The Unite union has called on French automaker PSA to build electrified vehicles at its Vauxhall-Opel car factory in the UK following the Brexit trade deal.

Peugeot parent company PSA bought Opel, which trades as Vauxhall in Britain, in 2017, and said in 2019 that future investment in the northern English Ellesmere Port plant would depend on the final terms of Britain’s exit.

“We call upon PSA to look at a longer-term plan to build electrified vehicles at both Luton and Ellesmere Port with future regulatory and legislative changes in mind,” said Unite national officer for automotive industries Des Quinn.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Boris Johnson has told to India’s prime minister Narendra Modi he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned.

Johnson said it was important to stay in the UK “so he can focus on the domestic response to the virus”, according to a No 10 spokesperson.

“The prime minister said that he hopes to be able to visit India in the first half of 2021, and ahead of the UK’s G7 Summit that prime minister Modi is due to attend as a guest.”

Marks & Spencer said new trade rules in place since Britain left the EU were delaying deliveries of some fresh food to its stores in France – where at least three branches had empty shelves on Tuesday.

The items out of stock at three Paris branches of M&S included sandwiches, black rice and edamame bean salad, and turkey tortilla with curry, according to labels on the empty shelves.

M&S said: “As we are transitioning to the new processes, it is taking a little longer for some of our products to reach stores – but we are working with our partners, suppliers and relevant government agencies and local authorities to quickly improve this.”

A spokeswoman for Lagardere, the French firm which holds the franchise for some of the stores in France, said it was working with M&S on the supply disruptions and expected the problems to be fixed by the end of January.

What about the Brexit “teething problems” for Britons trying to enter EU countries? Travellers heading for Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden have all been held up at borders since the start of the year – despite claiming to have the correct paperwork.

Police in the Netherlands confirmed that 10 British citizens were refused entry into the country.

Mike Hofman, from the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee force, told the PA news agency: “British citizens are no longer subject to EU rules now that Brexit has started and due to corona they are only allowed to enter the Netherlands if it is strictly necessary.”

And British ambassador to Sweden Judith Gough said she was “very concerned” to hear of UK nationals being refused entry to the Scandinavian nation.

She said: “It is clear that there have been teething problems … we are asking the Swedish authorities to provide greater clarity and consistency for UK nationals, who wish to return home to Sweden.”

Britain’s completed Brexit process was supposed to bring clarity from the start of January. But our columnist Andrea Carlo says EU citizens in the UK are still living with a lot of uncertainty.  

There have been 29,000 recorded refusals to the EU Settlement Scheme, while many more are unclear whether they have settled or pre-settled status.  

“Faced with a general lack of transparency from the Home Office, rising numbers of Settlement Scheme refusals, a lack of physical proof of status, and the widespread potential for vulnerable individuals to fall through the cracks, the future offers little hope of reassurance or certainty,” he writes.

Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson has been “too slow into decisions” during the coronavirus crisis. The Labour leader told Sky News: “Of course there’ll be mistakes, but the critical question is do you learn from that and make sure you don’t make them again.”

The Lib Dems offered similar criticism this morning. Leader Ed Davey told the BBC: “I’m afraid this prime minister has a record now: he is always late on these lockdowns. He was late on the first, he was late on the second, late on the third – and that’s because he ignores the advice of experts.”

The Brexit disruption has forced one of the UK’s largest supermarkets to stock a rival grocer’s products in their Northern Ireland shops.

Several Spar-branded products lines are on sale in Sainsbury’s shops under a “temporary” agreement to avoid empty shelves from 1 January. Fresh foods including ready meals, meat, dairy products and desserts are affected.

A member of staff told the Belfast News Letter that about 700 product lines had been lost due to Brexit. A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said some products were “temporarily unavailable for our customers in Northern Ireland while border arrangements are confirmed”.

Northern Ireland’s economy minister Dianne Dodds has called for urgent action over the disruption of delivery of goods to Northern Ireland.

Dodds has written to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove over the issues that have arisen since Brexit took effect – raising concerns that retailers based in Great Britain are cutting their services because of a lack of clear guidance.

The UK government recently announced a grace period for three months. Under it, online retailers in GB will not have to make customs declarations when sending parcels valued below £135 to NI customers until 1 April. However, it is currently unclear what will happen after 1 April.

Dodds called for a plan to ensure that retailers do not withdraw from the Northern Irish market when the grace period ends. “We are now seeing the impact of these changes and even at this early stage there is significant cause for concern from both businesses and consumers,” she said in her letter.

“I am particularly worried about more vulnerable consumers, in terms both of health and income. Delivery of goods is an essential measure at the moment, and lack of delivery places Northern Ireland consumers in a much worse position compared to GB consumers.”

The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) is not impressed by Downing Street’s promise of £100m to help expand fleets over the five-and-a-half year transition period.

The industry expressed its outrage at the Brexit trade deal – which sees only 25 per cent of stocks in British waters returned to UK fishermen.

Asked in the funding package would help soften the blow of the trade deal, NFFO chief executive Barrie Deas said: “The short answer is no.”

“The fishing industry would much prefer to have our full quota entitlements which an independent coastal state has the right to expect,” Deas told the i newspaper. “Unlike agriculture, fishing has never been an industry highly dependent on subsidies.”

If you’re still catching up with the rules for the latest lockdown, Michael Gove has shed some light on meeting up with others outdoors.

People can go walking with a friend but cannot sit down with them for more than a very short rest, the Cabinet Office minister said.

“One of the things that we do want to stop is the idea of people essentially congregating or socialising outside.” Asked if that meant “don’t sit down together, otherwise it no longer counts as exercise”, Gove agreed those were the new rules.

“Yes. I think, inevitably, it may be the case that for a second someone will want to pause and rest in the course of exercise,” he told the Today programme. “Do stay at home, of course exercise once a day, but also do everything possible to restrict social contact.”