Brexit news - live: Port staff threatened as Northern Ireland border checks halted and EU officials withdraw

The highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first detected in the UK now accounts for up to 20 percent of infections in the wider Paris region, a leading hospital executive has said.

My colleague Eleanor Sly reports:

A total of 8,422 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 22 January mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - the second highest weekly number since the pandemic began.

The figure is up from 7,245 deaths in the week to 15 January.

Nearly half (45.1 per cent) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to 22 January mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate - the highest proportion recorded during the pandemic.

'Buy now pay later' (BNPL) firms are facing a crackdown amid fears they are helping shoppers to purchase items they can not afford, resulting in increased levels of debt, Matt Mathers reports.

Companies such as Swedish outfit Klarna, which are particularly popular with young people, are to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Treasury has announced.

Patrick Mulholland, deputy general secretary of the Nipsa union, which represents Northern Ireland's port workers, said his members are worried by the threats.

"They first of all tend to be in shock because they suddenly find themselves under a level of threat they would not expect to be under," he said.

"These are ordinary working people.

"They then become very anxious because they do not know how this is going to work out and they do want the greatest possible level of support and assurance from their fellow workers and people in society that they have got their backs.

"That is very important."

He said he wants to ensure the safety of his members.

"We want to ensure that they are not under any threat and that they are able to go about their work as they would normally be able to go about their work, and we want to make sure that they are treated properly by their employers."

A British beekeeper attempting to bring 15 million bees into the UK said he has been told they may be seized and burned because of Brexit rules.

Patrick Murfet, managing director at Bee Equipment, wants to import the baby Italian bees for his Kent business and to help British farmers pollinate valuable crops.

But new laws that came into effect after the UK left the EU’s single market and customs union mean that bringing certain types bees into the country is banned.

Adam Forrest reports:

Paramilitaries present a “real and significant threat” after the shock halting of post-Brexit border checks in Northern Ireland to protect staff, a former police chief is warning, deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports.

The alarm was raised over two loyalist groups after food inspections were suspended at Belfast and Larne ports following an “upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour in recent weeks”.

The coronavirus pandemic has reached a "very perilous stage", a government minister has warned.

Universities minister Michelle Donelan said it was essential people followed the rules following the disclosure that 11 cases of a new South African variant had been identified which were not linked to travel.

"It is still a very perilous stage of this virus. We have got this new variant that is spreading so we do have to be extra vigilant and really abide by those rules to the letter, and also contemplate every action and every activity that we do," she told Sky News.

Ms Donelan rejected suggestions that the government should have moved to close the borders to stop new variants reaching the UK.

"The Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) advice actually said that it would be probably ineffective to close the borders, which was the same advice that we got at the time from the World Health Organisation," she said.

"We can obviously look back in hindsight with the information now but we didn't have that information at the time. We always based our decisions on the best scientific and medical advice that we could get in this country."

British shellfish companies have warned of a potentially fatal blow to their business due to a post-Brexit ban on unprocessed oysters, cockles and scallops from many UK waters to EU markets, political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.

Brussels officials have informed the industry that UK fishermen will no longer be allowed to send live bivalves and molluscs - known in the trade as LBMs, and also including mussels and clams - unless they have undergone purification to be made fit for human consumption, or have come from the cleanest “class A” waters.

The Shellfish Association of Great Britain said class A exports were “not in doubt”, but there was “severe uncertainty” over the future of exports from class B waters.

Police are to hold talks later today with partner agencies after physical Brexit checks at Belfast and Larne ports were suspended amid safety concerns.

Yesterday, Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) said it had decided "in the interests of the wellbeing of staff to temporarily suspend physical inspections of products of animal origin at Larne and Belfast" pending further discussions with the PSNI.

A Daera spokesperson said: "The situation will be kept under review and in the meantime full documentary checks will continue to be carried out as usual."

Agriculture minister Edwin Poots said he had taken the decision to withdraw personnel at the ports in consultation with his staff.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said force officials would meet partner agencies to discuss the situation.

"The safety of staff working at points of entry is of the utmost importance to us," he said. "Where we have any credible information we will share that with our partners and take appropriate action.

"We have increased patrols at Larne Port and other points of entry in order to reassure staff and the local community."

Good morning and welcome to the latest Brexit updates from The Independent.