Daily Archives: February 3, 2022

Paul Givan resigned after one of his ministers tried to block the inspection of goods arriving from other parts of the UK.

Northern Irelands first minister has resigned as tensions over the United Kingdoms departure from the European Union triggered a fresh political crisis in the region.

Paul Givan stepped aside on Thursday after one of his ministers tried to block the inspection of goods arriving from other parts of the UK a move that violates the Brexit agreement between the UK and the European Union.

Today marks the end of what has been the privilege of my lifetime, Givan, who spent less than a year as chief minister in the regions devolved government, told a news conference.

The Brexit deal is roiling Northern Ireland once again because of disagreements about language designed to keep trade flowing on the island of Ireland.

Under the so-called Northern Ireland protocol, the UK agreed to inspect some goods entering Northern Ireland from England, Scotland and Wales. That angered many in Northern Ireland because it creates a barrier between the region and other parts of the UK.

Our institutions are being tested once again, Givan said as he resigned. They have been impacted by the agreement made by the United Kingdom government and the European Union, which created the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Northern Ireland is governed by a power-sharing executive created by agreements that ended decades of sectarian conflict in the region.

Givan was a representative of the largest party of voters who want to retain close ties to Britain, the Democratic Unionist Party. He shared power with Michelle ONeill, the deputy first minister who represents Sinn Fein, which seeks to strengthen links to the Republic of Ireland.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald immediately called for new elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Elections are scheduled to be held in May.

We cannot stagger on in the months ahead without a functioning executive, and Sinn Fein will not facilitate this, McDonald said. Opinion polls suggest Sinn Fein will pass the DUP to become Northern Irelands largest party for the first time.

Brandon Lewis, the British governments Northern Ireland secretary described Givans decision as extremely disappointing.

Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots, a member of the DUP, ignited the crisis Wednesday when he ordered his staff to stop the inspections, saying they had not been authorised by the regions power-sharing government.

The Republic of Irelands foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said Poots decision was effectively a breach of international law because the protocol is part of an international treaty. The republic is an EU member, and the Northern Ireland frontier is the blocs only land border with the UK.

To deliberately frustrate obligations under that treaty would be a very serious matter indeed, Coveney told Irish lawmakers late Wednesday. Its essentially playing politics with legal obligations.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was scheduled to hold a virtual meeting later Thursday with Maros Sefcovic, the EUs chief negotiator on Brexit issues, as the two sides try to resolve differences over implementation of the protocol. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who negotiated the Brexit deal, has called for the protocol to be renegotiated.

Mairead McGuinness, the Irish politician who serves as the European commissioner for financial services, told Irish broadcaster RTE that she also planned to speak with Truss and Sefcovic later Thursday.

Its very unhelpful, she said. Were working tirelessly with the UK to find solutions.

Originally posted here:

N Ireland first minister quits over post-Brexit trade rules - Al Jazeera English

LONDON Post-Brexit checks at Northern Ireland's ports will continue despite a ministerial order to halt them, the European Commission said.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said the EUs experts on the ground were satisfied that the checks the U.K. signed up to as part of the Brexit divorce deal are still being carried out.

On Wednesday, the Democratic Unionist Party's Edwin Poots a long-standing opponent of the post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland saidhe had orderedhis most senior official to stop the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks at Northern Irish ports from midnight Wednesday.

The checks are required under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreements Northern Ireland protocol, agreed between the U.K. and the EU. But Poots said he had received legal advice backing his position that he is able to halt the checks in the absence of wider approval of Northern Irelands ruling Executive.

The U.K.s Environment Secretary George Eustice held crisis talks with Poots over his order to halt Brexit checks, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnsons official spokesman, who also confirmed that checks are continuing to take place in Northern Ireland, as they have done before.

The prime minister told reporters during a visit to Blackpool Thursday that it was crazy to have checks on goods that are basically circulating within the single market of the United Kingdom.

He called for common-sensical practical steps to weed out, to check on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain that might be at risk of entering the EU single market through the Republic of Ireland.

Now we can do that, but without having a full panoply of checks on the GB/NI coast and at the airport, and thats the way forward, Johnson said. I think practical common sense is whats needed.

Addressing the House of Commons Thursday, Eustice said it is entirely unnecessary at this stage for the government to intervene. He told MPs that the overarching responsibility for implementing international agreements rests with the U.K. government, but delivering many of the requirements under the Northern Ireland protocol, including agri-food checks, are a devolved matter and responsibility for doing so falls to the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Mamer refused to speculate on whether the EU could retaliate by suspending the Brexit trade deal if the Northern Ireland protocol requirements were not met, stressing that for the moment the Commissions preliminary information is that those checks are continuing.

What concerns us is not what are the arrangements that are found within the United Kingdom on who is responsible for taking what decision when it comes to the checks, but the fact that the provisions that are in the agreement, on the checks which are foreseen by the agreement, will be respected, he said.

Brussels stressed the protocol is the one and only solution the EU and the U.K. have found to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

Business lobby groups argue they need certainty about what regulations they need to comply with and simplicity to keep moving goods across the border.

The director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, Aodhn Connolly, said: Even if the checks are not in place there is a requirement to have the correct authorizations.To put it another way, even though the likelihood of getting stopped on the roads is small, we still all have valid insurance.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is holding a video call with Commission Vice President Maroefovion making the protocol less burdensome for people and businesses in Northern Ireland.

Original post:

EU confirms Brexit checks continue in Northern Ireland - POLITICO Europe

'The Benefits of Brexit: How the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU' was published on Monday to mark the second anniversary of Britain's divorce from Brussels. It aimed to detail a plan for what European Union-made laws will be kept or scrapped, including ambitions to save 1billion for businesses by cutting inherited EU red tape. The 102-page document from the Cabinet Office also details a five-step approach to forging new post-Brexit, UK-specific regulations, vowing to use "our new freedom to act quickly and nimbly" in an attempt to create "better markets".

Other changes proposed in a bid to save billions of pounds for British businesses include making trade documents digital and streamlining procurement rules

Conservative peer Lord Hannan, who was an MEP for more than 20 years from 1999 to 2020 and is currently President of the Initiative for Free Trade, has picked out some of the positives from the huge document.

He wrote in an article for the Conservative Home website: "There are tasty lumps here and there.

"Replacing the Common Agricultural Policy with a subsidy regime that rewards rural stewardship rather than food production is in the interests of farmers, consumers and the countryside.

"Taking back control over our fishing grounds is likewise in the interests of both fishermen and fish.

"Weve tapped some irritating pebbles from our shoes the tampon tax, EU passports, restrictions on Imperial measures."

But overall, he described most of the gains listed in the paper as "aspirational", branding the document "100 pages of civil servantese".

He said some of the "gains" listed include a "new regulatory regime, a new agency or a new subsidy mechanism", adding: "The idea that leaving the EU might mean fewer regulations a major theme of Vote Leave, which went into granular detail in its million-word manifesto Change or Go, has been forgotten."

READ MORE:Staggering difference between retirement age in EU and UK mapped

In conclusion, Lord Hannan wrote: "We paid a high price during the exit negotiations for the right to diverge from EU standards.

"I was one of those who argued for moderation for accepting a Swiss-type deal so as to avoid many of the rows we went on to face over Northern Ireland.

"I lost that argument and we went for absolute regulatory freedom.

"OK, fine: Im happy to get with the programme. But it is idiotic to pay that price and then not use the freedoms it bought.

"There was recently a time when almost every Conservative MP understood that. Where have they all gone?"

In his foreword to the Brexit report, Mr Johnson said the Government plans on "firmly planting the British flag on the world stage once again".

The Prime Minister said the "bolder" the UK is in targeting opportunities afforded by leaving the EU, the "greater the gains will be for us all".

He claimed Britain's departure from the bloc on January 1, 2020 marked "not the final page of the story, but the start of a whole new chapter".

Mr Johnson also predicted a "future in which we don't sit passively outside the European Union but seize the incredible opportunities that our freedom presents and use them to build back better than ever before - making our businesses more competitive and our people more prosperous".

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Lord Hannan lists the five tasty lumps Leave voters can enjoy two years on from Brexit - Daily Express

Amid all the political hubbub in Westminster this week, as current UK PM Boris Johnson struggled to keep his head above the rising tide of partygate, the Cabinet Office snuck out a policy paper with surprisingly little fanfare.

The benefits of Brexit: How the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU is a 102-page paper that seeks to highlight how the current administration is working to unshackle the UK from the European Union, so the country can achieve great things, in the Prime Ministers words. The White Paper, Johnson wrote, sets out how the country will go about doing this.

His aims, he said, are: Untangling ourselves from 40 years of EU membership, keeping what works, changing what doesnt, supporting new industries, reinvigorating older ones and firmly planting the British flag on the world stage once again.

A section of the document is dedicated to the food and drink sector, an industry that by almost any account has been battered by Brexit. According to the latest Food and Drink Federation figures, released late last year, UK exports of food and drink are down 2.7bn (-15.9%) in the first three quarters of 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels. This is largely due to a drop in sales to the EU of 2.4bn (-23.7%) resulting from new barriers to trade with the EU and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, what future does the Cabinet Office foresee for British food and farming?

The chapter dedicated to the industry describes a highly resilient sector.The events of the last two years have taught us how much domestic food production matters and shown that we have a highly resilient food supply chain, it stated (never mind the fact that around 80% of the food Britain eats is imported).

In the future, we are promised a focus on (probably world-beating) food and drink innovation. We will do more to ensure the UK is at the forefront of food innovation globally, giving consumers the choice and ability to consume more sustainable proteins that align with their values, while also supporting our net zero ambitions and strengthening the UKs food security.

Putting aside the arguments from the farming lobby that trade deals allowing imports of food produced to lower standards will undercut British farming, food safety and animal welfare, how does the Government intend to deliver?

All will be revealed when it publishes the Food Strategy White Paper, the Benefits of Brexit paper noted.

Amid reports (first noted in The Times) that Johnson could be preparing to backpedal on restrictions to HFSS promotions (due to come into force later this year) in order to appease Conservative backbenchers still fuming over revelations that parties were held at Number 10 in breach of lockdown rules, the Brexit policy document stated the Food White Paperwill set out how we will empower people, wherever they are, to make healthy and sustainable food choices.

"We will look at optimising food information, such as that on labelling, so consumers are better able to make informed choices. We want to see the agri-food sector go from strength to strength and ensure that the food system provides choice and access to high-quality, nutritious food for all. Along with the plans outlined the Government's obesity strategy, this work means we will go further and faster to support healthier diets and tackle the obesity crisis that has become all too apparent in recent years.

"We will always support our agri-food sector and we will never compromise on our high environmental, food-safety and welfare standards. We want people around the world to be lining up to buy British. With an independent trade policy, we will support our sectors to make the most of opportunities around the world."

While the Paper is thin on policy detail, it does give some indication of the direction of travel the UK government intends to take in food and drink.

This includes making the most of the UK's 'cutting edge' research and innovation capabilities and 'world-leading' (it had to be in there) science infrastructure."We will do even more to coordinate research and innovation priorities across research councils, government, industry and consumers; pull through our research and development to real life application; and draw global investment to the UK."

Unleashing Britain's R&I might, the White Paper suggests, could well be linked to an adjustment of the Novel Food rules, which were duplicated from the European Union with responsibility for implementation simply handed off to the Food Standards Agency.

"We will use the freedom Brexit gives us to review our novel foods regulatory framework. This will include working with the Food Standards Agency to update the process for approving novel foods, to create a transparent and effective system that is the best in the world for innovators, investors and consumers and encourages safe innovation in the sustainable protein sector."

But for many in the food industry, this will seem like little more than hot air. Because if you ask food businesses what Brexit is delivering for them, the answer will almost universally come back: extra costs and more red tape.

At the beginning of 2021, the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) estimated the extra cost to the meat industry of Brexit bureaucracy would be between 90-120 million a year. The industry body predicted it would render British exporters less competitive and cause a permanent 20% loss of trade with the EU.

Figures trickling out into the public domain would suggest these estimates are not overblown. According to the Animal and Plant Health Agency - which is responsible for just one part of the extra bureaucracy - the bill for Export Health Certificates (EHCs) that are now required to ship all products of animal origin comes to just shy of 60 million a year. That reflects a 1,255% increase year-on-year.

But the BMPA said thats just the start. EHCs will only get goods onto a lorry. There are now numerous new costs and overheads that previously didnt exist, like extra administrative staff, additional paperwork, record keeping and systems to support the issuing of EHCs, port charges, customs agents fees the list goes on.

The BMPA revealed costs vary between companies, but all have reported a significant increase. Those same companies are also reporting a persistent loss of trade with the EU around the predicted 20%.

After a year of dealing with the new post-Brexit customs and certification system, our members are reporting a huge rise in cost, which either has to be absorbed or passed on to their EU customers, rendering British exporters less competitive, explained BMPA CEO Nick Allen.

Millions of pounds are being spent on extra paperwork and checks, but for zero extra benefit to British companies. The Government could solve this problem by entering into a Veterinary Agreement with the EU which would instantly negate the need for most of the current bureaucracy and physical border checks and give British exporters a fighting chance to regain the trade theyve lost - trade that simply cant be replaced by selling goods to more distant markets.

The cost of living crisis is already a major issue for UK consumers.Figures out this week from the British Retail Consortium reveal food prices increased 2.7% in January, up from inflation of 2.4% the previous month and the highest rate seen since October 2013.

Food prices continue to rise, especially domestic produce which have been impacted by poor harvests, labour shortages, and rising global food prices, BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson noted.

UK shoppers might want to buckle up because Brexit could be about to make this trend even more pronounced, the BMPA warned.

This is because the rising cost of doing business with the EU which is having such a negative impact on British exporters is about to impact European imports, who currently supply over one-quarter of the food on British shelves.

Until now, the Government has taken the decision to wave through supplies into the UK without requiring the same paperwork and physical checks. But from July, the same extra time and cost burdens to get through customs will be imposed on our EU suppliers. This means that EU imports will suddenly become more expensive, and European exporters will become less inclined to keep supplying to the UK, the association warned.

When you consider that over a quarter of all food on British shelves is sourced from the EU, these new costs imposed by Brexit will only add to the UKs cost of living woes. The new post-Brexit trading regime has added millions in extra cost but provided zero benefit to companies; and its consumers that will be picking up the bill.

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The benefits of Brexit? Hint at Novel Foods shake-up comes amid food inflation warnings - FoodNavigator.com

Britain completed its formal departure from the EU just over a year ago after signing an eleventh-hour post-Brexit trade deal in December 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his closest ministers have continued to insist the UK will thrive and flourish outside of the EU. This hasn't stopped Rejoiners campaigning for the country to one day rejoin the EU - particularly with pressure building on Mr Johnson to resign amid the 'partygate' scandal engulfing Westminster.

But Brexit research firm Facts4EU.Org has brutally shut down Project Fear scaremongering, by listing 11 key benefits that have already become clear with the UK leaving the EU.

If Brexit didn't happen, Britain would have had to decide how to impose 10billion (8.2billion) per annum of new taxes between 2026 and 2030 to help the EU pay back the bonds it is issuing to enable grants of 390billion (323billion) out of its Coronavirus Recovery Fund.

Facts4EU.Org argued there is also no need to factor into the nation's national accounts a "contingent liability as guarantor for the balance of 360billion (298.5billion) of the Coronavirus Recovery Fund, where the money raised by the EU through bonds is on-lent to a member state but where all member states are liable for the bond repayments of those who fail to meet their obligations".

The UK would also have had to contribute to the eye-watering EU Budget, especially troublesome with the UK's GDP rising quicker than the EU's average and Britain's historical share of the budget of 12 percent subsequently increases.

Brexit means there is now no longer a need to worry about the costs and other implications for the UK through countries joining the EU and expanding the size of the bloc.

Britain does not have to consider new risks being taken on by the European Investment Bank that might force the country to pay in more capital

Facts4EU.Org said the UK no longer needs to worry about the direct cost of the "over-indebtedness of the Eurozone" and that Britain no longer need to "bail out one of the many shadow domains of EU public sector indebtedness".

This would include "securitisations of banks' Non-Performing Loans, bank capital deficits, publicly-owned private companies, companies owned by multiple public entities but each with a minority share, and schemes where debt service depends on a public sector entity but under a commercial contract rather than a loan agreement".

READ MORE:Rishi Sunak announces 150 council tax rebate

In conclusion, Facts4U.Org summarised: "Brexit is not about saving taxpayers money, although thats nice.

"Its about making decisions for ourselves and for our politicians being held accountable for their decisions rather than faceless technocrats making decisions that are thrice removed from our democratic processes and laws.

"Realising the full benefits of Brexit will therefore take years and decades, not one parliamentary term.

"That said it is important we lay down from the beginning what is being achieved so we can readily calculate the accumulating benefits in total.

"Unlike the estimates and modelling that emanate from the scaremongering, these benefits will be real money and tangible in their outcomes.

"It will take time for all these benefits to come through, it will take time for the behaviour and attitudes of our civil service and media to accept these changes.

"And it will take time for the public and third sectors to adjust but politicians should have no excuses, it is their job to drive the change and to lead it from the front."

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Brexit WINS! Rejoiners silenced as '11 extra benefits' of leaving EU spelt out - Daily Express

Novelist Tony Parsons once boasted of the benefits of exiting the bloc, visualising a very bright and prosperous future for Brexit Britain. Such was the faith of Mr Parsons that, in 2016, writing in GQ magazine, he said: The UK has thrown off the shackles of a failed twentieth-century idea."We are no longer bound to the terminally sick European Union, just one more timid little member of 28 chairs around an unhappy, overcrowded table.

Taking to Twitter today, the same author painted a very different picture of Brexit, casting the blame on the incumbent Prime Minister.

He said: I cant think of one Brexit promise that has been kept.

Not one. Slashing taxes? No. Reducing energy bills? No.

Taking back control of borders? No Making a bonfire of EU regulations? No.

This Government has broken every big bold Brexit promise.

Ever feel like youve been cheated?

His critique comes as taxes in the UK are on the rise.

The Government has proposed and supported the notion of a rise in National Insurance contributions.

With rising energy costs, the reality of fuel poverty is causing panic among the public.

Border control is also a contentious issue, with last year seeing record numbers of illegal migrant crossings making onto the shores of Britain, in spite of promises to quell the flow.

READ MORE:Have your say: Has Britain been CHEATED on Brexit?

As for EU regulations, just last night, the DUP vowed to cease customs checks on the Northern Ireland border, a move that will no doubt inflame the ongoing NI Protocol talks between Britain and the EU.

Back in 2016, Mr Parsons also spoke of the optimism that Britain can look forward to when it comes to trade.

He said: Like Canada, Japan and Australia we are now free to cut our own trade deals.

Now we are free to trade with India, China and Brazil.

The German car industry is free to continue to sell 20 percent of their lovely motors to us.

The world will not stop trading with us. The world will want to do big business with us.

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Yet, commenting on Mr Parsons recent tweet, some people felt that there was still time.

The Tartan Unicorn said: Manufacturing output up for the 20th month in a row.

Largest growing economy in the G7. Unemployment at its lowest in years.

Does everyone think Brexit benefits were going to happen overnight? It may take a number of years.

And Gavin Richards said: No longer being controlled by unelected EU commission was the only thing I wanted.

The rest is up to us to vote for UK Government that serves us.

Defending the lack of action by Mr Johnson, a user named Jake said: Its a lazy statement.

"Covid recovery means taxes cannot be slashed.

"Energy prices is not a domestic issue.

"Borders are an impossible task when the French are not cooperating.

"EU laws are being processed out but cant happen quick.

"Im not a Brexiteer but these are obvious answers.

See original here:

Boris feels wrath of Leave voters over Brexit promises - 'Not one has been kept!' - Daily Express

It is time to take a break from writing articles about why Boris Johnson should resign. I have written several of those in recent weeks and he still has not done so. Maybe one more denunciation would do the trick, but I might give it a week.

Instead, let us have another look at Brexit.

Monday 31 January marked the second anniversary of our departure from the EU. The government took the opportunity to publish a paper, The Benefits of Brexit, which sets out how the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU. Wherever you stand on the wisdom of Brexit, the response has been much the same: is that it?

It is no surprise that those of us who were sceptical about the case for leaving the EU are underwhelmed by the benefits set out. Reintroducing our iconic blue passports, reviewing the EU ban on imperial markings and sales and enabling businesses to use a crown stamp symbol on pint glasses were among the highlights. I doubt many Remainers will reconsider their positions on the basis of these achievements.

Of more interest has been the response of those who supported Brexit. My old friend Daniel Hannan was a central figure in the Eurosceptic movement and in Vote Leave. Having read the governments paper, he asked on the ConservativeHome website: Two years after Brexit, and a year after the end of the transition, how are we doing? He is not encouraged. Overall, Im afraid, the document is thin, watery, tasteless gruel.

Hannans argument is that the government is too cautious, too beholden to vested interests, too frightened of the hard work and short-term unpopularity that change involves. Officials get much of the blame but Hannan also says that ministers must accept collective responsibility here.

He points out that he favoured a softer, Swiss-style Brexit to avoid the high price of the rows we went on to face over Northern Ireland but that he was content to go along with absolute regulatory freedom.His difficulty, however, is that it is idiotic to pay that price and then not use the freedoms it bought.

Hannan is not alone. The former Brexit minister David Frost has been making similar noises and there are many Conservatives MPs who, to use the shorthand, favoured the Singapore model for the UK who are disappointed. If many of them conclude that the fault lies with the Prime Minister this may have significant implications for his future. But the responsibility for failing to pursue Brexit as the second act of Thatcherism does not fall on Johnsons shoulders but on the political and practical realities.

Neither the 2016 referendum nor the 2019 general election was fought on the basis that Brexit would usher in a brave new world of deregulation. Ever since Margaret Thatchers 1989 Bruges speech, Conservative Euroscepticism has viewed the EU as a soggy, corporatist, social-democratic project. But that was not the argument that were put before the British people. Instead, both the 2016 and 2019 campaigns reassured the public that employment and environmental protections would be maintained. To the extent that deregulation was mentioned, it was generally in the abstract and not the specific.

The coalition of support that backed Brexit in 2016 and Boris in 2019 was not formed on the basis of a unified view on economic matters but on cultural issues such as immigration. The consequence is that it is now harder for the Conservatives to pursue the free-market economic policies that Hannan demands. Hannan complains (rightly, in my view) that the Prime Minister overruled the Trade Remedies Authority recommendation to repeal some EU steel tariffs seemingly at the behest of some MPs in steel-producing constituencies. Well yes, that was always more likely to happen once the Conservatives focused on winning industrial seats by appealing to nationalist voters.

As for the practical issues, regulatory divergence comes at a cost. Let us take data protection, for example. It is perfectly reasonable to argue that the EU system can be improved upon but if our system diverges, the EU may conclude that our protections no longer provide the equivalent of theirs at which point British businesses will face additional administrative burdens.Absolute regulatory freedom in reality is inevitably constrained by the fact that businesses operate across borders.

Hannan highlights financial services as a potential area of reform and, to be fair, there are few equivalence arrangements to lose. There may be useful reforms that could be undertaken but very few in the sector think such reforms will be transformative. It turns out that most EU regulations (often heavily influenced by the UK when we had a seat at the table) are really not that bad.

The lesson of the last two years is that for all the grand talk of deregulatory opportunities in the abstract, pursuing such an agenda in the specific usually comes with significant risks but with a very limited upside.

This point will be of particular relevance if we have a Conservative leadership contest. No doubt there will be candidates promising a bold deregulatory agenda.This time sceptics and enthusiasts alike should demand that such promises are clear and specific and face proper scrutiny.

In the meantime the country pays a high price for regulatory freedom as events in Northern Ireland continue to demonstrate but the benefits continue to disappoint even the most ardent of Brexiteers.

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Why Brexit is disappointing even its supporters - The New Statesman

A piece in the Swiss German-language paper heralds Brexit Britain flexing its muscles against Russia as tension around the Ukrainian border mounts - while bemoaning the hesitation and mixed messaging of EU states. The paper states Boris Johnson is now positioning the UK as a forceful international player.

Journalist Niklaus Nuspliger argued Mr Johnsons trip to Kiev on Tuesday to visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was part of a broad initiative with which Brexit-Britain is trying to position itself as a bold international player in the Ukraine crisis.

This ran contrary to many critics interpretations of the trip as little more than an effort to distraction from the scandal surrounding alleged Downing Street parties.

Partygate also took Mr Johnson away from engaging with Ukraine last Monday, reports Mr Nuspliger.

He argues the Prime Minister would have wanted to call Russian President Vladimir Putin, but was instead stuck in a debate" about alleged lockdown parties.

Brexit Britain has stood contrary to many EU states in the firmness of its military signals to Putin.

Even as early as mid-January, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace castigated Putin's "ethno-nationalist ambitions".

The UK then sent around 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, along with specialised soldiers to guide their Ukrainian counterparts.

While these troops will not fight alongside the Ukrainians in the event of war with Russia, Britain remains one of the few countries who have sent defensive arms.

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Mr Nuspliger argues that, unlike EU counterparts, Boris Johnson is seeking to be closer to Washington and is shaping an image of Brexit Britain that strives for open trade routes worldwide, but also resolutely advocates democratic values.

On Monday, Liz Truss expanded the British sanctions policy.

The expanded policy will allow the Government to use measures such as blocking visas or accounts not only to punish people who are directly involved in the Ukraine crisis, but also "all individuals or companies with economic or strategic importance for the Kremlin".

Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg

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'Brexit Britain flexing its muscles!' European papers celebrated tough UK while EU dithers - Daily Express

The Prime Minister is under pressure after a rough ride in the Commons on Monday after the publication of an update related to civil servant Sue Grays report into various lockdown-busting Government events - including at least one which he attended. However, he is seeking to get back on the front foot with the publication of the document, which sets out a series of wide-ranging national "missions" - from improving public transport to ensuring access to 5G broadband - to be enshrined in law.

Ministers are also vowing to provide more power to Britains regions in a "devolution revolution" with the offer of a London-style deal for any area of England that wants one.

Matt Vickers, who was elected to the traditionally safe Labour seat of Stockton South in 2019, said the White Paper was evidence of Mr Johnson making good on the promises he made prior to the general election in which he won an 81-seat majority.

He said: On Teesside we are experiencing Levelling Up first-hand. Whether it be the largest freeport in the country or reaping the rewards of being the epicentre of the green energy revolution, business on Teesside is booming like never before and we are fast becoming the glowing advertisement of this Governments Levelling Up agenda.

This Conservative government was elected in 2019 to break the deadlock and get Brexit done in order to deliver a radical shakeup of our entire economy and spread equal opportunity and prosperity to every region of the UK.

The aforementioned freeport was a perfect example of the way in which the nation was taking advantage of the opportunities available to it as a result of quitting the bloc, Mr Vickers stressed.

He added: We are opening up to the world and making ourselves more competitive globally. Teesside is now open for business."

This White Paper is an important and concrete step to delivering that pledge.

Gone were the days when what he called "London-centric government policy ruled the roost, claimed Mr Vickers.

READ MORE:Brexit LIVE - Border row solved? Breakthrough

He explained: The levelling up agenda is the only and best way to enrich every region of the country through higher employment, productivity and pay and a focus on infrastructure and welfare in our most left-behind communities.

I am extremely pleased to see the rollout of even more powers away from Westminster and to local leaders.

Referring to the Tory Mayor of Tees Valley, Mr Vickers said: Ben Houchen and other Metro Mayors around the country have proven to be successful champions of their region, attracting jobs, growth and investment. Replicating this winning model everywhere can only be a good thing.

Under Labour, our economy would still be reeling from their pandemic policy and their attempts to drag us back into the EU.

Thanks to this Conservative government, the UK is witnessing a stunning recovery and a solid plan to boost every region of this country as we emerge from the pandemic.

Introducing his blueprint, Mr Johnson hailed it as the "most comprehensive, ambitious plan" of its kind that the country had ever seen.

He said: "From day one, the defining mission of this Government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities.

"The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight, but this White Paper is the next crucial step."

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Brexit victory: Boris' plans hailed as 'concrete' proof of benefits of quitting bloc - Daily Express