No 10 says ‘no deal has been done as yet’ on Northern Ireland protocol – UK politics live

Key events

At the weekend Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said Washington believed China was considering supplying arms to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson said this would be deplorable. Asked about the US assessment, the spokesperson said:

I obviously can’t get into intelligence. But certainly the UK and US share assessments regularly, as you would expect.

On this specific issue, any support for Putin’s brutal and illegal war against Ukraine is deplorable.

We expect China to stand up for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Braverman says police being told to treat violence against women and girls as 'national threat'

Suella Braverman, the home secretary, has also been on a visit this morning to promote a policy initiative on crime. She was publicising eight initiatives that she described collectively as one “one of the toughest suites of measures” that the government has taken to deal with domestic abuse. Speaking in Warrington, she said:

Domestic abuse is horrendous crime, and enough is enough, and today I’m announcing one of the toughest suites of measures that the government has put forward to better protect victims of domestic abuse.

I’m changing the law to ensure that there’s more robust monitoring of perpetrators of domestic abuse.

We’re introducing measures to ensure that we will be able to tag offenders of domestic abuse, and we will also be adding offenders of domestic abuse onto the violence and sex offenders register.

Also, all police chiefs and forces around the country will now be put on a footing to deal with violence against women and girls as a national threat.

Suella Braverman during a visit to Warrington police station, Cheshire, this morning. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, visited Thurrock in Essex this morning to promote Labour’s plans to use “hotspot policing” to tackle drug dealing. Explaining the concept, Labour said:

As part of the previously pledged 13,000 neighbourhood police and PCSOs and alongside new town centre patrols, Labour will introduce data-driven hotspot policing targeted at common drug dealing sites to tackle the local gang networks and dealers who are blighting communities.

Hotspot policing would mean that, where there are surges in reporting of local drug dealing in particular areas or at particular times, neighbourhood police would be deployed to flood the area to arrest and deter dealers.

Using new technology, neighbourhood police will target areas including outside schools and town centres which are often vulnerable to drug dealing. Hotspot policing is acknowledged by experts to be one of the most effective ways of preventing local crime.

Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper during a visit to Thurrock, Essex, to meet police and community support officers. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

'We shouldn’t gobblefunk around with words' - No 10 criticises decision to rewrite Roald Dahl's books

Rishi Sunak has criticised the decision to rewrite some of Roald Dahl’s books that are now deemed offensive.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked if Sunak was in favour of the move, the PM’s spokesperson said:

When it comes to our rich and varied literary heritage, the prime minister agrees with the BFG that we shouldn’t gobblefunk around with words.

I think it’s important that works of literature and works of fiction are preserved and not airbrushed.

We have always defended the right to free speech and expression.

No 10 delivers snub to Boris Johnson by refusing to commit to passing Northern Ireland protocol bill

Even though No 10 said there is no deal yet on the Northern Ireland protocol (see 12.13pm), much of the lobby briefing this morning was taken up with questions about what the deal is expected to involve. Here are some of the other points that came up.

• No 10 refused to commit to passing the Northern Ireland protocol bill. The bill, which would allow the UK government to ignore parts of the protocol (even though this would break international law, lawyers argue), has been on hold in the House of Lords since October. Boris Johnson has said, through a spokesperson, that it should not be abandoned, because passing it allow the UK to retain leverage over the EU. The Observer and the Sunday Telegraph both splashed on this at the weekend.

This morning Johnson’s fellow Brexiter Simon Clarke made a similar argument. (See 9.33am.) But at the lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson refused to say what would happen to the bill (which Sunak is expected to abandon as part of a deal with the EU), and he would not commit to it finishing its passage through parliament. The spokesperson said the bill would be “an important piece of legislation” in the absence of a deal with the EU, but he also stressed that the government would “prefer to achieve a negotiated solution”.

• The spokesperson declined to describe Boris Johnson’s intervention as “helpful”. Yesterday Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, made this argument, saying Johnson was reminding the EU what might happen in the event of no deal being agreed. Asked if Sunak agreed, the spokesperson did not endorse what Mordaunt said, explaining that he had not asked Sunak about this.

• The spokesperson refused to commit to MPs getting a vote on the deal. Technically it seems the government would not have to hold a vote (assuming the deal does not involve treaty change, which the EU opposes). Asked if Sunak would hold a vote anyway, the spokesperson did not commit to one, but did not rule one out either. “You will hear more from us should an agreement be reached with the EU that meets the challenges [set out],” the spokesperson said.

• The spokesperson declined to say the protocol deal would have to meet the seven tests set out by the DUP. Yesterday Mordaunt told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that a deal would have to meet those tests. Referring to the DUP tests, Mordaunt said:

Those are the tests this has to pass. If this deal does not pass those tests it won’t work, it’s as simple as that.

Asked if Sunak agreed with the seven tests, the spokesperson said the government had set out its own aims for the protocol renegotiation, and that the tests were a matter for the DUP.

• The spokesperson refused to say whether the government would insist on the treaty enacting the protocol being rewritten. The EU is opposed to this, but the DUP would like the treaty to be abandoned or rewritten. Asked what the government’s view was, the spokesperson said he would not get into that. But he added:

Certainly the protocol as enacted is not working and that is what needs to be resolved.

No 10 says 'no deal has been done as yet' on Northern Ireland protocol

The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished, and the PM’s spokesperson told journalists that “no deal has been done as yet” on the Northern Ireland protocol.

Some reports have claimed that a technical deal has been agreed, and that it has been sitting on Rishi Sunak’s desk for some days, and that all that needs to be resolved are the political optics around it. But, when asked if there was a deal, the PM’s spokesperson told journalists that Rishi Sunak had held “positive conversations” with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and the Northern Ireland parties in recent days. He went on:

It’s clear we need to find solutions that protect Northern Ireland’s place in our internal market, safeguard the Good Friday agreement and resolve the practical issues the protocol is causing for families and businesses.

The prime minister has been clear we have not resolved all of those issues, and no deal has been done as yet.

The prime minister and Von der Leyen agreed there had been good progress and that intensive work in the coming days is still needed at official and ministerial levels. That is our focus for the coming days.

I will post more from the briefing shortly.

James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, will discuss the Northern Ireland protocol in a call with the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič this afternoon, PA Media reports. They will be joined by the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, amid expectations both sides are inching closer to a deal.

Irish foreign minister says UK politicians should not be 'playing politics' with NI protocol talks

Micheál Martin, the Irish foreign minister and tánaiste (deputy PM), has urged UK politicians not to play politics with the Northern Ireland protocol negotiations. Speaking in Brussels, where he has been attending the EU foreign affairs council, he said:

I think what’s very important is that everybody now from here on think about the people of Northern Ireland.

Not power play, not politics elsewhere, I think the people of Northern Ireland have had enough of that, of people playing politics with their future. And, in my view, my only concern is that the people of Northern Ireland voted [in last May’s assembly election], they want their institutions [at Stormont] restored.

People had legitimate concerns around the operation of the protocol.

There’s been a very sincere and substantial attempt to resolve those concerns by the UK negotiating team with the EU negotiating team.

I think we should allow that to come to realisation and fruition in the coming while and we should then focus on the needs of the people.

Martin’s comment seemed an implicit criticism of the Tory Brexiters and DUP figures who have been raising objections in recent days to what the protocol deal may say.

Micheál Martin at the EU foreign affairs council this morning, with Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs (left). Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

At 32, Kate Forbes is the youngest candidate to declare in the contest to be the next SNP leader. In her statement (see 11.29am), she describes herself as “a unifier”, emphasising her experience as finance secretary and promising to “unleash the full talent of the SNP”.

The initial news release and film is light on detail on key questions facing all leadership candidates: how to handle the ongoing row over Holyrood’s gender recognition bill, whether to challenge the UK government’s blocking on the bill through the courts and what to do with Nicola Sturgeon’s plans to run the next election as a ‘de facto referendum’.

Expect Forbes to be pressed on these in the coming days. She is known to have concerns about the bill, having previously asked ministers to pause its progress for further consideration.

Earlier today fellow contender Ash Regan, who resigned as a minister over the bill, tweeted that she was “utterly appalled by the misogynistic attacks on Kate Forbes because of her faith”.

Here is a profile of Forbes written by our colleague Aubrey Allegretti last week.

Forbes says she is 'unifier' and 'bold, brave and energised' as she launches campaign for SNP leadership

In her statement (see 11.06am) announcing her campaign for the SNP leadership, Kate Forbes stressed her credentials as a “unifier”. With Angus Robertson out of the race (see 10.06am), it is now being seen primarily as a contest between Humza Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary, and Forbes, the finance secretary, and Forbes implied that she was better placed to widen support for the SNP than Yousaf. She also implied her financial experience was a key advantage.

This is what she said:

Friends in the SNP, our nation and our movement are at a major crossroads. The choices that we make in the next few weeks will have a profound impact on our future and on our children’s future.

I can’t sit back and watch our nation thwarted on the road to self determination.

Our small independent neighbours enjoy wealthier, fairer and greener societies and so should we.

We urgently need to unleash the full talent of the SNP, the wider yes movement and the country at large.

We need to choose strong, competent leadership to deliver independence, – the leadership that I can offer.

I believe we need someone who can unite our party and movement. I’m a unifier. I’ll reach out and listen so that every member feels valued and able to contribute.

That’s also important if we’re to persuade others of the merits of independence.

Right now, we also need somebody with a grip on our economy and our finances.

In the throes of a cost of living crisis and the need to plan for independence, my years managing Scotland’s budget and economy have given me the experience that we need to do just that.

More than anything, we need a leader who’s bold, brave and energised, fresh faced and ready for new challenges. Somebody who inspires your confidence as an SNP member and who inspires the confidence of the people of Scotland to vote for a better future.

I am that leader. And I want to lead our party into better days with integrity and commitment for the sake of your children and my children.

Kate Forbes enters races to be next SNP leader and Scottish first minister

Kate Forbes, Scotland’s finance secretary, has confirmed that she is standing to be SNP leader and the next first minister.

As my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has announced that free school meals will be offered to all primary school pupils across London for a year.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, welcomed the news this morning, saying:

This is really fantastic news. It will help stop hunger and stigma in London classrooms and take pressure off the many London families who just can’t manage as prices soar. The mayor’s laudable intervention highlights the government’s failure to act for children.

Starmer restates offer to help Sunak push through NI protocol deal against wishes of Tory Brexiters

Keir Starmer has restated his offer to help the government push through a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol against the opposition of Tory Brexiters. On a visit to Thurrock in Essex, he told reporters:

There is a window of opportunity to move forward. The UK and the EU have obviously edged closer together. The question now is whether the prime minister is strong enough to get it through his own backbenches.

What I have said on Northern Ireland, the national interest comes first. So we will put party politics to one side. We will vote with the government and so the prime minister doesn’t have to rely on his backbenches.

We in the Labour party believe country first and party second. I am inviting the prime minister to do the same thing.

Starmer’s offer is a lot more self-serving than it sounds. For a start, Sunak won’t necessarily need to put the Northern Ireland protocol deal to a vote (although some MPs may find a way of engineering a Commons division on the proposals). By offering to back the government in a vote, Starmer is trying to drive a wedge between Sunak and Tory Brexiters in the European Research Group, whom he described in a speech last month (when he first made this offer) as a “Brexit purity cult”.

In the binary world of Brexit politics, any deal endorsed by Starmer must be immediately suspect to the ERG.

Any deal with EU on NI protocol that did not have DUP support would be 'disastrous', says senior Tory MP

In a report for the Times today, Henry Zeffman, Patrick Maguire and Bruno Waterfield say that Rishi Sunak would be willing to conclude a deal with the EU on the Northern Ireland protocol that did not have DUP support. They report:

The government is increasingly positive about keeping the DUP on board — but would not necessarily see its objections as a fatal blow to the negotiations. A Whitehall source said that it would be “unhelpful” to “set a bar that is not necessarily in the interests of those we are trying to negotiate for” …

A government source said: “The prime minister’s focus throughout this whole process has been to ensure we address and find solutions to the practical problems faced by the people of Northern Ireland, we protect the Belfast agreement in all its dimensions and we safeguard Northern Ireland’s status in our union.”

But this morning Sir Bernard Jenkin, a leading Tory Brexiter, said that any agreement that did not have the support of the DUP would be “disastrous”. He told Times Radio:

If it doesn’t get the support of both communities in Northern Ireland it is just going to make things worse because it will cement in place an agreement that has destroyed power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

I recognise that there is progress in the negotiations and so does the DUP, but unless we can get some fundamental principles sorted out then there won’t be power-sharing and we can’t have an agreement with the EU.

I don’t think he [Sunak] has any intention of making an agreement with the EU that reinforces the collapse of power-sharing in Northern Ireland. It would be completely disastrous.

Angus Robertson, one-time favourite, rules out standing to be next SNP leader

Angus Robertson, cabinet secretary for the constitution, external affairs and culture in the Scottish government, and for 10 years leader of the SNP group at Westminster, has ruled out standing to replace Nicola Sturgeon as party leader and first minister.

In a message posted on Twitter, he says that as the father of two very young children “the time is not right for me and my family to take on such a huge commitment”.

When Sturgeon announced her resignation last week, bookmakers initially made Robertson favourite to replace her. But Robertson was first elected as an SNP MP in 2001 and he has served as the party’s deputy leader. Sturgeon has not backed anyone to succeed her, but in her resignation speech she said the party needed someone able to “reach across the divide in Scottish politics” and “someone about whom the mind of almost everyone in the country is not already made up”. That implied a preference for someone less seasoned and more fresh-faced than Robertson.

Humza Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary, and Ash Regan, the former Scottish community safety minister, have already announced they are standing, and Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, is expected to reveal today whether or not she will be joining the race too.

Sunak holds back Northern Ireland protocol deal amid concerns from DUP and Tory Brexiters

Good morning. Rishi Sunak never had much involvement with Northern Ireland before he became prime minister, but this week he is learning one of the golden rules of Stormont politics; nothing ever, ever gets agreed on time.

Over the weekend it was widely reported that Sunak hoped to announce a deal with the EU on the Northern Ireland protocol this week, perhaps today, with a statement in the Commons on Tuesday. But this morning the government is briefing that it is not coming today, tomorrow is looking unlikely, and the DUP is saying it does not even expect a deal this week. Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s chief whip, was on Sky News this morning and, asked if he expected a deal this week, he replied:

No I don’t. He [Rishi Sunak] realises that there are barriers and hills to climb. He knows the kind of issues that have to be dealt with. I hope he does go into negotiations with a full understanding of what is required.

There are reasons why political negotiations involving Northern Ireland never wrap up on time. Partly it is because divisions are more entrenched than they are in the rest of the UK. But it is also because, in unionism at least, intransigence tends to get rewarded. Before Brexit, the last big constitutional change in Northern Ireland was the Good Friday agreement. The Ulster Unionist was the leading unionist party at the time, and it was in favour. But it subsequently got hammered in elections, and was overtaken by the DUP (Democratic Unionist party), which was against the GFA. The DUP is worried that, if it backs a deal on the protocol that turns out to be unacceptable to hardline unionism, it will suffer the same fate as the UUP.

And on the subject of “what is required” from the new protocol deal, Wilson told Sky News:

If a deal is agreed which still keeps us in the EU single market, as ministers in the Northern Ireland assembly we would be required by law to implement that deal and we are not going to do that because we believe such an arrangement is designed to take us out of the United Kingdom and indeed would take us out of the United Kingdom.

Increasingly we would have to agree EU laws which diverge from UK laws and in doing so would separate our own country from the United Kingdom.

We are British and we expect to be governed by British law, not Brussels law. We would certainly not collaborate in administering Brussels law in our part of the United Kingdom.

Wilson also complained that the government gone into the negotiations with the EU with “an attitude of defeat”, conceding too much ground.

Sunak could, of course, agree a deal with the EU without DUP approval. But if that were to happen, there would be no chance of restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland (one of Sunak’s aims).

And Sunak does not just have to worry about the eight DUP MPs in the Commons; hardline Brexiters in the Conservative party pose a much greater threat. Some of them are from the European Research Group, but Boris Johnson and his supporters are also raising concerns about the deal Sunak seems to have agreed with the EU, and this morning Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary and a key Liz Truss supporter, also criticised Sunak’s strategy. He told the Today programme that Sunak should not be shelving the Northern Ireland protocol bill, the legislation stuck in the House of Lords that, if it ever became law, would allow the UK government to ignore parts of the protocol.

Clarke told Today:

It is absolutely imperative tactically to give our negotiators the strongest possible hand to play with Brussels. Also the protocol legislation may well be the cleanest way to fix this problem.

If the perception is there that the bill is moribund then that will, I am afraid, weaken our hand very considerably. We need to make sure that if a deal is struck here it is genuinely a better one than that we can achieve through our own legislation to fix the protocol.

I think that is quite a high bar because it is going to involve the EU accepting that Northern Ireland cannot be subject to either EU law or in the single market. That would be a big move on their part.

I will post more from his interview shortly.

Here is the agenda for the day.

11am: Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, holds an event in West Dunbartonshire to promote his campaign for the SNP leadership.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Morning: Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, are on a visit in Essex to promote Labour’s plans for a clampdown on neighbourhood drug dealing.

Morning: Suella Braverman, the home secretary, is on a visit in the north-west of England to promote new measures from the Home Office to tackle domestic abuse.

2.30pm: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

After 3.30pm: MPs hold a general debate on Ukraine. Liz Truss, the former PM, is expected to contribute, in what will be her first Commons speech since she left No 10.

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