Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, has acknowledged that Brexit has caused problems for the region - while stressing that violence is unacceptable. He said the Brexit deal was not just causing difficulties for consumers, but for loyalists and unionists in more general terms. After flying to Belfast in response to rioting that has been going on for days, culminating in disorder last night described by the police as the worst sectarian violence seen in recent years (see 1.36pm), and following virtual talks with party leaders at Stormont, Lewis told reporters: It’s really good to see all five parties coming together with a clear statement which is that violence is not acceptable. I’ll be the first to acknowledge over the first few months of the year there were real issues around how the protocol has landed for people, both as consumers and those in the loyalist and unionist community. The way to deal with these things is through a democratic and diplomatic, political process. There is no legitimisation of violence to deal with any of those issues. It doesn’t serve anyone’s cause whatever their concern is on any given issue. In fact, Lewis was hardly the first to acknowledge problems with the Northern Ireland protocol, the post-Brexit arrangement that effectively puts a GB/NI customs border down the Irish Sea, because on 1 January he notoriously posted a tweet saying there was no Irish Sea border. The protocol is only one of several factors behind the rioting, which has predominantly featured people from loyalist communities, but he did say the protocol had to be made to work for the whole of Northern Ireland. (See 5.09pm.) However, the protocol is a legally-binding international treaty, and the government has yet to reach agreement with the EU on how it might be amended. And unionists in Northern Ireland want it not just revised, but abolished altogether - a demand unacceptable to Brussels. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has published the content of two text messages he sent to David Cameron after the former PM lobbied him on behalf of Greensill Capital. The BBC’s Chris Mason has the details.
Anger is mounting at the top of the Labour party over a trade union-commissioned poll on the party’s fortunes in the 6 May Hartlepool byelection that has sparked accusations of “betrayal”. British ministers and officials did not deny that more than 700,000 shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine were secretly dispatched from the UK to Australia a few weeks ago as the EU blocked the drug’s export. People in their 20s should continue to get vaccinated against Covid despite the very rare cases of blood clotting linked to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine because of the wider benefit to their families, friends and neighbours – as well as the direct benefit to themselves, a leading expert has said. That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.