Summary
Here’s a roundup of the news today, as the government has launched its plans to rip up the Northern Ireland protocol risking confrontation with the EU. Elsewhere the flight from the UK to Rwanda carrying refugees scheduled for tomorrow could still go ahead.
- Foreign secretary Liz Truss risked a trade war with the EU and accusations of lawbreaking as she published legislation that would allow exports from Britain to Northern Ireland to follow either UK or EU standards and checks.
- Goods for Northern Ireland will be able to use a green lane, which will mean they will get fewer customs checks. Those destined for EU countries will have to follow a red lane.
- The European Court of Justice will also no longer have a say in trade disputes, and it will instead fall to an independent arbitration process.
- Truss said the measures were “a reasonable, practical solution to the problems facing Northern Ireland”.
- The full bill can be found here.
- European Commission vice president Maros Šefčovič has said that the EU views the latest plans from the UK with “significant concern”. The EU is looking to take action against the UK for its new legislation.
- The move has long been considered legally risky, and the government is basing its move on the “doctrine of necessity” according to its published legal advice, saying it has no choice but to act. However politicians and legal commentators have said this is not the case.
- Politicians across the Irish Channel are predictably split. Neale Richmond, a spokesperson for the Fine Gael party in the Republic of Ireland said it was the “lowest day” since Brexit.
- Deputy leader of the Alliance party in Northern Ireland, Stephen Farry said it will do “real harm” to Northern Ireland.
- Sinn Fein, the largest party in the dissolved Stormont assembly and in the Republic’s Dáil Éireann, has not made any comment since it was published this evening. However beforehand its leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill said it was “in clear breach of international law” (see 17:44).
Away from the government’s new bill
- Two last ditch legal challenges that attempted to halt the inaugural flight carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda have been rejected by judges.
- The multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks has lost his libel action against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr, which was criticised as an attack on free speech.
- Keir Starmer is being investigated by parliament’s standards commissioner over alleged breaches of the rules on declaring financial interests worth more than £18,000.
That’s all today, thank you for following our coverage.
The US secretary of state Anthony Blinken has tweeted after speaking to UK foreign secretary Liz Truss and said there was a “need to continue negotiations with the EU to find solutions”.
Good call with UK Foreign Secretary @TrussLiz today to continue coordinating our urgent support to Ukraine. We also spoke about the Northern Ireland Protocol and the need to continue negotiations with the EU to find solutions.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 13, 2022
The crisis over Northern Ireland and Brexit for Boris Johnson should be providing de ja vu for the Conservative party according to deputy political editor of the Spectator Katy Balls, in a piece for the Guardian this evening.
It’s reminiscent of the problems Theresa May faced, she says, which ultimately brought May down.
A weakened prime minister facing a party divided on Brexit and a European Union that is inclined to wait and negotiate with their eventual successor. No, not Theresa May. This time, it’s Boris Johnson. After the government revealed on Monday evening the bill it plans to use to unilaterally rewrite parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, it’s the current Tory leader who is being squeezed two ways.
Problems with the Northern Ireland protocol are nothing new. Almost as soon as Johnson agreed to the new trading arrangement between the UK and EU, issues started to arise. The prime minister’s insistence that there would be no checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland or vice versa quickly proved to be wide of the mark. As time has gone on, the problems with the trade barriers have become more apparent – with some mainland businesses simply giving up on sending goods to Northern Ireland because of the onerous bureaucracy.
More reaction from opposition parties in the UK. In comments carried by Labour party news website LabourList, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said it was a “desperate attempt [by Boris Johnson] to distract from the drama of his leadership crisis”.
It risks creating new trade barriers in a cost-of-living crisis and will only bring more uncertainty for the people of Northern Ireland who are trying to make the protocol work.
Britain should be a country that keeps its word. By tearing up the protocol it negotiated just a couple of years ago, the government will damage Britain’s reputation and make finding a lasting solution more difficult.
His Liberal Democrat counterpart, the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran, said the decision was “astounding”.
“If the Conservatives enact these proposals, they risk starting a trade war with our closest neighbours which will push prices up even further. In the midst of this cost of living emergency, this is the last thing families up and down the country need.”
In Scotland, Scottish National party MP and its Northern Ireland spokesperson Richard Thomson said: “The UK government has form when it comes to breaching international law. However, this latest threat to unilaterally scrap aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol – a protocol made necessary because of Brexit and which the UK government not only requested but signed up to freely - is utterly reckless and dangerous.
“Rather than reneging on its commitments the UK government should instead be working constructively to address the particular challenges facing Northern Ireland while ensuring that the Good Friday Agreement is protected.”
Updated
An official from the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that anything other than a negotiated agreement between the UK and EU is “simply sub-optimal”.
Stuart Anderson, the chamber’s head of public affairs said that some measures would be helpful, but firms bore the brunt of risk from it.
He said: “While there are attractive elements in today’s proposals for consumer facing businesses in particular, a careful balance must be struck to protect gains made to date by our exporters and agri-food sub-sectors. The apparent shifting of risk onto NI businesses is a cause for particular concern.
“As our businesses fight the challenge of soaring inflation, it is incumbent on the EU and the UK to recommence discussions without any further delay. We stand ready to play our part in supporting lasting solutions that work for NI businesses and households.
“The process of unilateral reform commenced today is not at our request but we remain firmly of the view that an agreed way forward can be found. Anything other than a negotiated outcome is simply sub-optimal.”
Updated
Back to Northern Ireland, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Jeffrey Donaldson has said the party will reserve judgement until the bill progresses. He repeated that the Irish government was “tone deaf” to unionist concerns.
He told the administration in Dublin: “The DUP will judge what constitutes decisive action as we see this bill progressing.
“Start listening to what unionists are saying, understand the nature of our concerns, take your head out of the sand and recognise that there is a problem here that needs to be resolved, stop running away from the problem - let’s get it sorted.”
He said he did not believe the UK Government was acting illegally, PA Media reports.
“I believe that the British government is acting within the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement.”
One of the side-effects from the potential dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol is the wider-impact on the UK economy, which is already forecast to be one of the worst performing in the G20.
An interesting point from Richard Burge who heads up the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). He has had this to say: “We are hugely concerned that the introduction of the Government’s Northern Ireland Bill risks significant harm to businesses in London and right across the whole of the UK.
“Getting Brexit done was at least meant to deliver certainty to businesses after years of waiting for clarity on the future of the UK’s trade relations with the European Union. The introduction of this bill means we are now teetering on the brink of a trade war with the EU and that will mean further economic pain and falls in investment.
“The UK is already set to be the worst performing economy in the G20 over the next year, why would government risk further economic harm at a moment of inflationary pressure and major land war in Europe? While the protection of the UK internal market is important, it is equally as important to have macroeconomic stability, especially during this cost of living and cost of doing business crises. We urge the government to carefully consider the impact that playing politics with the protocol could have on the British economy.”
The government’s “doctrine of necessity”, which it has based its legal justification on for breaking international law has been met with scepticism by lawyers and government ministers.
Mark Eliott, a professor of public law at the University of Cambridge, has said that the International Law Commission says “necessity” means “grave and imminent peril”. He does not think this has been met.
In the light of those requirements, it seems to me very difficult to argue that there is a situation in which the international law doctrine of necessity applies.
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) June 13, 2022
The position, therefore, is if the NI Protocol Bill is enacted in its present form and enters into force, it is very likely indeed that it will breach international law by putting the UK in breach of clear obligations set out in the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol. /ends
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) June 13, 2022
David Allen Green, who is a law and policy commentator, has said the legal justification is “perhaps the weakest justification placed into the public domain since the trip to Barnard Castle to test one’s eyesight”, referring to Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham in 2020.
Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow attorney general has also said it is “complete and utter nonsense”.
Emily Thornberry, shadow AG, says using the doctrine of necessity to justify NI protocol bill is "complete and utter nonsense". "The doctrine of necessity relies on grave and immediate peril. Boris Johnson's career may be in peril but it doesn't seem to apply otherwise"
— Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) June 13, 2022
Updated
More reaction from both sides of the Irish border.
The deputy leader of the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland and MP Stephen Farry.
The Bill does real harm to Northern Ireland. It is not supported by majority of MLAs or business community. Immediately, it creates economic uncertainty and harms investment. If enacted, it will undermine NI’s access to SM. Makes it much harder to fix the issues with Protocol. https://t.co/PNSe2E5n0x
— Stephen Farry MP (@StephenFarryMP) June 13, 2022
Neale Richmond, who represents a Dublin seat in the Irish parliament and is the Fine Gael spokesperson for European Affairs has posted a thread on Twitter, and said today is the “lowest day” in the Brexit process and that it was “more suited to Willy Wonka than a serious politician”.
No surprises from Liz Truss this evening but a few thoughts on what is probably the lowest day in this entire sorry #Brexit process. 1/ pic.twitter.com/T2UXbSLfTn
— Neale Richmond (@nealerichmond) June 13, 2022
Updated
Reaction is continuing to come through, in response to a question from Andrew Marr on LBC, UK Northern Ireland secretary Conor Burns, who is visiting the US, is unable to say he has found anyone in Washington who backs the government’s move.
“I’m not here asking anyone in Washington. Unlike the Labour frontbench I recongise the role of the US, not as a guarantor of the agreement, but as a friend and ally of the United Kingdom, a country that bares goodwill to the island of Ireland.”
Meanwhile the Republic of Ireland’s Europe minister Thomas Byrne has said: “We have to remain calm but firm, the law is on our side, so we don’t go around breaking the law like the British government apparently proposes to do.”
Speaking to LBC, he added: “Undoubtedly there will be consequences. If you run through a traffic light, you will be punished, if you commit some other breaches of the law, you will be punished. There will be consequences for Britain, but we don’t want to get into that space. We want to work this out for the betterment of Northern Ireland.”
'Doctrine of necessity' is government's justification for legality of bill
The government has published legal advice alongside the bill, and explanatory notes.
It says that the legislation is justified because it is a “genuinely exceptional situation”. It also talks about the “doctrine of necessity” which underpins the government’s justification for not breaking international law.
The legal advice begins: “The doctrine of necessity provides a clear basis in international law to justify the non-performance of international obligations under certain exceptional and limited conditions.”
It is understood that ministers have not published all legal advice the government has received. Last week PoliticsHome reported that the government’s top independent legal adviser on the bill said it would be “very difficult” to “credibly” argue it did not break international law.
The legal advice can be found here.
It says: “The government recognises that necessity can only exceptionally be invoked to lawfully justify non-performance of international obligations.
“This is a genuinely exceptional situation and it is only in the challenging, complex and unique circumstances of Northern Ireland that the government has, reluctantly, decided to introduce legislative measures which, on entry into force, envisage the non-performance of certain obligations.
“It is the government’s position that in light of the state of necessity, any such non-performance of its obligations contained in the Withdrawal Agreement and/or the protocol as a result of the planned legislative measures would be justified as a matter of international law.
“This justification lasts as long as the underlying reasons for the state of necessity are present. The current assessment is that this situation and its causes will persist into the medium to long term.”
It adds: “The government’s clear preference remains a negotiated solution with the EU to address the situation of necessity that has arisen.”
Updated
Bill could threaten Northern Ireland's firms' access to single market
The European Commission vice president Maros Šefčovič has said that the EU views the latest plans from the UK with “significant concern”. Earlier on Monday he warned that if the UK followed through with the threatened bill it would “damage trust” between the two.
Speaking at the commission’s headquarters in Brussels, he said the EU would look at restarting “infringement proceedings” against the UK which have been on hold since September 2021.
“It is with significant concern that we take note of today’s decision by the UK Government to table legislation disapplying core elements of the protocol. Unilateral action is damaging to mutual trust.
“In particular, the protocol provides business operators in Northern Ireland with access to the EU single market for goods. The UK Government’s approach puts this access - and related opportunities - at risk.
“Our aim will always be to secure the implementation of the protocol. Our reaction to unilateral action by the UK will reflect that aim and will be proportionate.”
Truss: Northern Ireland Bill 'reasonable [and] practical measures for problems'
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has made comments alongside the bill being published. She said it will support the Good Friday agreement, and measures were “reasonable [and] practical”.
She said: “This bill will uphold the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and support political stability in Northern Ireland. It will end the untenable situation where people in Northern Ireland are treated differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, protect the supremacy of our courts and our territorial integrity.
“This is a reasonable, practical solution to the problems facing Northern Ireland. It will safeguard the EU Single Market and ensure there is no hard border on the island of Ireland. We are ready to deliver this through talks with the EU. But we can only make progress through negotiations if the EU are willing to change the protocol itself – at the moment they aren’t. In the meantime the serious situation in Northern Ireland means we cannot afford to allow the situation to drift.
“As the government of the whole United Kingdom, it is our duty to take the necessary steps to preserve peace and stability.”
The 20-page bill, now live on the government’s website, says that it will give ministers the power to make new laws on the protocol which governs trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It had its first reading in the Commons earlier this evening.
The bill in full can be found here.
The key part of the government’s plans are that businesses exporting to Northern Ireland can choose themselves whether to follow EU or UK standards, which are expected to widen.
Goods for Northern Ireland will then be able to use a green lane, which will mean they will get fewer customs checks. Those destined for EU countries will have to follow a red lane.
The European Court of Justice will also no longer have a say in trade disputes, and it will instead fall to an independent arbitration process.
Goverment publishes Northern Ireland Protocol bill
Liz Truss risked a trade war with the EU and accusations of lawbreaking as she published legislation that would allow exports from Britain to Northern Ireland to follow either UK or EU standards and checks.
Publishing the Northern Ireland protocol bill, Truss said the legislation would “fix” issues with the post-Brexit protocol by easing checks for firms selling goods from Britain destined for Northern Ireland rather than the EU. It would also scrap the European court of justice as the arbiter of trade disputes and move to an independent mechanism.
However, the EU, legal experts and even some Conservative MPs have warned that the move is illegal under international law as it gives ministers the powers to disapply parts of the protocol unilaterally, without the agreement of Brussels.
And Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, told a briefing at Stormont that the Northern Ireland bill was needed because the EU’s negotiating mandate was “so limited” it could not agree to the changes that were required to the protocol. He went on:
We believe it is right that the UK Government takes this action, the UK Government has a primary responsibility to protect the integrity of the United Kingdom and its internal market, whilst at the same time making reasonable proposals that offer protection to the European Union and their single market,” he said.
We will consider these proposals against our seven tests to determine if they meet what is required to achieve the objectives, which is of course to restore Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market, to remove the barriers to trade within the UK, and to enable us then to restore the political institutions and protect the principle of consensus, cross-community consensus which is at the heart of the Belfast Agreement and of how the political institutions operate.
Donaldson also denied that his party was now under pressure because of its stance on the protocol. He said:
I’m not under any pressure. We have strong support from across unionism for the stand that we are taking. I believe that our pressure has brought about what we see today with this bill being published.
That is all from me for tonight. My colleague Harry Taylor is taking over now.
Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland, has said the Northern Ireland protocol bill being published today is “in clear breach of international law”.
Michelle O’Neill pretty clear when I ask her is Boris Johnson breaking the law: yes #protocol #brexit pic.twitter.com/fkIHfNqBeO
— Stephen Murphy (@SMurphyTV) June 13, 2022
The bill still has not been published, but it is expected within the next hour.
Keir Starmer is facing a revolt by party members in Stroud where 130 activists have signed a letter saying that Doina Cornell, the Labour leader of Stroud district council, should be allowed on the shortlist when the party selects its parliamentary candidate for the town, the Stroud Times reports. In their letter to Starmer and David Evans, the party’s general secretary, the members said:
The decision to prohibit Doina from standing is wrong and we fear will fatally damage our chances of regaining Stroud for Labour; surely something that should be our priority.
Cornell was reportedly blocked from being a candidae because of concerns about her social media activity in the past, although last week she said she had not been given specific reasons for the ban.
A Conservative, Siobhan Baillie, won Stroud at the last election with a majority of 3,840, but the seat was Labour from 1997 to 2020, and won by Labour again in 2017.
This is from ITV’s Paul Brand on the plan for the first flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda to leave tomorrow.
Understand the first flight carrying asylum seekers from UK to Rwanda will take off tomorrow evening and arrive in Kigali on Weds.
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) June 13, 2022
Have spent the day filming the kind of conditions they can expect, including at this camp an hour from the capital which already houses refugees. pic.twitter.com/HEmV7Apexo
Court of appeal says it has no grounds to overturn high court's decision not to block Rwanda relocation for asylum seekers
Court of Appeal judges have rejected a last-ditch legal bid to block the first flight due to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda under a controversial government policy, PA Media reports.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), which represents more than 80% of Border Force staff, and charities Care4Calais and Detention Action challenged a high court judge’s refusal to grant an injunction on Friday, which meant the first flight to the east African country could go ahead on Tuesday.
Lawyers for the three groups and one person due to be removed asked for the injunction to prevent the 11 people now due on Tuesday’s flight from being taken to Rwanda until the full hearing of whether the policy is lawful next month.
Raza Husain QC argued that the judge who refused to block the flight on Friday, Mr Justice Swift, had wrongly decided the “balance of convenience”.
But, following an urgent hearing in London on Monday, three senior judges dismissed the appeal, saying there was no error in the decision of Mr Justice Swift.
Lord Justice Singh, sitting with Lady Justice Simler and Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, said Mr Justice Swift had “conducted the balancing exercise properly” and did not err in principle nor in the approach he took.
He added: “He weighed all the factors and reached a conclusion which he was reasonably entitled to reach on the material before him. This court cannot therefore interfere with that conclusion.”
The Home Office has defended the policy and the prime minister has said the government had anticipated “a lot of teething problems” with the policy, but said the move is necessary to stop illegal people-smuggling rackets on either side of the Channel.
Rory Dunlop QC, for the department, told the court earlier on Monday: “The flight tomorrow is important. This is a policy which is intended to deter dangerous and unnecessary journeys, journeys from safe third countries by people who do not need to make that journey to be safe, they can claim in France or wherever it is. This is a policy that if it works, could save lives as well as disrupting the model of traffickers.
“Even if we are just talking about cancelling a flight tomorrow, there is prejudice to the public interest, to the enactment of decisions that may have that deterrent effect.”
The high court heard the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, has multiple concerns about the system in Rwanda, including discriminatory access to asylum, a lack of legal representation and other “deep-rooted structural problems”.
On Monday, Dunlop said: “The secretary of state has listened and seriously considered the concerns raised by the UNHCR and has deliberately negotiated arrangements to provide assurances in relation to those concerns.”
A second case is being heard in the high court on Monday afternoon after Asylum Aid, a refugee charity, applied for an urgent interim injunction to stop the Government flying migrants to Rwanda.
According to the Telegraph’s Christopher Hope, the European Research Group, the Tory caucus who pushed for the hardest version of Brexit during the withdrawal negotiations, is reconvening its ‘star chamber’ of Eurosceptic lawyers to vet the Northern Ireland protocol bill.
* Today's Chopper's Politics Newsletter *
— Christopher Hope📝 (@christopherhope) June 13, 2022
European Research Group is withholding support for Boris Johnson's plans to overhaul Northern Ireland Protocol.
The ERG has reformed the 'star chamber' to go through them line by line.
Its conclusions will be published later this month. pic.twitter.com/g0Uai8YFox
The barrister Matthew Scott was tweeting as Lord Justice Singh delivered the judgement in the appeal against the decision by the high court on Friday not to grant an injunction prevention the removal of some asylum seekers to Rwanda tomorrow. Here are some of his tweets.
Merits of the underlying plicy are not for the courts, says Singh. Only job of the courts is to decide if the scheme is lawful.
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
Merits of the underlying plicy are not for the courts, says Singh. Only job of the courts is to decide if the scheme is lawful.
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
I've done my best to tweet this, but it's full of errors. Basically, it boils down to Swift J made no identifiable mistakes so the Court of Appeal won't intervene. https://t.co/mZIAF4e5qF
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
We can't decide today if the scheme is lawful. There will be a full hearing in July. We are an appellate court. We have to decide if the judge's decision was one which was not reasonably open to him.
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
The individual removal decisions were challenged in High Court on 7 Grounds:
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
1. SoS's determination that Rwanda is a safe country is unreasonable (that's a paraphrase, as is most of this thread)
2. Malaria prevention
3. Art 3 of ECHR
4. Ultra Vires by unlawful criminalisation of refugees
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
5. Ultra vires 1992 Act, because Rwanda won't discharge rights under Refugee Convention
6. Failure of Sos to issue guidance
7. Failure of SoS to consider representations.
Application is to prevent removal pending the final hearing of the claim.
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
Judge considered was serious isue on 1,2 3 & 5. Considered where the "balance of convenience" fell. Judge felt that it did not favour a general or individual injunctions.
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
Permission to appeal to Supreme Court is refused.
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
That's it from the Court of Appeal.
And here is Scott’s summary. Swift J is Mr Justice Swift, who delivered the high court judgment on Friday.
I've done my best to tweet this, but it's full of errors. Basically, it boils down to Swift J made no identifiable mistakes so the Court of Appeal won't intervene. https://t.co/mZIAF4e5qF
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) June 13, 2022
These are from Danny Shaw, the home affairs commentator, on this afternoon’s court of appeal judgment.
NEW Refugee campaigners have failed in a new legal attempt to stop an asylum removal flight to Rwanda after Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the High Court
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) June 13, 2022
Permission to appeal refused.
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) June 13, 2022
Very hard to see now how tomorrow’s Rwanda flight can be stopped….
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) June 13, 2022
Court of Appeal ruling was emphatic. Fully backed Mr Justice Swift’s judgment from Friday.
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) June 13, 2022
But of course - this was not a full hearing about the substance & legality of Rwanda removals policy : that will come at the High Court in July. And that decision - whichever way to goes - will be subject to an appeal as well. This is going to take months to resolve.
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) June 13, 2022
Updated
Court of appeal rejects last-minute bid to stop asylum seekers being sent to Rwanda tomorrow
PA Media has just snapped this.
Court of appeal judges have rejected a last-ditch legal bid to block a flight due to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday.
I will post more on the judgment shortly.
Updated
This is from Anton Spisak, Brexit specialist at the Tony Blair Institute thinktank, on Boris Johnson’s comment this morning about the Northern Ireland protocol bill. (See 9.58am.)
Johnson describing a near-complete rewrite of the Protocol though primary legislation as "a trivial set of adjustments" and "a bureaucratic change" is utterly dishonest. At least own your bloody bill, ffs.
— Anton Spisak (@AntonSpisak) June 13, 2022
Keir Starmer is widely been by voters as boring, according to polling research published today.
NEW @JLPartnersPolls in today’s @thesun
— James Johnson (@jamesjohnson252) June 13, 2022
We asked a nationally representative sample of 2,000 people what they think about Keir Starmer.
Of all responses, 50% were negative, 24% neutral, 26% positive. The words most commonly used are below. pic.twitter.com/OsSl57guXS
James Johnson of JL Partners used to work for Theresa May in Downing Street, but he is a reputable pollster and he is happy to point out that equivalent polling on Boris Johnson is far worse.
And however bad the poll may seem for Starmer, at the moment all that matters is who is least unpopular. Here is the same exercise for Boris Johnson back in April. (3/3) https://t.co/NCqKjTx8ox
— James Johnson (@jamesjohnson252) June 13, 2022
In a comment on his findings for the Sun, Johnson says that being seen as boring by the voters has some advantages. He explains:
Being seen as a bore has clear downsides. It means voters do not associate the Labour leader with an exciting vision for the future.
They often criticise him for not seeming to have any ideas.
But it also has an upshot. In the focus groups I run, Starmer is seen as so dull that voters find it hard to care about even the most negative stories about him – such as his beers in Durham.
While Corbyn was seen as weak, and Ed Miliband as a joke, Starmer is met with a shrug.
Updated
The withdrawal of the national Covid testing scheme is “dragging on UK GDP data”, Treasury minister John Glen has told MPs. Responding to a Commons urgent question on the growth figures showing the economy shrinking in April, and echoing the argument used by No 10 (see 1.56pm), Glen said:
Like other advanced economies, the UK is affected by global economic challenges including the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As the chancellor said a few weeks ago, a perfect storm of global supply shocks is rolling through our economy simultaneously. At the same time, the impact from the wind-down of the national Covid testing scheme is dragging on UK GDP data.
Overall, the figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning for April show that output fell 0.3% on the month, with the services sector falling by 0.2% and production and construction declining by 0.6% and 0.4% respectively.
As the ONS themselves note, the fall in GDP on the month is driven by the impact of the wind-down of the NHS Covid testing programme. Testing volumes fell 70% from March to April which, alongside the impact from vaccines, detracted 0.5 percentage points from GDP growth in April.
Pat McFadden, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, claimed Britain was “going backward” under the Conservatives. He said:
Inflation at nine per cent, tax promises broken, trade deficit £24bn, the pound falling against the dollar, the director general of the CBI saying business leaders are in despair. The OECD forecasting that next year the UK will have the lowest growth of any G20 economy with the sole exception of Russia. This is what the government is presiding over. Britain is going backward under the Conservatives.
UK decision to 'renege' on international treaty 'very regrettable', says Irish PM
Micheál Martin, the taoiseach (Irish PM), has said that it is “very regrettable” that the UK is planning to renege on an international treaty. Speaking in Country Cork about the legislation being passed this afternoon allowing the UK government to ignore most of the Northern Ireland protocol, Martin said:
It’s very regrettable for a country like the UK to renege on an international treaty.
I think it represents a new low point because the natural expectation of democratic countries like ourselves, the UK and all across Europe is that we honour international agreements that we enter into.
Martin said the only way to solve problems with the protocol was through negotiations with the EU and he said he did not accept that Brussels was being inflexible.
I’ve had this discussion with [Boris Johnson] and, in our view, the only way to resolve issues around the operation of the protocol is to have substantive negotiations between the UK and the EU.
We do not accept the presentation by the British government and certain ministers to the effect that the EU is inflexible. That is most definitely not the case and the EU has been very proactive in the last year in endeavouring to seek solutions to issues around the operation of the protocol.
Martin also said he was “very concerned” about the failure of the Northern Ireland assembly to reconvene. He said:
I’m still very concerned that we are currently witnessing a denial of democracy where we have had an assembly election and yet we don’t have an assembly convened. The people’s voice needs to be reflected in the institutions being put in place, the assembly in particular, and the executive.
As the open letter released today illustrates, a majority of assembly members are opposed to the UK government’s bill. (See 3.12pm.) But the assembly has not been able to start work since the elections in May because the DUP has refused to agree to the election of a new Speaker.
The government is due to publish the bill later this afternoon - possibly not until around 6pm.
Updated
The first flight scheduled to take refugees to Rwanda on Tuesday could be cancelled because of a late flurry of individual legal challenges, government sources have said. My colleagues Rajeev Syal and Diane Taylor have the story here.
52 out of 90 members of Northern Ireland assembly sign letter rejecting protocol bill 'in strongest possible terms'
A majority of MLAs (members of the legislative assembly) in Northern Ireland have signed an open letter to Boris Johnson saying that they reject “in the strongest possible terms” his “reckless” Northern Ireland protocol bill.
Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and first minister elect (assuming power sharing ever resumes) has the lead signature on the letter which has been signed by all 27 Sinn Féin MLAs, as well as the 17 Alliance party MLAs and eight from the SDLP. They account for 52 of the 90 members of the assembly (58%).
Here are their main arguments.
- A majority of MLAs, and a majority of people in Northern Ireland, are opposed to the government bill, the MLAs say. They say:
Our parties collectively represent a majority inside the Northern Ireland assembly and received a majority of votes cast in the recent assembly election. We reject in the strongest possible terms your government’s reckless new protocol legislation, which flies in the face of the expressed wishes of not just most businesses, but most people in Northern Ireland.
- The protocol is the only option available to protect Northern Ireland from the worst aspects of Brexit, the MLAs say. They say:
The protocol is itself a product of the hard Brexit you personally championed and a withdrawal deal you personally signed. Whilst not ideal, the protocol currently represents the only available protections for Northern Ireland from the worst impacts of that hard Brexit. The protocol also offers clear economic advantages to our region, and the opportunity for unique access to two major markets. The fact that you have removed this advantage from businesses in Great Britain, at a clear economic cost, does not justify doing the same to businesses in Northern Ireland.
- The MLAs say it is “deeply frustrating” that their support for changes to the protocol has been presented by the government as support for its bill. It is not, they say. They say they just want “smooth implementation” of the protocol, and that the EU has shown it would agree to changes to facilitate this. (When Liz Truss announced plans for the bill last month, she claimed 78% of people in Northern Ireland wanted the protocol changed. But that figure was arguably misleading because around half of that group only want relatively minor changes, of the kind backed by the Sinn Féin/Alliance/SDLP MLAs - not the kind of change proposed by Truss.)
- The MLAs reject Boris Johnson’s claim that he is acting to protect the Good Friday agreement. They say:
Finally, we strongly reject your continued claim to be protecting the Good Friday agreement as your government works to destabilise our region. To complain the protocol lacks cross-community consent, while ignoring the fact that Brexit itself – let alone hard Brexit - lacks even basic majority consent here, is a grotesque act of political distortion. Your claims to be acting to protect our institutions is as much a fabrication as the Brexit campaign claims you made in 2016.
Here is the full text of the letter.
New - A majority of MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson this afternoon outlining their opposition to the government’s proposed legislation pic.twitter.com/fdVoiTZXrn
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) June 13, 2022
Updated
End of mass Covid testing largely explains figures showing economy shrinking in April, No 10 says
Here are the key points from the Downing Street lobby briefing.
- No 10 says the shrinking of the economy in April was largely explained by the end of mass Covid testing. That “significantly impacted” on the GDP figures, the PM’s spokesperson said. He went on:
When we exclude the falling numbers of Covid tests, the rest of the economy saw positive growth of 0.1% in April.
So we are focused on growing the economy to reduce the cost of living and we will continue to work to create the conditions for economic growth.
The ONS report on the growth figures backs up this claim. It says:
Human health and social work activities fell by 5.6% in April 2022, and this was the main negative contributor to April’s fall in services (detracting 0.5 percentage points as shown in figure 3). The driver of this fall was human health activities, which fell by 7.6%. This largely reflects the significant reduction in the coronavirus (Covid-19) NHS Test and Trace activity following changes to testing policies across the UK, particularly the changes to the Covid-19 testing policy in England from April.
- The spokesperson claimed the economy had “strong foundations”.
- The spokesperson insisted that Brexit would be “a boon to the UK economy in the long term”. Asked about claims that Brexit has contributed to the UK’s poor growth, the spokesperson said it was “too early to pass judgment” on the impact of Brexit, particularly given the effects of the pandemic. He went on:
We are confident that the opportunities Brexit provides will be a boon to the UK economy in the long term.
So far, most of the evidence clearly shows that Brexit has been bad for the British economy. Jonathan Portes and Mathias Wosyka, from the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank, published a very fair assessment in the Observer yesterday.
- The spokesperson said there were “no plans” for a further cut in fuel duty.
- The spokesperson said Boris Johnson had “nothing but respect and admiration” for Prince Charles. He said:
The prime minister has nothing but respect and admiration for the Prince of Wales, who’s spoken out on a number of issues, not least the environment.
The spokesperson was asked about Johnson’s response to reports that the prince thinks the policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is “appallling”. The spokesperson said Johnson dealt with this in his LBC interview this morning. (See 9.58am.)
Updated
Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president who leads for the EU in Brexit talks with the UK, posted this on Twitter this morning after speaking to Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, about the Northern Ireland protocol bill. It will be “damaging to mutual trust and a formula for uncertainty”, he says.
Spoke to @trussliz earlier where she informed me of 🇬🇧legislation to unilaterally disapply the Protocol. The EU has always paid utmost attention to the impact Brexit has on NI, offering workable solutions. Unilateral action is damaging to mutual trust & a formula for uncertainty. pic.twitter.com/CWqFSxy0GC
— Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) June 13, 2022
Updated
There are two urgent questions in the Commons this afternoon at 3.30pm; the first, tabled by Labour, is on the growth figures; and the second, tabled by the SNP, is on the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda.
After they are over, at around 5pm, George Eustice, the environment secretary, will make a statement about the food strategy.
Starmer says NI protocol issue will have to be resolved with EU and government bill will make deal harder
Speaking to the media in Wakefield, where he is campaigning ahead of next week’s byelection, Keir Starmer also said that the Northern Ireland protocol bill being published today would reduce, not increase, the chances of an agreement with the EU on changes to the protocol that might improve the way it operates. Starmer said:
I think the answer to this is to accept there are some problems in the way the protocol works but they can be resolved around the negotiating table with statecraft, with guile, with trust.
Unfortunately, we don’t have those in the current prime minister.
They won’t be resolved with legislation that breaches international law and that, frankly, will impede the negotiations that, in the end, will be needed to settle this.
So the government is going down the wrong track here.
The UK government wants to legislate to allow it to change the operation of the protocol unilaterally, but ministers have also hinted that they think there is a chance of the threat of legislation leading to the EU taking a more flexible approach in talks, which could lead to an agreement.
Starmer says figures showing economy shrinking should be 'real cause for concern'
Keir Starmer has said today’s growth figures, showing the economy contracting in April as well as in March, should be a “real cause for concern” for people. He explained:
I think these latest figures are going to be a real cause for concern for millions of people who are struggling already to pay their bills, so this is a very gloomy forecast. And it’s not new. We’ve had low growth in our economy for 12 years - the entire period of this Conservative government.
We’ve had low growth and high taxes and it’s that combination that is really punishing people across the country. What we need is a plan to get the economy going - investment in the right places, cutting those taxes, the emergency budget that we’ve been calling for.
Micheál Martin, the taoiseach (Irish PM), has dismissed Boris Johnson’s claim that the Northern Ireland protocol amounts to a “relatively trivial set of adjustments” (see 9.58am), Gavan Reilly from Virgin Media News reports.
NEW: “Announcing the unilateral breach of an international agreement is pretty serious stuff,” the Taoiseach dryly summarises today
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 13, 2022
This in reply to Boris Johnson telling LBC earlier that the measures were “not a big deal”.
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 13, 2022
The British government has a tendency to big up its moves in advance of doing them, and downplay them as it does so, Micheal Martin says. @virginmedianews
DUP says publication of government bill on its own not enough to assuage its concerns about Northern Ireland protocol
The UK government hopes that its legislation allowing large parts of the Northern Ireland protocol to be abandoned will satisfy the DUP, which is calling for the protocol to be replaced. The DUP is refusing to allow the power-sharing executive at Stormont to resume until it gets its way, and it is not even allowing the Northern Ireland assembly to elect a new Speaker. Without a Speaker, the assembly cannot function.
But the DUP MP Sammy Wilson told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster this morning that the publication of the bill by itself would not be enough to assuage its concerns about the protocol. He explained:
Firstly, we have to see the legislation in its final form.
Secondly, what we see today will not necessarily be what comes through the process in the House of Commons and House of Lords. It is always subject to amendment and that will be very important before we can give our support to it.
Thirdly, it is enabling legislation. It states that ministers will do certain things, but we don’t know what those things are because they come in subsequent legislation.
We are at the first stage; we are pleased that the government at least is recognising there is an issue, that they are bringing forward legislation in the face of the EU’s intransigence to deal with the problems.
Petrol companies face inquiry by CMA into whether fuel duty cut being passed on to customers
The Competition and Markets Authority has announced it will conduct a “short and focused review of the market” for the sale of road fuel, PA Media reports. This is in response to a request from Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, who wrote that people were “rightly frustrated” the 5p per litre cut in fuel duty implemented in March has not stopped pump prices from soaring.
In a letter to Kwarteng this morning, Andrea Coscelli, the CMA chief executive, saidL
High road fuel prices are causing significant concern for the millions of consumers and businesses who rely on being able to afford to fill up their vehicles. As you note, global factors, including the war in Ukraine, have been the principal driver of recent trends. But if competition is not working well in the retail fuel market, pump prices will be even higher than they need to be.
With that in mind, the CMA will, as you request, carry out a short and focused review of the market, and provide advice to government on steps that might be taken to improve outcomes for consumers across the UK.
In his own letter to the CMA on Saturday requesting an investigation Kwarteng said:
Unique circumstances globally, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and economies unlocking after Covid, have pushed pump prices up to unprecedented levels. We have taken action to support motorists by cutting fuel duty for petrol and diesel in a £5bn package.
Despite this action, there remains widespread concern about the pace of the increase in prices at the forecourt and, that prices may not fall as much or as fast as they rise. The British people are rightly frustrated that the £5bn package does not always appear to have been passed through to forecourt prices and that in some towns, prices remain higher than in similar, nearby towns.
Updated
The full judgment in Banks v Cadwalladr runs to 117 pages. The barrister Adam Wagner has tweeted the highlights.
Essentially the judge concluded @carolecadwalla had reasonable grounds to believe what she said about Banks in the TED Talk. And in a good example of why bringing a libel claim can sometimes damage your reputation as well as repairing it, she sets out in exhaustive detail why pic.twitter.com/1gv7XgkjX4
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) June 13, 2022
Here's part of the summary from the court pic.twitter.com/6x8RxdW0HB
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) June 13, 2022
Updated
Here is the full text of the judgment in the libel case launched by Aaron Banks, the Ukip donor who co-founded the Leave.EU campaign, against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr. Banks lost.
These are from Carole.
It hasn’t sunk in yet but…SOME NEWS.
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) June 13, 2022
I am so profoundly grateful & relieved.
Thank you to the judge, my stellar legal team & the 29,000 people who contributed to my legal defence fund. I literally couldn’t have done it without you 🙏🙏🙏https://t.co/Zj0TzN9W6x
I haven't read the judgment yet but what I can say that the last 3 years have been extraordinarily difficult. Fighting this has been a crushing, debilitating, all-consuming experience that I sincerely hope no other journalist ever has to go through.
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) June 13, 2022
2/https://t.co/losXT8LXxQ
The fact that his case was brought clearly shows how our libel laws favour the rich & powerful. I was only able to defend myself because of the incredibly generous support of the public. But this judgment is a huge victory for public interest journalism.
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) June 13, 2022
3/
My investigation into Brexit, Cambridge Analytica & Facebook triggered investigations on both sides of the Atlantic, record-breaking fines & findings of multiple breaches of the law, including by Mr Banks's LeaveEU campaign. But I am the only person to ever face trial.
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) June 13, 2022
4/
Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
Nikki da Costa, a former director of legislative affairs under Theresa May and Boris Johnson at No 10, has posted a thread on Twitter explaining what she thinks will happen when the Northern Ireland protocol bill starts its progression through parliament. She thinks the government is in a stronger position than people think, and that the bill could clear the Commons before the summer recess.
After that the bill will go to the Lords, where opposition to the bill will be much more intense.
Some thoughts on passage of Northern Ireland Protocol legislation to be introduced today. Govt wants it through Commons by summer recess, tied to DUP re entering full power sharing. 1) may not be a single rebel camp but PR problem for any group with large cohort of remain MPs 1/
— Nikki da Costa (@nmdacosta) June 13, 2022
Irish foreign minister says UK has chosen to 'deliberately ratchet up tension' with EU with plan to ignore international law
As sure as the sun rose over the Irish Sea this morning political leaders in Dublin and Belfast lambasted the UK government’s plans for the protocol.
After speaking with Liz Truss on Monday Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, accused the UK of intentionally stoking tension with the EU. Even stronger language is expected after the legislation is published.
Spoke with @trussliz.
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) June 13, 2022
UK Govt now proposing to set aside Int Law, reject a partnership approach, ignore majority in NI & deliberately ratchet up tension with an EU seeking compromise.
We remain open to dialogue to find agreement but his approach adds to instability & is no fix.
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s leader in Northern Ireland and the putative first minister, said Tory in-fighting was damaging the region.
The Protocol is necessary. Govts normally try to minimise the differences between their obligations under international law & domestic law. The Tories are doing the opposite. No Bill will justify their failure to perform its obligations in good faith under international law.
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) June 13, 2022
The Alliance and SDLP also accused the UK government of bad faith.
Sammy Wilson, the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) MP, told the BBC the party would take its time to review the legislation and not rush to restore power-sharing – a rebuff to Brandon Lewis, who urged the party to hasten back to Stormont.
Updated
Starmer apologises for submitting declarations to Commons register of interests late
A spokesperson for Keir Starmer has issued this statement about the late declaration being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards. (See 11.22am.)
Keir Starmer takes his declaration responsibilities very seriously and has already apologised for the fact that administrative errors in his office have led to a small number of late declarations. The standards commissioner has asked for more information which we are happy to provide.
It is not particularly unusual for MPs to be reprimanded for making declarations for the Commons register of members’ interests late. Starmer has a better record than Boris Johnson, who was repeatedly criticised for registering interests late before he became PM. In a report in 2019 the Commons standards committee noted Johnson’s “over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the house”.
According to an update on the website of the parliamentary commissioner for standards, listing MPs being investigated over alleged breaches of the code of conduct for MPs, Keir Starmer is being investigated under two sections of the code.
As PA Media reports, the first matter under investigation is stated as: “Registration of interests under category 1 of the guide to the rules (Employment and earnings).” And the second: “Registration of interests under category 3 of the guide to the rules (Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources).”
According to Labour party sources, these complaints refer to items that were declared, but that were declared late.
Updated
As well as doing LBC, Boris Johnson gave interviews to other broadcasters during his visit to a farm in Cornwall this morning. Here are some of the other lines that emerged.
- Johnson claimed that growth in the UK would rebound. Stressing that the UK had the fastest growth rate in the G7 last year, he said:
It’s true that other countries are now catching up and we’re seeing the effects of inflation around the world hitting this country as well as everywhere else. But if you look for instance at the the IMF data, the UK comes back at or near the top of the of the G7 league very quickly.
- He claimed that the economy was in a much stronger position than it was at previous times of crisis. He said unemployment was low and the fundamentals of the economy were strong. He went on:
That’s so different from the economic crises I remember when I was younger in the 80s, in the 90s, millions of people ... told they were on the scrap heap because of mass unemployment.
That was a total disaster, we’re in a different situation now, we’ve got an inflationary price bump that we got to get through ... I think we’ll get through it very strongly indeed.
- He said he always expected the Rwanda deportation policy to encounter “a lot of teething problems”.
- He defended the government’s decision not accept the recommendation from Henry Dimbleby, its lead adviser on food issues, for sugar and salt taxes. Commenting on the food strategy being published today, Johnson said:
What we don’t want to do right now is start whacking new taxes on [people] that will just push up the cost of food.
Johnson also claimed the food and drink industry was “voluntarily reducing the amount of sugar, the amount of salt very substantially”.
Arron Banks loses libel action against reporter Carole Cadwalladr
The multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks has lost his libel action against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr, which was criticised as an attack on free speech, my colleague Haroon Siddique reports.
The SNP transport minister Jenny Gilruth and the former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale have married at a ceremony in Fife. The wedding took place at the Teasses Estate in Ceres on Saturday, the Courier reported. The couple said in July 2017 that they had been dating for around four months.
Dugdale tweeted a link to the story this morning.
Happiest day of my life ❤️ https://t.co/saRzxf3qvc
— Kezia Dugdale (@kezdugdale) June 13, 2022
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is among those sending their congratulations.
Updated
The UK must “embrace new technologies” if it wants to succeed in the future, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said this morning. Speaking at the opening of London Tech Week he said:
What really matters for economic success is innovation.
If we want our country to succeed we need to do what we’ve always done, and embrace new technologies and the people and culture that create them. No serious analysis of our prospects could conclude anything different.
Because if we get this right, if we back our capital, people and ideas, if we can encourage that incredible spirit that I see everywhere in this country, then we can be confident that Britain stands on the cusp of a new era of innovation and change.
In the past the Liberal Democrats were a party that generally favoured higher levels of taxation than the Conservatives did. But recently they have been attacking the Tories for not backing tax cuts, and Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, issued this statement after Boris Johnson ruled out further tax cuts now in his LBC interview. (See 9.58am.) Davey said:
All we got from Boris Johnson this morning was more bluff and bluster and no actual plan to help people through this cost of living emergency.
He could cut taxes now, helping households and the economy but instead he just sits on his hands.
Instead of cutting taxes - in the middle of this crisis chooses to raises them, something struggling families and pensioners will never forgive him for.
In particular the Lib Dems are calling for VAT to be cut.
Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
Peter Foster from the Financial Times has a good thread on Twitter explaining quite how far-reaching the Northern Ireland protocol bill will be. It starts here.
🚨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨NEW: leaked section of Northern Ireland #Brexit bill that I've seen hand ministers massive powers to 'switch off' the Protocol...only 3 articles of the NI Protocol are specifically protected. My latest via @FT w @GeorgeWParker @jude_webber /1https://t.co/rgsRm8VVTh
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) June 12, 2022
Foster also argues that the bill is bound to fail.
The craziest part is that even if this legislation passes (and it's expected to take 18 months to get on the statute book if it does) delivering maximalist, unilateral 'fixes' to the issues won't work. /18
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) June 12, 2022
Because whatever your views on the Protocol, objectively its clear that Brussels, Washington, Dublin won't wear these solutions -- not to mention Sinn Fein. This is all just the same Frostian 'we wont build a border' fantasy rehashed. /19
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) June 12, 2022
The solution has to be in a middle ground of 'dedramatising' the issues and reaching technical fixes.
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) June 12, 2022
FWIW @AntonSpisak - who helped write the Protocol -- has a good run of practical ideas here.
Until tomorrow...ENDShttps://t.co/4LQnzhFeQE
Johnson claims bill to let UK abandon most of Northern Ireland protocol 'relatively trivial set of adjustments'
Here is a summary and analysis of the main points from Boris Johnson’s LBC interview.
- Johnson claimed that the Northern Ireland protocol bill being published today proposed “a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things”. Opposition parties, and some Tories, argue that the plan to allow the UK to unilaterally ignore most of the protocol - an agreement with the EU - would be in breach of international law. Johnson was asked about a note circulating among Tory MPs saying the bill breaks international law.
.@politicshome exclusively reveals:
— Adam Payne (@adampayne26) June 12, 2022
• The briefing note being shared by Tory MPs opposed to the Northern Ireland Protocol bill
• Alliance’s row w/ government over the involvement of the DUP
Fireworks await tomorrow when Truss unveils the legislation https://t.co/p9Qz4vElqO pic.twitter.com/KQdj029eIS
Asked to accept the bill was doomed to fail because of the extent of opposition to it, Johnson refused to accept that. He went on:
What we have to respect, and this is the crucial thing, is the balance and the symmetry of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. We have to understand there are two traditions in Northern Ireland, broadly two ways of looking at the border issues, and one community at the moment feels very, very estranged from the way things are operating and very alienated. And we have just got to fix that.
And it is relatively simple to do it. It’s a bureaucratic change that needs to be made. Frankly, it’s a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things.
- Johnson refused to accept that the bill broke international law. Asked if he agreed that it did, he replied:
I disagree with that, and I tell you why. I think our higher and prior legal as commitment as a country is to the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, to the balance and stability of that agreement, and that means respecting [the concerns of unionists].
This is an argument that Johnson has used before. But if the Good Friday agreement takes precedence over the Northern Ireland protocol, because it came first, perhaps it should take precedence over Brexit too, which also came later and which has also been hard to square with the 1998 agreement that has formed the basis of peace in Northern Ireland?
- Johnson said that, if the EU responded to the UK unilaterally abandoning large parts of the NI protocol by starting a trade war, that would be a “gross, gross over-reaction”. Asked about the prospect of a trade war happening, he replied:
I think that would be a gross, gross over-reaction.
All we’re trying to do is simplify things, to actually to remove barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. How perverse, how preposterous ... to be introducing further restrictions on trade when all we’re trying to do is have some bureaucratic simplifications between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- Johnson brushed aside claims from Prince Charles deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda is “appalling”. At the weekend it emerged that Charles has said this about the policy in private. Clarence House has not denied that this is what he thinks, but it has said that he is politically neutral, and that it won’t comment on private conversations. Asked about Charles’s views, Johnson replied:
I think that most people can see that the criminal gangs .... they need to be stopped. That model needs to be frustrated.
Asked again if Charles was wrong, Johnson replied:
Let me put it this way, what I don’t think we should support is continued activity by criminal gangs.
- Johnson stressed that there were legal options for people wanting to come to the UK. Explaining the need to break the business model of the people smugglers putting migrants on small boats to cross the Channel, he said those boats were very dangerous, and the people were breaking the law. He went on:
What it does is it undermines everybody who’s coming here legally, and it undermines people who support immigration, who want people to come here legally and to be integrated properly.
Johnson said that the workers he met on a farm in Cornwall this morning (see 8.40am) had come from all over the world. “But they come here legally,” he said. “They do it properly. They’re not they’re not controlled by criminal gangs. And that is what we want to see.”
Since Johnson was fined for breaking lockdown rules in No 10, he has not been in the best position to complain about others breaking the law. But a more substantial objection to this argument is that the seasonal agricultural workers scheme used by the farm workers Johnson met this morning would be no use to the women and children crossing the Channel because they are seeking asylum in the UK, not a summer labouring job.
- Johnson said the government had always expected “very active lawyers” to challenge the Rwanda policy. But he also claimed he had “utmost respect for the legal profession”. This meant that, by Johnson’s standards, this was a relatively benign reference to immigration lawyers. In the past he has accused them of being politically motivated.
- Johnson implied that he was opposed to implementing further tax cuts now. Asked about the claim by Gerard Lyons, the economist who advised Johnson when he was London mayor, that Johnson should be cutting income tax instead of listening to the Treasury (which is opposed to this now), Johnson replied:
[Lyons] will understand that we’re bringing in tax cuts as fast as we can. But what we’ve also got to do is look after people in a tough time ...
I understand that we need to bear down on taxation, and we certainly will. But we’ve got an inflationary spike that we’ve got to get through right now, looking after people as we go through that. And that is what we’re going to do.
Johnson seemed to be arguing that he could not implement further tax cuts now because the government needed to fund the measures announced to help people with the cost of living. He may also have been implying that cutting income tax now would be inflationary.
Updated
From my colleague Peter Walker
New media ruse from Downing Street: offer Boris Johnson up for an interview, but do it for five minutes on such a terrible mobile phone line from a Cornish field that you can only hear about one word in three. Much less chance for difficult headlines.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 13, 2022
I’m not sure that was really worth the early start. The main takeaway from the interview is that the government still has a lot more to do to improve mobile phone coverage in Cornwall. At times the prime minister was barely audible. If it had been an interview with anyone else, Nick Ferrari would have given up and told him to call back on a landline.
I’ll post a summary soon.
Q: When will you cut taxes?
Johnson says the effective national insurance cut next month (because the threshold is rising).
He says 8 million of the most vulnerable households are getting £1,200.
He understands the need to bear down on taxation. But they have an inflationary spike they need to get through now.
And that’s it. The interview is over.
Updated
Johnson says it would be 'gross over-reaction' if EU responded to UK abandoning NI protocol by starting trade war
Q: Your Northern Ireland protocol plan is holed below the water line because it has so much opposition in your party, isn’t it?
Johnson says the government needs to resolve the problems with the protocol.
Q: But it is against international law.
Johnson says he does not accept that.
Q: The CBI says it could trigger a trade war with the EU.
Johnson says that would be a “gross over-reaction”.
Johnson dismisses claim from Prince Charles that his Rwanda deportation plan for asylum seekers is 'appalling'
Q: If only one person is on the flight to Rwanda tomorrow, would that justify the flight?
Johnson says it is important the the people traffickers realise their business model is no longer viable.
Q: But you are failing to deport them. There could be fewer than 10 people on the plane.
Johnson said they always knew there would be legal challenges. There are active lawyers in the field. He has respect for the legal profession, he says. But the government needs to break the business model.
These people are offering migrants false hope.
Q: Prince Charles says this is appalling. The archbishop of Canterbury says this is against the judgment of god. How come you know better?
Johnson claims most people can see the case for disrupting the business model.
Q: So you are saying Prince Charles is wrong?
Johnson says we should not continuing activity by criminal gangs. They are putting people on frail boats. And it undermines people coming to the UK legally.
He says the farm he is on has labourers from all over the world, who have come to the UK legally.
Updated
Boris Johnson interviewed by LBC
Boris Johnson is now being interviewed.
He is describing his visit to a farm in Cornwall. He says it is one of the few places in the world that can produce vegetables all year round.
Q: Henry Dimbleby, your food adviser, says the plan does not achieve its key aims. So it’s a failure, isn’t it.
Johnson does not accept that. He thanks Dimbleby for his work.
He wants to encourage more domestic production, he says.
Updated
Boris Johnson will be on LBC at 8.50am, we’re now told.
Updated
GDP figures showing economy shrinking 'disappointing', says minister
George Eustice, the environment secretary, has been giving interviews this morning. He described today’s GDP figures as “disappointing”. He told BBC Breakfast:
As the world comes out of the pandemic there’s obviously a lot of global pressures, particularly inflation and obviously the events in Ukraine and that huge spike in gas prices is going to have a huge impact on the world economy.
We’re starting to see that come through and obviously these are disappointing figures.
Here is my colleague Richard Partington’s story about the figures.
Boris Johnson has joined farm workers to pick courgettes on a vegetable farm in Cornwall as his new food strategy is launched, PA Media reports. PA says:
The prime minister is being shown how to look under the leaves, select the ready courgettes, twist and turn the vegetables and place them in crates at the back of a tractor moving slowly across the field.
“Beautiful shiny courgettes,” he exclaimed.
“They’re very prolific, aren’t they?”
The prime minister was told to pick up the speed as he picked courgettes alongside a dozen farm workers.
Wearing a hi-vis vest, Johnson chatted to the workers as he was shown how to pick the vegetables.
After they told him they hailed from Tajikistan, Bulgaria, Lithuania and were speaking Russian, Johnson asked what the Russian word for courgette is.
After he picked several vegetables, the farm worker showing him the ropes said: “Once you get used to it you can go a little faster.”
Johnson drove a tractor slowly over a courgette field and was shown a modern vegetable planting machine on a Cornwall farm.
The prime minister got into the cab and was shown how to operate the vehicle, moving it very slowly forward as courgette pickers followed behind, sorting the vegetables into crates at the back.
The farmer then showed Johnson a machine capable of planting 150,000 plants a day, saying it is much more efficient than traditional planting techniques.
“So you can plant a lot of cabbage,” the prime minister said, describing it as “unbelievable” and “fantastic”.
He said his grandmother used to grow prize pumpkins, adding that some “exploded”.
Perhaps if all ministers put in a stint on a farm before work every morning that might help address the labour shortage in the industry. This is what the Commons environment committee said about the problem in a report earlier this year.
The food and farming sector has been suffering from acute labour shortages due principally to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. In August 2021, the number of vacancies was estimated to be 500,000 out of 4.1 million roles in the sector. We found clear evidence that labour shortages have badly affected the food and farming industry - threatening food security, the welfare of animals and the mental health of those working in the sector. Businesses have been badly hit, with the pig sector being particularly affected.
The food sector is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector but faces permanent shrinkage if a failure to address its acute labour shortages leads to wage rises, price increases, reduced competitiveness and, ultimately, food production being exported abroad and increased imports.
Updated
Nick Ferrari tells his LBC audience that they will be hearing from Boris Johnson “later in the show”.
This is from Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, on today’s GDP figures.
These figures will add to the worry families are still feeling about their own finances and the long-term health of our economy. They will also add to growing concern about abysmal growth and plummeting living standards under the Conservatives.
Instead of properly addressing the structural weaknesses and insecurity they’ve created, all the Conservatives use are sticking plasters. Labour will create a stronger, more secure economy by boosting our energy security, supply chain security and business security.
Updated
We were told to expect Boris Johnson on LBC at 8.20am. As often happens, he’s late. He was late, too, for his Good Morning Britain interview, but that time he had food poisoning as an excuse.
Updated
Good morning. Boris Johnson is being interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC shortly. Johnson tends to grant interviews like this only reluctantly, and his last major intervention in the morning broadcast round – his interview with Susanna Reid on ITV’s Good Morning Britain last month – wasn’t a great success. But, a week after the no-confidence vote, Johnson is keen to show that his government has not run out of steam.
There is plenty for Ferrari to ask him about. The Northern Ireland protocol bill is being published today, and Archie Bland has a good preview in his First Edition briefing.
Ferrari may ask about data out this morning showing the size of the economy shrank in April. That means it has been contracting now for two months in a row.
The government is publishing its food strategy, which has been criticised by its lead adviser on food issues. We preview that here.
And, of course, the controversy about the plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda for the first time tomorrow continues, with two legal challenges still under way.
Here is the agenda for the day.
8.20am: Boris Johnson is interviewed on LBC.
10am: The court of appeal hears an appeal against the high court decision on Friday to allow the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda. In a related move, Asylum Aid launches a fresh attempt to get an injunction to stop the deportations at the high court at 2pm.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Afternoon: Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, publishes the Northern Ireland protocol bill. Ministers do not normally make Commons statements to accompany the publication of a bill, but Truss is expected to record a clip for broadcasters.
4pm: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, gives a statement to the Commons levelling up committee about the levelling up bill.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com
Updated
