Sausage ban ‘nonsensical’, UK tells Brussels ahead of Northern Ireland talks
Environment secretary George Eustice has described a ban on exporting sausages and processed meats from Great Britain to Northern Ireland agreed as part of the Brexit process as “nonsensical”.
Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol a ban will come into force if the UK and EU cannot agree new regulatory standards to cover the sale of processed meats before the end of a “grace period” on 1 July.
UK and EU officials will meet on Wednesday to discuss the protocol amid heightened political rhetoric between London and Brussels and increasing community tension in Northern Ireland.
The protocol is designed to govern post-Brexit trading with Northern Ireland
A spokesman for prime minister Boris Johnson echoed Mr Eustice’s comments, saying there was “no case whatsoever” for barring the sale of chilled meets in Northern Ireland and saying its attempts to resolve the impasse had met a stony response.
European Commision lead Maros Sefcovic had warned earlier that the EU will act “swiftly, firmly and resolutely” if the UK decides unilaterally to extend the grace period.
His comments, published in the Daily Telegraph, came after Brexit Minister Lord Frost, who negotiated the EU withdrawal agreement, admitted the government had underestimated the impact of the customs checks and regulations required by the Protocol.
For months before and after the Brexit deal was signed in December 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other members of the government including Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis denied there would be any customs checks.
Mr Eustice told Sky News the EU was to blame for the impasse.
“What you have to bear in mind is that the Protocol always envisaged that both parties would show best endeavours to make the Northern Ireland Protocol work, and that included recognising that Northern Ireland was an integral part of the UK and that you should support the free flow of goods to Northern Ireland,” he said.
Northern Ireland has seen an increase in community tension
“What we really need the EU to do is to respect that part of the Protocol and put in place sensible measures to remove things like the nonsensical ban on selling sausages or chicken nuggets to Northern Ireland – not just requiring paperwork, but actually having an outright ban on some of those goods – that clearly doesn’t make sense.”
“We’re committed to making it work but we just need the European Union to engage in that process to iron out those issues.”
The protocol is intended to manage the technical, trading and political complexities of Northern Ireland’s unique position post-Brexit, and crucially to avoid a hard land border with Ireland.
While Northern Ireland has left the EU customs area along with the rest of the UK, it continues to abide by EU single market regulations covering all manner of goods, including food imports.
This effectively placed a customs border in the Irish Sea and means goods exported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have to meet EU regulations and tariffs where applicable unless the two sides can agree alternatives.
Under EU rules governing food safety, to which the UK was party until 1 January, processed meats cannot be imported from outside the union.
George Eustice said the EU was to blame for the impasse
A Downing Street spokesman said: “There’s no case whatsoever for preventing chilled meat from being sold in Northern Ireland.
“We think an urgent solution needs to be found
“We have not heard any new proposals from the EU.
“We have sent more than 10 papers to the Commission proposing potential solutions on a wide range of issues and we’re yet to receive a single written response.”
The Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland called on both sides to end the public posturing and work on practical solutions in order to protect jobs and livelihoods.
“This gets boiled down to a single issue like whether British sausages can be sold in Northern Ireland, but there are around 30 issues the negotiators need to deal with, everything from VAT on second-hand cars to pot plants and moving pets around,” said Tina McKenzie, chair of the FSB’s Northern Ireland policy unit.
“We knew there would be issues to work through as a result of Brexit but we are now more than six months on.
“The two sides need to stop talking to their own sides through newspaper articles and get on to the closed-door diplomacy to deliver practical solutions.”
Business
Train strikes: Full list of October 2023 dates and rail lines affected as Tube action called off
Thousands of rail workers and train drivers are going on strike this month – with an overtime ban beginning from Monday and mass disruption expected from Wednesday.
But planned industrial action by London Underground workers has been cancelled, it was announced on Tuesday.
RMT (the Rail, Maritime and Transport union) and ASLEF (The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) members are striking in an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
ASLEF represents drivers, whereas the RMT represents workers from many different sectors of the rail industry – including station staff and guards.
Here is everything you need to know about which services are affected this week.
London Underground
Tube workers had been planning to walk out on Wednesday 4 October and Friday 6 October.
The industrial action would have “severely affected” most underground lines and there would have been no night tube on 6 October, either.
But on Tuesday unions announced the planned strikes have been called off.
Around 3,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) had been due to walk out during the two days of strikes.
The RMT said that following talks at the conciliation service Acas it has managed to save jobs, prevent detrimental changes to rosters and secure protection of earnings around grading changes.
The union said: “The significant progress means that key elements have been settled although there remains wider negotiations to be had in the job, pensions and working agreements dispute.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “I congratulate all our members who were prepared to take strike action and our negotiations team for securing this victory in our Tube dispute.
“Without the unity and industrial power of our members, there is no way we would have been able to make the progress we have.”
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast will not be operating any services on Wednesday 4 October.
Customers who booked tickets to travel on these days can claim a full, fee-free refund from their point of purchase.
Customers with pre-booked tickets for travel on a strike day can use their ticket the day before or the two days after.
Avanti plans to run its normal timetable during overtime bans, but recommends you check before you travel as the impact will vary from route to route.
C2C
There will be no C2C service on Wednesday 4 October.
On days when overtime bans are in place, there will be a reduced peak time service and a reduced frequency of two trains per hour during off-peak hours across all routes.
First and last trains will be unaffected.
Chiltern Railways
There will be no Chiltern Railways services on Wednesday 4 October on any routes.
Although industrial action on the London Underground has been suspended, there will be impacts on Chiltern Railways services at the London end of the route.
On 5 and 6 October no services will be calling at stations including; Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Chalfont & Latimer and Amersham. This is until after 8am on Thursday and all day on Friday.
On Saturday 7 October, no Chiltern Railways services will call at South Ruislip until after 8am.
Chiltern Railways will be running an amended timetable during the week of overtime bans, which travellers can check here.
CrossCountry
There will be no CrossCountry services on Wednesday 4 October.
Some services will be amended during overtime ban dates. You can view the list of trains affected on each day here.
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East Midlands Railway
There will be no East Midlands Railway service on Wednesday 4 October.
East Midlands says its journey planners have now been updated for days where an overtime ban is in place. Check here for updates.
GTR
GTR, also known as Govia Thameslink Railway, is the UK’s biggest railway franchise and operates Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.
It says there will be no Thameslink, Great Northern or Gatwick Express services operating on Wednesday 4 October.
A limited Southern shuttle service will run, calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only.
Services on Thursday 5 October will begin much later than normal in the aftermath of the strike the day before, with some routes having no services before 7am.
On days when an overtime ban is in place, GTR says an amended timetable with fewer services will run.
The usual non-stop Gatwick Express service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport and Brighton will not run.
To help customers, extra stops at Clapham Junction and East Croydon have been added, so these trains will be operating as Southern services.
Gatwick Express tickets will be valid on Southern and Thameslink at no additional cost.
Find out more about each of GTR’s lines by clicking on their names at the top of this section.
Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway (GWR) will be operating a reduced and revised timetable on Wednesday 4 October.
Many parts of the network will have no service at all. Services that go ahead will start from 7.30am and all journeys must be completed by 6.30pm.
GWR says there are likely to be short-notice alterations or cancellations to its services on days when overtime bans are in place.
You can check GWR’s website for updates nearer the time.
Greater Anglia and Stansted Express
Reduced services are expected to run on both strike and overtime ban days.
You can click here to see what plans are in place on all affected dates.
Heathrow Express
On the strike day of 4 October, there will be fewer trains going to Heathrow Airport and they will start later and finish earlier.
Trains will run between Paddington and Heathrow between 7.40am and 6.25pm.
Services between Terminal 5 and Paddington will run between 7.42am and 6.57pm.
And there will be trains between 7.47am and 7.02pm from Heathrow Central into Paddington.
The Elizabeth Line will service customers travelling from London to Heathrow.
Heathrow has not announced any changes during overtime bans. Click here for more information about its services.
LNER
LNER services will run on an “extremely limited timetable” during 4 October, with minor alterations on days before and after them.
You can find more details here.
London Northwestern Railway
There will be no London Northwestern Railway (LNR) service on Wednesday 4 October.
It will have buses in place of trains between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey on days when there are overtime bans.
You’ll be able to see what impact the overtime ban will have on LNR via journey planners.
Northern
There will be no Northern service in operation on Wednesday 4 October, and no rail replacement bus services.
Days affected by overtime bans are likely to cause some short-notice alterations or cancellations. You can check here for updates.
Southwestern Railway
An extremely limited service will operate on a small number of lines during strike days, and most of the Southwestern Railway mainland network will be closed. There will be no service on the Island Line.
Customers are advised to only travel if absolutely necessary.
Reduced services will operate across the mainland South Western Railway network on overtime ban days, with an hourly service on the Island Line.
Find out more here.
Southeastern
There will be no Southeastern service in operation on any routes on strike days.
Southeastern expects to run a full service during overtime ban periods.
TransPennine
No TransPennine Express service will run on any route during the strike on Wednesday 4 October.
There will also be some early morning and late evening alterations on the days before or after a strike day.
TransPennine Express plans to run its normal timetable during overtime ban days but warns there could be significant disruption to your journey, so be sure to check before you travel.
West Midlands Railway
There will be no West Midlands Railway service on Wednesday 4 October.
On days when the overtime ban is in place, reduced train services will operate between Birmingham New Street and Hereford and Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury – and a bus service will replace trains between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa via Coventry.
The overtime bans may lead to amended timetables and on-the-day cancellations, particularly if there is disruption to services, so check before you travel.
How you can remain up-to-date
You can tap any of the links provided above to check for updates on specific lines.
National Rail urges anyone hoping to travel on strike and overtime ban days to use its Journey Planner to keep an eye on how services will be affected.
Any journey accompanied by a yellow warning triangle means the information is still subject to change.
Most journeys should now be up to date on the planner.
Fuel retailers have dismissed claims that drivers are being overcharged following a surge in pump prices.
Data released by the RAC on Wednesday showed an 8p per litre surge in the cost of diesel last month to a new average of 163.1p.
Petrol prices rose by nearly 5p per litre to 157p.
The motoring group blamed the continued hikes on production cuts agreed by the Opec+ group of oil-producing nations, which have helped send Brent crude oil costs up since July.
A barrel stood at around $72 then.
It has nudged towards $100 in recent weeks and currently stands at $90, placing greater upward pressure on inflation more widely as the additional bills only add to the cost of living crisis.
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‘Constrained’ oil supply in the coming months
Because oil is priced in dollars, a weakening of the pound against the US currency has also contributed to the additional bills at the fuel pump.
The RAC, however, claimed that retailers were overcharging petrol customers – months after supermarkets were rapped on the knuckles by the competition regulator over pricing and forced to support a fuel transparency mechanism.
RAC fuel spokesman, Simon Williams, said: “Our analysis of RAC Fuel Watch wholesale and retail data shows that petrol is currently overpriced by around 7p a litre, although the price of diesel is likely to go up further still in the coming weeks.
“It’s worrying that retailer margin across the UK is higher for petrol than it should be considering the big four supermarkets were told off by the Competition and Markets Authority for overcharging drivers by £900m in 2022.
“While many have voluntarily started to publish their prices ahead of being mandated to in law, we still have a situation where wholesale price changes aren’t being fairly reflected on the forecourt.”
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July: ‘Motorists are not getting the best deal possible’
The RAC’s conclusion was dismissed by the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) which represents non-supermarket, independent, forecourts and has almost two-thirds of the fuel market.
Its executive director Gordon Balmer said: “Contrary to claims made by the RAC, our members are not unjustifiably pricing petrol higher than needed.
“Fuel margins have been under pressure due to increased operational costs that our members have had to bear.
“To address rising labour expenses, energy costs, and the highest inflation rates in recent years and reduced fuel sales, margins have inevitably increased.
“Attempting to whip up public anger by suggesting otherwise is deeply irresponsible.”
He added: “The PRA remains committed to advocate for our members and promote transparency within the sector.
“We are willing to engage with any mediator to facilitate a constructive and informed dialogue on these critical issues.”
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