UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The U.K. government on Tuesday gave Northern Ireland politicians until Feb. 8 to restore the collapsed regional government in Belfast, after a deadline this month passed without an end to the deadlock.The extension comes amid signs Northern Ireland’s largest British unionist party is close to deciding whether to end a boycott that has kept the power-sharing administration on ice for almost two years.The British government is legally obliged to call new Northern Ireland elections now that a previous deadline of Jan. 18 has passed. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he would bring a bill to Parliament on Wednesday to set a new date of Feb. 8.He said “significant progress” had been made towards reviving the Northern Ireland Executive, and the short extension would give “sufficient” time for it to bear fruit.The Democratic Unionist Party walked out in February 2022 in a dispute over post-Brexit trade rules. Ever since, it has refused to return to government with the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein. Under power-sharing rules established as part of Northern Ireland’s peace process, the administration must include both British unionists and Irish nationalists.The walkout left Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people without a functioning administration to make key decisions as the cost of living soared and backlogs strained the creaking public health system.Teachers, nurses and other public sector workers in Northern Ireland staged a 24-hour strike last week, calling on politicians to return to government and give them a long-delayed pay raise. The British government has agreed to give Northern Ireland more than 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) for its public services, but only if the executive in Belfast gets back up and running.The DUP quit the government in opposition to new trade rules — put in place after the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020 — that imposed customs checks and other hurdles on goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. The checks were imposed to maintain an open border between the north and its EU neighbor, the Republic of Ireland, a key pillar of Northern Ireland’s peace process. The DUP, though, says the new east-west customs border undermines Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K.In February 2023, the U.K. and the EU agreed on a deal to ease customs checks and other hurdles for goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. But it was not enough for the DUP, which continued its government boycott.Protracted negotiations failed to persuade the DUP to return to government. But there have recently been signs of movement in the political stalemate.DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said Monday that talks with the U.K. government had made progress, and “we will endeavor to close the remaining gaps between us.”Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill said it was “decision time” for the DUP.“Workers and their families cannot be left in the lurch any longer,” she said. “The DUP leader should do the right thing and restore the democratic institutions.”___Follow AP’s coverage of Brexit at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The European Commission chief and the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Croatia told Bosnia on Tuesday to press on with reforms and seize a chance to begin accession negotiations with the European Union before the 27-nation block holds a parliamentary vote in June.The three officials said at a news conference in Sarajevo that while Bosnia has made progress in achieving the criteria to formally start the talks, the troubled Balkan nation must do more to win a positive recommendation in March from the European Commission.“We have seen some progress, we have seen a real commitment to the accession goal with important laws adopted,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president. “And the more you deliver, the more convincing you are and the better it is, the more you help me to produce a report that reflects this movement forward.”Bosnia was granted candidate status in 2022 and the European Council said last year that the accession negotiations can start once the necessary degree of compliance is achieved. There will be “no shortcuts” for Bosnia, said Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte.“EU accession has to be and always will be a merit-based process,” Rutte said. “Unfortunately, at the moment … we have to see what happens in the next six weeks.”Bosnia is among the six Western Balkan nations that have been seeking EU entry following a period of wars and crisis in the 1990s. The process was stalled for years but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rekindled the prospects. EU officials are now offering a 6 billion euro ($6.4 billion) package for Western Balkan countries to encourage reform. “It’s a huge opportunity to increase the prosperity of this country,” von der Leyen said. Bosnia, she said, could expect 1 billion euros in funds from the package when it carries out necessary economic reforms. Reform laws that Bosnia still needs to pass to begin the accession talks relate to fighting corruption and money laundering, judicial reform and the rule of law. Bosnian Prime Minister Bojana Kristo promised “we will remain focused and work hard” to achieve the goals. Bosnia is still ethnically divided and politically unstable long after the 1992-95 war that left more than 100,000 people dead and displaced millions. Pro-Russian Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has repeatedly threatened secession of the Serb-run half of the country from the rest of Bosnia.Western officials fear that Russia could try to stir instability in Bosnia and the rest of the Balkans to divert attention from its attacks on Ukraine. They have said that stepping up the bloc’s engagement with Western Balkans nations is more crucial than ever to maintaining European security.Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic urged Bosnia to grasp what he said were “tectonic” changes in EU policies because of Ukraine. He warned that “if we miss March, the whole year will be lost” because of the expected vote for the European Parliament on June 6-9.“My message, my appeal to all our friends and partners, is to use this opportunity, this window that has been opened,” he said. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Rishi Sunak delivers a statement on fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthis on Tuesday 23 January.The latest round of UK and allied strikes against Houthi targets was designed to “send the clearest possible message” to the rebels that attacks on cargo ships are “unacceptable”, foreign secretary David Cameron said.Britain joined the US in carrying out a fresh set of joint air strikes in Yemen in response to the rebels targeting international shipping along vital Red Sea and Gulf of Aden trade routes.Lord Cameron said UK armed forces will “continue to degrade” the Houthis’ ability to carry out attacks as long as their “completely indiscriminate” campaign of harassment in the Middle East continues.London and Washington targeted rebel sites overnight on 11-12 January, with further US attacks in recent days.Mr Sunak is set to update MPs during an appearance in the House of Commons on Tuesday. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA government minister has accused the former presenter of Art Attack of anti-Tory bias in a bungled attack on the BBC.In an extraordinary gaffe, Huw Merriman mistakenly lashed out at Neil Buchanan for his reporting of the government’s work on Universal Credit.But Mr Buchanan never reported on Universal Credit, and was in fact the presenter of the children’s arts and crafts show between 1990 and 2007.Instead, Mr Merriman appeared to be referring to BBC social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan, who has previously reported on the rollout of Universal Credit.Mr Merriman said the ex-Art Attack presenter always gave one side of the story Transport minister Mr Merriman, who was working in the Department of Work and Pensions at the time, said Mr Buchanan had “always given one side” of the story about Universal Credit.The extraordinary gaffe came as Mr Merriman was grilled over claims by culture secretary Lucy Frazer that the BBC is biased.Ms Frazer said she believed the broadcaster had been biassed “on occasion”, as she discussed a potential move for media regulator Ofcom to have more powers over the BBC News website.Neil Buchanan did not write about Universal Credit Mr Merriman was quizzed by Sky News presenter Kay Burley, who demanded evidence of the claim. He said: “When I worked at the Department of Work and Pensions doing work on Universal Credit there was an individual there who would report on it, Neil Buchanan, who I always felt gave one side of the story and not the other side, which was the government side.”He also suggested the corporation was biassed against the Conservatives because of its popular News Quiz.Mr Merriman told Sky News: “Let me give you an example, I know that you were searching for them yesterday. I was listening to the News Quiz, which is on Radio 4 at 6.30pm on Friday when I was driving to my constituency office.”For 10 minutes all I heard, and it wasn’t satirical, it was just diatribe against Conservatives, not the government. And I did listen to that and think ‘for goodness sake, where’s the balance in that? So yes, I’m afraid to say despite the fact I’ve always been a big supporter of the BBC, that struck me as completely biassed.”Ms Burley pointed out that the News Quiz is a comedy show, while others noted that the show has criticised left wing politicians in the past.Labour’s shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire said: “The government spending another day undermining the BBC, this time for supposed bias in a satirical news quiz, is laughable.“Is this the Tories for the next few months? Is this really all they have to offer working people? Scraping the barrel.” More