emma vardy, bbc news.as passed another grim milestone in its fight against covid—i9 afterjohn hopkins announced coronavirus deaths rose by at least 3,112 on wednesday. it's the highest reported one day increase since the pandemic started. i'm joined now by our washington correspondent, nomia iqbal. hi, just took through numbers then. yes, covid-19 infections and hospitalisations have been surging across the us and there is that grim milestone of more than 3000 deaths in one day. as well as that, there is also a number number that has emerged. there has been more than 106,000 hospitalisations of people with the infection and of course, this is all playing out as the country awaits approval of two vaccinations. it has got to clear those regulatory hurdles by the fda before it can be rolled out. the chief adviser for donald trump's operation warp speed, which is the initiative aimed at rolling out the vaccination, says that if that approval comes potentially this week, then we could start to see the first few

emma vardy, bbc news.ment wants to break up facebook over concerns it's abusing its dominance in social media to crush smaller competitors. federal and state regulators have sued the company, saying it's become a digital monopoly and should be ordered to sell off instagram and whastapp, which have billions of users. new york's attorney—general, who is leading a coalition of 48 states suing facebook, explained why they decided to take action. for nearly a decade, facebook has used its dominance, and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition. all at the expense of everyday users. by using its vast troves of data and money, facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived as potential threats. they have reduced choices for consumers and stifled innovation. and they degraded privacy protections for millions of americans. i'm joined by seth bloom, former general counsel of the us senate anti—trust committee. thank you very much are coming on the programme. thank you for the in

emma vardy, bbc news.le with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the pfizer—biontech coronavirus vaccine. it comes after two uk nhs workers had an adverse response to the jab yesterday. they've both recovered already. thousands of other people have received the vaccine without any issues. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. they've been together ever since they met while working at basildon hospital more than five decades ago. now, vic and penny griffiths have returned to the place where they each served for a0 years, from where the covid vaccine offers some hope of better days ahead. 0ur zest for life doesn't diminish when you get older, but the anxieties are there about catching something or doing something that may stop the span of your life. as far as i'm concerned, both of us want to have it done and get on with life. sharp scratch now, angela. but, as vaccinations continue, a warning from the medicines regulator — two nhs staff, both with a history of serious alle

emma vardy, bbc news. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here.n thing that will be discussed at this dinner in brussels — what people call the level playing field. what do we understand by that?|j call the level playing field. what do we understand by that? i think the prime minister and chancellor merkel let the cat out of the bag that the main issue here is the detail on the strength of this level playing field. the principle of it has been accepted in the negotiations, i understand. and that means the standards that we share in the uk and the eu form a floor of the uk and the eu form a floor of the environment and workers' rights. and if either side goes below that by allowing companies to pollute more perhaps paying workers less to getan more perhaps paying workers less to get an advantage, the other side can penalise them with taxes on british ca i’s penalise them with taxes on british cars or french wines. so that has been negotiated. the bone of contention is what happens in the future. so if the eu increases its regulations on the environ

emma vardy, thank you. furlough scheme for another month, meaning it will now run until the end of april next year. the scheme pays workers up to 80 % of their salary, for hours they can't work because of the pandemic. our economics editor faisal islam is here. this has come as something of a surprise. and the recognition of the tough months ahead? the fellow scheme was designed as a bridge to some semblance of economic normality and that needs to be extended by a month to the end of april but as important is the notion, the generosity of the scheme, which was due to be reviewed is now sticking at 80% subsidy for wages from the government all the way until the end of april. what is driving this is i think concerned that the health emergency will be more intense and more long—lived than had been anticipated just a few weeks or months ago, and that will have a knock—on effect for tiered restrictions perhaps even national lockdowns, and also on top of that evenif lockdowns, and also on top of that even if the

emma vardy, bbc news. that people with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the pfizer—biontech coronavirus vaccine. it comes after two nhs workers had an adverse response to the jab yesterday. they've both recovered already. thousands of other people have received the vaccine without any issues. our health correspondent, dominic hughes, reports. they've been together ever since they met while working at basildon hospital more than five decades ago. now, vic and penny griffiths have returned to the place where they each served for a0 years, from where the covid vaccine offers some hope of better days ahead. our zest for life doesn't diminish when you get older, but the anxieties are there about catching something or doing something that may stop the span of your life. as far as i'm concerned, both of us want to have it done and get on with life. sharp scratch now, angela. but as vaccinations continue, a warning from the medicines regulator — two nhs staff, both with a history of seri

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.s have just moved up a level of restrictions in the last few minutes, whilst in wales, a fresh lockdown will come into force after christmas day. we'll talk to our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie in glasgow in a moment, but first, to sian lloyd in cardiff. sian, people facing big changes in a less than a week's time? absolutely sophie, the first of the new measures come into force on christmas eve where nonessential businesses have to close and then full wales lockdown from december 28th. now the number of cases are continuing to rise here, and today, the welsh government urged people to follow these new measures when hay come in, to behave sensibly over the christmas period or they said there would be hard times to come in january. it did acknowledge with new restrictions comes again impact on people's lives and livelihoods and it announced a package of measures of extra funding to support businesses who are going to be hit during this lockdown. now, opponents have said the

emma vardy, bbc news.o break up facebook over concerns it's abusing its dominance in social media to crush smaller competitors. federal and state regulators have sued the company, saying it's become a digital monopoly and should be ordered to sell off instagram and whatsapp, which have billions of users. new york's attorney—general, who is leading a coalition of 48 states suing facebook, explained why they decided to take action. nearly a decade, facebook has used its dominance, and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition. all at the expense of everyday users. by using its vast troves of data and money, facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived as potential threats. they have reduced choices for consumers. a stifle innovation. and they degraded privacy protections for millions of americans. i'm joined by ron knox, senior researcher at the institute for local self reliance and an expert on monopolies. thank you for coming on the programme. great to be here. strong

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.ing more than 600 people to the uk in small boats from france, has been broken up by immigration enforcement. a 36—year—old british syrian man was amongst the 14 people arrested. he was detained in north—west london this morning. so far this year more than 8,000 people have made the journey across the channel by boat. asda, sainsbury‘s and aldi say they'll hand back almost a billion pounds in business rates relief to the government. tesco and morrisons made similar announcements yesterday. retailers were given the rates holiday because of the first lockdown. but supermarkets, whose sales have boomed in the crisis, were criticised for taking government help while paying dividends to shareholders. some grocers, including marks and spencer, say they won't repay the money. from today, students across england can head home for christmas. but they're being urged to get a negative test for coronavirus before setting off. universities and higher education institutions in scotland, wales and no

glasgow, our wales correspondent tomos morgan in cardiff, but first here's our ireland correspondent emma vardyjust think back, the brexit process was so seismic for the island of ireland, because it threw up all of those questions over what to do about the irish land border and it reminded everyone of the troubled history of this place. but now many of the issues which once seemed unresolvable, there are now agreements on. and northern ireland enters this new era where doing trade here will be different from the rest of the uk, those special arrangements in order to keep that irish land border invisible. now, the trade deal has been welcomed here, it is likely to make some of those special arrangements for northern ireland easier to carry out in future and it will bring great relief in the irish republic, where many people's livelihoods, particularly in the food industry, depended on there being a deal for the future of trade between our two islands. well, most of the reaction in scotland so far has focused on fish and chips — or, to be precise, seed potatoes. that's the type that farmers grow

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.umber of new cases reported per day in the last week is 23,959. the number of people being admitted to hospital is rising too — 1,707 on average each day between now and last sunday. 489 deaths were reported for the last 24 hours — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. on average in the past week, there were 434 deaths per day. the total number of uk deaths is now 66,541. scotland's public health minister has been sacked after figures released earlier this week showed the number of people dying from drug misuse in scotland had reached record levels. labour and the liberal democrats had been demanding joe fitzpatrick‘s resignation and were preparing a vote of no confidence in him at holyrood. first minister nicola sturgeon has thanked mr fitzpatrick for his work, and insisted the scottish government is determined to tackle the drugs crisis. there were more than 1,250 drug—related deaths last year, the worst such rate in europe. the chief constable of greater

my colleague in northern ireland, emma vardy, was one of the first to highlight the issue. bennett has seen her father in four weeks. you can't touch my hand. he doesn't understand why she can't come in. heartbreaking. it was lovely to see him, lovely to see him. staff at this care home in belfast have been coping with a number of suspected and confirmed cases of coronavirus. all 82 residents are being kept in isolation, but it's not easy. many have dementia. he's looking for us and saying why is his family not coming to see him, but i know the staff here are so good to him and i know he's being well cared for. they're afraid to go to work themselves because they probably have vulnerable people at home and young children. the first cases of the virus were detected early here. magdalene mitchell, a resident, passed away in hospital. staff are trying to prevent infection as best as they can, but residents need hands—on care and the virus can spread rapidly. are you worried about your own safety? it's hot and tiring, but behind the masks, still smiles. inside, residents need t

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.overnment. tesco and morrisons made similar announcements yesterday. retailers were given the rates holiday because of the first lockdown. but supermarkets, whose sales have boomed in the crisis, were criticised for taking government help while paying dividends to shareholders. some grocers, including marks and spencer, say they won't repay the money. i'll be back very shortly but let's look at the weather with darren. hello. it's been a cold day today and we had rain for england and wales and showers following at the west wales in the southwest overnight but heavier rain returning into the southeast of england and east anglia and other wet weather in northern england will spill its way into scotla nd england will spill its way into scotland into the cold air and we will find snow following in many parts of the country. snow for a while across the northern pennines. i see while across the northern pennines. isee in while across the northern pennines. i see in frosty across much of scot

here's our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, so what does it mean for companies there?ously welcomed in northern ireland as progress. it means many companies are now getting a nswe rs companies are now getting answers about the process that will have to go through to get goods from northern ireland into the biggest market great britain and to get things like supermarket shipments of food over the irish sea onto the sheu over the irish sea onto the shelf but the devil will be in the detail and it will all be revealed tomorrow. don't forget injanuary revealed tomorrow. don't forget in january those special arrangements will kick in for northern ireland where northern ireland had to continue sticking by eu rules because northern ireland is effectively becoming a new gout way into the eu. -- becoming a new gout way into the eu. —— a new gateway. people are fond of reminding borisjohnson people are fond of reminding boris johnson because companies having to get ready for the new checks and paperwork, he told them previously, looked don't worry when you get through all of thi

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.upils in england when they return injanuary is undeliverable — that's according to teaching unions, school governors, the church of england and colleges. ministers announced the plans yesterday, along with a staggered return to the classroom. but schools says it will be impossible to recruit and train the thousands of people needed to carry out tests in the next two weeks. our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. think about what's gone well, first of all, this term. the last lessons before christmas, but not all pupils will be back at the start of term. well, we made it. can you believe where we started back in september? doing his best to be cheerful in assembly, but the head expects to work through christmas on testing. i feel absolutely physically and emotionally exhausted after what has definitely been the toughest term ever in 20 years in teaching. when i heard this news two days ago, i actually felt rather broken, because i just thought, how are we going to get all of thi

joining me now is our correspondents james shaw, who is near the edinburgh castle, and emma vardy, inntre. james, traditionally this is a huge night in scotland, but not today? that's right. edinburgh's hogmanay party is recognised around the world as one of the biggest, most exciting, most lively new year's parties you can go to. people come from around the world to be here at this time normally, but not tonight. and looking at scenes around me, it is such a strange atmosphere, looking down the royal mile in front of me with edinburgh castle behind me. everything is so quiet, just 1—2 people out, perhaps looking at the illumination of the castle. but on the main shopping street through the centre of edinburgh, there would be 80,000 people, centre of edinburgh, there would be 80 , 000 people, soundstages centre of edinburgh, there would be 80,000 people, soundstages the length of the street, a big concert going on in the city park next to that main street. events going on, fireworks all night, none of that is going on. the only traditional event happening tonight is a loan paper will

in a moment we'll hear from james shaw in glasgow and emma vardy in lisburn, but first to sian lloyd, tighter restrictions are on their way. nonessential shops and close contact services like hairdressers together with fitness and leisure centres must close from the end of trading on christmas eve and all hospitality venues must shut from six o'clock on christmas day. the five—day window that had already been agreed remains in place but the welsh government has said they can only form of a bubble of two households by law although i think a person canjoin households by law although i think a person can join them. from the 28th of december wales goes into lockdown which means people are expected to stay at home and public facilities will cause. there is no end in sight to these restrictions but we are told they will be reviewed every three weeks. in scotland the restrictions around christmas are already a little tighter than in other parts of the country saw only eight adults from three households should meet endorse, not including children under 12, but big guidance to delimit even mo

glasgow, our wales correspondent tomos morgan in cardiff, but first, here's our ireland correspondent emma vardy was so seismic for the island of ireland, because it threw up all of those questions over what to do about the irish land border and it reminded everyone of the troubled history of this place. but now many of the issues which once seemed unresolvable, there are now agreements on. and northern ireland enters this new era where doing trade here will be different from the rest of the uk, those special arrangements in order to keep that irish land border invisible. now, the trade deal has been welcomed here, it is likely to make some of those special arrangements for northern ireland easier to carry out in future and it will bring great relief in the irish republic, where many people's livelihoods, particularly in the food industry, depended on there being a deal for the future of trade between our two islands. well, most of the reaction in scotland so far has focused on fish and chips — or, to be precise, seed potatoes. that's the type that farmers grow, not the type that you and i will

earlier, i spoke to our correspondents james shaw in edinburgh and emma vardy in belfast. this year's celebration is a very different one. that's right. edinburgh's hogmanay party is recognised around the world as one of the biggest, most exciting, most lively new year's parties you can go to. people come from around the world to be here at this time normally — but not tonight. and looking at scenes around me, it really is extraordinary. it's such a strange atmosphere, looking down the royal mile in front of me with edinburgh castle behind me. everything is so quiet, just 1—2 people out, seeing, i suppose, if anything is going on, perhaps looking at the illumination of the castle. but on the main shopping street through the centre of edinburgh, there would be 80,000 people, soundstages the length of the street, a big concert going on in the city park next door to that main street. events all over the city, fireworks at midnight — none of that at all tonight. the only official event happening tonight is a lone ppper will appear on the ramparts of edinburgh castle just befor

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.attorney general‘s office had referred the cases ofjoseph mccann and reynhard sinaga to the court of appeal — arguing that their sentences were "unduly lenient" for such "heinous and depraved" crimes. prosecutors believe their new 40—year terms are the longest ever imposed on offenders who have not committed murder. six former sub—postmasters have had fraud convictions linked to a faulty computer system quashed in court. the long—running scandal began when the post office installed a new computer system that led to hundreds of sub—postmasters being wrongly convicted. two months ago the post office confirmed it would not oppose or contest dozens of cases referred to the court of appeal. a recommended pay rise for mps of more than £3,000 has been scrapped by officials. the independent parliamentary standards authority said the rise would be inconsistent with the experience of voters during the pandemic, and mps' salaries would be frozen instead. the boxer anthonyjoshua has squared up aga

vicki young, bbc news, westminster. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy is at stormont for us.l, it has been cautiously welcomed in northern ireland as progress. it means many companies are going to get answers about the process they'll have to go through to get goods from northern ireland into their biggest market, great britain, and to get things like supermarket shipments over the irish sea and onto the shelves. but the devil is going to be in the detail, when that's revealed tomorrow. in january those special arrangements will kick in for northern ireland where northern ireland has to continue sticking by eu rules because it is effectively becoming a new gateway into the eu. so people are very fond of reminding boris johnson, because companies are having to get ready for those new checks and new paperwork, he told them previously, don't worry, when you get through this you can chuck some of the paperwork into the bin. now we going to find out tomorrow if that's really the case and how much the added burden of red tape on traders is going to be reduced. the reason that's so

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.mber one in the charts here in the uk. you can probably guess what it is. # i just want you for my own. # more than you could ever know. # make my wish come true. # all i want for christmas is you, yeah. mariah carey's all i want for christmas was kept off the top spot by east 17's stay another day, back in 1994. but now it's knocked ariana grande off the top spot. jeff ingold is the head of media at stonewall. he's also a mariah ca rey‘s superfan. and he's been campaigning to get all i want for christmas is you to the top position in the uk charts. you did it! how did you do it? lots of tweets, a lot of instagram stories, lots of telling all my friends. it was a lot of work but worth it because it happened earlier than i thought it would. and she has been retweeting you. she did. she tweeted me on sunday. showing her support. she did. she tweeted me on sunday. showing hersupport. it was amazing. my heart stopped when it happened. i couldn't believe it. right, let's get down to it. wha

wales and northern ireland to find out more, in a moment we'll hear from james shaw in glasgow, and emma vardy lloyd in cardiff. here in wales, tighter restrictions are on their way. nonessential shops and close contact services like hairdressers, together with fitness and leisure centres, must close from the end of trading on christmas eve and all hospitality venues must shut from 6pm on christmas day. the five—day christmas covid window that had already been agreed remains in place, but the welsh government have told people here they can only form of a bubble of two households by law — although a single person can join them. from 28th december, wales goes into lockdown — which means people are expected to stay at home and public facilities will close. there is no end in sight to these restrictions, but we are told they will be reviewed every three weeks. here in scotland, the restrictions around christmas are already a little tighter than in other parts of the country. so only eight adults from three households should meet indoors, that total not including children under 12. but the guidance

vicki young, bbc news, westminster. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy is in belfast for us. there has been some progress on the how to implement certain aspects of northern ireland problems in brexit. reaction there? a cautious welcome from businesses because after so much uncertainty, they have something they are able to plan for, but the devil will be in the detail that will be revealed tomorrow. as we we re that will be revealed tomorrow. as we were hearing, remember, from january, northern ireland enters a special arrangement where it remains closer to the eu than the rest of the uk and no matter what happens, it means ports in northern ireland are gearing up for new paperwork and checks they've never had to deal with before. previously, boris johnson famously said to people worried about the irish sea border, don't worry, guys, by the time we are through with this, you will be able to chuck some of that paperwork in the bin. tomorrow we'll find out if that is really the case and just how much the burden of extra red tape on traders has been reduced and why that is impor

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.red a meeting earlier in the cabinet room with michael gove and senior officials in charge of post december 31 readiness to do a stock—taking of no—deal plans. let us stock—taking of no—deal plans. let us work out what that means. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake is in westminster. this is just this isjust details this is just details coming this isjust details coming in right now of this meeting that was chaired a little bit earlier in the cabinet room. what are they... just bring us up—to—date with what we do know about this. partey much over the a byss about this. partey much over the abyss said. a downing street source confirmed what you just said... the minister in charge, michael gove, of this, leaving december 31 at the end of the transition period and other senior officials working area. we are told this was a stock—taking of no—deal plans and it was chaired by the prime minister in the cabinet room inside number 10 downing street earlier on today. any other day of th

emma vardy, bbc news. let's go back to catch you live now.s the prime minister continued to talk and eat together will we know what happens roughly a timescale tonight? will we find out tonight if there is a deal, isn't a deal, what do we know so far? well, i can assure you you are not the only one who wants to know that. i suppose if you look at traditional trade negotiations, you would think that this is the moment that this is a time for those two leaders also ursula is representing 22 eu countries at that dinner tonight. that they would say look come on, we've been staring into the whites of each other‘s eyes for so long now the clock is ticking down to the end of the transition period, it's time for us both to make those difficult political compromises that are needed to make a deal. but you know, it's just not that simple. that's because and their up there in the european building between those two leaders there is this clash of ideologies that we've had right from the beginning of the stock. the government it said it does not want to r

so, with enterprise makeup them with just as help, emma vardy, we work through some of these issues runs now made it clear that banks processing payments for humanitarian aid to iran will not be penalised under curent sanctions. in this instagram post the governor of the central bank of iran says iran... and last week iran's foreign minister mohammad javad zarif warned that the us sanctions were preventing iran from making an initial advanced payment to covax — that the body created by the world health organization to make sure the vaccine is distributed fairly. iran has ordered 16.8 million vaccine doses through covax. that would would cover around 10 percent of its 80 million population. and this is urgent. iran it has the largest outbreak of covid—19 in the middle east with over a million confirmed cases and more than 50,000 deaths. and these sanctions which have impacted iran's response are part of donald trump's so—called maximum pressure policy. these pictures are from 2018 when the president signed withdrew the us from iran 2015 nuclear deal — which was brokered by the previous o

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.ied at the age of 83. her acting career spanned more than 60 years. she found fame in the carry on films of the 1960s and ‘70s and went on to spend nearly 20 years behind the bar of the queen vic in tv soap eastenders, playing the formidable landlady peggy mitchell. barbara windsor was diagnosed with alzheimer's disease in 2014, and she spent the last few years of her life campaigning for wider understanding of the condition. our entertainment correspondent david sillito looks back at her life. barbara giggles. that'll do, that'll do. all right, girls, get in the coach, and you get on with the loading. barbara windsor — funny, cheeky and much loved. so we were told to bring the minimum of clothing. now, really let's see those chests come out! the tributes today to a star whose career goes back almost 70 years. ooh, matron, take them away! a career that ended with eastenders and this scene. alzheimer's was already beginning to take hold. we asked how she would remember her friend and co

a little earlier, our ireland correspondent emma vardy explained what progress had been made in the implementationsses here. because after so much uncertainty and agreement, and some decisions means they now have something they are able to plan for. but really, the devil will be in the detail that will be revealed tomorrow. so as we were just hearing, remember, from january, northern ireland enters the special arrangement where it remains closer to the eu than the rest of the uk. and no matter what happens, it means ports here in northern ireland are gearing up for new paperwork and new checks that they never had to deal with before. now previously, borisjohnson once famously said to people who were worried about the irish sea border, "don't worry, guys, by the time we're through with all this, you'll be able to chuck some of that paperwork in the bin." now tomorrow, we will find out if that's really the case, and just how much the burden of extra red tape on traders has been reduced. and why is that important, of course? because it has a knock—on effect for the prices of the goods that people her

from james cook in glasgow, thomas morgan in cardiff, but for us from our ireland correspondent, emma vardymic for ireland because it raised all those questions over what to do about the irish land border and it reminded everyone of the troubled history of this place. many of the issues which one seemed unresolvable, there are no agreement on. and it means northern ireland enters this new area where doing trade here will be different from the rest of the uk in order to keep that irish land border invisible as it is now. so, the trade deal has been welcomed here. it's likely to make some of those special arrangements for northern ireland easier to carry out, and importantly, it will bring great relief in the irish republic where many people's livelihoods, particularly in the food industry depended on there being a deal for the future of trade between ira two islands. in scotland from the initial reaction is focused on fish and chips, or to be more accurate, seed potatoes, the kind farmers grow that rather than the kind you and i will roast anti—tomorrow. now, this deal appears to prevent the

in a moment, we'll hear from james shaw in glasgow and emma vardy in lisburn.oyd in cardiff. here in wales, tighter restrictions are on their way. nonessential shops and close contact services like hairdressers, together with fitness and leisure centres, must close from the end of trading on christmas eve. and all hospitality venues must shut from 6pm on christmas day. the five—day christmas covid window that had already been agreed remains in place, but the welsh government have told people here they can only form of a bubble of two households by law — although a single person can join them. from 28 december, wales goes into lockdown — which means people are expected to stay at home and public facilities will cause. —— will close. there is no end in sight to these restrictions, but we are told they will be reviewed every three weeks. here in scotland, the restrictions around christmas are already a little tighter than in other parts of the country. so only eight adults from three households should meet indoors, not including children under 12. but the guidance

let's talk to our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, in belfast.bsolutely. it almost seems impossible after the years of arguing in the years a conflict over all this but yes, it is an unprecedented and new trade border within the uk itself. that irish sea border. it is a new reality. and really this is a real test now because the ports in northern ireland have been scrambling to get ready for all the changes, don't forget a lot of the processes that have to be agreed were only really agreed in the last few weeks. businesses and people at the ports have had months and months of uncertainty, but the test is now it all kicks in, there is a bit of phasing in over the next few months but it does mark a huge change for northern ireland and there's been a lot of work to do for a lot of businesses who get goods in from great britain and bring goods over the irish sea to get that paperwork in order and to see if they can really fit into this new system. one of the big questions is will he put off businesses in great britain from shipping to northern irelan