Monthly Archives: February 2022

Image of the week: Joe v Joe

Joe Manchin is burning our future for profit is the full message on the sign carried by activists during a morning rush-hour rally in Washington DC on Monday. The protestors were urging the passing of President Joe Bidens Build Back Better legislation, a near-$2 trillion (1.77tn) package that would reform childcare, education, healthcare and climate change policies, but has been put in doubt by another Joe, West Virginia senator Joe Manchin.

The Democrat, whose support Biden needs, announced in December that he couldnt vote for the House-passed version of the bill and this week his verdict was that it is dead in its current form. Manchin says his main worry is inflation, but he also cites Ukraine and the economic impact of Covid-19 as reasons for Biden to hold back on his spending plans.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among those left unimpressed, with the New York representative wondering where she should direct freezing New Yorkers who are waiting for Build Back Better funds to fix their heating. Manchins yacht?

15 million

The New York Times is now targeting this number of subscribers by the end of 2027. It said this week it had already reached its previous target of 10 million by 2025 thanks to the completion of its deal to buy The Athletic.

$55 million

Losses recorded in 2021 by the sports site, which has about 1.2 million subscribers. The NYT is forecasting a slight improvement in The Athletics operating losses for 2022.

375,000

Subscribers added by the news group in the fourth quarter of 2021. Some 171,000 of these were for its main news offering, with the rest drawn to products such as NYT Cooking and its soon to be Wordle-enhanced Games app.

Despite his superpower sounding distinctly more like the party trick of a remorseless villain, Apple-Man is a superhero who can levitate apples, and the lead protagonist of a forthcoming independent Ukrainian film. Yes, its a satire. Sadly, the largest company in the world (by market capitalisation) is unable to see the funny side, with Apple seeking to block director Vasyl Moskalenkos trademark application for his low-budget, crowdfunded project.

Viewers, Apple contends, will erroneously assume Apple-Man is associated with Apple, diluting the value of the famous Apple brand. The tech behemoth says the films trademark is highly similar to its own and overall creates a similar commercial impression, while a lawyer representing the director says apple isnt a proprietary word and the whole thing is ridiculous. Indeed, its hard to see any winners here, except perhaps those of us who wish to preserve the legacy of the original fruit-themed superhero parody: Bananaman.

On the same day that Boris Johnson was dismissing multiple calls on him to resign after Sue Grays Partygate synopsis, the UKs cabinet office quietly slipped out a document called The Benefits of Brexit. It was almost as if it didnt want anyone to read how exactly Britain was capitalising on its exit from the EU. So which dividends was it trumpeting?

1 Blue passports. Westminster has doubled down on counting the return of iconic blue passports as one of the upsides of Brexit, despite there not being any EU law dictating passport colour.

2 Crown symbol. Brexit allegedly means being able to put the crown symbol on pint glasses in a fitting tribute to Her Majestys Platinum Jubilee. Again, this could have happened while the UK was still in the EU.

3 Tampon tax. VAT on menstrual products has now been abolished in the UK, which is great, to be fair. Of course, it could also have avoided the tampon tax the way the Republic did: by having a pre-existing zero rating.

4 Wine time. The moment has arrived to supercharge the production of English and Welsh wine, the sales trajectory of which is now unhampered by burdensome EU regulations.

5 Being the best. The UK will become the Best Regulated Economy in the World, while a Best of Britain campaign will make the case around the world for British values and the UK border will also, apparently, become the best in the world.

Read the original here:

Apple-Man, Biden's 'dead' plan and the very best of Brexit - The Irish Times

Northern Irelands political posturing brought fresh turmoil for the regions people, frustrated by the shock waves of Brexit and a lack of action from the devolved government in Belfast.

An effective trade border in the Irish Sea is at the heart of the issue as consumers notice gaps in shopping centre shelves and experience geo-tagged barriers to selecting some goods sourced in Great Britain on platforms such as Amazon. What is the point of it?" said Bonita Carnduff in central Belfast, referring to the protocol. Are they going to charge lorries extra just to get food to here? Were not in a third world country. I just think its the stupidest thing, the [sea] border thing.

The protocol has been criticised by Unionist leaders who reject any sort of friction in goods movement or separate status from the rest of the UK.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Paul Givan has quit over the Brexit protocol arrangements. AFP

The resignation this week of First Minister Paul Givan, a member of the pro-British Democratic Unionist party, exposed the fundamental differences at the heart of the devolved administration in a region still rebuilding following decades of sectarian violence. At street level there are complaints about interruptions in UK mainland trade.

I have found it really hard to get things in with the protocol, especially when Amazon is coming up as no longer available in your country. Im part of the UK but yet it's unavailable in my country, said Tracey Lillie, who grew up in the traditionally Protestant area of Cregagh.

Cregagh Road resident Tracey Lillie from east Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Photo: Paul McErlane

That's pretty annoying. Pretty upsetting as well to say that we're not a part of the UK when we are, she added.

Ms Lillie says the protocol is destroying local businesses.

They can't get things in and it's costing them so much more.

Under the terms of the 1998 peace deal that brought decades of conflict to an end, the departure of Mr Givan triggers the automatic resignation of Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill of the DUP's main rival Sinn Fein, which backs Irish unification.

Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

Despite the withdrawal of Mr Givan and Ms ONeill, other ministers in the devolved administration will stay in place. But the executive is now unable to make any significant decisions, including on the budget.

Regardless of the technicalities that Brexit has introduced, theres also wider frustration over the devolved government in Stormont, which has plunged yet again into turmoil.

Officially known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, the border governs post-Brexit commerce but some goods crossing into the region from the rest of the UK face red tape and delays due to Britain's departure from the EU.

The protocol was introduced to keep Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods and preserve an open border with Ireland, a member of the bloc. In so doing, however, it created an effective border in the Irish Sea with the addition of those extra checks.

For some locals, the feuding over the Brexit rules and Northern Irelands future relationship with the rest of the UK is business as usual.

Theyre always at it, said Paul McNally, a resident of Ardoyne, a largely republican area in northern Belfast.

Ardoyne resident Paul McNally, north Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Photo: Paul McErlane

Theyre like a bunch of kids in Stormont. If one doesnt get what they want, they know that they have the power to completely bring the system down.

Theres always something in Stormont. Unfortunately, the ordinary person, like myself or anyone that lives in working-class areas, were the ones that end up falling for it. They dont care, they know their jobs are safe.

Efforts by the UKs central government and the EU to reform the protocol have made little headway so far. There is little praise for Prime Minister Boris Johnsons administration, even though he himself criticised the protocol.

On the Protestant-dominated estate where Northern Irelands most famous footballer George Best grew up, the message is clearly outlined on a poster: Loyalist Cregagh says no to Irish Sea Border."

The battles we refuse to fight today become the hardships our children must endure tomorrow, reads the poster, a short kick away from where Best spent his early years.

No one wants the political turmoil or collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive, said Ms Lillie.

But I think its the only way to get the British government to step up and actually do something for us, because at the moment, they dont want to do anything.

Theyre happy enough just to push us to the side and let us get on with it, she said.

Sinn Fein could end up winning Mays local elections and critics have accused the DUP of taking desperate measures to shore up its own support.

When international agreements are signed, they need to be honoured and the British government needs to understand that, Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Fein, told The National moments after Mr Givans resignation.

Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill (L) and President Mary Lou McDonald (R) after the announcement that the DUP's First Minister resigned from Northern Ireland's devolved government. Photo: Paul McErlane

And here in Ireland, we need good government. And we need the institutions of the peace process to work and that means that everyone including Unionists need to play ball with that, she said outside the Europa Hotel in central Belfast, known as the most bombed hotel in Europe for the repeated attacks inflicted during the Troubles.

Ms McDonald said: What we're witnessing now is just very bad behaviour, self-interested, electorally driven opportunism by the DUP.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson last year threatened to collapse the devolved government in Belfast in protest over the border arrangements that were agreed by Mr Johnson's government.

At the end of the day, you want strong leadership for the whole country, said one resident of south-east Belfast.

Strong leadership gives you a strong sense of community, a strong sense of community, he said, not giving his name because I'm not political I just do my own thing.

But those fundamental differences about Brexit and the border whether in the Irish Sea or with Ireland that have triggered the current political crisis look unlikely to move anytime soon.

A pro-British poster against the Northern Ireland Protocol is seen in the Protestant Shankill Road area of west Belfast. Photo: Paul McErlane

On Friday, Mr Donaldson said Mr Johnson should step aside if the UK prime minister does not urgently address political stability in Northern Ireland and dealing with this Protocol.

There is a divide within society . But I think its just a matter of we are part of the UK, said Ms Lillie.

One of the key strands of the political dispute in Stormont was the desire by the British and Unionists here to get rid of the Protocol and the protections it offers the island of Ireland from the worst effects of Brexit, said Ms McDonald.

We need those protections. They're a consequence of Brexit and they're not going anywhere.

Updated: February 4th 2022, 4:55 PM

Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

More:

Frustration to the fore in Belfast as Northern Ireland ruptures over Brexit trade turmoil - The National

Its been another totally normal week on this little island we call GREAT Britain (Picture: Reuters/Getty/PA)

We really shouldnt complain, because it helps us pay the bills, but the news really has been a bit much this week.

Everywhere you look, anyway you turn, there it is NEWS.

Political scandal, economic turmoil, Brexit, that sort of stuff. Mounds of it. Towering, teetering stacks of it.

Its all just been a bit much recently and were currently dusting off a bottle of Pernod left over from Christmas to try to forget it all.

You, on the other hand, reader, should not be so lucky.

It is your duty as a proper grown up to read and understand this stuff.

We know better than anyone that its an absolute drag so were going to make it as pain-free as possible for you.

By the time youve read this, youll understand it all and can flounce off to the pub, safe in the knowledge that youre an actual proper adult person and not basically a baby with a bank account.

After weeks of threatening to drop her hotly anticipated report, Sue Gray finally delivered.

The civil servant rated best newcomer at this years political drama awards released a slimmed down summary of the findings from her investigation into Downing Street parties.

In the end, it was as notable for what it didnt contain as what it did.

Because the Met have launched a criminal investigation into a dozen gatherings, the dossier was shorn of any detail, coming in at just 16 pages (one for each alleged party investigated).

But make no mistake, this was a damning excoriation of the prime minister and his Number 10 operation.

Ms Gray uncovered failures of leadership and judgment, excessive consumption of alcohol and serious failings.

In civil service language a lexicon designed to be as relentlessly dull as possible that translates as an absolute s***show.

Boris Johnson, who loves a U-turn about as much as a knees up, committed to publishing the full version at the end of the Met inquiry after tying himself in knots by desperately attempting not to give that commitment.

That was Monday morning. Things did not improve.

TL;DR: Sue Gray put out an EP rather than a full album but it was still banging.

After the publication of the Gray report, Mr Johnson headed off to the Commons for his latest public flogging.

It was brutal. Theresa May gleefully stuck the boot in, a former minister told him to go, Sir Keir Starmer called him a man without shame who, just like he has done all his life, has damaged everything and everyone on his way.

The PM reiterated his previous apology, promised to overhaul Number 10 and then dodged questions for long enough until he could get out of there.

And that might just have ushered in a rare lull in the ongoing bin fire that is Mr Johnsons political fortunes. All he had to do was stick to his lines, not say anything too daft.

But that just aint Boris.

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Instead, the PM dredged up an internet conspiracy theory that Sir Keir, who used to be the countrys most senior prosecutor and was knighted for his efforts, failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

This claim is what is known in the trade as absolute steaming bull mess and the prime minister had decided to step right in it.

The comment genuinely horrified many in his own party. Chancellor Rishi Sunak, health secretary Sajid Javid and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab have all publicly distanced themselves from the slur.

Munira Mirza, a Number 10 aide who has stuck with Mr Johnson through thick and thin since he was mayor, had heard enough. She quit over the scurrilous claim, a real body blow for the PM.

That set off 24 hours of political bloodshed dubbed (by me) The Night of the Long Stem Wine Glasses.

At last count, four more aides are gone. The other exits appear to be more to do with the promised post-partygate overhaul but, honestly, who actually knows anymore.

So, after a heady week, this is where the prime minister is: Publicly accused of a failure of leadership, his senior ministers embarrassed to associate with his comments and his Number 10 team which is under police investigation falling apart.

TL;DR: If the Jimmy Savile slur was a dead cat, it turned on Boris and ate him alive.

We dont know about you, reader, but were skint.

Everything literally everything is getting more expensive all the time and its not going to slow down any time soon.

After years of the economy remaining in a semi-frozen state, its now going through a weird post-Covid moody period.

Food prices, petrol prices, rail fares, taxes everything is going up.

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The main problem is energy. Not only is it making production more expensive for most companies which leads to prices going up its making turning the heating on a lavish luxury.

Ofgem announced this week the price cap is going up by 700 a year to help suppliers stay afloat amid a massive surge in the global cost of gas (and, of course, maintain a profit).

The chancellor has announced some limited support measures which could amount to 350 for some households.

Obviously, thats welcome but you dont need to be an economist to work out thats not going to cover the full rise.

Oh, and youre going to pay it back via your energy bills over a few years anyway.

The Bank of England has increased interest rates to try and calm inflation. Why?

Well, because, macroeconomic policy dictates that um, borrowing costs mean thatwell, because

Okay, fine, we have no idea and its the weekend so were not figuring it out. Feel free to read the Financial Times.

TL;DR: Were skint, youre skint, the country is skint.

This year marked the two-year anniversary of the UK sashaying out of the European Union and charging headlong into an uncertain future.

The world did not end. Nor did a new era of milk and honey embrace us. Instead, weve muddled on, with a fair few complications along the way.

To celebrate, Boris Johnson popped his head out of his foxhole to announce a new BREXIT FREEDOMS BILL which CUTS RED TAPE and all that stuff that gets some people all sweaty round the collar.

But over the Irish Sea, Northern Ireland was on hand to remind everyone that this thing isnt really over.

To cut a long story short, a key tranche of Boris Johnson Brexit bill was the NI protocol. He hailed it as a work of diplomatic genius at the time but has spent the last two years trying to renegotiate it.

For a whole host of political, cultural and historic reasons you should really already know, where you put a trade border in Northern Ireland issensitive.

The unionists, led by the DUP in Belfast politics, loathe it and this week unilaterally ordered border officials to down tools and ignore it.

Their first minister resigned in protest over the protocol, plunging its long-term sustainability as well as power-sharing arrangements in Stormont into total disarray.

Its an ongoing legal and political quagmire which no one appears to have the political will or ability to solve.

Why does it matter? This episode underscores a big myth at the heart of British politics: that the prime minister somehow got Brexit done.

He did not. He got a fair bit of it done, sure, but the process is far from over and were still figuring a lot of it out.

But enough of this Remainer nonsense pour yourself a glass of sovereignty and take a deep breath of that sweet, sweet freedom.

TL;DR: The government threw a birthday party for Brexit and Brexit got too drunk.

Well, that was all a bit grim, wasnt it? Let us just dig a nice story out to warm your cockles before we KIDDING.

Were celebrating a vile week by replacing the customary funny story with a suitably gross one.

Meet Jess Taylor. Jess lost her TV remote and, like so many before her, closed her eyes and reached deep into the bowels of her sofa to have a root around for it.

Jess will regret that until the day she dies. Inside she found a warchest of nail clippings, hundreds of the things.

Its enough to make anyone living in a rented place or sitting on a second-hand sofa to look at it and wonder whats below the surface?

Also, Jess, if you happen to have found a tenner down there, please send it to 1 Metro Towers, London. Ta.

TL;DR: Dont look down.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this,check our news page.

Read more from the original source:

ICYMI: Sue Gray, Boris, Brexit and bills - this week's five biggest stories - Metro.co.uk

Britain had initially planned to contribute 15billion over a seven-year period so researchers and institutions could access the EUs Horizon Europe programme. This is the blocs key 80billion key research and innovation project which would have let Britain collaborate with partners in Europe. But the UK was banned from the project over Brexit disputes as relations with the bloc came under strain when Lord David Frost was Brexit Minister.

Britain was told it cannot participate until it resolves these Brexit disputes like fishing licenses and the Northern Ireland protocol, a delay which the science community has not been best pleased with.

Britains Horizon Europe applicants have likely been holding their breath as they wait for new Brexit negotiator Liz Truss to strike a deal and avoid an Article 19 trigger (which would see the UK permanently excluded).

But now, heads may have been turned.

Science Minister George Freeman claims he has an exciting plan in the works.

Instead of simply collaborating with scientists from within the EU, Britain can look to partners from all around the world.

Mr Freeman believes this may be an even more enticing prospect than contributing to the EU scheme.

He has even argued that universities in the US, Australia and Asia are of better quality than our European partners.

But he did recognise that at this current moment, most scientists still want Horizon Europe to be a priority.

Speaking before the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, the Science Minister said that nearly all of the scientists he had spoken to would prefer Horizon Europe.

But only 20 percent said they cant envisage an alternative.

READ MORE:Destructive worms from Europe and Africa to invade UK

Mr Freeman added: There is a very exciting opportunity to make it a very powerful global UK and international programme that drives bilateral and multilateral research.

And he seemed convinced that this would be able to get the science community to change its mind and back an alternative to the blocs project.

He said: If we were to do that, quite a lot of people might say: That sounds really exciting and Im not sure which I prefer that or Horizon.

The Science Minster has already given British researchers a glimpse of what plan B might look like.

In January, Freeman announced that 12 key UK research programmes would receive 17milllion in funding.

The grant came from thehe Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and was part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

While only a drop in the ocean compared to the EUs vast pool of funds, the cash handed to a range of projects likely brought a boost to these important research projects.

It also encouraged collaboration with partners not just in Europe, but elsewhere in the world too.

Prof Rajiv Ranjan from Newcastle University was very excited to be receive the !.5million boost to his Internet of Things (IoE) project, which also involves partners in Australia.

Mr Ranjan toldExpress.co.uk: It is a good approach to look for partners outside of the EU, not to just restrict ourselves to European partners.

I believe after working with Australia and other places that they [the EU] are missing a research culture or research excellence, they dont really inform top scientific publication or top scientific fact the way other countries like the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Link:

Brexit Britain set to pull plug on 15bn EU funds and invest in 'exciting' OWN UK project - Daily Express

Jeremy Vine lost it on his Channel 5 show as guests argued over whether or not there is a border between Northern Ireland and the UK. Former Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe insisted there was one while commentator Owen Jones slammed down her claims. Ms Widdecombe said: "I do not wish away Northern Ireland's role as a full part of the United Kingdom and that is what is now under threat. We weren't proposing a hard border."

Mr Jones added: "Any border would destabilise the peace process that's the point."

Mr Widdecombe continued: "There is a border there. The idea there isn't a border..."

Mr Vine interjected: "We're heading for the sixth anniversary of this argument.

"We still haven't worked it out because we had a land border with the EU. We're in a big political crisis in all points; north, south, east, and west.

READ MORE:Conservatives hold Southend West but turnout third lowest since 1945

It comes as a High Court judge has issued an interim order suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review against the DUP minister's decision can be heard in full.

DUP minister Mr Poots acted unilaterally this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

The judge pointed out that the checks had been ongoing for more than a year and that the order to halt them had been brought at short notice.

A barrister for the Department of Agriculture told the court that their position was that the direction by Mr Poots was "entirely lawful".

He said: "The minister has looked at the matter, he is not prepared to give an undertaking in the meantime.

"The department's position is that the decision taken, and instructions given to officials, were entirely lawful."

Read the original post:

'It's been six years!' Jeremy Vine fed up with people still arguing over Brexit debate - Daily Express

There is a steady "drip-drip of no confidence" in the Prime Minister, according to a former special adviser.

Aaron Bell's vote of no confidence is "not surprising" but marks a drastic shift from his 2019 position which is significant, said Chris White.

Mr Bell was one of the MPs who strongly supported the prime minister in 2019 when he was newly elected as an MP.

Mr White said: "And so for effectively for him to lose confidence in the prime minister, I think shows a steady drip, drip of no confidence letters going in. We had other letters go in this week.

"I think the prime minister would have hoped to stem the tide of letters going in during the course of the week with some of his statements, and indeed some of the sackings or resignations, I should say, that has happened in the last 24 and 36 hours after Downing Street.

"But clearly, that doesn't seem to be the case."

Excerpt from:

Boris Johnson: Brexit backers turn on PM as popularity spirals - ANOTHER letter in - Daily Express

Under pressure from backbench MPs with fears of an imminent leadership challenge and a failure to make a breakthrough in talks with Brussels, the mood in Westminster feels eerily similar to Mrs May's time in No10. And the largest party in the power-sharing Executive of Northern Ireland has warned Mr Johnson risks throwing away the chance to make Brexit a success with his actions.

Sammy Wilson, the DUP's Brexit spokesman, attacked the Prime Minister for "pussyfooting around" as claimed the party had been left with no choice but to take Brexit into its own hands.

Earlier this week the party demanded officials stop implementing Brexit customs checks at the border.

They argued the checks had created trade barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, undermining its position in the United Kingdom.

For months the DUP has held off taking the action, putting its faith in Mr Johnson and the Westminster Government to deal with the problems caused by the Protocol.

READ MORE:Jeremy Vine fed up with people still arguing about Brexit

But Mr Willson accused the Prime Minister of being guilty of repeating the mistakes of Mrs May in dealing with Brussels, forcing them to intervene.

"We were led by the nose when Theresa May was Prime Minister, he's now let himself be led by the nose," the East Antrim MP told Express.co.uk.

"From the very start the Government allowed the EU to dictate the sequencing.

"Up until about three months ago they let the EU dictate the terms that there could be no renegotiation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

"And now the EU has accepted there can be a renegotiation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, they've allowed them to dictate how long these negotiations are going to take place.

"All along we've simply had the EU pulling the Government's strings.

READ MORE:'Let us down badly!' Britons erupt at Boris and Brexit failures

Despite the party's agriculture minister ordering civil servants for cease checking goods arriving at ports, officials are continuing to do so.

The order is subject to a legal challenge that will be heard by the High Court on March 7.

Northern Ireland's First Minister, Paul Givan, has also resigned in a bid to force the UK Government into action on the Protocol.

The UK Government says while it believes the threshold to trigger Article 16, the legal means to suspend aspects of the Protocol, has been met, it would rather negotiate a diplomatic solution to the problems caused.

Criticising Mr Johnson for failing to trigger Article 16, Mr Wilson said: "I would have thought at a time when his leadership is under some challenge, the very thing he should be doing to secure his leadership is standing up to the EU.

"It would be popular with his own backbenchers but even more, it would be in keeping with the idea he claims we've now taken back our sovereignty.

"It would be actual proof that we have taken back our sovereignty.

"Every day these talks are allowed to go on further is another indication that actually we're not a sovereign nation, we're a nation which still is dependent on the good will and acceptance of whatever changes there are coming from the EU."

View post:

'The same as Theresa May!' Boris warned he's making catastrophic strategic error on Brexit - Daily Express

THE 82% increase in the electricity standing charge is obscene and will take the annual charge to 165.50 per annum before 1Kwh of power is used.

This increase is unrelated to the huge hike in the wholesale price of gas and will disproportionately hit low electricity users the most.

Consumers like pensioners and low-income households, who are unlikely to use dishwashers, tumble dryers and electronics and therefore unlikely to be able cut their usage to compensate will suffer the most.

Boris Johnson stated before Brexit that Britain would be able to ditch VAT on gas and electricity bills as the EU regulations did not permit it. What better time to scrap VAT on energy than now, when we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis with energy, food, interest rates and NI contributions all increasing to unparalleled levels?

Instead, the Tories "kindly" decided to lend us 200 towards the average 700 bill increase on the basis that we pay it back over the following five years ("Fury as energy bills to rise 700 with aid branded inadequate", The Herald, February 4).

However, there are no guarantees that these eye-watering prices will reduce and that hard-pressed families will be able to afford the extra repayments.

Scotland is rich in oil, gas and wind power; however, we are hit with one of the highest energy tariffs in the UK.

If only "Scotland will not be dragged out of the EU against our will" meant what it said on the tin and we had achieved independence.

Iris Graham, Edinburgh.

SNP UNTRUTHS OVER PENSIONS

IAN Blackford in a podcast, and Nicola Sturgeon at First Ministers Questions, have unveiled a brand new SNP orthodoxy on pensions ("Sturgeon vows state pension will not shrink under independence", The Herald, February 4). In 2013, the SNPs referendum White Paper stated unambiguously that "for those people living in Scotland in receipt of the UK State Pension at the time of independence, the responsibility for the payment of that pension will transfer to the Scottish government" (p144). The then UK Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, stated that "the Scottish people would expect their government to take on full responsibility for paying pensions to people in Scotland, including where liabilities had arisen before independence". The SNP prefers to quote an earlier statement by Mr Webb which this later one supersedes.

In recent days, first Mr Blackford and then Ms Sturgeon have spoken publicly about how the "commitment to continue to pay pensions rests with the UK Government" and that "absolutely nothing would change". Unless they can produce evidence of Her Majestys Government having entered a new undertaking on this matter, we can bin and disregard what they have said, which is merely a regurgitation of untruths peddled on the Business for Scotland website.

Mr Blackfords and Ms Sturgeons statements are incorrect. Why these people should spread misleading information at this time is anyones guess.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.

* THE issue of who would pay state pensions in an independent Scotland prompts this question for the First Minister: if England were to secede from the UK, would rUK (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) continue to pay the state pensions of the English?

James Quinn, Lanark.

PRIME-TIME STUPIDITY

WE should thank the BBC for its Thursday night entertainment.

First we start with the reality of the news, which is a drama that the Government would like to go away.

Then we get The Apprentice, which unintentionally mirrors Boris Johnson and Co with two-legged mistakes who consider themselves to be clever and worthy of a richly-earned future, no matter an obvious lack of worldly or business nous. Team leaders promise victory and sometimes get initial plaudits when Lord Sugar asks them. However, when things go wrong, this perception is replaced by claims of "well, it was not my idea" or "I pointed out the error but nobody listened". Last night (February 3 )we had three supposedly intelligent adults who could not spell "Arctic" then decided to avoid mentioning it until clients noticed it. Then these three plus three others, including the ambitious and confident team leader, thought that penguins lived at the North Pole (actually they are as common there as integrity in the present Government). The one problem with this reality show is that it must run for a fixed length, so there can only be a limited number of idiots sacked at any one time.

Finally Thursday gives us Question Time, when we must feel sympathy for the one sitting Conservative MP who has to defend the Prime Minister and then his own party who promoted him. Do they toss a coin to decide each week's victim for the firing line, or do they get volunteers like the team leaders in the previously mentioned programme?

One of the supposedly non-party participants stated the very English comment that "remember Boris delivered Brexit". Had he not noticed the rise in costs before Covid struck, the six-mile queues of lorries at Dover or the Irish/NI trade problems? When will we get to the acceptance of the realities of Brexit never mind the stupid party activities at No. 10 and the dishonesty that followed?

JB Drummond, Kilmarnock.

NI'S TURN TO SUFFER FROM PM FOLLY

NOW it is the turn of Northern Ireland unfortunately to suffer from the consequences of the "rhubarb" and "piffle" generated at times by Boris Johnson ("Northern Ireland First Minister resigns in protest over protocol", The Herald, February 4). On a number of occasions he has stated with regard to Northern Irelands protocol that there would be no checks on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Sir Keir Starmer in this context commented: "This is a Prime Minister who either doesnt know the details of the deal he has negotiated or isnt being straight about it."

There are many in Northern Ireland who believe that they deserved better from a British Prime Minister. How many more damaging episodes involving Mr Johnson are the majority of Conservative MPs prepared to put up with before they call time up out of self-interest? Do they really have to await the results of the May local elections?

Ian W Thomson, Lenzie.

COVID TREATMENT CLAIMS DEBUNKED

JOANNA Blythman has informed and entertained Herald readers with her restaurant reviews and her articles on food generally. However, in recent months she has published several articles on Covid-19, its management and sequelae which are controversial and which present an alternative viewpoint to conventional wisdom on the subject.

No one should object to alternative views, but these views should be backed up by genuine rather than spurious evidence, and Ms Blythmans track record in this regard is poor.

In an early article, she misinterpreted the findings of the NHS yellow card scheme on Covid vaccine side-effects and deaths. You subsequently issued a correction of this misrepresentation.

In a subsequent article on December 18, she made further erroneous claims, namely that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are effective treatments for Covid, which they are not.

For ivermectin, there are poor quality studies, often anecdotal, and without good controls for comparison, which suggested a benefit. However, proper controlled trials (which compared the outcomes of treated and untreated patients) showed no evidence of therapeutic benefit. The verdict of the National Institute for Health in the US is that ivermectin should not be used as a Covid treatment.

For hydroxychloroquine, the evidence is even more dubious. The two original articles suggesting the use of hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis or treatment of Covid came from a laboratory in Marseilles in 2020. Both studies were largely uncontrolled and both were retrospective, looking at the results of treatment with hindsight. Hindsight allows researchers, if they wish, to ignore patients whose results dont support the conclusions they wish to reach.

These studies have been pilloried by most other researchers, and have resulted in the director of the laboratory, Dr Didier Raoult, being found guilty of misleading the public by the French equivalent of our General Medical Council. He has since retired. No properly controlled studies have found any therapeutic benefit from the use of hydroxychloroquine. This can be confirmed anecdotally by the experience of Donald Trump and President Bolsonaro of Brazil, both of whom contracted Covid despite taking hydroxychloroquine.

So, though Ms Blythman is entitled to her alternative views on Covid, these views should not be backed up by inaccurate information.

Dr Sam Craig, Glasgow.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

YOUR report about a house for sale in Clachtoll ("Most expensive croft yet on the NC500 is all yours for over 800k", The Herald, February 4) caught my attention, both because of the asking price of over 800,000 and because thats a part of Scotland I fell in love with many years ago, when I spent student summers working in Lochinver and Loch Loyal, near Tongue.

However, any interest in buying the place was quelled not just by the asking price, but also by the description provided by the estate agents, Strutt and Parker. They say the property (I hesitate to describe it as a croft) is located on a spectacular peninsular jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. I think the noun they were searching for was peninsula, though it may be pronounced with a terminal "r" in the salons of west London. And Id call the body of water they refer to as The Minch.

Then you quote the advertising puff about being overlooked by the dramatic peaks of Suilven, Stac Pollaidh, Canisp, Quinag and Ben More Assynt which dominate the nearby skyline. Fabulous hills all, but none closer than 10 miles from Clachtoll. And, from the selling agents website, the house looks southwest to the bare headland of Rubha Coigeach and has a rocky outcrop behind cutting off views of those "dramatic peaks".

Nice house, but caveat emptor.

Doug Maughan, Dunblane.

DATES WITH DESTINY

ALAN Fitzpatrick's "numerical oddity" (Letters, February 4) can be improved by using full digits for day/month/year as 01, and so on. Using this method, those of us with time on our nerdish hands are looking forward to the imminent palindrome 22/02/2022 and bemoan the need to wait for eight years for the next one: 03/02/2030.

Many wonderful verbal palindromes have been invented, some of inordinate length, but I always return to the original chat-up line in the Garden of Eden: "Madam, I'm Adam."

Tom Rodger, Glasgow.

* ALAN Fitzpatrick asks about any occult or other meaning attributable to Wednesday's date, 2/2/22.

I suggest that instead of Wednesday, it was Twosday.

David Miller, Milngavie.

Read more: We must never repeat the Cameron indyref folly

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Letters: Time to live up to Brexit boast and axe VAT on energy - HeraldScotland

Mr Javid will draw the battle lines today as he has pledged to invest in potential new treatments including coronavirus-style vaccines for cancer. In a speech introducing the proposals at the Francis Crick Institute, the health secretary will announce a call for evidence on a new 10-year Government plan to improve the countrys cancer care.

Mr Javid will also promise to make the UKs cancer care system "the best in Europe".

Mr Javid will announce the use of revolutionary technologies like artificial intelligence to diagnose the disease and clear the massive backlog of cases created due to Covid-19.

While treatment of cancer cases continued at about 94 percent of pre-pandemic levels, there were almost 50,000 fewer cancer diagnoses across the UK between March 2020 and November last year.

Mr Javid will say: Let this be the day when we declare a national war on cancer. We have published the call for evidence for a new ten-year cancer plan for England, a searching new vision for how we will lead the world in cancer care.

This plan will show how we are learning the lessons from the pandemic, and apply them to improving cancer services over the next decade.

It will take a far-reaching look at how we want cancer care to be in 2032 10 years from now. Looking at all stages, from prevention to diagnosis, to treatment and vaccines.

We want to hear views from far and wide to help us shape this work. Please join us in this effort, so fewer people face the heartache of losing a loved one to this wretched disease.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said this 10-year plan would prioritise boosting the cancer workforce and increasing research into technologies which help to detect the disease in its early stage.

READ MORE:World Cancer Day: 12 most common symptoms of cancer

Minister for primary care Maria Caulfield said: Half of us will have cancer at some point in our lives, and many more will have to support someone close to them who has it.

We want to have the best cancer care in Europe and this call to evidence will help us develop a plan to achieve this.

We want to hear from you cancer patients, relatives and NHS staff to see how we can best move forward to deliver better care and treatment.

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Brexit Britain launches 'war on cancer' with revolutionary new plan to be 'best in Europe' - Daily Express