Northern Ireland
Independent
Dominic Raab has accused the EU of “trying to change the status of Northern Ireland” against the will of its people, in a further ramping up of the conflict.
The foreign secretary lashed out after Emmanuel Macron angered Boris Johnson by telling him it was not a full part of the UK – as a trade war looms over a ban on the sale of chilled meats.
Mr Raab said such talk was “offensive” and has “real world effects”, comparing it with describing Catalonia as not part of Spain, or Corsica as not part of France.
“We need a bit of respect here and appreciation for all communities in Northern Ireland,” he said.
The French president and the prime minister clashed when Mr Johnson complained that cold meats could not be sent across the Irish Sea from Britain, after the end of the month.
Similar stories appear in the Sun, Evening Standard,
Telegraph
Boris Johnson was left infuriated on Saturday when Emmanuel Macron suggested in head-to-head G7 summit talks that Northern Ireland was not part of the UK.
The Prime Minister attempted to explain his frustration with the Northern Ireland Protocol by asking Mr Macron what he would do if sausages from Toulouse could not be moved to Paris, according to a UK government source.
The French president was said to have retorted by arguing that the comparison did not work because Paris and Toulouse were both part of the same country, incorrectly suggesting Northern Ireland is not within the UK.
Mr Johnson expressed bemusement at the remark to aides straight after the meeting and later hinted at the comment when telling Sky News that some leaders needed to get it “into their heads” that the UK was a “single country”.
Sky News
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, has told Sky News there is “a route” to resolving tensions over the Brexit Protocol following US President Joe Biden’s intervention.
He urged Boris Johnson to “very seriously consider” a veterinary-type agreement with the EU to eliminate “up to 80% of checks” on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
President Biden cleared the way for what is known as a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement by reassuring London it would not prevent a UK/US trade deal.
Mr Martin said: “I believe the US administration’s comments… are interesting as well in so far as they deal with a significant issue that would concern the British government, i.e. the capacity to do a trade deal with the United States whilst also having an SPS arrangement between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
“In my view, there’s a legitimate issue there for the United Kingdom government, but in our view, an SPS agreement would deal with up to 80% of all of these issues and I think it’s a prize worth certainly exploring in the fullest manner possible.”
He warned it would be “very problematic” if the UK government acted unilaterally for a third time at the end of this month to extend the grace period for checks on chilled meats.
A similar story appears in the Express.
EU Army
Express
EUROCRATS are set to fork out millions to arm its controversial paramilitary border force, it can be revealed.
Officials are looking to equip Frontex’s “Standing Corps” with 2,500 semi-automatic pistols and more than three million rounds of ammunition to patrol the bloc’s external frontiers. The new troops could even be deployed in the English Channel to help tackle people smuggling between the UK and France. But critics have branded the move a “menacing development” in the shift towards a full-blown EU superstate.
As well as guns, the force is equipped with naval patrol vessels, helicopters and drones.
Officials documents, seen by Express.co.uk, reveal plans for a £4.2 million spending spree to further bolster Frontex’s armed force.
The EU border and coast guard will buy up 2,500 “compact 9 x 19 mm semi-automatic pistols”, three million “full metal jacket” rounds and a further 630,000 “deformation” rounds.
It also spent a further £1.7 million on high-tech drones in its effort to stop migrant boats landing in Europe.
The flying machines are equipped with high definition and thermal imaging cameras, as well as spotlights.
Freedom day
Mail
The hospitality industry faces a £3billion loss in sales if Boris Johnson pushes back the full lifting of lockdown, pub bosses have today warned.
More than 200,000 jobs could also be put at risk if the Government opts to delay ‘Freedom Day’ by four-weeks, fearful hospitality chiefs say.
It comes as the PM is expected to announce that he is pushing back the lifting of Covid restrictions in England on June 21, due to concerns about the spread of the Delta Variant.
Such a move will mean pubs, bars and restaurants will have to continue to implement social distance measures, as well as mandatory table service and limits on capacity, until July 19.
And, with the arrival of summer weather, and Euro 2020 now in full swing, hospitality chiefs warn that a delay could come at a huge cost to the industry.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, told the Sunday Times that a further 200,000 jobs could be lost across the sector.
She also warned that a four-week delay will cost pubs, bars, hotels and restaurants £3billion in lost sales.
Meanwhile, Sacha Lord, the Night Time Economy Advisor for Greater Manchester, said it was ‘imperative’ that the Government issue guidance on the financial support available to hospitality businesses if a delay is confirmed.
Similar stories appear in the Telegraph, Sky News, Guardian
Evening Standard
Restrictions could be in place until next spring unless the government lifts lockdown in the next six week, a minister has claimed.
The unnamed MP told the The Sunday Telegraph that the government had a “very short window” in which to open up, otherwise controls could have to stay in place until spring of next year.
“I am very worried the people who want to keep us shut down now want us to keep us shut down permanently and are aiming for ‘zero Covid’,” they said.
“Once you start delaying to the spring you’re making this type of control of people’s lives semi-permanent.”
Mirror
A series of Covid data will determined whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce on Monday if a final easing of coronavirus restrictions in England will go ahead on June 21.
The last stage of the road map out of lockdown is due to see an end to all legal limits on social contact, a reopening of nightclubs, no restrictions on the size of weddings or other gatherings, and the return of large audiences for events such as theatre performances.
The Government has said the decision to lift restrictions will be based on four tests.
These are: whether the vaccine rollout is continuing successfully; if evidence shows vaccines are reducing hospital cases and deaths among people who have been vaccinated; that infection rates are not risking a surge in hospital cases that would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS; and that the Government’s assessment of the risks has not been fundamentally changed by new variants of concern.
Based on these four tests, the latest data offers a mixed picture.
Fisheries
Express
MICHEAL MARTIN has been urged to step in to help Brexit-buffeted Ireland’s fishing industry – with Ireland’s Taoiseach warned hundreds of jobs were at stake.
With EU fishermen now limited in terms of the amount they can spend in UK waters boats from France, Spain and elsewhere are increasingly fishing in Irish waters instead. Ireland’s fishermen are angry at only being able to catch 16 percent of the fish in their own waters as a result of the post-Brexit trade deal signed between the UK and the EU, as well as the reintroduction of an administrative penalty points system.
They also resent EU requirements for catches to be weighted at ports rather than elsewhere as a result of claims that some are failing to be honest in their declarations – requirements which do not apply to EU vessels.
In an open letter to Mr Martin, Aisling Moran, chairwoman of Comhdhail Oilean na hEireann, the Islands’ Federation wrote: “This is a matter of huge importance regarding island community livelihoods and sustainability not to mention heritage and traditions.”
Mrs Moran, writing on behalf of Ireland’s offshore island communities, asked Mr Martin to intervene personally.
She explained: “We implore you to act to prevent the loss of hundreds of jobs, a way of life and a key element to coastal communities, Irish heritage and tradition.
Covid
Times
British scientists have developed a ceiling-mounted “Covid alarm” that can detect whether someone in a room is infected with the coronavirus in as little as 15 minutes.
The highly accurate gadget, little larger than a smoke alarm, could revolutionise screening in aircraft cabins, classrooms, care homes and offices.
Early studies by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University show that the device has an accuracy rate of between 98 and 100 per cent, making it as reliable as gold-standard PCR lab-based Covid-19 tests and far more so than quick lateral-flow tests.
The sensor, made by the Cambridgeshire firm Roboscientific, works by detecting chemicals produced by the skin or present in the breath of people infected with the coronavirus.
Imperial measurements
Express
FANS of pints, inches and pounds hope that imperial measures are poised for a comeback. The Government has confirmed it will consider using post-Brexit freedoms to allow greater use of the traditional measurements.
Today, the only products that can be sold in imperial units are draught beer or cider by pint; milk in “returnable containers” by pint; and precious metals by troy ounce. However, when pushed by Shipley MP Philip Davies to allow goods to be sold in imperial measurements only, business minister Paul Scully said: “Now we have left the EU we will consider whether further limited exemptions can be applied for other traditional uses.” Warwick Cairns, spokesman for the British Weights & Measures Association, said people should be free to use whatever system of measurement they wanted.
He said: “If you go to the supermarket and you want a pound of bananas or a pound of apples or whatever you should be free to ask for it and to receive it.”
Mr Cairns said modern scales which can switch between imperial and metric measurements are now “completely commonplace”.
He looks forward to a renaissance of champagne being sold in pint bottles once again.
Winston Churchill described an imperial pint of champagne as “an ideal size for a man like me”. The wartime PM said a half bottle was “insufficient to tease my brain” but described a pint of champagne as “enough for two at lunch and one at dinner”.
A photograph on the BBC news website shows the G7 summit delegates sitting around an oval table against a backdrop of the Cornish coast, and none of these muppets including the resident clown in Downing Street are wearing face masks. They are indoors and less than 2 metres apart. How is it that he and they feel they are exempt from the Covid 19 laws of this country, whilst the rest of us have to comply through fear of prosecution Johnson expects the rest of the population to adhere to the rules that he set without proper debate in parliament, whilst he and the other so called leaders including von De Luyen sit there without face masks or social distancing. Well, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and I sincerely hope that if Johnson is foolish enough to extend the Covid rules for another 4 weeks or more it should provoke a major backlash from the long suffering British public against both him and his ruddy useless government. Then there is another photograph of the same group standing outside for yet another pointless photoshoot looking skywards at the Red Arrows standing less than a couple of feet of each other and not a face mask in sight. Johnson will be a fool if he thinks he will get away with this transgression of all transgressions…..
Flyer………Katie Hopkins with regard to the G7 Summit ‘would you just piss off back home and leave us alone’ I like it, and couldn’t agree more. Who the hell is interested in this utter garbage called the G7 Summit, probably nobody Of what interest is it to the ordinary man or woman in the street…….it isn’t. Just benefits benefits from it, nobody, except out of touch politicians like the resident clown in Downing Street, and awful journalists like Laura Kuennsberg asking damn stupid questions. Johnson might actually earn a little bit more respect if he told this ridiculous woman to get lost for once, but no he just says ‘thank you Laura for asking that question’. Absolutely no backbone whatsoever. Weak, weak, weak. This country deserves better leadership. We want no part of the European Union nor do we want anything to do with France, a country that increasingly has zilch respect for Britain.
Colin, we need to be interested in the garbage to understand what these idiots are planning for us. Unfortunately they have money and influence to go along with their inflated egos and do present a real danger to us.
Colin. I agree with most of what you say. You are clearly very angry and rightly so. Hope you don’t suffer from high blood pressure!
Shame we can’t just drop a bomb on them. What would happen if we did?
I think all we can do at the moment is just get on with our own lives as best we can, ignoring all those idiots and breaking their rules where we can get away with it.
That’s what I’m doing anyway.
N.I. Isn’t it a pithy that Mr Johnson obviously could not be bothered to check the terms of the agreement that he so glibly presented as the ‘deal’ to set us free! Surely someone on his team could have gone through the fine print and seen this coming! Macron and Co will always ‘lean’ on Johnson because he has shown himself to be politically illiterate!
Lockdown: Why is it always and ‘unnamed’ source (in this case a MInister)? If they have any scruples about the way in which this government has ‘worked-over’ the people of Britain, the he/she should come out of the shadows and give the lead to others (who may well be thinking the same things). If we are stopped from opening up now I can only see mass bankruptcies in business and a very unhappy populace when the unemployment notices start to hit their doormats! The magic money tree cannot continue producing its crop for much longer. The soil from which it grew is now almost barren!
Fishing: All the whining and moaning coming out of the EU about losing their lucrative and unopposed ‘raping’ of Britain’s waters, all goes to prove how much the politicians of Britain have sold their countrymen down the river. Almost of them are ‘Remainers’ it is clear that the political community habitant in the HOC would sell us all for a chance to sup at the EU trough under any terms!
Hedge funds are buying up entire neighbourhoods not just in the USA but they are also ‘parking their cash’ in Canada, the UK, Eire…They are scooping up local newspapers and mopping up news sources. Looks like the Great Reset is well underway with its transfer of power and control to the top 1%. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX_GsnYzYYs
Ceri – yes this is what it’s all about wealth transfer. Even the central banks are buying up assets with freshly printed money; soon they’ll crash the world economy and when highly indebted people have to sell up, they’ll buy up what’s left for pennies on the pound. Hence as they say: “you will own nothing and be much happier.” The financial crisis of 2008 was just a dry practice run, what is coming is a nightmare.
I don’t know about happier unless you’re happy to be a surf or a slave, this is modern day feudalism being imposed. It seems to me that the Chinese business model of slave labour in factories where they have to stop people from committing suicide, the 1% think that this is an ideal situation, hence their desire to turn the West into a third world crap hole.
An ideal time to crash the economy would be a national holiday when most folk have their eyes off the ball. July 4th perhaps? Even without a crash and hisBlack Rock could easily buy 300,000 homes pa and are paying 20-50% over the asking price. If a swathe of others hedgefunds did likewise within say 15 years ordinary folk would have been robbed of the opportunity for the ‘dignity of ownership’, as Margaret Thatcher referred to it when council house tenants were given the chance to buy their homes. Lloyds bank has announced its joining the rush to become landlords. Mrs T must be turning in her grave. Of course, with the media ‘bought’ we peasants will be kept in the dark. Less bread and very few circuses for us.
Those voting Lib/Lab/Con/Green can hardly complain.
Come on Jake you’ve said that line a few times now, come up with something a bit different. Just because some of us voted Conservative once to get Brexit done in 2019, doesn’t mean we are committed hard core Conservatives. Perhaps you would have had us voting for UKIP led by the inept and out of touch Gerard Batten, and thereby letting in the Labour Party or worse and never getting Brexit in any shape or form.
Have we got the Brexit we voted for Colin? What the massive vote for the Tories did do is set back any hope of a challenger party making any headway against the Tories
Now then. Stop fighting among ourselves please!
Katie nails it. What a change from cringing at the unwatchable mainstream media.You wont see her on GB news. And don’t forget how they drag the Queen in to add some look of respectability to the woke convention.
I thought that Katie Hopkins take on the G7 Summit was very good. Just a couple of minutes.
“Katie Hopkins on the Hypocrisy of the G7”
https://youtu.be/PxO1eUKDP_Y
Perfect response to this rabble.
Very good vid from Katie. Have passed it on.