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       Boris Johnson admits he signed Northern Ireland Protocol hoping EU would not 'apply it'

       The EU says it will restart legal action against the UK over Boris Johnson’s “damaging” move to rewrite post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland.

       Maro？ ？ef？ovi？, the EU’s Brexit commissioner, said renegotiating the protocol is “unrealistic”.

       “As the first step, the commission will consider continuing the infringement procedure launched against the UK government in March 2021,” he said. “We had put this legal action on hold in September 2021 in the spirit of constructive cooperation to create the space to look for joint solutions. The UK’s unilateral action goes directly against the spirit.”

       He told colleagues that EU officials are working on devising a number of retaliatory measures against the move, including drawing up a list of British goods that Brussels could hit with trade tariffs.

       The EU is expected to launch three separate lawsuits against Britain, including for failure to conduct checks on agrifoods, and two new “infringement proceedings” for not sharing data or not establishing order posts with the European Commission.

       Recommended What is the Northern Ireland protocol? What is the government’s food strategy and why is it under fire? Boris Johnson suggests no tax cuts until ‘spiralling’ inflation under control

       Key points PM ‘in clear breach’ of international law, says Sinn Fein NI Protocol amendments ‘not a big deal’, says PM Keir Starmer investigated over potential Commons earnings and gift rule breaches Boris Johnson could face new EU legal action this week over threat to tear up Brexit deal

       Show latest update 1655188064 Foreign secretary refuses to say exact numbers expected on Rwanda flight

       The foreign secretary has just been on Sky News speaking about the first flight sending asylum seekers to Rwanda.

       “We are expecting to send the flight later today,” Liz Truss said.

       She refused to say exactly how many people were expected to be onboard, after lawyers had been whittling the number down.

       “The really important thing is we establish the model,” she said.

       Follow The Independent’s live blog for more:

       Deportation flight set to go ahead after court rejects legal challenge - live Seven people are currently scheduled to be on tonight’s flight to Rwanda

       Zoe Tidman 14 June 2022 07:27

       1655187336 Boris Johnson pushes back against pressure to cut taxes

       Resisting pressure to cut taxes as the UK economy shrunk by 0.3 per cent, Boris Johnson indicated there will be no tax cuts until inflation is under control.

       The prime minister insisted he was cutting taxes “as fast as we can” after Gerard Lyons, who advised him when he was mayor of London, called for reductions in income and corporation tax.

       Mr Lyons suggested the latest figures showing a decline in the UK economy highlight the need for a tax-cutting stimulus.

       The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy, fell by 0.3 per cent in April, following on from a 0.1 per cent fall in March.

       David Hughes and Chris Baynes bring you more details.

       Boris Johnson suggests no tax cuts until ‘spiralling’ inflation under control ‘We can’t do anything that inflames that further,’ No 10 source says

       Shweta Sharma 14 June 2022 07:15

       1655186040 Johnson to hold cabinet meeting at No 10

       Prime minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to hold a meeting of the Cabinet in Downing Street at 9.30am on Tuesday.

       His meeting comes as tensions are soaring over a potential trade war with the EU, after the government introduced new legislation that would allow exports from Britain to North Ireland without blanket checks on the movement of goods.

       Shweta Sharma 14 June 2022 06:54

       1655185356 Antony Blinken says need to find solutions with EU after call with Liz Truss

       US secretary of state Antony Blinken has stressed the need for the UK to continue negotiations with the EU to find a solution to the Northern Ireland protocol row, speaking with British foreign secretary Liz Truss over the phone.

       He said in a tweet that he had a “good call” with the British minister as they discussed the Johnson government’s proposed Northern Ireland protocol bill, as well as the situation in Ukraine.

       Shweta Sharma 14 June 2022 06:42

       1655184017 Nicola Sturgeon to launch new Scottish independence campaign

       First minister Nicola Sturgeon will launch a fresh campaign for Scottish independence, unveiling the first details later today.

       She will release the first documents relating to the Scottish government’s “Building a New Scotland” plan at Bute House in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

       She said that the papers would “set out openly the challenges a newly independent Scotland would face”.

       “Had we known in 2014 everything we know now about the path the UK would have taken, I’ve got no doubt Scotland would have voted yes back then,” she added.

       It comes after Ms Sturgeon’s SNP won the 2021 Holyrood election on a manifesto which included a commitment to hold another referendum on Scotland’s place in the UK.

       The first referendum took place in 2014 when 55 per cent people said “No” to independence, and 45 per cent said “Yes”

       Read the full report.

       Nicola Sturgeon to launch new Scottish independence campaign First minister to unveil documents aiming to ‘point the way to a new Scotland’

       Shweta Sharma 14 June 2022 06:20

       1655180962 EU to take legal action over ‘damaging’ Northern Ireland protocol bill

       The EU will restart legal action against the UK, launching three separate lawsuits over Boris Johnson’s “damaging” move to scrap post-Brexit checks and standards in Northern Ireland.

       Maro？ ？ef？ovi？, the EU’s Brexit commissioner, said the UK’s unilateral action goes directly against the spirit of the Brexit deal, describing it as “damaging to mutual trust”.

       “As the first step, the commission will consider continuing the infringement procedure launched against the UK government in March 2021. We had put this legal action on hold in September 2021 in the spirit of constructive cooperation to create the space to look for joint solutions.”

       He told colleagues that his officials are pursuing a number of potential retaliatory measures, including drawing up a list of British goods that Brussels could hit with trade tariffs.

       The EU could also consider ending financial equivalence for the City of London to European markers, sources told the Telegraph.

       The Johnson government has said that it is relying on a “doctrine of necessity” that provides a “clear basis in international law to justify the non-performance of international obligations under certain exceptional and limited conditions”.

       Shweta Sharma 14 June 2022 05:29

       1655178113 Rwanda deportations ‘shame Britain’, church leaders say hours before first flight to leave

       Church of England leaders joined opposition parties to condemn the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, describing it as an“immoral” policy that “shames Britain”.

       In a letter to The Times, the Archbishops of Canterbury, York and 23 other bishops wrote that no attempts were made by the government to “understand the predicament” of the affected.

       “The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries,” it said.

       “This immoral policy shames Britain.”

       The first flight to take asylum seekers to Rwanda is set to leave the UK after two legal challenges failed in their last-ditch attempt to halt the controversial deportation policy.

       The government has justified the deportations by saying that it was compliant with Britain’s national and international obligations and was necessary to combat the activities of the human trafficking gangs.

       Shweta Sharma 14 June 2022 04:41

       1655172000 Hundreds protest outside Home Office against Rwanda deportation plan

       A lawyer who attended a protest outside the Home Office has said there is “righteous anger” at the Government plan to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

       Hundreds of protesters took part in a demonstration outside the Home Office in Westminster on Monday.

       Lauren Chaplin, 28, who works as a lawyer in London, attended the protest and called the controversial Government policy “violent and repressive”.

       Lottie Kilraine reports:

       Hundreds protest outside Home Office against Rwanda deportation plan Protester Lauren Chaplin called the controversial Government policy ‘violent and repressive’.

       Emily Atkinson 14 June 2022 03:00

       1655168400 Watch: George Eustice warns NI protocol is 'serious threat' to Good Friday Agreement

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       George Eustice warns NI protocol is 'serious threat' to Good Friday Agreement

       Emily Atkinson 14 June 2022 02:00

       1655164800 Only seven asylum seekers set to be on Rwanda deportation flight after dozens of successful appeals

       The first Rwanda deportation flight appears to be in doubt after a series of legal challenges have pushed the number of asylum seekers booked onboard into single figures.

       The Care4Calais group said only seven people were approved for removal on Tuesday’s flight after sucessful individual challenges in recent days.

       Up to 130 people were told they could be sent to Rwanda under home secretary Priti Patel’s highly controversial scheme. But the Home Office said last week that 31 people were due to leave on the first flight.

       Adam Forrest has more:

       Only seven asylum seekers set to be on Rwanda deportation flight Home Office fears ‘real prospect’ of number of passengers falling to zero

       Emily Atkinson 14 June 2022 01:00

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