Category Archives: Ursula von der Leyen

Rishi Sunak Sparks Anger By ‘Advising’ King Charles To Meet Ursula Von Der Leyen

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A furious political row has erupted after Rishi Sunak urged King Charles to meet the president of the European Commission in the middle of crunch Brexit talks.

Buckingham Palace confirmed this morning that the monarch will have an audience with Ursula von der Leyen in Windsor.

The EU chief will be in the Berkshire town for negotiations with the prime minister to put the finishing touches to a new deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

In a statement, the palace said: “The king is pleased to meet any world leader if they are visiting Britain and it is the government’s advice that he should do so.”

But the PM’s official spokesperson insisted: “Fundamentally it is a decision for the palace.”

The spokesperson also pointed out that the king had met with other world leaders who have visited the UK recently, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He added: “His view is that it is a matter for the palace to decide and ultimately for the kind to decide if he wants to meet individuals.”

However, former DUP leader Arlene Foster said it was “tone deaf” for for the government to advise the king to meet von der Leyen at such a politically sensitive moment.

Reports first emerged over the weekend that the king and European Commission president could meet up.

At the time, Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “If there were a plan to bring the King in before there is domestic political agreement, it would border on constitutional impropriety.”

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle said: “I do not know how a thought of involving the king could pass somebody’s mind and reach it to their mouth before they realise that this is a very very unwise policy to choose because it has constitutional implications.”

The row comes as Sunak prepares to finally unveil the agreement he has reached with the EU on trade between Britain and Northern Ireland.

He and von der Leyen will hold a press conference this afternoon, before the PM makes a statement to MPs in the House of Commons.

However, it could potentially spark a major Tory split if the DUP say they cannot support the deal.

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UK Warns EU Not To Block Export Of Coronavirus Vaccines

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Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, has issued a warning to the European Commission that any attempt to block coronavirus vaccine exports to the UK would be “counterproductive”.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen ramped up the rhetoric at the weekend, saying the EU had the power to “forbid” exports, adding; “That is the message to AstraZeneca.”

The warning reflects growing frustration on the continent that the EU is not getting the supplies it expected from the British-Swedish manufacturer.

Ireland’s commissioner Mairead McGuinness said no decisions had been taken but that EU leaders would consider the matter when they meet on Thursday.

“European citizens are growing angry and upset at the fact that the vaccine rollout has not happened as rapidly as we had anticipated,” she told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show.

“Both the EU and the UK have contracts with AstraZeneca and my understanding is the company is supplying the UK but the European Union.

“We are supplying the UK with other vaccines, so I think this is just about openness and transparency.”

Wallace, however, hit back by warning the manufacture of the Pfizer vaccine depended on supplies from the UK.

“The grown-up thing would be for the European Commission and some of the European leaders to not indulge in rhetoric but to recognise the obligations that we all have,” he told The Andrew Marr Show.

“We will all hold each other to our contracts. Making a vaccine is like baking a cake. We all have different ingredients and the European Commission will know that.

“You pointed out the point about Pfizer. They will know you wouldn’t want to cut off your nose to spite your face.”

Speaking earlier on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, he said the EU would suffer “severe reputational” damage if it tried interfering with vaccine exports.

“If contracts and undertakings get broken that is a very damaging thing to happen for a trading bloc which prides itself on the rule of law,” he said.

“It would be counterproductive because the one thing we know about vaccine production and manufacturing is that it is collaborative.

“If we start to unpick that, if the commission were to start to do that, I think they would undermine not only their citizens’ chances of having a proper vaccine programme, but also many other countries around the world with the reputational damage to the EU, I think, they would find very hard to change over the short-term.”

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