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The International Trade Secretary has “transferred” all enquiries about the plight facing firms to other departments, they say – despite it being her job to promote exports overseas.A hard-hitting letter accuses Ms Truss of trying “shirk responsibility for the failures of your colleagues elsewhere in government”.And it protests: “Most extraordinary of all, you are refusing to answer questions about the serious crisis affecting UK shellfish and fish exporters, and about the future of inward investment in Northern Ireland.“At a time when British exporters are crying out for the government to acknowledge and address the problems they are facing in the wake of Brexit, the Secretary of State for International Trade cannot simply put their head in the sand and pretend that these issues are not their concern.”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 weekdayDeliveries have been hit by the blizzard of new red tape, with requirements for health checks and customs documents – and ban on shellfish trade is “indefinite”, the EU is warning.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.Labour, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and the Social Democratic and Labour Party, in Northern Ireland, have all signed the letter.It says Ms Truss’s stance makes no sense because:* The Department for International Trade (DIT) has responsibility “to promote UK exports and investment overseas.“Are you really prepared to tell the UK fishing industry that you are only interested in the 30 per cent of their exports which go outside the EU?” it asks.* DIT is currently offering “free advice” to exporters on “the practicalities of post-Brexit trade”.* It is “not viable” to divorce trade with the rest of the world and with the EU – pointing to the wider impact of policy on food standards and data protection.“There is no sensible, logical reason for you to refuse to answer questions about the UK’s trading relationships with the EU,” the letter states – accusing her of trying to “shirk responsibility”.Ms Truss has been asked to respond to the criticism, ahead of trade questions in the Commons on 25 February. A DIT Spokesperson said: “All parliamentary questions are directed to the department best placed to respond. This is standard practice in Governmentand has been the case under successive governments.”The Cabinet Office lead the Brexit Business Taskforce to support businesses with regards to the EU Trade Deal.” More

Boris Johnson has said that England’s emergence from lockdown will be “cautious but irreversible” and that he hopes to set out target dates for relaxing restrictions in his roadmap on 22 February.The prime minister’s comments add weight to expectations that the country’s third nationwide lockdown is intended to be the last.Mr Johnson repeated his pledge that schools will be the first out of lockdown, and restated the target date of 8 March for the return to classrooms. But he said no decisions have been made on whether year groups will return together, whether primary and secondary reopening could be staggered or whether exam years get back to face-to-face teaching first.During a visit to a vaccination centre in Orpington, south-east London, he told reporters: “No decisions have been taken on that sort of detail yet, though clearly schools on 8 March has for a long time been a priority of the Government and of families up and down the country.“We will do everything we can to make that happen but we’ve got to keep looking at the data, we’ve got to keep looking at the rates of infections. Don’t forget they’re still very high, still 23,000 or so Covid patients in the NHS, more than in the April peak last year, still sadly too many people dying of this disease, rates of infections, although they’re coming down, are still comparatively high.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“So we’ve got to be very prudent and what we wanted to see is progress that is cautious but irreversible and I think that’s what the public and people up and down the country will want to see.”Mr Johnson was speaking on the day when the NHS successfully completed the offer of first vaccine doses to more than 15 million of the most vulnerable over-70s, health and care workers and people with serious underlying health conditions. He said that final decisions on the pace at which the UK can emerge from lockdown will depend on data expected in the coming days on how effective the vaccines have been in suppressing hospitalisations, serious illness and deaths.The PM said he hoped his roadmap next Monday will include specific targets for the earliest possible dates for lifting restrictions on different parts of society and the economy.His comments come amid speculation that meeting friends and family in parks may be permitted in March, with non-essential retail following soon after, travel for single-household breaks by Easter and outdoor service in pubs and restaurants by late April.“If we possibly can, we’ll be setting out dates,” said Mr Johnson. “Just to help people think about what we’re trying to do on the 22nd, remember what we did… last year. We set out a roadmap going forward into the summer and looking a little bit beyond.“That’s what we’re going to be trying to do. And the dates that we’ll be setting out will be the dates by which we hope we can do something at the earliest. 
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Today’s daily politics briefingLeading Tories have dismissed a proposal to create an underwater tunnel linking Scotland and Northern Ireland, with one MP arguing that ministers need to focus on making the current Brexit arrangements work.“Let’s concentrate on making the protocol work and put the hallucinogenics down,” Simon Hoare, chair of the Northern Ireland committee, said.It came as new figures showed a boom in direct trade from the Republic of Ireland and France. Continental freight traffic between Irish and French ports was up 447 per cent in January, as businesses seek to avoid red tape disruption in the UK.Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has been urged to unleash “radical” Thatcherite policies in the north of England to help create a “northern Big Bang”, with the Northern Research Group (NRG) of Tory MPs backing a new report calling for deregulation and investment in the region.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
1613400136Our reporter, Joe Middleton, has more details below on what is expected from Boris Johnson’s press conference later today:Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 14:421613398927Senior Tory suggests one-off wealth tax could help repair UK’s financesA senior Conservative MP has suggested a one-off wealth tax could help repair the UK’s finances following the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.Mel Stride, the chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, noted that poorer people, women and ethnic minorities had been “disproportionately impacted” by Covid-19 and needed to be “taken into account” in government policy.Our political correspondent, Ashley Cowburn, has the full story below:Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 14:221613397873Here’s a potentially important note worth remembering on Boris Johnson’s commitment today for an “irreversible” easing of lockdown from our deputy political editor Rob Merrick:Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 14:041613396336Opinion: ‘Boris Johnson is desperate to avoid a Tory lockdown rebellion’Boris Johnson is facing an “acute” dilemma between following his scientific advisers and winning the support of Tory backbenchers as he prepares to unveil his plan for easing England’s national lockdown, according to our political columnist Andrew Grice.Andrew writes:“The dispute between Johnson and the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) of Tory MPs is about how quickly retail and hospitality should return. There are welcome signs the prime minister has learnt lessons from last year, when restrictions were lifted too quickly.”You can find his full piece below:Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 13:381613395124How well is Starmer doing as Labour leader?There has been a lot of talk this week about how successful Sir Keir Starmer has been a Labour leader, with the opposition party still behind the Conservatives nearly one year into his leadership.Polling by YouGov shows that Sir Keir has recorded his worst favorability ratings to date in recent weeks (-7), but that figure still puts him above Boris Johnson (-13) and easily above Jeremy Corbyn – who recorded negative favourability ratings throughout his time as leader.However, it may be concerning for the opposition leader that he is currently more popular with 2019 Lib Dem voters (68 per cent favourable) than 2019 Labour voters (60 per cent favourable).You can find more details from the polling below:Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 13:181613393785Boris Johnson will lead a Downing Street press conference at 5pm today, joined by NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens and England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty, Downing Street has said.Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 12:561613392923Shock £400m cut to cash to mend potholes sparks fears of return to austerityA shock £400m cut to the funding available for mending potholes has sparked anger and fears of a return to austerity for local councils.The Conservative-led County Councils Network (CCN) accused the government of breaking its promises to support communities through the coronavirus recovery, as research showed a repairs backlog is leaving holes on roads for up to four months.Our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, has the full story below:Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 12:421613391979Hospitality bosses call on Sunak to expand VAT cutsThe bosses of Burger King, Pizza Express and Fuller’s are among more than 160 hospitality chiefs who have called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the VAT cut by another year.They want to see the reduction of VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent on food and soft drinks extended into the next financial year amid uncertainty over when hard-hit venues will be allowed to reopen.Pub, restaurant and hotel bosses have also urged Mr Sunak to reduce VAT for on-premise alcohol sales, leisure activities and weddings in next month’s spring budget.“Should we be allowed to reopen in the run up to Easter, it could also help us avoid having to pass on substantial price rises to customers in early April as a result of returning to a 20 per cent rate, just prior to the Easter trading weekend,” the bosses said in a letter, co-ordinated by industry body UKHospitality.They have also called for the current business rates holiday, which is due to expire by April, to be extended again.“We are hopeful that, in the coming weeks and months, we can begin to welcome customers back and we know that people will be eager to socialise with their friends and families safely in our venues,” Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said.“That means we need to start laying the groundwork now. We need to make sure that the hospitality sector is in the best possible position to help rebuild as we have done in the past.”Conrad Duncan15 February 2021 12:261613390922‘Red wall’ Tories don’t understand, says BurnhamAndy Burnham has had a bit more to say about the big story of the day so far – the call from the Centre for Policy Studies’ and Northern Research Group Tory MPs for “radical” Thatcherite policies for the north.The mayor of Greater Manchester said: “These right-wing “Red Wall” Tory MPs are revealing how they don’t understand the seats they won. It was Thatcherism which laid them low in the first place. People haven’t forgotten that.”“All parties have let these places down,” he added. “But a return to Thatcherism is most certainly NOT the answer.”Adam Forrest15 February 2021 12:081613390369Deal on standards would ease Brexit woes, says EU CommissionEU Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic gave a very interesting interview with Ireland’s RTE on Sunday.The top Brussels official suggested an agreement between the UK and EU on common animal health and food-safety standards would ease some of the problems getting animals, meat and plant produce over the border.Downing Street has previously spurned the idea of a veterinary standards pact because it would keep Britain legally aligned with EU standards on animal health and food safety.Sefcovic told the broadcaster he and his counterpart Michael Gove would discuss “practical and solution-driven” next steps – and said the kind of agreement on veterinary standards needed to avoid export health certificates was still “on the table”.Sefcovic said he would try to speak with “people on the ground” on both sides of the Irish border this week to hear about “the real problems”. 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A shock £400m cut to the cash available to mend potholes has sparked anger and fears of a return to austerity for local councils.The Conservative-led County Councils Network (CCN) accused the government of breaking its promises – as research showed a repairs backlog is leaving holes on roads for up to four months.“The government has given with one hand and taken with the other, as the overall funding pot for roads maintenance will fall £398m compared to last year,” said Cllr Barry Lewis, the group’s economic growth spokesperson.“Unless further funding is made available, our councils will have no choice but to reduce their roads maintenance work this coming year.”The criticism came after the Department for Transport (DfT) announced a £500m pot to repair local roads in Englandin 2021-22, saying that the money could fill the equivalent of 10 million potholes.It forms the second instalment of a dedicated £2.5bn five-year ‘potholes fund’ which was announced in the budget last year.But the CCN pointed out that overall funding for road improvements – including pothole filling – had plunged to £1.385bn from £1.783bn, a fall of £398m.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 weekdayCllr Lewis, a Conservative, said tackling the road repairs backlog was “crucial to levelling up”, Boris Johnson’s election-winning slogan.“Councils are already facing unfunded additional costs from contractual arrangements due to the pandemic, while reducing planned works will negatively impact local employment and the economic recovery,” he warned.County councils were hit hardest by the cuts, facing “an average decline in capital grant of 22 per cent next year, a total of £285m”.Potholes are acknowledged to be potentially deadly for cyclist, while damaging shock absorbers, suspension springs and wheels in vehicles.The recent cold weather threatens to worsen the situation because, when water enters the ground and freezes, it expands and creates bigger holes in the road surface.Research published by GoCompare, the price comparison website – from information supplied by 50 councils – found an average of 20 days between reports being logged and work completed.But the wait was much longer in Stoke-on-Trent (126 days), Cornwall (99 days) and Southampton (90 days). Liverpool told researchers it took more than a year to repair potholes in 2019.The CCN said county councils had been “planning highways work based on an expected level of funding and many have published plans for the next year”.The cuts would leave them with “no choice but to reduce investment next year, cancelling high priority planned works”.Many councils did “not have the ability to borrow significant amounts to offset losses next year and maintain this essential planned investment”. More

A senior Conservative MP has suggested a one-off wealth tax could help repair the damage the coronavirus pandemic has inflicted on Britain’s finances. Mel Stride, the chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, floated the proposal as Rishi Sunak prepares to unveil the Budget in just over two weeks — detailing the economic fallout of the crisis.Experts have suggested such a measure could raise as much as £260 billion, but the chancellor has privately dismissed the principle of a wealth a tax as not in line with the Conservative Party’s values.Appearing onTimes Radio, Mr Stride stressed: “The spread of the effect of this virus has been very different on different cohorts of the economy.“Poorer people, women for example, ethnic ministries, have been disproportionately impacted and I believe very strongly that needs to be taken into account in government policy going forward.” Mr Stride revealed the Commons Treasury Committed had just concluded an inquiry into tax after the Covid-19 pandemic — including the use of a wealth tax in the UK — and would be publishing its findings shortly.However, he said: “I will teasingly give you one observation which is that a lot of European countries have tried wealth taxes, certainly wealth taxes on an annual basis, and they have almost inevitably retreated from it because it is highly complicated and very difficult.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 think what might be more promising in terms of effectively raising more tax might be a one-off wealth tax. “So that I think is probably nearer the end of the spectrum — stroke question mark desirable — than an annual wealth tax.”Mr Stride’s remarks follow a report from the Wealth Tax Commission last year that suggested such a measure would see individuals taxed only once based on their net wealth they owned and could raise up to £260 billion if levied at five per cent of those with assets worth in excess of £500,000. The commission proposed that the one-off wealth tax should be levied with a provision allowing individuals to pay the tax in instalments over a number of subsequent years at a rate of one per cent.“This would reduce the cost in a single year, but the amount of tax they pay would be based on their wealth on the initial assessment date,” said the experts in their report. In a foreword to the report, Lord Gus O’Donnell, the former head of the civil service, said the authors concluded that “an annual wealth tax is a non-starter in the UK and we should fix our existing taxes on wealth instead”.But he added: “A one-off wealth tax is a very different proposition. They think it would work and could raise one-quarter of a trillion pounds over five years. This is a striking conclusion and it comes at a critical juncture.” More

When Giuseppe Conte left the Italian premier’s office over the weekend, Chigi Palace employees leaned out the windows to warmly applaud him after his more than 2 1/2 years at Italy s helm. His spokesperson turned teary-eyed. But that’s hardly likely to be Conte’s last hurrah in Italian politics Barely a few hours after Saturday’s palace ceremony to formally transfer power to Mario Draghi the former European Central Bank chief now tasked with leading economically-devastated Italy in the pandemic, Conte dashed off a thank-you note on Facebook to Italian citizens It read more like an ’’arrivederci″ (“Until we see each other again”) than a retreat from the volatile, oft-bizarre world of Italian politics.The mediation-specialist lawyer and academic was unexpectedly propelled into that world by populists looking for a fresh face after the 2018 election.Indeed, “simple citizen” Conte, as he calls himself now, could be poised to lead what emerges from the splintering populist 5-Star Movement, currently Parliament’s largest party and the major partner in the back-to-back coalitions that he headed until his latest government fell last month. The Movement, rooted in anti-establishment, anti-EU sentiment, could risk a schism if a good number of 5-Star lawmakers break with its leadership and refuse to back Draghi in mandatory confidence votes later this week. Still, the new premier has wide enough backing from across the political spectrum to clinch the votes. Meanwhile, Conte might be waiting for an encore of sorts. 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 return to wearing the clothes of simple citizen,” Conte wrote on Facebook, apparently assuming that his elegant suits with a breast pocket, tie-coordinating pocket square qualify as everyday wear.When the 5-Stars plucked him out of relative obscurity to serve, first as premier to lead a coalition with the right-wing populist League party, then backed him again for his next government teaming the Movement with arch-rival Democrats, Conte dubbed himself “the people’s advocate.” That was a play on the Italian word for lawyer.Proclaiming on Facebook that he never lost contact with the sufferings, sacrifices and hopes of ordinary Italians, the 56-year-old Conte insisted after leaving office that it’s vital “each of us participate actively in the political life of our country.” Conte ended his post indicating politics could be his new career. “The closure of a chapter doesn’t stop us from filling, until the end, the pages of history that we want to write,” Conte wrote, ending with what resembled a campaign slogan: “With Italy, for Italy.” The Rome daily La Repubblica, noting that Conte’s post attracted 758,000 thumbs-up in four hours, wrote Sunday that “now he must understand if those hundreds of thousands of likes really mean something more.”Others had no doubt that politics were in future of Conte, who has spoken openly of his enthusiasm for the 5-Star Movement.Conte could help cement a center-left alliance that could be “the only bulwark against the victory of the center-right,” which is led by former hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, said 5-Star lawmaker Aldo Penna.Opinion polls repeatedly indicate that Salvini and his allies would triumph in a national election, which is due in 2023. But a return to the ballot box could come sooner, given Italy’s fluctuating political dynamics.Conte enjoyed immense popularity in opinion polls throughout his 998 days in office — a more than decent tenure in the annals of Italy’s “revolving-door” post-war governments. In one survey published on Jan. 23, even as he struggled to revive his coalition, Conte was polling 56% popularity among the leaders that Italians admired.Polling at the bottom with 12% was former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the head of a small centrist party who pulled the plug on Conte’s coalition. Renzi opposed what he contended was the premier’s concentrating too much power in deciding how to spend 209 billion euros ($250 billion) that Italy is getting in European Union recovery funds.Days before he handed Draghi the bell that symbolizes the ringing in of a new Italian government, Conte danced around reporters’ questions on whether he sought the 5-Star Movement’s leadership. Italian media have also speculated that Conte could form his own party.“I don’t aim for personal or formal titles,” Conte said. ”What’s important is to have a political trajectory, cultivate a political path to offer to the voters and to the country.” More

A right-wing think tank has called for the government to unleash “radical” Thatcherite policies in the north of England and create a “northern Big Bang”.The report by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) says that only the private sector can boost the north’s economy and calls for deregulation of the planning system, tax cuts for big business, and subsidies to attract “global capital”.It has been backed by the Northern Research Group (NRG) of Tory MPs, who called for the government to “mirror the radicalism of Thatcher’s Big Bang in the Eighties”.“At the last election, millions of northern voters broke with tradition by voting for the Conservative Party, in many cases for the first time,” said Jake Berry, the Tory MP who chairs the NRG.“The prime minister needs to recognise that they did so not only to deliver Brexit, but to voice the systemic disadvantages felt in many communities that were tired of being neglected in favour of London and the southeast.“The measures we have put forward will help the prime minister and this government to ‘level up’ the economy and help the north build back better as one of the most investible places in modern times.”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 report calls for major planning applications to be automatically approved after two months, and for northern businesses to be able to write off all capital expenditure against taxes for two years.And it calls for the creation of an “initial investment incentive”, effectively a one-off cash payment to companies that set up shop in the region.Any companies making an investment of £20m or more would be able to choose an “alternative, fast-track planning process for investors” that would let them bypass local democracy.It is set to be launched at an online event on Monday.Mr Berry added: “Voters want to see real change by the next election, the kind of change Labour failed to deliver on – change that only the private sector can bring on the scale that is required.
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Just two-thirds of social care staff and four-fifths of NHS workers have received a vaccine, despite the target to offer it to all of them being hit.That take-up is staggeringly high among elderly people, standing at more than 90 per cent of over-70s and more than 97 per cent of 75 to 79-year-olds, he said.But, the health secretary admitted: “For social care staff it’s around two thirds, so we’ve still we’ve still got a third who need to come forward. And that’s obviously incredibly important.”And, on NHS staff, he added: “That’s around four fifths. Again, there’s a long way to go and we’ve just got to make sure that everybody comes forward and gets the jab.”Mr Hancock revealed the figures as he squashed speculation about when the lockdown will be lifted – insisting the public had to wait until Boris Johnson publishes a roadmap next Monday.He said ministers had yet to decide how far daily infection figures (currently 11,000) and the number of patients in hospital (23,000) had to fall before restrictions could be eased.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 Hancock also stamped on the idea of showing “vaccine passports” to enter shops or hospitality venues – one day after Dominic Raab said they were being explored – insisting there was “no plan” to do that.As invitations to be vaccinated go out to the next groups on the priority list – over 65s and young people with a health condition – the health secretary was questioned about gaps in the successful programme.A study at a Leicester hospital has found that only 37 per cent of black members of staff have accepted the vaccine – and just 57 per cent of doctors of any ethnic background.Asked what he would say to reluctant staff, Mr Hancock told the BBC: “It is the right thing to do and it is very important that you come forward and take up this vaccine.“It’s important to you, it’s important for your patients and of course it’s important for the whole of society that as many people get vaccinated as possible.”On the lockdown – with the reopening of at least some schools on 8 March the only definite date in the diary – Mr Hancock said: “There is a huge amount of speculation in the papers.“I know people want to know the answer to when the lockdown will end and the prime minister will set that out next Monday, on 22 February. We are taking those decisions this week.”And, on vaccine passports, he insisted they would only be considered for international travel – not domestic use – saying: “There are some countries around the world that are considering bringing in rules.”He added: “We want Brits to be able to travel to those countries and therefore enable Brits to be able to demonstrate their vaccine status, so that sort of vaccine certification is something we are talking to our international counterparts about.” More