Starmer says Northern Ireland border tensions must de-escalate – follow live

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the chancellor Rishi Sunak must do more to protect the City following Brexit.

“Our financial markets are hugely important. I was very worried when I saw the Brexit deal that there was almost no provision for financial services,” Sir Keir told reporters at Heathrow.

“So what I want is to see progress here. The chancellor said that he would look after the City of London on financial services, he needs to make good on that promise because we absolutely need to protect our financial services.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for the UK and EU to ease tensions over Northern Ireland ahead of Michael Gove’s meeting with the European Commission’s Maros Sefcovic.

Sir Keir told reporters: “There is increasing tension that needs to be de-escalated.

“The EU made a mistake, threatening to trigger Article 16, that wasn’t the right thing to do.”

He added that things needed to improve but said: “A lot of the problems we’re seeing with the protocol are problems through a lack of planning on the government’s side.

“We need that meeting to work because families and businesses in Northern Ireland are suffering under the current arrangements.”

Unionists have accused the EU of not listening to those flagging up concerns about post-Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s Westminster leader, criticised the European Commission after it called on the UK government to take urgent action to fully and faithfully implement the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Northern Irish MP said Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic’s call for fuller implementation of the protocol indicated that the EU wanted to increase problems rather than find solutions.

The protocol has caused some disruption to trade since it came into force, with various grace periods in operation, on 1 January.

“It is evident that the EU simply isn’t listening, that they don’t recognise the difficulties that the Northern Ireland Protocol is causing for our economy, for consumers and businesses in Northern Ireland who are unable to acquire the goods and products that they need from suppliers in Great Britain,” Sir Jeffrey told BBC Radio Ulster.

“I’ve had businesses in my constituency who can’t get component parts for their manufacturing process. I have farmers and others who can’t get spare parts for tractors and for vehicles.

“I’ve got ordinary constituents who are unable to order goods online that were freely available to them before 1 January, and this is causing significant difficulty for both businesses and consumers and the EU simply doesn’t get it.”

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has said that the UK’s exit from the bloc is the reason for tension between London and Brussels over Northern Ireland, not the protocol agreed between the two sides.

“The difficulties on the island of Ireland are caused by Brexit, not by the protocol,” Michel Barnier told a European Business Summit event.

“The protocol is the solution. I am sure if it is correctly implemented it will be progress for Northern Ireland. It protects the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions, it avoids a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and it protects the single market.”

Mr Barnier added that he believed the negotiations on Brexit were now finished and could not be reopened.

A former Conservative cabinet minister has called for a replacement to the Northern Ireland Protocol due to what she called the “arrogance and intransigence” shown by the European Commission’s vice president.

During Cabinet Office questions, Theresa Villiers told the Commons: “The arrogance and intransigence expressed in Commissioner Sefcovic’s recent letter to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster [Michael Gove] has caused many of us to conclude that the EU’s professed concern for Northern Ireland was only ever a disguise for their own cynical negotiating objectives.

“So will he take a tough approach with the EU on fixing the immediate problems to the protocol but also developing a replacement so that we can remove it altogether in the future?”

In response, Mr Gove said: “My right honourable friend accurately reflects the sentiments and feelings of many in this House and beyond.

“And it is vitally important that we do work constructively in order to ensure the people of Northern Ireland recognise that the United Kingdom government will be standing up in every forum and in every way for their rights as integral members of this great nation.”

Many firms may not survive the current Brexit disruption following the end of the transition period unless “solutions are found” to improve trading with the EU, the director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce has said.

“Those who dismiss these as ‘teething troubles’ miss the point,” Adam Marshall told Sky News.

“Quite a lot of firms are facing existential issues because they simply can’t move their goods across borders at this point in time and many, including some in the shellfish industry which you referenced earlier, may not survive unless solutions are found.”

You can find his comments in full below:

Michael Gove has announced a new £20m Brexit support fund for small and medium-sized businesses to help with adjusting to new custom rules with the EU.

The Cabinet Office minister told the Commons: “The nature of our new relationship with the EU outside the single market means that are practical and procedural changes to which businesses and citizens must adjust.

“So I can announce today the government is launching a £20m SME Brexit support fund to help small businesses adjust to new customs rules of origin and VAT rules when trading with the EU.”

Mr Gove also told MPs on Thursday morning that there were still some “bureaucratic obstacles” to be negotiated over exports of fish.

“We have set up a specific seafood exports working group which meets twice weekly and we’re also engaging with our friends in France in order to make sure they can continue to enjoy Great Grimsby fish,” he said.

Health secretary Matt Hancock has denied claims that the government is sowing confusion over whether people will be able to travel for a summer holiday in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Hancock said on Thursday that it was too early to say if people could get away, despite the minister already booking his own break to Cornwall earlier this year.

Our reporter, Adam Forrest, has the full story below: