UK Politics

Brussels won’t give in to blackmail over Northern Ireland protocol, warns EUBoris Johnson was booed by protesters as his car arrived for Brexit protocol talks with political leaders at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland.Demonstrators held placards reading “Back of Boris! Protect the protocol” as the prime minister’s motorcade swept into the official government residence.Mr Johnson is meeting with the leaders of the five main parties to discuss potential changes to the post-Brexit trading arrangements.Earlier, business leaders urged him to pull back from radical unilateral action to ditch protocol checks.Mr Johnson has said the UK will have a “necessity to act” if the EU is unwilling to drop checks on goods coming from Britain into Northern Ireland.Ministers are reportedly ready to table legislation as early as this week to override the protocol – despite EU warnings that such a move would violate the Brexit treaty and could spark a trade war.Show latest update

1652711451I’m too worried about money to care about politics – and it’s my jobThis is the first time I am experiencing inflation as an adult and I am struck by the sense of sheer powerlessness that comes with it, writes Marie Le Conte.Read Marie’s full piece below: Matt Mathers16 May 2022 15:301652709370Boris Johnson booed as he arrives for talks in NISome protesters, including anti-Brexit activists, booed Boris Johnson as his car arrived at the gates of Hillsborough Castle just outside Belfast for talks with political leaders.Activists held banners which read: “Back off Boris. Protect The Protocol”.Mr Johnson is in Northern Ireland for talks aimed at solving issues around the post-Brexit trading arrangments. Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:561652708840Priti Patel set to give herself more powers to ‘intervene’ in policingPriti Patel is attempting to give herself more powers to “intervene” in policing and ensure local forces are delivering the “government’s policing commitments”.Planned changes to the Policing Protocol Order, which governs the relationship between the home secretary, chief constables, elected police commissioners and scrutiny panels, have sparked alarm.Our home affairs editor Lizzie Dearden reports:Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:471652707851No 10 defends minister’s ‘get a better paid job’ commentsNo 10 has defended Home Office minister Rachel Maclean after she suggested people struggling with the rising cost of living should consider taking on more hours at work or moving to a better-paid jobThe prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The minister was clear in what she said, people’s individual circumstances will vary.“That’s why we have a range of measures available to people, some are quite broad, changes to income tax, there’s also more tailored support like the doubling of the household support fund.“So it will vary, the minister was clear, she said it was not going to work for people already working in three jobs, and that’s why we have the other measures we are putting in place.”The spokesman added: “People’s individual circumstances will vary, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.“This is a global issue caused by things like the pandemic and war in Ukraine. So individual circumstances will vary, there is a range of support for individuals depending on their circumstances.”
Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:301652706951Tory MP decides he wants benefits raised immediately after visit to food bankConservative MP Michael Fabricant has called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to immediately raise benefits in line with inflation after he paid a visit to his local food bank.Our politics reporter Adam Forrest has the story: Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:151652706051Starmer repeats pledge to quit if fined by police over ‘Beergate’Sir Keir Starmer has been quizzed on ‘Beergate’ in an appearance on ITV’s This Morning, repeating his pledge to resign if Durham Police find he had broken Covid laws.”I will do the right thing and step down – I’ve put everything on the line because i think that’s the right thing to do. That’s the complete opposite of the prime minister,” he said.Pressed on his call for Boris Johnson to resign [when Metropolitan Police first launched an investigation in January], he said: “By then we already knew there was industrial scale rule-breaking in Downing Street. We’d had so many examples, including the suitcase of booze coming in on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral.””I haven’t broken the rules. My instinct as soon as I knew that Durham had decided they were going to reopen its investigation, in my heart I knew what I was going to say, which is if I’m wrong, and they find I have broken the law, then I’ll do the right thing and step down.The Labour leader added :”I hope that isn’t going to happen, I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I’m trying to make a bigger point here… trust in politics. The number of times I hear you’re all the same – you won’t do the right thing. I think trust is everything in politics.”In the event I’m wrong and the police say I have done something wrong, then I will step down and do the honourable thing. I think it’s very important to me to say that and I have said that.”Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:001652705151Tories ‘thrashing’ UK reputation as development ‘superpower’The Liberal Democrats have accused the government of “trashing Britain’s reputation as a development superpower” following the publication of the new international development strategy.Layla Moran, the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “The Conservative government is trying to run and hide from the devastating impact of their aid cuts.”The callous decision to slash aid spending is so scarcely mentioned in the strategy it’s like they’re pretending it doesn’t exist.”The foreign secretary won’t even appear before parliament to announce this new strategy, because she knows that she will face difficult questions on how this broken Conservative promise is harming the most vulnerable around the world.”Ms Moran added: “Development has been relegated from the cabinet table, the aid budget has been slashed, and the UK’s proud reputation as a development superpower has been comprehensively trashed.”Matt Mathers16 May 2022 13:451652703636No 10: Rwanda plan will work as deterrent once ‘fully established’The government’s plans to send migrants to Rwanda will deter Channel crossings when the policy is “fully established”, Downing Street has claimed.”Short-term, we will continue to see these crossings take place until this policy is fully established,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.The spokesman’s comments came after figures showed more than 8,000 asylum seekers and migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel this year.This is more than double the number recorded for the same period in 2021 (3,112) and more than six times the amount recorded at this point in 2020 (1,340).Asked if it was hoped to be a deterrent, the spokesman added: “We want to establish the policy in full and we believe that once fully established it will be successful in reversing some of this growing trend we have seen.”Matt Mathers16 May 2022 13:201652703357Britons struggling with cost of living should get ‘better job’, says ministerBritons struggling with cost of living should get ‘better job’, says ministerJoe Middleton16 May 2022 13:151652702457‘Foolish’ PM heading for ‘full on collision’ with EU, says Sinn FeinSinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald condemned Boris Johnson over threats of unilateral action on the protocol and warned of a “full on collision” with the EU.“It is very, very foolish of him, and reckless of him to pursue again the threat of unilateral action, to break international law and create a full on collision with the European institutions, with the government in Dublin and with the US administration,” she told the BBC.The Sinn Fein leader also accused the UK government of choreography with the DUP over the latest crisis at Stormont.“We believe strongly that the prime minister has given cover to Jeffrey Donaldson and his party and their antics of holding everything back, and we’ll be saying to him very clearly that that needs to stop,” she said.Joe Middleton16 May 2022 13:00 More

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to immediately raise benefits in line with inflation after he paid a visit to his local food bank.The veteran backbencher – a loyal ally of Boris Johnson – said he had decided that families struggling with the cost of living crisis could use some extra help from the government.“People on the breadline cannot afford to wait until later this year,” said Mr Fabricant in a post on his website after a visit to a food bank in his Litchfield constituency.The Tory MP said he had “very useful meeting” with the manager and volunteers at Lichfield Foodbank, and agreed action was needed to reduce so many people having to rely on food banks.It comes in sharp contrast to fellow Tory MP Lee Anderson – who sparked outrage last week by claiming that some families use food banks because they “cannot cook properly” and “cannot budget”.Mr Anderson told MPs there is not “this massive use for food banks” across Britain, before arguing that people “would be able to fend for themselves” with the right education.Anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe has hinted at libel action against the Tory MP, who also suggested they were profiteering from the poor.Mr Fabricant called for everyone to stop “politicising” foodbank usage, adding: “MPs of all parties should be able to work together on this.”He also called on Mr Sunak to “uprate” benefits in line with inflation as soon as possible – revealing that he had written to both the chancellor and work and pensions secretary to urge them to act before the Autumn Budget.Prices are rising by 7 per cent a year in the UK, with the Bank of England warning that inflation could hit 10 per cent within months.The chancellor was condemned by opposition MPs and leading charities for rejecting calls to raise benefits by more than the 3.1 per cent increase which came into force in April.Though Mr Fabricant suggested Mr Sunak could act before his Autumn Budget, the Resolution Foundation think tank pointed out that benefits have typically been uprated only once a year in April.“Those on low incomes will be waiting until next April for benefits to be uprated,” said Torsten Bell, the think tank’s chief executive tweeted.Mr Sunak said last week that the government’s “complicated” IT system would not allow him to uprate benefits further this year – although he admitted that “technical problems sound like an excuse”.However, Deven Ghelani, director of Policy in Practice, who helped develop the universal credit system, said that “the IT is almost always an excuse”.“Where there is a will, there is a way,” the expert told the New Statesman. “People on legacy benefits could be sent a one-off supplement.”Tory MP claims there is no ‘massive use’ for food banks in UKIt comes Home Office minister Rachel Maclean comes under fire for saying people struggling with living costs should consider taking on more hours or moving to a “better” job.Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, said Ms Maclean’s remarks were “ridiculous” and showed that the government “could not be more out of touch or out of ideas”.There have been mixed messages from the government on the idea of a windfall tax on oil and gas company profits. Mr Sunak has said he is “not naturally attracted” to the idea but “no option is off the table”.Labour will put forward an amendment to the Queen’s Speech in the House of Commons on Tuesday for a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas firms’ bumper profits.Labour’s Ed Miliband, shadow climate secretary, said on Sunday that he believes the chancellor will ultimately impose a windfall tax because it is “an unanswerable case”. More

Downing Street today sought to take some of the heat out of the UK’s stand-off with Brussels over Brexit, insisting that there is a “sensible landing zone” to resolve their differences without tearing up the Northern Ireland protocol.As Boris Johnson headed for Belfast for talks with Northern Irish parties aimed at restoring the Stormont executive and assembly, his official spokesperson insisted that London wants to find a solution in a “calm manner”.Foreign secretary Liz Truss will tomorrow set out plans for legislation which would allow the UK unilaterally to override the protocol, agreed by Mr Johnson in 2019 as a means of keeping the Irish border open after Brexit.Her plans are believed to include light-touch “green channel” checks for goods from mainland Britain destined for Northern Ireland, as well as the removal of any European Court of Justice role in overseeing the border and new powers for Westminster to vary VAT rates in Northern Ireland.Ms Truss’s blueprint would almost inevitably be seen by Brussels as a breach of the international treaty signed by Mr Johnson less than three years ago, which would give the EU the right to retaliate with restrictions on UK exports.But any trade war would not come to a head for a year or more, with negotiations likely to continue during the passage of the foreign secretary’s bill through parliament.Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney today said that the zero-tariff, zero-quota arrangements in EU/UK the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), would be jeopardised if Mr Johnson ploughed ahead with unilateral action.Calling for dialogue, Mr Coveney told reporters in Brussels that the alternative was “unilateral action which means tension, rancour, stand-offs, legal challenges – and of course calls into question the functioning of the TCA itself”.But in an article for the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Johnson denied seeking confrontation with Brussels, but insisted the EU must give ground.The PM suggested that the protocol had delivered unintended consequences and has not been “adapted to reflect” the reality that it has disrupted trade.He said there was “without question a sensible landing spot in which everyone’s interests are protected”.But he warned: “I hope the EU’s position changes. If it does not, there will be a necessity to act.”Speaking to reporters ahead of Mr Johnson’s visit to Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We believe there is a sensible landing zone, as the prime minister said over the weekend, in which everyone’s interests are protected and we will keep that in mind as we set out next steps.”The spokesperson reiterated that London wants the 27-nation bloc to agree a change to the negotiating mandate of European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič to allow him more flexibility to make concessions.“What we are clear about is the mandate given to Maroš Šefčovič does not allow him to make the changes that we think are wholly necessary to protect peace and democracy in Northern Ireland,” said the PM’s spokesperson.He added: “We have always sought to deal with this issue in a calm manner.“That’s always been the approach we’ve taken when having negotiations with the EU or individual countries.“That’s a view shared by both the prime minister and the foreign secretary.”The spokesperson said that Article 13.8 of the protocol includes provisions allowing for its details to be “superseded” by future negotiations between the UK and Brussels.“We believe the protocol, as drafted, allows for further negotiations, improvements and enhancements to be made, to facilitate properly, to work properly for the long term,” he told reporters.“That’s what we want to do. We want significant changes to how the protocol is being enforced and we think there is sensible flexibility that was envisaged when it was drafted.“As I say, we think there is a sensible landing spot within the protocol, and that’s what we want to see.”The UK “reserves the right” to trigger Article 16 of the protocol to suspend elements of its provisions, he said. More

Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has called for a rethink over the use of fixed penalty notice (FPN) fines handed out to Boris Johnson and Downing Street staff over the Partygate scandal.The Brexit opportunities minister claimed that FPNs defy the British tradition of burden of proof – arguing that they assume “you’re guilty until you prove your innocence”.FPNs were first introduced under Margaret Thatcher’s government during the 1980s to deal with minor traffic offences, and have been used as an alternative to court prosecution.More than 100 such fines have been issued by the Metropolitan Police to the prime minister, his staff and other Whitehall officials over parties found to have violated Covid laws.“If we go back to the 1980s … there was an argument made in the House of Commons that [FPNs] reverse the traditional British burden of proof argument,” Mr Rees-Mogg told The Sun.He added: “I think you always need to look at how things have worked when they’ve been going for some decades to see whether the intended consequences are what was expected.”Mr Rees-Mogg said the FPNs “assume you’re guilty until you prove your innocence”, adding: “It’s the wrong way around and that is problematic if you’re the constitutional purist.”Once you have been issued with an FPN, you can accept that you have committed the offence and pay the fine – or decide to challenge it and take the matter to court.The Brexit minister – who has claimed Partygate is a “non-story” in which the public is losing all interest – said he accepted there was a “proportionate balance” in dealing with small offences outside out court.However, suggesting it was time for a rethink, Mr Rees-Mogg added: “Is it possible the society will want to reopen that? Yes, it is.”In an update last week, the Met police said its Operation Hillman team had now recommended 100 fines. The force said its investigation, into 12 separate events, remains ongoing.Mr Johnson said he had not been issued with another fine, after he was punished last month over his rule-breaking birthday party in June 2020.Downing Street is braced for the full, damning report into the scandal from Ms Gray once the Met police inquiry is concluded, after only a short summary was published in January.Mr Johnson also still faces an investigation by MPs on the Commons privileges committee into whether he misled parliament with remarks saying “all guidance was followed” at No 10. More

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday renewed British threats to break a Brexit agreement with the European Union, blaming it for a political crisis that’s blocking the formation of a new government in Northern Ireland.Ahead of a visit to Belfast, Johnson said there would be “a necessity to act” if the EU doesn’t agree to overhaul post-Brexit trade rules that he says are destabilizing Northern Ireland’s delicate political balance.Voters in Northern Ireland elected a new Assembly this month, in a vote that saw Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein win the most seats. It was the first time a party that seeks union with the Republic of Ireland has won an election in the bastion of Protestant unionist power.The Democratic Unionist Party came second and is refusing to form a government, or even allow the assembly to sit, until Johnson’s government scraps post-Brexit checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.Under power-sharing rules set up as part of Northern Ireland’s peace process, a government can’t be formed without the cooperation of both nationalist and unionist partiesJohnson was due to meet party leaders in Belfast, and urged them to get back to work and “focus on everyday issues. Schools. Hospitals. Cost of Living.”But he also accused the EU of refusing to give ground over post-Brexit border checks.Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. that shares a border with the EU. When Britain left the bloc in 2020, a deal was agreed to keep the Irish land border free of customs posts and other checks, because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland. Instead, there are checks on some goods, such as meat and eggs, entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.The arrangement is opposed by unionists in Northern Ireland, who say the new checks have put a burden on businesses and frayed the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.The British government agrees that the regulations, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, are destabilizing a peace agreement that relies on support from both Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist communities.While the DUP wants the Protocol scrapped, most other parties in Northern Ireland want to keep it, with changes.“There is no disguising the fact that the delicate balance created (by the peace agreement) in 1998 has been upset,” Johnson wrote. “One part of the political community in Northern Ireland feels like its aspirations and identity are threatened by the working of the Protocol.”In the Belfast Telegraph, Johnson accused the EU of failing to recognize that the arrangements weren’t working. He said the government wanted to change, but not scrap, the agreement.“I hope the EU’s position changes. If it does not, there will be a necessity to act,” he wrote.Johnson said his government would “set out a more detailed assessment and next steps to Parliament in the coming days.” That’s likely to be legislation that would give Britain powers to override parts of the Brexit treaty.Any such bill would take months to pass through Parliament, but the unilateral move would anger the EU, which would hit back with legal action — and potentially trade sanctions. The 27-nation bloc is Britain’s biggest economic partner. Ivan Rogers, a former British ambassador to the EU, said “I think there’s a severe risk that we are heading into a trade war.”Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said a U.K.-EU feud “is the last thing Europe needs right now, when we are working so well together in the face of Russian aggression and responding to the support needed for Ukraine at this time.”“This is a time for calmness, it’s a time for dialogue, it’s a time for compromise and partnership between the EU and the U.K. to solve these outstanding issues,” he said in Brussels.___More AP coverage of Brexit: https://apnews.com/hub/brexit More

Brussels won’t give in to blackmail over Northern Ireland protocol, warns EUBoris Johnson was booed by protesters as his car arrived for Brexit protocol talks with political leaders at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland.Demonstrators held placards reading “Back of Boris! Protect the protocol” as the prime minister’s motorcade swept into the official government residence.Mr Johnson is meeting with the leaders of the five main parties to discuss potential changes to the post-Brexit trading arrangements.Earlier, business leaders urged him to pull back from radical unilateral action to ditch protocol checks.Mr Johnson has said the UK will have a “necessity to act” if the EU is unwilling to drop checks on goods coming from Britain into Northern Ireland.Ministers are reportedly ready to table legislation as early as this week to override the protocol – despite EU warnings that such a move would violate the Brexit treaty and could spark a trade war.Show latest update

1652711451I’m too worried about money to care about politics – and it’s my jobThis is the first time I am experiencing inflation as an adult and I am struck by the sense of sheer powerlessness that comes with it, writes Marie Le Conte.Read Marie’s full piece below: Matt Mathers16 May 2022 15:301652709370Boris Johnson booed as he arrives for talks in NISome protesters, including anti-Brexit activists, booed Boris Johnson as his car arrived at the gates of Hillsborough Castle just outside Belfast for talks with political leaders.Activists held banners which read: “Back off Boris. Protect The Protocol”.Mr Johnson is in Northern Ireland for talks aimed at solving issues around the post-Brexit trading arrangments. Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:561652708840Priti Patel set to give herself more powers to ‘intervene’ in policingPriti Patel is attempting to give herself more powers to “intervene” in policing and ensure local forces are delivering the “government’s policing commitments”.Planned changes to the Policing Protocol Order, which governs the relationship between the home secretary, chief constables, elected police commissioners and scrutiny panels, have sparked alarm.Our home affairs editor Lizzie Dearden reports:Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:471652707851No 10 defends minister’s ‘get a better paid job’ commentsNo 10 has defended Home Office minister Rachel Maclean after she suggested people struggling with the rising cost of living should consider taking on more hours at work or moving to a better-paid jobThe prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The minister was clear in what she said, people’s individual circumstances will vary.“That’s why we have a range of measures available to people, some are quite broad, changes to income tax, there’s also more tailored support like the doubling of the household support fund.“So it will vary, the minister was clear, she said it was not going to work for people already working in three jobs, and that’s why we have the other measures we are putting in place.”The spokesman added: “People’s individual circumstances will vary, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.“This is a global issue caused by things like the pandemic and war in Ukraine. So individual circumstances will vary, there is a range of support for individuals depending on their circumstances.”
Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:301652706951Tory MP decides he wants benefits raised immediately after visit to food bankConservative MP Michael Fabricant has called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to immediately raise benefits in line with inflation after he paid a visit to his local food bank.Our politics reporter Adam Forrest has the story: Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:151652706051Starmer repeats pledge to quit if fined by police over ‘Beergate’Sir Keir Starmer has been quizzed on ‘Beergate’ in an appearance on ITV’s This Morning, repeating his pledge to resign if Durham Police find he had broken Covid laws.”I will do the right thing and step down – I’ve put everything on the line because i think that’s the right thing to do. That’s the complete opposite of the prime minister,” he said.Pressed on his call for Boris Johnson to resign [when Metropolitan Police first launched an investigation in January], he said: “By then we already knew there was industrial scale rule-breaking in Downing Street. We’d had so many examples, including the suitcase of booze coming in on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral.””I haven’t broken the rules. My instinct as soon as I knew that Durham had decided they were going to reopen its investigation, in my heart I knew what I was going to say, which is if I’m wrong, and they find I have broken the law, then I’ll do the right thing and step down.The Labour leader added :”I hope that isn’t going to happen, I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I’m trying to make a bigger point here… trust in politics. The number of times I hear you’re all the same – you won’t do the right thing. I think trust is everything in politics.”In the event I’m wrong and the police say I have done something wrong, then I will step down and do the honourable thing. I think it’s very important to me to say that and I have said that.”Matt Mathers16 May 2022 14:001652705151Tories ‘thrashing’ UK reputation as development ‘superpower’The Liberal Democrats have accused the government of “trashing Britain’s reputation as a development superpower” following the publication of the new international development strategy.Layla Moran, the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “The Conservative government is trying to run and hide from the devastating impact of their aid cuts.”The callous decision to slash aid spending is so scarcely mentioned in the strategy it’s like they’re pretending it doesn’t exist.”The foreign secretary won’t even appear before parliament to announce this new strategy, because she knows that she will face difficult questions on how this broken Conservative promise is harming the most vulnerable around the world.”Ms Moran added: “Development has been relegated from the cabinet table, the aid budget has been slashed, and the UK’s proud reputation as a development superpower has been comprehensively trashed.”Matt Mathers16 May 2022 13:451652703636No 10: Rwanda plan will work as deterrent once ‘fully established’The government’s plans to send migrants to Rwanda will deter Channel crossings when the policy is “fully established”, Downing Street has claimed.”Short-term, we will continue to see these crossings take place until this policy is fully established,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.The spokesman’s comments came after figures showed more than 8,000 asylum seekers and migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel this year.This is more than double the number recorded for the same period in 2021 (3,112) and more than six times the amount recorded at this point in 2020 (1,340).Asked if it was hoped to be a deterrent, the spokesman added: “We want to establish the policy in full and we believe that once fully established it will be successful in reversing some of this growing trend we have seen.”Matt Mathers16 May 2022 13:201652703357Britons struggling with cost of living should get ‘better job’, says ministerBritons struggling with cost of living should get ‘better job’, says ministerJoe Middleton16 May 2022 13:151652702457‘Foolish’ PM heading for ‘full on collision’ with EU, says Sinn FeinSinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald condemned Boris Johnson over threats of unilateral action on the protocol and warned of a “full on collision” with the EU.“It is very, very foolish of him, and reckless of him to pursue again the threat of unilateral action, to break international law and create a full on collision with the European institutions, with the government in Dublin and with the US administration,” she told the BBC.The Sinn Fein leader also accused the UK government of choreography with the DUP over the latest crisis at Stormont.“We believe strongly that the prime minister has given cover to Jeffrey Donaldson and his party and their antics of holding everything back, and we’ll be saying to him very clearly that that needs to stop,” she said.Joe Middleton16 May 2022 13:00 More

Priti Patel is lifting restrictions placed on police in the use of controversial stop-and-search powers as part of the government’s strategy to tackle violent crime. The new measures will see officers able to stop people without suspicion in areas where serious violence “may” occur, rather than “will” occur, a loosening of the guidelines which the government claims will help prevent knife crime. In a letter sent to police forces on Monday, the home secretary will set out how restrictions on section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, which have limited when officers could use stop and search and have been in place since 2014, will be removed.Ms Patel’s initial plan to remove restrictions placed on section 60 searches was met with criticism, leading her to backtrack on the plan, although she is now pressing ahead with it.The government said officers will have “full operational flexibility” to “rid the streets of dangerous weapons and save lives”.But campaigners have argued the relaxation of rules will negatively impact certain sections of society, with black people 14 times more likely to be searched under section 60 than white people.Official statistics show in the year to March, only 4 per cent of stop and searches under the power resulted in an arrest, and only 0.8 per cent of people searched were found to be carrying a weapon.The government said since 2019, when a trial relaxation of restrictions took place, extended stop and search powers led to “50,000 deadly knives and offensive weapons” being confiscated and 150,000 arrests being made.As well as the requirement for reasonable grounds being erased, the changes will see the rank of officer who can extend a section 60 authorisation lowered from senior officer to superintendent or above, with the implementation period also extended from 39 hours to 48 hours.Section 60 will also be able to remain in place, initially without an extension, for longer period of time – from 15 hours to 24 hours.Police will also no longer need to publicly communicate when the order will be in place in advance.Ms Patel said: “The devastating impact of knife crime on families who have lost their loved one is unbearable. No one should have to endure the pain and suffering of the victims of these appalling crimes and we have a responsibility to them to do everything in our power to prevent future tragedies.“Since 2019, the police have removed over 50,000 knives and offensive weapons from our streets and in the two years to March 2021, over 150,000 arrests were made following stop and search, preventing thousands of possible fatal injuries.“I stand wholeheartedly behind the police so that they can build on their work to drive down knife crime by making it easier for officers to use these powers to seize more weapons, arrest more suspects and save more lives.” More

The EU must display the same flexibility it has shown during the Ukraine crisis to resolve the standoff over the Northern Ireland protocol, government sources have said, just days before the row is set to come to a head.Sources told The Independent that the bloc had shown enormous agility when it took in huge numbers of people almost overnight after Russia invaded Ukraine.But they added that the UK would be forced to act if some of the same flexibility and creativity were not applied in relation to the protocol, which ministers insist is threatening the Belfast peace process.Despite warnings that the move would break international law and could lead to a trade war with the EU, ministers are this week expected to push ahead and publish legislation that would allow the government to unilaterally modify part of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.Senior EU figures have warned that a solution will not be found while the UK is threatening to tear up the treaty.Ireland’s foreign minister also took the extraordinary step of calling on members of Mr Johnson’s government to intervene to urge the prime minister to pull back from the brink.Simon Coveney urged influential voices within the UK government to caution the prime minister to cooperate with the EU to find a solution instead.And in a separate development, Britain’s former ambassador to the EU warned that there was a “severe risk” the UK was heading into a trade war.Sir Ivan Rogers said the idea felt like “madness” at a time when the worst conflict on European soil since the Second World War is taking place in Ukraine, and while there is a real risk of recession in both the eurozone and the UK, “but I think there is a severe risk of it happening”, he told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend.Mr Coveney is due to discuss the protocol with the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, on Monday evening, but stressed that he was ready to fly to London at short notice to find a way through the standoff. Mr Coveney said the EU wanted to be good neighbours with the UK, “solving problems together”.“I would encourage the influencers within the UK government to ensure that’s the course they decide to take,” he told Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News.In a message to ministers, he warned: “There’s no way the EU can compromise if the UK is threatening unilateral action to pass domestic legislation to set aside international obligations under an international treaty.”And he said the events of recent days had “forced Ireland into taking a much more strident position, and responding honestly to the unhelpful briefings that we’re getting from very, very senior levels within the British government”.Mr Johnson is understood to be keen to take the heat out of the war of words with the EU over the issue. On a visit to Belfast on Monday he is expected to emphasise his commitment to the Northern Ireland peace process.But he will also deliver a “tough” message to parties there that action on the protocol must lead to the resumption of the power-sharing government.Mr Johnson has confirmed the government will this week set out plans expected to allow ministers to unilaterally scrap part of his Brexit deal.In an editorial in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper, the prime minister said that ministers would set out more details “in the coming days”.Shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband urged Mr Johnson not to “try and use Northern Ireland as a political weapon” but instead to “engage seriously” with the issue. More