Category Archives: Politics

Northern Ireland-born British and Irish win EU citizenship rights

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UK government makes change to immigration law after Derry woman’s residency case

All British and Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland will be be treated as EU citizens for immigration purposes, the government has announced after a landmark court case involving a Derry woman over the residency rights of her US-born husband.

The move is a major victory for Emma de Souza ending a three-year battle to be recognised by the Home Office as Irish, a right enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement (GFA).

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Gordon Brown: coronavirus must be ‘eradicated in every continent’

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Britain’s former prime minister says only international cooperation can bring the pandemic to an end

Gordon Brown has warned that a second or third wave of coronavirus infection could emanate from poor countries with undeveloped health systems, saying the risks can be controlled only by coordinated international action.

The global crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic will not end until it is “eradicated in every continent”, the former prime minister said.

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Government unveils taskforces for reopening five economic sectors

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Each will liaise over safely reopening businesses and places such as churches and libraries

The government has unveiled five new taskforces devoted to vulnerable sectors of the economy, intended to liaise with unions and others to see how soon each sector can safely resume work with coronavirus distancing measures.

The five areas covered are all ones that have to wait before even limited reopening efforts can begin, in most cases until at least July. They are pubs and restaurants; non-essential shops; recreation and leisure; places of worship; and international air travel.

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Brexit will mean checks on goods crossing Irish Sea, government admits

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Ministers’ letter confirms border control posts at ports of Belfast, Warrenpoint and Larne

The government has privately conceded there will be post-Brexit checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea, months after Boris Johnson insisted there would be no such trade barriers.

In a letter to the executive office in Stormont the government confirmed there would be border control posts in three ports, Belfast, Warrenpoint and Larne.

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Gerry Adams urges ministers to act after court internment ruling

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Ruling that ex-Sinn Féin leader was unlawfully detained in 1970s prompts call for other Troubles-era cases to be scrutinised

The legality of every internment during the Troubles will have to be scrutinised, the former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has urged, after his convictions for escaping from the Maze prison were quashed by the supreme court.

The unanimous decision of the UK’s highest court is likely to affect scores of claims from republicans and loyalists who are challenging their detention without trial during the 1970s.

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Train union threatens strike action if staff and drivers are not protected

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Leaders condemn ‘complete shambles’ on London network that is ‘fraught with danger’

Train unions have said they could take industrial action and stop trains if drivers and passengers are not protected from coronavirus, after photos emerged of packed London Underground services as many people returned to work following seven weeks of lockdown.

Transport for London indicated that the number of commuters remained relatively low, at 63,000 on Wednesday morning, up 7% on the previous day.

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PMQs: Keir Starmer presses Boris Johnson over care home deaths

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PM accused of not knowing government’s coronavirus advice after clash in Commons

Boris Johnson has been accused by Labour of not knowing the government’s advice on coronavirus after he told Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions that it “wasn’t true” that the care home sector had been advised it was unlikely to face an outbreak.

In a tricky series of exchanges in the Commons, Starmer put Johnson under intense pressure to explain the extent of care home deaths.

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UK-EU trade deal with tariffs impossible in six months, say diplomats

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EU officials dismiss Michael Gove’s suggestion deal could be done without longer transition

EU diplomats have dismissed Michael Gove’s suggestion that Brussels and the UK could negotiate a trade deal with tariffs on goods in six months, saying it “will never happen”.

Giving evidence to the House of Lords EU committee last week, Gove said the government could “modify our ask” by giving up on a “zero-tariff, zero-quota” trade deal in order to keep the UK free from a duty to adhere to European standards on workers’ rights, environmental protection and state aid.

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US signals Sacoolas decision final as Labour calls for inquiry

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Suspect in death of Harry Dunn who fled UK will not be extradited, says state department

The US Department of State has said the decision to refuse an extradition request for Harry Dunn’s alleged killer was final, after an Interpol red notice was issued for her arrest.

But the UK’s Labour party has signalled that they will be pressing for some form of parliamentary inquiry into the government’s “clear and repeated failings”.

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Northern Ireland joins in rejection of Boris Johnson’s ‘stay alert’ slogan

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‘Four nations’ approach dealt further blow as Stormont announces its own, more cautious plan

Boris Johnson’s “four nations” approach to tackling the coronavirus has been dealt a fresh blow after the government of Northern Ireland joined those of Scotland and Wales in rejecting the “stay alert” slogan, and announcing its own plans for easing the lockdown.

The prime minister sought to play down the differences in approaches on Monday, stressing in the Plan to Rebuild that people should “pull together as a United Kingdom”. But Edinburgh, Cardiff and now Belfast have chosen to develop their own plans.

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US message to Britain in bilateral trade talks: it’s us – or China

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Proposed clause viewed by diplomats as lever to deter closer UK relations with Beijing

The US government has been privately pressing the UK in bilateral trade talks to make a choice between the US and China.

The US is seeking to insert a clause that would allow it to retreat from parts of the deal if Britain reaches a trade agreement with another country that the US did not approve.

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Stay alert or stay home? How Covid-19 lockdown rules differ across UK

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What you are allowed to do now depends on what part of the union you live in

The UK’s approach to Covid-19 now very much depends on what part of the union you live in after Downing Street’s decision to drop the “stay at home” slogan in favour of “stay alert” and its plans to begin lifting the lockdown this week.

The devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and at Stormont have all – in their own ways – opted to stick with “stay at home” while Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has described the move by Boris Johnson as “potentially catastrophic”.

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UK coronavirus live: Hancock says care home deaths nearly halved in last few weeks

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Health secretary dodges questions over people’s legal right to refuse return to work; Rishi Sunak expected to extend furlough scheme

Public transport users should face away from each other when they cannot keep a two-metre gap, the government has said. A report from PA Media on the new transport guidance issued by the government this morning (see 9.28am) goes on:

New guidance issued by the Department for Transport on how to travel safely during the coronavirus outbreak states that passengers should minimise the time they spend near other people and avoid physical contact with them.

It acknowledges that “there may be situations where you can’t keep a suitable distance from people”, such as on busier services or at peak times.

The sandwich chain Subway has today started a phased reopening of around 600 of its 2,600 stores across the UK and Ireland - approximately one in four - for takeway and delivery only.

The outlets have all been fitted with new operational and social distancing safety measures to protect customers, third party delivery and supplier drivers and staff. These have been tested in the small number of stores that have remained open to support and serve key workers and hospital staff.

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Johnson giving no clear direction on lockdown exit, says Starmer

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Labour leader criticises PM as government struggles to answer barrage of questions

Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of failing to give the public “clear directions” on the way through the coronavirus crisis on Monday, as the government struggled to answer a barrage of questions about its new advice to “stay alert”.

Boris Johnson was challenged by the Labour leader, MPs and members of the public over ambiguities and contradictions in the government’s new guidelines.

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The country is being run by a second-rate ad agency. No wonder we feel vulnerable | Suzanne Moore

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We are told to ‘stay alert’, but if alertness could conquer this virus, we would all be fine. The message is about shifting responsibility away from the government and on to the public

Someone won Sunday night’s Numberwang, but it wasn’t any of us. What we can do, and who we can do it with, has been turned into some sort of fake algebra with a red-and-blue PowerPoint hump. Boris Johnson, all clenched fists and lockdown hairdo, was resolute about, er, stuff. Ours is not to reason why, his is not to understand how the other half lives.

He talked of a world of golf, tennis, garden centres and people who can go to work in their own cars or on their Bromptons. England in repose. Where, apparently, no one has to think about childcare. The reality is that it is the construction workers, bus drivers and security guards (mostly middle-aged men) who are dying of Covid-19 at an alarming rate, as well as NHS staff and carers. These people are called low-skilled. Many of them are his voters. He risks losing them, so must frame the back-to-work instruction as a matter of personal choice. For now.

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Lockdown easing: have other leaders fared better than Boris Johnson?

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Guardian writers report on how various European countries have managed the process

Boris Johnson has been heavily criticised for failing to show Britain a clear route out of lockdown. Easing a nation out of two months of confinement is a complicated business, and some degree of confusion is almost inevitable. Here, Guardian correspondents look at how other European leaders have managed the process.

Spain’s lockdown exit strategy – known formally as the Plan for the Transition Towards the New Normality – was outlined by the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, during a televised press conference on the evening of 28 April. Sánchez said the country’s four-phase de-escalation initiative would be “gradual and asymmetric”, adding that the first stage – dubbed phase 0 – would come into effect on 4 May.

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Boris Johnson’s lockdown release condemned as divisive, confusing and vague

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Coronavirus lockdown stays in place but more outdoor activity will be allowed in England

Boris Johnson urged the country to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown this week in an address to the nation that was immediately condemned as being divisive, confusing and vague.

In a speech from Downing Street, Johnson said if the circumstances were right, schools in England and some shops might be able to open next month, and the government was “actively encouraging” people to return to work if they cannot do so from home.

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Johnson address shows he has been swayed by hawks in his cabinet

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PM attempted to strike a balance, but slogan change and back-to-work pledge will please libertarian right

Boris Johnson famously dislikes disappointing the people around him.

The result is this weekend’s barrage of confused messaging over whether the lockdown is ending, as he tries to please both sides in the battle raging within the Tory party about how to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

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Harry Dunn’s family call for parliamentary inquiry into death

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Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn ‘uplifted’ after meeting with shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy

The family of Harry Dunn have urged the shadow foreign secretary to call for a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of their son’s death.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn said they felt “uplifted” and believed Lisa Nandy would “take things forward on our and the nation’s behalf” after a virtual meeting with her on Friday.

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Britain was led by Churchill then – it’s led by a Churchill tribute act now

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With coronavirus lockdown subduing VE Day, contrasts with 75 years ago were many and varied

Somehow the quiet made it louder. By rights, marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day in the midst of a pandemic that has confined us to our homes – forcing us to keep our distance from one another, denying us the right to gather in crowds – should have muffled this commemoration. A celebration in private would surely feel like no celebration at all. Katherine Jenkins singing to an empty Albert Hall, streets with no street parties and the pubs all shut: how could that add up to anything other than a damp squib?

And yet Friday’s marking of the end of the second world war struck a deeper chord than it might, had it been just another sunny bank holiday. Yes, the usual rituals had to be suspended. There could be no wreath-laying at local memorials; instead, Prince Charles and Camilla laid two small wreaths on their own, in a crowdless corner of Balmoral, watched by a lone piper. There could be no veterans’ parades, no reunions for those who had served, no grateful handshakes from the politicians: 102-year-old former staff sergeant Ernie Horsfall had to make do with a Zoom call from Boris Johnson. And there were limited opportunities for silliness: the Winston Churchill impersonators were all dressed up with nowhere to go, forced to perform their cigar-and-V-sign shtick online.

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