Northern Ireland Secretary set to meet EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic
The Government has said it will make a 'huge difference to consumers and businesses in Northern Ireland'.
Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland remains aligned with EU single market rules for goods following the UK's departure from the EU.
The new deal between the UK and EU has been described as aiming to facilitate the smooth flow of agrifood and plants from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, protecting the UK's internal market, reducing costs for businesses and improving consumer choice.
It is also aimed at saving businesses hours of time and money by removing swathes of paperwork and numerous health certificates, checks and processes – with those using the red lane expected to save close to £1 million per month.
Mr Benn said he will emphasise the UK Government's commitment to continue to deliver the Windsor Framework, in the meeting which the minister for EU relations Nick Thomas–Symonds will also attend.
'The agreement the UK Government recently reached with the EU will help us to deliver on our core mission to grow the economy, and shows the benefits of a closer partnership with our friends in Europe,' he said.
'I look forward to meeting with Commissioner Sefcovic today, to emphasise this Government's commitment to continuing to implement the Windsor Framework and to delivering the new SPS agreement as soon as possible.
'This will facilitate the smooth flow of agrifood and plants from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and protect the UK's internal market.'
Mr Benn added: 'Northern Ireland will, of course, continue to enjoy its unique access to the EU's single market, a key competitive advantage.
'All of this means that Northern Ireland is set to become an even more attractive destination for investment in the years ahead.'
Mr Benn is also to meet representatives from the EU diplomatic community and attend a roundtable of business stakeholders including the British Agriculture Bureau and the Confederation of British Industry.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Spectator
14 minutes ago
- Spectator
Zelensky prepares to woo Trump one last time
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Berlin this morning, where at 3pm local time he will speak to Donald Trump and his vice president J.D. Vance over video alongside other European leaders to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz brokered the meeting following the news that the American president would be meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska this coming Friday to discuss a peace deal – without Zelensky present. Ahead of Zelensky's summit with Trump and Vance, the Ukrainian president and Merz will first convene a virtual meeting with his strongest European allies. Scheduled for 2pm Berlin time, they will be joined by British PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, EU and Nato chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Mark Rutte, as well as the leaders of Poland, Finland and the European Council. The aim of this preliminary meeting is to agree on a joint position on how best to present Ukraine's case to Trump ahead of his meeting with Putin in two days' time. The American President's declaration earlier this week that he would be discussing 'land swaps' with his Russian counterpart has caused alarm with Zelensky and his allies, who are concerned that Trump could sign away Ukrainian territory to the Kremlin without consultation or permission. Ukraine's European allies are said to be weighing up an attempt to extract a promise from the President not to do so – although given his volatile nature, any such promise from Trump, even if it did materialise, would bear little weight. They reportedly also plan to warn Trump not to trust any promises made by Putin to stick to a ceasefire, as well as discuss how best to prepare Ukraine for eventual full peace negotiations. Merz and Zelensky will then debrief on the meeting with Trump and Vance alongside the other members of the 'Coalition of the Willing' – those countries, pulled together by Starmer and Macron, who have expressed a desire to back Ukraine financially and militarily in the event of a peace deal with Russia. The public won't have long to wait to hear how today's discussions go: Merz and Zelensky will hold a joint press conference at 4pm local time. Nevertheless, with the notoriously thin-skinned Trump holding Ukraine's fate in his unpredictable hands, don't expect either Merz or Zelensky to air any disagreements with the President that may surface in the coming hours.
The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Is Keir Starmer just one crisis away from a Labour coup?
On the Whitehall grapevine, Wes Streeting is seen as a rare success story for the government: a good communicator who is starting to deliver the change Keir Starmer promised. The chatter in Streeting's health department predicts his next stop will be 10 Downing Street. However, the health secretary might face an uphill battle to win over the Labour grassroots in the 'one member, one vote' ballot that chooses the party's leader. Even some of his admirers suspect he might be too right-wing, or 'Blairite', for many of them. Whitehall officials are less flattering about other cabinet ministers. Rachel Reeves 's autumn Budget is described by some as her 'last shot'. In other words, if she can't break out of the doom loop of 'one-off' tax rises to meet her fiscal rules, followed by exactly the same medicine in her next Budget, Starmer might be looking for a new chancellor next year. The prime minister is not immune to speculation about his future. Even his allies admit he cannot afford a repeat of his bad first year on the domestic front. 'Another crisis like the welfare climbdown and it would surely be curtains,' one Labour MP told me. Angela Rayner told last month's meeting of Labour's national executive committee that 'announcements are not enough: people have to see real improvements in their lives, soon.' Significantly, the deputy prime minister added: 'The next 12 months will decide whether Labour wins a second term.' She wasn't talking behind Keir Starmer's back; he was in the room. Few ministers would disagree with her 'one more year' theory. Starmer's problem is that first impressions of a government, prime minister or party leader usually stick, and Labour and his party's dire ratings are getting worse. Although Rayner didn't say it, the logical consequence of her statement is that if Starmer hasn't turned things round by next summer, the question of whether he should lead the party into the next general election will become a live one. The spark might be poor results in next May's mid-term elections, when Labour could lose out to the SNP in the Scottish Parliament, to Reform UK in the Welsh Parliament, and to the Greens and Jeremy Corbyn's new socialist party in English local authorities. Indeed, there's already gossip in Labour land about Starmer's future, which is fully in line with Labour's traditions. The party doesn't kill its leaders like the Conservatives, but makes up for that by debating endlessly in private who would take over if their leader fell under a Number 12 bus in Whitehall. Labour has more in common with the TV series Succession than it would admit. Despite Streeting's Whitehall fan club, the current strong favourite to succeed Starmer is Rayner. Although she insists she doesn't want the top job, it would be very hard to stick to that if it were likely to land in her lap. Rayner is performing a delicate balancing act well. She has carved out a position slightly to the left of Starmer, which is where Labour's heart beats. At the same time, she is publicly loyal to the PM; rocking the boat could damage her succession prospects. In theory, jittery Labour backbenchers, fearing they will lose their seats, could mount a coup against Starmer. In practice, they would need cabinet-level support. How loyal would the cabinet be if the PM came under real pressure? One largely forgotten factor is that only eight of today's 22-strong cabinet nominated Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership contest – in other words, he was their first choice. They were: Hilary Benn, Yvette Cooper, John Healey, David Lammy, Ed Miliband, Bridget Phillipson, Steve Reed and Jonathan Reynolds. That doesn't mean other ministers would dump Starmer in the event of a leadership crisis. When a leader is in real trouble, any politician is bound to consider self-interest. If Rayner still looked a shoo-in, it would suit those who don't want her to succeed Starmer to rally behind him rather than pull the rug. 'Wes [Streeting], Yvette [Cooper] and other big beasts would bolster Keir rather than let Angie [Rayner] take over,' one Labour insider told me. Despite that, it is no longer certain that Starmer will lead his party into the next election. Starmer will soon reflect on his planned fightback during a much-needed holiday, which, knowing his wretched luck when it comes to taking a break, will probably be interrupted by the need to talk to other world leaders about Ukraine and Gaza. The first test of whether Starmer can turn the domestic tide will come in what is becoming an increasingly important speech to the Labour conference in Liverpool next month. 'It's going to be a hard slog from now on,' one close ally admitted.
The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tulip Siddiq's anti-corruption trial formally begins in Bangladesh
Tulip Siddiq 's trial formally began in Bangladesh on Wednesday with testimonies of anti-corruption officials against the former British minister. The Labour Party member is facing charges for allegedly using her familial connection to the ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to obtain state-owned land plots in the South Asian country. Ms Siddiq, who is Hasina's niece, resigned from her post as an anti-corruption minister in Keir Starmer 's government in January following reports that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt and was named in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. She said she had been cleared of wrongdoing but that the issue was becoming 'a distraction from the work of the government'. Ms Siddiq told The Guardian over the weekend that she was 'collateral damage' in the feud between her aunt and Muhammad Yunus – the Nobel laureate appointed as the leader of Bangladesh in the absence of an elected prime minister. 'These are wider forces that I'm battling against … There's no doubt people have done wrong things in Bangladesh, and they should be punished for it. It's just I'm not one of them.' The trial at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 began with testimonies by two officials of the country's Anti-Corruption Commission. A third official is expected to testify later in the day, said Muhammad Tariqul Islam, a public prosecutor. Ms Siddiq is being tried together with her mother, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina. She has been charged with facilitating their receipt of state land in a township project near the capital, Dhaka. The four were indicted earlier and asked to appear in court, however, the prosecution said they absconded and would be tried in absentia. The Bangladesh court had issued an arrest warrant for Ms Siddiq in April. She was indicted in July. Her lawyers had previously called the charges baseless and politically motivated. Separately, the anti-corruption investigation has also alleged that Siddiq's family was involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of money were said to have been embezzled. Siddiq represents the north London district of Hampstead and Highgate in parliament, served in the Labour Party government as economic secretary to the Treasury – the minister responsible for tackling financial corruption. Ms Hasina was ousted after a 15-year rule in a student-led mass uprising in August last year. She fled to India and has been in exile ever since. Hundreds of protesters were killed during the uprising and Ms Hasina now faces charges, including crimes against humanity.
