Northern Ireland Protocol 

Express
LORD Frost will warn the EU this week that the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) is “not sustainable” and major changes are needed if it is to continue.
The cabinet office minister responsible for talks with the EU is set to open negotiations on the future of NIP later this week. It comes as senior Conservative MPs have been privately pressing Lord Frost to ditch the agreement altogether.
However, Downing Street has insisted that Lord Frost is not planning on scrapping the protocol but focussed on finding a way forward which works for both sides.
But a source close to him has acknowledged that it is “undermining the territorial integrity of the UK” and therefore must be changed.
The warning does open the door to it being ditched if the EU continues to refuse to compromise.
A senior government source said: “The way the Protocol is currently operating is undermining the territorial integrity of the UK. Trade patterns have changed and the level of day-to-day disruption is simply unsustainable. 

The Express has another story on the subject, as does GB News. 

Article 16 

Express 
LORD FROST has declared the threshold for the implementation of Article 16 has been met, and that for it to work “we need to see substantial and significant change” in a speech today.
In a speech given by Lord Frost at the British-Irish Association, the Brexit minister declared it was “clear” the threshold for triggering Article 16 has been met, allowing the UK Government to “take a range of safeguard measures on this basis”. Article 16 refers to the provision for appropriate safeguard measures, and its implementation comes following burdens being placed on Northern Ireland businesses as a result of the Brexit deal.
Article 16 of the NI protocol allows the EU or UK to unilaterally suspend aspects of its operations if either side considers that aspect to be causing “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade.”
As the article has been triggered, the other side is allowed to take “rebalancing” steps in response.
In his speech, Lord Frost referred to three areas that need to see change in future arrangements made with the EU.
He highlighted the importance of the movement of goods into Northern Ireland, the standards for goods within Northern Ireland, and the governance arrangements for regulating this. 

Fisheries 

Express
A TENSE fishing row erupted after the European Commission lodged a complaint with the UK Government after Jersey allegedly failed to inform them about the closure of part of the English Channel for French vessels.
Eurocrats lodged the complaint about claims Jersey’s government did not fully inform their French counterparts about the closure of a fish breeding ground for Bream. The order, put forward earlier this year but has recently come to an end, prevented all fishing vessels from fishing in the bream-spawning grounds to the north of the British Crown Dependency.
It comes after a French vessel was sanctioned by Jersey authorities for working in the area whilst restrictions were in place.
John Young, Jersey’s Environment Minister, added of the complaint: “The order for the bream area was a new one and the EU had complained that we had not given proper notice of it, so there are a number of circumstances that surrounded that.
“You have still got to go through a proper process of giving notification to the EU and they complained formally to the British government, saying we had not done that.”
Jersey and France with support of the European Union have been at loggerheads for the last four months after the Channel Island authorities attempted to introduce new strict post-Brexit licensing laws for fishing. 

EU 

Express
A EUROPEAN UNION military force, advocated by senior EU officials, would reportedly “divide Europe”, NATO’s secretary general has warned.
After witnessing the chaotic fall of Afghanistan, EU officials reportedly pushed for a united European reaction force capable of acting independently and not relying on the US. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general and former Norwegian Prime Minister, told The Telegraph he welcomed “more European efforts on defence” but warned the strategic force would risk overstretching the “scarce resources” of NATO allies.
Responding to reports calling for a unit of up to 20,000 troops to be deployable across the globe, Mr Stoltenberg said the force could “divide Europe”.
He said: “I welcome more European efforts on defence but that can never replace NATO and we need to make sure that Europe and North America band together.
“Any attempt to weaken the bond between North America and Europe will not only weaken NATO, it will divide Europe.”
He added: “This is partly about money – 80 per cent of our defence expenditure comes from non-EU allies… 

There’s a similar story in the Telegraph. 

Police 

Telegraph
The Government is considering establishing a reservist police force to allow highly skilled specialists and former officers to join in the fight against crime, The Telegraph can reveal.
Operating along similar lines to the Armed Forces reserve, recruits could be called upon in times of increased demand to support regular officers.
Retired officers, or those who have left the service early, could also be retained for a period in order to bolster numbers, especially in experienced ranks.
Volunteers would be rewarded for their time and the scheme would also help cement relationships between the police and wider society, it is said.
But the real value is thought to be in persuading highly trained professionals from the private sector – especially in fields such as cyber security and digital technology – to volunteer their time and skills.
Police leaders believe by tapping into the technological expertise available in big business they will be better placed to develop their digital crime fighting skills. 

Education 

Observer
Schools in the poorest parts of England are set to be hit hardest by a controversial change in how the government allocates pupil premium funding, the Observer can reveal.
Normally, the government gives the funding to each school in England based on the number of children eligible for free school meals (FSM) in January of the previous school year.
But this year’s funding will be based on the number of FSM children at each school in October 2020 rather than January 2021 – meaning schools will miss out on pupil premium funding for FSM children who enrolled between those months.
Data sourced under the Freedom of Information Act by the Observershows the financial impact will be biggest in the poorest areas. Schools in the most deprived 10% of areas in England each enrolled an average of seven extra FSM pupils between October 2020 and January 2021, compared with 2.6 extra FSM pupils at each school in the least deprived locations.
The Observer’s figures cover 17,048 schools in 117 local authorities – nearly 80% of all the local authorities in England.
Most councils have not yet calculated the financial impact of the change in date on each school. But Haringey, in London, estimated a total loss of £691,110 in pupil premium funding due to the change in date, with one school in a particularly deprived part of the borough set to miss out on £44,385. This year Schools Week website estimated the total funding loss for schools in England to be around £125m. 

Covid 

Mail
MPs have urged the BBC to stop broadcasting daily coronavirus statistics in its news bulletins and stop ‘frightening’ people from living their lives.
Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said flagging the regular Covid statistics meant even fully vaccinated people were ‘scared of normal life’.
The Conservative MP said last night: ‘The vaccines are really good at stopping hospitalisation and death, yet every night we report the infection rate – why?
‘Why does the BBC throw over every single bit of data, when Covid is about sixth on the death toll? Can we have the death toll for pneumonia while we’re at it? 
‘Cancer, heart disease, liver problems? Why are we continuing with the Covid stuff on the BBC and the main news channels? It frightens people.
‘Older people are still asking, ‘Are we allowed to hug now?’ Even when they have had all the jabs.
‘We have people who are now scared of normal life.’ 

There’s more in the Mirror. 

Social care 

Mail
Chancellor Rishi Sunak was last night ‘playing hardball’ over Boris Johnson’s proposed care tax as tense negotiations over new money for the NHS went down to the wire.
Downing Street had been hoping to secure agreement with the Treasury over the new NHS and Social Care Levy by early yesterday and to announce the details on Tuesday.
But amid mounting tensions between No 10 and No 11, by early evening Mr Sunak was still demanding assurances from the Prime Minister that, once introduced, the £10 billion-a-year levy would cover the cost of dealing with the NHS’s Covid backlog – and that he would not be forced to keep finding top-up funds from depleted Treasury coffers.
The row has come amid growing Westminster rumours that Mr Johnson could reshuffle his Cabinet as early as Thursday, as part of a plan to ‘relaunch’ his Government for the autumn.
The rumours started after some advisers were told to ‘block out their diaries’ for the end of the week, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson favourites to be moved.
Despite the tensions with Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak is presumed to be safe in his role because his popularity within the party would make him too great a threat to Mr Johnson if he were stripped of the job.
No 10 and No 11 were also negotiating yesterday a separate, multi-billion-pound boost for the NHS this winter to cover the period until the proposed levy comes into effect in April.  

This story is also covered in the Times, Evening Standard, ITV News, BBC News, iNews 

Vaccine 

Mail
Sajid Javid is set to roll out plans to make a Covid-19 vaccination a requirement for all members of NHS staff.
It is believed by ministers that mandatory jabs for all NHS workers would help restrict the spread of the virus within hospitals and could ‘save lives’.
However, with the plans predicted to be rolled out as early as this week, The Telegraph reports that the move could spark a mass exodus of staff.
The publication reports that as many as one in four NHS workers in certain hospitals had not received a dose of the vaccine by April, and a Facebook group, called ‘NHS workers for choice, no restrictions for declining a vaccine’ has amassed as many as 2,600 members. 
A Department of Health spokesman told the publication: ‘NHS staff have a duty of care to those most vulnerable to Covid-19 and we are encouraging all frontline staff to come forward for the jab
‘Ensuring the NHS is well-staffed is a top priority for this Government and we will continue to work with employers to ensure they have the right number of staff to meet increasing demand.’
A similar requirement has already been enforced on care home workers, resulting in a staffing shortages, with all staff expected to have their first jab by September 16.
However, experts are predicting that as much as seven per cent of the care homes workforce could be depleted by the zero-tolerance policy. 

The Telegraph also has the story. 

Cop26 

Independent
No 10 has been plotting how to cut Nicola Sturgeon out of Cop26 to prevent the first minister stealing the limelight, The Independent can reveal.
Advisers at No 10 and the Cabinet Office have been trying to work out how to prevent this autumn’s landmark Glasgow summit from becoming an “advert” for Scottish independence.
The strategising was provoked by fears that Ms Sturgeon might attempt to hijack the summit for her own political ends, according to meeting notes and WhatsApp messages seen by The Independent.
According to the notes, it was suggested that public statements tied to the summit should focus on Glasgow as a city in the UK, and that mentions of Scotland should refer to its place within the United Kingdom wherever possible.
It was also suggested in messages that the prime minister, Boris Johnson, should avoid sharing a platform with Ms Sturgeon in the run-up to and during the event, and that he should “neutralise” her by including other devolved leaders where possible. 

Several other news media, including Mail, Express, GBNews, have picked up the story. 

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