Category Archives: Northern Irish politics

Boris Johnson refuses to rule out U-turn to impose windfall tax on energy firms – UK politics live

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Latest updates: sources suggest idea of windfall tax on energy firms ‘back on the table’ as cost of living crisis continues to bite

Ministers do not expect to reach an agreement with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol, Sky’s Beth Rigby reports. She is quoting “senior government figures” close to the talks between Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president in charge of Brexit. Truss and Šefčovič have been talking this morning.

Victoria Atkins, the prisons minister, was the government’s representative on the airwaves this morning. She told Sky News that she thought her Tory MP colleague Lee Anderson was wrong when he told the Commons yesterday that there was no great need for food banks in Britain and that the real problem was people not being able to cook properly. She said:

This is not the view of me or anyone else in government. We want to give not just immediate help but longer-term support as well.

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Sinn Féin becomes largest party in Northern Ireland assembly – as it happened

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With Sinn Féin set to become the biggest party at Stormont for the first time, O’Neill says the results mark a ‘new era’ for ‘our politics and for our people’

The elections to the Northern Ireland assembly are quite different to most UK elections. Members of the assembly are elected to 18 multi-member constituencies by single transferable vote.

Each constituency has five representatives, totalling 90 overall. Voters assign preferences to candidates on a ballot slip. If a candidate gets enough first-preference votes, they win a seat, and if not, second and then third preferences – and so on – are counted until all seats are filled.

Because of this, multiple counts are needed in each constituency, which means results can take a while to compile. It is possible for the first count not to result in the award of a seat. Another consequence is that it is not clear whether a party has increased or decreased its total seats in a constituency or overall, until all seats have been awarded.

By the terms of the Good Friday agreement the government of Northern Ireland is shared between the two main communities: nationalists, who favour closer ties with the Republic of Ireland, and unionists, for whom Northern Ireland’s position in the UK is more important. The largest party in the assembly appoints the first minister, and the largest party from the other community appoints the deputy first minister.

Some parties with cross-community support or whose supporters do not identify strongly with either community think this arrangement perpetuates divisions, but in practice since 1998 the largest party has always been from the unionist community and the second-largest from the nationalist.

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Local elections 2022: Tories lose hundreds of seats to Labour and Lib Dems; Sinn Féin set to become largest party in NI elections – live

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PM insists ‘mixed’ results also included some ‘remarkable gains’ for Conservatives; Labour, Lib Dems and Greens celebrate key wins

One of the trickiest contests for Labour is in Sunderland, where it risks losing control of the council for the first time since it was founded in 1974, says the Guardian’s North Of England correspondent Josh Halliday.

Labour has a majority of only six councillors on the 75-seat authority, meaning it could easily fall into no overall control when ballots are counted.

There are enough clues on the doorstep and judging by the scale of the postal vote, that’s gone extremely well and we’re getting a big turnout. That said, neither party can be overly confident about which way many seats will go.

Partygate doesn’t come up as much as you’d think and for those who have brought it up they’ve said things like ‘You’re all as bad as each other’ or ‘that’s politics’.

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Conservatives brace for losses as votes counted in local elections

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Labour and Lib Dem sources say turnout appears to be low in possible sign of Tory voters staying away

The Conservatives are braced for a nerve-shredding 24 hours after voting closed in local elections across the UK, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats expecting to make gains.

Taking place against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis, the first nationwide polls since Partygate will be widely read as a test of whether Boris Johnson has become an electoral liability.

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Tories face test on cost of living and Partygate as people vote across the UK – as it happened

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Latest updates: elections take place in many areas across the UK with polling stations open from 7am to 10pm BST

Boris Johnson and the Japanese prime minister watched an RAF flypast together in Horse Guards Parade before their bilateral discussions in No 10, PA Media reports. PA says:

The pair stood on a dais as they witnessed a Voyager and two Typhoon fighter jets soar over St James’s Park and the parade ground.

Fumio Kishida was then invited in Japanese by the captain of the Nijmegen Company, Grenadier Guards, to inspect a guard of honour.

My forecast ... predicts that the Conservatives will lose more than 200 council seats across Great Britain on polling day (Thursday 5 May). They will suffer net losses of 63 in London, 38 across the rest of England, 83 in Scotland and 22 in Wales.

Labour, meanwhile, will make a net gain of 35 council seats in London but a net loss of 16 across the rest of England. That net loss, however, will be more than compensated for by net gains of 87 and 41 in Scotland and Wales respectively.

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Victims of ‘vile’ abuse of children in care in Northern Ireland reject apology

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Religious orders called on to pay compensation for physical, sexual and psychological abuse carried out for more than 70 years

Victims of sexual, psychological and physical abuse of children in care in Northern Ireland have rejected a formal apology by religious orders and called on them to pay compensation.

Ministers and representatives of six institutions at the centre of the scandal on Friday issued a long-awaited statement saying sorry for what was described as “vile” and “unimaginable” abuse carried out for more than 70 years.

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Tributes paid to DUP politician Christopher Stalford, who has died at 39

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Leaders across Northern Irish political spectrum praised ‘passionate’ Stormont assembly member

Tributes from across Northern Ireland’s political divide have been paid to Christopher Stalford, a Democratic Unionist party member of the Northern Ireland assembly who has died suddenly at the age of 39.

The DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, said he had talked at length on Friday night with Stalford, whom he described as a friend and as someone who had been “born to be a public representative”.

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Brexit: huge jump in trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland

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Official Irish data suggests boost in trade on island of Ireland, but imports from Great Britain fell €2.3bn

The impact of the first year of Brexit on Ireland has been revealed after official data showed cross-border trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland jumped by €2.8bn (£2.3bn) in 2021.

Full-year figures from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office show that imports to Ireland from Northern Ireland were up 65% to €3.9bn, a rise of €1.5bn compared with 2020.

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Northern Ireland first minister resigns over Brexit checks on goods

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Paul Givan’s move triggers parallel departure of deputy first minister and could bring forward elections

The first minister of Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist party’s Paul Givan, has resigned, plunging the devolved government at Stormont into turmoil two years after power-sharing with Sinn Féin was restored.

His resignation, over Brexit checks in the Irish Sea, will also bring the parallel departure of the Sinn Féin deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill, under the power-sharing arrangements.

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Plans to allow ‘double-jobbing’ in Northern Irish politics dropped

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PM says amendment is being pulled after Tory Northern Ireland affairs committee chair spoke out against it

The UK government has abandoned plans to introduce a law that would have allowed the leader of the Democratic Unionist party to potentially “double-job” in the Stormont assembly while remaining a Westminster MP.

Before a debate on the legislation in the Lords on Wednesday afternoon, Boris Johnson told the Commons that an amendment enabling dual mandates was being withdrawn.

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UK and Irish foreign secretaries meet over Northern Ireland Brexit impasse

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Liz Truss and Simon Coveney meetup comes before talks on protocol with EU Brexit negotiator

The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, and her Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney, have had a “good and friendly” first meeting over the vexed issue of the Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland, Irish government sources have said.

They met for the first time over dinner in London on Thursday night and discussed the Northern Ireland protocol, the wider relationship with the EU, and UN security matters including the crisis in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

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‘Not if … but when’: Sinn Féin on path to power in Ireland

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The party is riding high in polls and could complete a seismic shift in Irish politics in three years’ time

Just 30 years ago the IRA was bombing Downing Street, launching three mortar bombs at No 10 while John Major presided over a cabinet meeting.

In 2021, Sinn Féin, the political party associated with the IRA for much of the Troubles, has moved into pole position to lead the Irish government in what could be the biggest shake-up of the state’s politics since its foundation 100 years ago.

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Northern Ireland: what are EU and UK proposing and will deal be done?

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EU law on medicines may be rewritten and UK has climbed down over ECJ. Here’s what we know

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020 and all EU rules fell away at the start of 2021. Soon after, a row broke out over the Northern Ireland protocol, the tortuously negotiated agreement to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market and customs union.

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EU welcomes ‘change in tone’ from UK at Northern Ireland Brexit talks

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Brussels Brexit chief offers glimmer of hope, but London says threat of article 16 still on the table

A glimmer of hope of a solution to the dispute over the Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements has emerged after a fourth week of talks ended on Friday.

After a week of recriminations and the threat of a trade war, the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič said there had been a change in tone from the UK’s Brexit minister, David Frost, confirming the UK had stepped back from the brink of triggering article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol.

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Frost says there is big gap between UK and EU at Northern Ireland Brexit talks

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Brussels has been ‘preparing for worst’, with options ranging from tariffs on UK imports to ditching deal

David Frost, the UK’s Brexit minister, has warned there is a big gap between the EU and the UK negotiating positions as he enters talks with the European Commission over changes to the arrangements for trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The EU has offered to sweep away most customs and health checks on animal and plant products entering Northern Ireland under a revision of the current system but both sides privately recognise that fundamental differences remain between their visions for the future.

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Northern Irish unionist parties form alliance to oppose Brexit protocol

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Four parties including DUP and Ulster Unionists issue statement warning of ‘grave damage’ under new rules

Four rival unionist parties in Northern Ireland have formed an alliance to fight the Brexit protocol, issuing a joint statement weeks after the Democratic Unionist party threatened to quit Stormont if it was not scrapped.

It is seen as a significant attempt to show that the DUP’s hardline position is not isolated before the expected publication by the EU of fresh proposals to address UK demands to substantially rewrite the protocol.

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RUC officer referred for 1976 murder of brothers in County Armagh

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Referral to prosecutors comes as UK told plan to end Troubles prosecutions ‘could breach international law’

A former police officer of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) has been referred to public prosecutors in Northern Ireland in relation to a series of potential offences including the sectarian murder of three brothers.

John Martin, 24, Brian, 22, and their 17-year-old brother, Anthony Reavey, were shot by the notorious loyalist Glenanne gang at their home in County Armagh in 1976.

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UK plan to end Troubles prosecutions ‘could breach international law’

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European human rights commissioner warns Northern Ireland secretary that amnesty is ‘deeply problematic’

Boris Johnson’s plan to impose a statute of limitations to end all prosecutions related to the Troubles before 1998 could be in breach of international law, a European human rights commissioner has told the government.

Dunja Mijatović of the Council of Europe has written to the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, saying the UK’s proposals appear indistinguishable from an unconditional amnesty for those not yet convicted.

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Majority of Northern Irish voters want vote on staying in UK

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Two-thirds of people say a border poll should be held at some point in the wake of Brexit

Two-thirds of voters in Northern Ireland believe there should be a vote over its place in the UK, but only 37% want it to take place within the next five years, according to a new poll for the Observer.

Some 31% of voters said there should be a vote at some point about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK but after 2026, the LucidTalk poll found. A further 29% said there should never be such a vote. There is currently a seven-point lead for Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK should any vote take place.

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UK confirms plan to call time on Troubles prosecutions

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Proposals to end prosecutions relating to Troubles before 1998 opposed by Irish government

All criminal prosecutions relating to the Troubles and future attempts to take civil actions would be blocked under UK government plans that have united Northern Ireland’s parties in opposition.

The proposals, which are also opposed by the Irish government, were announced by Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, who told MPs it was a “painful truth” that criminal investigations were unlikely to deliver successful outcomes.

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