Markus Andrews

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.“Is it Article 16, which allows the UK to unilaterally take appropriate safeguard measures? And, if not, which other article is he citing?” Labour’s Hilary Benn asked.But – despite repeatedly insisting the government is acting “lawfully” – Mr Lewis was unable to point to any part of the Protocol that allows it.In the Commons, he repeated his warning that Northern Ireland was faced with “empty shelves, potentially, in just a couple of weeks’ time”, if the action had not been taken last week.And he lashed out at Labour for “defending the EU rather than defending the actions of the UK government, which is standing up for the people of Northern Ireland”.Mr Lewis insisted London is keen to get back round the table with the EU, to reach agreement on extending ‘grace periods’ before the checks are introduced.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 weekdayHowever, the failure to set out the basis for unilaterally delaying the checks is likely to be seized upon, as Brussels prepares to take its legal action.That is likely to include a formal “infringement proceeding” that could end up at the European Court of justice, as well as triggering the dispute mechanism in the Brexit withdrawal agreement.EU27 ambassadors are said to be in full agreement that the EU “had to act firmly” and action could begin as early this week.The checks on goods from Britain were agreed to avoid a hard border with the Irish Republic, as the EU seeks to protect the integrity of its single market.But the UK suddenly aborted their introduction, having failed to persuade Brussels to delay them until 2023, an agreement the Protocol requires. Facing an urgent question – and Unionist demands to scrap the agreement altogether – Mr Lewis told MPs: “We are a very trustworthy partner.”And, in reply to Mr Benn, he blamed Brussels for inflaming “issues and tensions” by briefly threatening to invoke Article 16 itself, in the row over vaccine exports.“The measures I announced last Wednesday are lawful and consistent with the progressive and good faith implementation of the Protocol,” he said.And he added: “They do not change our legal obligations as set out in the Protocol under any of its articles.“These measures are of a kind well precedented in the context of trade practice internationally and are consistent with our intention to discharge our obligations under the Protocol in good faith.” More

Cricket pitch soil in Northern Ireland may have to be dug up and replaced due to post-Brexit protocol arrangements, according to officials for the sport in the province.The special clay-containing material known as loam, obtained from counties in England, gives the ball its predictable bounce on the pitch.However, bureaucracy introduced following Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal has caused disruption for suppliers sending a range of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.Carrickfergus Cricket Club groundsman Michael Kennedy said: “If we do not get this stuff it looks like we are going to have to dig our square up and replace it with something else, and that is going to be a disaster.”Northern Ireland continues to follow some the EU’s rules on trade to prevent a hard border, which has caused particular problems for the supply of agricultural goods from Great Britain.Mr Kennedy said the loam supply issue needed to be resolved before renewal work on the surface begins in September – and warned the pitch could start to deteriorate and became unsafe.“There is no alternative, we cannot just nip down to the local merchant and buy a bag of this,” he said. “I have been involved in cricket for 15 years and it is what other generations have used before … We are sitting here at the moment trying to work out what we can do.”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 weekdayUel Graham, cricket operations manager for the Northern Cricket Union (NCU), said not having loam available created a “far-reaching”problem at all levels of the sport, from international down to schools.He said: “If they are not able to prepare and maintain pitches, that would mean pitches may need to be replaced more often, which is a very costly aspect.“Covid has already had a major impact on clubs with a truncated season last year, so any additional financial burden is something clubs would find very difficult.” More

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.Polish authorities have already passed resolutions in more than 100 districts declaring them “free of LGBT ideology” – moves which activists say are discriminatory and have led to a rise in hate crime.Although they appear not to have been followed by legislation to discriminate against gay residents, anti-LGBT+ resolutions have fuelled concern across Europe about a drift in Poland towards illiberalism led by the Law and Justice government under president Andrzej Duda.Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, who is leading the campaign, is urging councils in the UK with links to the country to write to the mayors of their Polish “twins” to show support for the local LGBT+ community. One such area is Radomsko, one of the oldest cities in Poland, which has been twinned with Lincoln since 2007. Polish ultra-conservative group Ordo Iuris held a meeting there under the guise of “protecting family rights and children against demoralisation”, but which campaigners say amounted to efforts to establish another “LGBT-free zone”.Ordo Iuris was also behind a meeting titled “How to protect the family against the threats of the modern world” in Szczecin – a sister city of Hull.Other parts of the UK, including Antrim and Newtownabbey near Belfast and Heywood near Rochdale, are twinned with Polish districts which campaigners say are facing pressure to adopt anti-LGBT+ resolutions. The Independent has contacted the councils named, and Ordo Iuris, for comment. More

The European Parliament is scheduled to debate a resolution on Wednesday that would declare the entire 27-member European Union a “freedom zone” for LGBT people.The move comes largely in reaction to developments over the past two years in Poland, where many local communities have adopted largely symbolic resolutions declaring themselves free of what conservative authorities have been calling “LGBT ideology.” These towns say they are seeking to defend their traditional Catholic values, but LGBT rights activists say the designations are discriminatory and make gays and lesbians feel unwelcome. The areas have come to be colloquially known as “LGBT-free zones.”But the resolution to be debated Wednesday also seeks to address problems faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people across the bloc. It says the fundamental rights of LGBT people have been “severely hindered” recently in Hungary due to a de facto ban on legal gender recognition for transgender and intersex people. It cites problems in Latvia, and notes that only two member states — Malta and Germany — have banned “conversion therapy,” a controversial and potentially harmful attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation.The resolution is the work of the a cross-party group in the European Parliament, the LGBTI Intergroup, which says it has garnered enough support to approve the largely symbolic resolution.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 weekdayLiesje Schreinemacher, the vice chair of the group and a Dutch lawmaker with Renew Europe, a liberal political group, said the resolution is timed to roughly mark the second anniversary of the first Polish community, Swidnik County, passing an anti-LGBT resolution.She also referred to problems elsewhere, including suspicions that a man murdered in Belgium on the weekend was the victim of a homophobic attack.“We wanted to send a strong signal in Poland that we consider all of Europe to be an LGBTI freedom zone,” she told The Associated Press. “But every European country has work to do.”Dozens of local governments across conservative eastern and southern Poland began in March 2019 to pass either resolutions declaring themselves to be free from “LGBT ideology,” or family charters defending traditional families in the mostly Catholic nation.They have proven costly to Poland’s international image, and to the finances of local communities. The EU and Norway — a non-EU member that funds some development in EU nations — have cut off funds for policies they view as discriminatory.Bart Staszewski, a Polish activist who created an art project on the “LGBT-free zones” that drew the ire of the government and conservatives, said he sees the EU resolution as “important and necessary.”But he also noted that local governments stopped passing such resolutions months ago and some communities have already withdrawn theirs. Others have passed resolutions declaring support for all types of families.“There is some very good change,” Staszewski said. “I see this as a very good sign for the future.” More

Speaking during prime minister’s questions, the Labour leader raised the issue which has caused unease among backbench Tory MPs, and accused Mr Johnson of “breaking promise after promise”.As he warned that health care workers were facing a real-terms cut due to rising inflation, a Labour analysis suggested that since 2010 the starting salary for nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers and numerous other NHS roles has fallen by £841 per year in real terms.“When I clapped for carers I meant it,” Sir Keir said. “He clapped for carers then he shut the door in their face at the first opportunity.”“They can afford to give Dominic Cummings a 40 per cent pay rise, and they can’t afford to reward the NHS properly.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 weekday“The mask really is slipping, and we can see what the Conservative Party now stands for: cutting pay for nurses, putting taxes up for families.He’s had the opportunity to change course, but he’s refused.“So if he’s so determined to cut NHS pay, will he at least show some courage and put it to a vote in Parliament?”But Mr Johnson repeatedly claimed a pay increase would be delivered for NHS workers, and defended his government’s spending record. Hinting at possible future U-turn on the issue, he said the government would wait to see what the independent pay review body reports back.Mr Johnson added: “The last time we put it to a vote, he [Mr Starmer] voted against it.“Moments after prime minister’s questions, however, the shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth accused Mr Johnson of misleading MPs by suggesting Labour had voted against the NHS Funding Bill last year.He told MPs: “The prime minister twice from that despatch box said that the Labour opposition voted against the NHS Funding Bill and the 2.1 per cent increase for NHS staff – this is not the case.”Indeed, in the debate, as Hansard will show, I was explicit that we would not be dividing the House. So can you, Mr Speaker, use your good office to get the prime minister to return to the House and correct the record.Giving evidence on Tuesday, Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the NHS, told MPs that when the NHS long-term plan was published, the financial assumptions underpinning it showed a pay rise higher than the one proposed by ministers last week of 1 per cent.He acknowledged things had changed since 2019 but said: “At the time, the working assumption was that there would be available 2.1 per cent for the costs of the Agenda for Change pay group in 2021-22, together with the overhang from the 2021 elements of the multi-year Agenda for Change pay deal.”“In a publicly funded, democratically accountable health service, the government of the day gets to decide what NHS pay should be, but you would expect me as the head of the health service to obviously want to see properly rewarded NHS staff, particularly given everything that the service has been through, and they’ve been through, over the course of the last year.” More

A senior EU diplomat has been summoned to the Foreign Office in London in the latest twist 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.Foreign secretary Dominic Raab sought to “set the record straight” in a letter to Mr Michel on Tuesday evening, insisting the EU chief’s claims were “completely false”.Top EU official Nicole Mannion was summoned to the Foreign Office for “further discussions” on the dispute on Wednesday morning.A spokesman for the EU delegation said: “This morning Nicole Mannion, deputy ambassador of the EU to the UK and charge d’affaires at the EU Delegation to the UK attended a meeting at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.”Boris Johnson dismissed Mr Michel’s remarks during PMQs on Wednesday, saying: “we oppose vaccine nationalism in all its forms”.“I therefore wish to correct the suggestion from the EU Council president that the UK has blocked vaccine exports,” said the prime minister. “Let me be clear we have not blocked the export of a single Covid-19 vaccine or vaccine components.”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 European Commission said Mr Johnson had assured Ursula von der Leyen that the UK did not have any ban – but would not be drawn on Mr Michel’s criticism of British policy.Commission spokesman Eric Mamer told reporters in Brussels: “He assured her that the UK did not have any issue when it came to the delivery of vaccines when it came to the European Union.”Asked whether the commission supported the comments of Mr Michel, the spokesman said: “We have a policy of not commenting on other people’s comments.”In a newsletter sent out on Tuesday, Mr Michel said he was “shocked” when he heard allegations of vaccine nationalism levelled at the EU, saying: “The facts do not lie.”He added: “The United Kingdom and the United States have imposed an outright ban on the export of vaccines or vaccine components produced on their territory.”Mr Raab shot back with a letter saying “any references to a UK export ban or any restrictions on vaccines are completely false”. The minister insisted the UK “has not blocked a single Covid-19 vaccine or vaccine components”.Mr Michel appeared to attempt to smooth over the dispute with a tweet on Tuesday evening, saying: “Glad if the UK reaction leads to more transparency and increased exports, to EU and third countries.”The EU chief claimed there were “different ways of imposing bans or restrictions” on vaccines. More

The number of pupils learning in class sizes of 31 or more has surged over the past decade in England, new analysis from Labour suggests.The party said the figure has risen from one in 10 secondary school students in 2010 to almost one in seven. The analysis also found there has been a 43 per cent jump in the number of secondary school pupils in classes of 31 or more over the last five years. “Under the Conservatives, the gap in learning between disadvantaged pupils and their peers had not narrowed for five years even before the pandemic,” Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said. Schools moved online to all but vulnerable and key worker children in early January for the second time over the course of the pandemic, as England was sent into lockdown.One school leader toldThe Independent this week’s return was a “ray of sunshine in quite a gloomy picture”, while students said they were excited to be back on 8 March.It comes amid a push to help pupils catch-up on missed learning caused by school closures and pupils having to self-isolate over the past year.Labour has warned larger class sizes could create challenges for teachers trying to give pupils individual support and attention as they return to school.The analysis of figures from the House of Commons Library suggested the number of secondary pupils in class sizes of 31 or more increased by more than 130,000 between 2016 and 2020 – a rise of 43 per cent.Meanwhile, the number of primary school pupils in class sizes of 31 or more rose by nearly 20,000, or 3.7 per cent.The figure has increased from one in nine in 2010 to one in eight pupils, the analysis found.Statistics from the Department forEducation (DfE), published in June last year, showed that the number of pupils in state secondary schools in England had risen by 81,300 to 3.41 million.In January last year, the average class size in all secondary schools was 22 pupils, up from 21.7 the previous year.Geoff Barton, from the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The reason that the number of children in large classes has risen is simple: lack of money.”Over the past five years the number of children in our schools has increased and government funding has been insufficient. The result is that there are fewer teachers and more children.”Mr Barton, the union’s general secretary, added: “Schools have worked very hard to ensure that funding pressures do not impact on the education of children, but it is obviously the case that larger classes make it more difficult to give struggling students individual support and attention.Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Clearly with such large numbers in any one class teachers and support staff have a far harder job in ensuring every child gets the attention they need.“Government needs to address this problem to ensure every child gets the best education they possibly can. Having a teacher and support staff dividing themselves between 30 plus children is not acceptable.”A DfE spokesperson said average secondary school class sizes “remain low” at 22 students, while the figure has “remained stable” in primary schools at 27. “This is despite an increase of almost 800,000 pupils since 2010 which is more than ever before,” they said.The spokesperson added: “Last year most pupils were offered a place at one of their top three choices of secondary school, while between 2010 to 2019 we created one million additional school places overall, with many more in the pipeline.”We know disadvantaged students have been most heavily affected by the pandemic so we are targeting the majority of our £1.7bn catch-up plans towards those most in need, we have also appointed Sir Kevan Collins as the education recovery commissioner to oversee a long-term plan to tackle the impact of lost learning.”Additional reporting by Press Association More

Boris Johnson should not have the power to block investigations into his ministers’ conduct, the ethics watchdog who dramatically quit after the prime minister overruled his finding that Priti Patel bullied staff has said. Sir Alex Allen said that public confidence in the ministerial code of conduct had been hit by cases when allegations against ministers were dismissed by prime ministers without investigation.Giving evidence to the Committee on Standards in Public Life, he called for the PM’s independent adviser on standards to be given the unilateral power to launch investigations into ministerial conduct without needing an instruction from the prime minister.But he insisted that the prime minister must retain complete power to decide whether or not a minister should resign if the adviser’s report finds he or she breached the code.And he accepted the PM’s right to publish only a redacted summary of the adviser’s report, rather than being required to make it public in full.Sir Alex advised Mr Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron on ministerial conduct from 2011-20 but quit last November after the long-delayed publication of his report into allegations against the home secretary.Mr Johnson cleared Ms Patel of breaching the ministerial code over bullying allegations in November despite Sir Alex’s finding that her treatment of staff “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying” and that she had “not consistently met the high standards expected of her”.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 weekdaySir Alex said an independent power to launch investigations would help the PM by shielding him or her from criticism if allegations are dismissed. And he said it would end an “anomaly” where the PM has to decide whether an inquiry is launched into complaints about his or her own conduct.His call was echoed by his predecessor Sir Philip Mawer, who told the committee’s inquiry into standards that he favoured a power for the adviser to decide whether to initiate an investigation.Sir Alex told the committee: “I think there actually is a case now for giving the independent adviser the role of initiating investigations.“The issue really now is whether the process is actually damaging to the perception of whether ministers do or don’t adhere to the code.“There are allegations of breaches that are essentially trivial or without substance, but there have also been incidents which prima facie appear to involve a breach of the code but which haven’t been referred to the independent advisor. “It’s perfectly possible that an investigation would have revealed that the allegations weren’t supported by the facts. “But the way the allegations have been dismissed has raised questions about the operation of the system and about the confidence the public can have about the impact and effectiveness of the code. “So to that extent, I do see a case for introducing a greater element of independence.”Sir Alex said that freedom for the adviser to launch inquiries would resolve the “anomoly” of the prime minister having to decide whether he should himself be subject to investigation, in a way currently happening with Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon.And he added: “I think it’s fair to say it would help the prime minister because it would stand between him or her and the complainants. “The independent adviser would then take some of the flak in cases where he or she decided there wasn’t a case to investigate or investigated and decided no further action needed to be taken.”While the adviser would indicate in any report whether a minister has breached the code, it must remain a prerogative of the prime minister to determine any punishment, he said.“Whatever happens, it must be the prime minister who retains the decision on what action to take once an investigation has taken place,” said Sir Alex. “If there’s an argument about whether or not the minister should resign, it’s his role to decide who he wants to have in his government.”Sir Alex did not discuss the Patel case during the hour-long hearing, but revealed that the home secretary had once questioned his ability to challenge the PM over ministerial misbehaviour.He told the committee that at a 2012 parliamentary hearing into his appointment, Ms Patel – then a backbench MP – asked him: “Do you feel in your current role that you’re actually able to challenge those around you, including the prime minister, if you hear or see if anything untoward that needs to be drawn his attention?”  More