Boris Johnson news: EU warns it will not accept ‘pig in a poke Brexit deal’ as PM urges bloc to sign by ‘end of summer’
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson held talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in an attempt to revive negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal. No 10 said the prime minister urged the EU to reach an agreement “by the end of the summer”.
It came as Mr Johnson announced he would set up a commission to consider “all aspects” of racial inequality. The review will also consider wider disparities such as issues facing “working class white boys at schools”, Downing Street has said.
Labour’s shadow justice secretary David Lammy claimed the idea was “written on the back of a fag packet” and said it was time for action. Meanwhile, No 10 indicated the review of the two-metre rule may not be finished in time for the proposed reopening of pubs and restaurants on 4 July.
SNP MP suffers brain haemorrhage
An SNP MP has undergone emergency surgery after suffering a brain haemorrhage last week.
Amy Callaghan, the MP for East Dunbartonshire, was found collapsed at home by her partner after suffering a stroke, and was rushed to hospital for treatment. The 28-year-old is now in a stable condition in hospital, according to her office.
Rashford calls on government to extend free meal vouchers over summer
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has called on the government to help families struggling with food poverty and continue free school meal vouchers over the summer holidays.
“Political affiliations aside, can we not all agree that no child should be going to be hungry?”
He told BBC Breakfast: “This is all going on at a time where kids should be concentrating on school work and stuff like that.
“I’m just hoping the government make a U-turn on the decision. To stop the free meal vouchers and I’m they do it as soon as possible.”
Effective test and trace system could allow for relaxation in rules, say expert
The NHS Test and Trace system will be “extremely crucial” to prevent a second wave of coronavirus, according to infectious disease scientist Dr Michael Tildesley.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Dr Tildesley, from the University of Warwick, said that, if the system is working properly, the government will be able to relax social distancing measures such as the two-metre rule.
“There has been a lot of talk about fear of a second wave, and one of the ways to hopefully prevent that is for testing and tracing to be working effectively,” he said.
“If it does, then, as people start to report infection, we can rapidly detect those individuals, trace their contacts and hopefully put in local isolation measures so that we isolate these clusters and prevent larger scale spread.
“If that works effectively, then I would hope that we can relax a whole host of measures, which may hopefully include a reduction in that distance.
“But, that should be done with other measures in place - good hygiene practices and taking precautions wherever possible is really crucial.”
Statue row risks potentially damaging argument about race, Tory London mayoral candidate says
Shaun Bailey, the Tory London mayoral candidate, said the row over statues risks a potentially damaging argument over race.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is very easy to remove the statue of a slaver, that we could all agree on.
"But what are you going to do when you get to someone who is a hero to some and a villain to others?
"It's just going to make our entire conversations about race.
"We don't want to have a conversation about race, what we want to have a conversation about is how we move forward.
"Black people want change, they don't want an argument."
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched a commission to review the capital's monuments, but Mr Bailey accused him of seeking to "rewrite British history".
'Urgent action' needed on racial inequality, chairman of Equality and Human Rights Commission says
David Isaac, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said there had already been "countless reports" on the issues surrounding racial inequality and "urgent action" was needed.
He said: "We know the scale of the problems we face to tackle the entrenched racial inequality in our country. It is not new.
"There have been countless reports and the data exists exposing all the issues.
"Now is the time for urgent action. We need to see a clear and comprehensive race strategy with clear targets and timescales from Government.
"We hope this new commission will help deliver that and we stand ready to work with it."
US fighter jet crashes off coast of Middlesbrough
A US Air Force F15C fighter aircraft has crashed off the coast near Middlesbrough and the status of the pilot is not known.
Tougher penalties for damaging protected marine areas demanded by MSP
A Labour MSP is pushing for tougher penalties to be brought in for those who damage protected areas at sea.
Claudia Beamish wants to change the law so those caught illegally damaging marine protected areas are sentenced to up to a year behind bars - in addition to fines of up to £50,000 that were introduced in 2010.
The changes she is proposing to the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill would mean that, for the first time, offences against marine wildlife would be dealt with in the same way as similar wildlife crime on land.
There have been 112 reports of suspected incursions into Scotland's protected seas between 2015 and 2019 - with Marine Scotland having in some cases gathered sufficient evidence to charge vessels operating illegally and proceeded to issue fixed penalty notices.
In recent years, no fine has exceeded £10,000 for illegal fishing in a closed area in Scotland - with penalties usually less than this.
Campaigners have backed her amendments, which will be debated by MSPs at Holyrood on Wednesday.
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