Brexit news – live: Minister admits ‘devastating blow’ to shellfish trade but says EU action ‘indefensible’

Here is Labour shadow Business secretary Ed Miliband's response to Cumbria County Council's decision to reconsider the planning application for a new coal mine near Whitehaven:

“We welcome the Council’s decision to take this application back to the planning committee. The Government now has a second chance to do the right thing and call it in. The UK cannot claim to be a climate leader whilst opening a new coal mine and Ministers must realise that by doing so they undermine our credibility both at home and abroad.

“A new mine is neither the answer for climate change nor the answer for our steel industry. Indeed, 85 per cent of the mine’s production is due for export.

“Labour is determined to safeguard the UK’s primary steelmaking capacity and provide the industry with a secure long-term future through the kind of financial support that other countries are offering, including helping steel make a fair transition to a green future which safeguards jobs.

“People in Cumbria deserve good, secure jobs and there are so many crying out to be done in the green industries of the future. That’s why Labour has called for a £30bn green recovery plan to protect and create jobs in communities across the country.”

Cumbria County Council has said it will reconsider the planning application for a new coal mine near Whitehaven, which has prompted widespread criticism.

Government ministers had declined to intervene in the go-ahead for the mine on the basis it was a local decision, but environmental campaigners have warned it undermines UK efforts to tackle climate change. Here is former Lib Dem leader and current Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, referencing the COP26 climate summit due to take place in Glasgow:

Post-Brexit checks on products of animal origin at all Northern Ireland's ports will resume on a phased basis from Wednesday - the government has confirmed.

Staff had been withdrawn last week over safety concerns.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said the decision came after receiving the full threat assessment from the PSNI, conducting its own internal risk assessment and liaising with staff and unions to put mitigations in place.

The UK has licensed £1.4bn worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since a ban was lifted last year, campaigners say – most of them bombs and missiles.

More below:

The boss of JD Sports has warned the company may be forced to move around 1,000 jobs out of the UK due to post-Brexit trade difficulties that are costing the company upwards of £10m.

Peter Cowgill, executive chair of JD Sports, said Brexit has proved "considerably worse" than expected and is costing the company figures "in the double-digit millions", adding that promises of free trade with Europe do not match the reality.

"When [the government] said we had a free trade arrangement, well that's really not the case," he told the BBC's World at One.

"If you source from the far east for instance and bring it to the UK and ship to stores [in Europe] then the tariffs apply."

He said around 1,000 jobs could be moved into the EU as it would make "a lot of economic sense" to set up a distribution centre within the bloc's borders to avoid tariffs.

He added that new red tape and all the new paperwork required for trade with Europe after Brexit makes the whole process less efficient.

An Irish MP has questioned whether the UK government is in danger of pushing things "too far" after Michael Gove said the implementation Northern Ireland protocol required "refinement".

The Cabinet Office minister last night told MPs the protocol was "not working at the moment" and needed "refinement" amid ongoing difficulties at the Northern Ireland border.

However Neale Richmond, a Fine Gael member of Ireland's parliament, said the UK had leapt at the opportunity to criticise the EU after the bloc tried to invoke Article 16 of the protocol in a row over vaccine supplies, and now risked making the situation worse.

"Are the British government now in danger of pushing this too far? We see extra demands, we see a consistent underlining that they are now preparing to trigger Article 16," he said.

"We look at the, albeit typical, British newspapers and they're demanding a renegotiation less than six weeks after the trade deal was agreed.

"I'm very worried that less than six weeks in, people are really damaging the house of cards."

The Irish government will seek an "early warning system" in case Britain or the EU attempt to invoke a clause in the Brexit withdrawal bill overriding Northern Ireland's unique customs position.

Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol was intended as an emergency measure not to be used but the EU recently attempted to invoke it in a row over Europe's vaccine supply, without warning Ireland.

Ireland's European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne said the Dublin government is seeking a new safety clause, to prevent a repeat of those events.

He told Ireland's Committee on European Union Affairs:

Stonemanor, a specialist supermarket chain selling British produce in the EU, has been struggling to keep shelves stocked due to post-Brexit supply issues.

The chain was forced to shut up shop over recent weekends due to depleted stock levels and has been unable to get a single food delivery from the UK since 1 January.

Custard creams, Irn Bru and other sweet treats have been in particularly short supply in the Belgium supermarkets, with one shop worker saying her store was "down to the last scone".

Read the full story from Adam Forrest here:

Downing Street has declined to say whether or not the government will publish an impact assessment on the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.

"You have got the details of the trade deal and you have got what the prime minister said at the time when we signed it and we set it out to the British people," Boris Johnson's official spokesperson said.

"We have been clear that it is a good deal which allows us to maintain access to the EU market and it also allows us to take advantage of the opportunities that have arisen from leaving the EU.

"And you continue to see the work we are undertaking to secure trade deals around the world."

Britain's largest business lobby group has called on the government to provide extra help for the aviation sector after Matt Hancock's announcement of tougher border measures to tackle coronavirus.

Moments after the health secretary made the announcement, Matthew Fell, policy director of the Confederation of British Industry, said: