Brexit
Express
THE UK is set for a furious showdown with the EU today, as the two sides meet to discuss the controversial Northern Ireland protocol.
Tensions threaten to boil over this morning as crunch talks take place to discuss the implementation of the Brexit deal, with the EU presenting an emergency plan to solve the impasse. So far the UK are resisting enacting the Northern Ireland protocol which it claims is unworkable. But European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, who is heading up the talks for the bloc, has threatened “resolute” action if the UK does not soften its position.
This morning’s talks are set to last four hours, with Lord Frost expected to give an update on its progress later this afternoon.
A breakthrough is not expected to take place.
The row focuses on the UK’s willingness to extend a grace period for trade in chilled meat products like sausages and mince from the end of June.
The EU warn this could trigger tariffs or quotas on British goods under the terms of the trade deal agreed in 2019.
A similar story can be seen in the Times.
Sausage wars
Express
BORIS Johnson has warned that urgent action is needed to protect peace in Northern Ireland amid an ongoing Brexit row with Brussels.
The Prime Minister told European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen that rapid progress is needed to cool tensions in the region. There is growing hostility to the Brexit deal’s Northern Ireland Protocol to avoid a hard border because of the EU’s bureaucratic approach. In a phone call last night, Mrs von der Leyen hit back and accused Downing Street of not implementing the Brexit divorce and trade deals.
She expressed her “deep concern” that No 10 was apparently rowing back on its previous promises.
The top eurocrat tweeted: “I expressed my deep concern on EU-UK TCA and WA implementation.
“We will discuss how to progress and ensure compliance in the margins of G7.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and the President also spoke about the issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Similar stories can be seen in the Telegraph , Independent , Guardian , Express .
Freedom day
BBC News
The government faces a difficult choice in the next few days.
Many people are desperate to see the return to normality promised by the final stage of the government’s roadmap to lifting lockdown.
But ministers always said 21 June was not set in stone – and could be affected by changes in the pandemic, including the emergence of new variants.
What will they be weighing up as they make their final decision?
Here are four key numbers to watch out for in the coming days.
- The number of people in hospital
- The speed of rising infections
- The chance of becoming seriously ill if infected
- The number of people who have been fully vaccinated
Mail
Rishi Sunak could reluctantly accept an extension to lockdown – but for no longer than ‘a week or two’.
As some call for ‘Freedom Day’ to be delayed by a month, Tory pressure grew to stick to June 21.
Ministers are considering delaying the final stage of the road map out of lockdown following jittery warnings from scientists about the spread of the Indian variant. Some are pushing for restrictions to remain in place until as late as the start of English school holidays on July 23.
But Michael Gove has said he would ‘bet on a relaxation’ of the coronavirus rules on June 21 – if he were a ‘betting man’.
He made the comments on Monday during a ministerial meeting, as the Prime Minister got ready to decide whether to go ahead with the June 21 ‘freedom day’, the Huffington Post reported. His comments appear to leave open the chance of either a full or partial lifting of measures.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is among a string of Cabinet ministers pressing Boris Johnson to stick to the target date, arguing there is a pressing need to get key sectors such as hospitality firing on all cylinders.
A Whitehall source said Mr Sunak could live with a delay of ‘a week or two’ but would resist any further slippage as this could involve extending the furlough scheme.
Similar stories can be read in the Guardian , Independent , Mail , Evening Standard .
EU
Express
GUY VERHOFSTADT has launched a malicious attack on Rishi Sunak over his plans to exempt the City of London from an incoming global tax system.
The Chancellor wants to exploit the freedom that Brexit has created to make Global Britain as attractive to investors as possible. To achieve this he wants London to have an exemption from the G7’s recently agreed plan which would see the world’s largest companies taxed at least 15 percent of their revenue.
Keeping the UK’s capital out of this would allow its powerful banking industry to thrive – creating jobs and helping bring more wealth into the country.
A British Official told the Financial Times: “Our position is we want financial services companies to be exempt and EU countries are in the same position.”
But Mr Sunak’s attempts to improve the lives of ordinary people has outraged the rampant europhile.
Mr Verhofstadt, a proponent of EU federalism, tweeted: “What do you call this? Hypocrisy?
Scotland
Express
CRUISE passengers onboard the MSC Virtuosa have been denied one of their promised stops in Scotland after the Scottish government banned the cruise ship from docking. What happened?
MSC Virtuosa has been barred from making its first stop on its UK domestic sailing which departed from Liverpool earlier this week. Passengers were due to disembark in Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland, however, the Scottish government has banned the cruise ship from docking.
The ship was initially planned to dock at Greenock on Wednesday 9 June at approximately 9:30am and depart the port again at 8:00pm.
According to the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA), Scottish passengers were due to join the cruise in Greenock and an anticipated third of the current passengers were expected to go ashore for excursions on Wednesday.
However, the Scottish government have been firm in saying this stop can not go ahead.
Similar stories can be seen in the Mail , Telegraph , Times
Illegal immigrants
Telegraph
Illegal migrants should be banned from claiming asylum, according to 60 per cent of the public in a new poll.
By a majority of three to one, Britons want a change in the law that would mean any migrant who came to the UK illegally through a “safe” country should be barred from claiming asylum. Sixty-one per cent were in favour, to 21 per cent against, according to the YouGov poll.
Exactly half backed the principle that the Government should take account of how a migrant arrives in the UK and penalise them if they entered by an illegal route. That compared with 37 per cent who believed any asylum application should be based solely on need. The YouGov poll of 1,700 adults comes amid growing public concern over the surge in migrants crossing the Channel, with a record 4,400 reaching the UK so far this year, two and a half times the rate at the same point in 2020.
It follows a claim by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on Monday that the British public were “absolutely fed up” and “demoralised” by the growing number of migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.
The findings reveal overwhelming public support for controversial proposals by Ms Patel to reform what she has described as Britain’s “broken” asylum system by no longer basing it purely on need and instead linking claims to the method of entry.
Breitbart
The British government should consider tasking the Armed Forces to assist border patrols in the English Channel to confront the migrant crisis, said the former head of the UK Border Force.
Tony Smith, former director-general of Border Force said that the Home Office should look to the military and police to assist in the growing migrant crisis because he doesn’t “think we are coping” with the record numbers of illegal migrants.
Smith told The Telegraph that Home Secretary Priti Patel should “stop pretending” that the Home Office alone is capable of stemming the tide of migrants.
The former Border Force chief called for a “joint agency approach that could include military, police and a full range of UK assets to support the defence of our border and management of irregular migration” through the establishment of a new “command centre with proper reception facilities”.
“I was delighted to go into meetings with the military, people who have a huge range of capabilities. They can build a warehouse in a day. They are awesome. The Home Office cannot do that by outsourcing to private companies,” he said.
Even with the inclusion of the military, Smith said that the growing migrant crisis will not be abated any time soon.
NHS
Guardian
Plans for the NHS to share data about patients’ medical histories taken from their GP records have been delayed after an outcry from MPs, doctors and health charities.
The rollout of the new scheme in England has been put back from 1 July to 1 September to give the NHS more time to address concerns about patients’ privacy being breached.
Jo Churchill, a health minister, disclosed the delay to MPs on Tuesday. She insisted that the two-month pause would allow the plan to be “strengthened” and work undertaken to “ensure that data is accessed securely”.
Patient groups, medical organisations, Labour and the information Commissioner welcomed the move, which came after mounting controversy about the scheme. NHS Digital said the unprecedented collation of data would boost medical research and improve population health.
Under the General Practice Data for Planning and Research programme NHS Digital, the health service’s statistical and IT agency, is due to collect information stored on family doctors’ IT systems on the treatment, referrals to hospital and appointments people have had over the last 10 years, as well as details of their mental health, drugs taken and diagnostic tests taken, unless patients opt out.
Patients had been given until 23 June to exercise their right not to have the details of their NHS care uplifted. However, critics warned that the secretive way the scheme was first acknowledged, by both NHS Digital and health secretary, Matt Hancock, means that many people would have been unaware that the programme was starting on 1 July and they could refuse to be included.
“Today’s announcement is an important win for patients, family doctors and the British Medical Association”, said Dr Farah Jameel, a member of the BMA’s GP committee executive and its IT lead.
“While the BMA understands that data sharing plays a key role in planning and research as well as developing treatments, we also know that the crux of the GP-patient relationship relies on trust, transparency and honesty, and therefore allowing the public to make fully informed decisions is paramount.”
Education
Guardian
Unions representing teachers and other school staff have called on the government to reinstate masks in classrooms across England in response to a growing number of Covid outbreaks, particularly among secondary pupils.
With infections on the rise and new figures showing Covid-related absence up among schoolchildren in England, four unions have issued a joint statement urging ministers to adopt a range of safety measures to limit transmission and reduce the risk of further closures.
The statement, signed by the National Education Union, Unison, the GMB and Unite, demands the immediate reintroduction of face coverings for students and staff in all areas of secondary schools, including classrooms.
They also want to see a rapid rollout of vaccinations for pupils, following confirmation from the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) that they are safe for children aged 12 and over, to inhibit the spread of the new Delta variant first identified in India.
The government has so far ruled out a nationwide reintroduction of masks in schools, putting its faith instead in testing, but public health directors in Covid hotspots have the powers to reintroduce face coverings in schools if they feel it is necessary.
The joint union call came as official school attendance figures showed one in every 50 secondary school students in England was absent for Covid-related reasons before the half-term break with a huge rise in children self-isolating, according to the latest figures compiled by the Department for Education.
Guido
If co-conspirators thought King’s College apologising for mourning the death of Prince Philip was wrong, look away now: Guido can reveal an Oxford college has agreed to remove a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II because she “represents recent colonial history”. Down with the Queen! Up with middle-class university intellectuals…
A committee of students from Magdalen’s Middle Common Room agreed by a substantial majority to take the portrait of Queen Elizabeth down from their wall, and to explore replacing the portrait with “art by or of other influential and inspirational people”. Any future depictions of the Queen or Royal Family will now be subject to a committee vote. Stalin would be proud…
The committee meeting minutes, passed to Guido, reveal the statements made by students were anonymized, although the motion was moved by Matthew Katzman. One student claimed that “patriotism and colonialism are not really separable”. Another claimed the move was not about “cancelling” the Queen, saying the committee was not capable of doing so: “This is about our communal space and making people feel welcome.”
Royalist opponents of the take-down warned:
“… it is worth considering the reputational damage that this motion would have if passed, not only for our common room and College, but for Oxford students more generally. In an era where debates on no-platforming and cancel culture rage strong, effectively ‘cancelling’ the Queen and brandishing her a symbol of colonialism – so often used as a synonym for racism – sends a dire message that is sure to enrage. Moreover, it is culturally insensitive for a common room so heavily comprised of international students to seek to remove a national symbol from a British institution. The cultural heritage of all nations has the right to be respected, and a common room that does not do so cannot claim to be inclusive.”
Ultimately it was agreed that “for some students depictions of the monarch and the British monarchy represent recent colonial history” and that the portrait should come down. The student group will now explore whether the painting can be auctioned. Presumably Queen’s College’s days are numbered…
UPDATE: Gavin Williamson responds:
“Oxford University students removing a picture of the Queen is simply absurd. She is the Head of State and a symbol of what is best about the United Kingdom. During her long reign she has worked tirelessly to promote British values of tolerance, inclusivity and respect around the world.”
Airlines
BBC News
British Airways and Ryanair may have broken consumer law in not offering refunds to customers who couldn’t legally take flights due to Covid lockdowns, a watchdog has said.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the airlines’ stance could have left customers out of pocket.
The airlines offered other options, but both refused refunds, it said.
However, BA said it had acted lawfully and Ryanair said it had refunded customers in justified cases.
During the three UK lockdowns people were told to avoid all non-essential travel.
The CMA said that while BA had offered vouchers and rebooking for flights that weren’t cancelled, and Ryanair had offered rebooking, both had declined refunds.
Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said: “While we understand that airlines have had a tough time during the pandemic, people should not be left unfairly out of pocket for following the law.
“Customers booked these flights in good faith and were legally unable to take them due to circumstances entirely outside of their control. We believe these people should have been offered their money back.”
To think! Our forefathers formed One People, One Nation, One Religion- oh how the wimps and woke have fallen
Dozy Johnson saying urgent action needs to be taken over the Northern Ireland protocol. My advice for what it is worth is to stop bloody talking about it, and actually do something positive about it. However that will mean in his eyes, mean backing down and making compromises to the European Union, the incredibly weak man that he is. How about acting in the best interests of all citizens in this country for a change and that includes Northern Ireland. Johnson should never ever agreed to the suggestion that Northern Ireland should be treated as a separate entity subject to different rules, and should have told the European Commission to get lost, politely of course He would make a good start by tearing up the protocol altogether and trading on WTO Rules instead. Anyone would have thought by the way that he is running this awful government that he was defending a wafer thin majority in the House of Commons instead of an 80 odd seat majority. Johnson man up for goodness sake and get a grip, and if you can’t manage more than than a whimper, step down and allow someone with a bit of gumption to take over. Lord, love-a -duck give me strength…….
I second that proposal
WTO should indeed have been the chosen option but BJ, from his recent comments, is a globalist.
This government is weak full of 2nd rate dopes led by a charlatan who needs to be forcibly removed from office for all our sakes
If only we had a strong military loyal to to native Brits.
Just a few other snippets of (chuckle) news missed by British msm.
– Kent council sueing the Home Secretary as immigrant children overwhelm education establishments
– Gease urged to take back immigrants from other European countries
– Napoleon aka Macron given hearty slap across the face in South of France. Two heroes in custody. One grabbed Nappers arm rather than shake his hand, the other clouted him. See also youtube.
– Laugh, I thought my pants would never dry!
Brexit/ EU/G7.
Boris cock-ups as expected. All those organisations attempting to continue / exert control over us need to be told very clearly to take a hike. Any further weakness on the part of Boris will be used to our disadvantage. Let’s hope that we don’t see any further capitulation at G7.