Trade deal

Independent
The EU has secured the ability to shut off gas and electricity supplies if the UK tries to seize control of disputed fish stocks in future, experts are warning.  The sanction – which would hike prices and possibly trigger blackouts – makes a mockery of the prime minister’s claim to have “taken control” of British waters in his trade agreement, they say. The little-noticed clause in the vast 1,255-page text allows Brussels to kick the UK out of its electricity and gas markets in June 2026, unless a fresh deal is agreed. The date set is – deliberately – the same as for the review of fishing rights, when Mr Johnson has insisted the UK will finally grab a large share of stocks, having failed to do that in his agreement. The Institute for Government said Brussels had been determined to secure a connection “between energy and fish” in the negotiations that finally concluded on Christmas Eve. “It seems that, in the weeds of the deal, they’ve succeeded,” Maddy Thimont Jack, the IfG’s associate director, told The Independent: “By including annual negotiations on energy from 2026, it would be very easy to leverage access to the EU’s energy market in the annual talks on fish – also starting in 2026.

Express
BORIS Johnson’s Brexit trade deal comes into force tonight after winning the overwhelming backing of Parliament in a high-speed series of votes. In an historic sitting yesterday, legislation to ensure the new rules governing trade between the UK and EU are activated from 11pm was backed by a thumping 448-vote Commons majority. Peers were on course to approve the EU (Future Relationship) Bill late last night. And the Queen was expected to enshrine the legislation into law by giving the measure the Royal Assent early today. MPs voted by a 571 to 73 to give the Bill formal second and third readings. On their December 30 sitting since 1912, the legislation speeded through all Commons stages in a single day.

Times
Tory Brexiteers hailed a historic victory yesterday as they voted en masse to enshrine the government’s free trade agreement with Europe into law. At its first December recall since the Second World War, the House of Commons backed the government’s deal by 521 votes to 73, putting it on course to receive royal assent last night. Boris Johnson opened the debate by hailing the start of a new chapter in Britain’s relationship with Europe. He struck a conciliatory tone, saying the agreement marked the end of decades of “vexed” debate about that relationship and that Britain could now become a “friendly neighbour — the best friend and ally the EU could have”.

Guardian
Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels has passed into law following a whirlwind 14-hour parliamentary process that has radically redrawn the UK’s ties with Europe. The prime minister thanked MPs and peers for passing the European Union (future relationship) bill in one day, in a statement urging the nation to “seize” the moment when the transition period with the bloc ends at 11pm on Thursday. It was announced that the Queen had given approval to the European Union (future relationship) bill at 12.25am on Thursday morning.

Breitbart
Both chambers of Britain’s Houses of Parliament have ratified Boris Johnson’s European Union trade deal, meaning the new treaty will be British law when the country ends the Brexit transition period on December 31st. Boris Johnson’s EU trade deal passed the final stage late on Wednesday night, having passed back and forth between the Commons and the House of Lords — skipping the committee stage altogether — in near-record time. While Parliamentary bills, especially major ones, can take weeks and months to get through the scrutiny of the two Houses, the Parliamentary authorities pulled out all the stops to allow today’s Brexit bill to pass all stages in just one sitting day.

Mail
Boris Johnson has heralded a ‘new beginning in our country’s history’ after his Brexit trade deal was signed into law, setting the stage for a smooth divorce from the EU tonight. The Prime Minister thanked MPs and peers for rushing the Bill through Parliament in just one day so it could take effect at exactly 11pm this evening when the UK’s transition period ends.   At 12.25am, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs that the EU (Future Relationship) Act 2020, had been granted royal assent by the Queen.

Express
BREXIT-supporting MP John Redwood welcomed the trade deal Boris Johnson secured with the European Union but admitted he feared for the consequences of two key clauses included in the agreement. John Redwood said the UK will finally re-acquire control over legislation and the prosperity of the British people now a Brexit trade agreement has been found with the European Union. The eurosceptic MP however admitted to feeling concerned about at least two aspects of the agreement Boris Johnson struck with Brussels on Christmas Eve. Speaking to colleagues in the Commons on Wednesday, he said: “We stand on the threshold of independence day so bring on the measures.  “I do have a couple of worries about this agreement. The first is over fishing.

Times
Boris Johnson signed the EU trade treaty in a historic moment yesterday that marked an end to Britain’s 47-year close relationship with the bloc. The prime minister ratified the deal as he united his warring party and secured opposition backing for a bill that enshrines the agreement into law. The legislation was overwhelmingly approved in the Commons by 521 to 73, with no Conservative MP voting against it. The House of Lords also passed the bill and it was announced at about 12.30 this morning that it had received royal assent.

Scotland

Express
BORIS Johnson and the Tories have highlighted the strength of the Union but warned its future is at risk in next May’s election as Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP seeks another “divisive” independence referendum. In New Year’s Messages, UK Tory bigwigs issued stern warnings as Scots are set to return to polling stations in May. Speaking today, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross urged voters to turn to Unionism in a bid to force the SNP out of 13 years of power. He added: “The people of Scotland are due to return to the polling stations. “It is no exaggeration to say the country’s future is at stake.

Express
THE SNP’s Ian Blackford infuriated Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle this morning after deliberately sabotaging the Brexit trade deal debate to make the case of Scottish independence. The party’s Westminster leader intervened in a debate on the Brexit trade agreement with the EU to make a point of order – a procedure usually used to highlight inaccuracies or irregularities in a Commons debate. However, Mr Blackford interrupted the Prime Minister’s opening statement in the debate to promote Scottish independence.  He said: “It’s the people of Scotland that are sovereign, and it’s the people of Scotland that will determine to take them back into the European Union with independence.”

Vaccine

Telegraph
Boris Johnson has said Britain is in a “race” to roll out a newly-approved Covid vaccine in order to avoid a third national lockdown as the new virus variant surges across the country. On the day regulators finally approved the Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab, the Prime Minister was forced to place more than three quarters of the country into the highest tier of Covid restrictions. On Wednesday, 50,023 people tested positive for the virus, with 981 deaths, the highest number since April. Mr Johnson said there was light at the end of the tunnel and that “the tunnel has been shortened and we are moving faster through it” thanks to the efforts of British scientists.

Times
Britain will open up by Easter with approval of the Oxford vaccine allowing an accelerated end to social distancing, Boris Johnson promised last night. At least two million people a week are expected to be vaccinated with the NHS aiming to have reached almost 30 million by the end of May. After regulators said that a single dose of the Oxford vaccine could achieve 70 per cent protection, the focus will shift to giving as many people as possible the first jab with second doses delayed for up to three months.

Sky News
One of the UK’s top advisers has warned people not to behave with “wild abandon” after the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine became the second coronavirus jab to be approved for UK use. It has been given the go-ahead by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The vaccine, codenamed AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, was developed at Oxford University with support from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. A first dose of the jab gives around 70% effectiveness from three weeks after immunisation, according to the MHRA and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

Mail
Having one of the new coronavirus vaccines does not mean Britons, including pensioners, can act with ‘wild abandon and go off to the bingo halls’, the Deputy chief medical officer has said. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam was asked at Wednesday’s Downing Street press conference whether people who have had two doses of a vaccine would still have to follow strict rules such as not seeing their families. The scientist defined the question as whether ‘it’s OK to behave with wild abandon and go off to the bingo halls and so forth’. He said a lot was still unknown about whether jabs stopped people passing the disease to others and urged people to be ‘patient’.

Education

Telegraph
One million primary school pupils will not return to classrooms as planned next term as Boris Johnson unveiled sweeping school closures and warned more could follow. The Prime Minister said that in order to combat the spread of the new coronavirus variant, the majority of secondary school pupils will now stay at home until “at least” January 18, two weeks after term was supposed to start. Those in exam years 11 and 13 will return on January 11. Only the children of key workers and vulnerable children will go back on January 4, the scheduled start date. It means the staggered start to term which had previously been announced will be  moved back by a week.

BBC News
All schools in England should be open again “at the earliest possible moment”, the education secretary says. Gavin Williamson told BBC Breakfast there was “absolutely no reason schools won’t be ready” ready to test pupils returning on 11 January. It comes as people are being warned to avoid New Year’s Eve celebrations amid surging coronavirus cases. An intensive care doctor urged people not to gather and said those who do not wear masks have “blood on their hands”. Some 20 million people in England have been told to “stay at home” after tier four was expanded at midnight, joining the 24 million already in the toughest restrictions

iNews
Millions of pupils in England will not return to schools and colleges until the middle of January in an attempt to slow the spread of Covid-19, the Education Secretary announced. Gavin Williamson was forced to tear up his plans to stagger the reopening of secondaries and colleges, with students now going back to the classroom a week later than previously planned.  Students in years with exams will return on 11 January, and the remainder will go back from 18 January. The proposals will be kept “under review”, he added. Mr Williamson also revealed that primary schools across many parts of London and the South East would remain closed until 18 January, in an effort to lower infection rates in the worst-hit areas.

ITV News
All pupils in exam years will return to secondary schools in England from January 11 while the rest of secondary and college students will go back full-time on January 18 – a delay to the planned return to school. The majority of primary schools in England will return after the Christmas break as planned on January 4, but secondary school pupils will return later in the month. Primary schools in a “small number of areas” of England where Covid-19 infection rates are the highest will not reopen for face-to-face teaching to all pupils as planned next week, he told MPs. The reopening of secondary schools is delayed with years 11 and 13 returning on January 11 and the other years returning on January 18. Who will go back to school when?

Times
Millions of children face further disruption to their education after the government said that pupils would not be able to return to school for a fortnight after the Christmas holidays. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, told MPs yesterday that primary schools in the worst-hit parts of England were unlikely to reopen their doors except to vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers. His department published a list of 49 areas that will be affected, mostly in highly populated parts of the capital and the southeast of England. It includes 22 of the 33 London boroughs.

Sun
MILLIONS of schoolkids in the worst-hit Covid areas will stay home for at least an extra two weeks after the Christmas holidays, it was confirmed yesterday. Thousands of schools in 49 hardest-hit Covid areas will remain closed because of spiralling cases – except for vulnerable kids and children of key workers. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said this afternoon he would do “everything” to keep children in school, and the majority of primary schools will reopen on Monday, January 4. But, in nearly 50 Tier 4 areas where infection rates are highest,  ALL schools will have to close, including primaries, it was confirmed tonight. That includes most of London, Essex, Kent, and a handful of areas in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Sussex – but key workers and vulnerable pupils can still attend.

Guardian
More than three-quarters of England’s population will enter 2021 being urged to “stay at home”, with the reopening of schools also delayed in the hardest-hit areas, as the government battles to contain the new variant of coronavirus. Boris Johnson warned the public it was time to “redouble our efforts” against the virus on Wednesday, as the government used a one-day sitting in the House of Commons to announce a slew of tough new measures, including plunging many more areas into tier 4. Amid criticism of the government’s fractured approach to the start of the new school term and renewed calls for a national lockdown, the prime minister said: “No one regrets these measures more bitterly than I do. But we must take firm action now.”

Morning Star
HUNDREDS of thousands of pupils will not now return to schools and colleges as planned next week due to rising Covid infection rates. Announcing a U-turn on the government’s “staggered reopening” today, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said that students in exam years will return to secondary schools from January 11, a week later than planned. Other secondary and college students will go back full-time on January 18, he told Parliament. However only primary schools in a “small number of areas” where Covid-19 infection rates are at their highest will not reopen for face-to-face teaching to all pupils as planned next week. NEU joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: “We are astonished at today’s announcement.

Evening Standard
Local leaders in London areas including Greenwich, Islington, Hackney and Haringey have expressed confusion and indignation after they were omitted from the Government’s list of authorities advised to keep schools shut. Around a million primary school pupils in parts of England hardest hit by Covid-19 will not return to their desks as planned next week, in a bid to curb rising infection rates and the spread of the new variant of coronavirus across the UK. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs in the Commons that primary schools in a “small number of areas” will not reopen for face-to-face teaching at the start of the new term as originally hoped. A list of the 50 areas where primary schools are expected to remain closed to nearly all pupils was published by the Department for Education (DfE) on Wednesday evening, featuring places in London, Essex, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire.

Mail
Boris Johnson has halted plans for more than a million primary school pupils to return to classrooms next week as he vowed to ‘redouble’ efforts to stem the mutant strain of coronavirus. Primary schools in heavily afflicted areas such as London, Essex and Kent will now not be allowed to reopen on January 4 as ministers had hoped.  Only vulnerable children and the children of key workers will be allowed to return to their desks, while the rest will be forced to attend lessons online. The Prime Minister also pushed back the start of term for the bulk of secondary school pupils by a week, meaning they are now set to return on January 18 rather than January 11 – when only Years 11 and 13 preparing for exams will go back.

Dover

BBC News
The operators of one of the crucial Dover to Calais routes has insisted the recent chaos with thousands of lorries stranded in Kent will be avoided when new trading rules begin later tonight. “I’m confident that it will work well on 1 January,” John Keefe, director at Channel Tunnel operator Getlink, said. But one logistics firm said it would not send any trucks across until 10 January due to congestion fears. And the government has said it expects “some disruption” due to the changes. Hauliers in Britain taking goods to the EU and Northern Ireland will need new paperwork from 23.00 GMT tonight as the UK’s new trading relationship with Europe begins. The government warned those without correct documentation would be stopped.

Armed forces

Telegraph
The Army’s move away from “bog standard green” tank camouflage has reduced detection rates by 80 per cent, a new trial has shown. Field trials of an innovative multi-patterned camouflage could add another layer of deception to protect soldiers in combat. The new Multi Coloured Digital Camouflage Five (MCDC5) is designed to work in both urban and rural settings.  Recent studies by the army, as part of the Hide, Deceive, Survive project, have shown the new camouflage can cut detection by trained soldiers down to 20 per cent, compared to existing paint schemes. Lieutenant Colonel Rob Page, the Commanding Officer of the Armoured Trials and Development Unit believes it is a “big win”.

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