The Weekly Briefing - 18 May

Headlines

BBC News

UK and Irish PMs hold talks amid Northern Ireland tensions

Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Micheal Martin have discussed the Ballymurphy massacre and post-Brexit trade during a meeting at Chequers. The talks came days after the conclusion of the Ballymurphy inquest. The coroner said the 10 people killed in Belfast in 1971 following an Army operation were "entirely innocent". Read

The Guardian

Local lockdowns possible in England if Covid rates rise, says minister

George Eustice says ‘intensive surveillance’ taking place in areas to determine if restrictions can be lifted on 21 June. Read

Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals

Twenty companies are responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic waste in the world, fuelling the climate crisis and creating an environmental catastrophe, new research reveals. Among the global businesses responsible for 55% of the world’s plastic packaging waste are both state-owned and multinational corporations, including oil and gas giants and chemical companies, according to a comprehensive new analysis. Read

The Independent

Ministers in ‘ferocious row’ over Australia trade deal, as UK faces ‘Italy-style decline’

The division focuses on whether to give tariff-free access to Australian farmers, something which the international trade secretary Liz Truss favours but which Michael Gove opposes. Read