Exemptions, enforcement and business reaction to the news that coverings will be compulsory from 24 July
With the government set to announce that wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets will be mandatory in England from 24 July, here’s what you need to know about the new rules:
Continue reading...Scotland’s distancing rule to be relaxed for some sectors; lockdown-easing paused in some Scottish towns; getting English schools back to normal critical, Williamson says
A “partial reopening” of the tourism sector in Wales is to take place over the next few weeks as long as rates of coronavirus continue to fall, the Welsh government has announced.
The Labour-led government has asked visitors to enjoy their time in the country – but to respect local communities.
Tourism is a vital part of the Welsh economy at a national, regional and local level. I’d like to thank all our industry partners for working with us to carefully reopen the visitor economy.
A successful, safe and phased return will give businesses, communities and visitors confidence to continue with the recovery of the visitor economy.
NHS England has recorded a further 35 coronavirus hospital deaths in England. The full figures are here.
For comparison, here are the equivalent daily figures announced by NHS England over the past fortnight.
Continue reading...Ministers also expected to end policy of quarantining arrivals to the UK for 14 days
Overseas holidays will be given the green light from early next month, with the government expected to suspend the 14-day quarantine period for a series of countries and also to set up so-called air bridge arrangements for overseas destinations.
While the full list of countries involved is still being confirmed, the initial phase of travel opening up is expected to involve European nations including France, Greece, Spain and possibly Portugal, with other potentially more distant locations to follow.
Continue reading...Embassy in London claims construction project is covered by diplomatic immunity
A row over the construction of a wall at the Chinese consulate in Belfast has escalated after China said it would ignore a legal order to temporarily halt the work.
A letter from lawyers for the Chinese embassy in London to residents objecting to the security wall said diplomatic staff did not recognise the jurisdiction of courts in Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Smith, who died at home in Manhattan, played key role in Northern Ireland’s peace process in the 1990s as US envoy
Jean Kennedy Smith, the youngest sister and last surviving sibling of John F Kennedy, who as US envoy played key role in Northern Ireland’s peace process in the 1990s, has died aged 92, her daughter confirmed to the New York Times.
Related: Coronavirus live news: New York set to ease lockdown further as outdoor restaurants reopen
Continue reading...Patients forced to buy pills online or go overseas for terminations
Women seeking abortions in Northern Ireland are still struggling to access services. Although abortion was legalised more than two months ago, claims persist that healthcare professionals are refusing to treat patients.
A leading reproductive rights group and a doctors’ organisation say that GPs are refusing to refer pregnant women to hospital services so they can access the tablets needed to undergo a medical abortion. They are also aware of midwives and nurses refusing to care for patients before and after the procedure.
Continue reading...Police appeal for information on Belfast shooting of Jean Smyth-Campbell
A senior detective investigating one of Britain’s most controversial spy scandals has appealed to both ex-IRA and retired soldiers to help him get the truth about the killing of a young woman in the Troubles.
Jon Boutcher is a former chief constable of Bedfordshire and the head of Operation Kenova, which is investigating the military intelligence agent known as Stakeknife who betrayed the IRA for three decades.
Continue reading...Hannah McSorley’s videos prove a big hit online and lead to deal with influencer agency
“TikTok tadpole influencer” is not a career path that Hannah McSorley would have been told about at school. In lockdown, however, with her GSCEs on hold, the 17-year-old has turned a time-honoured pastime – collecting frogspawn – into a potentially lucrative online empire.
McSorley’s hypnotic daily videos of her tens of thousands of tadpoles have attracted 535,000 followers on TikTok as @.baby.frogs, leading to a deal with a US influencer agency.
Continue reading...Six months needed to prepare for Brexit border checks, warn Northern Ireland business groups
Northern Ireland business groups are calling for a six month delay to Brexit checks in the Irish Sea saying that Boris Johnson’s late admission that he is legally obliged to implement them has left them no time to prepare for the December cliff edge.
They have also hit out at Downing Street secrecy, saying they are refusing to discuss the plans with the very people that needed to implement them.
Continue reading...Guardian told all four CMOs discussed and refused No 10 proposal, not just Chris Whitty
All four of the UK’s chief medical officers rejected suggestions from No 10 that the coronavirus threat level could be reduced because it contradicted evidence that showed the virus was still widespread, the Guardian has been told.
A senior source in one devolved government said the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland discussed and refused Boris Johnson’s proposal.
Continue reading...Lords committee warns uncertainty over trading rules may add to economic damage of crisis
Northern Ireland faces a “potent threat” to its prosperity and stability if reduced business confidence due to uncertainty over post-Brexit trading rules compounds the economic damage from coronavirus, a Lords committee has warned.
A fourth round of talks between the UK and EU over a permanent deal begins this week, with little apparent progress made, and the looming deadline of 1 July for the UK to seek an extension to the transition period beyond this year.
Continue reading...Influential thinktank warns that UK will need to extend transition period in wake of coronavirus or risk very hard border
A new Brexit border in the Irish Sea will not be ready by Boris Johnson’s end-of-year deadline, according to a new analysis that warns more than 60 administrations, government departments and public bodies will be involved in overseeing the new system.
Ministers finally admitted last week that there would be some checks on certain goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK from next January, when the Brexit transition period comes to an end.
Continue reading...Minister says checks on animals and food products are needed to maintain island of Ireland’s ‘disease-free status’
The government has confirmed for the first time that there will be Brexit checks on animals and food goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK from next January.
The announcement, detailed in a 23-page document released by the government on Wednesday, comes months after Boris Johnson pledged there would be no checks on trade crossing the Irish Sea – telling businesses that if anyone asked them to fill in new paperwork, they could “throw it in the bin”.
Continue reading...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).
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...‘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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...UK refuses request from Brussels for Northern Ireland presence for second time
The Irish border question threatens to derail Brexit talks again as the depth of the row over the EU’s desire to have an office in Belfast is revealed.
The UK’s paymaster general, Penny Mordaunt, has written to the EU to firmly reject a repeated request for an office in Northern Ireland: “The UK cannot agree to the permanent EU presence based in Belfast,” she wrote.
Continue reading...Clashes expected over plan which Britain says would sow division in Northern Ireland
Brussels and UK officials will clash over the increasingly fraught question of whether the European Union can open an office in Belfast.
At the inaugural meeting on Thursday of a special committee of officials charged with enforcing a de facto Irish Sea border, the European commission is expected to press the case to open “a technical office” in Belfast, three days after the government rejected an EU “mini-embassy” in the Northern Irish capital.
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