NEW: Brexit and NI medicines increasingly difficult

"Distributing medicines into Northern Ireland is challenging, problem problematic, inefficient, and a sort of slow strangulation by 1000 cuts if you like" - Martin Sawer, exec director of HDA - which distributes to 90% of NHS. Sawer tells Lords committee "we are just doing sticking plaster stuff". He says paperwork is costing £2.5m a year to get medicines through under protocol.

Interesting survey by Queens Uni, Belfast monitoring attitudes towards NI protocol. It is moving towards the positive, Institute for government hears How do people think Stormont shd vote when protocol is put to MLA vote in 2024 ?

PSNI statement on “terrifying” attack on bus at 7.45pm last night in NI. “Detective Inspector Lenaghan said: “It was reported at around 7.45pm that four masked men got onto the bus as it made a stop at Carnreagh Bend, and ordered its passengers to get off.1/ “The men, who were reported to have been carrying a hammer and a bottle of petrol, then forced the driver to make the journey to Church Road, and proceeded to smash windows and set the bus alight.
2/

Lord Frost statement: "the gaps between us remain substantial"
"As we have noted before, the EU's proposals represent a welcome step forward but do not free up goods movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the extent necessary for a durable solution" Frost statement 2: "Nor do they yet engage with the changes needed in other areas, such as subsidy policy, VAT, and governance of the Protocol, including the role of the Court of Justice"

UK long had problem with EU. sequencing. Early doors Enda Kenny and Juncker recognised it needed to get protocol into withdrawal agreement. One source at time they had experience of British being “slippery” in 1998 peace talks and couldn’t trust them. theguardian.com/politics/2021/… When withdrawal agreement finally done was sense of relief in Ireland. But the protocol was agreed by both sides two years later. difficult as it was, some would say relief that Brexit was done after five painful years was felt on all sides. Bad deal worse than no deal?

NEW: Brexit trouble ahead for Boris Johnson after DUP announce it will launch cross-unionist party campaign against Northern Ireland protocol.
It has also put London and Dublin on notice that it will not engage in any north/south political engagement on issues relating to NIP 1/ - It said will try and build support for its anti-protocol position at Westminster
- will launch an online petition calling for the UK Government to remove barriers to unfettered trade and tp oppose protocol-related legislation in the Stormont Assembly 2/

Cabinet office doc seen by Guardian on no deal scene:"The likelihood of a systemic economic crisis has increased and will have major impacts on disposable incomes, unemployment, business activity, international trade/commerce, market stability, and security decisions/capability" Cabinet office doc seen by Guardian on no deal and health cover for tourists
It also for the first time states that Brexit and the ending of British residents of the EU-wide European Health Insurance Card will see a 10-20% rise in insurance premiums for holidays on the continent.

BREAK: Brexit talks to continue.
Joint statement between Johnson and VDL - still differences Will speak again Monday eve

“In a phone call today on the on-going negotiations between the EU and the UK, we welcomed the fact that progress has been achieved in many areas. 1/ Nevertheless, significant differences remain on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries. Both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved.2/

Brexit talks in critical phase but for anyone selling in N Ireland from GB much ignorance (no fault of their own) applies in British businesses. Last night the government asked for v useful bit of information about NI EORI to be added to this story 1/ theguardian.com/politics/2020/… Traders who were being automatically allocated an XI EORI number would receive letters from HMRC by 11 December and those who already have a GB number could sign up for the Trader Support Service by 14 December for an XI one. 2/

Justice committee endorses selection of Sir Ashley Fox, a former Tory politician, to be head of the Independent Monitoring Authority which launches 1 January and is mandated to be independent adjudicator of complaints about EU citizens rights under W/A. But it has reservations: "The Committee noted that Sir Ashley said he saw the Authority’s role as monitoring rights and that he does not intend to "raise hopes" that it will deal with individual citizens' complaints. However.. 1/

BREAKING: Gove has formally told the EU Britain will not be seeking Brexit extension
- border controls will be introduced in three phases, Jan, April and July
- full controls including customs declarations at point of importation will not be introduced to July - Full checks on controlled goods inc alcohol, tobacco and chemicals will be applied from Jan 1.
- businesses can defer customs declarations and tariff payments for 6 months
- from Jan also will be checks on live animals and high risk plants

UK court rules against Derry woman in Irish identity case theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/o…
Key elements of ruling to be included in updated story, but they are: THREAD1/ "as a matter of law Mrs de Souza is, at present, a British citizen at the current time"
- international treaties such as Good Friday Agreement are entered into under Royal Prerorgative
- prerogative does not extend to changing domestic law without intervention of parliament 2/

Ireland's no deal plan released:
While prep at all levels will help, no deal Brexit will be "highly disruptive" + have "profound political, economic and legal implications, first and foremost for the UK, including most significantly NI + having sig impacts on Ireland and EU. NEW THREAD ON IRL NO DEAL REPORT: Ireland says:" a no deal Brexit will have severe negative effects in a number of sectors and among smaller and medium-sized businesses, and it will be widely felt on a regional basis."

NEW: Liam Fox confirms UK would agree to checks on goods/food in N Ireland in event of no deal. (This is after the Irish said backstop would still have to apply in event of no deal) Fox told @r4Today that they could be done in “marketplace” and not border to comply with WTO 1/ Fox said it would be necessary to "protect the biosecurity" of the island of Ireland and in order to comply with the WTO measures.

ANGER STILL FLOWING OVER MAC REPORT British Summer Fruits, which reps berry farms, says it "strongly" disagrees with parts of MAC report. Says it is wrong to call the sector as ‘small, low wage and low productivity in the wider the UK context’. "This completely misses point". 1/ "...soft fruit industry is highly significant with a farm-gate turnover of circa £650million per annum, employing some 3,000 permanent staff, as well as 29,000 seasonal employees, making significant contributions to the rural economy and to the exchequer" 2/