Dublin not expecting EU objections to new trade rules for Northern Ireland Micheál Martin, the Irish foreign minister and tánaiste (deputy PM), has said that he does not expect the European Commission to object to the proposals in the Safeguarding the Union document setting out terms of the No 10/DUP deal to revise the Windsor framework. Speaking after meeting the political parties in Belfast, he said: I think the EU commission will look at this, I think that’s the whole purpose of the joint committee and, indeed, the various mechanisms that are in the Windsor framework is to go through issues as they arise, but I do not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side. Asked what would protecting the EU single market if goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland were not checked, he said: For goods that are going from the UK into Northern Ireland that are staying in Northern Ireland, we’ve always been of the view that the more streamlined and seamless one can make that, the better all round because we want any of the frameworks we put in place to work for industry, business and jobs in Northern Ireland. Afternoon summary New rules to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been unveiled by the government as part of a deal with the Democratic Unionist party that will restore the Stormont executive and install a Sinn Féin first minister. Nicola Sturgeon has admitted failing to properly record key discussions about the Covid crisis after being pressed at the UK Covid inquiry over claims some decisions were too centralised and secretive. More than 30,000 asylum seekers are on bail and under the threat of deportation from the UK to Rwanda, the Home Office has disclosed, as James Cleverly insisted that the total backlog of 94,000 cases should instead be referred to as a queue. Labour’s proposed investment of £28bn a year in the low-carbon economy is an absolute minimum, a leading business figure has said, adding that without green investment on that scale the UK will face steep decline as a result of crumbling infrastructure and stagnating industry. George Osborne has been hired by the American cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase as it faces an intense legal battle with the US regulator. Jim Allister, the leader of Traditional Unionist Voice, a small, hardline unionist party which has repeatedly accused the DUP of not doing enough to stand up for Northern Ireland, has criticised the “Safeguardind the Union” deal. In a video posted on X, he said there was nothing in the document “that removes one word of the protocol, removes one syllable of EU law”. Instead the document left Northern Ireland “continuing to be governed in part by laws we don’t need and can’t change”, he said. Tory MPs in the strongly pro-Brexit European Research Group are meeting to discuss the “Safeguarding the Union” deal offered to the DUP. Jon Craig from Sky News says Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg praised what the government had done. Not many at ERG council of war on NI deal so far. Early arrivals Theresa Villiers, IDS, Bernard Jenkin, John Redwood, Danny Kruger, Desmond Swayne & Lords David Frost & Peter Lilley. Then division bell rings & off they go! Jacob Rees-Mogg tells reporters as he arrives at ERG meeting on NI: “I think the government’s done well.” Priti Patel & Bill Cash arrive. Big Gavin Robinson of The DUP also enters the room & briefs the Tory MPs. Dublin not expecting EU objections to new trade rules for Northern Ireland Micheál Martin, the Irish foreign minister and tánaiste (deputy PM), has said that he does not expect the European Commission to object to the proposals in the Safeguarding the Union document setting out terms of the No 10/DUP deal to revise the Windsor framework. Speaking after meeting the political parties in Belfast, he said: I think the EU commission will look at this, I think that’s the whole purpose of the joint committee and, indeed, the various mechanisms that are in the Windsor framework is to go through issues as they arise, but I do not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side. Asked what would protecting the EU single market if goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland were not checked, he said: For goods that are going from the UK into Northern Ireland that are staying in Northern Ireland, we’ve always been of the view that the more streamlined and seamless one can make that, the better all round because we want any of the frameworks we put in place to work for industry, business and jobs in Northern Ireland. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said she would not bring back the cap on bankers’ bonuses (see 8.57am) in an interview to mark the publication of Labour’s plan for financial services. The party says it includes “a commitment to modernise the regulatory burden on the industry that can obstruct competitiveness and growth, including the Financial Conduct Authority’s 10,000 page regulatory handbook”. Dominic Raab acted unlawfully by ignoring advice on raising legal aid fees, high court finds The lord chancellor acted unlawfully and irrationally when taking the decision not to increase criminal legal aid fees for solicitors in England and Wales by 15%, which was the minimum recommendation of an independent review it commissioned, the high court has found. The Law Society for England and Wales brought a judicial review against the decision, which came amid a 15% increase for barristers and an exodus of solicitors from criminal legal aid work. In a judgment published on Wednesday, Lord Justice Singh and Mr Justice Jay found in favour of the solicitors’ representative body on two of its four argued grounds and ordered that the decision should be retaken. They said that Alex Chalk’s predecessor as lord chancellor, Dominic Raab, acted irrationally by not asking whether increasing fees by less than 15% could still achieve the aims and objectives of the independent review into criminal legal aid and by not undertaking any modelling to see whether they could be met “in particular ensuring the sustainability of criminal legal aid”. The judges said that they had been presented with an “impressive, compelling, body of evidence” which showed “the system is slowly coming apart at the seams”. They said: Unless there are significant injections of funding in the relatively near future, any prediction along the lines that the system will arrive in due course at a point of collapse is not overly pessimistic. The Law Society president, Nick Emmerson, expressed delight at the decision but said it was imperative the government implemented the 15% increase as soon as possible. He said: We may have won the court battle but it’s the public who will lose out in custody suites and courtrooms across the country unless the government takes immediate action to stop the exodus of duty solicitors from the profession. 1,400 duty solicitors have left since 2017 because the work is not financially viable. We are already seeing that there simply aren’t enough solicitors to represent suspects at police stations and magistrates’ courts day and night across the country. This situation will only get worse with potentially dangerous consequences for society. The imbalance between the defence and the prosecution will continue to grow and public trust in the criminal justice system will continue to fail. Government"s trans guidance for schools in England "will erase decades of progress", campaigners claim A coalition of charities and human rights groups say they “strongly oppose” the government’s draft guidance on how schools in England should treat transgender students, and are calling for it to be redrawn. The group including Stonewall, Liberty, Amnesty International UK and Mermaids, a charity supporting trans young people, say the guidance “seeks to deny the existence of transgender pupils” and could lead to them being forcibly outed. In a joint statement they say: This approach will erase decades of progress in making schools places that value difference and reject discrimination. It hampers teachers’ ability to tackle bullying and ultimately risks causing more harm and exclusion of trans young people. Schools desperately need guidance that offers practical advice on creating school environments that support trans pupils to thrive. We are calling on the government to listen to LGBT+ youth and inclusive educators, withdraw the guidance and rethink their approach. Just Like Us, an LBGT+ charity that works with schools, is also advising schools not to use the guidance in its current form. “The draft guidance is unclear, impractical and many questions have been raised over its legal standing,” the charity said. The draft guidance, published late last year, advised schools that they had no “general duty” to let students change their preferred names or uniforms – known as social transitioning – and stressed that parents should be involved where possible. Wales"s journey towards independence speeding up, Plaid Cymru leader claims The leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, has said that the “journey” towards independence is “speeding up” after a commission concluded that breaking away from the union was a viable option for the country. Ap Iorwerth described the report from the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales as “groundbreaking” and called on Welsh people to be “curious, bold and brave” about the possibility of independence. The Plaid leader, who is making a keynote speech on the issue in Cardiff this evening, told the Guardian: I absolutely understand people who see the UK as being some sort of comfort blanket. But it takes a bit of boldness and more curiosity to turn that question on its head and ask, well, how much better could things be if we switch from dependency to taking our fate into our own hands. Staying where we are isn’t risk-free – look at the poverty within many of our communities. He said he did not want Wales to be isolated but perhaps to be part of a new union of the British Isles or the Celtic nations. He went on: To me, redesigning Britain is what it’s about. This is a hugely exciting time and I want more people to come with us on the journey. Also, there’s the reality that if Scotland becomes independent and if Northern Ireland and the Republic reunify, you are left with England and Wales, with Wales being a very, very small partner in that rump of the UK. I think it will dawn on people quickly that that could be bad for Wales. Things could change because of decisions not made by us. We need to prepare for all outcomes. We have to be alive to the possibility that the timescale might not be entirely of our own making. Brexiters and unionists raise concerns as MPs largely back No 10/DUP deal to reform Windsor framework MPs broadly backed the No 10/DUP deal to reform the way the Windsor framework operates, set out in a lengthy and complicated command paper when Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, presented it in a statement to the House of Commons. If Downing Street was fearing a major backlash, it has not happened, and the restoration of power sharing at Stormont is still all set to happen very soon. But there were concerns raised about the deal, by two groups of MPs. At a meeting on Monday night Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, secured backing for the deal from the party’s executive. But he does not have unanimous support and in the Commons at least two of his eight MPs expressed concerns that the deal would not stop Northern Ireland being bound by EU law. The most outspoken (as usual) was Sammy Wilson, who said: When the Northern Ireland assembly sits, ministers and assembly members will be expected by law to adhere to and implement laws which are made in Brussels, which they had no say over and no ability to amend, and no ability to stop. This is a result of this spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying government, refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland. And Carla Lockhart suggested there was more work to be done because Northern Ireland remained bound by EU single market rules, and the customs code still applied. Several Tory Brexiters, such as Priti Patel and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, raised a question also raised by Wilson: what will happen if, in future, the UK government does want to pass legislation diverging from EU law that might necessitate the reimposition of checks on goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland? This is the key issue, and one that Boris Johnson was tweeting about earlier (see 11.33am), because for Brexiters it is an article of faith that the UK should diverge in this way. Heaton-Harris replied several times using the same formula. He told I can tell him absolutely that this agreed package of measures will not change the freedoms and powers we have secured through Brexit or through the Windsor framework. It will not reduce our ability to diverge nor our commitment to do so should it be in the interest of the United Kingdom. This partially satisfied the Brexiters, although it sounded like a fudge, and Heaton-Harris never fully explained what would happen – under the procedure highlighted by Rees-Mogg (see 1.59am) – if the government did want to diverge in this way. If the Conservatives were expecting to be in power for another five years, with the government diverging away merrily, this would be a problem, because the Brexiters would not be happy with the answer they got today. But they don’t, and as a consequence – judging, at least, by what they were saying in the Commons – they don’t have the appetite for a big fight. In his response in the Commons to Chris Heaton-Harris, Hilary Benn, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, said Labour would be voting for the legislation to implement the “safeguarding the union” changes. He said: I have always made it clear that we believe in Northern Ireland’s place in the internal market of the United Kingdom and that we support any practical measures that reinforce this which are consistent with the Windsor framework, which we also support, and which have the support of nationalists as well as unionists. On that basis, we will vote for the legislation. He also said that negotiating the deal was “a great achievement” by Heaton-Harris. The Heaton-Harris statement is now over. In the Commons Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, has just told MPs that tomorrow they will debate regulations to implement the measures in the Northern Ireland deal. In the Commons Colum Eastwood, the leader of the SDLP (a Northern Ireland nationalist party), asked if Heaton-Harris backed reform to the Good Friday agreement to ensure “no one party can pull them down again”. Heaton-Harris said this was a matter for MLAs at Stormont. This is what the command paper says would happen if the UK government wants to pass legislation that would further diverge from EU law, creating a risk that border controls on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland might have to change. We will ensure that whenever parliament is considering new legislation, it has the information needed about any impacts on the internal market and measures necessary to protect Northern Ireland’s place in the internal market, to decide how to proceed. To ensure complete transparency, the government will legislate to require that a minister in charge of a bill must assess whether or not it has an impact on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, if so, make a statement to parliament setting out whether the legislation would have significant adverse implications for Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market. Where primary legislation does carry such implications for the internal market, the government will set out any measures it proposes to take to protect the internal market. In the Commons Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, another leading Brexiter, asked Heaton-Harris to give an example of when this mechanism might be deployed. Heaton-Harris was unable to give one. Priti Patel, the former home secretary, and another leading Brexiter, asks Heaton-Harris to confirm that the UK still has the full ability to diverge from EU laws if it wants. Heaton-Harris says that is the case. He repeats the point about how the deal will not affect the UK’s ability to diverge, or its commitment to do so if that is in the UK’s interests. Heaton-Harris says he does not expect to see Irish reunification in his lifetime Richard Drax, a Tory Brexiter, says “whispering” from Sinn Féin about reunification has been unhelpful. Can the government say that will never happen? Heaton-Harris says he has to be careful, because as secretary of state he is the person who would authorise a border poll. But he says that he expects Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK for the rest of his lifetime. He says the Good Friday agreement says reunification would only happen with the consent of both communities. Heaton-Harris is 56. Heaton-Harris says deal will not stop government diverging from EU law "should it be in interests of UK" Sammy Wilson (DUP) asked if the UK government would still have the power to diverge from EU laws, and implement laws that would not apply to Northern Ireland. Heaton-Harris says this package of laws will not reduce the UK’s ability to diverge, or the government’s “commitment to do so should it be in the interests of the United Kingdom”. He says, if there is a possibility of a measure having a diverse impact on GB/NI trade, the government would have to publish a ministerial statement justifying this. Sir Bill Cash, another leading Brexiter, asked what the deal would do to ensure EU laws affecting Northern Ireland could be blocked. Heaton-Harris said that deal includes changes to the Withdrawal Act that will strengthen the “Stormont lock” mechanism that provides a democratic safeguard. In the Commons Theresa Villiers, a former Northern Ireland secretary and a leading Brexiter, pointed out that the new deal did not take Northern Ireland out of the single market. She asked if the government was still committed to negotiating with the EU to amend the Windsor framework to restore democratic control to law making in every part of the UK. In response, Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, said the deal does contain changes affecting the framework. What command paper on Northern Ireland, setting out details of DUP deal, actually says This is from PA Media on what the command paper says: It commits to replacing the green lane, which currently requires a percentage of goods to be checked, with a “UK internal market system” that will govern the movement of goods that will remain within the UK. The paper said that would ensure there would be “no checks when goods move within the UK internal market system save those conducted by UK authorities as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the scheme, smuggling and disease risks”. The paper adds: “This will ensure the smooth flow of goods that are moving within the UK internal market.” The red lane for transporting goods from GB to NI and on into the EU single market will remain, but the command paper offers measures aimed at reducing the volume of trade required to use that red-tape heavy route. The move to reduce post-Brexit checks on GB-NI trade would represent a change to the current EU/UK Windsor framework agreement and therefore would require Brussels approval. It is understood decisions on implementing the changes are expected to be examined within the existing EU/UK joint committee framework in the time ahead. As well as moves to cut Brexit bureaucracy on Irish Sea trade, the command papers includes a series of measures aimed at providing assurances around Northern Ireland’s constitutional position within the United Kingdom. Legislation will be tabled with the purpose of “affirming Northern Ireland’s constitutional status underpinned by, among other provisions, the Acts of Union.” The paper said: “The legislation will affirm parliament’s sovereignty over all matters in Northern Ireland, and address the concern that Northern Ireland’s constitutional position in the union has been weakened by the creation of specific arrangements for trade in goods.” The government has also pledged to amend domestic law, specifically section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act, to affirm the fact that new EU laws will not automatically apply in Northern Ireland, and must first be subject to democratic oversight by the Stormont assembly. The oversight procedures already outlined in the Windsor framework include the so-called Stormont brake mechanism that enables 30 or more MLAs to flag a concern about a new EU law planned to come into effect in Northern Ireland. The government is obliged to assess whether those concerns meet a threshold that could then result in the UK vetoing the application of the law in the region. The command paper also includes commitments to ensure Northern Ireland goods will always be able to be sold in the GB market regardless of any divergence in EU and UK standards. In respect of further UK divergence from EU standards, there is also a legal requirement that new legislation is assessed as to whether it “impacts on trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain”. If it does there will be a statutory duty for the relevant minister to make a statement “considering any impacts on the operation of Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market”. A requirement that saw certain goods sold in Northern Ireland to display a label stating “not for sale in the EU” will now to extend to cover the whole UK. The government is also creating two new bodies. An UK east-west council will bring together representatives from government, business and the education sector from Northern Ireland and Great Britain to “identify opportunities for deepening connections between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in areas such as trade, transport, education and culture”. Intertrade UK will promote trade within the UK. Among its roles will be to proactively communicate with businesses that currently choose not to sell products in Northern Ireland and identify solutions that could enable them to expand their services to the region. Chris Heaton-Harris makes statement to MPs on deal with DUP Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, has just finished making his statement to MPs about the deal with the DUP. The details are set out in an 80-page command paper just published by the government. PMQs - snap verdict Rishi Sunak must be getting used to floundering at PMQs on the cost of living crisis, but today he was even weaker than usual. This probably won’t be remembered as a classic exchange, but it was one that Keir Starmer won comfortably by deploying three familiar tactics. First, Starmer started with a joke that was funny enough to be disarming, but sharp enough to make a political point. He referred to this story about the Tory MP George Freeman. One of the most difficult experiences of any member of this house is speaking to those at the sharp end of this government’s cost-of-living crisis. So nobody could fail to be moved by the plight of [Freeman]. His mortgage has gone up £1,200 a month, he’s been forced to quit his dream job to pay for it. A Tory MP counting the cost of Tory chaos. After 14 years, have we finally discovered what they meant when they said ‘we’re all in this together’? Starmer then hammered away on the cost of living for the rest of the session. He repeatedly challenged Sunak to say how much the average cost of a mortgage was going up for someone coming off a fixed rate deal, and he deployed the “real person” card, asking Sunak to say how he would explain himself to Phil, an employee he met at Iceland, facing a £1,000-a- month rise in his mortgage. There is not really a particularly good answer a PM can give in response to a question like this. For the election, the Tories have settled on the argument that they are committed to bringing down taxes, while Labour would put them up (even though they say they won’t). In the circumstances this is probably the best messaging available, and it is understandable why Sunak has chosen to stick with it. But Labour’s decision to support the national insurance cut that came into force this week has made it harder for the Tories to deploy this line and so now, unable to attack Labour for opposing tax cuts, they are having a go at Labour for not actually adoring them. This was the theme a CCHQ press release on Monday criticising Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, for describing the tax cuts as being part of a “scorched earth” policy and it was a line deployed by Sunak today. It is not a compelling one; fiscal thought crime is not a terrible offence, particularly when the IMF agree with you. There were two other aspects of Sunak’s performance that made things worse. First, on mortgage costs, he argued: Someone on a typical mortgage of about £140,000 with 17 years left is currently paying around £800. As a result of the ability to extend their mortgage term or switch to a six-month interest-only mortgage they will be able to save hundreds of pounds. This is not much consolation to Phil, or anyone else, because anyone using these options won’t be saving money at all; they will just be delaying repayments. And, second, Sunak referred to Phil from Iceland in a way that sounded patronising. Almost certainly, this was not what Sunak intended. But it is how it came across, and that’s gruesome. Starmer has repeatedly argued that Sunak is too out of touch to be a successful PM. Today’s PMQs made this charge ever more compelling, and this helps to explain why, according to Ipsos polling published yesterday, Starmer is opening up an ever bigger lead on best PM. Government publishes details of new proposals for Northern Ireland Hamish Mackay The government has published what it calls a command paper effectively setting out details of the deal aimed at restoring power sharing at Stormont. The paper, which you can read here, includes a commitment to removing the post-Brexit green lane for checking goods shipped from Great Britain to final destinations in Northern Ireland. No 10 says that the deal with the Democratic Unionist party contains “significant” changes to the Windsor framework’s operation. The PM’s official spokesperson said: This is our negotiation between the UK and the DUP, this is not about altering the fundamentals of the Windsor framework. We do believe the changes we are implementing are significant and the DUP have made similar comments. Pressed on the “significant” changes, he said that they were to the “operation of the framework”. He declined to say whether talks have been held with the EU, saying he would not discuss “private conversations”. He added: It’s important to make clear that this was a negotiation between the UK and the DUP about ensuring the framework operates properly within the UK. I have beefed up the earlier post at 12.02pm to include the full quote from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker. He complained that MPs’ behaviour was getting worse at PMQs, and he suggested the approaching election was partly to blame. Sunak distances himself from David Cameron"s suggestion UK might bring forward recognition of Palestinian state Michael Ellis (Con) asks if the PM agrees that any recognition of a Palestinian state can only come about as a result of negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Sunak says recognition of Palestine would have to be part of a process. He suggests that many steps would have to come first, and he says the UK stands with Israel. That sounded like a mild rebuke to David Cameron. Neither Ellis nor Sunak mentioned Cameron, and Cameron’s speech on this earlier this week did not explicitly contradict what Sunak was saying today. But Cameron was floating the idea of bringing forward the moment when the UK might recognise a Palestinian state – while Sunak seemed to be kicking the prospect back into the long grass. UPDATE: Ellis said: All of us want to see a peaceful and demilitarised Palestinian state, however Hamas remain in control in large parts of Gaza, support is growing in the West Bank. Nearly two-thirds of Palestinians in polling reject coexistence with Israel, and the Palestinian Authority has continued to promote hatred of Jews. Does [the PM] agree that any recognition of a Palestinian state must address these issues and can only come about as part of a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinians? And Sunak replied: The government’s position is clear. [Ellis] is right that steps and conditions need to be put in place on this journey: first and foremost, the removal of Hamas from Gaza; a Palestinian-led government in Gaza and the West Bank; a concrete plan to reform and support the Palestinian Authority; a reconstruction plan for Gaza; and a two-state solution, which we have long supported. Let me be clear: we stand with Israel. The terrorist threat it faces must be eliminated and Israel’s lasting security must be guaranteed. Marsha de Cordova (Lab) cites research saying half of employers exclude blind people. Will the PM have a meeting about creating a more inclusive workforce? Sunak says he wants to see the workforce become more inclusive. The DWP is looking at this, he says. Dawn Butler (Lab) says people in public life should not act to obtain personal advantage. She says Sunak tweeted a link to an advert allowing the Tories to scrape data. (It was asking for email addresses.) Is Sunak confident he did not break the law? Sunak says of course he didn’t. Jo Gideon (Con) asks Sunak to back community banking as an option. Sunak says the Post Office Horizon scandal does not mean the Post Office does not provide a valuable service.