Brexit news – live: Minister admits ‘devastating blow’ to shellfish trade but says EU action ‘indefensible’
Follow live politics updates below
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
Environment secretary George Eustice denounced the EU’s ban on the import of live British shellfish as "indefensible" after admitting on Monday the Brexit-driven ban was a “devastating blow” for the industry, which was valued at £393m in 2019.
The government had hoped that current bureaucracy — requiring seafood to be purified and accompanied by health certificates — would be lifted from April.
Mr Eustice said ministers disagreed with the EU’s approach and advised exporters that their “consignments may very well not be accepted at EU ports for now”.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has insisted that the UK will not break up as a result of Brexit, while admitting that the Northern Ireland protocol “is not working” and needs “redefining”.
Speaking on Monday to the European Scrutiny Committee, Mr Gove said that “constitutional, territorial, political integrity” of the UK was “unaffected”, despite trade problems between Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK.
That's all from us - thanks for following and make sure to check back tomorrow for more from SW1 and beyond
DUP MP refuses to apologise over BLM comment on Songs of Praise gospel edition
A DUP MP is refusing to retract comments he made about the number of black people featuring in an edition of the BBC's Songs of Praise.
More below:
First weeks of Brexit bumpier than expected, admits Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator
Implementation of the UK’s Brexit deal with the European Union has been “more than bumpy” in the six weeks after the transition out of the single market and customs union, Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator has admitted.
More below:
First weeks of Brexit bumpier than expected, admits Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator
Michael Gove says Brexit turbulence like plane take-off, admitting: 'We're not at the gin and tonic and peanuts stage yet'
MPs vote to remove genocide amendment from Trade Bill
Boris Johnson narrowly saw off a fresh backbench rebellion over Britain's trade approach to countries suspected of committing genocide.
MPs voted 318 to 303, majority 15, to remove two Lords amendments from the Trade Bill, including one which would have forced ministers to withdraw from any free trade agreement with any country which the High Court ruled is committing genocide.
It was replaced by a Government-backed compromise amendment aimed at giving Parliament a vote on whether to pursue agreements with such countries.
Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former minister Nus Ghani led the rebels, and accused the Government of using "arcane" procedural games to frustrate them.
The Government packaged the Lords amendments on genocide together, along with the compromise proposal, thereby denying MPs a straight up and down vote.
PA
UK in denial over ‘long-term threat’ from China, says Tory MP
Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee, has said he believes the UK and other western nations are "in denial" about the threat posed by China, which he said represents "the biggest geopolitical long-term threat we face".
In a debate on the government's upcoming Integrated Review of defence and security, the Bournemouth MP said:
For decades the West has turned a blind eye to its human rights abuses, its democratic deficit, hoping China would mature into a global, responsible citizen.
Well, we have now realised that is not going to happen. China's conduct in the pandemic, in Hong Kong, in the South China Sea along with its continued abuse of WTO rules and saddling dozens of countries into debt confirms China is pursuing a competing, long-term, geopolitical agenda which - left unchecked - will progressively see our world splinter into two spheres of influence.
Economically, technologically and militarily China will challenge and possibly overtake US dominance in our lifetimes. Now militarily, China's navy grows by the size of our navy every single year, it's now introducing its own fifth-generation air force and its army is now the largest in the world. They are sending more rockets into space than all the other nations combined and perfecting space-based weapons.
In my view, Cold War Two has already begun, but we are still in denial and too timid to call it out given China's mighty economic clout.
Gove says solution to Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit woes lies ‘on the ground’
Michael Gove has said issues with the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol should be able to be fixed by making changes "on the ground".
“I want the protocol to work and I think there are ways in which we can do that by making practical changes on the ground,” the Cabinet Office secretary told the Lords European Committee.
"There are some businesses ... who are taking a little bit of time to adjust to the new normal," he said, "and there is a reticence and a caution amongst some which we are doing our very best to dispel by making clear what the processes are and how it is possible to comply with them with the least possible disruption to activity."
Emily Thornberry in Genocide debate: ‘Not good enough'
Emily Thornberry, Labour's shadow international trade secretary, said the government has previously accepted that the courts can establish whether genocide has been committed, and questioned why it now wishes to pass that decision to MPs:
In the space of the last three weeks, the prime minister, the foreign secretary and the trade secretary have all stated on the record that the courts can determine what is and what is not genocide.
[Tory MP Sir Bob Neill] himself, the chair of the Justice Select Committee, wrote an article, it's already been quoted, let me quote another bit of it in which he said that, 'successive governments have said that the attribution of genocide is a matter for judicial determination'.
And yet, he and the government are now proposing an amendment that would remove the courts from that process entirely and hand the responsibility instead to the select committees who have already said publicly that they don't have the capacity to make such judgments.
In other words, the government wish to take a strong, substantive and historic new process for attributing genocide through the courts and acting on those rulings through our Parliament and replace all of that with a weak, flawed and frankly entirely forgettable adjustment to the existing powers of select committees and that is not good enough.
Controversial Trade Bill ‘not the appropriate place’ to deal with genocide, says Liam Fox
Former international trade secretary Liam Fox, said the Trade Bill is "not the appropriate place" to deal with allegations of genocide, arguing the courts should not have a say on government trade policy.
"We can assess evidence, intelligence, listen to eyewitnesses ourselves," he told the Commons, "If we want to take action, frankly, in response to the Chinese Communist Party's treatment of the Uighur people we should do so — we have given ourselves new powers.
"The Trade Bill is not the appropriate place to deal with this issue."
The government has been accused of playing politics over the issue, with leading Tory rebel Iain Duncan Smith saying: "The sad tragedy is that the government has so engineered it that the democratically elected House of Commons will not be able to vote on Lord Alton's genocide amendment, which passed in the Lords with a majority on 171."
Chief Brexit negotiator says UK-EU have been ‘problematic’ since end of transition period
David Frost, who was the UK's chief negotiator in Brexit talks with the EU, said relations between the two sides have been "more than bumpy" since the end of the transition period on 1 January.
Facing questions at the Lords European Committee, Lord Frost listed points of tension between the UK and EU in recent weeks: "niggling border issues", accreditation for diplomats and that the EU is likely to request an extension to the deadline for ratifying the trade deal.
"None of those things are in themselves dramatic, although some have been very, very serious. We have behind that obviously the Northern Ireland issues," he said.
"I think it's been more than bumpy to be honest in the last six weeks. I think it's been problematic. I hope we'll get over this.
"It is going to require a different spirit probably from the EU but I'm sure we are going to see that and see some of this subside as we go forward."
Serious questions remain over Northern Ireland border staff safety, says Sinn Fein Stormont member
After Defra said post-Brexit checks at Northern Ireland ports were to resume tomorrow, one Stormont member noted the question of how and why staff were removed in the first place remained to be answered.
“The safe return of workers is a priority and their safety must be paramount,” said Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan.
“While it is welcome that workers will be back in post, there are still serious questions to be answered by the Minister for Agriculture around how and why the staff were withdrawn in the first place and who made the decision.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments