Markus Andrews

Talks have yet to begin to ease the damage from the “no-deal Brexit” for musicians, a minister has admitted – despite warnings that tours are already being cancelled.A “working group” to explore the devastating impact of huge new costs and paperwork was only set up in January, an inquiry heard, weeks after the trade agreement was sealed.The comments sparked fierce criticism from Julian Knight, the Conservative chair of the Commons culture committee, who said the vital sector had been “forced to endure a no-deal Brexit”.He demanded to know why work began only “after the event” of a deal that ends permit-free touring and imposes huge costs to cross borders with equipment.Pointing out that the creative industries are worth £111bn a year, Mr Knight asked: “Why is it that one quarter of the UK economy has had to endure a no-deal Brexit?”The Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) warned of artists – who depend on EU tours for 50 per cent of their earnings – facing “heart-rending” charges of £600 for a single concert in Spain.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“There is simply not enough work in the UK to maintain a music career,” said chief executive Deborah Annetts, adding: “This is such an extraordinary crisis that we are facing.”Warning concerts “from the summer on” are being axed, she added: “Musicians are already thinking, in quite desperate terms, whether they have a career left or whether they will have to retrain.”Kevin Brennan, a Labour MP warned “the woods are burning” for musicians and other artists, saying: “They are only clinging on at the moment because of Covid.”In response, Ms Dinenage insisted the government still wanted to “make life easier for those who work in our creative industries in the EU”.But, asked if talks had begun with any EU countries – after musicians pointed to Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Spain as key targets – she said: “There are no current negotiations taking place.”During the evidence session, Ms Dinenage:* Offered a glimmer of hope by saying the government had no “in principle” objection to a visa-waiver scheme – despite rejecting the EU’s proposal for that.* Revealed the business department “did the negotiations” on the future for creative industries – with the culture department not in the room.* Admitted to “difficulties” in agreeing a common approach across government – with responsibilities shared by culture, business, transport and the Home Office.“Home Office ministers don’t care and culture ministers don’t count – that’s true isn’t it?” Mr Brennan asked, pointing to the determination to end free movement of EU citizens.But Ms Dinenage insisted: “I think you are barking up the wrong tree when you think this is some kind of ideological issue on behalf of the Home Office.” More

Some 62 Conservative members of parliament in the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) have written to the prime minister demanding that Covid restrictions are lifted – for good – as soon as the over-50s have been vaccinated, which may be in a matter of weeks. They want all schools open on 8 March, and pubs and restaurants thriving again by Easter (a literally moveable feast this year, which starts on 1 April). As the daffodils come out, so will the British public, in this scenario. Boris Johnson is trying to deliver it, but he can’t give them a guarantee because the dates the CRG chose are obviously arbitrary, and we’ve been through too many abortive “freedoms days” before. If the CRG were put on God’s earth to make Mr Johnson look sensible, reasonable and driven by science, then the divine plan could not have been more immaculately conceived. The CRG is yet another Tory parliamentary faction, this one led by Mark Harper, a former Tory chief whip, and Steve Baker, self-styled veteran Spartan of the Brexit wars, and fuelled by the kind of unrelenting chipiness that has caused so much trouble in recent years. Given their numbers, they easily have the ability to overturn the government’s majority and reject any fresh or renewed restrictions on personal and economic liberties that might be put to the House of Commons. Its membership comprises adamantine serial rebels, some with scant respect for the prime minister. Yet the CRG is irrelevant so far as Covid is concerned, but perhaps not so much for the political career of Boris Johnson. More

Giving evidence to the Irish parliament, Mr Sefcovic identified numerous “shortcomings” in the UK’s observation of the deal, complaining that controls at border posts are not being performed and EU officials are not being granted access to data on imports in line with the agreement.But he brushed aside suggestions that the protocol and its customs border in the Irish Sea could be scrapped, insisting that Brussels regards it as the solution for peace and stability in Northern Ireland.Asked about weekend reports that Michael Gove was considering a “mutual enforcement” plan which might restore a land border policed by the EU and UK, he noted that the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster had “reiterated his full support” for the existing arrangement when they met in London last week.Mr Sefcovic offered an apology for the Commission’s 29 January threat to invoke Article 16 of the protocol to stop Northern Ireland being used as a back door for coronavirus vaccine exports to the UK.He blamed an “administrative mistake” for the emergency move, which he said was made at a time when the Commission was coming under intense pressure over the shortage of vaccines for EU nationals but was reversed within hours.A new “clearing house” system is being introduced to prevent similar errors in future, he said.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 weekdayBut he was blasted by Irish parliamentarians for what one said was a “rookie mistake”. Senator Vincent Martin said that it was only thanks to rapid intervention from Dublin that “the Titanic didn’t hit the iceberg”.Mr Sefcovic said that the Commission “deeply regrets” how it handled the issue.But he told the Irish parliament’s European Affairs Committee: “In the end, in a matter of three hours we got it right. Article 16 was never activated and I can reassure you that the Commission has learned the lesson, and the Commission will do its utmost to protect peace in Northern Ireland, as it has done throughout the entire Brexit process.”Mr Sefcovic said that Brussels foresaw problems with supplies of items like fresh food and chilled meat to Northern Irish supermarkets under the new arrangements, and offered the UK a transition extension to prepare. But he said that London responded that, with a grace period of a few months before full implementation, “we will be ready”. Mr Gove is now seeking the extension of the grace period to January 2023.The Commission vice-president said that it had been clear all along that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU single market and customs union was “a massive operation” and it was “not possible to prevent all the disruption”.But he said that the EU’s commitment to the protocol was “unwavering”.And he added: “We also have to understand that the implementation of the protocol is a shared responsibility. It must be always a two-way street.”He said he had pointed out “shortcomings” in the UK’s application of the agreement to Mr Gove last week.The use of border control posts (BCPs) at entry ports to Northern Ireland was “very important for the protection of the integrity of the single market”, but the posts were “not yet fully operational” and official checks were “currently not performed in compliance with the withdrawal agreement protocol”, he said.“We still see very few identity checks, a very limited number of physical checks, other than on live animals, live fish and plants. Furthermore, I also have to say that we agreed on, for example, certain packaging labels. And that again is not done as we agreed upon, including the UK declarations about health certificates and so on and so forth.”He said that a smooth customs operation would require “proper, fully operational BCPs” as well as EU officials being granted access to IT systems “as we agreed and as the UK unilaterally declared in December that they will do”.But he told the committee: “We still do not have that access to the real-time operations in the IT systems.”Lack of access to data was making it impossible for the EU to assess whether the trusted trader scheme and simplified health certificates requested by the UK were being “properly used”, he said.“I can go on and on, with the parcels and mail and so on and so forth,” said Mr Sefcovic. “There are really a lot of things which we agreed we will do and we did our utmost on our side and now we need also the response from the UK authorities.”Mr Sefcovic said that the post-Brexit relationship between the EU, UK, the Republic and Northern Ireland would need “day-to-day care” and “adaptations” to economic life on the island of Ireland, he said.“The change is fundamental, the transition which needs to be done is massive, and a number of the issues which we have to find a solution for is enormous,” he said. More

Unspecified opportunities to be created by Brexit in the future will more than make up for problems it is causing businesses now, Dominic Raab has said.Speaking on Sunday the foreign secretary urged businesses to take a “10-year view” to the troubles currently unfolding on the Irish Sea border and elsewhere.And he appeared to blame Brussels for the new Brexit bureaucracy, accusing the EU of imposing new obstacles to trade.“We have always been clear that there are changes that come with exiting the transition period, and what we’re trying to do is support businesses as best we can to manage those,” Mr Raab told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme.“I think if you take a 10-year view, as well as looking at the short-term risk, which is right to do, actually the growth opportunities in the future are going to come from emerging and developing economies around the world.”Asked whether this meant businesses should do less trade with the EU and more elsewhere, the staunch Brexiteer said: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“I wouldn’t put it quite in those terms, but it’s certainly right to say that we want to bank, if you like, the baseline of our European trade – it’s very important to us, and they are obviously our neighbours – but if you look at the opportunities for growth in the future for UK companies … the growth economies are going to come from the Indo-Pacific region.”He said it was the government’s aim to “reduce and mitigate as far as we can the bureaucratic obstacles that the EU is imposing”.
World news in picturesShow all 50 More

The EU is poised to lift a threat to shut off the flow of vital security and business data because of Brexit, in a major boost for Boris Johnson.“The adequacy talks with the UK are well advanced and the adoption process is foreseen to start very soon,” a European Commission spokesperson said.The move will come as a major boost for the prime minister, as he fights off protests that his hard Brexit exit terms have shattered cross-Channel trade by drowning it in red tape.The UK is also locked in a bitter row with the EU over the harsh impact of Irish Sea trade checks, with the threat that the Northern Ireland protocol will unravel.Businesses – particularly in the health, insurance and technology sectors, which regularly transfer customer personal information such as bank details – will breathe a sigh of relief.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 weekdayAnd the go-ahead will also help with law enforcement co-operation, which has been damaged by the UK losing access to the giant SIS II police database and the European Arrest Warrant system.However, the arrangement will be re-examined every four years to check that UK rules do not endanger the privacy of EU citizens, according to a draft seen by the Financial Times.A year ago, the European Parliament adopted a resolution stating the UK’s legal framework for data protection “does not currently meet the conditions for adequacy”.It raised the alarm over the UK’s forwarding of personal data to other countries, the processing of information for immigration purposes and the retention of electronic telecommunications data.But Vera Jourova, EU vice-president for values and transparency, struck a different note, saying the UK had a head start compared with other third countries with systems “rather distant” from the bloc’s.“At the same time, we should ensure that any adequacy finding concerning the UK will be future-proof,” she told the FT.“We will need to be very vigilant that such developments do not undermine the level of protection we would have found to be adequate.”A draft decision would still need to be endorsed by the European Data Protection Board, member states and the College of Commissioners.It must happen before 30 June 30, the expiry of a grace period agreed when the Brexit trade agreement was struck on Christmas Eve.A go-ahead would still be open to legal challenges at the European Court of Justice, such as the one that struck down parts of the EU-US ‘Privacy Shield’ data transfer arrangements last year. More

Cinemas and other venues will be free to demand proof of vaccination for Covid-19 before allowing people to enter, a government minister says.Nadhim Zahawi said it is “up to businesses” what rules to introduce – despite the government ruling out a “vaccine passport” scheme of its own.The comment came as some cinemas reportedly begin striking private deals to use vaccine certificates to allow them to open their doors when the lockdown eases.The idea has also been put forward as a precondition for working in care homes – triggering criticism that the government is ducking the potential controversy.Mr Zahawi, the vaccines minister, echoed Boris Johnson in arguing that rapid flow tests will be a much better method of ensuring people are able to enter venues in future.But, asked if owners could demand a vaccine certificate “if you wanted to go to the cinema”, he replied: “Well, I just think it is obviously up to businesses what they do.”An IT firm called Verifiable Credentials says it has already agreed a tie-up with one UK theatre and cinema complex for a trial of technology to provide proof of vaccine.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 weekdayElectronic certificates would be verified by the NHS and stored in a digital wallet on a smartphone – then combined with a purchased ticket to generate a QR code that would allow entry.“Checking people’s vaccination certificates might help cinemas to reopen in the future,” the company told The Daily Telegraph.Downing Street has repeatedly refused to say if it will take any action to prevent such an approach – despite ministers describing vaccine certificates as “discriminatory”.There are growing concerns that much lower vaccination rates among people from an ethnic minority background could see them barred from social life, in future.And, although all over-50s in the UK will have received a first jab by the end of April, at the latest, younger adults will have to wait until the summer or autumn.Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Zahawi added: “At the moment, we don’t yet have the evidence of the effect of the vaccines on transmission.“It’s much better, as the prime minister quite rightly focused on, that you look at the rapid testing. That’s the way forward, combined with a national vaccination programme.”Later, on BBC Radio 4, the vaccines minister also declined to say whether employers will be able to legally require staff to disclose whether they have received a vaccine.“The vaccination is not mandatory. Employers have been talking to us, they are concerned about their duty of care for the residents, the elderly residents, especially if the virus mutates,” he said.Pressed again if firms could require staff to disclose their vaccination records, Mr Zahawi replied: “At the moment, the vaccination programme is non-mandatory.” More

Labour says it has identified the 20 places in England most at risk of ‘hollowed out’ high streets in the wake of the pandemic, because of their high number of hospitality and retail businesses.Many are seaside towns and tourist hot spots packed with restaurants, hotels and salons, which have had to close for long periods to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow business secretary, said that while the UK was facing a national economic crisis it was clear that if many high street businesses went bust “the impact will be felt much more deeply by communities in certain parts of the country”. “It’s striking that before Covid these places, from Cornwall to Cumbria, were bustling with tourism and trade,” he said. “Standing by and letting these businesses collapse with the vaccine rollout making huge progress and recovery in sight would be absolutely devastating for business owners and employees who have done the right thing by shutting to help tackle the virus,” he added.Over the weekend more than 160 hospitality leaders called on the chancellor to offer a package of financial support for the sector in next month’s budget.Across England, just over one in 10, 11.7 per cent, of all businesses are either hospitality, tourism, leisure or non-essential retail businesses, like book shops, travel agencies and hairdressers. But that figure rises to more than four in 10, 44 per cent, in the Isles of Scilly.  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 weekdayNowehere else in the country is the local economy as reliant on these types of businesses. However, they still make up more than two in 10 businesses in Torbay, 20.3 per cent, Cornwall, 20.2 per cent, and the Isle of Wight, 20.2 per cent. Others with high percentages include Blackpool, Brighton and Rutland, all above 17 per cent, and York, Thurrock, Bath and North Somerset, Dorset, Cumbria, and Devon, all above 15 per cent, according to Labour’s analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The other areas on the list are East Sussex, Southend on sea, North Yorkshire, Nottingham and Northumberland, all above 14 per cent, and  Herefordshire and Shropshire, both above 13 per cent. A government spokesman said:  “We want to see thriving high streets, which is why we’ve spent tens of billions of pounds supporting shops, restaurants and cafes throughout the pandemic. And we’ve extended our furlough scheme through to April as well as providing £4.6bn extra in grants earlier this year, so that people have certainty that help is in place.“At the upcoming Budget we’ll outline the next stages of our Plan for Jobs to support businesses and families across the UK. That has been our priority throughout the past year and it will be the priority for the year to come.” More

Dominic Cummings has denied pushing for a lucrative government contract to be awarded to friends after ministers were accused of “bias” in their decision to offer work worth more than £500,000 to a firm run by associates of the former Downing Street adviser and the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove.The government is facing a legal challenge at the High Court after it handed the contract to Public First at the start of the pandemic to provide focus group information and support for the No 10 communications machine.A barrister for the Good Law Project, which brought the legal challenge, said Public First was awarded the contract nearly a year ago because that was what Mr Cummings, then chief adviser to Boris Johnson, had wanted.In Mr Cummings’ witness statement, he acknowledged he was the “driving decision-maker” behind the Public First contract. “Urgent help was needed to communicate effectively essential health messages to the public,” he said. “I requested that Public First be brought in to mirror the focus groups already being done just as I also requested that the government start doing other polling in parallel to what it was already doing. I was the driving decision-maker on this.”But responding to allegations that the contract was awarded on the basis that the company was run by “friends” of his, Mr Cummings claimed “the award of the contract without delay” was “entirely justified”.“Obviously I did not request Public First be brought in because they were my friends,” said Mr Cummings. “I would never do such a thing.”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 weekdayCommenting on Public First, he said: “I knew that I could rely on them to make an extra effort, beyond what they were paid to do. I knew they would give us honest information unlike many companies in this sector.“Very few companies in this field are competent – almost none are very competent, honest and reliable.”He said he had “no involvement” in contractual arrangements with Public First “or their remuneration”.A judicial review hearing which started on Monday is considering the law firm’s claims that no other provider was considered during the process.Jason Coppel QC told the judge, Mrs Justice O’Farrell: “Public First was awarded this contract because Dominic Cummings wanted Public First to have this contract.“No thought was given to seeking offers from any other provider.”The government has challenged the claim. Court documents provided on behalf of the Cabinet Office acknowledge that Mr Cummings and Mr Gove had “professional and personal connections” with James Frayne, director of Public First, and Rachel Wolf, a founding partner at the firm, but said it was “emphatically denied that there was any bias, or apparent bias, in the award of the work to Public First”.The document stated: “A fair-minded and informed observer, who had knowledge of the facts, would not conclude that there was a real possibility that the decision-maker was biased.”Mr Gove was said not to have played a role in the contract being awarded to Public First.A Cabinet Office spokesman added: “In response to an unprecedented global pandemic the government acted quickly to ensure we quickly understood public attitudes and behaviours.“This valuable work helped to improve vitally important public health messages, better inform the public and reach audiences.”
UK news in picturesShow all 50 More