LORDS HIT OUT AT LORD FROST OVER SUSPENDING EU DEAL RULES

The Express reports: Peers in the House of Lords have written to Lord David Frost to express their concern at his decision to unilaterally extend the grace periods on exports to Northern Ireland. The Lords’ European Union committee criticised the Government’s decision to delay the implementation of customs checks, warning it risked destabilising relations with the EU. Ministers had said businesses needed more time to adapt to the new bureaucratic red tape due to be introduced at the start of next month. The UK’s decision was met with outrage in Brussels, who accused Britain of failing to live up to its commitments under the Northern Ireland Protocol which outlines the need for extra paperwork. The bloc has said the UK’s decision to unilaterally extend the grace periods on the customs checks breaks international law.

 

GREEN PARTY BARONESS WANTS 6PM CURFEW FOR ALL MEN

From the Express: Speaking in the House of Lords, Baroness Jones said, In the week that Sarah Everard was abducted and, we suppose, killed—because remains have been found in a woodland in Kent — I argue that, at the next opportunity for any Bill that is appropriate, I might put in an amendment to create a curfew for men on the streets after 6pm. I feel this would make women a lot safer, and discrimination of all kinds would be lessened.” Home Secretary Priti Patel said “every woman should feel safe to walk our streets without fear of harassment or violence”, after Dame Cressida Metropolitan Police Commissioner sought to reassure the public and said It is thankfully incredibly rare for a woman to be abducted from our streets.

 

THE NAVY’S HERE

The Mirror reports that Royal Navy warships are spearheading a massive international fleet, braving brutally sub-zero temperature Baltic seas in a show of force against Russia. Heavily-armed Type 23 frigates HMS Lancaster and Westminster are at the head of the flotilla, along with war vessels from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The Swedish air force has also joined the high seas operation as the four navies join forces to practise war-fighting against nations threatening Europe. It is the latest test of British Royal Navy crews’ ability to take part in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force – a partnership of nine northern European nations. Yesterday UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Some of the UK’s closest and most steadfast Allies are found in the Baltics.This deployment is both the latest example of a long and proud history of defence cooperation and a clear demonstration of the capability of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).”

 

ROLLS ROYCE  HAS BURNED THROUGH BILLIONS 

From the Guardian: Rolls-Royce has reported a loss of £4bn for 2020 as the jet-engine maker’s business was shaken by the coronavirus pandemic. The FTSE 100 manufacturer revealed it burned through £4.2bn in cash during the year as revenues from servicing passenger aircraft collapsed.It expects to burn through a further £2bn this year, but Warren East, Rolls-Royce’s chief executive, raised hopes that the company would generate cash once more in 2022 as flying recovers. Rolls-Royce’s revenues were among the most vulnerable to the pandemic because of its reliance on making and servicing jet engines for passenger aircraft. In the year before the pandemic its civil aerospace business brought in £8bn in revenues, compared with £5bn in 2020.

 

ONE MILLION POUNDS TO REVIEW UNREPRESENTATIVE STATUES 

The Express reports: Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been accused of a complete disregard for taxpayers after quadrupling the bill for his statue-toppling commission to more than £1million. Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives at City Hall, said the mayor is waging a war on the city’s statues: “Sadiq Khan’s decision to quadruple his statue-toppling commission’s budget shows his complete disregard for taxpayers’ cash and how little he thinks of British history. Londoners will be appalled to learn that the Mayor is waging all-out war on the capital’s statues after increasing their council tax bill. Instead of pandering to anti-British protesters, the Mayor needs to focus on Londoners’ priorities.”

 

WORRIES OVER PROPOSED NEW CROSS CHANNEL POWER LINE

The Guardian reports: A former Russian arms boss and major Conservative party donor has taken joint control of a company seeking government approval to build a cross-Channel power line, and one of the most powerful internet cables in Europe. Alexander Temerko, who was an oil and arms executive in Russia before seeking political asylum in the UK, gained prominence as a director of the Aquind project, and has now become a shareholder in the company. Aquind is applying for permission to run its cable from Le Havre in France to Portsmouth, and hopes to receive a positive recommendation from the Planning Inspectorate within the next three months. Kwasi Kwarteng, the secretary of state for energy and business, has the final say on whether to approve the venture. The plan must also be agreed by regulators and local authorities in France.  Alan Whitehead MP, the shadow energy minister, has told the Guardian the proposed electricity and data cables, built across the seabed, would form part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure, and that he was deeply concerned about the lack of clarity on Aquind’s finances

 

MORRISONS HALVING OF PROFITS A BADGE OF HONOUR

From the Guardian: Morrisons’ profits for 2020 have slumped by half, which the supermarket’s chief executive called a badge of honour as the extra costs incurred in “feeding the nation” during the coronavirus crisis cancelled out the benefits of higher sales. The Bradford-based company’s annual pre-tax profit before one-offs fell to £201m on sales of £17.5bn. David Potts, Morrisons chief executive, pointed to £290m of costs stemming from the pandemic, including covering for worker absence and paying store staff a bonus, coupled with the decision to return £230 million of business rates relief: “I  personally wear the halving of profits as a badge of honour. It’s one thing being asked to keep indoors for most of the year, it is quite another if you haven’t got access to food.

 

STATE SCHOOL   PUPILS BEAT ETON COLLEGE  TO  OXBRIDGE OFFERS

From the Telegraph: A London state school has got more Oxbridge offers than Eton College for the first time, amid a drive by the country’s leading universities to accept students from poorer backgrounds. Fifty-five teenagers at Brampton Manor Academy in Newnham, east London, have been offered places to study at Oxford or Cambridge this autumn. Eton College, a £42,500-a-year boarding school in Windsor with a similar size sixth form, had just 48 offers this year, down from 99 five years ago. Two thirds of pupils at Brampton Manor Academy qualify for free school meals, and the overwhelming majority are from ethnic minority backgrounds.The school is based in Newnham, one of England’s poorest boroughs, where one in five children are from low-income families.

 

FRANCE PAVES THE WAY FOR SPRING HOLIDAYS

The Times reports: France will ease restrictions on travel to and from the UK today opening the way for Britons to cross the Channel for spring holidays.President Macron’s government said Britain was among seven countries that would benefit from an easing of restrictions, along with Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Israel, Japan, and Singapore. Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, the tourism minister, said travellers from these countries would no longer need a compelling reason to justify their journey. He said people travelling from the seven countries would still need a negative PCR test dating from less than 72 hours before their arrival.

 

HOPE THAT ONE COVID JAB WILL SPEED UP EU VACCINATIONS

The Morning Star reports: the first single-dose vaccine was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) today, offering hope of speeding up the stalled vaccination rollout across the EU. The regulator has approved the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine, which has already been approved in the United States. China has also approved a different single-dose vaccine. Problems are becoming more worrying as figures showed new Covid-19 infections across the bloc rose 9 per cent last week, after weeks of decline. The EMA said the newly approved vaccine was about 67 percent effective, as many EU countries are looking to start producing the Russia-developed Sputnik V, which British medical journal The Lancet found to be 91.6 percent effective. A Swiss company agreed a deal to start producing Sputnik V in Italy this week, and talks on production in Spain, France and Germany are ongoing, though it has yet to be approved for use in the EU.

 

STURGEON HAS 50-50 SHOT AT MAJORITY IN MAY ELECTION

From the Daily Record: Nicola Sturgeon now has a 50-50 shot at leading the SNP to a majority at May’s Holyrood election, the country’s leading pollster has said. Professor John Curtis told the Record and  said there had been some slippage in SNP support since the start of 2020 but the party remained on course to emerge with the most MSPs. A poll published today by Savanta ComRes found current voting intentions put Sturgeon’s party on course for 64 seats – one short of the number required for taking overall control at the Scottish Parliament. Failure to win a majority is likely to be seized on by pro-Union parties as proof there is not public demand for  a second referendum on Scottish Independence.The SNP has made the constitution a cornerstone of its election campaign so far and is demanding Boris Johnson agrees to allow an IndyRef2 to take place. But another poll published today by YouGov found that 51% were in favour of the union while 49% supported independence, once people who didn’t express a view were excluded.

 

AND FINALLY 

From the Daily Star: The booming parakeet population in the UK has baffled bird watchers for years – but could legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix hold the answers? Over the years, many rumours have circulated speculating about how the birds first came to settle here, but one of the most popular theories is that Hendrix is responsible. Hendrix, born in the US, found fame in London in the swinging sixties where his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, picked up thousands of loyal fans. Legend has it that shortly before his death at the age of 27 in 1970 the famed guitarist released two ring-necked parakeets in London. The theory suggests the two birds continued to breed and ended up thriving. In time, they migrated all over the UK. According to the RSPB, ring-necked parakeets have been established in Britain since the 1970s after captive birds either escaped or were released into the wild.

 

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