Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland have withdrawn their support for the Good Friday Agreement in protest at post-Brexit border arrangements. In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) said they no longer backed the 1998 peace deal due to the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol. They called for the Protocol, a key part of the UK's divorce deal with the EU aimed at avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland, to be amended following weeks of issues with trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Trade tensions increasing in Northern Ireland "I have been instructed to advise you that the Loyalist Groupings are herewith withdrawing their support for the Belfast Agreement and its Institutions until our rights under the Agreement are restored and the Protocol is amended to ensure unfettered access for goods. services, and citizens … [Read more...] about Brexit: Loyalist groups withdraw support for Good Friday Agreement over Northern Ireland Protocol
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Dominic Raab: ‘Worrying’ number of children and teenagers recruited to terrorist groups during lockdown
A "worrying" number of children and teenagers are being recruited to terrorist groups during the coronavirus lockdown, the foreign secretary has told MPs. Dominic Raab was addressing the Commons about the UK's fight against Islamic State . He said the UK was tackling the terror group's propaganda "head on", but warned it was "still able to carry out lethal attacks". Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player February: Yazidi massacre survivor on his capture by IS IS remains the UK's "most significant terrorist threat" at home and abroad, the foreign secretary told MPs. "This is a critical moment," Mr Raab said. Advertisement "Yes, Daesh's [another name for IS] brand has weakened - it remains, nonetheless, globally recognised. "In December 2020, the UK Counter-Terrorism Referral Unit saw a 7% rise in the volume of terrorist content online and we can see a worrying rise in the proportion of children and … [Read more...] about Dominic Raab: ‘Worrying’ number of children and teenagers recruited to terrorist groups during lockdown
Co-op Group faces crunch board meeting over £80m state funding repayment
The Co-op Group, Britain's biggest mutual, is to hold a crunch board meeting next week amid pressure to follow rival supermarkets' example and repay £80m of state funding handed to it during the pandemic. Sky News has learnt that directors of the groceries-to-funeralcare provider - headed by chairman Allan Leighton - will meet next Tuesday to debate whether to repay the funding it received in the form of business rates relief and furlough payments. People close to the situation said the Co-op's boardroom had seen "robust dialogue" over the issue, with some directors keen to repay the funding in full. Although the board is not yet technically split on the question of handing the money back because a vote has yet to take place, sources said "deep divisions" were expected to be exposed next week. The decision is expected to be made public in the group's annual results announcement early next month. Advertisement The issue has become an acute one for the … [Read more...] about Co-op Group faces crunch board meeting over £80m state funding repayment
Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Slovenia’s Marshal Tweeto and the media
A little girl writes graffiti on a wall in English: "If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth." The word "truth" has been crossed out with red spray paint and replaced with "journalism." This picture was tweeted by Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa. His tweet was aimed at the Kleine Zeitung , a newspaper based in the Austrian city of Graz, which had annoyed the Slovenian premier with an article about his attitude toward the press in his country. It's not unusual to see Janez Jansa tweeting things like this. Quite the opposite, in fact. No other European head of state is personally waging such a bitter war of words against the media. Jansa routinely attacks Slovenian journalists, and he comments on almost every critical article that is published abroad about the political situation in Slovenia under his government. Sometimes he reacts with fury, sometimes disparagingly; he always describes it as fake news. Recently, for example, Jansa branded Lili Bayer, the … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Slovenia’s Marshal Tweeto and the media
Neglected North where ‘even McDonald’s has left’ demands PM delivers on promises
As the coronavirus vaccine rollout continues, with 16 million already jabbed, the country can finally begin to see a way out of the pandemic which put normal life on hold for a year. Rightly, the Government has focused all its efforts on tackling the crisis and saving lives. But when the country emerges from lockdown and the crisis begins to ebb, thoughts will turn to how Tory election promises made in December 2019 – just weeks before Britain's first confirmed Covid-19 case was discovered – can be delivered. Here, Deputy Political Editor Ben Glaze examines the scale of the challenge. Boris Johnson is today urged to deliver on “levelling-up” promises to Northern voters as the country begins to look beyond the coronavirus pandemic. The Prime Minister was warned he owes a debt to Red Wall voters in former Labour heartlands who were seduced by his election pledges on tackling Britain's inequality. The 64-page Conservative Party manifesto contained 11 references to … [Read more...] about Neglected North where ‘even McDonald’s has left’ demands PM delivers on promises