Boris Johnson ‘very much looking forward’ to appearing before MPs investigating whether he misled parliament over Partygate – as it happened

Former prime minister says he believes evidence shows he did not recklessly mislead parliament over Partygate

Boris Johnson claims there is no document showing that he was given “any warning or advice” than any No 10 event may have broken Covid rules. He says:

It is clear from that investigation that there is no evidence at all that supports an allegation that I intentionally or recklessly misled the house. The only exception is the assertions of the discredited Dominic Cummings, which are not supported by any documentation.

There is not a single document that indicates that I received any warning or advice that any event broke or may have broken the rules or guidance. In fact, the evidence before the committee demonstrates that those working at No 10 at the time shared my honest belief that the rules and guidance were being followed.

I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the rules and guidance had been followed completely at No 10. But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time.

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‘A spirit of goodwill’: Michel Barnier praises Northern Ireland Brexit plan

Rishi Sunak’s attitude ‘much more responsible’ than that of Boris Johnson, says former EU negotiator

The EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has praised the agreement on Northern Ireland between the union and the British government as a positive step that turns a page in relations between the two sides.

In an interview with the Guardian, the veteran French politician said the Windsor framework agreement signed by Rishi Sunak and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, last month, “operationalised” the Northern Ireland protocol he had negotiated with the British government in 2019. “There was a spirit of goodwill for the first time in three years, to find solutions that are concrete, operational and realistic.”

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Boris Johnson set to submit Partygate dossier, saying he didn’t deliberately mislead MPs – UK politics live

Former PM expected to attack privileges committee inquiry as unfair before appearing before it on Wednesday

Downing Street has rejected a claim that government announcements are being held back this week because of all the media attention that the Boris Johnson privileges hearing will get. Asked about the claim (see 11.36am), the PM’s spokesperson said:

There is a large number of announcements being made this week, whether that’s on support for low-income households on energy, and obviously the vote on the Stormont brake on Wednesday so it is a significant week for government.

It’s wrong to suggest government business changes as a result of this committee hearing.

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Brexit: DUP to vote against government over Windsor framework

Jeffrey Donaldson confirms unionist party will oppose Sunak plan for Northern Ireland in this week’s vote

The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) is to vote against the government in this week’s first parliamentary vote on the new Windsor framework Brexit deal.

Party officers met on Monday and made a unanimous decision to reject Rishi Sunak’s revised plan for post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland, the DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said in a statement.

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Several Tory MPs may join DUP in voting against Brexit ‘Stormont brake’

Anger among European Research Group over vote on key part of Windsor framework for Northern Ireland

Rishi Sunak faces a reckoning from hardline Brexiters on his backbenches who are prepared to follow the Democratic Unionist party in voting against a key element of his “Windsor framework” that overhauls the Northern Ireland protocol.

Anger is rising among those in the European Research Group at ministers using a vote on a statutory instrument to implement the “Stormont brake” on Wednesday, as a proxy for MPs to have their say on the whole deal.

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Leo Varadkar meets Biden after apparent Clinton-Lewinsky joke

Irish leader meets US president at White House for traditional St Patrick’s Day event a day after making gaffe

Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has apologised for making an apparent joke about Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, during an event in Washington on the eve of St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Varadkar’s comment on Thursday risked overshadowing his meeting with Joe Biden at the White House on Friday for the traditional handing over of a bowl of shamrock to the US president, the most important day in the Irish-American political calendar.

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NHS workers expected to be offered one-off payments worth up to 6% as part of revised pay offer – UK politics live

Health secretary expected to announce a formal pay offer to key unions later today

Sinn Féin’s US fundraising arm has caused a row by calling for a referendum on Irish unity in adverts in the New York Times, Washington Post and other US publications.

The half-page ads were paid for by Friends of Sinn Féin and ran on Wednesday urging support for unity referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. “It is time to agree on a date,” it said. “Let the people have their say.”

They’re ads from Irish American organisations whose view on reunification is well known and held for a very long time and they take out ads every year. So, the focus now needs to be on getting back to work [at Stormont].

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Biden confirms plan to mark Good Friday agreement anniversary in Belfast

US president said he intended to visit Northern Ireland and Irish Republic in meeting with Rishi Sunak

Joe Biden has confirmed he plans to visit Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.

He was told by Rishi Sunak “we’d love to have you” when the pair held a face-to-face bilateral meeting on the fringes of the Aukus summit.

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Eyes roll at ‘cringey’ jokes amid Irish disappointment at Oscars haul

Ireland wins just two awards, for best special effects and best live-action short, after being nominated for 14

Ireland had hoped for Oscar glory but instead ended up the butt of jokes about drinking, fighting and incomprehensible accents as it claimed just a couple of the coveted golden statuettes.

Just two awards out of 14 nominations was disappointment enough but Hollywood added insult to injury with national tropes that elicited eye rolls in Ireland.

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SNP leadership hopefuls take part in second televised debate – as it happened

Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf take part in debate hosted by Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Lucy Frazer won’t be happy. (See 10.40am.) Interviewed by reporters leaving home this morning, Gary Lineker said that he had had a conversation with the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie. He would not reveal what was said. “We chat often,” was all Lineker said.

But Lineker did not look chastened. In fact, he was smiling like a Cheshire cat. Asked if he regretted sending his tweet, he replied “No,” and, asked if he stood by what he said, he replied, “Of course.”

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UK weather: Tuesday night could be coldest of year so far, Met Office warns

Temperatures could plummet to -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas with snow cutting off some rural areas

Tuesday night could be the coldest this year so far, the Met Office has warned, with fears that Arctic air could cut off some rural communities and cause power and transport chaos.

Temperatures could fall as low as -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas, with locations that have seen snowfall especially vulnerable.

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New Brexit trading rules could take more than two years to bed in fully

No 10 says UK is giving firms in Northern Ireland time to prepare with phased introduction

The new Brexit trading arrangements in Rishi Sunak’s revised Northern Ireland protocol could take more than two years to be fully implemented, government sources have confirmed.

Businesses in Northern Ireland say they expect a mass educational campaign to be launched across the country by HMRC and other government departments to help them put the deal announced in Windsor last Monday into operation if it is approved by parliament.

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Sunak’s Brexit deal under pressure after opposition from Boris Johnson and DUP

Negative comments by former PM and senior unionists suggest revised Northern Ireland protocol has not won over key figures

Rishi Sunak’s hopes of ending years of Brexit infighting with a revised deal for Northern Ireland have suffered a double blow as Boris Johnson came out against the plan while pressure mounted within the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) to reject it.

In his first public comments since the Windsor framework was unveiled on Monday, Johnson used a speech to a conference in London to say he would find it “very difficult” to back the plan, arguing it would stifle the UK economically.

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Peer urges unionists to ignore ‘communal rhetoric’ in assessing Brexit deal

Paul Bew calls on people to respond to substance of Rishi Sunak’s revised Northern Ireland deal alone

A peer and Northern Ireland expert has urged unionists to respond to the substance of Rishi Sunak’s revised Brexit deal alone, rather than the “communal rhetoric” that has been whipped up by others.

Paul Bew told MPs on Wednesday it was “important” that people recognised the tricky political task facing the Democratic Unionist party leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, who must balance the views of the party and its base when making a decision on whether to support the Windsor framework.

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Kemi Badenoch dismisses idea of trialling menopause leave because it was proposed ‘from a leftwing perspective’ – as it happened

Minister for women and equalities dismisses suggestion government should pilot menopause leave for women

PMQs is about to start.

Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s chief whip, has said that he thinks the Stormont brake – the mechanism at the heart of Rishi Sunak’s deal to revise the Northern Ireland protocol – will turn out to be “fairly ineffective”.

Let’s not underestimate the fact that when the EU introduces new laws in the future, it will have an impact on Northern Ireland. And the point of the brake was meant to be to give a means for unionists to oppose that. I think it will have to be used on lots of occasions, though I suspect to be fairly ineffective.

As long as it takes us to get, first of all, the analysis, and secondly, the answers from the government, before we make that decision, that’s the time we’ll take.

But the one thing I’ll say to you is that we will not have a knee-jerk reaction to this deal. It means too much to us. And we have got to give it real consideration.

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‘It was time to act as adults’: how Sunak charmed his way through a deal

Timing, trust and intense talks brought Northern Ireland deal over the finish line

During the final talks on the new post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland in Windsor on Monday, Rishi Sunak briefly halted proceedings to present Stéphanie Riso, a key member of Ursula von der Leyen’s negotiating team, with a small birthday gift.

The top official, who is moving to a senior European Commission role after six years living and breathing Brexit, was said by those present to have been visibly moved that the prime minister had both known and then chosen to mark the moment.

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Brexit: Sunak urges Tories not to create ‘another Westminster drama’ over Northern Ireland deal – as it happened

PM says DUP should be given time to assess deal as Steve Baker says party awaits reaction ‘with bated breath’

In his Today interview Rishi Sunak said that Northern Ireland was an “incredibly attractive” place to invest because it was within the UK, but also within the EU single market. It is an argument ministers are regularly made over the past three years to try to persuade unionists of the benefits of the protocol, and Sunak indicated that he will be reviving it again today when he speaks to people in Northern Ireland. He said:

I’ve spent a lot of time engaging with business group [in Northern Ireland]. I thank them, actually, for that engagement and this agreement ensures that they will have a continuing role.

But they all say to me, if we can get this resolved in the way that we have, that will unlock an enormous amount of invesment.

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Sunak draws ire after hailing Northern Ireland’s access to UK and EU markets

PM criticised for boasting about trade benefits of new deal while denying same gains to rest of UK

Rishi Sunak has eulogised Northern Ireland’s “unique” and privileged position in having easy trade access to both the UK and EU markets – prompting critics to note that this was the case for the entire country before Brexit.

In comments that could potentially antagonise hardline Conservative Brexiters – who suspect Sunak could secretly welcome a shuffle towards closer EU single market access – the prime minister used an event in Northern Ireland to talk up what he called “the prize that is on offer” with his post-Brexit protocol.

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‘A new page’: European newspapers hail Northern Ireland deal

Rishi Sunak lauded for making ‘adult relationship’ possible between UK and EU after post-Brexit dispute

Continental media have welcomed the deal settling the EU’s bitter post-Brexit dispute with the UK over Northern Ireland, hoping it may herald a new “adult relationship” that had been unthinkable while the “untrustworthy” Boris Johnson was in Downing Street.

In France, where the president, Emmanuel Macron, hailed “an important decision” that would “preserve the Good Friday agreement and protect our European internal market”, Le Monde called the Windsor framework a significant breakthrough.

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Sunak: True test of Northern Ireland deal will be restoration of assembly

PM hints that Westminster is optimistic about return of power-sharing after unveiling Stormont brake

Rishi Sunak has said the true test for his new protocol deal will be the restoration of the Northern Ireland assembly, saying citizens “need and deserve” to return to functioning government.

In a hint the government in Westminster is optimistic about the return of power-sharing, Sunak said the new Stormont brake – which would allow the assembly a say over EU law applied in Northern Ireland – would be a key step towards restoring the “democratic deficit”.

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