Brexit: Gove says he hopes PM’s Brussels dinner with Von der Leyen will create ‘political momentum’ for deal
Gove #Gove
8.40am EST 08:40
The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Live podcast is out. Heather Stewart, Lisa O’Carroll and Daniel Boffey discuss the chances of securing a Brexit deal at this late hour. Severin Carrell updates us on the Alex Salmond inquiry in Scotland. Plus, Simon Murphy speaks to MPs after their first year in parliament.
8.38am EST 08:38
In the Commons the DUP’s Sammy Wilson says the Irish government is spinning that the grace period is to allow supermarkets in Northern Ireland time to source goods from Ireland.
Gove says he thinks the the best place for supermarkets in Northern Ireland to source food from is from Northern Ireland itself.
8.32am EST 08:32
This is from Clodagh Rice, BBC Northern Ireland’s business correspondent, summing up the key points in Michael Gove’s statement.
8.29am EST 08:29
Richard Drax, another Brexiter, asks Gove to confirm that EU law will still apply in Northern Ireland under this plan. He says he thought Brexit was about freeing the UK from EU law.
Gove says Drax is right. But he says the agreement will benefit Northern Ireland.
8.28am EST 08:28
Sir Bernard Jenkin, a Tory Brexiter, said parts of the Northern Ireland protocol will remain subject to the European court of justice. He said the EU only budged because the UK threatened to block this (with the contentious clauses in the internal market bill). He asked Gove if he would maintain that threat.
Gove said the Commons is sovereign. He said the clauses were no longer needed. But he said in future the Commons could always legislate as it wanted.
8.24am EST 08:24
Gove confirms some businesses in Northern Ireland will still be bound by EU law under new plan
Liam Fox, the Conservative former international trade secretary, if the new agreement will allow for any direct application of EU law in Northern Ireland.
Gove says, under the agreement, there will be a requirement on some businesses in Northern Ireland to follow the “acquis” (the body of EU law). He says this is necessary to prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
8.18am EST 08:18
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader at Westminster, says the Act of Union says there should be no barrier to trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. He says safeguarding the union is not a three-month or six-month project. It is an enduring commitment, he says. If the government has to legislate to protect this, will it do so?
Gove says the government was criticised for the provisions in the internal market bill that would have given it the sort of power Donaldson is asking for. He says those powers are no longer needed. If there are any further problems, he says he hopes they can be resolved in an “patient and pragmatic” way.
8.13am EST 08:13
In the Commons Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Brexit committee, says the new agreement is full of “grace periods”. What will happen after they lapse?
Gove says he thinks three months will allow time for supermarkets to prepare for the new arrangements.
On chilled meats, he says the EU originally wanted the six-month grace period to be non-renewable. But it could be renewed, he says.
8.01am EST 08:01
Michael Gove’s statement to MPs about Northern Ireland protocol
Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, is making a statement to MPs now about the agreement reached with the EU yesterday about how to implement the Northern Ireland protocol, part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Gove says the deal will protect “unfettered access” for Northern Ireland businesses to the GB market.
He says the EU has also given up plans for a default tariff regime for all goods going to Northern Ireland. If that had been implemented, there would have been a 58% tariff on a pint of milk. But that has been dropped, he says.
He says there will be a grace period for supermarket supplies, and the supply of sausages to Northern Ireland should continue.
He says there will be reciprocal agreements for agrifoods.
On state aid, he says the agreement prevents the risk of “reach back” – state aid for firms in Britain being affected by the state aid rules applying to Northern Ireland.
There will be no mini EU embassy in Belfast, he says. Instead there will be “sensible” practical arrangements for cooperation and reciprocal data sharing.
He confirms that, as a result of this agreement, the government is dropping the clauses from the internal market bill that would have allowed the government to over-rule the withdrawal agreement (in breach of international law).
Updated at 8.20am EST
7.46am EST 07:46
Welsh chief medical officer urges people to rethink Christmas plans as Covid cases rise 
The chief medical officer for Wales has called for people to think again about how they intend to celebrate Christmas as the number of cases continues to “accelerate”.
Dr Frank Atherton said despite the UK four-nation approach to the festive period, Welsh citizens should make personal choices. “We all need to think about our plans and perhaps re-think our plans,” he said.
Atherton said he had planned to visit relatives in England and Northern Ireland but now intended to stay at home and have a “small, quiet Christmas” with his own household. He said he would not be visiting pubs, restaurants, shops or Christmas fairs. “This Christmas has to be different,” he said.
Atherton said: “We are facing a very serious situation. Coronavirus is accelerating.”
He said the virus is spreading faster than “we could have anticipated”, with an increase in 21 of 22 of Wales’ local authority areas.
The rate for Wales is now almost 350 cases per 100,000 people with 10 areas having rates over 400. Atherton said there was “widespread community transmission” and “huge pressure on the system.”
He denied the Welsh government had “lost control” of the situation and said the government alone could not tackle the situation. “Everyone has to think about what their role is,” he said.
He said Wales was not reconsidering changing the rules around Christmas. “That would just confuse everybody.”
Updated at 8.04am EST