Judith Dickinson

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal contained two major changes from May’s Brexit deal that he was able to get the EU to change, prior to the 2019 GE, essentially because the EU didn’t think Boris would win the GE before ratification. The two major changes were: 1) Move the border for the NI Protocol to the Irish Sea. May’s deal had the whole of the U.K. under EU law until such a time as a solution for NI could be found. Essentially indefinitely keeping the U.K. in the EUs orbit with no say. Boris moved the border and had a clause in the NIP that allowed for its reopening when circumstances change post GE - aka the EU/UK TCA - although the EU refused to honour that clause when we finally had the EU/UK TCA one year after the GE. 2. Move the ‘Level Playing Field’ agreement (dynamic alignment) from the legally binding Withdrawal Agreement to the non legally binding Political Declaration. Essentially removing it provided Boris won the GE. Boris did this because it was all that he could do with the constraints that Parliament had placed on him but because it gave a sound base from which to eventually (by sorting NI out) deliver a full Independent, Sovereign U.K. Starmer is now delivering without a mandate the kind of Brexit that May, even in a pro Remain Parliament, couldn’t get through the house. He is delivering the Brexit that he himself refused as shadow Brexit Secretary.

The RSPCA is looking for a man after a ginger cat was found taped inside a pet carrier, wrapped in a bin bag, and thrown over a fence into a garden in Basildon, Essex. The three-year-old cat was taken to a vet, where it was found to have no injuries but was clearly stressed. A CCTV image of the man, described as white and wearing glasses, a dark jacket, and a light blue T-shirt, has been released as investigators appeal for witnesses.