Summary
That’s all for today, as Joe Biden addressed the Irish parliament on the penultimate day of his visit to the island of Ireland.
Biden said that “political violence must never take hold” in Ireland again. He said that companies were also wary of investing in Northern Ireland because of the lack of a functioning assembly.
“We must never forget that peace, even though it has become a lived reality for an entire generation, peace is precious. It still needs its champions. It still needs to be nurtured,” he said.
One of the most stirring parts of his speech was where he said the enduring legacy of the Good Friday agreement had meant there was no “checkpoints on young people’s dreams”.
“It’s so good to be back in Ireland,” he began the address to the lower house of the Dáil, and added “I’m at home” in Irish.
At a brief meeting with the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Biden praised the “emerging stronger and stronger relationship” with Ireland.
And away from Biden’s visit:
Rishi Sunak did an interview with the ConservativeHome website where he refused to say if the Tories were planning on retaliating to Labour’s latest advertising campaign.
NHS data methodology changes revealed that 10% of people wait more than 12 hours in A&E in England.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has said that reforming the Gender Recognition Act can be done without undermining women’s rights.
A Conservative councillor has been suspended after the publication of an alleged recording of him saying all white men should have a black slave.
The presiding officer of the Scottish parliament, Alison Johnstone, has introduced a series of “deeply regrettable” restrictions on public access to the Holyrood chamber, which will come into force after recess ends next week, following prolonged disruptions to FMQs by anti-fossil fuel protesters.
Chris Philp, the policing minister, was giving interviews on Thursday morning, and told LBC he was “deeply concerned” about figures showing one mobile phone is reported stolen in London every six minutes.
Thanks for following along. We’ll be back tomorrow.
Updated
