Brexit news: DUP demands ‘freedom’ from NI protocol as trade deal to wipe £45bn from UK economy

Young adults are more worried by the devastating economic impacts of Brexit than the coronavirus pandemic.

A new UCL survey shows more than two fifths of young adults – 45 per cent – report being “stressed” about the consequences of the UK’s disruptive exit from the EU.

Some 32 per cent of young people said they were stressed over the prospect of catching Covid, while only 22 per cent said they feared becoming seriously ill from the disease.

Almost one in ten people of all ages in England and Wales are “majorly stressed” about Brexit, according to the UCL Covid-19 Social Study.

Trade problems in Northern Ireland need permanent solutions rather than “sticking plasters”, said DUP Arlene Foster – as she again attacked the protocol arrangements.

The first minister restated her demand for the protocol to be ditched after UK and EU officials enjoyed a “constructive” meeting and both reiterated their “full commitment” to the arrangements.

“Northern Ireland needs freed from the protocol,” Foster tweeted. “We must have unfettered trade between GB & NI ... EU must recognise the absence of unionist support.”

One of Dominic Cummings’ pet projects while he was still at No 10 – a science and research body which could cost up to £800m – are “unfocused”, according to a parliamentary report.

Plans for the organisation – modelled on the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – are still “a brand in search of a product” and need a clear purpose outlined by the government, said the report by the science and technology committee.

The Conservatives pledged in their election manifesto to invest millions in “a new agency for high-risk, high-payoff research, at arm’s length from government”. But MPs are not convinced the government has even properly articulated the need for such a body.

A stealth tax raid may be sneaked into next month’s budget, with the chancellor Rishi Sunak reportedly plotting to freeze personal income tax allowances.

The reported £6bn move cost the average family £250 per year by 2024-25.

Millions of people may be forced to pay more in tax under plans reported by The Telegraph, which said officials were looking into abandoning the planned increases for the two lower tax thresholds – the personal allowance and the basic rate.

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Leaders of a Northern Ireland council are to hold talks with trade unions amid the fallout from its controversial decision to pull staff from post-Brexit port checks.

East Antrim council’s decision to pull workers out of the facilities has been questioned after police went public last week to state there was no credible threat to staff.

DUP mayor Peter Johnson – who had referenced the unions when he highlighted security concerns – has now clarified that it was not the unions who raised the issue with the council.

Labour MP Liz Kendall has little time for complaints about the protocol. She told ITV’s Peston that current problems are the “inevitable” consequence of the hard Brexit that Boris Johnson “championed” and the DUP were “cheerleaders” for.

Welsh fisherman have been speaking about their fears the sector will be “devastated” by unmanageable changes brought in under the Brexit trade deal.

New rules mean dozens of French and Belgian fleets can now fish within six miles of the Welsh coastline until 2026.

The Welsh Fishermen’s Association said it was worried some of the 600 fishermen in the £39m sector in Wales were “not going to survive” the post-Brexit era.

Fisherman Barry Thomas, who said he voted Leave – told the BBC that Boris Johnson had “bottled” the trade deal agreement with the EU “at the last minute”.

The prime minister will “have some bandwidth” to reopen schools in March before further restrictions can be lifted in April, Professor Neil Ferguson has said.

The Imperial College academic, who is also a scientific government adviser, said that the country “in a better place than I might have anticipated a month ago”, with coronavirus case numbers declining quickly.

He added that he was “hopeful” that the third national lockdown would be the UK’s “final” one.

The comments come as Boris Johnson faces growing pressure from his backbenchers to ease restrictions.

Mr Johnson will announce his “road map” for exiting lockdown in the week beginning 22 February.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps ignored official advice by not looking into the environmental ramifications of a £27 billion road expansion scheme, a campaign group has claimed.

Transport Action Network (Tan) believes Department for Transport (DfT) has failed to consider the Paris Agreement in its plans, and is bringing a legal challenge against the government.

First reported in the Guardian, Tan alleges that Mr Shapps overrode civil servants who said he should review the 2014 National Policy Statement (NPS) for national roads.

The campaign group’s director Chris Todd told the paper: “It is clear that the Department for Transport is out of control and needs to be reined in.

“An urgent review of the national roads policy and suspension of the roads programme would be a good place to start,” he added.

A DfT spokesperson said: “The advice to the Transport Secretary set out that the criteria for a review of the National Policy Statement had not been fully met.”

Home secretary Priti Patel has launched another attack against last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, branding them “dreadful”.

Speaking to LBC, she also criticised sports stars for taking the knee and called into question the work of Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports: