Boris Johnson attacks EU over Northern Ireland rules after G7 talks

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Boris Johnson today demanded the EU ‘gets it into their heads’ that Northern Ireland is part of the UK as he ramped up the ‘sausage war’ after a showdown with Emmanuel Macron. 

The PM branded the bloc’s approach to the Brexit rules ‘theological’ in a round of broadcast interviews after holding talks with Mr Macron, Angela Merkel and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at the G7 summit in Cornwall. 

And he insisted he ‘will not hesitate’ to suspend the Northern Ireland protocol unilaterally if Brussels does not compromise over trade restrictions between mainland Britain and the province. 

‘I think if the protocol continues to be applied in this way, then we will obviously not hesitate to invoke Article 16, as i have said before,’ he said. 

‘Don’t forget, the EU themselves invoked Article 16 in January, to disapply the protocol, so they can stop removal of vaccines from the EU to the UK.

‘I’ve talked to some of our friends here today, who do seem to misunderstand that the UK is a single country, a single territory. I just need to get that into their heads.’

Ministers have made clear they will not allow British traders to be hit with a complete ban on sausage exports to Northern Ireland when a ‘grace period’ on the Brexit deal expires at the end of this month. 

But French diplomats say Mr Macron used the pair’s meeting this morning to insist that relations can only improve if the premier ‘keeps his word’ on the terms he agreed. He has already vowed to veto any fundamental renegotiation of the protocol, saying the idea is ‘not serious’.  

Downing Street has stressed that the PM is ‘currently’ committed to working through the protocol, but added: ‘We keep all options on the table.’  

Mr Johnson prepared for the showdown with EU counterparts by going for a swim near the luxurious hotel where the summit is happening.  

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: ‘They can be more pragmatic about the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol in a way that is win-win or they can be bloody-minded and purist about it in which case I am afraid we will not allow the integrity of the UK to be threatened.’ 

The PM’s spokesman said he set out ‘clearly’ the UK’s position and the need for ‘urgent’ solutions.

Brexit minister Lord Frost attended all three bilaterals with the EU leaders.

No10 insisted the EU chiefs had not raised the threat of trade reprisals if the UK extends the grace period for Northern Ireland.

Mr Johnson’s hope is for ‘pragmatic compromise to be agreed at speed’.

‘They discussed the need to come up with a solution,’ the spokesman said.    

‘The PM’s desire currently is to work within the existing protocol to find radical changes and pragmatic solutions.’

But the spokesman added: ‘We keep all options on the table.’

A French source said Mr Macron told the PM the two countries had common interests, but that ties could improve only if Johnson kept his word on Brexit.

‘The president told Boris Johnson there needed to be a reset of the Franco-British relationship,’ the source said.

‘This can happen provided that he keeps his word with the Europeans.’ 

No 10 has rejected an EU ‘compromise’ proposal for Britain to accept ongoing alignment with Brussels rules on the grounds it would make it impossible to strike ambitious trade deals. 

European leaders have warned this week that unilateral action would lead to retaliatory measures, including tariffs and quotas.  

EU leaders appeared to be co-ordinating their response yesterday when they held an impromptu get-together with Italian PM Mario Draghi and European Council chief Charles Michel at the Carbis Bay resort where the summit is being held. 

Mr Macron tweeted in a pointed remark: ‘As always, the same union, the same determination to act, the same enthusiasm.’ 

He has already been accused of ‘posturing’ after warning the UK that ‘nothing is renegotiable’.

But last night there were signs the EU was backing down over its threats to escalate the crisis.

Irish broadcaster RTE quoted an EU source suggesting the bloc could now take a softly-softly approach for fear of falling into the ‘trap’ of inflaming tensions in the Province as the Unionist ‘marching season’ reaches its climax.

The source said: ‘The EU doesn’t want to get sucked into the stupid sausage war type narrative, where we would be seen to be coming on heavy because of things like chilled meat, sausages etc.’ 

EU leaders had been hoping that US President Joe Biden would pressure the PM to back down in order to avoid increasing tensions in Northern Ireland.

In an extraordinary move, it emerged before the summit that American diplomats had issued a ‘demarche’ against the UK – a rarely-used formal rebuke to an ally over policy. 

However, the White House then humiliatingly backed off a public confrontation amid anger from the government and Brexiteers.  

No 10 said the US President was in ‘complete harmony’ with the PM after talks on Thursday.

Mr Johnson yesterday revealed he had given Mr Biden details of the disproportionate checks being imposed by the EU on goods traded from Britain to Northern Ireland.

He told the BBC: ‘Twenty per cent of the checks conducted across the whole of the perimeter of the EU are now done in Northern Ireland, three times as many as happen in Rotterdam.’ 

He added: ‘There are ways of enforcing the protocol, ways of making it work that may be excessively burdensome.’ 

The PM insisted it would be possible to ‘sort out’ the issues. 

But officials are pessimistic about an immediate breakthrough.

The dispute arises out of provisions in the Brexit deal that leave Northern Ireland within the EU’s single market for goods. 

Mr Johnson accuses Brussels of taking a ‘purist’ approach to the deal and applying it to all goods crossing the Irish Sea, regardless of whether or not they are set to enter the EU.

The main summit agenda will see the leaders commit to a new plan aimed at preventing a repeat of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The leaders of the UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy will close the day with a barbecue on the beach, with entertainment provided by a Cornish sea shanty group and a Red Arrows flypast.

The main business of the summit will see the leaders discuss building resilience to future crises, consider foreign policy and then decide on their response to Covid-19.

Leaders from the G7 will commit to a new plan – the Carbis Bay Declaration – to quash future pandemics within the first 100 days.

The UK will also create a new animal vaccine centre aimed at preventing future diseases crossing from creatures to humans.

As part of Mr Johnson’s ‘Global Britain’ agenda the leaders of South Korea, India, Australia and South Africa will also take part in the summit events, expanding the G7 to take in other prominent democracies.

At the end of the day, the leaders attending the event – India’s Narendra Modi will only participate remotely because of the coronavirus crisis in his country – will relax with a barbecue on the beach cooked by Simon Stallard, chef at the Hidden Hut in Portscatho.

They will be served sirloin and lobster and can then enjoy hot buttered rum and toasted marshmallows around fire pits on the beach.

Sea shanty group Du Hag Owr will provide the musical accompaniment to the event.

Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cambridge and US first lady Jill Biden have written a joint article on the importance of early childhood, following their visit to a primary school in Cornwall, where the G7 is taking place.

The two women met for the first time on Friday at Connor Downs Academy in Hayle, where they took part in a round-table discussion with experts on the importance of the early years of childhood for future outcomes.

In the article, published by CNN, they say there must be a fundamental shift in how the UK and US approach the earliest years of life.

‘If we care about how children perform at school, how they succeed in their careers when they are older, and about their lifelong mental and physical health, then we have to care about how we are nurturing their brains, their experiences and relationships in the early years before school,’ they write.

World leaders will join forces in bid to stop any new pandemic within 100 days: G7 nations vow to slash time taken to develop and license vaccines 

World leaders will commit today to work together to crush future pandemics within 100 days.

The G7 nations will sign what will be known as the Carbis Bay Declaration, after the Cornish resort where the summit is being held.

As part of the strategy, Britain will build a £25million animal vaccine centre to halt the spread of new diseases and therefore prevent them from jumping to humans.

About three-quarters of new human diseases are thought to have started in animals. 

The Animal Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre at Pirbright in Surrey will be backed by £10million from the Government and £14.5million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The centre will draw on the existing Pirbright Institute’s world-leading expertise in preventing and controlling the spread of viruses in order to accelerate the delivery of vaccines for livestock diseases.

Melinda French Gates, as she is now known after separating from the Microsoft founder, and the UK’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance will present findings from their work on the pandemic preparedness partnership to the G7 leaders today.

The Carbis Bay Declaration will incorporate the recommendations of their findings, which highlight how the first 100 days after the identification of an epidemic threat are crucial to changing its course and preventing it from becoming a pandemic.

The G7 nations – the UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy – will commit to measures aimed at slashing the time taken to develop and license vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days.

They will also promise to reinforce global surveillance networks and support reforming and strengthening the World Health Organisation.

Boris Johnson said last night: ‘To truly defeat coronavirus and recover we need to prevent a pandemic like this from ever happening again. 

‘That means learning lessons from the last 18 months and doing it differently next time around. I am proud that for the first time today the world’s leading democracies have come together to make sure that never again will we be caught unawares.’

Covid is thought to have spread to humans from bats, although some now believe it might have escaped from a laboratory in China.