Related video: Government wants to ‘deter’ migrants from making Channel crossings, says minister
A senior French politician has said that France won’t accept any “blackmail” from the UK amid reports that Home Secretary Priti Patel is threatening to withhold millions of pounds promised to the nation to help prevent migrant crossings.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that France won’t accept any “financial blackmail” from the UK or any practices which break maritime law in response to her plans to turn migrant boats around when the reach England.
Ms Patel is said to have ordered official to rewrite the law to allow Border Force to turn boats around before they reach the UK.
However, a coordinator with Channel Rescue warned that such action could put “the lives of thousands of innocent women, children and men have been put at greater risk”,
Conservative MP Tim Loughton, a member of the home affairs select committee, commented: “It sounds good pushing them back but it’s not going to work in practice.”
French Interior Minister brands Priti Patel’s migrant plan ‘blackmail’
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has said that France won’t accept any “blackmail” amid reports that Home Secretary Priti Patel has threatened to withhold millions of pounds promised to France to stop migrant crossings.
Mr Darmanin tweeted that France won’t accept any “financial blackmail” from the UK, adding that Ms Patel’s proposals to turn migrant boats around before they reach England would break maritime law.
“France won’t accept any practice against maritime law, neither any financial blackmail,” he wrote.
“The UK must hold up its commitment. I have said it clearly in my discussions with Priti Patel. The friendship between our two countries deserves better than stances that damage the co-operation of our departments.”
Joanna Taylor9 September 2021 12:13
EU chief urges DUP to ‘dial down’ Brexit threats
European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic has called on politicians to “dial down the rhetoric” over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Sefcovic was reacting after DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party could collapse Stormont within weeks if changes to the protocol are not delivered.
At the beginning of a two-day visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Sefcovic told the PA news agency that politicians needed to be calm on work on the “concrete problems”.
He said: “I already had conversations with Sir Jeffrey a couple of weeks ago. I will see him this afternoon as I will see also the other political leaders.
“We will have the opportunity to discuss this face to face and my message will be let’s work on the concrete problems.
“Let’s focus on the issues which are the most important for the people of Northern Ireland, let’s be constructive, let’s dial down the political rhetoric, let’s bring calm and focus on what is our task to accomplish.”
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 11:52
Patel’s plans for Channel ‘pushbacks’ will breach law and put lives at risk, experts warn
Priti Patel’s plans to sanction “pushbacks” in the English Channel are illegal and will put lives at risk, experts have warned.
Sonia Lenegan, legal director of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, said there were “many issues” with the proposal, to the extent that it was “very difficult to believe that the home secretary has received legal advice stating that the proposed pushbacks are legal in any circumstances”.
James Turner QC, barrister and arbitrator specialising in cross-border commercial and shipping disputes, agreed that turning back migrant boats in the middle of the Channel would “not be lawful under international law”.
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 11:37
DUP leader threatens to collapse Stormont Executive
The leader of the DUP has signalled his party will collapse the Stormont Executive within weeks if changes to Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol are not delivered.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson also announced his party’s immediate withdrawal from cross-border political institutions established on the island of Ireland under the Good Friday peace agreement.
The moves are part of an intensification of the DUP’s campaign of opposition to post-Brexit arrangements that have created trading barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Sir Jeffrey issued the warning on the future of Stormont in a keynote address in Belfast on the same day as European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic began a two-day visit to Northern Ireland.
“In the final analysis those who are democratically elected by the people of Northern Ireland lack the power to prevent such checks, if that is the case, if our ministers cannot in the end prevent these checks taking place and if the protocol issues remain then I have to be clear, the position in office of DUP ministers would become untenable,” he said.
“If the choice is ultimately between remaining in office or implementing the protocol in its present form then the only option, the only option for any unionist minister would be to cease to hold such office.”
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 11:16
Majority of Scottish voters oppose snap IndyRef2 vote – poll
A majority of Scottish voters are opposed to a snap independence referendum being held – and most still back Scotland’s place in the UK, a poll found.
The Survation survey found that only 38 per cent of voters believe there should be another referendum within two years.
The poll for pro-UK campaign group Scotland in Union also revealed that 57 per cent of people in Scotland would vote to remain part of the UK in a referendum – with only 43 per cent in favour of leaving the UK.
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 10:59
Keir Starmer should take inspiration from Joe Biden, say union leader
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer should take inspiration from US president Joe Biden, the leader of the TUC has said.
The union’s general secretary Frances O’Grady praised Mr Biden for pushing “dignity at work” as a slogan during his successful 2020 presidential campaign.
The TUC chief said the fight for better pay and conditions should be “absolutely central” to Labour’s efforts to win the next general election and oust Boris Johnson.
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 10:47
Patel’s migrant plan ‘not going to work in practice’, admits Tory MP
Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who sits on the home affairs select committee, has downplayed speculation that Priti Patel plans to turn away boats attempting to reach the south coast of England from France.
He said while it “sounds good” it was never going to work in reality because of the fragility of the vessels.
In comments reported by The Guardian, he said: “It sounds good. But I’m afraid in practice it’s just not going to happen. These are flimsy boats coming over. Even those that are tougher are completely weighed down.
“Any boat coming up alongside at speed would capsize most of these boats anyway and then we’re looking at people getting into trouble in the water and drowning … and then we’ll get blamed for that.
“It sounds good pushing them back but it’s not going to work in practice.”
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 10:28
Health workers who refuse to get vaccinated could be moved to back-office roles – care minister
Health and care workers who refuse to get vaccinated could be moved to back-office roles, the care minister has suggested.
Helen Whately said there were people who could not have the Covid-19 vaccine for medical reasons but those who decline the jab could lose their frontline jobs.
She told Times Radio: “You can look at whether there are alternative ways somebody could be deployed, for instance, in a role that doesn’t involve frontline work, or doesn’t involve being physically in the same setting as the patient, whether it’s, for instance, working on 111, something like that.
“So we could look at alternative roles for individuals, these are exactly the sorts of things that we can investigate.”
The government has launched a six-week consultation on making vaccination a condition of deployment for frontline workers in health and care settings.
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 10:15
Social care expert welcomes efforts to fix system
The author of a report which laid bare the problems with Britain’s social care system a decade ago has welcomed efforts to fix it.
Sir Andrew Dilnot told LBC: “I think, structurally, quite a lot of [the recommendations made in the Dilnot report] is [in the government’s plans].
“Of course there’s always still more to be done but I feel that the situation we’ve had for several decades now of families in this country facing complete uncertainty, and an inadequate system… should be a thing of the past once these reforms are introduced.”
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 10:03
Hospital waiting lists reach record high
The number of people in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment has risen to a new record high.
A total of 5.6 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of July 2021, according to figures from NHS England.
This is the highest number since records began in August 2007.
The number of people having to wait more than 52 weeks to start treatment stood at 293,102 in July 2021, down from 304,803 in the previous month, but more than three times the number waiting a year earlier, in July 2020, which was 83,203.
The figures come as the government seeks to address the backlog with a £12bn tax hike.
Tom Batchelor9 September 2021 09:54