Brexit 

Express
THE EU has been told “to cooperate” and engage with London to help achieve a post-Brexit equivalence agreement with Brussels.
UK Government officials say recent arguments on post-Brexit fishing rights were causing the EU to “play a political game” on securing a future Brexit deal on UK financial services. Speaking after the Isda derivatives Conference, a UK Government source said: “There is no or little cooperation between Brussels and London on this matter, there needs to be.
“It seems to be a political game due to fishing issues.
“We want to agree on a deal but the EU needs to cooperate right away.”
It comes after an EU financial chief said there was “no rush” to look at the issue of equivalence, required to secure a deal.
Tilman Lüder, head of securities markets unit of the European Commission, told the conference: “We acknowledge issues have emerged in trading between EU and UK entities as a result of Brexit.
“However, there are political constraints on the solutions.”
New Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) arrangements for a new post-Brexit financial services in March stopped short of implementing any new access arrangements allowing banking, insurance and legal advice to be exported to the bloc.
Instead, it is expected a new forum will be developed where both sides will meet twice a year to discuss policy.
Financial services were mostly excluded from the Brexit trade deal amid fears EU cities such as Amsterdam could take London’s crown as the centre of the continent for finance. 

Guardian
The British government has said it hopes the EU would not take retaliatory measures if it was forced to unilaterally suspend the special Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Lord Frost told MPs that in the interests of stability and peace, he hoped that the “EU would not make that more difficult by reacting to it”.
While he said he hoped “that we are not in the situation”, Frost made it clear during an exchange with members of the Commons’ European scrutiny committee that unilateral action was something the UK would consider if it were not able to reach agreement on border checks, mandated in the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
His remarks come as talks between officials in London and Brussels continue, with the UK-proposed checks on food crossing the Irish sea being phased in from the autumn in four stages.
But Frost made clear there was still a gulf in thinking and repeatedly suggested that the EU was undermining the peace process brokered in 1998 by Tony Blair and the then Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern. 

Express
BREXIT architect Lord David Frost has been told in no uncertain terms by Brexiteer Ben Habib he must back up his tough talk with action – by pulling the plug on the much-criticised Northern Ireland Protocol.
Cabinet Minister Lord Frost – who negotiated the trade deal which Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed in December – has made little secret of his unhappiness with the NI Protocol, the mechanism agreed by the UK and the EU with the intention of preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland. Many within the unionist community are angry because they believe the arrangement has instead resulted in a border down the Irish Sea which leaves Northern Ireland  cut off from the rest of the UK.
Former Brexit Party MEP Mr Habib is the co-sponsor of a Judicial Review into the legality of the NI Protocol which got underway at the High Court of Northern Ireland in Belfast last week.
He told Express.co.uk: “Lord Frost is well liked by Brexiteers. His rhetoric is encouraging.
“He insists the EU must step aside when it comes to matters of British sovereignty but his actions belie his rhetoric.
“For, if he truly believed in the United kingdom being sovereign, he would cease dealing with the EU in the matter of the Northern Ireland Protocol.”
Referring to Lord Frost’s opposite number, former EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, Mr Habib said: “The EU has repeatedly shown its contempt for the integrity of our country.
“Barnier is on the record saying the price of Brexit would be Northern Ireland. 

Express
BREXIT is a “major step backwards” the damage from which “cannot be undone”, Ireland’s Taoiseach has declared in a blunt assessment of Britain’s decision to quit the bloc, after his crunch meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Micheal Martin made his remarks during a speech at an event marking the 30th Anniversary of the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin entitled Ireland in a Changing  European Union. And the Fianna Fail leader – who replaced Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar as the country’s leader just under a year ago – stressed the need for a “rebuild a constructive and sustainable relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom”, while emphasising the result of the 2016 referendum continued to reverberate across the continent.
In a clear swipe at Brexiteers, Mr Martin said: “The referendum, together with the decades of anti-EU rhetoric which preceded it and the drawn-out negotiations which followed, caused damage which cannot be undone.
“As I have said many times before, Brexit is a major step-backwards and there is no upside to it.
“However, it is now a reality and we must do whatever we can to limit the scale of its negative impact.”
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK signed in December, taken together with the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, represented the “best possible outcome in the circumstances”, Mr Martin claimed.
He added: “There is no useful purpose served in keeping the debate about Brexit going.
“If we want what is best for us all then we need to retire this dispute and focus on the full and effective implementation of what has been agreed. 

Vaccine passports 

Telegraph
British holidaymakers are on Wednesday set to be given the green light by the EU to use “vaccine passports” to enter Europe.
EU ambassadors are expected to sign off a plan allowing fully-vaccinated Britons to fly to Europe without having to have a Covid test or quarantine.
It came as the bosses of BA and Heathrow issued a joint plea to the Government to publish an advance list of its “green” countries for the summer to enable families to plan holidays.
Currently, all European countries bar green-listed Portugal and Gibraltar are rated “amber” by the Government, requiring travellers to quarantine and take two PCR tests on their return.  
The EU plan would see member states adopt uniform entry requirements, giving fully-vaccinated holidaymakers from low-risk countries such as the UK unrestricted entry to Spain, France, Italy and other popular destinations.
It would, however, create a system that would see the rest of the bloc accept passengers based on vaccination status while the UK confers no such status on those who have had the jab and instead requires testing or quarantine for all returning holidaymakers.
On Monday, thousands of Britons flew to Portugal on holiday as the Government’s travel ban was lifted under step three of its roadmap out of lockdown. 

Mail
The EU is expected to sign off on plans for Britons who have had both jabs to fly to Europe without having to quarantine or take a Covid test. 
The European Union’s new plan would see member states adopting uniform entry requirements, meaning vaccinated holidaymakers from low-risk countries – such as the UK – would be able to enter France, Spain, Italy and other hotspots.
Britain will be included on an EU expanded ‘green list’ of permitted holiday travel on Wednesday as the bloc’s ambassadors are set to confirm a European Commission proposal lift restrictions on well-vaccinated nations, it is understood. 
It will also be recommended that member states prepare digital portals allowing Britons to use the NHS app as a vaccine passport, the Daily Telegraph reports. 
Those without vaccinations will be required to present a negative Covid test or evidence of immunity.  

EU 

Express
LORD FROST has erupted at the bloc as vital cancer drugs have been blocked by the European Union.
He said the issues of the supply of a cancer drug highlighted the problems and urged the EU to allow the protocol to operate in a “balanced and pragmatic way”. According to reports, Osimertinib, a drug used for lung cancer patients, has been blocked from widespread use in Northern Ireland.
The European Commission has said it is “entirely incorrect” to blame Brussels, arguing that the protocol and other arrangements “ensure the continued availability of medicines” in Northern Ireland.
But Lord Frost told MPs that “despite a little bit of dust thrown in the eyes by the EU” it was “clear that they are asserting their right to regulate cancer drugs in Northern Ireland rather than the UK doing that”.
“That sort of thing is going to be a problem if we can’t find pragmatic ways through it that protect our UK National Health Service.”
He added: “It’s absolutely clear that the people in Northern Ireland must have access to a broad range of medicines as people do everywhere else in the UK.” 

Covid 

Mail
An antiviral therapy that kills off 99.9 per cent of Covid-19 particles in the lungs is being heralded as the next best to a cure.
The ‘next-generation’ technology works like a ‘heat-seeking missile’ to detect the particles and attack them, having been developed by a team of international scientists from Australia’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University.
Co-lead researcher Professor Nigel McMillan from MHIQ said the groundbreaking treatment prevents the virus from replicating and may even put a stop to Covid-related deaths across the world. 
‘Essentially, it’s a seek-and-destroy mission,’ he said.
‘We can specifically destroy the virus that grows in someone’s lungs.’
It works by using a medical technology called gene-silencing that was first discovered in Australia during the 1990s.
Gene-silencing utilises RNA – fundamental building blocks in the body, similar to DNA – to attack the respiratory disease.  
‘This is a technology that works with small pieces of RNA that can specifically bind to the genome of the virus,’ Professor McMillan said.  
‘This binding causes the genome to not work anymore and in fact it causes the cells to destroy it.’ 

Indian variant 

Times
The Indian variant of coronavirus is the dominant strain in Bolton and Blackburn, with ministers frustrated that people who turned down the jab are now being hospitalised with Covid-19.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said that  hospitalisations among the unvaccinated in the two towns show the importance of getting the jab as analysis by The Times shows that those Bolton neighbourhoods with the lowest vaccination rates have the highest rates of coronavirus.
Twenty-somethings in the town were still reporting being offered jabs yesterday. Vaccination rates quadrupled in  Bolton over the weekend, with 6,200 doses administered. Clusters of the faster-spreading variant have been found in 86 areas around the country and known cases are up 76 per cent since Thursday, Hancock said. 

Express
THE INDIAN Covid variant is set to become the most dominant strain of the deadly virus in the UK within days, scientists have warned.
The number of cases of B.1.617.2 continue to surge across England, as the Government scrambles to contain the outbreak. Health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs on Monday that 86 out of 343 local authorities had now confirmed five or more incidents of the Indian variant. He added that a total of 2,323 people had been infected with the strain, which equates to a 77 percent increase in confirmed cases of B.1.617.2 over the last five days.
This significant increase has led some experts to predict that the Indian variant is about to become the dominant Covid strain within the UK.
Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, told The Guardian: “There is no evidence that the recent rapid rise in cases of the B.1.617.2 variant shows any signs in slowing.
“This variant will overtake [the Kent variant] and become the dominant variant in the UK in the next few days, if it hasn’t already done so.”
Mr Hancock confirmed that the Indian variant was already the dominant strain in Bolton, Blackburn and Darwen. 

Mail
Ministers are preparing emergency plans that could see local lockdowns brought in or the June 21 reopening delayed over concerns about the fast-spreading Indian variant of coronavirus.
In an echo of the tier system brought in last summer, people in the worst-hit areas could be told to stay at home and restaurants and shops forced to close if the new strain runs out of control in their town or city. 
A possible delay to the June 21 final easing of restrictions by a matter of weeks has also been discussed.
In both cases the worst-affected businesses in the hospitality industry and retail would receive grants of up to £18,000, according to The Times.
Revelations of the plans have come as a blow to Boris Johnson‘s ‘cautious but irreversible’ exit from lockdown, brought on by a significant rise in cases of the Indian variant.
There has been irritation at the small number of people refusing to be vaccinated after Matt Hancock yesterday told MPs that most patients hospitalised by the new strain in the epicentre of the outbreak in Bolton had not had a jab.
Last night Tory ministers and MPs told the Prime Minister they would not accept the Covid curbs being extended to protect jab refuseniks.
They urged him to press ahead with the final stage of unlocking next month, even if scientists say the fast-spreading Indian variant poses a risk to the small band of anti-vaxxers. 

Evening Standard
Local lockdowns are “an option” to combat the spread of the Indian Covid variant in the UK, a cabinet minister confirmed today.
George Eustice gave the Government’s most explicit warning yet that some form of the Tier system could be resurrected.
The Environment Secretary also said the Government “can never rule out that there may have to be a delay,” when asked about the full lifting of lockdown on June 21.
Only yesterday the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he thought it “very likely” that all coronavirus restrictions will be scrapped on June 21, despite the threat of the Indian variant.
The latest change in tone comes amid concerns that the next phase of reopening could be delayed due to the fast-spreading Indian variant of coronavirus. 

Times
Ministers are considering contingency plans for local lockdowns or a delay to reopening after June 21 in response to concern about the spread of the Indian variant of coronavirus, The Times has been told.
Officials have drawn up plans modelled on the Tier 4 restrictions introduced last year. Under the measures, people would be advised to stay at home and non-essential shops and hospitality would be closed if the new strain was not brought under control.
Businesses in areas subject to the restrictions would receive grants of up to £18,000. The scheme would be administered by local authorities, with payments adjusted according to the length of restrictions.
Another scenario anticipates a delay to the June 21 date for easing lockdown restrictions.  

Sun
Nearly half of England’s towns and cities have seen a week-on-week rise in Covid cases as concern mounts over the Indian variant.
Worst hotspots Bolton and Bedford recorded more than double the number of infections in the seven days to last Thursday.
Blackburn, Melton and Burnley also have also witnessed an alarming rise in new cases.
Of 315 local authority areas in England, 150 saw more people testing positive, while 143 saw a fall and 22 were unchanged.
It comes as a further 1,979 new coronavirus cases were confirmed by the Department of Health, bringing the number of people testing positive in the last week to 15,540 – a 1.1 per cent rise compared to the previous seven days.
The UK’s official death toll today rose by five, bringing the tragic figure since the start of the pandemic to 127,684.
Latest data reveals 991 people were being treated in hospital across the UK for the virus on Thursday, with 751 admissions in a week.
The figures were released on the day lockdown restrictions were eased further in England – with hospitality venues such as pubs, restaurants and cinemas allowed to serve customers indoors.
People are now allowed to meet indoors in groups of six, while gatherings of up to 30 are permitted outdoors.
And non-essential international travel is permitted for the first time in months. 

Eurostar 

Express
BRITONS have launched a furious attack on Eurostar’s future as France continues to pile pressure on the UK to help bail out the struggling rail firm.
Eurostar has taken a huge hit from the coronavirus pandemic over the past year, with enforced lockdowns sending revenues and passenger numbers tumbling. The rail firm’s annual revenues plummeted from £1billion (€1.1billion) in 2019 to about £180milllion (€208million) in 2020, while passenger numbers have plunged by 95 percent from the 11 million people who travelled on its trains in 2019. It has already £400million (€450million) and received a cash injection of £170million (€197million) from its owners.
This led to speculation the UK may help rescue the struggling company, with several French politicians calling for a joint London-Paris solution.
Earlier this year, French transport minister Jean-Baptiste  Djebbari told a committee the state would “be there at Eurostar’s side to maintain this strategic link between our two countries”.
He said the French Government was working with its UK counterparts on “mechanisms for aid, proportional to everyone’s involvement in Eurostar.”
This comes despite the UK selling its stake in the rail firm for over £750million in what then-Chancellor George Osborne described as a “fantastic deal”. 

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