Keir Starmer has pledged to resign as Labour leader if he is fined for breaching Covid rules by taking part in a gathering in Durham last year in which he and other party activists ate takeaway food and drank beer on a campaigning trip. The EU has warned the UK to “dial down the rhetoric” and start being “honest” to voters about the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol after the historic Stormont election that put Sinn Féin top of the polls. The squeeze on British households from high inflation could be bigger and last longer than expected, amid a series of economic shocks from Brexit, Covid and Russia’s war in Ukraine, economists have warned. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, has confirmed that his party does not intend to nominate ministers to the power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland without “decisive action” on the Northern Ireland protocol. After a meeting with Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, he said: We have had a meeting this morning with the secretary of state and we have made our position clear to him. It is the position we have held before the election, throughout the election campaign and will continue to hold, and that is until we get decisive action taken by the UK government on the protocol we will not be nominating ministers to the executive. Without DUP participation, the executive cannot be formed. Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland, who is set to become first minister if the executive does get constituted, accused the DUP of holding Northern Ireland to ransom. She said: As democrats, the DUP, but also the British government, must accept and respect the democratic outcome of this election. Brinkmanship will not be tolerated where the north of Ireland becomes collateral damage in a game of chicken with the European Commission. Responsibility for finding solutions to the protocol lie with Boris Johnson and the EU. But make no mistake, we and our business community here will not be held to ransom.
That’s all from me for today. For the latest live news, head over to our Ukraine blog: