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1. Northern Ireland government could be restored
Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith and Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney have announced a deal to restore a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. The ‘New Decade, New Approach’ plan includes a ‘major financial package’, commissioners for and official recognition of the Irish and Ulster Scots languages as well as ‘improvements in how civil servants, special advisers and ministers should conduct themselves’ in the wake of the cash for ash scandal that led to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive three years ago.
2. Sinn Féin mulls, DUP accepts deal to restore NI power-sharing
The DUP is on board with the deal, with Arlene Foster saying it provides ‘a basis upon which the Assembly and Executive can be re-established in a fair and balanced way’. Sinn Féin’s ruling council is currently meeting in Belfast to decide whether to back it.
3. Smith: no extra money until Stormont returns
The ‘major financial package’ in the Northern Ireland deal includes salary rises for health service workers. But Julian Smith told BBC Radio Ulster this morning that ‘the money, the package is dependent on the executive getting back up and running’. Unison says Smith is ‘holding the people of Northern Ireland to ransom’.
4. Iran denies shooting down Ukrainian passenger jet
Responding to Canada, the US and the UK saying that Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation has said: ‘the thing that is clear to us and that we can say with certainty is that this plane was not hit by a missile’. On Coffee House, David Patrikarakos says the downing of the jet only adds to Tehran’s
desperation.
5. Lewis calls for referendum on the monarchy
At the launch of his Labour leadership campaign today, Clive Lewis said there should be a referendum on ‘what the future of the monarchy is’. But ‘I didn’t say they should be abolished’, he later clarified. Lewis has yet to secure the necessary 22 nominations from MPs and MEPs ahead of Monday’s deadline – he’s currently got four, behind Emily Thornberry with nine. Rebecca Long Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have all met the threshold.
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