Threats to annul the NI Protocol ‘have fallen ill’ with the EU: follow Brexit live

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said that the UK government’s threats to annul elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol “have had a very negative impact” on the EU.

Speaking during a visit to Belfast, where he is to meet political leaders, Mr Coveney said: “We do not believe that the way forward in terms of resolving outstanding issues can be done unilaterally by any party.

“The way to resolve the outstanding issues in relation to Brexit and the protocol and Northern Ireland is through partnership, compromise and joint resolution of these issues in a way that both parties can move forward.”

He said: “The report that we have seen from the British media coming from Foreign Secretary (Liz) Truss and others has gone down very badly across the European Union who believe that the Commission has been showing a willingness to compromise, wants a continuous technical discussion to find solutions and common points.

“What you are hearing and seeing from London is a rejection of that approach, towards a breach of international law and leaving out elements of a treaty that the British government was instrumental in establishing with the EU.

“That has not gone down well and I hope that the decision-makers in Westminster will reflect on that.”

The leveling minister’s television interview was not his first unusual moment as Sean O’Grady Explain:

Alliance Party Deputy Leader Stephen Farry has urged against unilateral UK action on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“We hear the briefings that are gathering momentum in terms of London and we feel that any move to unilaterally remove parts of the protocol would be grossly irresponsible on the part of the UK government,” he said.

“They would add to the instability in Northern Ireland, they wouldn’t solve things. They would leave the UK government in breach of its international obligations and send a terrible message to the international community.”

Labor Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper accused Priti Patel of being “afraid” to answer questions during her speech.

She said there was a “staggering refusal on the part of the Home Secretary to accept interventions and questions from the shadow Home Secretary”.

He added: “I have been taking part in the Queen’s Speech debates for 25 years and I have never seen a Government minister at the dispatch box afraid to answer questions from his counterpart.”

As Ms Cooper spoke, MPs from both sides of the House exchanged comments and Ms Patel accused a Labor MP of making “sexist” comments.

Ms. Patel, during her speech, described how the Homeland Security Bill would “make it a crime to be a covert spy on our soil” and introduce new crimes to address foreign interference and assist a foreign intelligence service.

Shadow Home Office Minister Holly Lynch asked if the bill would “clarify, would it have been inappropriate or illegal for a Foreign Secretary to meet with a former KGB officer, as we understand the first minister in April 2018?”

Ms Patel said she would not comment on the “specific example” given. She said the question demonstrated the “disdain” Labor shows for the “significance of the threats being raised”.

Priti Patel has claimed that immigration lawyers and Labor members have often begged her not to deport “dangerous criminal aliens”.

Detailing the expected revision to the Human Rights Act, the Home Secretary said: “Our Bill of Rights will strengthen freedom of expression and recognize trial by jury. It will strengthen our common law traditions and reduce our reliance on Strasbourg case law.

“Crucially, the Bill of Rights will restore public trust and curb abuse of the human rights framework by criminals. This is a welcome and much-needed update 20 years after the Human Rights Act came into force and it will apply to the whole of the UK.

“Human rights are not something that should only be extended to criminals. In what has to be the most twisted logic I have seen as Home Secretary, I have lost count of the number of representations I have received from immigration lawyers and opposite Labor members begging me not to deport dangerous criminal aliens.”

A new public order bill will be used to combat “guerrilla tactics” used by protesters, the interior minister said.

Priti Patel told the House of Commons: “This Conservative law and order government is introducing a number of bills in this parliamentary session that will further help prevent crime and deliver justice.”

He described the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act as a “huge step forward” but said elements had been “thwarted by the unelected House of Lords” and opposition MPs.

Ms. Patel added: “We will not be deterred from our duty to protect the law-abiding majority of government from the mob and thugs we have seen, and the Public Order Law Project combats the guerrilla tactics that bring so much misery to the working public, disrupting business, interfering with emergency services, costing taxpayers millions, and putting lives at risk.”

It later said a new criminal offense of “blocking and being equipped to block” would be introduced to “criminalize the act of adhering to other people, objects or buildings to cause serious disruption and damage”.

Priti Patel said the UK is a “hospitable” and “caring” country, but insisted that “our ability to support the more than 18 million people around the world who are on the move is not unlimited”.

The Home Secretary told the House of Commons: “We are hospitable and charitable as a country, but our ability to support the more than 18 million people around the world who are on the move is not unlimited, and many others in the party opposite and the opposite banks don’t seem to understand that.

“Well, we do. That is why we have developed our world-leading migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda to deter illegal entry.

“We are providing solutions to global migration challenges facing countries around the world.

“But of course, as always, we hear very little from the opposing party, which seems to support the same old broken system and uncontrolled migration into our country.”

Boris Johnson has refused to be asked if he should resign following Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to resign if fined for breaking covid rules.

Asked during a visit to Sweden if he was acting “disgracefully” by staying at number 10, the prime minister said: “We have tried to go beyond all that.

“I think we’re trying to focus on the issues that really matter, including Ukraine.”

Environmental protesters should be put to work in chains as punishment for their disruptive tactics, ministers have heard.

Conservative MP Lee Anderson (Ashfield) said: “The Public Order Bill, as she (the Home Secretary) knows, will be music to the ears of many Ashfield residents.

“We’ve seen these eco-whatevers with their little hammers smashing up gas stations.

“Do you think it’s a good idea that we give them bigger hammers, some tools and put them to work seven days a week like the rest of us?”

Home Secretary Priti Patel responded: “The dangerous nature of these protests should not be lost on anyone in this House. Particularly when we saw the recent Just Stop Oil protests.

“There were, in particular, sites and oil refineries where these protesters prevailed, and it really is a miracle that no one was killed or injured because of the tactics that were being used.”

He added: “If I may give an example, in Essex County £3.5 million was spent on policing overtime alone, straining the resources of Essex Police so that they could not protect citizens across the county, to stand up to these protesters.”

Speaking to MPs on Wednesday, Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove said decisions to send asylum seekers to the East African country would be considered “on a case-by-case” basis, and he did not deny that people who fled Ukraine could be among them.

During an evidentiary hearing with the Home Affairs Select Committee, he also refused to rule out that Afghan nationals who worked alongside the British military could be deported under the policy.

Our social affairs correspondent may bulman has more: