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Britain and the European Union should stop trying to score points against each other in the wake of Brexit, the EU’s ambassador has said. Joao Vale de Almeida told reporters that there needed to be “high levels of mutual trust” to make the best of the new relationship between the two parties. “I think we need to make an effort to change the mindset and give up on trying to score points on disputes of the past and focus ourselves on doing what we can do in making the most out of the agreements that we made,” the ambassador said.His comments come amid a war of words over the Northern Ireland border and threats of legal action by the EU against an alleged breach of the agreement by the UK.Meanwhile the EU and UK have both stepped up lobbying efforts in Washington DC in a bid to appeal to Joe Biden’s new administration over the issue.It comes as the EU accused the UK of breaking international law by reneging on part of the Brexit agreement, which is designed to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland.The UK has said it will unilaterally change the deal to make it more acceptable to UK business – extending a grace period exempting importers from checks without the EU’s approval.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe Brexit deal has introduced new bureaucracy for businesses across the UK compared to single market membership – but Northern Ireland has been the hardest hit, with supermarket shortages of basic goods.The situation is expected to worsen even further when a grace period for supermarket suppliers ends – with the original date set for the end of this month.The decision to unilaterally extend the grace period has soured the mood in Brussels and EU capitals towards Britain, which is increasingly being described as an unreliable partner.EU commissioner Maros Sefcovic and Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney spoke to an influential group of US congress members on Wednesday about the “tensions” caused by the UK government’s behaviour.The Friends of Ireland caucus and its chairman Richard Neal are widely seen as having the ear of Mr Biden, who has ancestral links to Ireland and has said a US-UK trade deal would be dependent on Brexit not undermining the Good Friday Agreement.
I think we need to make an effort to change the mindset and give up on trying to score points on disputes of the pastJoao Vale de Almeida, EU ambassadorMr Coveney told Irish public broadcaster RTE: “We talked for about an hour-and-a-half about the protocol, its implementation, the tensions around that, the mistakes that have been made by both sides.”The need to try to re-engage in discussion, because without finding a way forward through dialogue, which of course has to be the preference for everybody, then Maros Sefcovic outlined that the EU side really has no option but to take legal action, which will begin this week.”The European Commission has said it will take legal action against the UK over the unilateral action in the comings days. Brexit minister Lord Frost said earlier this week that the UK would “vigorously” defend any legal action brought by Brussels, describing the measures as “operational, technical and temporary”.He also accused the European Union of “ill will” over Brexit.Meanwhile the UK government has announced that it will be sending its own senior official from the Northern Ireland Office to try to build relations with the Biden administration.
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BBC presenter Emily Maitlis clashed with the DUP’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson after telling him his party’s position on the Northern Ireland protocol was “extraordinary”.The Newsnight host challenged the unionist MP on whether his complaints about trading disruption resulting from an Irish Sea border was “a bit rich”, given the DUP’s insistence on a hard Brexit.The unionist party – which gave the Tories a nominal majority in the Commons between 2017 and 2019 – remained staunch objectors to the idea of the UK leaving the EU but staying part of a customs union.Ms Maitlis said: “Sammy, it’s a bit rich isn’t it? You held the balance of power at Westminster in the UK for two years and you constantly voted against the one solution on the table that kept Northern Ireland in Great Britain’s orbit.“So to turn round and say you don’t like the next thing, when it is your, arguably, political incompetence that got you here, is extraordinary.”Mr Wilson shot back: “That’s not right – we voted against [Theresa] May’s deal because it did not, first of all, deliver Brexit. It would have kept the United Kingdom in the single market and customs union.”The MP claimed the former prime minister’s withdrawal agreement – which contained a backstop so the whole of the UK would enter a customs territory with the EU in the event no final trade agreement could be done – would have been a “far worse” for Northern Ireland.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayMr Wilson, a firebrand unionist, has previously called for “guerrilla warfare” against the protocol, saying: “We will look to see every opportunity there is to attack the protocol to ensure it is destroyed.”It comes as the EU said it would move forward with legal action against the UK in the coming days, claiming Boris Johnson’s government had “violated” agreed protocol arrangements.The warning follows Downing Street’s unilateral decision to extend grace period exemptions on some checks on good coming from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. More

Downing Street said the PM held a phone conversation with Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday.Mr Johnson demanded Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s immediate release, along with that of other British-Iranian dual nationals, Downing Street said.Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was recently released from house arrest and had her ankle tag removed following a five-year prison term.The Thomson Reuters Foundation worker was detained in 2016 on spying charges which she denied and the UK has also rejected.A No 10 spokesperson said: “[Mr Johnson] said that while the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ankle monitor was welcome, her continued confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK.”It is feared that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe may face further charges, with a fresh court hearing expected on Sunday.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayHer husband Richard Ratcliffe, accompanied by their six-year-old daughter Gabriella, attended a vigil outside the Iranian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, on Monday.Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s director, said: “Nazanin has already been convicted once after a deeply unfair trial before a revolutionary court, so of course we’re extremely concerned about this hearing.”She said that Iran “systematically [violates] fair trial rights” and that it was vital British officials be granted permission to attend any court hearings.Downing Street has previously said that officials have been denied access to legal proceedings because Iran does not recognise dual nationality.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office reiterated its displeasure at Iran’s imprisonment of dual nationals as “diplomatic leverage” in a statement earlier this month, saying those individuals had been “arbitrarily detained”.
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Anti-racism campaigners are calling for the royals to lose their exemption under race equality law and be “brought into line with the rest of the public sector” following Meghan and Harry’s racism allegations.The Equality Act, introduced in 2010,  protects people from discrimination within the workplace and across wider society. All organisations within the public sector have a legal obligation to adhere to this legislation, from the government and charities to major companies and political parties. However, the royal household, which is funded by the taxpayer through the sovereign grant, is exempt from those rules.Patrick Vernon OBE, a prominent equalities campaigner, told The Independent that this needs to change.“We need to consider changing race equality legislation to ensure that royal family and also private members’ clubs are brought in line with the rest of society so that the Equality and Human Rights Commission could investigate the allegations raised by Meghan and Harry in the Oprah interview or at least undertake an independent review on race equality,” he said.
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The House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued a scathing report on the value for money and effectiveness of the government’s £37bn test and trace programme.The cross-party MPs group has concluded that despite an “unimaginable” level of expenditure – £37bn is roughly equivalent to the annual budgets of the Home Office, the Foreign Office, the environment department and the culture department combined – it had failed to make a “measurable difference” to the spread of the pandemic.In response to the report, the former top civil servant in the Treasury, Lord Macpherson, tweeted that test and trace “wins the prize for the most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time”.But is this verdict justified? Or have there, in fact, been larger wastes of taxpayers’ money in the past?Here The Independent explores some of the other contenders.NHS IT system: £24bnIn 2002 the government of Tony Blair launched the “National Programme for IT in the NHS”.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe ambitious aim was to digitally integrate the entire health service in England within three years.But it was plagued with huge cost over-runs and technical problems. More

Like the House of Windsor has found, without trust nothing much works. This certainly applies to the 2019 UK-EU withdrawal agreement, which has now, once again, been unilaterally suspended by one side, this time the UK. The secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, has announced that certain checks and procedures that were soon to be imposed on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland will be suspended, with the agreed grace period for adjustment being extended apparently indefinitely by the UK. Lewis may be reminded of a famous remark he made the last time the UK threatened to agree the treaty, only last autumn, which was that it was indeed a breach of international law, albeit in “a specific and limited way”. A few weeks ago the EU unilaterally announced it would invoke Article 16 of the withdrawal agreement and suspend the Northern Ireland protocol, to the shocked surprise of everyone. The backlash from all parts of Ireland caused a hasty retreat. Since then the war of words and sniping has ground on. Last weekend the new British minister for Brexit, Lord (David) Frost accused the EU of “sulking”. “We never sulk” came the reply. Maybe everyone is sulking.Now, the European Union has said it will see Britain in court. Two courts, in fact. The EU is about to initiate two separate lines of attack. First, it will serve formal notice that it is to trigger “infringement proceedings” against the UK, which will in due course end up in the Court of Justice of the European Union, though that has no jurisdiction, formally, over the UK in fresh judgments. More

Boris Johnson is resisting calls to correct the parliamentary record after misleading MPs about Labour’s record on NHS pay, in a possible breach of his own ministerial code of conduct. At prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson twice accused Labour of voting against the NHS Funding Bill and its proposal for a 2.1 per cent pay rise for NHS staff.But the issue did not in fact go to a vote, but passed “on the nod” with Labour offering no opposition.Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth immediately seized on the PM’s misleading comment, calling for Mr Johnson to be called back to the House to correct it.The ministerial code of conduct states that 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”, the code states.But Downing Street made clear that Mr Johnson is not planning to return to the Commons to correct his false statement.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayIn a media briefing following PMQs, the PM’s press secretary Allegra Stratton did not contest Mr Ashworth’s position that Mr Johnson’s statement to MPs was incorrect.But she ducked a question on whether the PM now accepted that his claim was wrong.And she insisted that the matter had been settled by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who told Mr Ashworth that he accepted his objection as “a point of clarification”.There is no reference in the ministerial code of any role for the Speaker in correcting a misleading statement made to MPs by a member of the government.If the PM refuses to correct the record, it would stand in stark contrast to Sir Keir Starmer’s action last month when he issued a prompt apology after giving an incorrect response during PMQs.Asked why Mr Johnson was not following the Labour leader’s example, Ms Stratton said: “Within minutes in this instance, this issue was raised in the proper place, which is the House of Commons chamber. “The Speaker listened to the shadow health secretary and accepted a point of clarification, and he regarded the matter as having been dealt with.” The PM’s press secretary dodged a question on whether Mr Johnson now accepted that his comments to MPs were inaccurate, instead replying: “The matter was dealt with incredibly swiftly. The shadow health secretary was on his feet without a pause or breath after PMQs was wound up, and the issue was dealt with immediately by the House of Commons Speaker, who regarded a point of clarification as having been made and the matter as having been dealt with.” More

Today’s daily politics briefingBoris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer clashed at PMQs over NHS pay as the EU is reportedly poised to trigger legal action against the UK over its decision last week to unilaterally extend grace periods for Northern Ireland businesses adjusting to post-Brexit trading arrangements.In a fiery confrontation the Labour leader said when he clapped for carers he “meant it” and lambasted the prime minister for breaking “promise after promise” on NHS pay. Mr Johnson retorted that the government has “massively increased” funding to the NHS.It came after EU Commission chief Maroš Šefčovič set out a number of legal options to member states at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday night. The commission is expected to issue a letter of formal notice to the UK in the coming days, Irish broadcaster RTE reported.Elsewhere, the two sides are embroiled in a fresh vaccine row after the bloc accused Britain of imposing export restrictions on Covid-19 shots. In a newsletter sent to some 20,000 subscribers, EU Council president Charles Michel claimed the UK had imposed an “outright ban” on the movement of vaccine supplies. In response, UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab wrote to Mr Michel to “set the record straight”. “Any references to a UK export ban or any restrictions on vaccines are completely false”, Mr Raab said.He insisted the government “has not blocked a single Covid-19 vaccine or vaccine components”, adding: “We are all facing this pandemic together.” On Wednesday a senior EU diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office in London as the fallout rumbled on.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayShow latest update
1615387066Northern Ireland secretary fails to explain legal basis for shelving post-Brexit Irish Sea checksThe Northern Ireland Secretary has failed to explain the legal basis for shelving post-Brexit Irish Sea checks, as a furious EU prepares to launch its court action.Brandon Lewis was challenged to set out under which part of the Northern Ireland Protocol the incendiary unilateral action falls – amid claims it will breach international law.Deputy politics editor Rob Merrick has the full story: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 14:371615384858UK twinned towns urged to lobby Polish counterparts against ‘LGBT-free zones’UK councils are being urged to lobby their Polish counterparts to stop the spread of “LGBT-free zones” which have sprung up across the country, as part of a new campaign led by the Liberal Democrats.Half a dozen local authorities in the UK have official or informal twinning arrangements with towns in Poland that are considered by equality campaigners to be under significant pressure to implement resolutions targeting LGBT+ people.Tom Batchelor has the full story: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 14:001615383958SNP MP Patrick Grady steps down as chief whip amid sexual harassment allegationsIn non-Brexit news, SNP MP Patrick Grady has stepped down from his role as the party’s chief whip at Westminster following sexual harassment allegations.Patrick Grady was named on Tuesday as the MP at the centre of the claims, with his party confirming an investigation is now underway.Adam Forrest has the full report: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 13:451615383101‘We have not blocked the export of a single Covid vaccine’, Johnson saysBoris Johnson has refuted an EU claim that the UK imposed an export ban on Covid-19 vaccines.Addressing MPs at prime minister’s questions, Mr Johnson said the UK had not “blocked the export of a single Covid-19 vaccine”.He added: “We oppose vaccine nationalism in all its forms”.Matt Mathers10 March 2021 13:311615380185‘When I clapped for carers, I meant it’ – StarmerSir Keir Starmer has ripped into Boris Johnson for breaking “promise after promise” on NHS pay.At PMQs he said: “My mum was a nurse, my sister was a nurse, my wife works in the NHS, I know what it means to work for the NHS.“When I clap for carers I meant it, he clapped for carers then he shut the door in their face at the first opportunity.”Mr Johnson retorted that his government have “massively increased” funding for the NHS.Joe Middleton10 March 2021 12:431615379143PM’s Scotland-Northern Ireland tunnel a ‘vanity project’SNP MSP Michael Matheson has branded Boris Johnson’s plans for a tunnel or bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland a “vanity project.”The Scottish transport secretary claimed the recently announced UK government review into the proposed crossing is “a systematic attack on the Scottish Parliament’s powers” and “a power-grab that fundamentally undermines devolution”.He added: “It’s not a priority for Scotland, nor for Northern Ireland. I’ve just discussed the matter with Nichola Mallon, who is the minister for infrastructure in Northern Ireland last night, and she reiterated the point it is not a priority for Northern Ireland.”Tom Ambrose has all the detailsJoe Middleton10 March 2021 12:251615377755‘We don’t comment on other people’s comments’, EU says in response to Charles Michel vaccine claimsAn EU spokesman said the bloc “does not comment on other people’s comments” when quizzed on whether it supported remarks by Charles Michel claiming the UK has an “outright ban” on Covid-19 vaccine exports.Eric Mamer said Boris Johnson had assured commission president Ursula von der Leyen that the UK did not have a ban on vaccine exports during a phone call “some time ago”.When asked whether the commission supported the comments of European Council president Mr Michel, the spokesman said: “We have a policy of not commenting on other people’s comments.”He added: “Clearly the situation when it comes to the export of vaccines depends very much on the countries concerned.”As far as the European Union is concerned, you know what our policy is and we will limit ourselves to that.”Matt Mathers10 March 2021 12:021615376136Cricket pitch soil may be dug up and replaced due to Northern Ireland protocol, groundsman saysSpecial cricket pitch soil that has been used for generations may have to be dug up and replaced due to the Northern Ireland Protocol, a groundsman has said.The special clay-containing material known as loam can be obtained from counties in England to give the ball its predictable bounce on the pitch.But post-Brexit trading rules have restricted trade in soil between NI and the rest of the UK.Adam Forrest has more details: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 11:351615374992Japanese firms fled UK for EU amid Brexit uncertaintyUncertainty surrounding Brexit resulted in an exodus of Japanese firms leaving the UK for the Continent, according to a report.Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) data analysed by Rudlin Consulting showed that between 2014 and 2019 the number of Japanese firms based in Britain dropped from 1,084 to 951.The bulk of those exits came in the aftermath of the 2016 EU referendum, according to Rudlin, which said the number of Japanese firms setting up shop in Amsterdam over the same period increased by 67 per cent.There were also increases in Germany, France and Italy, according to the report.Matt Mathers10 March 2021 11:161615373182EU diplomat summoned to UK’s Foreign Office over vaccine rowA senior EU diplomat has been summoned to the Foreign Office in London in the increasingly bitter row over Covid vaccine supply.It follows an accusation by European Council president Charles Michel that the UK government had imposed an “outright ban” on the export of jabs produced in Britain.Adam Forrest will be bringing you more details on this story as it develops: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 10:461615372363Johnson commissions study to examine possibility of ‘Irish Sea bridge’Prime minister Boris Johnson has commissioned a study to examine the feasibility of a bridge or a tunnel between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.The idea was floated by the DUP in its 2015 general election manifesto and has been given a new lease of life by Mr Johnson in recent months amid concerns that Brexit has cut Northern Ireland adrift from Great Britain.Mr Johnson has asked transport expert Sir Peter Hendy to assess the possibility of connections across the Irish Sea. A previous plan proposed a tunnel between Stranraer in Scotland and Larne, near Belfast.Matt Mathers10 March 2021 10:321615370437ICYMI: Brexit trade barriers to cost UK e-commerce firms £5bn a year, report warnsBarriers to trade caused by Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal are set to cost UK e-commerce importers more than £5 billion a year, a new report has warned.The introduction of new Brexit red tape and VAT charges from 1 January has already caused “major problems” to 35 per cent of retailers and traders importing from the EU, with large numbers of parcels blocked or returned and deliveries cancelled, said the report by international delivery company ParcelHero.And the crisis also affects parcels travelling between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland, with 38 per cent of companies that send goods on the route reporting reduced deliveries in the run-up to the scheduled 31 March expiry of a waiver agreed with Brussels on customs declarations on parcels, the report found.Politics editor Andrew Woodcock has more on this story: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 10:001615369401ICYMI: New ‘Erasmus’ scheme will not pay tuition or travel costs and living allowance slashedThe replacement for the Erasmus study exchange scheme will not fund tuition or travel costs, it has emerged – and the living allowance has been slashed.The reality of the new project has triggered fresh accusations that ministers are crushing the hopes of huge numbers of students who want to live, study and travel abroad.Boris Johnson promised last year that there was “no threat” to the hugely-popular Erasmus programme, but his Brexit trade deal then pulled the plug.Deputy politics editor Rob Merrick with the full report: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 09:431615368502Ireland’s Coveney and EU’s Šefčovič to brief US Congress amid protocol rowIrish minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney and EU Commission vice president Maroš Šefčovič will today brief members of the US Congress on the latest Brexit developments.The pair will speak to the ‘Friends of Ireland’ caucaus – an influential bipartisan group on Capitol Hill – to discuss their concerns over the UK’s decision last week to unilateraly change how the Northern Ireland protocol is being implemented. The Friends of Ireland caucaus is chaired by the Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal. He also chairs Congress’s Ways and Means Committee, which oversees US trade deals.Matt Mathers10 March 2021 09:281615366435EU accuses UK of imposing ‘outright ban’ on Covid-19 vaccine exportsEuropean Council chief Charles Michel has accused the UK of imposing an “outright ban” on Covid-19 exports.Writing in his weekly briefing note, Mr Michel – who represents the bloc’s 27 members states – said he was “shocked when I hear the accusations of ‘vaccine nationalism’ against the EU.”Responding, he said: “The UK and the US have imposed an outright ban on the export of vaccines or vaccine components produced on their territory.”But the European Union, the region with the largest vaccine production capacity in the world, has simply put in place a system for controlling the export of doses produced in the EU.”Matt Mathers10 March 2021 08:531615365992EU poised to trigger legal action against UK over unilateral move on Northern Ireland protocolThe EU is expected to launch legal proceedings against the UK this week over its unilateral decision to extend post-Brexit grace periods for Northern Ireland businesses.Commission chief Maroš Šefčovič set out a number of legal options to member states at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday night.According to Irish broadcaster RTE, the Commission will issue a letter of formal notice to the UK in the coming days.Matt Mathers10 March 2021 08:461615364994Dominic Raab writes to EU over bloc’s claim UK imposed ‘outright ban’ on Covid vaccine exportsDominic Raab has written to the European Council president after he claimed the UK imposed an “outright ban” on coronavirus vaccine exports.Charles Michel accused Britain and the US of imposing bans on the movement of jabs as he used a newsletter to hit back at criticisms of the bloc’s vaccine rollout.Emma Bowden and Sam Blewett have more on this story below: Matt Mathers10 March 2021 08:291615364920Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s rolling Brexit coverageMatt Mathers10 March 2021 08:28 More