Grant Shapps says Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos will be added on Wednesday * Von der Leyen warns UK against breaking international law * Boris Johnson to override EU withdrawal agreement * 3 areas where UK wants to override - or ‘clarify’ - withdrawal agreement * Reneging on Brexit deal ‘would strengthen case for breaking up UK’ * Global coronavirus updates – live 3.55pm BST The Department for Transport press release about Grant Shapps’ announcement has now arrived. This is what it says about the inclusion of the seven Greek islands on the quarantine list for England. The first changes under the new process were also made today, with seven Greek islands to be removed from exemption list – Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos. People arriving in England from those islands from Wednesday 9 September 04.00am will need to self-isolate for two weeks. Data from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England has indicated a significant risk to UK public health from those islands, leading to Ministers removing them from the current list of travel corridors. At the same time, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice for Greece to advise against all but essential travel to Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos. The rest of Greece remains exempt from the FCDO’s advice against all non-essential international travel. 3.50pm BST SHAPPS says he is not lifting quarantine for Spain’s Canary or Balearic islands. He says there might have been a case for this when quarantine was imposed on Spain. But the number of cases in country has risen sharply, he says, and now it has 127 cases per 100,000. He say it is not safe to reduce quarantine for those islands. Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos removed from air corridor exemption list. 3.45pm BST SHAPPS says in July and August the government could not assess the risk within particular regions in countries. But, as the JCB has strengthened, it has obtained better data. It can take a more granular approach, he says. 3.39pm BST GRANT SHAPPS, the transport secretary, says quarantine was introduced in June. It has helped keep the infection rate down, he says. He say in July the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s analysis allowed the government to introduce exemptions. 3.33pm BST GRANT SHAPPS, the transport secretary, is due to make a statement to MPs in the next few minutes. According to Sky News, he will announce that the government will abandon its whole-country approach to quarantine for England. This means, for example, that it could maintain quarantine for mainland Spain, but exempt it for islands like the Canaries and the Balearics. 3.26pm BST The reopening of a south-east London school has been delayed for 10 days after a member of staff was found to be infected with coronavirus. Trinity Church of England school in Lewisham, which takes pupils from reception to GCSE, had been due to reopen on Monday morning. It will now not reopen to pupils until 17 September at the earliest. A letter to parents published on the school’s website suggests that a number of staff have been advised to self-isolate after coming into contact with a colleague who later came down with Covid-19. Dozens of other schools across England and Wales have reported coronavirus outbreaks, prompting some to close. My colleagues SARAH MARSH and AMY WALKER have a roundup here. Related: Coronavirus: dozens of schools in England and Wales report outbreaks 3.22pm BST NHS England has recorded a further four coronavirus hospital deaths. They were all in the north-west and the people who died, who were between aged 76 and 95, all had known underlying health conditions. The full details are here. But there have been no further deaths recorded in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. 2.58pm BST Concern continues to grow that a local lockdown might have to be imposed in Caerphilly, south Wales, following a “significant rise” in Covid-19 infections. Visits to care homes have been prohibited and a class of 21 pupils from a primary school, St Gwladys, have been told to isolate for 14 days. DR GIRI SHANKAR, of Public Health Wales, said: We are concerned about the significant rise in positive coronavirus cases in the Caerphilly area in recent days. It is absolutely vital that everyone in the community abides by social distancing measures – that is, by self-isolating when asked to do so, keeping 2 metres away from others outside your household, and washing hands regularly. 2.29pm BST BERND LANGE, the German SPD MEP (a social democrat) and chair of the trade committee in the European parliament, has said that he is “shocked” by the UK government’s approach to the withdrawal agreement and that he has “never seen anything like it in decades”. In a lengthy statement he said: _There were signs that the joint political declaration for Boris Johnson was not worth the paper it was on. Now he’s said it. Boris Johnson is thus turning the negotiations up to now and the serious efforts of the European Union into a farce._ _We will not allow ourselves to be divided by these tactical games, but will stick to our previous constructive but determined approach - in the spirit of the joint political declaration of eight months ago, which both sides had signed. We stick to agreements. The European parliament reaffirmed its negotiating position in a resolution in July. There cannot and will not be an agreement at any price._ 2.13pm BST This is from IRATXE GARCIA PEREZ, the Spanish MEP who is president of the Socialist and Democrats group in the European parliament. The WA is simply not open for debate. It beggars belief that @BorisJohnson is considering going back on an agreement he himself negotiated not even a year ago, right in the midst of talks on the future partnership. All is about trust and it is running out.Agreements must be kept. 1.59pm BST At the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman said that Boris Johnson had always made it clear that he did not want Northern Ireland exporter to have to fill in exit summary declarations, or tariffs to apply to goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland, and that therefore the EU could not object to London interpreting the withdrawal agreement in this way. The spokesman said: The PM has always been publicly clear about what our interpretation of both the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol was. For example, he publicly set out that there would be no export summary declarations on goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, and he also ruled out tariffs on goods moving from GB to NI on several occasions. He set out those positions in advance of the EU signing the withdrawal agreement. They did so with full knowledge of the prime minister’s position. Of course there will be checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea after #Brexit. It's absolutely untrue that I said "if you are asked to fill in a form, just tell them to phone me and I'll direct them to throw it in the bin". pic.twitter.com/hUUdQkZyCG 1.13pm BST The EUROPEAN COMMISSION has said that implementing the Northern Ireland protocol is a “precondition” for a UK-EU trade deal. A commission spokesperson said: The full implementation of the withdrawal agreement and in particular the protocol on Ireland, and Northern Ireland, are essential. These are legal obligations under international law. This is a matter of trust. This is a prerequisite, a precondition for the negotiations on the future partnership, I think that’s clear. 1.09pm BST There are two statements in the Commons this afternoon. Two oral ministerial statements from 3:30pm: 1. @grantshapps - International travel 2. @kitmalthouse - Birmingham attacks and Extinction Rebellion protests 12.52pm BST NICOLA STURGEON has warned the Scottish government could “put the brakes” on further relaxation of the lockdown, or even reimpose some restrictions later this week, after a continuing spike in Covid 19 cases. The first minister said during her regular coronavirus briefing that the surge in cases made it quite unlikely Scotland would move from phase 3 to phase 4 of its lockdown route map when she gives the next three-weekly review statement on Thursday. As we have released ourselves from lockdown, we have also released the virus from lockdown. 12.42pm BST Journalists this morning learnt more about how the government plans to “clarify” the withdrawal agreement signed by Boris Johnson in January. The government claims this would not amount to overriding the agreement, but the new proposals would go beyond what was set out in the Northern Ireland protocol part of the withdrawal agreement, in a manner clearly advantageous to the UK. The government wants to make changes in three areas. As is sometimes the way in Westminster journalism, reporters learnt about these plans through a mysterious process that did not involve anyone using attributable quotes. But here is what we found out. 12.37pm BST The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. No 10 is rejected claims that it plans to ignore aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement that Boris Johnson signed in January. Instead the prime minister’s spokesman said the government just wanted to “clarify” the agreement to protect the Northern Ireland peace process. He said: We will continue to work with the EU in the joint committee to resolve outstanding issues with the Northern Ireland protocol. However, as a responsible government, we cannot allow the peace process or the UK’s internal market to inadvertently be compromised by unintended consequences of the protocol. The government is completely committed, as it always has been, to implementing the Northern Ireland protocol in good faith. If we don’t take these steps we face the prospect of legal confusion at the end of the year and potentially extremely damaging defaults, including tariffs on goods moving from GB to Northern Ireland. 12.37pm BST Plaid Cymru’s leader at Westminster, LIZ SAVILLE ROBERTS, has accused the government of “rogue state behaviour”. She issued this statement in response to the news that the government apparently wants to override the withdrawal agreement. In a statement she said: Breaking international law is never a good idea, to do it in the middle of a pandemic is as stupid as it is dangerous. At a time when the world needs to work together the UK government is actively doing the opposite. The internal market bill was already set to undo the work of multiple devolution referendums, but now it looks set to put the UK on the path to becoming a pariah on the world stage. 11.47am BST Here is KATYA ADLER, the BBC’s Europe editor, on the UK government’s apparent plan to give itself the power to override the withdrawal agreement in relation to Northern Ireland. European Commission, Paris +Berlin treading carefully holding back from condemning UK government till hear from them directly about their intentions regarding Withdrawal Agreement and Irish Protocol /1 https://t.co/ktgF0a7sPC EU also keen not to fall today into playing role of ‘finger wagging, interfering Brussels’ as detractors in U.K. might expect. Make no mistake though, behind scenes, EU far from happy /2 11.43am BST Scotland’s SNP government has said that Boris Johnson is leading the UK towards a “disastrous Brexit outcome” and that the internal market bill due to be published this week will be “the biggest assault on devolution since the Scottish parliament was established”. It has just put out this statement from its constitution secretary, MICHAEL RUSSELL. The UK government is now hurtling towards a disastrous Brexit outcome in the midst of a deep recession and global pandemic. With talks with the EU due to resume tomorrow the UK has put itself in the position of being able to leave the transition period with one of two terrible outcomes - either a low deal or no deal. Either will, without a shadow of a doubt, hit Scottish jobs and the Scottish economy very hard. With the likely publication of the internal market bill this week, designed to allow bad trade deals to be imposed no matter the view of the Scottish people, we will see confirmed the biggest assault on devolution since the Scottish parliament was established. We will, as we have made clear, oppose it at every turn. In addition, reports that the UK government is now also planning to use this legislation to renege on parts of the withdrawal agreement which they willingly entered into just nine months ago, are extraordinary and will not only consolidate opposition across these islands but will also alienate the European Union, further increasing the likelihood of the current talks collapsing. 11.30am BST ARE WE HEADING FOR A NO-DEAL BREXIT? On Wednesday 9 September at 7pm the Guardian is holding a live streamed event on come January 2021 we will crash out of the EU with no deal? With Guardian journalists Sonia Sodha, Lisa O’Carroll, Jennifer Rankin and Anand Menon. Book tickets here. 11.24am BST From NICK GUTTERIDGE, the Sun’s correspondent in Brussels Sources here are very unsure as to what the UK has been trying to achieve these last few days with the Frost interview, PM's intervention, and now this Northern Ireland Protocol row. One muses: 'You know what they say about dogs - the louder they bark, the more anxious they are.' 11.21am BST URSULA VON DER LEYEN, the president of the European commission, has said she expects the UK to abide by its obligations under the withdrawal agreement. I trust the British government to implement the Withdrawal Agreement, an obligation under international law & prerequisite for any future partnership. Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is essential to protect peace and stability on the island & integrity of the single market. 11.07am BST These are from my colleague JENNIFER RANKIN in Brussels. If UK reneges on the Irish protocol, the EU can take it to... the European court of Justice. Boris Johnson agreed to ECJ jurisdiction to supervise and enforce the protocol (A12). But if gov repudiates one part of protocol, presumably it rejects all, and takes the consequences. pic.twitter.com/4405YugCk4 I am not saying this *will* happen, but this is the law as set out in the treaty Boris Johnson put his name to in October 2019, campaigned and won an election on and got ratified in the UK parliament. 11.05am BST In his LBC phone-in MATT HANCOCK, the health secretary, also said that he thought the “most likely” scenario was that a coronavirus vaccine would become available early next year. Speaking about the AstraZeneca collaboration with Oxford University, Hancock said: We have got 30m doses already contracted with AstraZeneca, in fact they are starting to manufacture those doses already, ahead of approval, so that should approval come through - and it’s still not certain but it is looking up - should that approval come through then we are ready to roll out. The best-case scenario is that happens this year. I think more likely is the early part of next year - in the first few months of next year is the most likely. That is the hope that we hold out for the nation, that we can get things going even if there isn’t a vaccine, that we can use mass testing so people can check whether they have the virus today, if they don’t then [they can] go and do things, even if it means being in close confinement. We need to use the next design of tests which don’t require you to send the swab off to the lab and get the result back. 10.49am BST MATT HANCOCK, the health secretary, has used a radio phone-in to urge young Britons properly socially distance, saying that otherwise the UK could follow countries like France and Spain towards a significant new upsurge in coronavirus cases. After almost 3,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, Hancock told LBC radio that much of the rise was among younger people. He said: It’s concerning because we’ve seen a rise in cases in France, in Spain, in some other countries across Europe, and nobody wants to see a second wave here. The rise in the number of cases we’ve seen over the last few days is largely among younger people – under 25s, especially between 17 and 21. The message to all your younger listeners is that even though you’re at lower risk of dying from Covid if you’re under 25, you can still have really serious symptoms and consequences. 10.40am BST MICHEL BARNIER has said he is “worried” by the latest twists in the Brexit negotiations and will seek answers from the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, over claims that Downing Street is planning to negate parts of the withdrawal agreement, my colleagues DANIEL BOFFEY and JENNIFER RANKIN report. Related: Michel Barnier 'worried' by No 10 plans to renege on Brexit deal 10.38am BST Here are some tweets from Brexit commentators on the UK government’s apparent threat to override parts of the withdrawal agreement. This is from ALEXANDER STUBB, a former prime minister of Finland who now runs the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute in Italy. Over the past 25 years I have been involved in negotiating 4 EU treaties 4 financial frameworks and a number other minor and major EU deals. What the UK is doing at the moment is unprecedented. Worried where it will all lead. Never a good idea to put ideology before reality. My deeply unsexy takes on @pmdfoster's amazing story: 1. Looks bad but We won't know what this is until the bill is out. 2. If this is a negotiating tactic, it's a bad one. 3. Those implying this will sink future UK FTA's with 3rd countries are (in my view) overstating a bit. I’d add to what @DmitryOpines says: 1. Absolutely and NB that proposing legislation that is a flagrant breach of international law isn’t the same (even now) as getting that legislation through in time (1/1/21): remember the House of Lords (and the effect of all this in Scotland); https://t.co/6tq13OyTLi Madness. The UK is under an international obligation to follow the commitments under the withdrawal treaty. If the Govt chooses to override it with domestic legislation, it’ll send a clear signal to its international partners: “we’re not to be trusted” https://t.co/ncwYHTWDct That’s next week’s negotiations done. The UK has just shot itself in the foot: if No10 hoped that this would push the EU to concessions, they did the opposite. This will by seen in Bxl and EU capitals as the clearest indication yet that the UK isn’t serious about finding a deal. https://t.co/Ok0hxBey2B Whatever level you look at the @pmdfoster story, it's a bad move for the UK government. So why do it? pic.twitter.com/nOAGEACQlK 10.15am BST In the statement he issued overnight, in which he set 15 October as an absolute deadline for a UK-EU trade deal (see 9.13am), BORIS JOHNSON said the UK could not accept the EU’s current demands because “we cannot and will not compromise on the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country to get [a deal]”. This has left ANDREAS MICHAELIS, the German ambassador to the UK, perplexed. After the Brexit remarks of PM I wonder if can still claim being an independent country. is state party to hundreds of international treaties. Underlying compromises have certainly not eroded our sovereignty. Same would hold true of a Brexit deal. Let's get on with it! 10.05am BST GEORGE EUSTICE, the environment secretary and (like most ministers at the top of the government) a prominent Brexit campaigner in 2016, has done a series of interviews this morning. Here is a summary of the main points he was making. George Eustice’s full words to @TimesRadio on what the Internal Markets Bill does. Effectively, it imposes the UK Govt’s desired outcome from NI Protocol talks if agreement is not reached by Dec 31. EU will claim this breaches the WA. UK Govt as of yet not offering its judgement. pic.twitter.com/DwrR01pknI We said that we would work night and day to try to get that Canada-style trade deal that we seek but if the European Union wouldn’t offer that, that we would still leave on time and we would do that under the terms of the existing Withdrawal Agreement that we’ve got. It’s not posturing or a threat, this has been the reality of our position right from the beginning. 9.27am BST And this is from SIMON COVENEY, Ireland’s foreign minister, on the latest Brexit initiative from No 10. This would be a very unwise way to proceed. #Brexit . https://t.co/D4aod2665h 9.26am BST This is from LOUISE HAIGH, Labour’s Northern Ireland spokeswoman, on the government’s apparent threat to override the withdrawal agreement. She said: It beggars belief that the government is - yet again - playing a dangerous game in Northern Ireland and sacrificing our international standing at the altar of the prime minister’s incompetence. 9.24am BST As my colleague Peter Walker reports, the SNP is saying that “by threatening to undermine the UK’s international treaty obligations and impose a catastrophic no-deal Brexit on Scotland against our will, [Boris Johnson] is proving he cannot be trusted and is underlining the need for Scotland to become an independent country.” Peter’s full story is here. Related: Reneging on Brexit deal would strengthen case for breaking up UK, government told 9.13am BST Good morning. Earlier in the year you would often hear commentators speculating about the prospects of the UK facing an autumn/winter nightmare scenario, where all the upheaval of a no-deal Brexit was combined with a second wave of coronavirus. We’re not there yet, but this morning the two main stories on the agenda do look like signposts towards that future. On the Covid front, the government is responding to the news that yesterday almost 3,000 people in the UK tested positive for Covid-19, a 50% increase in a single day and the highest daily total since May. The EU have been very clear about the timetable. I am too. There needs to be an agreement with our European friends by the time of the European council on 15 October if it’s going to be in force by the end of the year. So there is no sense in thinking about timelines that go beyond that point. If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on. Related: Brexit: Boris Johnson to override EU withdrawal agreement It is a very blunt instrument,” said one of those familiar with the matter. “The bill will explicitly say the government reserves the right to set its own regime, directly setting up UK law in opposition with obligations under the withdrawal agreement, and in full cognisance that this will breach international law.” No. We are not saying that at all. We have a withdrawal agreement, and that includes Northern Ireland protocol. And we are committed to implementing that. And there is negotiations ongoing through something called the joint committee process ... a separate process to the main negotiation on a future trade agreement. Related: Coronavirus live news: India sees one-day record of 90,000 cases; five teachers test positive at Suffolk school Continue reading...
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