Brexit news: DUP demands ‘freedom’ from NI protocol as trade deal to wipe £45bn from UK economy
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Your support makes all the difference.The DUP has demanded to be “freed” from the Northern Ireland protocol, as it thinks post-Brexit trade disruption is severing its country from the rest of the UK.
Arlene Foster, Stormont’s first minister, tweeted on Friday that trade issues between Great Britain and Northern Ireland required solutions, not just “sticking plasters”.
“Northern Ireland needs [to be] freed from the protocol,” the DUP leader wrote. “We must have unfettered trade between GB & NI ... EU must recognise the absence of unionist support.”
Her party has been calling for the agreement to be ditched for several weeks now, ever since the EU threatened to override parts of the agreement in a row over coronavirus vaccines last month.
On Friday, Ms Foster warned London, Dublin and Brussels that something needed to be done “quickly” about the issue, as people in the unionist community were “very angry” about it.
She also announced that a DUP petition to trigger article 16 of the protocol, which has so far gained almost 140,000 signatories, would be debated in the Commons on 22 February.
Liz Kendall, a Labour MP, told ITV’s Peston she had little time for the DUP’s position, suggesting the current trade issues are the “inevitable” consequences of the hard Brexit the party wanted.
Elsewhere, analysis from Brussels has predicted that the UK economy stands to lose £45bn in two years because of Brexit.
By the bloc’s calculations, this will make the Brexit trade agreement four times more costly for the UK than the EU.
DUP petition to trigger article 16 to be debated in Westminster
A petition by the DUP to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol is to be debated at Westminster on 22 February.
It has gained almost 140,000 signatures so far.
“It gained 100,000 signatures within 24 hours, we have just received notification that the petition is to be debated in the House of Commons on February 22 and the Government will respond to the petition at that time,” First Minister Arlene Foster said.
“I think it was an indication of how strongly so many people right across the United Kingdom felt about the issue that that petition took off in the way that it did.”
Met police insists ‘no cover up’ in botched VIP child sex abuse investigation
The Metropolitan Police has insisted there was “no cover up” in the botched VIP child sex abuse investigation after confidence in Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick was called into question.
Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House apologised again for failings made by the force after political aides maintained the Prime Minister and Home Secretary had “absolute confidence” in the UK’s most senior police officer.
Sir Stephen later said in a statement: “I want to say clearly that the Metropolitan Police Service is truly sorry for the harm caused by the mistakes made in Operation Midland, and we fully understand why many of those people directly affected by the lies of Carl Beech and the investigation which followed remain deeply unhappy.”
He described the probe as “without doubt one of the most scrutinised investigations in policing history”, adding: “There is no cover up and nor has there been one.”
While there were “undoubtedly very serious mistakes made”, this does “not in itself mean that there was misconduct by the officers involved”, he said, adding: “What we must now do is continue to ensure that our learning prevents similar cases from occurring in the future and this is something the Met is absolutely committed to.”
It comes after Priti Patel declined to express her confidence in Dame Cressida when questioned over Operation Midland during a live interview on Friday morning.
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