EU

Express
BREXIT tensions between the UK and EU could be dragged on for another 30 years as London and Brussels look to settle their debts to one another.
Brussels and London are at odds over a number of issues six months on from the agreement of a trade deal late last year. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned this week that Northern Ireland tensions are an inevitable consequence of Brexit. The UK and EU have been at odds over the protocol agreed last year, as some in Britain call for a rethink.
Ms von der Leyen reiterated that the protocol was “the only possible solution” to ensure peace and stability in Northern Ireland while protecting the integrity of the EU’s single market.
This has coincided with a drop in UK-EU trade in recent months – official figures show a drop of almost a quarter at the start of 2021 compared with the same period three years ago.
A more long term issue, however, could be the settlement of debts the UK and EU owe each other.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will still owe the UK billions of pounds for decades, as indicated by the institution’s chief Alexander Stubb.

Telegraph
Switzerland said “no deal” to Brussels’ freedom of movement demands and pulled out of seven years of tortured trade negotiations with the European Union on Wednesday.
Bern pulled the plug after years of difficult talks over Single Market access that are reminiscent of the European Commission’s Brexit negotiations with the UK over the past four years.
“The Federal Council today took the decision not to sign the agreement, and communicated this decision to the EU. This brings the negotiations […] to a close,” the Swiss government said.
“There remain substantial differences between Switzerland and the EU on key aspects of the agreement. The conditions are thus not met for the signing of the agreement,” it said after a cabinet meeting.
The commission, which negotiates on behalf of the 27 EU member states, said it took note of the “unilateral decision”.
“We regret this decision,” it said of the move to “terminate” negotiations, which began in 2013.
Swiss ministers blamed EU demands for full access to its job market, including for those seeking work. They said it could have led to non-Swiss citizens getting social security rights in the country.

Mail
Switzerland today walked away from a long-awaited EU trade deal, saying it was not prepared to bow to Brussels’ demands on freedom of movement.
Thirteen years of talks were torched after the Bloc threatened to sever trade ties worth £200 billion unless the Swiss give the EU access to their internal labour market.
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said this would have marked a ‘paradigm shift’ which could result in non-Swiss citizens getting social security rights in the country.
The scrapped talks leave Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with yet another bloody nose after Brexit was finalised in January.
Britain’s departure had brought into sharp focus the need to try and get a handle on economic powerhouses like Switzerland and Norway operating with a special status.

Cummings

Mail
Dominic Cummings yesterday claimed Boris Johnson‘s ‘disastrous’ handling of the pandemic had cost tens of thousands of lives.
Launching a dramatic bid to bring down the Prime Minister, he blamed a toxic mix of complacency and indecision for the needless deaths.
He told MPs that senior ministers and advisers, including himself, had fallen ‘disastrously short’, adding: ‘When the public needed us most, the Government failed. Tens of thousands of people died, who didn’t need to die.’
In an extraordinary seven-hour performance, Mr Cummings launched vicious attacks on Mr Johnson, his fiancée Carrie Symonds and Health Secretary Matt Hancock over their personal conduct during the crisis. Mr Cummings claimed the Prime Minister had been ‘unfit’ for office when Covid struck and was not a ‘fit and proper person’ to lead Britain out of the pandemic.
He said the Prime Minister had dismissed Covid as a ‘scare story’, leading to delays in bringing in lockdowns, which cost many thousands of lives. And he claimed to have heard Mr Johnson rant that he would rather see dead bodies ‘piled high in their thousands’ than order a third lockdown last autumn – a claim the PM has denied.
The former Vote Leave boss also launched a blistering attack on Mr Hancock, accusing him of ‘criminal, disgraceful behaviour’.

Express
DOMINIC Cummings’ allegations about the Government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic have been picked apart by a disaster response expert.
During a seven-hour-long committee hearing on Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s former senior aide discussed the Government’s COVID-19 preparations from early 2020. Mr Cummings said: “There’s not even a plan to bury all the bodies.”
He added: “The Cabinet Office is terrifyingly s***, no plans, totally behind the pace.”
However, Prof Lucy Easthope, an adviser to the Government on disasters, blasted Mr Cummings’ comment on the lack of plans for burying dead bodies as “absolutely untrue”.
Speaking about Mr Cummings’ allegations, Prof Easthope told BBC Newsnight: “There were some fundamental things that weren’t our experience.
“One of which was there was a classic mistake, which is I think used by outsiders to disaster management, which was a lot of comments were made that plans didn’t exist.

BBC News
Health Secretary Matt Hancock will shortly face MPs over Dominic Cummings’ claims he lied to colleagues about his handling of coronavirus.
On Wednesday, Mr Cummings, the prime minister’s former chief adviser, said Mr Hancock should have been sacked by the prime minister.
And Labour has told the BBC Mr Hancock should go if he “intentionally” misled colleagues and the public.
But Mr Hancock’s spokesman “absolutely” rejected Mr Cummings’ claims.
He would continue to work closely with the prime minister in rolling out vaccines, the spokesman added.
The health secretary will appear in the House of Commons at around 10:30 BST to answer an urgent question tabled by Labour about the government’s handling of Covid.
More than 127,000 people have died in the UK with 28 days of a positive test for Covid, according to the government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Evening Standard
Matt Hancock will on Thursday face MPs over allegations made by Dominic Cummings that he lied to colleagues and performed “disastrously” during the Covid pandemic.
The Health Secretary on Wednesday night said he had not seen Mr Cummings’ seven-hour evidence to MPs as he was “saving lives” by dealing with the vaccination rollout.
But he is to answer a Commons urgent question and is due to lead a Government press conference, the day after a scathing attack by Mr Cummings who argued the Cabinet minister should have been sacked on 15 to 20 occasions.
The former de facto Downing Street chief of staff, who apologised for his own shortcomings, also claimed the Prime Minister was “unfit” for the job and that “tens of thousands of people died who didn’t need to die” because of the Government’s failings.

Guido
Unsurprisingly, Matt Hancock’s spokesman has issued a statement rejecting the last seven hours-worth of damning character blows from Dominic Cummings:
“We absolutely reject Mr. Cummings’ claims about the Health Secretary. The Health Secretary will continue to work closely with the Prime Minister to deliver the vaccine rollout, tackle the risks posed by variants and support the NHS.”
No. 10 has also rejected the accusation the PM isn’t fit to lead the country through the pandemic, saying “We categorically reject this claim.” For some masochistic reason, Hancock is leading a Covid presser tomorrow night…

France

Mail
Britons going to France will have to quarantine for at least seven days and provide a negative coronavirus test due to fears over the spread of the Indian variant.
Arrivals from Britain will be forced to self-isolate in a bid to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 mutation, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
France placed the UK on its version of the ‘amber list’, meaning arrivals face isolation, supervised by police, with fines of between €1,000 and €1,500 for breaking the rules.
The new rules, expected to come into force on Monday, demand a negative PCR test at least 36 hours before touching down in France, or an antigen test done within 24 hours of entry.
The country follows Austria, which said on Tuesday it was banning direct flights and tourist visits from Britain, and Germany, which said on Friday that anyone entering from the UK would have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival.
Britain joins a list of 15 countries already on France’s mandatory quarantine list – including Brazil, India, Argentina and Turkey. Currently, Brits arriving into France are told they must isolate for seven days but there is no enforcement.
Portugal and Gibraltar are on Britain’s quarantine-free green list. Those coming back from European destinations on the amber list face having to quarantine for 10 days in Britain.

Evening Standard
France has become the latest European country to announce restrictions for UK travellers as they try to halt the spread of the Indian Covid variant.
The French government said anyone arriving from the UK after May 31 must quarantine for seven days. France is still on the UK’s amber list of countries.
It comes as NHS data in England shows rising numbers of people are seeking help from their GP after numbers dropped significantly over the past year, the BBC reported.
The total number of appointments dropped by 10 per cent which meant 31 million fewer consultations.

Telegraph
Britons travelling to France face having to quarantine for at least seven days and present negative Covid tests under restrictions to combat the spread of the Indian variant.
On Wednesday, French ministers were preparing to place Britain on the country’s equivalent of the amber list, with self-isolation supervised by police with powers to levy fines of between €1,000 and €1,500.
It means Britons would have to self-isolate for seven days with a PCR test required at least 48 hours before arrival. The new regime has yet to be formally announced, but is expected to be introduced within days.
The French policy conflicts with the European Commission’s proposal to allow entry to the bloc to all fully vaccinated people.
However, the move echoes the decisions this week by Germany and Austria to enforce a ban on non-essential travel from the UK amid concerns about the Indian variant.
It creates a north-south divide in Europe after Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy opened their borders to prospective British holidaymakers this month.
Only Portugal and Gibraltar are, however, on the UK’s quarantine-free green list, with travellers returning from other amber list European destinations required to self-isolate for 10 days in the UK.

Covid

Mail
NHS bosses have said the next seven days will be ‘crucial’ in assessing whether Covid jabs work, with all eyes on hospitalisation data as daily cases yesterday passed 3,000 for the first time in a month.
Infections rose by 18 per cent yesterday compared to last Wednesday, while hospital admissions rose 11 per cent compared with the previous seven days, according to official figures.
Though increasing cases are usually followed by rises in hospitalisations and deaths, officials are hoping that the jabs roll-out will break that link after just nine deaths were recorded on Wednesday.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers which represents health service trusts, said that hospitals in Indian variant hotspots in England were seeing cases rise steadily. But they were not increasing ‘at an alarming rate’, as he said: ‘The next seven days will be crucial, and trusts will be monitoring the data closely’.
He added that hospital admissions appeared to be of patients who had not been vaccinated, explaining: ‘This hammers home just how important it is to have a vaccination’.
Britain’s mammoth vaccine drive continued at full steam ahead, with 387,987 top-up jabs dished out across the country – taking the UK’s number of fully vaccinated adults to more than 23.6 million.
Another 186,147 first doses were also administered, with 38.4 million adults – or 72.9 per cent – having had at least one jab. England’s roll-out was today expanded to 30 and 31-year-olds.
Observing the rise in cases, Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London – dubbed ‘Professor Lockdown’ because of his role in the Government’s handling of the pandemic – said the increase had been anticipated.
Though he suggested that restrictions could be extended beyond June 21, he also reassured that the country’s jabs roll-out meant the UK is in a ‘much better place’ than during the second wave in December.

Indian variant

Mirror
The scientist behind the UK’s lockdown has warned the Indian variant could lead to tighter restrictions.
Professor Neil Ferguson said that the B.1.617.2 strain could hinder the government’s roadmap out of lockdown if it is shown to be much more transmissible than previous variants.
The Imperial College London scientist was one of the first to publicly warn of the true danger of Covid-19 and called for a strict lockdown in February last year.
Speaking at a German media briefing today, the SAGE member warned lockdown measures may need to be tightened if the Indian variant spreads at too fast a rate.
His caution came as data showed the mutated virus is now spreading in almost half of England’s 300-plus authorities.
Against that backdrop, Professor Ferguson said it was “impossible” to say whether the June 21 date for the final lockdown lifting would go ahead.

Scotland

Guardian
Nicola Sturgeon has opened formal talks with the Scottish Greens on a cooperation deal in government, in a move designed to cement a pro-independence majority at Holyrood and bolster its pro-climate credentials.
In a move mooted before the May elections, the first minister said the Scottish National party and Scottish Greens could jointly write policies on the climate crisis and the shift to net zero, in return for Green votes to back her spending plans and legislation.
The deal, which is likely to stop short of a full coalition agreement, could see the Greens win ministerial seats in future, Sturgeon told MSPs.
A deal would be used by Sturgeon to strengthen her hand in the battle with Boris Johnson’s government for the legal authority to hold a second independence referendum and to ensure any referendum legislation carries a clear parliamentary mandate.
With 64 of Holyrood’s 129 seats, the SNP is one short of an overall majority but with the Scottish Greens’ seven votes, an agreement would produce a formally aligned pro-independence majority of 14 votes. The Greens won eight seats on 6 May, but its MSP Alison Johnstone has been made presiding officer, making her neutral.
Speaking as she unveiled her government’s post-election policies, which will focus heavily on a post-pandemic recovery programme and investing in the NHS, Sturgeon made clear staging a referendum was her medium-term goal.

Gibraltar

Express
GIBRALTARIANS and Spaniards who cross the border between the UK territory and the EU for work each day are being kept in limbo as a provisional post-Brexit deal approaches expiration with no permanent boundary rules in sight.
The UK struck the deal with the EU at the eleventh hour last December as the expiration of the Brexit transition period fast approached. It meant that until the end of June the overseas territory bordering southern Spain would be kept in the Schengen zone.
With just weeks to go until the pact runs a long-term agreement has yet to come to fruition – and delays are on the horizon.
After Britons voted to sever ties with Brussels in June 2016 the number of cross-border workers in Gibraltar has continued to shoot up.
It has grown from 12,361 employees (7,153 of whom are Spaniards) to 14,402 (9,248 Spaniards), according to data released by the government of Gibraltar.
Many workers are worried which has prompted the Gibraltar Cross Border Workers Association to call for urgent action to be taken.
Part of the agreement aims to topple the fence separating the territory from its Spanish neighbour.
Under the terms of the deal Frontex, the EU’s border and coastguard agency, would play a role.
The body would work with authorities in Spain and Gibraltar to look after border control at the port and airport.

HS2

BBC News
The firm behind HS2 was “dishonest and misleading” in its handling of a compensation claim from a member of the public who had to sell their home to make way for the line, a report claims.
HS2 also “failed to properly engage” with the complainant leading to a breakdown in trst, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said.
HS2 has previously been accused of poor communication with communities.
The rail firm said it accepted the findings but had changed its practices.
“This report focuses on historic issues relating to an individual property case from 2017,” a spokesman said.
“In the four years since this review commenced there have been significant changes to HS2 Ltd, our responsiveness, and the complaints handling approach.”
Compulsory land purchases have been necessary to make way for High Speed Two, which will link London with the West Midlands from 2026.

US

Express
JOE BIDEN’s administration has warned Boris Johnson must uphold the Good Friday Agreement after Ireland had crunch talks with US counterparts.
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on EU-US relations as well as the Brexit situation in Northern Ireland. After the talks this week, both men united to urge Britain to uphold the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol, which was agreed as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement which came into force at the beginning of this year.
But a new raft of checks on goods at the ports of Belfast and Larne under the terms of the protocol have sparked anger among unionists and loyalists who feel Northern Ireland is being separated from the rest of the UK.
The US and Ireland say the Protocol protects the Good Friday Agreement, agreed in 1998, to ensure peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland after the Troubles.
Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary said: “We certainly continue to closely monitor issues in Northern Ireland.
“We welcome the provisions of the trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union and the Northern Ireland Protocol which will help to protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement.”

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