Brexit latest news LIVE – Northern Ireland anger as EU accused of ‘driving wrecking ball into economy’

BOTH SIDES NEED TO 'DIAL DOWN THE RHETORIC' SAYS IRISH PREMIER

The Taoiseach has said both sides "need to dial down the rhetoric" on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Micheal Martin said there are bound to be teething issues and there is now a need for calm.

Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, he said: "We need to dial down the rhetoric on both sides."

The Irish premier added that people need to bear in mind that it is only about six weeks since the Brexit deal was agreed.

"There are bound to be teething issues and teething problems and certain people were not as prepared as they could have been in relation to the implications of Brexit," he said.

MICHAEL GOVE AND MAROS SEFCOVIC TO MEET OVER NI PROTOCOL

The European Commission's vice president will meet with Michael Gove later over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Maros Sefcovic is travelling to London for the meeting after making it clear the bloc regards the protocol as the only way forward.

He expressed concerns over "teething problems" in the implementation of the protocol but said it was now "our mutually agreed legal obligation".

The commission's vice president made the remarks in a letter to the Cabinet Office Minister on Wednesday.

It comes amid tensions after the brief triggering by the bloc of Article 16, with particular ire among unionists in Northern Ireland who are calling for it to be ditched.

TED BAKER TAKES HIT OF UP TO £5MIL FROM BREXIT

Fashion chain Ted Baker has revealed a hit of up to £5 million from Brexit as tumbling festive sales also laid bare the toll taken by the pandemic.

The group said the Brexit bill comes as it faces extra duty and shipping costs which will only be "partially offset" by new customs warehouse capability.

Ted Baker reported retail sales nearly halving in its crucial Christmas quarter, plunging 47% in the 13 weeks to January 30.

IRISH PM SAYS SOME EU MEMBER STATES 'NEED TO COOL IT' ON BREXIT

Certain European Union states "need to cool it" and "dial down the rhetoric" on relations with Britain, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Thursday ahead of a meeting between British and EU officials on Northern Ireland trade problems.

"There is elements that the British government could sort out, but likewise on the European side, I would say some member states need to cool it as well," Martin told RTE radio.

"I think we need to dial down the rhetoric on both sides here."

British Cabinet Minister Michael Gove, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic are due to meet in London later on Thursday.

NEARLY HALF OF UK GOODS EXPORTERS SEE BREXIT TRADE TROUBLE, BCC SAYS

Just under half of British companies that export goods have run into difficulties caused by the Brexit shift in trade terms with the European Union since the start of the year, a British Chambers of Commerce survey showed on Thursday.

Some 49% of goods exporters said adapting to the changes had caused problems, while one in five services exporters reported issues, the BCC said.

The findings are in line with other surveys that show British companies struggled with supply chain issues last month, with the shift in trading arrangements exacerbating problems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Trading businesses and the UK's chances at a strong economic recovery are being hit hard by changes at the border," said BCC director-general Adam Marshall.

AMSTERDAM SURPASSES LONDON AS EUROPE'S TOP SHARE TRADING HUB SAYS FINANCIAL TIMES

Amsterdam emerged as Europe's largest share trading centre in January, dislodging London from its historic position as the Netherlands scooped up businesses lost by the UK after Brexit, the Financial Times reported yesterday.

An average of 9.2 billion euros shares were traded a day on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise in January, a more than fourfold increase from December, the report added.

CRUNCH TALKS OVER NI PROTOCOL

The European Commission's vice president will meet with Michael Gove later over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Maros Sefcovic is travelling to London for the meeting after making it clear the bloc regards the protocol as the only way forward.

He expressed concerns over "teething problems" in the implementation of the protocol but said it was now "our mutually agreed legal obligation".

The commission's vice president made the remarks in a letter to the Cabinet Office Minister on Wednesday - we blogged about that below.

It comes amid tensions after the brief triggering by the bloc of Article 16, with particular ire among unionists in Northern Ireland who are calling for it to be ditched.

SUPPORT FOR BATTLING COMPANIES MUST 'SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE'

More on that last post.

British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall said: "Trading businesses and the UK's chances at a strong economic recovery are being hit hard by changes at the border.

"For some firms these concerns are existential, and go well beyond mere 'teething problems'."

Boris Johnson recently used the phase to describe the issues.

Mr Marshall warned that the situation could worsen if the UK sticks to its plan to introduce checks on live animals and animal products from the EU in April, and for full customs checks from July.

"These timescales need to change and the support available for businesses who are battling to adapt to new trading conditions significantly increased," he said.

BRIT EXPORTERS STRUGGLING WITH BREXIT ISSUES

Just under half of British companies that export goods have run into difficulties caused by Brexit, a British Chambers of Commerce survey claimed on Thursday.

Some 49 per cent of goods exporters said adapting to the changes had caused problems, while one in five services exporters reported issues, the BCC said.

The findings are in line with other surveys that show British companies struggled with supply chain issues last month.

UK NOT ENFORCING NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL SAYS EU

More details are from Maros Sefcovic’s letter to the UK are emerging, this time about enforcement of the Northern Ireland protocol.

He has written that Border Control Posts are not yet fully operational and official controls not performed in compliance with the Withdrawal Agreement protocol and European Union rules.

Sefcovic also said the UK has "not yet fulfilled its obligation" to provide real-time access to all its IT systems, in particular access to key customs IT systems.

UNIONIST ANGER AT EU OVER CHECKS

Unionists have reacted angrily to the letter from Maros Sefcovic  to the UK government on Northern Ireland checks.

He said that changes to checks required at ports and airports in Northern Ireland on goods arriving from Britain are not possible unless the UK aligns regulations with the EU.

DUP MLA Edwin Poots responded to the letter on Twitter commenting that the EU "seem determined to continue to drive a wrecking ball into the NI economy".

"It is particularly hard on small business and consumers many with low disposable income," he tweeted.

EU NOT BUDGING ON NORTHERN IRELAND CHECKS

Changes to the checks required at ports and airports in Northern Ireland on goods arriving from Britain are not possible, the European Commission has said.

Alterations ease the movement of seed potatoes and pets would only be possible if the United Kingdom aligned its regulations in these areas with the EU, the bloc has said, the

Brussels’ position was set out by European Commission’s Maros Sefcovic in a letter on the eve of a meeting in London.

The letter was a response to a list of demands to lessen checks on goods arriving in the North sent last week by Michael Gove.

COMMISSION ‘HEAD IN SAND’ OVER NOTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL

Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster has accused European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic of "putting his head in the sand" at a meeting over the protocol last week.

Mrs Foster told ITV's Peston: "I wasn't surprised because I sat in on the meeting between Michael Gove and Maros Sefcovic last week and it really was an occasion of putting his head in the sand and his fingers in his ears.

"There was complete as if nothing had happened the Friday before in terms of the Article 16 triggering by the European Commission and that we should just all move along and pretend that it hadn't happened.”

PROTOCOL 'ONLY WAY TO PROTECT THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT'

The Northern Ireland Protocol is the only way to protect the Good Friday Agreement, a senior European Commission official has said.

It comes amid tensions after the brief triggering by the bloc of Article 16, with particular ire among Unionists who are calling for it to be ditched.

Article 16 overrides part of the protocol and was intended as an emergency measure only but the EU tried to use to prevent vaccines reaching the UK by the backdoor.

Maros Sefcovic expressed concerns over "teething problems" over the implementation of the key part of the Brexit settlement but said it was now "our mutually agreed legal obligation".

VON DER LEYEN SORRY FOR BREXIT PROTOCOL FIASCO

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has apologised for "mistakes" that led to Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol on Brexit being triggered.

The article overrides part of the Protocol which prevents a hard border on the island of Ireland, and was intended as an emergency measure only but the EU tried to use it to stop vaccines entering the UK by the backdoor.

The move led to fury in Northern Ireland and has led to calls for the Protocol to be torn up.

Speaking in the European Parliament, the EU chief said: "The bottom line is that mistakes were made and the process leading up to the decision, and I deeply regret that.”

UK MUST SET OWN BANKING RULES

Thw UK should not be forced to follow EU banking regulations and must be allowed to set its own independent rules, the Governor of the Bank of England has said.

Andrew Bailey, delivering his annual Mansion House speech to the City of London, said it would be "unrealistic, dangerous and inconsistent with practice" warning the UK is unlikely to agree to EU demands that rules are followed for several years.

The UK and EU regulators are planning to sign an agreement by the end of March laying out the City's future relationship with Europe following Brexit.

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He added: "We've got a lot more tools in our armoury now. We'll have a series of dates during which we'll be able to gradually unlock things if we see cases continue to reduce and deaths as well."

But the Cabinet minister warned people it was still too early to say whether they'll be able to take holidays at home or abroad this summer.

The UK has administered 13,162,878 doses of vaccines to 19.71% of the population.

In contrast the EU has handed out 17,777,204 jabs to just 4% of its people.

Because Britain has prioritised as many first doses in arms as possible, it has protected a larger total amount.

JAB BOOST 

Britain has surged past the EU and has now vaccinated more people against Covid than the whole of the continent put together, it emerged today.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps revealed the major milestone as Brussels chiefs were forced to admit Europe has been far to slow rolling out jabs.

But he still warned there's a long way to go before lockdown restrictions, including draconian curbs on travel, can be lifted.

He said: "The total number of vaccinations injected now is 13.1 million overall in this country, which is more than all of the EU put together in terms of the number of people being vaccinated so far.

"So we're going great guns on that and moving very fast, that's a very, very important part of how we get to unlock the situation."

DUP MEMBERS CRITICISED FOR SNUBBING STORMONT COMMITTEE ON BREXIT PROTOCOL

The head of a Stormont committee has criticised DUP representatives who declined to take part in a meeting on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The snub came as the Executive Committee heard from Northern Ireland MPs as well as TDs and senators from the Republic of Ireland's Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

There has been opposition to additional checks at the region's ports under the terms of the protocol, with unionists condemning an "Irish Sea border".

SINN FEIN MP CALLS UNDERREPRESENTATION 'UNFORTUNATE'

Sinn Fein Fermanagh MP Michelle Gildernew said she felt it was "unfortunate" that not all parties were represented.

"We have unprecedented challenges on the island of Ireland as a result of Brexit," she said.

SDLP South Belfast MP Claire Hanna added: "I regret that there are those in the DUP who are not (here), it's 2021, if people can't participate in a video conference about the pressing political, practical and economic issues of our time."

Senator Niall Blaney said: "Like others, I am disappointed that the DUP have decided not to partake."

ROAD FREIGHT PRICES FROM FRANCE TO BRITAIN JUMP 50% IN JANUARY SAYS DATA

Freight prices for moving goods by road from France to Britain rose by 50% in January compared with the same month a year ago after lorry drivers demanded higher payments to operate in the UK after Brexit, Transporeon data shows.

Freight groups have told Reuters that European drivers are setting higher prices to bring goods into Britain in case they have to return with an empty truck because of problems with customs paperwork introduced on January 1.

Transporeon, Europe's largest supply chain and logistics technology platform, said compared with December 2020, the price had edged down by 1.7% after companies stocked up on goods before Brexit, making it hard to secure a driver. 

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As a result some 40,000 alerts on dangerous criminals and wanted suspects had to be deleted at the end of December when the UK left the EU.

British negotiators had sought to maintain access to the system as part of a deal, following concerns raised by police chiefs, but the EU said it was legally impossible to offer access to any country not in the Schengen area, including the UK.

Speaking to the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Sir Julian, who was in post between 2016 and 2019, said: "The biggest operational challenge is to plug the gap which has been left by the absence of access to the Schengen Information System.

"The most significant, outstanding, unresolved issue is the question of data adequacy and whether that decision is going to be positive."

LOSING ACCESS TO EU CRIME DATABASE IS BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING POLICE, MPS TOLD

The biggest challenge facing law enforcement after Brexit is having to "plug the gap" left by losing access to a European criminal database, according to a former British diplomat.

Sir Julian King, ex-European commissioner for the security union, told MPs that "data adequacy" for police was the "most significant, outstanding, unresolved issue" which had come out of the UK's security agreement with the EU.

Government officials have insisted the UK is not missing out on intelligence about wanted criminals after losing access to the European Union's Schengen Information System II (SIS II) database of alerts about people and stolen items such as guns and cars, which it has been using since 2015.

UK PIG EXPORTS TO EU 'AT CRISIS POINT' AS ANIMALS 'TOO FAT'

The National Pig Association (NPA) has warned that British pig farmers are in a crisis because of the Covid pandemic and Brexit bureaucracy.

There are 100,000 animals in the UK unable to enter the food chain, reports .

Farmers working in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire said prices have dropped as pigs have become too fat to meet industry standards.

"Absenteeism in the processing units and the export problems have really exacerbated what was already a tough time for the industry," said NPA policy adviser Charlie Dewhurst.

JOHN LEWIS NOT DELIVERING TO EU

John Lewis and other UK firms have announced they will no longer deliver to the EU, says Which!

The consumer champions explain in their February mag that the post-Brexit deal is creating 'headaches for online shoppers'.

"There are now concerns shoppers buying in the UK may after all face price hikes on food and other goods.

"Ocado chairman Lord Rose said delays and difficulties in international shipping meant the cost will be passed on to the consumer.

"But Tesco chairman John Allan told the BBC he thought any price rises would be 'very modest'," the magazine adds.