Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal needs “re-working and change” before the DUP can support it, the party’s leader Jeffrey Donaldson has declared.
In a major blow for the prime minister, Donaldson said the Windsor Framework did not go far enough to address unionists’ concerns.
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The agreement, which Sunak struck with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen earlier this month, aims to solve the problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol signed by Boris Johnson three years ago.
He said it would remove the current customs border in Irish Sea while also giving the UK government an effective veto on new EU laws being imposed on Northern Ireland.
MPs are to be given a Commons vote on the deal, with the DUP’s support being seen as crucial to prevent a major rebellion by Brexiteer Tories.
The DUP’s support for the Framework is also seen as essential for the party to agree to enter a power-sharing government at Stormont with Sinn Fein.
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But speaking during a visit to Washington, Donaldson said as it currently stands, his party cannot back it.
In a statement, he said: “It is my current assessment that there remains key areas of concern which require further clarification, reworking and change, as well as seeing further legal text.”
He added: “What is in this Windsor Framework is insufficient. It does not meet all of our requirements, it does not go as far as we need, in terms of our tests and in terms of restoring fully Northern Ireland’s place within the internal market of the United Kingdom.
“So, we need to see the legislative safeguards, we need to see the legislation that is going to ensure the Government honours the commitments it has made.”
Rishi Sunak is facing a growing Tory revolt over his plans to crack down on asylum seekers arriving in small boats after another senior MP announced that they will not vote for it.
Chris Skidmore – who also currently serves as the PM’s net zero tsar – said he was “not prepared to break international law or the human rights conventions” by backing the Illegal Migration Bill, which MPs will vote on tonight.
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He follows former immigration minister Caroline Nokes, the Tory chair of the equalities committee, who yesterday branded the Bill an “absolute horror”.
“I can’t vote for this,” she told Times Radio on Sunday. “I think we have an absolute duty to treat people humanely to keep people safe.”
Nokes warned the bill was “removing protections for pregnant women, removing protections for families”.
Skidmore, who is standing down at the next election, announced his position in a tweet.
I am not prepared to break international law or the human rights conventions that the UK has had a proud history of playing a leading role in establishing.
The Match of the Day presenter accused home secretary Suella Braverman of using language used was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s”.
The government’s plans would see migrants who arrive through unauthorised means deported and given a lifetime ban from returning.
Anyone who crosses the Channel in a small boat would only be eligible for asylum in a “safe” third country, such as Rwanda.
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Braverman has admitted her legislation might not even be legal as it could breach existing human rights laws.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’ shadow home secretary, has said the Bill is a “con which will make our broken asylum system worse”.
“Not only will it fail to tackle dangerous boat crossings, but it shows the repeated false claims and promises that both the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have made,” she said.
Junior doctors took to picket lines across the UK today as they began a three-day strike in their long-running pay dispute with the government.
The British Medical Association rejected a last-ditch appeal by health secretary Steve Barclay for them to enter into fresh negotiations in an attempt to avert the walkout.
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The unions says junior doctors’ pay has fallen in real terms by 26% since 2008/09 and are demanding “full pay restoration”.
Professor Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said it would be “the most disruptive set of industrial action days that we’ve seen all winter”.
But the striking medics say their action is necessary to force the government’s hand.
Here is what some of those striking have been saying from the picket line.
Speaking outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, junior doctor Shivam Sharma told the Press Association: “Junior doctors have faced a massive 26% real-terms pay cut over the last 15 years.
“We are not worth 26% less, we don’t do 26% less work, we don’t see 26% less patients. In fact, the work has only gotten harder.
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“Currently, 50% of junior doctors are struggling to pay rent, mortgage and bills, and 50% are having to borrow money from friends and family just to make ends meet.
“If you or I were going into hospital critically unwell, we couldn’t want our junior doctor to be worrying about how they’re going to pay their bills.
“So something has to be done – we have to value doctors here if we are going to keep them.”
Paul Smith, a first-year surgical trainee at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I started in my training post in August last year and I’ve spent £3,000 on course fees, professional fees and exams. We can claim some tax back but I’ve still got to pay that upfront.
“Me and my partner managed to save up enough money to buy a house locally and we found a hole in the roof last week.
“We’re genuinely struggling to find the money to fix that at the moment.”
Speaking from the picket line at University College Hospital in London, Rebecca Lissman, 29, a trainee in obstetrics and gynaecology, said: “I still want to work for a service that’s free at the point of use when I’m a fully qualified consultant. We want a health service that works for everyone and that’s why I’m here today.
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“We can’t give people the service they deserve and see them as quickly as they need because we are so stretched.
“I want to be in work, looking after people, getting trained. I don’t want to be out here striking but I feel that I have to.”
“Junior doctors have faced a massive 26% real-terms pay cut over the last 15 years. We are not worth 26% less, we don’t do 26% less work, we don’t see 26% less patients.”
Edward Finn, an anaesthetist registrar at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “If you look at the overall cost of living, wages that haven’t kept up with that, and we don’t go out for meals, we don’t do anything.
“My wife and I are both part-time – we couldn’t afford to be full-time with the cost of childcare – but we still have to do the occasional extra shift on top of our contracted hours to keep up with things like the electricity bill.
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“When you’re talking about somebody who’s been a doctor for 12 years, it’s quite sad really, isn’t it?”
Striking junior doctor Martin Whyte, on the picket line in Newcastle, said the public understood the need for the industrial action.
“We used to say anything above four hours was a breach but we have missed that target so overwhelmingly now, it’s almost not worth counting.
“These systems are failing chronically and I think the public understand that.
“They know steps have to be taken to address that, and that starts with better retention of staff and for that you need better pay. We are seeing a lot of attrition from the workforce.”
The 36-year-old said newly qualified doctors used to talk about the specialism they hoped to work in, adding: “Now when I talk to them they say ‘I’m going to go to Australia’, ‘I’m going to go to Canada’, or ‘I’m going to quit medicine all together’, because the pay relative to the work and the intensity and the hours just doesn’t add up.”
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Striking NHS junior doctors on the picket line outside Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital in Norwich, as the British Medical Association is holding a 72-hour walkout in a dispute over pay. Picture date: Monday March 13, 2023.
Joe Giddens via PA Wire/PA Images
Speaking on a picket line at Leeds General Infirmary, Dr Chris Morris, doctor and British Medical Association rep, said: “It’s really reassuring when members of the public do go past honking their horns, giving us messages of support. It reemphasises why we’re doing this.”
“I don’t think anyone has taken this decision lightly. It’s the last thing we want to do as doctors but we feel that we’ve pushed into this decision by the government.”
Steve Barclay said he wanted to “engage” with the junior doctors to reach an agreement to end the strikes.
He said other health unions had agreed to hold pay talks with him and he called on the BMA to do so “as a matter of urgency”.
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It marks a change of tone from December, when Barclay said he could not offer NHS staff more money.
The world’s biggest seller of electric and hybrid cars has ruled out building its first European factory in the UK because of the uncertainty caused by Brexit.
Michael Shu, the European president of Chinese firm BYD, said Britain hadn’t even made it onto the long list of potential sites.
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He told the Financial Times: “As an investor we want a country to be stable. To open a factory . . . is a decision for decades.
“Without Brexit, maybe. But after Brexit, we don’t understand what happened.
“The UK doesn’t have a very good solution. Even on the long list we didn’t have the UK.”
Instead, BYD are looking to build a factory in Germany, France, Spain, Poland or Hungary.
Ministers to plug huge gaps in the job market by starting with looser rules for the building industry, according to the Financial Times.
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A number of occupations will be added to the “shortage occupation list” which eases recruitment from abroad.
The list allows companies to obtain visas for staff paid on a lower threshold of £20,480 a year because the salary currently needed to obtain a “skilled worker” visa is £25,600.
Labour MP Stella Creasy told HuffPost UK: “British workers are losing jobs and opportunities hand over fist not being able to work in the EU or for companies that want to work with the EU because of the post Brexit visa situation, whilst the UK’s inability to build a functioning immigration and asylum system is holding back our economy at a time when vacancies are at over a million.
“We need urgent reform of the whole visa system to ensure we tackle not just shortages in the UK labour market but also opportunities for all as part of kickstarting growth in our economy.”
The BBC “bowed to pressure” from the Tories by axing Gary Lineker from Match of the Day, Rachel Reeves has said.
The shadow chancellor said the corporation should reverse its decision, which triggered a mass revolt which threw its sports coverage into chaos.
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Reeves also pointed out that BBC chairman Richard Sharp, who has donated huge sums to the Conservatives, has kept his job despite his role in Boris Johnson securing a loan of up to £800,000.
The BBC announced on Friday that Lineker was “stepping back” from presenting Match of the Day this weekend over a tweet criticising the government’s migrant crackdown.
He said some of the language being used by ministers was like “Germany in the 1930s”.
On Sky News this morning, Reeves said: “Whether you agree with Gary Lineker’s tweets or not, and I wouldn’t have used that language, I think that it is perfectly reasonable that you can present the football commentary on the BBC at a weekend.”
Referring to Richard Sharp, she added: “He is still in his job. Gary Lineker isn’t able to present the football commentary? I think there is a sense of proportionality here.
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“The Tories obviously put a huge amount of pressure on the government to get rid of Gary Lineker, I don’t remember those same Tory MPs crying about impartiality when those revelations about Richard Sharp came out.”
Appearing on Sunday with Laura Kuennsberg on BBC One, Reeves said: “The BBC have clearly come under immense pressure from the Conservative Party to take Gary Lineker off air.
“I think it is a shame that the BBC has bowed to that pressure. I would urge the BBC to reconsider this decision, because I think it has now gone totally out of proportion.”
He told the Sunday Mirror: “Dad is a good man, a good human, and I’m proud of him for standing by his word. That’s why he was pulled off the show – because he wouldn’t apologise. But he will always speak up for people who don’t have a voice.
“He is passionate about helping refugee charities – he took in two refugees who he is still in touch with and trying to help.
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“It means a lot to him to stand up for people whose only hope is to escape a country with only the clothes on their back. That’s why he’s been so firm.
“Will he go back to Match of the Day? I think so – he loves Match of the Day. But he won’t ever back down on his word.”
BBC director general Tim Davie, who took the decision to suspend Lineker, said he was seeking a resolution to the dispute, but insisted he will not resign over his handling of the affair.
He said: “I think my job is to serve licence fee payers and deliver a BBC that is really focused on world-class, impartial landmark output – and I look forward to resolving this situation and looking forward to delivering that.”
A cabinet minister tried to use the Gary Lineker row to attack Labour – but only ended up scoring a massive own goal.
Penny Mordaunt delivered a bizarre monologue in the House of Commons this morning in which she attempted to compare the Match of the Day host to Keir Starmer’s party.
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Lineker is at the centre of controversy after he said some of the language used by the government to promote its latest immigration crackdown was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.
The former England striker has been criticised by ministers, among others, and has faced calls for the BBC to sack him as a presenter.
In her cringey speech, Mordaunt said: “Labour are borrowing from the Gary Lineker playbook.
“They are a party of goal-hangers and the occasional left-wing striker. Hanging around the goalmouth, poised to seize any opportunities and take an easy shot.
″But that only works if the ball is in the right half. This country doesn’t need goal-hangers, it needs centre forwards.
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“It needs people who put in the hard work, take tough decisions, grip a problem and work out how to solve it and create those opportunities – and that is what we are doing.”
They’ve borrowed from Lineker’s playbook. Labour are a party of goalhangers and left-wing strikers. That doesn’t work in politics. The country needs centre forwards, people who are prepared to put the hard work in and create opportunities. And it needs a team captain with a plan. pic.twitter.com/hDNSLvNl4t
Twitter users were quick to point out that comparing Labour to a record-breaking England goalscorer who also starred for Leicester, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona in a glittering career may not be a wise move for the Tories.
Twitter users were baffled
One pointed out the obvious flaw for the Tories in comparing Labour to someone who was very good at their job.
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Twitter users were baffled
Another recalled that it is not the first time the Conservatives have gone to war with a popular England striker.
The Tories do have form for criticising footballers
Meanwwhile, another Twitter user chose the perfect football video to capture Mordaunt’s embarrassment.
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A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “The Tories are more like Sven Goran Eriksson: a long, grim period in charge that leaves everyone worse off and takes years to fix.”
Keir Starmer has defended Gary Lineker amid the ongoing row over his comments about the government’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration.
The Match of the Day presenter has been criticised after he compared the language used by home secretary Suella Braverman to Nazi Germany.
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Lineker, who has 8.6 million Twitter followers, commented on a video on the social media site put out by Braverman, in which she unveiled government plans to stop migrant boats crossing the Channel.
He tweeted : “Good heavens, this is beyond awful.”
The former England striker then replied to a user who challenged him because it was “easy to pontificate when it doesn’t affect you”.
Lineker wrote: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
“This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”
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He has been criticised by the home secretary, while a spokesperson for Rishi Sunak said: “It’s obviously disappointing to see someone whose salary is funded by hard-working British (licence-fee) payers using that kind of rhetoric and seemingly dismissing their legitimate concerns that they have about small boats crossings and illegal migration.”
It is understood that Lineker will be spoken to about his comments by BBC bosses.
A spokesman for Starmer said: “I think there is a general observation that I’d make, which is I think comparisons with Germany in the 1930s aren’t always the best way to make one’s argument.
“On the specifics of Gary Lineker speaking out, everybody will know that he has been a passionate advocate on behalf of refugees and refugee rights, including taking refugees into his own home.
“So, I don’t think it will come as a surprise that he has strong views on this subject.”
In a tweet, he said: “I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly),” he said. “I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot.
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“I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice. Cheers all.”
I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly). I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot. I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice. Cheers all. 👊🏻
The Match Of The Day host criticised the proposed crackdown, appearing to compare it to Nazi Germany in a series of posts on Twitter on Tuesday.
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Shortly afterwards, the Telegraph quoted a “BBC source” who said that Gary would be “reminded of his responsibilities on social media” by the corporation, which has strict impartiality rules.
However, Gary remained defiant in his criticism of the government’s plans, and in a tweet on Wednesday, thanked followers for supporting him in doing so.
“I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly),” he said. “I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot.
“I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice. Cheers all.”
I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly). I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot. I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice. Cheers all. 👊🏻
Gary had originally branded the government’s plans “beyond awful” and “immeasurably cruel”, writing: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
“This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”
His comments were condemned by a number of Tory politicians, who urged the BBC to take action.
During Wednesday’s edition of Radio Four’s Today programme, Suella Braverman said of Gary’s remarks: “I’m obviously disappointed that he should attempt to equate our measures with 1930s Germany. I don’t think that’s an appropriate way of framing the debate.”
Meanwhile, a BBC source has told the PA news agency that the corporation is taking the matter “seriously” and expects to have a “frank conversation” with Gary about his tweets.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “The BBC has social media guidance, which is published. Individuals who work for us are aware of their responsibilities relating to social media.
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“We have appropriate internal processes in place if required.”
Suella Braverman has been accused of using “dog whistle language” after she claimed that 100 million refugees are coming to the UK.
The home secretary made her remarks as she unveiled the government’s plans to stop asylum seekers crossing the English Channel from France in small boats.
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Under the Illegal Migrants Bill, anyone coming to the UK that way will be deported and banned from ever returning.
Unveiling the legislation in the House of Commons yesterday, Braverman said that under the present system, the 100 million people estimated to be displaced around the world would have the right to seek asylum in Britain.
“Let’s be clear – they are coming here,” she said.
She went even further in an article for the Daily Mail in which she said “billions” of refugees could attempt to come to the UK.
On Good Morning Britain today, she was taken to task over her comments by presenter Susanna Reid.
″You say there are 100 million people displaced around the world and likely billions more eager to come here in possible,” Reid said. “On what planet is that likely and how is that not inflammatory language.”
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Doubling down, Braverman said the 100 million figure was a United Nations estimate of people fleeing conflict, persecution and climate change.
She said: “Many of them are heading to the United Kingdom. We saw over 45,000 people come here on small boats alone last year. This is an unsustainable problem that we’ve got and it’s now necessary for us to take steps to stop it.”
But Reid pointed out that only a quarter of the 100 million have even left their own country.
She said: “So even the 100 million figure doesn’t hold up, let alone the billions you have flagged in the Daily Mail this morning.”
Watch Susanna Reid tear Suella Braverman’s 100 million people coming to the UK argument apart.
On LBC last night, Iain Dale launched a furious attack on the home secretary.
Interviewing Tory MP Danny Kruger, he said: “Suella Braverman, in her statement earlier, said there are 100 million people that could qualify to come here. She said ‘let’s be clear – they are coming here’.
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“You know as well as I do that 100 million people are not coming here. This is dog whistle language from an extremist home secretary, isn’t it?”
‘This is dogwhistle language used by an extremist Home Secretary.’ @IainDale accuses Suella Braverman of using sensationalist language after she claimed that 100 million asylum seekers could come to the UK without her proposed bill. pic.twitter.com/F3mAau4on2
Gavin Barwell, a Tory peer who was Theresa May’s chief of staff when she was prime minister, said Braverman should be “utterly ashamed of herself for resorting to the language of extremists”.
Is there a problem with people illegally crossing the Channel? Yes Are 100 million people trying to come here? Of course not. The Home Secretary should be utterly ashamed of herself for resorting to the language of extremists https://t.co/32VSvflUzb
Meanwhile, Braverman also insisted this morning that her migrant crackdown would not break international law, despite telling MPs and peers that it could.
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In a letter seen by HuffPost UK, Braverman, who is a lawyer, admitted there was more than a 50 per cent chance that the Illegal Migrants Bill could breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
Suella Braverman has admitted her immigration crackdown may break international law.
In a letter to MPs, seen by HuffPost UK, the home secretary admitted parts of her plan to stop small boats might be “incompatible” with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Braverman said there is a more than 50% chance her new plan to stop small boats will be compatible with the Human Rights Act.
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She formally unveiled her plan in the Commons on Tuesday, saying new legislation will remove asylum seekers and ban them from re-entry if they arrive through unauthorised means.
However, she suggested the plans were still being drawn up as she refused to address the bill’s “full legal complexities”. Braverman went on to say the nation’s “finest legal minds” continue to be involved in its “development”.
In her letter to MPs, Braverman said: “Our approach is robust and novel, which is why I’ve made a statement under Section 19(1)(b) of the Human Rights Act 1998.
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“This does not mean that the provisions in the bill are incompatible with the Convention rights, only that there is a more [than] 50% chance that they may not be.
“We are testing the limits but remain confident that this bill is compatible with international law.”
In the Commons, Braverman also refused to make a “definitive statement of compatibility” of her legislation under the Human Rights Act.
“Of course the UK will always seek to uphold international law and I am confident that this bill is compatible with international obligations,” she told the Commons.
Ministers are under pressure from some Tory hardliners to leave the ECHR.
Former levelling up secretary Simon Clarke asked if Braverman’s legislation is frustrated by the ECHR if she would commit to leave it: “Because leave it we must, if in the end this legislation is forestalled.”
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Despite Tory MPs welcoming the plan in the Commons, HuffPost UK understands a number of them privately believe it is unworkable.
Earlier this morning former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland said he had received assurances that the “government isn’t seeking to break international law” but he agreed the proposals will almost certainly become tied up in the courts.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper branded the bill a “con” and described the plans as “Groundhog Day”.
The bill allows the detention of illegal arrivals without bail or judicial review within the first 28 days of detention, until they can be removed.
It also places a duty on the home secretary to remove illegal entrants and it will “radically narrow the number of challenges and appeals that can suspend removal”.
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The bill will also introduce an annual cap, to be decided by Parliament, on the number of refugees the UK will offer sanctuary to through safe and legal routes.
