Category Archives: Brexit

Boris Johnson has privately conceded there is less than a 30% chance of negotiating a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland this month, it has emerged.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, said the prime minister made the admission during a private meeting last week.

Donaldson also said Johnson could not guarantee the UK would take unilateral action in the event the current Brexit negotiations with Brussels failed to result in a scrapping or radical reworking of the Northern Ireland protocol.

Donaldson told BBC Radio Ulsters Good Morning Ulster: I met with the prime minister last week, I asked the prime minister two straight questions. I asked him what he thought were the prospects of agreement being reached with the EU on the protocol within the next few weeks.

His answer was 20 to 30% chance of agreement.

I then asked the prime minister for a clear commitment that in the absence of an agreement with the EU, the UK government would do what they said in their command paper last July and take unilateral action the prime minister could not give me that commitment in those circumstances.

Donaldson also said on Friday he had warned the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who took over negotiations from David Frost in December, that the clock was ticking. He said he needed to see progress in talks by 31 January, further extending deadlines he had set in September and October.

He also revealed Johnson had told him at the Tory party conference in October that there would be a new Brexit deal after a short sharp negotiation lasting just three weeks.

Donaldson was speaking after a day of political drama triggered by two DUP decisions. On Wednesday its agriculture minister, Edwin Poots, ordered a halt to Brexit checks on food and farm products at all Northern Ireland ports and airports setting it on a collision course with Westminster and Brussels.

And on Thursday the DUP carried out its threat to quit the executive in Stormont, announcing that the first minister, Paul Givan, was resigning.

Rival parties have rounded on the DUPs decision to quit Stormont in a row over the protocol, paralysing decision-making until after the local elections in May. One of the critical decisions now on hold is the approval of a three-year budget that would have enabled critical changes in the health service, which has one of the worst waiting lists in Europe.

Donaldson said he had no choice but to act as the current protocol presented an existential threat to the union of the UK. He said rivals had already goaded him as the boy who cried wolf but he had shown patience and given the government and the EU time to deliver a new Brexit deal.

He said it was premature to set a three-year budget before the May elections when a fresh mandate could be set.

The DUPs decision to instruct port officials to stop conducting Brexit checks on food and farm products arriving from Great Britain is already being challenged in the courts. Two unnamed individuals lodged an emergency application for a judicial review of Pootss order on Thursday with a hearing expected on Friday.

During the initial hearing it emerged that the checks would not be stopped until Monday at the earliest.

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Brexit: 30% chance of new deal for Northern Ireland Johnson - The Guardian

French Champagne producers have said they have no plans to sell their sparkling wine in pint measures any time soon, despite the hopes of Brexiteers.

The government has touted bringing back the pint measure for Champagne as a supposed "Brexit win" but practical difficulties mean the product is unlikely to actually hit shelves.

Even Pol Roger, the Champagne house famously favoured by Winston Churchill and the former producer of pint bottles, told The Independent the idea was a "non-story".

A relatively small number of pint bottles were sold in the UK before Britain entered the European Common Market until 1973 but their production ceased because they did not comply with EU weights and measures rules.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, is said to be keen on bringing the smaller bottles back as a way of highlighting the supposed benefits of Brexit. Brexit-supporting newspapers have repeatedly touted the idea, with encouragement from the Cabinet Office's "Brexit opportunities unit", which is desperately seeking to justify the break with Europe.

The bottles have a historic link with Winston Churchill, who claimed they were the perfect size.

But the idea would require French Champagne makers to actually choose to use the imperial measure, and a number of practical problems are preventing a comeback.

One is that the glass bottles needed are largely produced in France, but the last mould to produce pint-sized sparkling wine bottles was lost long ago.

Pol Roger, which once shipped pint bottles to the UK in cases of 16, says it would cost tens of thousands of pounds for glassmakers to create a new pint mould making it a risky business proposition with no obvious benefit.

"We tried to encourage our French [operation] to look at it and they've looked at it," James Simpson, managing director of Pol Roger Ltd in the UK, told The Independent.

And the requirement for Champagne to be aged in its bottle means that even if producers wanted to, and started producing pints this year, they would not be ready until 2026 at the very.earliest

"We can't just decant from the bottle in the pint bottle and say 'hey we've got it'. How do I put this gently? It's a non-story trying to be a story which we've sort of encouraged over the years because it amuses us, and it harks a bit back to the Churchill link," Mr Simpson said.

The government has also been dragging its feet on legalising the measure, and has not yet actually done so. It is understood that officials are debating whether to introduce actual imperial pints, or to opt for the easier 500ml measure.

The latter size would have the advantage of potentially being exportable to other countries, meaning the wine might one day be able to be sold outside the UK whereas a true imperial pint of 568ml unlikely to be useful anywhere except the UK.

Non-sparkling wine is already allowed to be sold in 500ml under both EU and UK rules, and bottle moulds already exist for the size but going with the decimal measure would undermine the government's claims that it can bring back imperial measures now Britain has left the European Union.

One English sparkling wine house, Rathfinny in Sussex, has already produced 800 of bottles of its drink in 500ml bottles in anticipation of a rule change for the decimal measure.

France's other champagne makers have also confirmed they have no plans to produce pints, or simply ignored the situation. Mot & Chandon, the largest of all the champagne houses, declined to commit to the measure when approached by The Independent, while a spokesperson for G.H. Mumm, another one of the big four producers, said: "We can indeed confirm that we have no plans to produce and sell champagne in pint bottles."

Industry insiders say English sparkling wine producers are keener on the rule change, but actual French Champagne houses have shown little to no interest in bringing anything to market.

"I think actually the English sparkling wine boys are pressing rather harder than we are at the moment," Mr Simpson said.

"The Nuba Survival" is a five-metre-tall statue of two skeletons locked in an embrace in Checkendon, Oxfordshire. The statue was created by local artist John Buckley

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Kew horticulturists attending to the Rising sun display at the Kew Orchid Festival: Costa Rica, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, west London

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Protesters campaign against corruption in London

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Lorries queue for the Port of Dover in Kent, as the Dover TAP is enforced due to the high volume of lorries waiting to cross the Channel

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Nelson Beaumont-Laurencia applies finishing touches to a sculpture of a tiger, commissioned byManchester Business Improvement District to celebrate the Chinese New Year, is unveiled in St Anns Square

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A house on Overhill terrace in Gateshead, lost its roof on 29 January after strong winds from Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK

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A newly painted bicycle sign is seen on the middle of the road at Westminster Bridge, as the new Highway Code rules start today together with giving pedestrians priority at junctions

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School children take part in a rally in support of British Sign Language becoming a recognised language in the UK, outside the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, as the British Sign Language Private Members Bill, introduced by Rosie Cooper MP, reaches its second reading in the House

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A rare six-week-old southern white rhino calf called Zawadi, explores her paddock for the first time at Africa Alive! in Lowestoft

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson jogs with his dog Dilyn, in London

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A member of staff looks at Francis Bacons work Second Version of Triptych 1944 on display in the Francis Bacon: Man and Beast exhibition at the the Royal Academy of Arts in London

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Rowers (front to back) Charlotte Irving, Kat Cordiner and Abby Johnston, on their way to shatter the world record for rowing across the Atlantic

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A grey seal pup on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as the pupping season draws to a close at one of the UKs most important sites for the mammals

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Participants prepare to take part in the Crisis icebreaker cold water challenge at Tooting Bec Lido in London

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Willesborough Windmill, a white smock mill built in 1869 is bathed in the morning sunshine as the moon sets behind in Ashford, Kent

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A jet skier jumps the waves off the coast at Blyth in Northumberland

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Britains Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, participate in a therapy session with individuals who have experienced the care system, during a visit to the Foundling Museum in London

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Surfers enter the sea as the sun rises over Tynemouth on the North East coast

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Bonhams Danny McIlwraith holds a Nigerian polycrome carved wood mask during a photocall for the sale of the Jim Lennon Collection at Bonhams in Edinburgh

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The moon rises above the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, Hampshire

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Demonstrators outside Downing Street during a Kill The Bill protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in London

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Ecologist Emma Smart (left) and retired GP Dr Diana Warner outside HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey, following their release from the prison where Emma undertook a 26-day hunger strike during her incarceration. Ms Smart was sentenced in November, along with other members of Insulate Britain, to serve four months for breaking a High Court injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 motorway during the morning rush hour on 8 October last year

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A TV presenter holds a copy of a newspaper outside 10 Downing Streetafter the Prime Minister apologised for attending a gathering of colleagues in the Number Ten garden in May 2020, while the UK was in strict lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic

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Fitness guru Derrick Evans after receiving an MBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle

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A couple walk underneath an umbrella during wet weather on Westminster Bridge in central London

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A jogger passes the Covid Memorial Wall in London

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The sun rises over horses at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland

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Riders compete during the Veterans Men's race at the UK Cyclo-Cross National Championships 2022 in Ardingly, south of London

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A dog looks out of a car window at the wintry conditions in Killeshin, Co. Laois

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People walk through frost and mist alongside a frozen lake during sunrise in Bushy Park, London

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A skier jumps on the slopes at Allenheads in the Pennines to the north of Weardale in Northumberland

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Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland

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Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque

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Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelseas Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge

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New Years Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London

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Competitors in fancy dress run across the Pennine tops near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the annual Auld Lang Syne Fell race which attracts hundreds of runners every year

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Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland

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The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket

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Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London

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A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London

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Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham

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French Champagne makers say they have no plans to sell UK governments Brexit pint bottles - The Independent

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told BBC Radio Ulster: "I've withdrawn the First Minister on the basis that the protocol issues have not been addressed despite clear commitments and promises given by the Prime Minister that they would be addressed.

"Clearly if the protocol issues are not resolved by the time of the election then, of course, it is difficult for us to form a government because of the instability that the protocol creates.

"I have made my position clear - I think there is now an opportunity for the Government and the EU to step up.

"The EU said consistently that the purpose of the protocol was to protect the political institutions, political stability and the Good Friday Agreement.

"Well, we know that isn't happening because unionists do not consent to the protocol. There is no consensus for the protocol.

"There is now an opportunity for the UK Government and the EU to step up to the mark and to deliver an agreement that resolves these issues that can be done quickly."

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'Provocative' Sefcovic blasted as EU drags Truss into 'trench warfare' - Daily Express

Today marks two years since the UK officially left the EU.

To celebrate, the government has published a dossier titled Benefits of Brexit: how the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU.

But four of these alleged benefits arent a result of the UKs departure.

Lets take a look.

The report trumpets reintroduc[ing] our iconic blue passports as one of Britains achievements so far. Between 1988 and 2020, UK passports were covered in Brussels-approved burgundy.

But as Guy Verhofstadt who was then the European Parliaments Brexit spokesman confirmed in 2017, this wasnt mandated by EU law. The UK could have had any passport colour it wanted while still part of the trade bloc, he wrote.

Indeed, Croatia still has its own dark blue passport, nearly seven years after joining.

The report highlights another apparent Brexit boon: Enabling businesses to use a Crown Stamp symbol on pint glasses.

The Crown Stamp is a proud emblem of our heritage that people remain fond of. We have begun the process of allowing it to be used once again, a fitting tribute to Her Majestys Platinum Jubilee it says.

But the BBC reported this month that an EU spokesperson confirmed that there was nothing stopping UK pint glasses containing the crown stamp while a member. They said: EU law does not prevent markings from being placed on products, so long as it does not overlap or be confused with the [EU standard] CE mark.

The report celebrates delivering eight Freeports in England and at least one Freeport in each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

As the independent think-tank, the Institute for Government, explains: freeports are a special kind of port where normal tax and customs rules do not apply. These can be airports as well as maritime ports.

But as regular FactCheck readers will know, the UK could create freeports as a member of the EU and it did.

Todays report says that Britain will be using much less plastic, with much more recycled in the UK.

It says: Our single-use plastic carrier bag charge has already cut plastic bag usage from larger retailersand, with its extension to all retailers last year, is expected to cut single-use plastic bag usage by 80%.

Ministers often tell us about policies that would not have been possible if Britain were in the EU. And reading this in todays report on the benefits of Brexit, youd be forgiven for thinking this is one of them.

But the charge was introduced in the UK in 2015, when we were still a member of the EU. Meanwhile, Brussels has issued a Directive since then calling for member states to reduce single use plastic bags.

And while were here, we should say that the 80 per cent figure only tells half the story.

When we look at all types of bags, including bags for life and tote bags, the policy is set to reduce usage by just 21 per cent and it will take ten years to achieve this according to Defra figures.

This all bags statistic is significant because while the government has focused its efforts on reducing single use plastic, there is evidence that other bags are not as eco-friendly as they first appear. For example, you would have to use a single cotton tote bag 20,000 times to offset its environmental impact, according to research by the Danish government.

As part of a Benefits of Brexit report published today, the government highlighted four policies: reintroducing blue passports, using a crown symbol on pint glasses, establishing freeports, and reducing single use plastic bags.

But two of these could have happened while the UK was a member of the EU and two of them did.

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FactCheck: the government's four dubious 'Benefits of Brexit' - Channel 4 News

Paris is lobbying for the bloc to have The City's clearing houses barred from the EU's markets by 2025. European affairs minister Clement Beaune said a clear signal must be given to financiers so that clearing moves from the UK to the continent. Mr Beanue said: Either we consider that the clearing market will always be London-based, fine, maybe.

Or we consider that there is a sovereignty issue in making a European market.

"We must say that there will be a time when clearing in the UK will stop.

Clearing is a crucial part of the process of financial markets.

It is the process of updating the accounts of the trading parties and arranging for the transfer of money and securities between buyer and seller.

About a quarter of the trade settled in London clearing houses About is denominated in euros.

Last year, Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England Governor, said that efforts to drag the activity across the Channel risked undermining financial stability on the continent.

In September Mr Bailey said: If they want to take a decision to break the clearing system up, it is important to consider the risks to financial stability that come with fragmentation.

This is not an idle, you would say that, wouldnt you from the UKs central bank.

"That is a real threat.

We put clearing houses internationally so much at the centre of the ecosystem, deliberately so post-financial crisis, we have built up their resilience, we have just had a demonstration of that with the Covid crisis they have come through well, they have done what we wanted them to.

We have got the architecture and framework of international standards, lets put it to work.

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'Send a clear signal' France bids to shut out City of London from 2025 in major power grab - Express

Image of the week: Joe v Joe

Joe Manchin is burning our future for profit is the full message on the sign carried by activists during a morning rush-hour rally in Washington DC on Monday. The protestors were urging the passing of President Joe Bidens Build Back Better legislation, a near-$2 trillion (1.77tn) package that would reform childcare, education, healthcare and climate change policies, but has been put in doubt by another Joe, West Virginia senator Joe Manchin.

The Democrat, whose support Biden needs, announced in December that he couldnt vote for the House-passed version of the bill and this week his verdict was that it is dead in its current form. Manchin says his main worry is inflation, but he also cites Ukraine and the economic impact of Covid-19 as reasons for Biden to hold back on his spending plans.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among those left unimpressed, with the New York representative wondering where she should direct freezing New Yorkers who are waiting for Build Back Better funds to fix their heating. Manchins yacht?

15 million

The New York Times is now targeting this number of subscribers by the end of 2027. It said this week it had already reached its previous target of 10 million by 2025 thanks to the completion of its deal to buy The Athletic.

$55 million

Losses recorded in 2021 by the sports site, which has about 1.2 million subscribers. The NYT is forecasting a slight improvement in The Athletics operating losses for 2022.

375,000

Subscribers added by the news group in the fourth quarter of 2021. Some 171,000 of these were for its main news offering, with the rest drawn to products such as NYT Cooking and its soon to be Wordle-enhanced Games app.

Despite his superpower sounding distinctly more like the party trick of a remorseless villain, Apple-Man is a superhero who can levitate apples, and the lead protagonist of a forthcoming independent Ukrainian film. Yes, its a satire. Sadly, the largest company in the world (by market capitalisation) is unable to see the funny side, with Apple seeking to block director Vasyl Moskalenkos trademark application for his low-budget, crowdfunded project.

Viewers, Apple contends, will erroneously assume Apple-Man is associated with Apple, diluting the value of the famous Apple brand. The tech behemoth says the films trademark is highly similar to its own and overall creates a similar commercial impression, while a lawyer representing the director says apple isnt a proprietary word and the whole thing is ridiculous. Indeed, its hard to see any winners here, except perhaps those of us who wish to preserve the legacy of the original fruit-themed superhero parody: Bananaman.

On the same day that Boris Johnson was dismissing multiple calls on him to resign after Sue Grays Partygate synopsis, the UKs cabinet office quietly slipped out a document called The Benefits of Brexit. It was almost as if it didnt want anyone to read how exactly Britain was capitalising on its exit from the EU. So which dividends was it trumpeting?

1 Blue passports. Westminster has doubled down on counting the return of iconic blue passports as one of the upsides of Brexit, despite there not being any EU law dictating passport colour.

2 Crown symbol. Brexit allegedly means being able to put the crown symbol on pint glasses in a fitting tribute to Her Majestys Platinum Jubilee. Again, this could have happened while the UK was still in the EU.

3 Tampon tax. VAT on menstrual products has now been abolished in the UK, which is great, to be fair. Of course, it could also have avoided the tampon tax the way the Republic did: by having a pre-existing zero rating.

4 Wine time. The moment has arrived to supercharge the production of English and Welsh wine, the sales trajectory of which is now unhampered by burdensome EU regulations.

5 Being the best. The UK will become the Best Regulated Economy in the World, while a Best of Britain campaign will make the case around the world for British values and the UK border will also, apparently, become the best in the world.

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Apple-Man, Biden's 'dead' plan and the very best of Brexit - The Irish Times

Northern Irelands political posturing brought fresh turmoil for the regions people, frustrated by the shock waves of Brexit and a lack of action from the devolved government in Belfast.

An effective trade border in the Irish Sea is at the heart of the issue as consumers notice gaps in shopping centre shelves and experience geo-tagged barriers to selecting some goods sourced in Great Britain on platforms such as Amazon. What is the point of it?" said Bonita Carnduff in central Belfast, referring to the protocol. Are they going to charge lorries extra just to get food to here? Were not in a third world country. I just think its the stupidest thing, the [sea] border thing.

The protocol has been criticised by Unionist leaders who reject any sort of friction in goods movement or separate status from the rest of the UK.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Paul Givan has quit over the Brexit protocol arrangements. AFP

The resignation this week of First Minister Paul Givan, a member of the pro-British Democratic Unionist party, exposed the fundamental differences at the heart of the devolved administration in a region still rebuilding following decades of sectarian violence. At street level there are complaints about interruptions in UK mainland trade.

I have found it really hard to get things in with the protocol, especially when Amazon is coming up as no longer available in your country. Im part of the UK but yet it's unavailable in my country, said Tracey Lillie, who grew up in the traditionally Protestant area of Cregagh.

Cregagh Road resident Tracey Lillie from east Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Photo: Paul McErlane

That's pretty annoying. Pretty upsetting as well to say that we're not a part of the UK when we are, she added.

Ms Lillie says the protocol is destroying local businesses.

They can't get things in and it's costing them so much more.

Under the terms of the 1998 peace deal that brought decades of conflict to an end, the departure of Mr Givan triggers the automatic resignation of Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill of the DUP's main rival Sinn Fein, which backs Irish unification.

Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

Despite the withdrawal of Mr Givan and Ms ONeill, other ministers in the devolved administration will stay in place. But the executive is now unable to make any significant decisions, including on the budget.

Regardless of the technicalities that Brexit has introduced, theres also wider frustration over the devolved government in Stormont, which has plunged yet again into turmoil.

Officially known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, the border governs post-Brexit commerce but some goods crossing into the region from the rest of the UK face red tape and delays due to Britain's departure from the EU.

The protocol was introduced to keep Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods and preserve an open border with Ireland, a member of the bloc. In so doing, however, it created an effective border in the Irish Sea with the addition of those extra checks.

For some locals, the feuding over the Brexit rules and Northern Irelands future relationship with the rest of the UK is business as usual.

Theyre always at it, said Paul McNally, a resident of Ardoyne, a largely republican area in northern Belfast.

Ardoyne resident Paul McNally, north Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Photo: Paul McErlane

Theyre like a bunch of kids in Stormont. If one doesnt get what they want, they know that they have the power to completely bring the system down.

Theres always something in Stormont. Unfortunately, the ordinary person, like myself or anyone that lives in working-class areas, were the ones that end up falling for it. They dont care, they know their jobs are safe.

Efforts by the UKs central government and the EU to reform the protocol have made little headway so far. There is little praise for Prime Minister Boris Johnsons administration, even though he himself criticised the protocol.

On the Protestant-dominated estate where Northern Irelands most famous footballer George Best grew up, the message is clearly outlined on a poster: Loyalist Cregagh says no to Irish Sea Border."

The battles we refuse to fight today become the hardships our children must endure tomorrow, reads the poster, a short kick away from where Best spent his early years.

No one wants the political turmoil or collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive, said Ms Lillie.

But I think its the only way to get the British government to step up and actually do something for us, because at the moment, they dont want to do anything.

Theyre happy enough just to push us to the side and let us get on with it, she said.

Sinn Fein could end up winning Mays local elections and critics have accused the DUP of taking desperate measures to shore up its own support.

When international agreements are signed, they need to be honoured and the British government needs to understand that, Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Fein, told The National moments after Mr Givans resignation.

Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill (L) and President Mary Lou McDonald (R) after the announcement that the DUP's First Minister resigned from Northern Ireland's devolved government. Photo: Paul McErlane

And here in Ireland, we need good government. And we need the institutions of the peace process to work and that means that everyone including Unionists need to play ball with that, she said outside the Europa Hotel in central Belfast, known as the most bombed hotel in Europe for the repeated attacks inflicted during the Troubles.

Ms McDonald said: What we're witnessing now is just very bad behaviour, self-interested, electorally driven opportunism by the DUP.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson last year threatened to collapse the devolved government in Belfast in protest over the border arrangements that were agreed by Mr Johnson's government.

At the end of the day, you want strong leadership for the whole country, said one resident of south-east Belfast.

Strong leadership gives you a strong sense of community, a strong sense of community, he said, not giving his name because I'm not political I just do my own thing.

But those fundamental differences about Brexit and the border whether in the Irish Sea or with Ireland that have triggered the current political crisis look unlikely to move anytime soon.

A pro-British poster against the Northern Ireland Protocol is seen in the Protestant Shankill Road area of west Belfast. Photo: Paul McErlane

On Friday, Mr Donaldson said Mr Johnson should step aside if the UK prime minister does not urgently address political stability in Northern Ireland and dealing with this Protocol.

There is a divide within society . But I think its just a matter of we are part of the UK, said Ms Lillie.

One of the key strands of the political dispute in Stormont was the desire by the British and Unionists here to get rid of the Protocol and the protections it offers the island of Ireland from the worst effects of Brexit, said Ms McDonald.

We need those protections. They're a consequence of Brexit and they're not going anywhere.

Updated: February 4th 2022, 4:55 PM

Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

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Frustration to the fore in Belfast as Northern Ireland ruptures over Brexit trade turmoil - The National

Britain had initially planned to contribute 15billion over a seven-year period so researchers and institutions could access the EUs Horizon Europe programme. This is the blocs key 80billion key research and innovation project which would have let Britain collaborate with partners in Europe. But the UK was banned from the project over Brexit disputes as relations with the bloc came under strain when Lord David Frost was Brexit Minister.

Britain was told it cannot participate until it resolves these Brexit disputes like fishing licenses and the Northern Ireland protocol, a delay which the science community has not been best pleased with.

Britains Horizon Europe applicants have likely been holding their breath as they wait for new Brexit negotiator Liz Truss to strike a deal and avoid an Article 19 trigger (which would see the UK permanently excluded).

But now, heads may have been turned.

Science Minister George Freeman claims he has an exciting plan in the works.

Instead of simply collaborating with scientists from within the EU, Britain can look to partners from all around the world.

Mr Freeman believes this may be an even more enticing prospect than contributing to the EU scheme.

He has even argued that universities in the US, Australia and Asia are of better quality than our European partners.

But he did recognise that at this current moment, most scientists still want Horizon Europe to be a priority.

Speaking before the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, the Science Minister said that nearly all of the scientists he had spoken to would prefer Horizon Europe.

But only 20 percent said they cant envisage an alternative.

READ MORE:Destructive worms from Europe and Africa to invade UK

Mr Freeman added: There is a very exciting opportunity to make it a very powerful global UK and international programme that drives bilateral and multilateral research.

And he seemed convinced that this would be able to get the science community to change its mind and back an alternative to the blocs project.

He said: If we were to do that, quite a lot of people might say: That sounds really exciting and Im not sure which I prefer that or Horizon.

The Science Minster has already given British researchers a glimpse of what plan B might look like.

In January, Freeman announced that 12 key UK research programmes would receive 17milllion in funding.

The grant came from thehe Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and was part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

While only a drop in the ocean compared to the EUs vast pool of funds, the cash handed to a range of projects likely brought a boost to these important research projects.

It also encouraged collaboration with partners not just in Europe, but elsewhere in the world too.

Prof Rajiv Ranjan from Newcastle University was very excited to be receive the !.5million boost to his Internet of Things (IoE) project, which also involves partners in Australia.

Mr Ranjan toldExpress.co.uk: It is a good approach to look for partners outside of the EU, not to just restrict ourselves to European partners.

I believe after working with Australia and other places that they [the EU] are missing a research culture or research excellence, they dont really inform top scientific publication or top scientific fact the way other countries like the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.

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Brexit Britain set to pull plug on 15bn EU funds and invest in 'exciting' OWN UK project - Daily Express

Its been another totally normal week on this little island we call GREAT Britain (Picture: Reuters/Getty/PA)

We really shouldnt complain, because it helps us pay the bills, but the news really has been a bit much this week.

Everywhere you look, anyway you turn, there it is NEWS.

Political scandal, economic turmoil, Brexit, that sort of stuff. Mounds of it. Towering, teetering stacks of it.

Its all just been a bit much recently and were currently dusting off a bottle of Pernod left over from Christmas to try to forget it all.

You, on the other hand, reader, should not be so lucky.

It is your duty as a proper grown up to read and understand this stuff.

We know better than anyone that its an absolute drag so were going to make it as pain-free as possible for you.

By the time youve read this, youll understand it all and can flounce off to the pub, safe in the knowledge that youre an actual proper adult person and not basically a baby with a bank account.

After weeks of threatening to drop her hotly anticipated report, Sue Gray finally delivered.

The civil servant rated best newcomer at this years political drama awards released a slimmed down summary of the findings from her investigation into Downing Street parties.

In the end, it was as notable for what it didnt contain as what it did.

Because the Met have launched a criminal investigation into a dozen gatherings, the dossier was shorn of any detail, coming in at just 16 pages (one for each alleged party investigated).

But make no mistake, this was a damning excoriation of the prime minister and his Number 10 operation.

Ms Gray uncovered failures of leadership and judgment, excessive consumption of alcohol and serious failings.

In civil service language a lexicon designed to be as relentlessly dull as possible that translates as an absolute s***show.

Boris Johnson, who loves a U-turn about as much as a knees up, committed to publishing the full version at the end of the Met inquiry after tying himself in knots by desperately attempting not to give that commitment.

That was Monday morning. Things did not improve.

TL;DR: Sue Gray put out an EP rather than a full album but it was still banging.

After the publication of the Gray report, Mr Johnson headed off to the Commons for his latest public flogging.

It was brutal. Theresa May gleefully stuck the boot in, a former minister told him to go, Sir Keir Starmer called him a man without shame who, just like he has done all his life, has damaged everything and everyone on his way.

The PM reiterated his previous apology, promised to overhaul Number 10 and then dodged questions for long enough until he could get out of there.

And that might just have ushered in a rare lull in the ongoing bin fire that is Mr Johnsons political fortunes. All he had to do was stick to his lines, not say anything too daft.

But that just aint Boris.

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Instead, the PM dredged up an internet conspiracy theory that Sir Keir, who used to be the countrys most senior prosecutor and was knighted for his efforts, failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

This claim is what is known in the trade as absolute steaming bull mess and the prime minister had decided to step right in it.

The comment genuinely horrified many in his own party. Chancellor Rishi Sunak, health secretary Sajid Javid and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab have all publicly distanced themselves from the slur.

Munira Mirza, a Number 10 aide who has stuck with Mr Johnson through thick and thin since he was mayor, had heard enough. She quit over the scurrilous claim, a real body blow for the PM.

That set off 24 hours of political bloodshed dubbed (by me) The Night of the Long Stem Wine Glasses.

At last count, four more aides are gone. The other exits appear to be more to do with the promised post-partygate overhaul but, honestly, who actually knows anymore.

So, after a heady week, this is where the prime minister is: Publicly accused of a failure of leadership, his senior ministers embarrassed to associate with his comments and his Number 10 team which is under police investigation falling apart.

TL;DR: If the Jimmy Savile slur was a dead cat, it turned on Boris and ate him alive.

We dont know about you, reader, but were skint.

Everything literally everything is getting more expensive all the time and its not going to slow down any time soon.

After years of the economy remaining in a semi-frozen state, its now going through a weird post-Covid moody period.

Food prices, petrol prices, rail fares, taxes everything is going up.

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The main problem is energy. Not only is it making production more expensive for most companies which leads to prices going up its making turning the heating on a lavish luxury.

Ofgem announced this week the price cap is going up by 700 a year to help suppliers stay afloat amid a massive surge in the global cost of gas (and, of course, maintain a profit).

The chancellor has announced some limited support measures which could amount to 350 for some households.

Obviously, thats welcome but you dont need to be an economist to work out thats not going to cover the full rise.

Oh, and youre going to pay it back via your energy bills over a few years anyway.

The Bank of England has increased interest rates to try and calm inflation. Why?

Well, because, macroeconomic policy dictates that um, borrowing costs mean thatwell, because

Okay, fine, we have no idea and its the weekend so were not figuring it out. Feel free to read the Financial Times.

TL;DR: Were skint, youre skint, the country is skint.

This year marked the two-year anniversary of the UK sashaying out of the European Union and charging headlong into an uncertain future.

The world did not end. Nor did a new era of milk and honey embrace us. Instead, weve muddled on, with a fair few complications along the way.

To celebrate, Boris Johnson popped his head out of his foxhole to announce a new BREXIT FREEDOMS BILL which CUTS RED TAPE and all that stuff that gets some people all sweaty round the collar.

But over the Irish Sea, Northern Ireland was on hand to remind everyone that this thing isnt really over.

To cut a long story short, a key tranche of Boris Johnson Brexit bill was the NI protocol. He hailed it as a work of diplomatic genius at the time but has spent the last two years trying to renegotiate it.

For a whole host of political, cultural and historic reasons you should really already know, where you put a trade border in Northern Ireland issensitive.

The unionists, led by the DUP in Belfast politics, loathe it and this week unilaterally ordered border officials to down tools and ignore it.

Their first minister resigned in protest over the protocol, plunging its long-term sustainability as well as power-sharing arrangements in Stormont into total disarray.

Its an ongoing legal and political quagmire which no one appears to have the political will or ability to solve.

Why does it matter? This episode underscores a big myth at the heart of British politics: that the prime minister somehow got Brexit done.

He did not. He got a fair bit of it done, sure, but the process is far from over and were still figuring a lot of it out.

But enough of this Remainer nonsense pour yourself a glass of sovereignty and take a deep breath of that sweet, sweet freedom.

TL;DR: The government threw a birthday party for Brexit and Brexit got too drunk.

Well, that was all a bit grim, wasnt it? Let us just dig a nice story out to warm your cockles before we KIDDING.

Were celebrating a vile week by replacing the customary funny story with a suitably gross one.

Meet Jess Taylor. Jess lost her TV remote and, like so many before her, closed her eyes and reached deep into the bowels of her sofa to have a root around for it.

Jess will regret that until the day she dies. Inside she found a warchest of nail clippings, hundreds of the things.

Its enough to make anyone living in a rented place or sitting on a second-hand sofa to look at it and wonder whats below the surface?

Also, Jess, if you happen to have found a tenner down there, please send it to 1 Metro Towers, London. Ta.

TL;DR: Dont look down.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this,check our news page.

Read more from the original source:

ICYMI: Sue Gray, Boris, Brexit and bills - this week's five biggest stories - Metro.co.uk

There is a steady "drip-drip of no confidence" in the Prime Minister, according to a former special adviser.

Aaron Bell's vote of no confidence is "not surprising" but marks a drastic shift from his 2019 position which is significant, said Chris White.

Mr Bell was one of the MPs who strongly supported the prime minister in 2019 when he was newly elected as an MP.

Mr White said: "And so for effectively for him to lose confidence in the prime minister, I think shows a steady drip, drip of no confidence letters going in. We had other letters go in this week.

"I think the prime minister would have hoped to stem the tide of letters going in during the course of the week with some of his statements, and indeed some of the sackings or resignations, I should say, that has happened in the last 24 and 36 hours after Downing Street.

"But clearly, that doesn't seem to be the case."

Excerpt from:

Boris Johnson: Brexit backers turn on PM as popularity spirals - ANOTHER letter in - Daily Express