Fisheries
Mail
Brussels rallied behind France in its dispute with Jersey on Thursday as the fishermen behind a seven-hour blockade of the Channel island threatened to return and begin a fresh “scallop war” with Britain.
Wading into the mounting political row, the European Commission accused Jersey of breaching the terms of Brexit trade deal and demanded the UK intervene to stop it “discriminating” against French vessels.
It added that under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, signed last year, EU fishermen could not be subject to additional conditions and Jersey should have notified the bloc of any changes in advance.
However, the intervention was dismissed by Downing Street, which insisted on Thursday night that the Crown Dependency had the “right to regulate fisheries in their waters”, and commanded the full backing of the Government.
In a statement, a spokesman said the UK would continue to work with Jersey to facilitate discussions with the commission, although sources pointed out that French ministers had repeatedly refused to engage with George Eustice, the Environment Secretary.
Express
EMMANUEL Macron has been warned the UK will not send for France’s “bully-boy” tactics when it comes to fishing access to the waters around Jersey, on the day Royal Navy gunships were deployed there after threats from French fishermen.
Daniel Kawczynski was speaking at a time when French fishing vessels were apparently in retreat after the arrival of boats including HMS Severn and HMS Tamar. The French ships had previously threatened to block the port – and received tacit support from Annick Girardin, the France maritime minister, in France’s National Assembly.
In an extraordinary intervention which triggered alarm bells in London, Mrs Girardin suggested her country could turn off Jersey’s electricity supply in retaliation for Jersey’s decision to issue 41 fishing licences with unilaterally imposed conditions, including the time French fishing vessels could spend in its waters.
Mr Kawczynski told Express.co.uk: “It is clearly very, very concerning, these sort of very aggressive threats.
“Cutting off somebody’s electricity is tantamount to threatening very serious, deprivation on the people of Jersey.
“It’s a bully-boy tactic designed to intimidate the people of a small island.
“What they don’t seem to understand is that we have a bond with the people of Jersey.
“I had the privilege of visiting that island on three occasions, and there is no way that the British Government would allow any of that to take place without serious ramifications.”
Mail
The row over Channel fishing rights escalated tonight after furious French skippers threatened to block UK goods from entering Calais.
About 70 French trawlers staged a protest at Jersey’s capital St Helier on Thursday, before beating a retreat after two Navy gunships arrived.
The standoff came after some French boats were refused licences to fish in Jersey’s waters under post-Brexit rules. In response, French minister Annick Girardin warned that Paris could cut off electricity to Jersey.
Amid high tensions, both Britain and France deployed ships to the island. HMS Tamar and HMS Severn are expected to return to the mainland on Friday after the retreat by the French vessels.
But in a sign the row is far from over, the fishermen tonight threatened to blockade Calais, saying they would stop British goods from entering the EU unless all of their boats were allowed to fish in Jersey’s waters.
Oliver Lepretre, chairman of the Northern France fisheries committee, said: ‘The fishermen are saying that if we don’t get what we want, we will go and block Calais.’
Express
BORIS JOHNSON has hailed Britain’s post-Brexit fishing victory after French boats retreated from the Channel Islands, vowing the UK “will always stand resolutely by the people of Jersey”.
The Prime Minister said in light of France backing down, the Royal Navy vessels patrolling Jersey’s waters would be returned to port in Britain. But in a warning to President Emmanuel Macron, he said Britain would remain “on standby” and would not hesitate to scramble support for Jersey if neccessary. He said: “We are pleased that French fishing boats have now left the vicinity of Jersey.
“Given the situation is resolved for now, the Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessels will prepare to return to port in the UK.
“We remain on standby to provide any further assistance Jersey requests.
“The Trade and Cooperation Agreement brought in changes to fishing arrangements between the UK and the EU.
“Jersey authorities have a right to regulate fisheries in their waters under this agreement and we support them in exercising those rights.
“We will work with Jersey to support the discussions underway with the European Commission.”
Elections
Express
THE Conservatives have won the Hartlepool by-election in a humiliating blow for Sir Keir Starmer and Labour.
Counting began on Thursday night after a day of elections that will have profound implications for the future of the UK and the Labour Party.
For Labour, Hartlepool was a test of its ability to win back voters in its former Red Wall heartlands.
Labour’s pro-EU candidate Dr Paul Williams gained 8,589 votes and the Tory candidate Jill Mortimer gained 15,529 votes.
After the results were announced, Ms Mortimer said Labour has taken Hartlepool for granted for “too long”, adding that it is “time for change”.
The result comes after a shadow cabinet member admitted Labour was “not close to winning this”.
Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon, who led the Opposition party’s campaign to hold Hartlepool, said it looked clear that Labour had not “got over the line”.
Mr McMahon told Sky News: “It is pretty clear in the way the ballots are landing that we are not close to winning this despite our best endeavours.
“We haven’t got over the line, that’s quite clear from the ballots.”
Early results in council contests elsewhere also appeared to show voters deserting Labour, as ballots continue to be tallied up across England, Scotland and Wales following the Super Thursday polls – the largest test of political opinion outside a general election.
A Labour source said leader Sir Keir would “take responsibility for these results” as the party looked on the verge of losing the Hartlepool by-election.
Telegraph
The Conservative Party has won the Hartlepool by-election, turning the constituency blue for the first time since it was created and punching another hole in the Red Wall.
In an historic defeat for Labour, Hartlepool voted for the Tory candidate, Jill Mortimer, by 15,529 votes to Labour’s 8,589.
All eyes will now turn to Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader who promised to “carry the can” for any defeat in this week’s “Super Thursday” set of elections.
Sir Keir’s critics point to the voting history of Dr Paul Williams, Labour’s candidate in Hartlepool, who voted to Remain in the EU referendum.
Hartlepool is one of the UK’s strongest Brexit-supporting constituencies, with 70 per cent voting to leave in 2016.
In the 2019 general election, a quarter of the vote share was absorbed by the Brexit Party, splitting the support of Brexiteers and returning a Labour MP with a reduced majority of just 4,000.
Mail
Boris Johnson delivered a devastating hammer blow to Sir Keir Starmer today as the Tories romped to an historic victory in the Hartlepool by-election.
Labour has held the seat since it was created back in the 1970s but Sir Keir was left humiliated as the Conservatives piled up a majority of nearly 7,000 – overturning the previous margin of 3,500.
Jill Mortimer will now serve as the constituency’s MP in Westminster after she trounced Labour contender Paul Williams. ‘Labour have taken the people of Hartlepool for granted for too long… people have had enough,’ she said in her speech.
The official announcement of the result was made just after 7am but Labour had already conceded defeat hours earlier, with shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon telling Sky News that ‘we are not close to winning this’.
The victory by 15,529 to 8,589 votes shows that Boris Johnson’s realignment of the British political landscape is continuing, with more of the so-called Red Wall collapsing. The 16 per cent swing is believed to be the biggest to a governing party in a by-election since the Second World War.
It heaps pressure on Sir Keir amid a growing revolt from hard-Left activists. A senior source admitted this morning that Labour had ‘not changed nearly enough’ to woo voters and insisted there will be no ‘excuses’.
The party is now bracing for further bad news as the votes are counted in England’s council and mayoral battles following ‘Super Thursday’ elections.
Evening Standard
Labour infighting erupted this morning as Sir Keir Starmer admitted the party had “not yet changed nearly enough for voters to place their trust in us” after the Conservative Party comfortably won the Hartlepool by-election.
The Leave-supporting North East constituency went blue for the first time in its 47-year-old history, as Boris Johnson demolished another brick in Labour’s so-called “red wall”.
Voters in the town backed Tory candidate Jill Mortimer to be their next MP over Labour’s Dr Paul Williams – an avid Remainer and second-referendum campaigner during his time as MP for Stockton South between 2017-19 – in a rare by-election victory for a party in power for more than a decade.
The Conservatives, who declared it a “truly historic result”, secured a 6,940 majority winning 15,529 votes to Dr Williams’ 8,589.
Vaccine
Mail
Britons under 40 will be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid jab after it was linked to potentially fatal blood clots, it was claimed last night.
Advisers are understood to have written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggesting the move after more adults suffered side effects.
The experts believe the risk of clotting now outweighs that of Covid in younger adults.
They previously recommended that those under 30 with no underlying health conditions should be offered an alternative, such as the Pfizer or Moderna jabs.
But this age is expected to be increased to 40, with the decision announced today, the Independent reported.
The UK is understood to have enough supplies of alternative vaccines to offer all adults a first dose by the Government’s July 31 target.
The source said: ‘Because prevalence of Covid is low and given the strength of the programme, that means we’re in a position to act with an abundance of caution and offer a different vaccine to the younger groups.’
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has been analysing the data and drafted its recommendation earlier this week.
Mail
With Covid cases dropping and life beginning to open up once more, it’s tempting to think we’ve finally beaten the virus.
But even though we’ve got fantastic vaccines, they’re not the entire answer to the problem – not everyone has yet had the jab, and none of them currently offer 100 per cent protection.
However, we do have another brilliant weapon in our arsenal – rapid testing. Not only does this give a result in just 30 minutes, it can pick up the around one-in-three cases in which people don’t show any symptoms.
It’s vital these are detected to prevent people unknowingly spreading the virus.
And the good news is that these rapid Covid-19 tests are now available free to everyone aged over 18 in the UK. They can be picked up at your neighbourhood test centre, any participating local pharmacy or ordered online at nhs.uk/Get-Tested or by calling 119.
Experts say we should all be getting into the habit of testing ourselves at home twice a week. That way we can catch Covid at the point it becomes highly infectious, and stop the spread.
The City
Telegraph
A Brussels plot to lock the City out of European markets has backfired and harmed the finances of banks on the Continent, the boss of the UK’s finance watchdog has said.
Nikhil Rathi, head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said in a first major intervention that European Union lenders have lost market share because of resistance to a so-called equivalence deal that would have preserved ties with Britain.
He added that the UK will not now pursue access to the EU at any price – and vowed to use the country’s post-Brexit freedoms to redraft cumbersome regulations.
Mr Rathi said: “EU banks are now no longer able to offer to their clients full access to all pools of global liquidity for the trading of interest rate swaps and certain credit derivatives, as UK venues have retained material market share in various products.
“This loss of access to liquidity reduces competitive choice in the market for UK and rest of the world clients and, unsurprisingly, it has been reported that some EU banks have lost market share in these market segments.
Schools
Telegraph
Boris Johnson will defy trade union pressure and announce on Monday that secondary school children will no longer have to wear face masks in class, The Telegraph understands.
The Prime Minister will confirm that the Government guidance is changing from May 17, when England moves into stage three of the reopening roadmap, according to multiple senior Whitehall sources.
Officials at the Department for Education are already drafting the new guidance, which will drop the recommendation that English secondary school pupils should wear face masks in class, while still encouraging their use in corridors.
Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, told The Telegraph that the success of the vaccine rollout and the current low level of Covid cases in schools had paved the way for the move.
“As infection rates continue to decline and our vaccination programme rolls out successfully, we plan to remove the requirement for face coverings in the classroom at step three of the roadmap,” he said.
Sun
BORIS Johnson is set to defy unions and announce that secondary school pupils will no longer have to wear masks in the classroom.
The PM will on Monday confirm that government guidance on face coverings in schools will change from May 17 – the same date that indoor household mixing is permitted.
Senior Whitehall sources told the Daily Telegraph that officials at the Department of Education are drafting new guidance which will replace the mandatory mask rule currently enforced in secondary school classrooms.
Instead, pupils will be encouraged to wear face coverings in corridors and communal areas.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson told the newspaper: “As infection rates continue to decline and our vaccination programme rolls out successfully, we plan to remove the requirement for face coverings in the classroom at step three of the roadmap.”
The move is likely to anger education unions who have been pushing to keep masks in classrooms past May 17.
A joint letter to Mr Williamson signed by the National Education Union (NEU) and five other unions earlier this week demanded the mask rule remain in place until the end of term.
It argued that face coverings were “an essential part of the wider system of control in schools” and highlighted the risk of staff developing long Covid.
Holidays
Mail
The cost of travel to potential ‘green list’ destinations soared last night as Downing Street prepared to unveil a list of countries British holidaymakers will be allowed to visit when the international travel ban lifts on May 17.
Flights to popular Portuguese resorts more than doubled in price for May 17 following suggestions the European holiday hotspot may be among a ‘handful’ of destinations to immediately offer quarantine-free travel.
Other places tipped to make the first ‘green list’ are Malta, Iceland, Israel and Gibraltar.
Most of Europe – including France, Spain, Greece and Italy – is expected to be ‘amber’ in a blow to eager travellers, though it is hoped many could turn green by the end of June as the traffic light system is reviewed.
The initial ‘green list’ – understood to contain less than a dozen destinations – will be finalised by Cabinet ministers this morning before being unveiled at a Downing Street briefing led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
But despite insiders warning there will be a ‘very small’ number of countries subject to the loosest rules when the ban on non-essential travel lifts, demand for flights to possible ‘green list’ nations has surged.
British Airways is charging £530 for a flight from Heathrow to the Algarve, Portugal, on May 17, compared to £234 for passengers flying the same route two days earlier.
A Ryanair flight from Stansted to Portugal’s capital Lisbon on the day overseas leisure travel restarts is £152, compared with £15 on May 16.
EasyJet is charging £234 for a flight from Luton to the Algarve on May 17, but just £73 the following day.
Sun
HOLIDAYMAKERS were today set to be given the ‘green’ light to go abroad without having to quarantine — but only to Israel, Malta and Gibraltar.
However, hopes of a summer break in Portugal have soared, with ministers poised to also put the popular destination on England’s approved list in the traffic light system.
It came as TV’s Holly Willoughby, 40, told of her joy over the UK’s vaccine rollout as she got her jab yesterday.
Whitehall insiders said that “bar a last-minute change”, Portugal has been declared safe by both government medics and transport chiefs.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was due to reveal the full list of Covid-secure destinations from May 17 at a Downing Street press conference this afternoon.
Most popular destinations such as France, Spain and Greece are likely to be ‘amber,’ so holidaymakers will need to take two PCR tests during their ten-day quarantine at home.
But ministers are confident they will also go green in time for the summer rush.
Airlines have already started ramping up prices to Portugal for flights the week legal trips can resume.
If I was a Labour supporter I’d be somewhat puzzled where it should go now. But I’m not, never have been so if Labour ‘dies’ it doesn’t break my heart.
On the other hand there is much to worry about in the present direction of the Party in power and no opposition to them from any direction. That is the problem.
Pauline even our local Council has been taken over almost in its entirety by the ‘conservatives’. For years its been a fairly even split between the parties but this has been a landslide! The Country has gone completely insane. Johnson’s ‘dictatorship’ will now have a runaway opportunity to tighten the noose around all our necks and continue the deconstruction of Britain! I am totally staggered at the National stupidity!
Travel costs will rise then drop then fanally stabilise next spring, Only then will we fully understand how the UK actually performed in the covid economic shock. A secondry measure is at the rock bottom of a dead economy. tourism, hospitality,corner shops, and frenetic property prices propped up.by desperate governments.
I suspect we are incapable of even making string, orscrews or nuts and bolts and the next level of complexity is not even known about. How in heavens name we make vaccines is an astonishing evidence of state messing. ( like Russia )
Labour abandoned its core voters years ago (ie blue collar workers)
It was Bliar..
Blue collar workers aren’t interested in nitwit lefty/Corbyn politics either, they know it destroys jobs.
LABOUR PARTY
Maybe a name change would help as, “Labour”, in the title no longer applies and appears to be a mis-representation of what the party actually supports. Perhaps the Woke Party would be more appropriate. There would be no need to change the policies, Diverse, Multi-cultural, Gender Fluid, Politically Correct, Pro-immigration, and the rest, are all appropriate.
The new slogan – Go Woke, Lose Votes. 🙂