Brexit news: PM accused of ‘dereliction of duty’ on NI as trade from Ireland to GB slumps 50%

Good morning and welcome to the latest Brexit updates.

Boris Johnson has said he is "very confident" in the security of the UK's supply of coronavirus vaccines regardless of "the toings and froings" in the European Union.

Yesterday the prime minister said we "will continue to take steps to protect" the deliveries, in his first public comments since Brussels briefly overrode part of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland to impose export controls on jabs.

His comments came after ministers agreed to a "reset" in relations with the EU after the bloc's widely-criticised move that came as it battles to solve supply shortages from pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

In a video from No 10 filmed yesterday, Mr Johnson assured a member of the public who raised concerns over whether she will get her follow-up shot of the Belgian-made Pfizer vaccine that "we're very confident that we will be able to give you your second dose".

"You will have seen all this stuff in the papers about our friends across the Channel and disputes with them," the prime minister added.

"All I would say is whatever the toings and froings there, we're very confident in our security of supply.

"We will continue to take steps to protect the UK's security of supply and also to ensure that we ramp up our own manufacturing."

An independence referendum held without the permission of Westminster would be illegal, Scottish secretary Alister Jack has said.

He made the remarks after the SNP released an 11-point plan last week stating they would hold another vote if a pro-independence majority of MSPs was returned in May's Holyrood elections, whether a Section 30 order granting it from London was forthcoming or not.

The document, put together by Holyrood’s constitution secretary, Mike Russell, would effectively dare the UK government to challenge another referendum in court.

However, Mr Jack told the BBC another vote without express permission would be illegal.

He said: "I'm afraid the constitution is a reserved matter, it would be an illegal referendum, let's be clear about that."

The Scottish secretary said it was "not the time" for another vote on the constitution in Scotland, reiterating that senior figures in the Yes campaign and its own white paper said the vote was "once in a generation".

He added: "We can't go into a process of 'neverendums' until eventually they get one that they win, that's not what responsible government is about.

"We had a referendum in 2014, we're now in a global pandemic, we're going to have double-dip recession the way things are going.

"It's about recovering our economy as one United Kingdom, pulling together, doing the trade deals we want to do, improving Scotland's economy and rebuilding it as quickly as we can, and after we've saved people's lives with this vaccine, then saving their livelihoods."

Boris Johnson has condemned a military coup in Myanmar and criticised the "unlawful imprisonment of civilians" after its leader Aung San Suu Kyi was reportedly detained.

An announcement on military-controlled Myawaddy TV on the morning the country's new Parliament session was to begin said there will instead be a new election at the end of a one-year state of emergency.

Mr Johnson tweeted: "I condemn the coup and unlawful imprisonment of civilians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar.

"The vote of the people must be respected and civilian leaders released."

Adding his voice to the condemnation, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, tweeted: "The UK condemns the state of emergency in Myanmar and the unlawful detention of figures in the Civilian Government and civil society by the military.

"The democratically expressed wishes of the people of Myanmar must be respected, and the National Assembly peacefully re-convened."

Dominic Raab has urged Russia to release citizens "detained simply for expressing their dissent" after thousands were arrested during protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The foreign secretary condemned the "indiscriminate and arbitrary" arrests as tens of thousands took to the streets across the country yesterday.

A monitoring group put the number of arrests at more than 5,100, while some were beaten, in what is the largest public display of discontent in Russia in years.

Mr Raab said: "We condemn the Russian authorities' indiscriminate and arbitrary arrest of peaceful protesters and journalists.

"The Russian government must adhere to its international commitments to respect peaceful protest, and release citizens detained simply for expressing their dissent."

The government has unveiled an additional £40m to help victims of domestic abuse and rape during the Covid crisis, women’s correspondent Maya Oppenheim reports.

Domestic violence has risen during the pandemic as lockdown measures have trapped victims at home with abusive partners and exacerbated pre-existing patterns of abuse.

Any move to close the borders due to coronavirus is a "nuanced decision" for the government, which must also think about the economy, it has been suggested.

Professor Sharon Peacock, executive director of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium, described the situation as a "complex balance".

She told Times Radio: "We do know that people coming into the country could be carrying the new variant in the same way that people leaving our country could be carrying the new variant.

"Quarantine and investigating people coming into the country is an effective way that other countries have gone.

"I think we have the sequencing capability to understand what people are introducing into the country."

A pledge to offer the vaccine to all care home staff by the end of January has been missed, a government minister has admitted, deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports.

Helen Whately hailed the “milestone” of making jabs available to all older residents in more than 10,000 homes, but for a small number where visits were impossible because of Covid-19 outbreaks.

But, under questioning, the care minister, admitted the target to offer jabs to all staff in those homes as well had not been achieved.

The government is on a collision course with rail unions after revealing that pay rises for workers in the industry will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Unions said the decision is a "kick in the teeth" for frontline staff who have kept working throughout the coronavirus crisis.

They have launched a campaign aimed at halting the threat of pay freezes and cuts to standards of living of rail workers.

Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said: "Today, transport workers who are risking their lives keeping our country moving have found out they have been stabbed in the back by the government, who have extended the public sector pay freeze to the transport sector whilst at the same time it's business as usual for the private companies who will continue to be able to rake in profits.

"RMT will have no hesitation in supporting national co-ordinated action to deliver our members the pay rise they deserve."

School closures could wind up costing pupils hundreds of billions in the long-term as they behind with their education and skills, a study has found, Maya Oppenheim reports.

The report, conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), estimates the Covid crisis will result in children across the UK being likely to lose out on at least half a year of schooling in person.

Researchers used data on returns to schooling to calculate the collective loss in earnings they would suffer in the long term to be £350bn.