Daily Express - 07.08.2019

4 Daily Express Wednesday, August 7, 2019

DX1ST

THE BATTLE

Boris demands

EU surrender

over backstop

FROM PAGE ONE

and we hope the EU will rethink

its current refusal to make any

changes to the Withdrawal

Agreement.

“The fact is the Withdrawal

Agreement has been rejected by

Parliament three times and will not

pass in its current form so if the

EU wants a deal, it needs to change

its stance.

“Until then, we will continue

to prepare to leave the EU on

October 31.”

Mr Gove, who is in charge of

no-deal preparations, said after

a meeting of the Government’s

Brexit “war cabinet” that while it

wanted to negotiate in a “spirit of

friendliness”, the EU had to under-

stand Britain would be leaving on

October 31 “deal or no deal”. He

said: “I am deeply saddened that

the EU now seem to be refusing to

negotiate with the UK. The Prime

Minister has been clear that he

wants to negotiate a good deal with

the European Union.

“He will apply all the energy of

the Government and ensure that

in the spirit of friendliness we can

negotiate a new deal.

“But one thing is clear. The old

deal that was negotiated has failed

to pass the House of Commons

three times now, so we do need a

new approach. Whatever happens,

while we remain ready and willing

to negotiate, the EU must appreci-

ate that we’re leaving on October

31, deal or no deal.”

Pressure is mounting on Dublin

to allow a compromise over the

backstop measures.

But Irish Prime Minister Leo

Varadkar said that while the

EU could offer “clarifications” to

the Political Declaration on the

future relationship between the

UK and Brussels, the Withdrawal

Agreement could not be re-opened.

He said: “Our position is that the

Withdrawal Agreement including

the backstop is closed. But there

is always room for talks and

negotiations.

“We can certainly make changes

to the Political Declaration and we

have demonstrated before that it is

possible to offer clarifications.”

Despite increasingly entrenched

positions taken by both sides, Mr

Varadkar said he was not resigned

to a no-deal Brexit which many

analysts believe would hit the

economy of Ireland particularly

hard. He said: “I don’t accept it’s

unavoidable. There are many ways

no-deal can be avoided. I am

certainly not fatalistic about that.

“As is often the case before an

agreement, things can be a little

bit difficult but they end with an

agreement and I think that’s possi-

ble on this occasion.”

European Commission President

Jean-Claude Juncker has made

clear he is ready to meet Mr

Johnson, according to officials. But

spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt

indicated the next move had to

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Q

Should EU agree

to a new deal

over Brexit?

new rules will allow doctors to

scale down their pension

payments without losing out on

employer contributions.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock

said: “NHS doctors do life-saving

work and they should not have to

worry about the tax impacts if

they take on additional work.

“These comprehensive

proposals will give doctors the

pension they have called for, and

need, to make sure they are

rewarded for extra work.”

Chancellor Sajid Javid added:

“This Government is committed

to ensuring that British people

see a real difference in public

services, including getting

quicker GP appointments and a

reduction in waiting times.

“Critical to that is introducing

flexibility into the system so that

vote. MPs would have 14 days

to decide on an alternative

government and if they failed

to do so a general election

must be called.

But it would be up to

Mr Johnson to choose when it

was held and there would be

no way he could be legally

challenged if he decided to set

it after the October 31 default

departure date.

Lord Sumption said: “I can’t

see how the courts could say

the Prime Minister wasn’t

entitled to take political

considerations into account.

“It’s an intensely political

process. These aren’t

questions of law for the

courts.”

refusing to reopen the exit package

and warned its position was “not in

Europe’s interests”.

EU officials claim leaving with-

out a deal “now appears to be

the UK Government’s central

scenario” after British diplomats

warned them that the October 31

departure date is set in stone.

They are refusing to discuss

changing the Irish backstop border

arrangement which could leave

Britain shackled to Brussels

indefinitely.

But Mr Johnson is determined a

“rethink” is needed by the EU over

the “current refusal” to make any

alterations, No 10 said.

The Prime Minister’s top Europe

adviser David Frost has told senior

figures in Brussels that the UK will

be leaving on October 31 “what-

ever the circumstances”.

A Downing Street spokeswoman

said: “The PM wants to meet EU

leaders and negotiate a new deal –

one that abolishes the anti-demo-

cratic backstop.

“We will throw ourselves into

the negotiations with the greatest

energy and the spirit of friendship

Courts can’t stop a

no-deal says judge

BORIS Johnson has the legal

power to force through a

no-deal Brexit even if he loses

a confidence vote in the

Commons, a retired judge has

claimed.

The Prime Minister is

expected to face an attempt to

bring down his government

next month by MPs who want

to stop Britain leaving the EU

without an exit agreement in

place.

But former Supreme Court

judge Lord Sumption said

Mr Johnson’s opponents have

little chance of success.

Lord Sumption said the

premier was “absolutely”

entitled to stay on as Prime

Minister if he lost a confidence

Retired

judge Lord

Sumption

voiced

concerns

COMPLEX pension rules for

senior NHS staff are set to be

overhauled to end a long-running

row, the Government will

announce today.

Rules introduced in 2016 mean

some top earners whose annual

pension savings exceed their

allowance have been hit with an

unexpected tax bill.

Consultants have been forced

to cut back on shifts in order to

stay below the threshold – but the

our hospitals have the staff they

need to deliver high-quality

patient care.”

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman

of the British Medical Association

council, said the move was a vital

“step forward”.

He added: “After a year’s

tireless lobbying by the BMA

on the damaging effect this

legislation is having on our NHS,

it is good to see the Government

finally taking notice.”

Relief for NHS staff over pension rule overhaul

Changes...Matt Hancock

By Hanna Geissler

Health Reporter

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