NO BORDER WANTED IN IRELAND SAYS PRESIDENT BIDEN

The BBC reports that a senior official from the Northern Ireland Office is to be sent to the US to try to build relations with the administration of President Joe Biden. It comes amid UK-EU tensions over the UK’s decision to extend an exemption on Brexit checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Irish supermarkets. The two sides are also at odds in a row over Covid-19 vaccine exports. The US president has previously expressed concerns about the situation in Ireland after Brexit. He told reporters in November the US did not want a guarded border on the Island of Ireland and that it had taken a lot of hard work to reach a settlement and end decades of conflict. Before his election President Biden, who is an Irish American said that any post Brexit deal must not endanger the peace process.

 

HOLD YOUR HOLIDAY BOOKINGS SAYS GRANT SHAPPS

The Sun reports that Brits should hold off on booking their summer holidays abroad until it’s clearer whether the PM’s roadmap out of lockdown is still on track, a senior minister said today. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps warned we can’t guarantee international travel will definitely restart on May 17 because the decision will depend on the state of the pandemic. And he advised people desperate for a break in the sun it would make sense to wait until after April 12 – when a panel of experts will report back on how to restart tourism – before making bookings. His remarks will come as a blow to millions who are already eyeing up a jaunt in warmer climes 

 

OUR EUROPEAN FRIENDS HAVE UPWARD COVID CURVE  SAYS BORIS

The Sun reports: Boris Johnson has warned the Covid swell in Europe could hit the UK despite the speedy vaccine rollout as he rejects calls for faster lockdown easing. The Prime Minister raised fears the UK could follow the upwards curve being seen among countries in Europe as they battle to get to grips with rocketing Covid rates. He warned the rate of infection is still high and despite the successful jabs rollout carrying out a huge 24 million vaccinations so far, confirmed the lockdown exit would be no earlier than June 21.

 

BRUSSELS BACKTRACKS ON COVID VACCINE SLUR

The Express reports that Brussels has finally admitted its claim that Britain is blocking the export of life-saving Covid jabs is wrong. Eurocrats were forced to concede they’d got it wrong after Dominic Raab asked them to set the record straight. The furious Foreign Secretary even summoned one of the bloc’s most senior diplomats in London to the Foreign Office to discuss the row. European Council President Charles Michel sparked fury in Whitehall on Tuesday night after he accused the Government of vaccine nationalism with an “outright ban on the export of vaccines”.The Belgian’s outrageous slur added further tension to the UK’s already fractious post-Brexit relationship with the EU. It even prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to slap down the top eurocrat’s incorrect claim at PMQs.

 

UK AND EU AT MAJOR CROSSROADS SAYS BUSINESS LEADER

The Express reports: Brexit  tensions have erupted as business owners have claimed the two sides are now at a major crossroads. In an attack at the hardline stance taken against businesses, James Withers chief executive of the Scotland Food and Drink, claimed the ball had been dropped by both sides. Despite the EU pointing to the UK’s  failure to prepare for post-Brexit changes, Mr Withers called on both sides to dial down diplomatic tensions. He said the two sides must choose whether they want to collaborate or relations could worsen.

 

DEUTSCHE BANK LEAVES SIGNIFICANT PRESENCE IN POST BREXIT UK

The Express reports that Deutsche Bank has confirmed a considerable number of the company’s assets are to remain in the UK despite fears Brexit would force the firm to relocate Deutsche BANK. UK and Ireland CEO Tiina Lee has confirmed the company’s financial ties with the United Kingdom will remain strong regardless of Brexit, Ms Lee has insisted that the bank’s presence in Britain will always be significant. The announcement comes after concerns that leaving the European Union would force the German financial giant to pull assets out of the City of London and move operations to the European continent.

 

NEW LAW TO CRACK DOWN ON CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

The Morning Star reports that the right to protest is under threat from proposed laws that could make it an offence to obstruct Parliament, campaigners warned today. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, announced in the Commons this week, aims to grant officers new powers against non-violent protests “that have a significant disruptive effect on the public or on access to Parliament.” Home Secretary Priti Patel is believed to be seeking to make the obstruction of Parliament, courts and newspaper distribution by protesters unlawful, as well as to impose restrictions on where demonstrations can be held. The Bill is thought to be an attempt to crack down on civil disobedience by Extinction Rebellion (XR), after the climate activist group brought central London to a standstill and blockaded printing presses last year. Campaigners have warned that the proposals “threaten our right to protest” and are an attempt to extend current restrictions on protest beyond the pandemic.

 

LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY DROPS GLADSTONE NAME

The Daily Mail reports: A politics lecturer has hit out at Liverpool University’s plans to drop the name of former Prime Minister William Gladstone from a building because of his family’s links to the slave trade. The university emailed staff on Tuesday confirming that the plans to rename the Gladstone Hall student accommodation building, which were initially announced in June, are set to go ahead. They said the decision was being made because of ‘the strength of feeling evoked in our student community by the Gladstone family’s historic ownership of enslaved people, and their profiting from the transatlantic trade in enslaved people’. But the move was slammed by university employee Dr David Jeffery, an expert on the history of Liverpool, who said on Twitter that Gladstone was one of Britain’s greatest Prime Ministers. He added: “We’re post-truth. It doesn’t matter what the facts are, if you can kick up a storm on social media you can bully your way to getting what you want.”

 

RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION  LARGER THAN THE SIZE OF FRANCE

The Independent reports that two-thirds of the world’s original tropical rainforest cover has been degraded or destroyed by people, according to new analysis. Some 34 per cent of the world’s original old-growth tropical rainforests have been destroyed, and another 30 per cent degraded according to the Rainforest Foundation Norway analysis. The forests were being razed for logging and land conversion, largely for agriculture. More than half of the destruction since 2002 has been in the Amazon region of South America and neighboring rainforests. Southeast Asian islands, mostly in Indonesia, was ranked second in forest destruction since 2002. Destruction in Central Africa was third, mostly in the Congo River basin, due to farming and logging. Researchers found that the total forest loss between 2002 and 2019 was larger than the size of France.

 

NO ROOM AT THE TOP

From the Guardian: The two top executives at  Serco, one of the companies behind the government’s much-criticised £37bn test-and-trace scheme, were handed pay of £7.4m for 2020, including bonuses worth £5.5m. The chief executive, Rupert Soames, and chief financial officer, Angus Cockburn, picked up the pay packets in a combination of cash and shares for the 12 months to the end of last year. Although their rewards were slightly less than what they earned in 2019, the scale of their pay is likely to inflame anger with the company, which has already been criticised for paying dividends while reaping the rewards of government Covid-19 contracts. Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, was paid £4.9m in total, taking his total earnings from the outsourcing firm to £23.5m since he joined in 2015. Cockburn was paid £2.4m for 2020. Details of the awards came on the day that the government’s spending watchdog said that the government’s test-and-trace programme in England had contributed to a reduction in coronavirus infection levels.

 

LIFT THE LOCKDOWN  BAN ON CHILDREN PLAYING SAY LAWYERS

The Guardian reports: The ban on children playing together outdoors in England must be lifted as it is discriminatory and potentially unlawful, lawyers and children’s groups have said. In a letter to Boris Johnson in the week that schools were allowed to reopen, family groups reported signs of mental distress and poor health among young children who have missed playing and socialising. Since 6 January across England, and last year in places under tier 3 rules, the law has stated that only two individuals can meet from different households. Under-fives are exempt but campaigners say that children aged five to 11, who are not old enough to meet a friend alone, have been severely affected by the rules.

 

AND FINALLY

From the Telegraph: Dog walkers are now wearing body cameras while taking their pets out for a walk in the countryside amid growing fears over thefts.Demand for different breeds of dogs has skyrocketed during lockdown and it is feared the trend is  driving a rise in dog snatching by thieves trying to make a profit. Simon Bailey, the chief constable of Norfolk, revealed during an online rural crime briefing that he became the victim of dog theft in 2019, but his pet was recovered. The police briefing was told that 52 dogs were stolen in Norfolk last year, 16 of whom were returned to their owners. Amanda Knight, who runs a website for dog owners in the region, told the meeting she had been receiving emails “two or three times a week” from worried owners. Some had described being approached by strangers asking if their dog was for sale, while others reported suspected thieves blowing whistles to attract dogs on beaches, she said.

 

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