UK Politics

Boris Johnson admits he signed Northern Ireland Protocol hoping EU would not ‘apply it’Keir Starmer said on Monday that the government’s plan to override elements of the Northern Ireland protocol will reduce the chances of an agreement with the EU.The Labour leader said that issues with Brussels could be resolved “around the negotiating table with statecraft” and not with legislation that “breaches international law” and will impede negotiations.Meanwhile, Boris Johnson insisted the plan to effectively override parts of the Brexit deal with the EU was “not a big deal”.The legislation to amend the protocol unilaterally will be introduced in Parliament on Monday amid controversy over whether the legislation will break international law.“What it does is create unnecessary barriers on east-west trade – what we can do is fix that. It’s not a big deal,” the prime minister said on a visit to Cornwall.Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the plan would “ratchet up” tension and breach the UK’s international commitments and that the charges marked a particular “low point” in Brexit talks. But Mr Johnson insisted the legislation would introduce “relatively simple” bureaucratic changes and warned it would be a “gross overreaction” if Brussels sought to retaliate by triggering a trade war.Show latest update

1655131834ICYMI: Rwanda scheme: George Eustice says deporting migrants is ‘right thing to do’Rwanda scheme: George Eustice says deporting migrants is ‘right thing to do’Joe Middleton13 June 2022 15:501655130139Majority of MLAs oppose amendment to NI protocolA majority of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Stormont have signed a joint letter to Boris Johnson stating their opposition to proposed legislation to amend the Northern Ireland Protocol.The letter has been signed by 52 of the 90 MLAs. They represent Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Alliance Party.The letter to Mr Johnson states that the signatories “reject in the strongest possible terms your Government’s reckless new protocol legislation, which flies in the face of the expressed wishes of not just most businesses, but most people in Northern Ireland”.It continues that “whilst not ideal, the protocol currently represents the only available”.Joe Middleton13 June 2022 15:221655128665Economy shrinking in April was due to end of mass Covid-19 testing, says No 10Downing Street said the latest figures showing the economy shrinking in April were “significantly impacted” by the end of mass Covid-19 testing and “when we exclude the falling numbers of Covid tests, the rest of the economy saw positive growth of 0.1% in April”.“So we are focused on growing the economy to reduce the cost of living and we will continue to work to create the conditions for economic growth,” the spokesman said.“We think we have strong foundations within our economy which will help it to grow. We recognise there are strong headwinds as we emerge from this pandemic and with war in Europe. That is challenging not just for the UK but for countries across the world.”The spokesman said it was “too early to pass judgment” on the impact of Brexit, particularly given the effects of the pandemic,But “we are confident that the opportunities Brexit provides will be a boon to the UK economy in the long term”.Joe Middleton13 June 2022 14:571655127922Labour leader is ‘confident’ he has done nothing wrong amid parliamentary investigationLabour leader is ‘confident’ he has done nothing wrong amid parliamentary investigationJoe Middleton13 June 2022 14:451655127310Changes to NI protocol will be ‘damaging to mutual trust & a formula for uncertainty’, says ŠefčovičMaroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice president, said he spoke to Liz Truss this morning about the government’s planned changes to the NI protocol. He said it will be “damaging to mutual trust & a formula for uncertainty.”Joe Middleton13 June 2022 14:351655126667Fuel prices investigated by watchdog as petrol hits new record highFuel prices are to be investigated by Britain’s competition watchdog as pump prices hit another record high despite Rishi Sunak’s 5p per litre tax cut.The average cost of a litre of petrol at forecourts climbed to 185p on Sunday, according to the AA – an increase of 7.1p in just one week.The RAC described the “speed and scale” of the rises as “staggering.”The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Monday it will conduct a “short and focused review” of prices at the request of Kwasi Kwarteng.Joe Middleton13 June 2022 14:241655125240NI protocol bill will make agreement with EU harder, says StarmerKeir Starmer said that the NI protocol bill being published today will reduce the chances of an agreement with the EU and the government is “going down the wrong track here”The Labour leader said: “I think the answer to this is to accept there are some problems in the way the protocol works but they can be resolved around the negotiating table with statecraft, with guile, with trust. “Unfortunately, we don’t have those in the current Prime Minister.“They won’t be resolved with legislation that breaches international law and that, frankly, will impede the negotiations that, in the end, will be needed to settle this.“So the Government is going down the wrong track here.”Joe Middleton13 June 2022 14:001655124271Boris Johnson says plan to break Brexit treaty is ‘not a big deal’Boris Johnson has insisted a plan to break parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit deal is “not a big deal”.The prime minister was warned by Dublin this morning that the move would “deeply damage” relations between Britain and Europe if it went ahead.But the prime minister insisted that the legislation amounted to “a relatively trivial set of adjustments” to deal with problems caused by the agreement he negotiated.Jon Stone reports.Joe Middleton13 June 2022 13:441655123598‘No plans’ to cut fuel duty, say No 10Downing Street said there were “no plans” for a further cut in fuel duty despite prices at the pumps continuing to rise.“We know this is challenging for families up and down the country and indeed in other countries which are all suffering from high oil and gas prices globally,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.But there were no plans for a further cut in duty, with the spokesman pointing to a £37 billion package of measures already announced to address the cost-of-living crisis, including the 5p duty cut introduced in March.Downing Street also denied that the Exchequer was benefiting from a VAT windfall as a result of high pump prices.“There is no VAT windfall, in fact the OBR forecast lower VAT receipts for this year than they did in the autumn,” the spokesman said.“Increases in VAT from fuel are likely to be largely offset by reductions from VAT from other areas.”Joe Middleton13 June 2022 13:331655121624Boris Johnson has ‘nothing but respect and admiration’ for Prince Charles amid Rwanda criticismBoris Johnson has “nothing but respect and admiration” for the Prince of Wales after he reportedly criticised the Rwanda policy, Downing Street said on Monday.The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has nothing but respect and admiration for the Prince of Wales, who’s spoken out on a number of issues, not least the environment.”Mr Johnson’s response comes after reports that the heir to the throne said the policy was “appalling” and that he was uncomfortable with the scheme as he believed it would overshadow his upcoming visit to the country.Joe Middleton13 June 2022 13:00 More

The first Rwanda deportation flight appears to be in doubt after a series of legal challenges have pushed the number of asylum seekers booked to be onboard close to single figures.The Care4Calais group said only eight people were approved for removal on Tuesday’s flight after sucessful individual challenges in recent days.Up to 130 people were told they could be sent to Rwanda under home secretary Priti Patel’s highly-controversial scheme. But the Home Office said last week that 31 people were due to leave on the first flight.It is understood that the number facing deportation is now rapidly dwindling, with Home Office sources saying there was a “real prospect” of the number falling to zero – thus preventing the flight.Care4Calais founder Claire Mosely said: “We’ll have to fight every single case individually. We’re very hopeful all of them will be removed from the flight list by tomorrow.”Detention Action, another group campaigning to stop the flight, said it expected more sucessful individual legal challenges on Monday. “It’s very possible the number will drop lower before Tuesday,” said a spokesperson.Home Office sources said the department would operate the flight even if there is just one person on it. One source told The Independent: “The flight would go ahead [if one person was on board]. Legal challenges are still coming in, so we’ll have to wait and see if it goes ahead.”On Monday Boris Johnson defended the controversial Rwanda plan ahead of fresh legal challenges – insisting that the scheme was always going to have “teething problems”.Asked whether the flight would still take off it only one person was allowed to leave, the PM told LBC that the government had anticipated that “very active lawyers” would try to stop the flight.“We’ve always said that we knew this policy would attract the attacks from those who want to have a completely open doors approach to immigration,” the prime minister said.It comes as the courts will hear two last-minute legal challenges on Monday aimed at blocking the government’s policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda before the first removal flight.The Court of Appeal will hear arguments from Care4Calais, Detention Action and the PCS trade union on Monday after a judge refused their request for an injunction blocking the flight taking off. More

Boris Johnson has insisted a plan to break parts of the Northern IrelandBrexit deal is “not a big deal”.The prime minister was warned by Dublin this morning that the move would “deeply damage” relations between Britain and Europe if it went ahead.But the prime minister insisted that the legislation amounted to “a relatively trivial set of adjustments” to deal with problems caused by the agreement he negotiated.The legislation will give the UK government powers to override elements of the Northern Ireland protocol at the behest of the Northern Ireland loyalist community.The existing arrangement was jointly agreed by Mr Johnson’s Government and the EU as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to keep the Irish land border open, in line with the Good Friday Agreement.But unionists are annoyed that the set-up requires regulatory checks and customs declarations on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland instead.The government rejects the claim that the plan breaches international law, but has refused to release its own legal advice on the matter and is at odds with settled legal opinion.Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney had said the plan to breach the treaty would ultimately “ratchet up” tension and breach the UK’s international commitments.A spokesman for Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs said Mr Coveney told the Foreign Secretary that “publishing legislation that would breach the UK’s commitments under international law, the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol is deeply damaging to relationships on these islands and between the UK and EU”.The spokesperson added that the plan marked a “particular low point in the UK’s approach to Brexit, especially as Ms Truss has not engaged with negotiations with the EU in any meaningful way since February”.Mr Johnson told Sky News: “What it does is it creates unnecessary barriers on trade east-west. What we can do is fix that – it’s not a big deal.”Speaking separately on LBC Radio he added: “We have to understand there are two traditions in Northern Ireland, broadly two ways of looking at the border issues. One community at the moment feels very, very estranged from the way things are operating and very alienated.”We have just got to fix that. It is relatively simple to do it, it’s a bureaucratic change that needs to be made.”Frankly, it’s a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things.” He added that it would be an overreaction by Brussels to respond with sanctions.The prime minister’s legislation is expected to face opposition in both Houses of Parliament, including from some within the Tory ranks.His move comes as the government tries to reset the news agenda in the wake of the partygate scandal and the prime minister’s own lawbreaking. More

Britain’s top business lobby group has criticised Boris Johnson’s government over Brexit “grandstanding” – warning that its plan to override the Northern Ireland Protocol is damaging investment.The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called on the government to resume talks with the EU, as ministers prepare to set out legislation to make unilateral changes to the protocol.“I don’t think it’s time for grandstanding; I think it’s time to do a deal,” said CBI director general Tony Danker.The business chief added: “I’m firmly of the view the Europeans are being inflexible. At the same time, our measures … to take unilateral action in response are unhelpful.”Mr Danker warned that the row was already leading many countries to rethink investment. “We do see global firms shorting on the UK right now,” he said.The CBI boss warned: “They look at the UK and think [there is a] combination of a bit of Brexit worry again, some of these figures from the OECD, and we see global companies thinking: ‘Maybe not the UK to invest in right now.’”A bill put forward by foreign secretary Liz Truss to unilaterally amend the protocol will be introduced in parliament on Monday amid controversy over whether the legislation will break international law.Mr Johnson has dismissed the furore over the plan to take unilateral action to ditch protocol checks on Monday – saying it was “not a big deal”.“We have just got to fix that. It is relatively simple to do it, it’s a bureaucratic change that needs to be made,” the PM told LBC. “It is a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things.”Environment secretary George Eustice said protocol arrangements were a “serious threat” to the Good Friday Agreement, before claiming it was up to the UK government to “interpret” the protocol how it sees fit.“We have to basically give clarity about what the protocol means, how it should be interpreted – only the UK can do that,” he told Sky News on Monday.There is likely to be some opposition from within Tory ranks, with a number of MPs believed to be unhappy with the legislation.The Financial Times reported that an internal note had been circulating among those against the Bill, which said: “Breaking international law to rip up the prime minister’s own treaty is damaging to everything the UK and Conservatives stand for.”The legislation will give ministers powers to override elements of the protocol, which was jointly with the EU as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement to avoid a hard border in Ireland.The arrangements instead require regulatory checks and customs declarations on goods moving between GB and NI. It could also see businesses in NI given the ability to choose whether to follow UK or EU regulations, depending on who they are trading with.The EU has made clear that such steps would represent a breach of international law and could prompt retaliatory action from the bloc.But shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said “it does look like the government plans to break international law”, adding: “This government seems to be developing a record for law-breaking.”Downing Street has said it will share only “a summary” of the legal advice it received with the public, which has led to accusations of a “cover-up”.Liberal Democrat Northern Ireland spokesman Alistair Carmichael said the public deserves “full transparency” over the plan’s legal basis, warning that he suspects a “cover-up”. More

Boris Johnson is said to be ready to turn into “King Kong” by unleashing a series of chest-thumping right-wing moves – including a “foolhardy charge” at the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol.The Irish government and EU officials fear the wounded beast inside No 10 is willing to tear up parts of his own Brexit withdrawal agreement to keep his shrinking political base onside.Post your questions in the comments below this article to take part in the ‘Ask Me Anything’His foreign secretary Liz Truss is set to introduce its unilateral plan for a “dual regulatory regime”, giving ministers the power to let goods produced in Great Britain move into Northern Ireland (and vice versa) without checks.Despite concerns from the EU (and the US) about the breaking of an international treaty, could the radical manoeuvre ease Mr Johnson’s political problems? Will a new crisis may keep Tory MPs in line? Or will a few wavering backbenchers feel it’s a crisis too far?Northern Ireland remains in a state of impasse over the protocol issue. The DUP have not given any indication they will resume powersharing arrangements at Stormont simply because the government has introduced a bill in parliament. What would it take to make the unionists happy?Meanwhile, Brexit opportunities ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg is still hunting for those longed-desired Brexit benefits. He is said to want to bring in “expiry dates” for up to 1,500 pieces of retained EU legislation as part of a bonfire of Brussels rules and regulations with his Brexit freedoms bill.Legislative “freedoms” aside, the economic costs of Brexit are becoming clear. The Centre for European Reform has estimated that by the end of last year, Britain’s economy was 5.2 per cent (or £31bn) smaller than it would have been without Brexit and the Covid pandemic – with Brexit “largely to blame”.Keir Starmer has promised to oppose the protocol bill, even vowing to repeal it if it becomes law and he ever gets into No 10. But is it time for politicians to start acknowledging the damaging impact of Brexit on the economy?I’ll be here to answer your questions live at 3pm on Wednesday 15 June. All you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments below. If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question. More

Keir Starmer has been put under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner for potentially breaching the rules on earnings and gifts.The Labour leader is being investigated under paragraph 14 of the parliamentary code of conduct, which covers the registration of their interests and being “open and frank” in declarations.The commissioner’s webpage, which announced the investigations on Monday, lists two matters under investigation in relation to Sir Keir’s conduct.The first refers to “the registration of interests under Category 1 of the Guide to the Rules”, which refers to MPs’ outside employment and earnings.The second refers to “registration of interests under Category 3 of the Guide to the Rules”, which refers to gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources collected by MPs.The Labour leader is one of three MPs currently under investigation by the standards commissioner. The other two are Andrew Bridgen, a Tory MP who is under investigation for alleged paid advocacy – or lobbying – as well as matters relating to his declaration of interests.Another Conservative MP. Chris Philp is also being probed by the watchdog for improper use of his parliamentary email address.It is unclear at this stage what Sir Keir’s standards investigation exactly relates to. He has previously registered significant outside earnings for legal work before becoming party leader.Asked to respond to the news during a broadcast interview, Sir Keir said: “That’s an investigation that we’ll be responding to in due course.”When he was asked what the investigation was about, he replied: “I’ll need to talk to my office about that, but we’ll be responding in due course.”The Labour leader was asked whether the news had taken him by surprise, and responded: “No.”Asked when he was made aware of the investigation, he replied: “All MPs are made aware of there any any concerns and my office is dealing with it and we’ll be replying in due course.”He added that he was “Absolutely confident. There’s no problem here.”Parliament’s register of interests appears to show that Sir Keir has logged some of his outside earnings and hospitality later than the 28-day deadline all MPs must stick to.These six late entries include royalties from his books and tickets to football games, and have a total value of £3,303.01.The opposition leader has in recent months strongly criticised Boris Johnson for rule-breaking during lockdown, gaining political ground over the issue.Labour colleagues told the media that their boss was, in contrast to the prime minister, “Mr Rules” and highlighted that he was previously director of public prosecutions.But the opposition leader last month received a questionnaire from Durham police over allegations he too broke lockdown laws while on the campaign trail there last year. Both that police investigation and the one launched by the parliamentary standards commissioner are yet to conclude.Mr Johnson was meanwhile handed a £50 fixed penalty notice for breaching rules at Downing Street. He refused to resign, and also survived a no-confidence vote from his own MPs. Sir Keir has promised to resign if he is fined for any breach. More

The Belfast Agreement, more commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement, was signed in Northern Ireland on 10 April 1998. It effectively brought an end to the Troubles, which had raged in the region for 30 years, and established a cross-community consensus for peace and the future direction of the region.As Brexit again puts the Northern Ireland protocol under the spotlight and Sinn Fein basks in its May local elections victory, we look at the history of the hugely significant deal 24 years on. The TroublesFrom the late 1960s, Northern Ireland was plunged into a brutal conflict between republicans who wanted the province to become part of a united Ireland and unionists who wanted to remain within the UK. Republicans and the wider nationalist community are mostly Catholic while unionists are mostly Protestant.Violence was largely perpetrated by paramilitary groups on both sides, such as the IRA and the UVF, while others were killed by the British security forces after the army were deployed in the summer of 1969. Of the 3,532 people who died, the majority were civilians, many of whom were killed in random tit-for-tat attacks across the sectarian divide. More