Boris Johnson admits he signed the Northern Ireland Protocol, hoping the EU would not “implement” it
Boris Johnson is facing a Tory revolt over plans to repeal the Northern Ireland Protocol, as his own lawmakers warn him that the controversial plan runs counter to key conservative principles.
Legislation to be introduced today will violate the withdrawal treaty he negotiated three years ago and is expected to give ministers the power to lift checks on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland.
A recent briefing among Conservative lawmakers described the move, which experts warned could spark a trade war with the European Union, as “damaging everything the UK and the Conservatives stand up for”.
This move could be as damaging to the party’s reputation as the war in Iraq was for Labor, he added.
Labor’s Jenny Chapman has accused the government of deliberately “worsening Brexit” in order to divert attention from the troubled prime minister, just days after four out of 10 of his own lawmakers voted to oust him from Downing Street.
Key points
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ICYMI: Johnson’s drama risks leading UK into recession, CBI suggests
Business leaders have warned Boris Johnson that the crisis engulfing his government risks undermining business confidence and potentially pushing the UK into recession.
Tony Dunker, director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said he believed the UK could still avoid a recession in the coming months.
But he warned: “There is a very simple chain of events, which is when business confidence is high, business invests and grows, the recession is avoided.
When business confidence falls, investment falls, and that’s the only thing stopping us from a recession right now.
Tony Dunker
“So anything that can be done to increase business confidence to demonstrate that the government is actually incredibly serious and focused on growth will work. But if we have a summer of politics like we had last week, it will undermine confidence. “
File: Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) is greeted by the Director General of the Confederation of Business Industry (CBI) Tony Danker on November 22, 2021.
(POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
My colleague Kate Devlin reports:
Namita Singh13 June 2022 06:07
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Exclusive: PM says to reveal secret legal sources behind NI protocol government legislation
Boris Johnson is under pressure to reveal the secret sources behind the advice given to his government that his conflicting plans to break the Northern Ireland Protocol are legitimate.
Tory MPs are already prepared for the fact that the law, due to be published on Monday, violates international law, despite protests from cabinet ministers that it will be legal.
Last week, Sir Jonathan Jones, the government’s former attorney general, said the process of gathering legal advice looked like “stitching” and “buying a lawyer”.
Labor, the Liberal Democrats and the Alliance of Northern Ireland have now called on ministers to abandon common practice and reveal who they have consulted.
Read the details in this exclusive by Kate Devlin:
Namita Singh13 June 2022 05:59
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Legislation to scrap parts of the NI protocol “will not violate international law”
Legislation empowering ministers to repeal parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol will not violate international law, Brandon Lewis insisted.
The Northern Ireland secretary said the new legislation, which will be introduced in parliament on Monday, will be “legal” and “correct”.
However, the claim was disputed by both the Labor Party and Sinn Fein President Mary Lou MacDonald, who said Mr Lewis was “talking through his hat”.
The government has confirmed that it will introduce legislation to repeal parts of the protocol, which was jointly agreed by the United Kingdom and the EU as part of the Withdrawal Agreement, to keep the Irish land border free.
Jonathan McCambridge reports:
Namita Singh13 June 2022 05:54
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Boris Johnson is on probation, says the former minister
Boris Johnson is on probation and could still be removed if he fails to win the confidence of Tory MPs, the former minister said.
Lord Duncan, who has served in various ministerial posts with Theresa May and Boris Johnson since joining the House of Lords in 2017, said the prime minister “has a task to finish” after 148 of his MPs voted in favor. of his removal in a vote of confidence last Monday. He acknowledged that the chances of the prime minister continuing to play his role in the long run were “slim”.
“He has a task at the moment; he is on probation, “he told BBC Scotland.
If he doesn’t meet that probation, the Tories will do what they always do with leaders who fail – they will remove him.
Lord Duncan
My colleague Craig Peyton reports:
Namita Singh13 June 2022 05:44
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The government’s new food plan is “not a strategy,” Dimbli said
The architect of a major review of the country’s food system refuted the government’s vision for the industry, saying his new plan was “not a strategy”.
Boris Johnson promised that the project, which was launched on Monday, would “support farmers” after the expired draft of the document was condemned by critics as “half-baked”.
But the government’s food king said his response to his comprehensive review of the system was not adequate.
Restaurant co-founder Leon Henry Dimbleby told the Guardian that the document was “not a strategy”, saying: “It does not give a clear vision of why we have the problems we have now and does not specify what needs to be done.”
This comes after ministers were accused of devising a plan “bordering on the absurd” as it clearly failed to implement key recommendations of the review.
Namita Singh13 June 2022 05:24
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Tory breakup as Johnson warns plan to repeal protocol runs counter to party principles
Boris Johnson is ready to create a new rift in his party, as his own lawmakers warn that conflicting plans to repeal the Northern Ireland Protocol run counter to key conservative principles.
Tory MPs are already prepared for the bill to violate international law, despite protests from ministers to the contrary.
A recent briefing among Conservative lawmakers described the move, which experts warned could spark a trade war with the European Union, as “damaging everything the UK and the Conservatives stand up for”.
This move could be as damaging to the party’s reputation as the war in Iraq was for Labor, he added.
Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:
Namita Singh13 June 2022 05:14
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Welcome to The Independent’s live blog on UK politics for Monday, June 13, 2022.
Namita Singh13 June 2022 04:46
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