Brexit news – live: EU says ‘genuine urgency’ needed to resolve protocol row following Brussels talks
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Your support makes all the difference.The EU has said there is still “a genuine urgency” to resolve a dispute with the UK on the operation of the Northern Ireland protocol, following talks between Lord Frost and Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Friday.
Although the bloc acknowledged some “progress” was achieved in the discussions, it said the UK should accept its “big move” to reduce checks across the Irish Sea.
“We now need to press on and get this crucial issue across the line. This is a real test of political goodwill,” Brussels said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Brexit minister Lord Frost stipulated that “significant change” was still needed regarding post-Brexit arrangements in the territory. He did not rule out London triggering Article 16 to achieve its purposes.
Both sides have clashed about the level of customs checks and the oversight role played by the European Court of Justice in the province.
Elsewhere, Ryanair has confirmed that it will leave the London Stock Exchange next month, citing expenses caused by Brexit.
Law for greater regulation of London pedicabs blocked
A law which would require pedicabs in London to be subjected to a similar level of regulation as taxis and other private hire vehicles has been blocked in the Commons.
Under the the Pedicabs (London) Bill, put forward by Cities of London and Westminster Conservative MP Nickie Aiken, drivers of pedal-powered vehicles would need a licence from Transport for London (TfL) to operate.
TfL would also be given the power to regulate the prices they charge and the vehicles they use would have to be of a safe standard.
Ms Aiken said pedicab drivers “go through no checks for security” and the vehicles “go through no form of MOT at all”.
She added: “I personally think that’s unsafe for women but it’s unsafe for passengers.”
Ms Aiken had hoped her Bill would progress to the next stage in the parliamentary process but Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope (Christchurch) was still speaking when time for the debate ran out today – meaning it could not receive a second reading.
PA
MPs bring UK ‘closest it ever got to ending child marriage’
MPs have brought the nation “the closest we’ve ever got to ending child marriage” after backing plans to end the practice in England and Wales, a charity has said.
Children as young as seven are at risk of child marriage and it is cause for “huge celebration” that MPs supported a private members bill today, said Natasha Rattu, executive director of Karma Nirvana.
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill, which was given an unopposed second reading, would raise the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership from 16 to 18 in England and Wales.
It would make it an offence, punishable with up to seven years’ imprisonment, to carry out “any conduct for the purpose of causing a child to enter into a marriage”.
It would also make it easier to prosecute parents or family members who send under-18s abroad to be wed.
Karma Nirvana, which supports victims of honour-based abuse, said it has responded to four cases of child marriage in the last week, calling today’s debate a “watershed moment for change and better protection”.
The charity responded to 76 known cases of child marriage in the year to September 2021, down from more than 130 in the previous 12 months.
Prison or fine for using rodent glue traps under new Bill
MPs have backed moves to ban the use of glue traps to catch rodents.
The Glue Traps (Offences) Bill would make it an offence to set a glue trap for the purpose of catching a rodent, as well as a handful of other connected offences.
Anyone found guilty will be liable for either a fine or imprisonment.
But the Conservative former environment minister, Sir Christopher Chope, labelled the measures a “rodent protection Bill”, adding that the government should not encourage people to see fast-breeding rats – which often carry diseases – as “friends”.
He added that “rats are enemies to our public health.”
Moving the Bill, Conservative MP Cherilyn Mackrory (Truro and Falmouth) argued it is “crucial” to ban the use of glue traps to catch rodents “in all but the most exceptional circumstances”.
She described them as “primitive” and “inhumane”, and said they “pose a risk to other animals”.
Environment minister Jo Churchill confirmed government support for the Bill, adding: “I know that both I and my officials will do whatever we can to support this Bill and hopefully to see it on the statutory book.”
The Bill received a second reading and will undergo further scrutiny at a later date.
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