Australia and New Zealand, despite those agreements offering virtually no economic gain.“The prime minister can talk in platitudes about future trade targets, but we’re yet to see the influx of post-Brexit free trade agreements that was promised,” said Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat trade spokesperson.“The same can be said of the trade relationship with India at this stage, and it’s extremely doubtful that a full FTA is on the cards.”The UK and India are unveiling a package containing more than £533m of new Indian investment in the UK, with £200m of the deals supporting low carbon growth.It includes a £240m investment by the Serum Institute into its vaccine business, the firm having already started UK trials of a one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus.British export deals with India will be worth more than £446m, and include robotic surgical equipment to be introduced in Indian hospitals, according to No 10. It is expected that more than 400 jobs will be created in the UK as a result.Mr Johnson said: “Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer.“In the next decade … we will double the value of our trading partnership with India and take the relationship between our two countries to new highs.”The two leaders are also announcing a “shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive free trade agreement” that it is hoped will enable these targets to be met. More

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has announced he will run for the leadership of the DUP.The longstanding Lagan Valley MP said he would promote a positive strategy and values if elected, with a focus on building a shared future for everyone in Northern Ireland.The party’s current Westminster leader also pledged meaningful reform within the DUP and said he would set clear policy directions on key challenges for unionism, such as Brexit’s contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.His entry in the race to succeed the deposed Arlene Foster will mean the DUP is set for its first-ever leadership contest in its 50-year history.Stormont Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots announced his candidature last week.Sir Jeffrey announced his leadership bid at fellow MP Gavin Robinson’s constituency office in east Belfast on Monday morning, coinciding with the date viewed by many historians as the centenary of the creation of Northern Ireland.“I want to thank Arlene Foster for her service to our party, people and country,” he said.“She led with great courage, conviction and a big heart for Northern Ireland. I wish Arlene and her family well for the future.“Today, Northern Ireland enters its second century.“I am convinced that in this new century, Northern Ireland’s best days are ahead of us.“We want to build a shared future for Northern Ireland where everyone, regardless of their background, has a part to play in showing the world what we are truly capable of.“Both making our full contribution, and enjoying the benefits, of being part of the United Kingdom.”Sir Jeffrey will be seen as the moderate candidate against the more hard-line Mr Poots, who also represents the Lagan Valley constituency, as an Assembly member.Mrs Foster resigned last week after an internal revolt against her leadership.The move came in the form of a letter of no confidence signed by a majority of the party’s senior elected representatives.Mr Poots, understood to have been one of the key figures behind the heave against her, announced his leadership bid within 24 hours of Mrs Foster’s resignation statement.The outgoing DUP leader will step down from that role on 28 May, and as Stormont First Minister at the end of June.A small electorate, comprising just the party’s MLAs and MPs, will decide the leadership contest.Making his pitch for the job, Sir Jeffrey added: “Our next century will be built on the politics of persuasion.“This will need positive leadership, strategy and values. Strong. United. Focused.“This will also require party structures capable of communicating clearly and consistently to appeal to voters; capable of working with a strong and growing team built around real partnership between representatives in our local councils, the Assembly and at Westminster; and capable of overcoming those that seek to abolish Northern Ireland.“I will develop and swiftly implement an agreed programme of meaningful reform and clear policy direction on key challenges like the protocol.“Our task is to not only make the case for the Union but to strengthen that Union in the years ahead.“Our previous leaders have shown that when the DUP leads, Northern Ireland moves forward.“We are not only elected members of a political party, we are the custodians of the Union.“Let us take our next steps forward. Forward to a new century.”On Sunday it emerged that Mr Poots would not take on the First Minister’s job if he was elected DUP leader, instead appointing an Assembly colleague to the role as he concentrates on the leadership.If Sir Jeffrey won the leadership and remained as an MP at Westminster, he would not be able take up the First Minister’s job.Discontent at the DUP‘s Brexit strategy was a major factor in the move against Mrs Foster, with party rank-and-file laying some of the blame for the emergence of an Irish Sea border, in the form of the protocol, at her door.Traditionalists from the party’s religious fundamentalist wing also harboured concerns over positions Mrs Foster has taken on some social issues, in particular her decision to abstain in a recent Assembly vote on a proposed ban on gay conversion therapy – a proposal the majority of her party colleagues opposed.PA More

The suggestion an independent Scotland would have been unable to procure coronavirus vaccines is “nonsense”, Nicola Sturgeon has said.Scotland’s first minister said coronavirus vaccines are not a “gift” from the UK government to Scotland and are procured on a joint four-nations basis with Westminster and the devolved nations.Questioned on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme: “If an independent Scotland was in Europe you wouldn’t have 2.8 million people vaccinated, would you?” the SNP leader replied: “I just think that is utterly nonsense.”She added: “The UK was still within the transition period when it procured the vaccine and that didn’t prevent it procuring the vaccine on a four-nations basis with England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the way we procure the flu vaccine every year. That was done, nothing would have prevented that happening had we still been in the European Union.“And of course the delivery of the vaccination programme in Scotland is down to the sterling efforts and fantastic work of NHS Scotland vaccinators and teams across the country and they have my deep and everlasting appreciation for the fantastic work that they are doing.”GMB presenter Sean Fletcher said the delivery of the vaccination in Scotland was also down to the “procurement of the UK government getting those vaccines”.Ms Sturgeon told him to “hold on” and stressed procurement was on a four-nations basis.She added: “We do it voluntarily on a four-nations basis. It’s not a gift from the UK government to Scotland. We choose to pool our efforts in that way. We do it with the flu vaccine every year.“Scotland could if it chose procure the vaccine separately – health is devolved – but we chose to do it on a four-nations basis because it makes sense and if Scotland was independent it may well be that we still chose to do that.“So these arguments that we couldn’t do these things if we were independent, frankly, are nonsense and don’t stand up to any scrutiny whatsoever.”PA More

Nicola Sturgeon claims only she offers ‘serious leadership’ for ScotlandChancellor Rishi Sunak has warned that plans to hold a second Scottish independence referendum in the near future risk dividing the UK at the “worst possible time”.With just days to go before the Holyrood elections, Mr Sunak urged voters to reject calls for independence from the UK as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.It came as the Scottish National Party (SNP) were shown be on course to seize a slim majority in this week’s crucial elections, with Nicola Sturgeon suggesting she alone could offer “serious leadership” for Scotland.A majority victory for the SNP would present a political nightmare for Boris Johnson by putting the issue of Scottish independence firmly back at the forefront of British politics.Ms Sturgeon said on Sunday that her opponents were “vying for second place [and] openly saying they have got no plan for government”.Show latest update

1620053168‘Widespread misunderstanding’ on economic facts for Scotland, think-tank claimsThere is “widespread misunderstanding” of economic facts among Scottish voters and confusion over the SNP’s plans for independence, a pro-union think-tank has claimed.A poll conducted by Survation for the think-tank These Islands found 57 per cent of those who supported independence believed the Scottish government’s annual GERS figures were “made up by Westminster to hide Scotland’s true wealth”.The annual figures are used to calculate Scotland’s fiscal deficit and are published by the Scottish government.Overall, a net figure of 30 per cent said they agreed that the GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) figures were “made up by Westminster to hide Scotland’s true wealth” while 30 per cent disagreed.On the SNP’s currency plans, 35 per cent of the poll’s respondents said they did not know what the SNP’s policy for currency in an independent Scotland is.Some 25 per cent said they believed it was to “keep the pound indefinitely” and 17 per cent said it was to “keep the pound until a new Scottish currency is adopted”.In 2018, the SNP’s Sustainable Growth Commission set out plans to keep the pound during a transition period, with a separate Scottish currency a possibility after six economic tests are met.“This survey reveals for the first time the true scale of what amounts to a fact-denial epidemic in Scotland,” Kevin Hague, chairman of the think-tank, said.“We have been tracking the spread of economic disinformation in the Scottish independence debate for some time now, but we are still shocked by these findings.”Conrad Duncan3 May 2021 15:461620051962Scottish Lib Dem leader makes direct appeal to supporters of other partiesScottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has issued a direct appeal to supporters of other parties to back him in this week’s Holyrood election in order to “build bridges to rebuild Scotland”.“The pandemic has torn through our lives. We owe it to every family who has lost someone and every child who has missed out on education to try to bring the country back together and focus on the recovery,” Mr Rennie said during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo.“Over the course of this campaign I have been disappointed by how little the other parties seem prepared to reach out to those who don’t already agree with them.”He added: “I want to build bridges to rebuild Scotland. If voters elect Liberal Democrat MSPs on Thursday we can make sure that the next five years are focused on recovery, not division.”Conrad Duncan3 May 2021 15:261620050644Donaldson receives early backing in DUP leadership raceSir Jeffrey Donaldson has received “full support” from a fellow MP in his bid to become the next leader of the DUP following the depature of Arlene Foster.“I’m delighted Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has announced he intends to stand as DUP party leader and as the leader of Unionism on this our Centenary day,” Gavin Robinson, MP for East Belfast, said on Monday.“As I discuss our vision for the future in the coming days with colleagues, he will have my full support.”Conrad Duncan3 May 2021 15:041620049877PM says he understands ‘strength of feeling’ around football protestsBoris Johnson has said he understands “people’s strength of feeling” on football and club ownership following protests at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium which led to a Premier League game with Liverpool being postponed.“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have disruptive behaviour, demonstrations of that kind,” Mr Johnson said.“But on the other hand, I do understand people’s strength of feeling. And I think that it’s a good thing that we have been able to do things that make it pretty clear that the European Super League is not going to be appreciated by the people of this country, or by this government.”You can find his comments in full below:Conrad Duncan3 May 2021 14:511620048709Salmond’s Alba Party says Scotland should leave UK without taking share of tax debtScotland should be able to leave the UK and become independent without taking on a share of the UK’s debt, Alex Salmond’s Alba Party has claimed.The party announced the new policy after figures published in October last year showed the UK government gross debt reached more than £1,876bn – in part due to massive spending during the coronavirus pandemic.Mr Salmond, a former SNP leader, has urged his former party to adopt this stance on what Alba called a “clean break settlement”.The policy stands in contrast to SNP proposals published in advance of the 2014 referendum in the white paper on independence, which said that a separate Scotland would take on a “negotiated and agreed” share of the UK debt.However, Alba notes that “as a percentage of GDP the debt has doubled since the financial crisis of 2008 when the government and Bank of England embarked on wholesale quantitative easing”.“That debt is largely owed by one branch of government (the Treasury) to another (the central bank) and therefore forms no legitimate liability for the Scottish or any other people,” the party claimed.Alba has also made clear it “rejects entirely any obligation to share debt accrued through central bank money printing and sees no role for Scotland on paying interest on that debt”.Conrad Duncan3 May 2021 14:311620047712Tories face ‘tough fight’ to win Hartlepool by-election, PM saysBoris Johnson has said that the Conservatives face a “tough fight” to win Hartlepool in a highly-anticipated by-election this week.During a visit to a fish and chip restaurant in the constituency, the prime minister was asked if he was concerned whether interest in his childcare arrangements or his flat refurbishment might affect the vote.“I have always believed that it was going to be a tough fight and I still believe that is the case,” Mr Johnson said.When asked if he was worried he might have a negative effect on the election, he added: “I think that people will focus on the issues that matter to them.“That is the vaccine rollout, the chances of our economy bouncing back really strongly in the second half of this year, what we are doing to make sure that happens.” More

Boris Johnson has braced foreign holidaymakers for disappointment, warning of “an influx of disease” if too many travel restrictions are lifted.The prime minister said “some opening up” was likely from later this month – but said the government would be “cautious” about the number of countries on the quarantine-free ‘green list’.That list is likely to be unveiled at the end of this week – after the latest scientific advice on the levels of Covid-19 infection – before the ban on overseas travel is lifted on 17 May.But Mr Johnson, on the campaign trail in Hartlepool, said: “We do want to do some opening up on May the 17th.“But I don’t think that the people of this country want to see an influx of disease from anywhere else – I certainly don’t.”He added: “We’ve got to be cautious and we’ve got to be sensible and we’ve got to sure that we don’t see the virus coming back in.”Asked if people should be starting to book foreign holidays, the prime minister said only: “We will be saying more as soon as we can.”Mr Johnson also said he understood “people’s strength of feeling” about foreign tycoons owning football clubs, when asked about the protests that forced the cancellation of the Manchester United-Liverpool match.“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have disruptive behaviour, demonstrations of that kind,” he told reporters. “But on the other hand, I do understand people’s strength of feeling.“And I think that it’s a good thing that we have been able to do things that make it pretty clear that the European Super League is not going to be appreciated by the people of this country, or by this government.”The Independent has been told that only a “quite small number of countries” will be on the ‘green list’ – with the rest of Europe suffering more Covid cases, having vaccinated far fewer people.Gibraltar, Israel, Iceland and Malta are expected be among them – and, possibly, the United States – but not most of the major Mediterranean destinations.Only people coming in from green list countries escape self-isolation, although they will still be required take pre-departure and post-arrival tests at a cost of up to £100.Ministers fear that holidaymakers will bring back new variants of coronavirus, some of which have the potential to evade the immunity from infection provided by vaccines.For that reason, a cross-party group of MPs and peers has called for the travel ban to stay in place through the summer, to prevent “a deadly third wave and further lockdowns”.Restrictions should continue with a review every three months, which would effectively rule out holidays until late August at the earliest, its report said. More

A government minister has attacked headlines about the sleaze allegations engulfing Boris Johnson when India is suffering a terrifying Covid-19 surge.James Cleverly criticised the “juxtaposition” of questions about the prime minister’s lavish flat makeover with vital international efforts to help Delhi tackle its huge death toll.When he was told that no-one was suggesting the funding of the refurbishment is more important, the Foreign Office minister snapped back: “Yeah, that’s what you led with.”The clash came as Mr Cleverly again insisted the various inquiries into the controversy must run their course, rebutting calls for Mr Johnson to reveal “who made the initial payment”.No 10 has failed to say whether a donor paid a second invoice for the flat – with the redecorations costing as much as £200,000 – or whether the prime minister sought gifts to pay his childcare bills.On Sunday, the Scottish Tory leader piled on the pressure by agreeing Mr Johnson must quit if he is found to have broken the ministerial code over the spending.But Mr Cleverly criticised the questioning on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, saying: “We’ve just come out of reports of the situation in India.“And my boss, the foreign secretary, is about to meet with his foreign ministerial colleagues from around the globe to address some of the really important issues that we’re discussing. “The prime minister will respond to those reports, but I think the juxtaposition of the images of what we’re seeing here….”, before being interrupted.The presenter accused the minister of being “tricksy” – agreeing the controversy is not “more important than a person dying every four minutes in India” – prompting Mr Cleverly to say: “That’s what you led with.”Mr Johnson is facing up to four inquiries, after repeatedly failing to deny that the Conservative Party originally funded the costly revamp of the flat above No 11 Downing Street.It is believed the party secretly approved paying a £58,000 bill as long as nine months ago – a payment then covered by a wealthy donor, according to a leaked email.He is also under fire for refusing to commit to publishing the findings of his new adviser’s investigation into the affair – despite criticism that he is making himself “judge and jury”.Most seriously, the Electoral Commission has launched a formal investigation, saying there are grounds for believing “an offence or offences may have occurred”.Mr Cleverly agreed that “no one is above the law”, adding: “The other reports will come out when they come out and the prime minister will respond to what they say.“I can’t go any further than the prime minister has gone, because I don’t know the details.” More

Wales is as Labour as it comes, but we said that about the ‘red wall’ demolished in the North of England of course – so what are the prospects for a similar political earthquake at the Senedd?On the face of it, the tectonic plates are also shifting across Offa’s Dyke with an extraordinary surge in support for independence that has astonished this exiled Welshman.A break-up used to be backed by just 3 per cent of the population – reflecting deep suspicion of the Welsh language for the English-speaking majority – but support hit 39 per cent in one recent poll. And, while Plaid Cymru is not about to romp to an SNP-style triumph on 6 May, it could yet be in a position to put the independence argument up in lights.Unsurprisingly, the elections for the 60-seat Senedd – the Welsh Parliament, not merely the Assembly, these days – are being seen as a test of first minister Mark Drakeford’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis.The Labour leader is generally seen as having performed well, his cautious approach – epitomised by last October’s “circuit-breaker” – contrasting well with the chaos in Downing Street.The cerebral Mr Drakeford is also preferred to the maverick Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies and Plaid’s Adam Price, a former MP.Despite the independence buzz, it appears the best the nationalist party can hope for is a small bump to its current tally of 12 MSs (Members of the Senedd).However, the rise of the Welsh Tories – the party gained six seats at the 2019 general election – means a far less predictable three-way contest.If Labour again wins 29 of the 60 seats, as one poll suggested, it may try to run a minority government, but what if it wins as few as 26, as other surveys pointed to?It could then be forced into a formal coalition with Plaid, which has promised an independence referendum if it is in power.That is where the dramatic collapse of Scottish Labour will be focusing minds, as the independence cause appears to be cutting through culturally in the same way – and with half of Welsh Labour voters sympathetic.Well-known sports stars and performers have joined the growing movement – singer Charlotte Church urging people to forget the fear that “we’ll be made to speak Welsh”.Furthermore, support among the 18-24s has approached 60 per cent, with more than 80 per cent backing far greater devolution to the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.It is a shift that Mr Drakeford has already recognised. Remarkably, he told a Commons committee last month the United Kingdom “as it is, is over”.He called for a new constitutional set-up, a “voluntary association of four nations” as he called it.The election results will determine just how much further the Labour first minister must shift – if only Boris Johnson would accept his calls. More

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, was trapped yesterday by his demand that Nicola Sturgeon should resign as first minister if she is found to have broken the Scottish government’s ministerial code. Did this mean he thought Boris Johnson should resign if he broke the UK ministerial code? “Of course,” Ross told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.So how likely is it that the prime minister will be found to have broken the code? That depends on two things: what the code says and who decides whether Johnson has contravened it.Two parts of the code might be relevant. Paragraph 1.3c says: “It is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the prime minister.” More