Constance Marten and Mark Gordon arrested as baby still missing - The Times

A couple who went missing with their baby have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter as police continue to search for their child.

Sussex police said that Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were spotted in Brighton by a member of the public just before 9.30pm yesterday.

The couple, who had not been seen since their car broke down near Bolton in January, are now in custody while police search an area of 91 square miles across Newhaven and Brighton for the baby.

Police search an allotment for the missing baby

Marten’s father has told of his “immense relief” that his daughter is safe but said that his emotions were “tempered by the very alarming news her baby has yet to be found”.

Napier Marten told The Independent he loved his daughter

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2023-02-28 17:00:00Z
1796514433

Rishi Sunak heads to Belfast to sell Northern Ireland trade deal - Financial Times

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2023-02-28 08:44:03Z
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Missing couple Constance Marten and Mark Gordon arrested, search for baby continues - The Guardian

A couple who disappeared with their baby have been found but the infant is still missing, police have said.

Constance Marten and her partner, the convicted sex offender Mark Gordon, were located by Sussex police in Stanmer Villas in Brighton on Monday night after a member of the public reported seeing them shortly before 9.30pm.

The Metropolitan police said an urgent search operation was under way to find their baby, who has not received any medical attention since birth in early January.

Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, have been travelling around the UK by taxi since their car was found burning on the M61 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 5 January.

Authorities previously believed the couple had been sleeping rough in a blue tent, and had avoided being traced by the police by moving around frequently and keeping their faces covered from CCTV.

The couple travelled from Bolton to Liverpool, then to Harwich in Essex, to east London and then to Newhaven in Sussex, where they were seen near the ferry port on 8 January.

Marten is from a wealthy aristocratic family with connections to the royal family and was a promising drama student before meeting Gordon in 2016. Gordon served 20 years in a US jail for rape and battery for an attack on a woman when he was 14, and was deported to Britain from the US in 2010.

Since 2016, the couple have led an isolated life cut off from family and friends. From about September last year, they began living in a series of Airbnbs around the country on short lets and amassed a significant amount of cash to enable them to live off-grid and avoid the attention of the authorities.

Taxi drivers used by the couple in the first few days after they went missing said they had heard noises coming from a baby. It is unknown if their baby was full-term or has any health issues.

In late January, police offered a £10,000 award for information leading to the couple’s whereabouts. At the time, officers said they were extremely concerned about the health and wellbeing of the newborn baby, adding they may have been “exposed to sub-zero temperatures, for almost a month now”.

In mid-January, Marten’s estranged father, Napier Marten, a film and music producer, appealed to her to hand herself in to the police. He said: “Darling Constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, I stand by, as I have always done and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us.”

Constance Marten grew up in the Dorset estate of Crichel House. Her grandmother was a playmate to Princess Margaret and her father was once a page to Queen Elizabeth II.

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2023-02-28 07:59:00Z
1796514433

Rishi Sunak hails new NI Brexit deal but DUP concerns remain - BBC

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By Becky Morton

BBC News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hailed his deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland as a "decisive breakthrough".

Many Conservative MPs, including those who supported Brexit, gave their backing to the agreement.

And the DUP, whose support will be key to restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland, said there had been "significant progress".

But the party warned that "key issues of concern" remain.

On Tuesday, Mr Sunak was in Belfast as part of efforts to sell his Brexit deal, detailing to businesses and politicians how he believes it will ease the flow of trade between Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would now study the legal text, before reaching a decision on whether to support the deal.

The party has boycotted the devolved government until its concerns over the Northern Ireland Protocol are resolved and some Tory MPs have said they will only support an agreement if it has the backing of the DUP.

Sinn Féin, which is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, welcomed the deal, although it said it still needed to examine the details.

The party's vice-president, Michelle O'Neill, repeated her call for the DUP to return to devolved government, adding: "We always said that with pragmatism, solutions could be found."

• Northern Ireland Brexit deal: At-a-glance
• A simple guide to the Northern Ireland Brexit deal

After months of negotiation and speculation surrounding a possible deal, it was finally unveiled during a day of carefully choreographed events.

Word began to emerge from inside government at around 14:00 GMT that a deal on an issue which has vexed four prime ministers had finally been done.

The PM confirmed the breakthrough soon after during a joint press conference in Windsor with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

There was a notable warmth between the PM and Mrs von der Leyen as they outlined their agreement on Monday, with the EU chief referring to the prime minister as "dear Rishi" and hailing a "new chapter" of a "stronger EU-UK relationship".

She went on to have tea with King Charles at Windsor Castle. The pair were pictured smiling and chatting, but there was concern from some MPs that the meeting would draw the monarch into a contentious political issue.

As Mr Sunak travelled back to London to address the Commons, the details of the long-awaited deal were landing well with some MPs who might have been expected to cause the PM political problems.

Northern Ireland Office Minister and arch-Brexiteer Steve Baker said Mr Sunak had "pulled a blinder".

He had been considering resigning "as late as yesterday", he revealed, but added that the agreement "should be good enough for any reasonable unionists".

During a Commons debate, former Prime Minister Theresa May urged MPs to back the deal - but two other former leaders, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, did not attend.

Number 10 will be pleased by the response from the US, where outstanding issues over the arrangements in Northern Ireland have been seen as an obstacle in any potential trade talks between London and Washington.

US President Joe Biden said the deal was "an essential step to ensuring that the hard-earned peace and progress of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is preserved and strengthened".

The agreement, named the Windsor Framework, changes the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was signed by Mr Johnson and came into force in 2021.

The protocol aimed to ensure free movement of goods across the Irish land border by conducting checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain instead.

But under the treaty, Northern Ireland had to keep following some EU rules.

PA Media

Mr Sunak said the new deal "delivers smooth-flowing trade within the whole United Kingdom, protects Northern Ireland's place in our union and safeguards sovereignty for the people of Northern Ireland".

Under the agreement:

• Goods from Britain destined for Northern Ireland will travel through a new "green lane", with a separate "red lane" for goods at risk of moving on to the EU
• Products coming into Northern Ireland through the green lane will see checks and paperwork significantly reduced, while red lane goods will still be subject to normal checks
• A "Stormont brake" allows the Northern Ireland Assembly to raise an objection to "significantly different" EU rules which would apply in Northern Ireland
• UK VAT and excise rules will apply to Northern Ireland for alcoholic drinks for immediate consumption and immovable goods such as heat pumps. Previously EU VAT rules could be applied in Northern Ireland

But there is no guarantee that it will result in the return of a power-sharing devolved government for Northern Ireland. In a statement, the DUP said "significant progress has been secured across a number of areas" but concerns remain.

"There can be no disguising the fact that in some sectors of our economy EU law remains applicable in Northern Ireland," it said.

The party said it would now study the deal and seek "further clarification, reworking or change as required".

The nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, and the Alliance Party, which is neither nationalist nor unionist, welcomed the deal, although both said they had concerns about the Stormont brake clause.

But the Traditional Unionist Voice Party said the agreement was "much spin, not a lot of substance" and meant the protocol "effectively stays".

The Ulster Unionist Party said it would study the detail but would not give cover to other parties.

• How does power-sharing work in Northern Ireland?

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Several Brexit-supporting MPs have responded positively to the agreement.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis said the prime minister had "pulled off a formidable negotiating success" and "secured the best possible deal".

Former Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said there had been "huge progress", adding: "It all now depends on whether the communities in NI feel it's the right solution."

However, other Tory MPs were more cautious, with prominent Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash saying "the devil as ever lies in the detail".

DUP MP Ian Paisley said the deal had "fallen short" in a number of key areas, including the continued role of the European Court of Justice as the final arbiter in disputes over EU rules.

"My gut instinct is it doesn't cut the mustard," he told BBC Newsnight.

Mr Sunak said Parliament would get a vote on the agreement at the "appropriate time" but that MPs needed a chance to consider the detail.

Labour has said it will support a deal but the government will be reluctant to rely on opposition votes.

Leader Sir Keir Starmer said the deal was not "perfect" but "now that it has been agreed we all have an obligation to make it work".

Mr Sunak also confirmed the government was dropping the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which was introduced under Mr Johnson when he was prime minister and would have given the UK the power to unilaterally scrap parts of the old deal.

He said the bill was now no longer needed and the original legal justification for it had "fallen away".

.

Related Topics

• NI Brexit
• Rishi Sunak
• DUP (Democratic Unionist Party)
• European Union
• Brexit

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2023-02-28 06:38:31Z
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NI Brexit deal: Sunak setting out Northern Ireland deal in Parliament - BBC

Video content

The Northern Ireland minister, Steve Baker, says he is "delighted, hand-on-heart glad to accept the whole thing", referencing the new post-Brexit deal.

"I am incredibly proud of this achievement," he adds, which he says works "for Ireland, for the EU, for the Eurosceptics and for the unionists".

He says he explained this to the European Research Group (ERG) but adds that they can't be rushed, "just as the DUP can't be rushed".

"Imagine you're sending something to the Isle of Wight, which involves a ferry... just as there would be some commercial information being shared with the ferry operator, the same will happen to Northern Ireland," he says, explaining there will be a system that will make sure this "normal commercial information" is shared with the EU.

There will be no extra process for online retailers, Baker says.

"From the point of view of someone who sends a parcel, that will just go without any process," he adds.

Shipping to Northern Ireland will be just like shipping to the Isle of Wight, Baker says.

"This restores the place of NI in the union. It's great news."

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2023-02-27 17:15:00Z
1805842290

Northern Lights in Cornwall: Where to see them tonight - Cornwall Live

Northern Lights could be seen from Cornwall tonight. The Aurora Borealis are rarely seen in southern areas of the UK - but tonight residents could be in luck.

Last night (February 26) the skies were lit up with spectacular colours leaving people across the UK in awe. Fortunately for those who missed the show, the Met Office says the lights may be visible again this evening. The bad news is that cloudy skies may limit opportunities to catch a glimpse of the celestial exhibition.

Cloud is forecast tonight across Cornwall but the good news is that there may be a chance in the early hours of Tuesday morning (February 28). A Met Office weather map shows that at 10pm the majority of the county will be shrouded in thin cloud.

Read more: Northern Lights seen from Cornwall as rare phenomena set to return

However, those dedicated enough to stay up until 2am could see a gap in the clouds on the north coast of Cornwall. This includes in areas including St Ives, Gwithian, Newquay, Padstow, Tintagel, Boscastle, and Bude.

The head of space weather at the Met Office, Mark Gibbs, said: “The aurora will continue tonight but with cloudy skies across much of the UK, it may be too optimistic to expect clear sightings two nights in a row."

A Met Office map showing cloud and clear skies over Cornwall in the early hours of Tuesday morning (February 28)

“Last night’s sighting saw the coincidence of perfect conditions, making the aurora visible on the north horizon in the south of England.

Time you could see the Northern Lights in the UK tonight

Mr Gibbs said: “If you have a clear sky tonight, head outside around midnight and have a look, but it is most likely to be visible from the west coast of Scotland.”

What causes the Northern Lights?

Although mostly associated with the northern hemisphere, the aurora can be seen at both poles of the earth. The northern version is called Aurora Borealis while the southern version is called Aurora Australis.

Although they may appear magical, the spectacular colours in the sky are caused by activity on the surface of the sun. Huge clouds of electrically-charged particles are given off by solar storms and travel millions of miles, some eventually colliding with the earth.

Some of these then become stuck in the earth's magnetic field and accelerate towards the north and south poles. What we perceive as colourful and sometimes dancing shapes are atoms and molecules in the atmosphere colliding with particles from the sun. The displays can extend from as low as 80 miles above the earth's surface to thousands of miles higher.

Read more:

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2023-02-27 15:45:26Z
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EU chief and Sunak to meet in London for talks over the NI Protocol - Euronews

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will welcome European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday for 'final talks' concerning the Northern Ireland Protocol. 

Von der Leyen is traveling to Berkshire in England where she hopes to iron-out the complex challenges around the post-Brexit trade agreement concerning the checking of goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of Great Britain. 

A new deal has been anticipated in recent weeks, with the EU believed to have "moved on certain issues", according to Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab. All going well, a deal could be struck and announced later today. 

Build up to this point

In mid-February, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks near Belfast with local political parties as reports said an amended deal over the Northern Ireland Protocol could be reached.

The protocol on post-Brexit trading rules, signed between London and Brussels, keeps Northern Ireland in the European single market and customs union and stipulates checks on goods moving from the rest of the UK to Northern Ireland.

It has proved deeply unpopular with the UK-run province's unionist politicians, causing months of political deadlock.

London and Brussels have been negotiating for months to try to ease tensions over the trade arrangements.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald gave an upbeat assessment, saying: "It's very much game on." Her party is in favour of the protocol to prevent a hard border in Ireland.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),  walked out of Stormont in February 2022, mainly in protest against the protocol, causing political paralysis.

Britain this month said it would push back the deadline for Northern Ireland's parties to form a government for a year to 18 January 2024 but reserved the right to call an election at any time in the intervening period.

Varadkar: 'Inching towards conclusion'

Speaking over the weekend, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said an agreement over the protocol was "inching towards a conclusion" but there is still a gap to be closed.

Varadkar also said there is a possibility of an agreement being reached in the next few days, but cautioned it is by no means guaranteed.

"Certainly the deal isn't done yet," Varadkar said.

"But I do think we are inching towards conclusion and I really want to thank the UK government and the European Commission and the Northern Ireland parties for the level of engagement that they've done in recent months to get us to this point.

"I would just encourage everyone to go the extra mile to come to an agreement because the benefits are huge. They allow us to have the Northern Ireland Assembly back up and running in the north and the Good Friday Agreement working properly again, and also to put relations between the United Kingdom and Ireland and the European Union on a much more positive footing.

"That's really important given all the other challenges we face, particularly with inflation and the war in Ukraine," Mr Varadkar said.

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2023-02-27 07:47:59Z
1805842290

Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen to finish Brexit deal on Monday - The Times

Rishi Sunak will meet the president of the European Commission on Monday to sign off on their Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.

After months of negotiation and a week of delays Ursula von der Leyen will head to Britain to formally announce their agreement on a three-part solution to the contentious Northern Irish protocol.

Downing Street said the two leaders had “agreed to continue their work in person towards shared, practical solutions for the range of complex challenges around the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland”.

No 10 sources said they did not expect the Democratic Unionist Party to back the agreement but hoped that they and other unionists in Northern Ireland would not reject it outright.

Behind the scenes Sunak and senior government figures

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2023-02-26 17:20:00Z
1805842290

Police confirm body of missing hillwalker and his dog found in Glencoe - The Scotsman

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1. Police confirm body of missing hillwalker and his dog found in Glencoe  The Scotsman
2. Body of missing hillwalker Kyle Sambrook found in Glencoe gorge  BBC
3. Kyle Sambrook: Bodies found of missing hillwalker and his dog in Glencoe  Sky News
4. Tragic reason hillwalker fell more than 100ft to his death on Scots mountain ‘revealed’...  The Scottish Sun
5. Body found in search for Yorkshire hillwalker missing in Glencoe area  The Guardian
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2023-02-26 15:02:27Z
1799746551

Northern Ireland Protocol: Announcement about Brexit deal imminent - BBC

Getty Images

By Ione Wells, Chris Mason & Jessica Parker

BBC Politics

An announcement about a new deal between the EU and UK on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland is expected imminently, multiple sources have told the BBC.

The UK wants to change the Northern Ireland Protocol, an agreement with the EU which sees certain goods checked when entering from the rest of the UK.

It is thought full details of a deal could be announced on Monday.

Tory and Labour MPs have been told to come into parliament that day.

The government has not confirmed if MPs would get a vote on any deal, but said they would be able to "express" their view.

A deal has been expected for days, with recent talks focusing on its presentation and delivery.

• Live: NI Protocol announcement due
• What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab earlier told the BBC the UK was close to securing a deal with the European Union.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Raab said: "We're on the cusp, we've made great progress, we're not there yet, but it would be a really important deal...

"I think it would mark a paradigm shift first and foremost for the communities in Northern Ireland, but I think it would be a significant achievement."

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier said he was giving the negotiations "everything" in an attempt to clinch a deal.

The protocol, signed by Boris Johnson in 2020, meant Northern Ireland continued to follow some EU laws so that goods can flow freely over the border to the Irish Republic without checks.

Under the terms of the protocol, Northern Ireland continued to follow some EU laws to get around the need for checks at the UK's border with the Republic of Ireland.

Currently, goods are checked at ports in Northern Ireland on arrival from England, Scotland or Wales. They can then be moved to the Republic of Ireland once those checks are complete.

The new plan would see the goods split into two different lanes. Those destined for Northern Ireland only would go into the green lane and would not be checked while those destined for the Irish Republic and the EU would go into the red lane and checks would be carried out.

Mr Raab said the UK wants to see a move away from checks on every consignment of goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. The EU is worried about goods posing a threat to the single market by moving between Northern Ireland and the EU.

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The Northern Ireland Protocol is a trading arrangement, negotiated during Brexit talks. It allows goods to be transported across the Irish land border without the need for checks.

Before Brexit, it was easy to transport goods across this border because both sides followed the same EU rules. After the UK left, special trading arrangements were needed because Northern Ireland has a land border with the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the EU.

The EU has strict food rules and requires border checks when certain goods - such as milk and eggs - arrive from non-EU countries.

The land border is a sensitive issue because of Northern Ireland's troubled political history. It was feared that cameras or border posts - as part of these checks - could lead to instability.

The UK and the EU agreed that protecting the Northern Ireland peace deal - the Good Friday agreement - was an absolute priority.

So, both sides signed the Northern Ireland Protocol as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

It is now part of international law.

Learn more about it here.

Disagreements over the protocol have stopped the Northern Ireland Assembly functioning.

Mr Sunak has been trying to get the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to agree to a deal, with the party currently blocking the formation of devolved government in Northern Ireland. They have set out seven tests which need to be passed if they are to support any deal - including no new checks on goods traded between GB and Northern Ireland, but also crucially no border in the Irish Sea.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC: "The objective in London and Brussels should be to get this right rather than rushed. The wrong deal will not restore power sharing but will deepen division for future generations."

• Analysis: DUP's moment of truth
• What's going on with a new deal for Northern Ireland?

Mr Sunak has also been under pressure from some Conservative MPs over the current obligation for Northern Ireland to follow some EU laws and be accountable to the European Court of Justice.

Mark Francois, who heads the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs said EU law needed to be "expunged" from Northern Ireland, bringing it in line with England, Scotland and Wales.

He told Sky News on Sunday that he had yet to see the detail of the deal and it would be "incredibly unwise" to bring in any new deal without giving MPs a vote.

"If they've got a deal they're proud of, show us the text. Let us run it by our lawyers. Let us fully understand what it means. Then, at that point, we might be ready to vote on it."

He added that EU law needed to be "expunged" from Northern Ireland, bringing it in line with England, Scotland and Wales.

But former Prime Minister John Major urged Conservative and DUP MPs to not let concerns over the European Court of Justice get in the way of easing trade and restoring the devolved government in Northern Ireland.

He told BBC Radio 4 Westminster Hour: "Their involvement would be tiny... occasional involvement of the ECJ really ought not to stop an agreement being made.

"They talk of democracy. Democracy is thrown away when that [Northern Ireland] Assembly is not sitting. We need them back."

Related Topics

• NI Brexit
• Brexit

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2023-02-26 15:30:45Z
1805842290

Rishi Sunak snubs Boris Johnson over new Brexit deal - The Telegraph

Rishi Sunak is set to scrap Boris Johnson’s Northern Ireland Protocol Bill as part of his new deal with Brussels.

The Prime Minister believes he has secured fundamental legal changes that render the Bill – designed to give the Government power to rip up parts of the protocol – no longer necessary as a bargaining chip.

But in a sign of the growing rebellion against his deal, Steve Baker, the Northern Ireland minister and a leading Brexiteer, was understood on Saturday night to be on resignation watch after being frozen out of negotiations.

Allies said he has been unhappy for some time and was prepared to walk if he is not convinced by the deal, expected to be announced as soon as Monday.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) warned that Mr Sunak’s deal risked leaving Stormont in a permanent state of collapse if they refuse to re-enter power-sharing.

Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Sunak said that when the EU had previously refused to negotiate on the protocol, the Bill was “the only way forwards”.

But he added that the Bill, brought in while Mr Johnson was in office, was always a “last resort”. Mr Johnson has warned that ditching the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill in favour of a new Brexit deal would be a “great mistake”.

Mr Sunak wrote: “No British Prime Minister could ever sit back and just allow these problems to continue. That’s why my predecessors were right to create the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill – and why I supported them in doing so.

“For as long as the European Union refused to reopen negotiations on the protocol itself, this Bill was the only way forwards. I have no doubt it helped to create the conditions where the EU have been prepared to engage constructively.

“But my predecessors were also right to say this Bill was a last resort. Like them, I have always said a negotiated solution would be a better outcome.”

Chopper's Politics podcast - Wilson, Campbell Bannerman, Ellwood

The Telegraph understands that Mr Baker has not been involved in – or briefed on – discussions, despite being appointed a minister of state at the Northern Ireland Office.

“Steve is the ultimate man of principle,” said one friend. “If it’s not good enough, I would be surprised if he just accepted it.” Another said: “I don’t see why he would stay in a Government that doesn’t deliver on Brexit – that’s the same as anyone in Government.” Mr Baker declined to comment.

Sources close to Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, and Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary, the other leading Brexiteers in the Cabinet, strongly denied that they would resign over the deal.

The European Research Group of Tory MPs said it too had been locked out of discussions. “All this cloak and dagger stuff surrounding the ‘deal’ suggests the Government are not very confident about the actual contents,” said a senior Brexiteer.

“Either way, they would be well advised to allow Parliament good time to study the detailed, legal text that underpins it, as any attempt to bounce the Commons is only likely to backfire – perhaps very seriously.”

A senior DUP source also complained that the party had also been largely shut out of the talks. “It’s a strange way of approaching a political problem – only involve the people that you want to persuade at the very last minute, and then don’t let them see the details so they can decide for themselves their own tests?” the source told The Telegraph.

“No doubt we’ll hear people say: ‘Well, the DUP need to accept this – after all, it meets their tests.’ Well, we’ll judge our tests, not anybody else.”

The party’s seven tests for returning to Stormont include removing all checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and ending the obligation to accept EU rules without having a say in how they are made or enforced.

The source added: “We’ve made it clear that not enough progress has been made on some fundamental issues. That’s the message that has gone back. He runs the risk of sealing a deal that doesn’t actually deliver the objective of getting Stormont back.”

DUP seven red lines Brexit

On Saturday night, sources close to Liz Truss warned any deal that does not solve problems around customs, regulation, tax and spend and governance “is going to be problematic and would not have her support”.

The deal is likely to retain the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as the ultimate arbiter of disputes about EU law that emerge from Northern Ireland.

It is also expected to involve the creation of red and green lanes for imports, with British goods destined purely for Northern Ireland avoiding customs checks via the green lane, while those destined for the Republic of Ireland will undergo checks in the red lane.

Under the current protocol, Northern Ireland remains subject to some EU subsidy and taxation laws, including on VAT, but these powers are expected to be repatriated to Westminster. However, EU sources have said this will come with “strings attached” to ensure the integrity of the EU single market.

It is expected that the Northern Ireland Assembly will be given a right of consultation on new EU laws affecting the province, but it is not yet clear whether it will have concrete powers to disapply them.

Leaked government legal advice, seen by The Sunday Times, revealed that the Bill would still leave the UK with “an international law obligation ... to comply with any ruling” of the ECJ on Northern Ireland.

EU officials and diplomats claimed nothing had been altered in the protocol, which Brussels had always said it would not renegotiate. Instead, the new Brexit deal will be a series of agreements that will sit separately to the unchanged protocol, they suggested.

“The chances of a reopening or superseding of the protocol are zero,” an EU official told The Telegraph. “If there are legal changes to the treaty, the European Commission hasn’t told us yet. It would seem like something [EU negotiator Maros] Sefcovic would need some buy-in for from member states before he could agree to it.”

On Saturday, Mr Sunak was accused of a “cynical” plan to “abuse” the position of the King by using him to promote the Government’s Brexit deal. The DUP said an aborted plan to get King Charles to meet Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, reflected either “naivety or desperation”.

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2023-02-25 21:30:00Z
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NI Protocol: UK and EU appear to be on brink of new Brexit deal - BBC

EPA

By Chris Mason & Andre Rhoden-Paul

Political editor, BBC News

The UK and the European Union appear to be on the brink of completing a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.

A No 10 source describes the negotiations as "positive".

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told reporters on Saturday that a deal was not yet done on the protocol but was "inching towards a conclusion".

There had been plans for King Charles to meet the president of the European Commission in the UK on Saturday, the BBC understands.

Multiple sources saidthe visit by Ursula von der Leyen was cancelled due to operational reasons unconnected to the political talks.

The planned meeting between the King and European Commission president, originally reported by Sky News, was not part of the negotiations between the UK and the EU.

But the fact a meeting was planned is significant as it appears to indicate a Brexit deal was about to be done - and publicly presented - while Ms von der Leyen was in the UK.

It is not known when she will now come to the UK.

Some had suggested a new deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol - thought to be all but complete - could be called the Windsor Agreement and include a moment in front of the cameras involving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ms von der Leyen.

The protocol, which was agreed under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and came into force in 2021, saw Northern Ireland continue to follow some EU laws to get round the need for checks at the UK's border with the Republic of Ireland.

• Analysis: DUP's moment of truth fast approaching
• Brexit: What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?
• Negotiators clear diaries as Brexit deal in sight

Mr Sunak and Ms von der Leyen spoke by telephone on Friday and Downing Street said the prime minister had made "good progress".

A source said afterwards that it had been "positive" and negotiations would continue, with the leaders agreeing "to discuss this further in coming days."

Both the UK and the EU have to co-ordinate diaries to make the choreography of an announcement work at a mutually convenient time and place.

"There is the possibility of agreement in the next few days but by no means guaranteed... there's still a gap to be closed," Mr Varadkar said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has pulled out of a long-planned trip to the Middle East at the beginning of next week - raising expectations that a formal announcement from the UK and Brussels could be days away.

But there have been repeated delays over the past week or so, as wrangling went on between No 10, the Democratic Unionist Party and Conservative backbenchers.

The prime minister has been trying to win support for changes to the controversial protocol.

Earlier, a source from the DUP told the BBC they had not been involved in any talks with the prime minister on Friday and had no meetings scheduled over the weekend.

Mr Sunak has been trying to win over the DUP to a deal, as the party is currently blocking the formation of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Sammy Wilson MP, the DUP's shadow spokesperson for Brexit, said his party would only accept a deal if EU law "imposed" on Northern Ireland was removed.

He told Sky News: "If the prime minster succeeds in getting that we will embrace it, but if he hasn't succeeded in achieving that aim then as part of the UK we cannot accept it."

Mr Wilson said that "we expect British law should apply in Northern Ireland, not Brussels law imposed on us, with all the disastrous effects that has."

The prime minister has been facing pressure from some Conservative MPs over Northern Ireland's current obligation to follow some EU laws and be accountable to the European Court of Justice.

Eurosceptic Tory MP Sir John Redwood said: "The UK needs to hold out over the EU imposing laws on Northern Ireland. The EU needs to get the Unionists on side."

Related Topics

• NI Brexit
• Brexit

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2023-02-25 15:42:20Z
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