Fisheries
Express
A BRITISH fisheries group has outlined five key points Boris Johnson must make in post-Brexit trade deal talks with the European Union, with access to each other’s waters continuing to be a major stumbling block in the negotiations. Britain is on course to leave the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) next year and become an independent coastal state – free to set its own tariffs and quotas on stocks. But the issue of access to each other’s waters after Brexit has proven to be a major hurdle in the current trade deal talks – with both sides refusing to move from their positions. Now UK Fisheries has outlined five key points UK negotiators must follow in order to protect the country’s fishing industry. The group said: “UK negotiators must protect our distant-waters fishing fleet by guaranteeing our ability to continue operating in our traditional fishing grounds in the northern North Atlantic. “Most of the fish we eat in the U.K. comes from the North Atlantic – not from UK waters. “The UK’s distant waters fleet, led by UK Fisheries’ ice-class trawler Kirkella, supplies one in 12 portions of the fish and chips sold in our chippies, caught in the North Atlantic and landed in Hull.
Telegraph
The European Union is willing to accept UK demands that post-Brexit fishing opportunities be divided using a scientific method that reflects the number of fish in UK waters, rather than the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said Brussels could agree to the use of zonal attachment, a key British request in ongoing trade negotiations, if it was coupled with other factors such as assessing the economic impact on coastal communities. Zonal attachment will benefit UK fisherman because more fish have moved to British waters as a result of climate change since Common Fisheries Policy catch shares were set in the 1970s and 1980s. The EU has previously insisted EU boats should have the same access to UK waters as now, and under the same conditions. Mr Barnier admitted that the EU’s position on fishing was “clearly not” balanced when he gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee about the post-Brexit trade negotiations. He said Brussels was willing to be “creative” to break the deadlock, according to a transcript of the June 23 meeting, which was published on Monday. He said: “I am waiting with much patience for a reply from the British side. If there is no response, there will be no agreement on fisheries and no agreement on trade.”
EU
Express
BRUSSELS has been accused of using the spread of COVID-19 as an excuse to control borders as the Ocean Viking aid ship carrying 180 migrants waited on the seas after permission to dock was refused. The European Union is receiving criticism from NGOs who say it is using the COVID-19 pandemic to stop migrants from coming ashore. The Ocean Viking which is anchored off the Porto Empedocle town in Sicily have been at sea for more than a week after multiple rescue missions from June 25 to 30. Italy has since announced it will transfer migrants to a quarantine ship after doctors reported migrants were suffering from psychological distress onboard the ship.
Breitbart
The European Union’s executive arm blamed a series of technical mistakes after its top official threw her support behind the ruling conservative party in Croatia’s parliamentary elections, in breach of political neutrality guidelines. Ursula von der Leyen, the German president of the European Commission, appeared with other center-right politicians in a promotional video clip posted over the weekend by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) ahead of Sunday’s vote. A former defense minister in Germany, Von der Leyen is a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and belongs to the same European People´s Party as HDZ. But the code of conduct for members of the European Commission states that they “shall abstain from making public statements or interventions on behalf of any political party or organization of the social partners of which they are members,” except when they stand for election or participate in a vote.
Care homes
Times
Boris Johnson has sought to shift blame to care home operators and staff for the scale of coronavirus deaths, while pledging to help improve the sector. The prime minister accused them of failing to “follow procedures” as he said one of the lessons from the pandemic was that vulnerable residents in care homes needed to be better looked after. His comments were met with anger among care providers who said they had had to grapple with 100 pieces of government guidance during the pandemic. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that there were 19,394 deaths of care home residents from coronavirus in England and Wales between March and early June — more than 40 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths.
Independent
Boris Johnson appeared to blame care home owners for the high death toll from coronavirus as new figures revealed one in five coronavirus infections during the peak of the pandemic in England were among hospital and care home staff. The prime minister also urged the public not to “stuff this up” after expressing his shock at the behaviour of some drinkers as lockdown was eased over the weekend. Scotland and Wales also took further steps to ease lockdown restrictions on Monday, while the UK arts sector was granted a desperately needed lifeline of £1.57bn in government funding, allowing museums, galleries, live music venues, independent cinemas and others to access emergency grants and loans.
Guardian
Care leaders, unions and MPs have rounded on Boris Johnson after he accused care homes of failing to follow proper procedures amid the coronavirus crisis, saying the prime minister appeared to be shifting the blame for the high death toll. With nearly 20,000 care home residents confirmed to have died with Covid-19, and estimates that the true toll is much greater, there has been widespread criticism about a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and clear guidelines for the sector. On Monday, the total UK coronavirus death toll rose to 44,236, up 16 on the day before.
BBC News
Boris Johnson has been criticised for saying “too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures” during the coronavirus outbreak. The prime minister was responding to the head of NHS England’s call for reform in social care within a year. Mr Johnson said it was “important to fund” the sector, but it needed to be “properly organised and supported”. Mark Adams, CEO of charity Community Integrated Care, told the BBC the PM’s comments were “cowardly”. Speaking to the Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Adams said he was “unbelievably disappointed” by the reaction.
Mail
Boris Johnson provoked an angry dispute last night after he accused care homes of failing to look after their residents properly during the pandemic. Triggering a blame game over the care home scandal, the Prime Minister said ‘too many’ facilities had not followed proper safety procedures. Care bosses hit back, warning Mr Johnson his comments were ‘neither accurate nor welcome’. Social care has been hit badly by the crisis, with nearly 30,000 dying in care homes as a result of coronavirus.
Sky News
Boris Johnson has been urged to apologise after he angered care home bosses by claiming “too many” in the sector “didn’t really follow the procedures” during the coronavirus crisis. During a visit to Goole, Yorkshire, on Monday, the prime minister was asked about comments from NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens – who wants to see plans to adequately fund the adult social care sector within a year. Mr Johnson replied: “One of the things the crisis has shown is we need to think about how we organise our social care package better and how we make sure we look after people better who are in social care. “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but we’re learning lessons the whole time.
Mirror
Boris Johnson has sparked fury by blaming the high number of coronavirus care home deaths on care providers not ‘following procedures’. On a visit to Yorkshire today, the PM claimed: “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have.” Almost 20,000 people have died from coronavirus in care homes since the start of the pandemic in March. The Prime Minister’s comments today sparked anger from care providers, who said they were “neither accurate nor welcome.” Number 10 insisted the PM was “absolutely not” blaming care homes. Mr Johnson’s government has been repeatedly criticised for being slow to react to the epidemic in care homes – with Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall branding their testing strategy “slow, confused and chaotic”.
Home improvements
Telegraph
Homeowners will be given vouchers to pay for insulation and double glazing as part of a multibillion-pound job-creation drive in the wake of the Covid-19 recession, Rishi Sunak will announce on Tuesday. The Chancellor will use his summer economic update to unveil a £3 billion scheme that he says will create thousands of new jobs and support “tens of thousands” more by stimulating demand for eco-friendly home improvements. It came as the Governor of the Bank of England postponed a private meeting with Tory MPs after facing questions about whether he was acting in concert with the Chancellor. Andrew Bailey had been due to make an almost unprecedented address to the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers hours after the Chancellor’s statement, but late on Monday night the Bank changed the date following questions about the timing of the move.
Mail
Homeowners are set to get £5,000 for insulation and energy saving improvements as part of Rishi Sunak’s mini-Budget tomorrow. Chancellor Sunak will announce a £2billion grant scheme as part of a £3billion green employment package focused on cutting emissions, improving the environment and creating jobs. Under the new scheme the government will pay at least two-thirds of the cost of home improvements that conserve energy. The overall package will include £1billion to improve energy efficiency at public buildings such as schools and hospitals through measures including insulation and the installation of heat pumps in place of conventional boilers.
Independent
Rishi Sunak has been accused of watering down a Conservative manifesto pledge with a £1bn programme to plug energy-leaking buildings — after the party promised £9.2bn would be spent. The cash — part of the chancellor’s “mini-budget”, being unveiled this week — is also a fraction of the tens of billions being spent on a green recovery in Germany and France, campaigners warned. Greenpeace protested it was “much less than was committed to”, while the Green Alliance argued it “does not live up to the government’s own ambitions”. Mr Sunak will pledge to create thousands of green jobs in the fightback against coronavirus, with the £1bn scheme to improve energy efficiency in schools, hospitals and other public buildings.
Children
Mirror
Most children will now be removed from England’s coronavirus shielding list, the Government has announced. Evidence that those younger get much less severe symptoms means all but a small number of extremely vulnerable children will be removed from the order to stay home. Most other children who were initially identified as being clinically extremely vulnerable will no longer be considered at highest risk. These include children with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and kidney disease. Also, from today, shielding people can go out and meet up to five friends in a socially distanced way.
Mail
Most children on the official coronavirus shielding list will be able to return to normal life over the summer, health officials confirmed today. Doctors are expected to remove all but the sickest children from the list of 93,000 which had been keeping vulnerable youngsters indoors since the coronavirus crisis broke out. After watching the epidemic unfold over the past four months experts and officials in the UK have decided the risk of children getting severe Covid-19 or dying of it is so low that shielding is no longer necessary. NHS England statistics show just 0.07 per cent of Covid-19 hospital fatalities have been among under-20s — 20 out of a total 28,888 as of July 5.
Takeaway alcohol
Mail
Late-night pubs and bars selling takeaway alcohol will escalate violence that has seen police injuries at illegal street and block parties, ministers have been warned. The danger was highlighted during a Westminster debate by Liberal Democrat Lord Paddick, a former Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner. He was among a number of peers to raise concerns that the temporary relaxation of the licensing laws, aimed at helping businesses recover from the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, could fuel street drinking and anti-social behaviour. They are calling for further Government safeguards to tackle the ‘unintended consequences’ of steps being taken to help kick-start the economy as it moves out of lockdown. Reforms contained in the Business and Planning Bill, aimed at boosting the hospitality sector, include allowing pubs and bars, currently barred from doing so, to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises.
Independent
Plans to ease restrictions on take-away beer from bars and pubs are a “recipe for disorder and violence”, the government has been warned. The government has worked to strip hospitality businesses of regulation that would stop them offering al-fresco services in a bid to get the sector working again despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 coronavirus. However, members of the House of Lords have warned that the regulatory bonfire could lead to public disorder if people are allowed to order take-away pints to be taken out on the street as premises close. It comes as the latest round of lockdown easing appeared to leave some ignoring government guidance on social distancing – with late-night drinkers amassing in the narrow streets of London’s Soho district on Saturday night.
Telegraph
Plans to allow late-night pubs and bars to sell takeaway alcohol will spark street violence, disorder and drunkenness, ministers have been warned. The Government faced a backlash from senior politicians and policing chiefs on Monday night over the plans in the Business and Planning bill to relax licensing rules in an attempt to boost the hospitality sector. The proposals would see rules relaxed for a year, freeing pubs and bars which are currently barred from doing so to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises even if their licence extends into the early hours. Former home secretary Lord Blunkett warned he could not see for the “life of me” how the measure would do “anything other than fuel the already worrying concerns about activity late at night, particularly in the major cities”.
Huawei
Telegraph
The former MI6 agent behind the Trump dossier has contributed to a 70-page intelligence report that accuses Huawei and the Chinese regime of running a sophisticated operation to manipulate peers and MPs. The claims were angrily dismissed on Monday night by Huawei which said it “refuted these unfounded allegations” which had “no basis in fact”. Sources said they believed the company was the victim of a US propaganda campaign to keep it out of the 5G network being built in Britain. The report was paid for by a US film producer Andrew Duncan who hired Christopher Steele and his company Orbis Business Intelligence to assist with the report. Mr Steele, a former senior MI6 officer who ran its Russia desk, was author of the dossier on Donald Trump that alleged links – denied by the president – to Russia and claimed the existence of a compromising sex tape in Moscow’s possession.
Mail
China warned of ‘consequences’ today and accused the UK of bowing to US pressure as ministers prepare to drop Huawei from the UK’s 5G network. Beijing’s ambassador Liu Xiaoming said shutting out the company due to the US imposing sanctions would show Britain no longer has an ‘independent’ policy. He insisted the UK will have to pay more for the crucial telecoms technology if it shuns Huawei, and added: ‘You cannot have a golden era if you treat us as an enemy.’ The sabre-rattling came amid growing signs that the government will U-turn to axe the firm from 5G after an intelligence report warned the security risks are now too great. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed this morning that he had received the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) assessment, and the US decision to levy sanctions on Huawei will have a ‘significant impact’ on its reliability.
Independent
China’s ambassador to London has warned banning Huawei from the UK’s 5G telecoms infrastructure would send a “very bad message” to Chinese companies, amid growing unease among MPs over the technology giant. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming suggested a U-turn on Huawei’s involvement in the mobile network would be damaging to the UK’s image as an open, business-friendly environment. “The China business community are all watching how you handle Huawei. If you get rid of Huawei it sends out a very bad message to other Chinese businesses,” Mr Liu said at a press briefing on Monday. He added: “If the UK chooses to pay a high price for poorer quality, or less quality, it is up to you.
Times
Britain will “have to bear the consequences” of making an enemy of China, the country’s ambassador has said, warning that trade would suffer if the government removed Huawei from the 5G network. Liu Xiaoming ramped up the pressure on Boris Johnson yesterday as the prime minister prepared to announce that new equipment supplied by the Chinese telecoms company would be barred from next year as a result of US sanctions. Mr Liu said that Chinese companies, which invested $8.3 billion in Britain last year, were “all watching”. The ambassador added: “There’s also an element of trust — how could people trust you?
Mail
The diplomatic war over Huawei took an extraordinary twist last night after a controversial dossier accused China of trying to manipulate key Establishment figures in the UK. Entitled China’s Elite Capture, the 86-page report details an alleged campaign by Beijing to persuade influential individuals to back Huawei and its strategic aims. Among a string of incendiary claims, the dossier described the Chinese telecoms firm as ‘Beijing’s strategic asset’ and cited fears it could be used for state spying. It said politicians, academics and other ‘elites’ in the UK had been targeted by China in an attempt to secure their support for Huawei’s integration into Britain’s technology infrastructure.
It seems Steel’s Russian dossier on Trump was fabricated out of nothing for the Democrats but his rejection of the Chinese 5G CCP business currently named Huawei seems sound – The meltdown of China seems to be mostly caused by its trade attack on Australia making everyone and his dog realise how dangerous it is to be dependent on trade with China and revealing the gigantic corruption China manipulates throughout industry and the UN and WHO and politicians in Africa, South America and everywhere – China was doing so well with its stealthy takeover of everything before attacking Australia over asking for an investigation which it really did not need to do as it could have just said NO and got the UN and WHO to agree easy peasy – You can imagine a lot of people will lose a lot of bribe money if China loses out on 5G and beyond – You have to wonder if some of them are the same as those worrying about Miss Maxwell’s revelations if she is not suicided first like her associate?
BLM
Would somebody be kind enough to post a link which may have been done in previous issues of ID about this group, on it’s origin’s and true motives using the useful idiots on the front line to do their dirty work. Thank you.
Hi Lisa, you may find https://independencedaily.co.uk/football-crazy/ useful.
Thank you very much Debbie
🙂
IS THE EU INCAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING A DEMOCRATIC DECISION ?
THE PEOPLE OF UK voted to leave the EU, and then backed that decision by their votes for the choice of a UK Government that would implement their decision. – 2020 should therefore be the last year of our connect with the EU. – We have already left membership of the EU !
Although many British have never thought of themselves as European, the EU could have been friendlier during our 40 year plus membership, so the reason for Brexit has been in EU hands to a large extent, and the British people have now used Democracy in majority decision !
It would appear that the EU is against the principal of Democracy. – They are against the generally accepted rule for an island Nation’s waters. – They seem to be prepared to force their opinion over our sovereignty, which can only lead to conflict. – IS THIS WHAT THEY WANT ?
Until the EU accepts as fact, our total sovereignty, our future relationship with the EU cannot begin to be negotiated ! – We are talking to an organisation that has pre-set demands, so negotiation becomes a farce, and this may well be the reason for our wish of a full Brexit !
Some accommodation on fishing ‘could’ be reached, BUT ONLY UPON OUR TERMS, FOR OUR WATERS ! – The EU’s fisher folk would have to get used to very small catches, due to conservation requirements, and entirely controlled by us, in our waters.
UK needs many Fisheries Protection Vessels, as the EU has already shown the need for us to carry a big stick in talks ! – The disgusting liar that was our PM Heath, smashed our Fishing Industry in the 1970s, and the EU’s fishers will have to be made to reciprocate to an extent !
Everyone knows that a sensible Trade Deal would be of mutual advantage, but the difficulty is that the EU is implacably against benefits for its own members, as it needs to underline its own importance first. – Perhaps EU members should take this into account for their own futures !
Yes Mike I agree. They are so damn sly, the EU aren’t they. Pretending to give way on a minor point while still trying to keep control by the present quota system. I hope this will fail.
Down our way and in remote areas a thing called Hearts of Oak seems to be hoovering up Ex ukipper activists What’s that all about?
Could this be https://heartsofoak.org/? It seems to be an organisation run by Tommy Robinson, Carl Benjamin (aka Sargon of Akkad), and Matt O’Connor (Fathers4Justice) and apparently its aim is to ‘reverse the current restrictions on free speech’.
Debbie, in other words all the people that sent UKIP crashing down to 0% in the polls and being totally irrelevant. As I understand it they are not set up as political party so will never gain any real traction
🙂
“..all the people that sent UKIP crashing down to 0% in the polls..”
So, nothing to do with:
1. Nigel Farage resigning as leader as soon as the referendum was won?
2. Diane James, his replacement, lasting 18 days?
3. Paul Nuttall, the next leader and a scouser, telling the electoral authorities he lived in Stoke?
4. Henry Bolton, an ex-LibDem, lasting only slightly longer than Diane James?
5. Losing all 145 seats it was defending in the 2017 local elections?
6. Farage setting up another party (only to decide he wouldn’t try to win any seats at the election but allow the Tories to coast home)?
Oh no, it was all Tommy Robinson’s fault!
UKIP decided that being utterly inoffensive meek and mild was the answer. Everyone forgot about this irrelevance. I don’t know why Vacha bothers. Clever guy too.
Good points. Whether we like it or not UKIP garnered its votes from those members of the public who wanted one thing – Brexit. Its leader only really wanted one thing – Brexit. Two thirds of its activists (absolute Trojans) wanted only one thing – Brexit. Perhaps UKIP was a victim of its own remarkable acheivement and it was always destined to hit rock bottom before it could re-invent itself and get back on the road again.
Good luck in that endeavour Freddy – I shall give you my full support.
UKIP decided it wanted Brexit which was about the only radical thing you can support without the R word. Fine. Single issue party. Now we need a lot more changed to survive and as far as I can see UKIP is not up to doing it. Too timid. We need a ‘reform’ party. Farage is best placed but will he do anything?
BTW just did a head count in my local quite large high street pub. Around a dozen customers. They can’t even break even on that.
Thomas, you may find what I said above to be somewhat flippant, but as a former branch chairman of UKIP and three times election candidate, it really grieves and pains me and others I know to see how UKIP’s fortunes have panned out since the 2016 referendum, when we should have been riding the crest of the wave, having done most of work to achieve that result Our branch had a membership of 157 prior to the referendum and an activist base of 20 plus members and we posed a very real threat to the Conservative domination in my neck of the woods. However whilst we did lose some members post referendum who mistakenly thought job done, the drift in membership downwards increased markedly as a result of the Henry Bolton leadership fiasco, but the biggest drop in members occurred after Gerard Batten introduced FLA, Tommy Robinson and others into the equation, and this is what caused Nigel Farage and most of the MEP’s to resign and set up The Brexit Party. This I am afraid was the final nail as it were. UKIP is a political party not a political movement, and the whole point to a political party whether it be UKIP or any other party is to gain representation on local councils and to parliament, and if they are not doing this it is a waste of everybody’s time and energy. I invested a lot of my time to UKIP to make it an attractive proposition in my area, but all our good work was undone, to the point where the branch and many others were eventually dissolved. The British electorate will not vote for extremist parties whether they be on the left or right, and that is a fact. In my opinion any party has to be bigger than the leader, and just cannot rely on one person to get by. Nigel Farage did his bit for the cause, in fact more than his bit, and deserved a rest in 2016.
Thomas. I agree.
Someone here says ” The British electorate will not vote for extremist parties.” But nothing is more extremist than the mainstream parties; in my book, it is extremist to smash centuries-old hard won civil liberties, force institutionalised child abuse on very young children, infiltrate all our institutions with the cancer of cultural marxism and turn everything upside down outlawing commonsense, waging wicked wars, turning UK into another DDR etc etc etc. They are utter poison extremist as you can get , yet the voters keep voting for them.
High Street footfall is 50% of normal three weeks after reopening.
Fisheries:
Any agreement to allow EU access for fishing as part of a trade deal will surely be abused. Let’s hope Boris will stonewall them. Real negotiation on a trade deal can only take place after we have a clean exit and the EUrocrats realise they are no longer in control.
Huawei:
Boris needs to decide who our ally is; China or the US. Not a difficult decision even for him.
Ah, but is there a position on the board at stake?
JF
One has to wonder; corruption will rule as ever.
Totally agree Jack Thomas on both counts. Hopefully we will not give an inch on fisheries. On Huawei it looks to me like things are moving in the right direction.