FirstFT: Truss considers triggering Article 16 over N Ireland protocol

Good morning. Liz Truss is considering plans to trigger “Article 16” proceedings against the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol within days of becoming prime minister if she succeeds Boris Johnson next month, according to several government insiders.

The UK and Brussels are locked in a fractious legal stand-off over the deal covering post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, which has soured relations since it came into force in January 2021.

Officials close to Truss have consulted legal and trade experts in recent weeks. Allies said triggering Article 16 would provide a stop-gap while legislation to unilaterally rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol passes through the Commons, which is not expected until the end of this year at the earliest.

The government tabled legislation in June to rip up the deal, prompting the European Commission to relaunch legal proceedings. The UK has until September 15 to respond to the EU legal action — only 10 days after the next Tory leader enters Downing Street.

But insiders with knowledge of Truss’s plans said she could trigger Article 16 before that deadline. Triggering Article 16 would effectively exhaust legal options before the government followed through on its threat to junk the protocol.

Thanks for reading FirstFT Europe/Africa. Enjoy the weekend — Gary

Five more stories in the news

1. JPMorgan considers adding India to bond index The Wall Street bank is sounding out big investors on adding India to its widely tracked emerging-market bond index, setting the stage for an estimated $30bn of inflows as the country’s domestic market opens to foreign capital.

2. Data centres prepare for blackouts Equinix and Digital Realty Trust, the world’s two biggest data centre operators, are stockpiling generator fuel as the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens energy rationing and winter power blackouts across Europe.

• Opinion: In the wasted weeks of political hot air, there has been little progress on how to keep British homes warm this winter, writes Helen Thomas.

3. Shelling disconnects Ukraine nuclear plant from power grid Fears of a catastrophic accident at one of Europe’s largest nuclear power plants escalated yesterday after shelling caused Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia reactor complex to be temporarily cut off from the country’s electric grid for the first time. Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of artillery strikes near the plant.

4. Saudi Arabia sends message to Biden on oil Riyadh this week warned that it could lead Opec+ in cutting oil production, a message aimed at skittish traders and President Joe Biden’s administration as it seeks to revive a nuclear deal with Iran, which has stoked concerns in the kingdom of Iranian oil returning to the market and pushing down prices.

5. Angola president on track for re-election President João Lourenço’s Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola garnered almost 52 per cent of votes in Wednesday’s election with 97 per cent counted, the election commission announced late yesterday, which would extend its 47-year rule in Africa’s second-biggest oil producer but was down from 61 per cent in 2017.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

The days ahead

UK energy price cap Energy regulator Ofgem will today announce the October to December price cap, which is expected to raise the upper limit on charges for households to more than £3,500 a year.

Jackson Hole summit Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell is expected to defend the US central bank’s efforts to rein in inflation with monetary tightening when he addresses the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming today.

Economic data France releases August consumer confidence data while Germany publishes GfK consumer confidence survey results. Nigeria releases second-quarter GDP figures.

Chinese IPO in US Beijing-based edtech company Jianzhi Education Technology begins trading on Nasdaq today, as the US and China approach a deal on access to audits that could avert delistings of Chinese companies from American exchanges. Jianzhi was the first company to file for a US IPO last year after Beijing tightened overseas listing rules. (FT, SCMP)

UK festivals Notting Hill Carnival, an annual three-day street celebration of Caribbean culture, returns tomorrow. Fireworks will mark the end of the Edinburgh International Fringe arts festival on Sunday.

Asia Cup Twenty20 International The cricket tournament will kick off in the United Arab Emirates tomorrow and run through to September 11. Afghanistan and Sri Lanka play in the opener in Dubai.

What else we’re reading

Germany’s cheap transport scheme hits the buffers Germany’s affordable ticket experiment — a €9-a-month ticket for local trains and public transport — was introduced to soften the blow of the cost of living crisis and tackle climate change by encouraging people to switch away from cars. It proved immensely popular — which has made taking it away that much tougher.

• Opinion: “It’s the uncertainty, not the delay, that gets you in the end”: Tim Harford reflects on the horrors of modern train travel.

Why film-makers cannot resist Tolkien’s fantasy world Stanley Kubrick regarded The Lord of the Rings as “unfilmable”. The history of bringing the epic tale to screen, radio, stage or gaming is not one of dwarfs, orcs, elves, balrogs, wizards or hobbits, but of legal disputes, troubled adaptations and multimillion-dollar acquisitions, Stephen Bush writes.

Why has it all gone so wrong for UK renters? Rents are rising at the fastest pace since the financial crisis owing to increased demand, slower turnover and opportunistic landlords. As some tenants are driven from their residences, fears are growing that the market may be overheating.

The US has ‘no good options’ on Taiwan Analysts in multiple countries say it is nearly impossible for the Biden administration to deny Beijing the ground it has gained in its pressure campaign against Taiwan without an escalation, raising big questions about what the US will do next.

How ‘The Simpsons’ became a shared language While The Simpsons is an entertaining TV show — perhaps one of the greatest TV shows of all time — it is so much more than that, argues philosopher Tom Whyman. The Simpsons is also a language that binds a generation.

Film

In the FT’s six films to watch this week, Penélope Cruz stars in movie industry satire Official Competition, Idris Elba takes on a vengeful lion in Beast and a diverse young cast reshuffles Jane Austen in Mr Malcolm’s List.