Daily Archives: November 25, 2021

Many of us have spent much of the past two years feeling cooped-up and locked down in Brexit Britain, and the characters ofDeath of England, Face to Face: Delroy and Michaelare no exception. An original film production from the National Theatre, it was written and filmed during and in between lockdowns, when the National Theatre converted the Lyttleton Theatre into a film studio. A reaction to theforcedshutdown of venues caused by the pandemic, this approach allowed creativity and performance to continue when all theatres were closed.

Following on from two stage productions:Death of EnglandandDeath of England:Delroy, both one-man shows featuring Michael (Neil Maskell) and Delroy (Giles Terera) respectively, the film sees the two characters come together to confront their relationship with their country, and each other. Written by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams, and directed by Dyer, it is a captivating hybrid of film and theatre. Exploring the themes of lockdown, interracial friendship and Brexit Britain, the key question always at its heart is: what does it mean to be English now?

Death of England, Face to Face: Delroy and Michael is airing on Sky Arts on Thursday 25 November.

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Brexit Britain is "changing whether it likes it or not" - New Statesman

Mr Kenwright sat down with Nigel Farage on GB News segment Talking Pints to discuss the effects that Brexit and the pandemic have had on his business. The hotelier insisted the lengthy row between members of the House of Commons and Boris Johnson over the terms of the withdrawal deal in the run-up to December 2019 cost the UK billions. He also noted going from uncertainty about the future relationship the UK would have with the European Union to the coronavirus pandemic delivered a severe blow to business.

Mr Kenwright said: "I think the start of it all going wrong for me was Brexit, so that is when it really went wrong for me.

"Obviously the country voted to leave and I absolutely agree with that.

"I think where we made a huge mistake as politicians are that we had the House of Parliament going against the Government"

"That spelt a disaster to the income and investors that come" the hotelier added before Nigel jumped in to take a jab at how the Government kept to their word about the new agreement for the UK to break away from the EU after "three and a half years of effectively Parliament not honouring the result".

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MPs repeatedly clashed with Boris Johnson since he took over Number 10 with Theresa May over his negotiations with the European Union.

Mr Kenwright continued: "Well, it was cascading onwards wasn't it so that noise got more and more sinister as time went on and as parliament went against the Government.

"I think it was in the August, it was literally like you could hear the screeching of the breaks of the money stopping coming to the country

"We are a small country but we are a massive fundraiser, a lot of money gets parked in this country, that stopped pretty much overnight."

He continued "Until the election was won on the 12or 13 of December, when that happened then it was well everyone is away, so in January don't worry the money going to start coming in again.

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He said: "In the long term it is the case that Brexit has a bigger impact than the pandemic."

Mr Hughes's comments came after the OBR said the cost of living could increase at its fastest rate seen for 30 years.

He also stated that recent data has shown the impact of the UK leaving the European Union has been "broadly consistent" with the OBR's assumption that leaving the EU could "reduce our long-run GDP by around 4 percent."

He added: "We think that the effect of the pandemic will reduce that (GDP) output by a further 2 percent."

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Furious hotelier slams Commons for costing UK billions with months of Brexit protest - Daily Express

Netherlands cashing in on Brexit UK business flocks to EU

The Netherlands has seen a vast amount of investment from UK business, which have flocked to the continent in the wake of Brexit, a new investigation has found. It comes as the UK and Brussels continue to eyeball each other over a series of details contained in the exit deal, including the Northern Ireland Protocol. The European Commission vice-president Maro efovi this weekend called on Brexit Minister Lord David Frost to end what he called his "political posturing" over negotiations on Northern Ireland.

Heated talks over a dispute on checks and controls on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland surfaced earlier this year when the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) officially came into effect.

It set out arrangements in areas such as trade in goods and services, digital trade and fisheries, among other things, and is underpinned by the safeguarding of a level playing field and respect for fundamental rights between the two powers.

For many businesses, the most important aspect of the TCA was the continuation of free trade.

However, according to a recent investigation by Channel 4's Dispatches, a portion of small to medium sized UK businesses are no longer able to trade freely with Europe.

This is because of the introduction of a slew of new administrative and customs costs.

New customs declarations alone are believed to add around 15billion on to UK-EU trade, the charges affecting UK exporters and EU importers.

This has led many in the UK who own small to medium-sized businesses to relocate to the EU in order to continue frictionless trade.

Harry Wallop, Dispatches' presenter, travelled to the Netherlands to talk to UK-based retailer British Corner Shop after it secured a Dutch distribution hub this year.

The Dutch government's Foreign Investment Agency says it has never experienced so much interest from British firms seeking to open up a base in the Netherlands like British Corner Shop.

Hilde van der Meer, a commissioner at the agency, told Mr Wallop that the Netherlands was experiencing a "large influx of British companies since Brexit".

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She said: "We are in talks with about 600 companies.

"In the past year, around 6,000 jobs have been created and will be filled in the years to come.

"Money-wise, we've generated 550million (461million)."

Mr Wallop asked: "So over half a billion euros has been created by British companies coming over here and investing in the Netherlands?" to which Ms van der Meer replied: "Yep, it's a large sum of money.

"And it's a lot of jobs."

She went on to add that Brexit has been "good news" for the Dutch economy.

A Government spokesperson told Dispatches: "The zero tariff quota deal with the EU means we can now regulate in a way that suits the UK economy and UK businesses doing things in a more innovative and effective way, without being bound by EU rules, and seize trade opportunities around the world."

While it is true that the new opportunities could benefit British businesses, many appear eager to trade as they did before January 1, 2021.

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By June this year, almost a third of British companies that traded with the EU had suffered a decline or loss of business since post-Brexit took effect.

A survey carried out by the Institute of Directors (IoD) for the Financial Times found that 17 percent of UK companies that previously traded with the EU have stopped either temporarily or permanently since the start of the year.

Jonathan Geldart, director-general of the Institute of Directors, told the FT: "Small and medium-sized firms in particular are struggling to navigate new procedures around exporting and importing with the bloc, while business leaders are more broadly reporting difficulties in recruiting following an end to freedom of movement."

The IoD survey asked 651 companies to give their assessment of the impact of Brexit up until that point.

Of those that traded with the EU, 31 percent said new barriers had had a negative impact on commerce with the bloc.

Just six percent said trade had increased, while 58 percent stated there was no change.

Financial firms have also eyed-up the EU.

In April, more than 400 financial firms had moved at least some of their operations, staff, assets or legal entities from Britain to Europe.

Despite the fallout, some businesses could experience an uptick in trade.

Manufactures like automakers rely heavily on other regions of the world outside the UK and Europe for parts in their finished products.

But a section of the TCA states that all products must prove the origin of all their constituent parts when traded between the UK and EU.

It means that manufacturers will now have to source their goods in these fields from within the UK and EU.

Businesses in those places may now experience a boom in demand for parts.

However, this could drive up the price for consumers.

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Netherlands cashing in on Brexit as '461million' created by UK businesses flocking to EU - Daily Express

Ryanair is pressing ahead with plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange because of foreign ownership and control rules that apply after Brexit.

The low-cost airline, which indicated earlier this month that it intended to become solely listed in Dublin, said its last day of trading on the London Stock Exchange would be 17 December.

As indicated at our interim results, and following subsequent shareholder engagement, Ryanair has decided to request the cancellation of London listing, the company said in a statement.

The volume of trading of the shares on the London Stock Exchange does not justify the costs related to such listing and admission to trading, and so as to consolidate trading liquidity to one regulated market for the benefit of all shareholders.

Ryanair said it had notified the UKs Financial Conduct Authority and would be officially delisted at 8am on 20 December. Earlier this year, Ryanair said that the move away from a listing in London was consistent with a general trend for trading shares of European Union corporates post Brexit.

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The airline said it was also a potentially more acute issue for it because EU rules mandate that airlines are majority-owned by EU nationals. Ryanair has its primary listing in Dublin, Ireland, and has previously made some UK investors sell shares this year to remain in compliance with the rules.

Following the cancellation of the London listing, the company will continue to have a primary listing on the regulated market of Euronext Dublin, which offers shareholders the highest standard of protection, including compliance with the UK corporate governance code, Ryanair said.

Its chief executive, Michael OLeary, said earlier this month that the move was sadly an inevitable consequence of Brexit. While the EU and UK reached agreements that ensured flying could continue uninterrupted, the UK was unable to secure amendments to the foreign ownership rules.

UK and other non-EU-owned carriers cannot operate flights between other European countries, and while Ryanair is EU-based, 45% of its shares are held in the US meaning it had to deter any further investors.

EasyJet relocated much of its operation to a Vienna-based EasyJet Europe before Brexit to remain compliant.

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Ryanair to quit London Stock Exchange in December over Brexit - The Guardian

Wednesday 24 November 2021 7:31 am

German real estate company Coros is expanding into the UK as the firm has opened an office on Kingly street in Soho.

The firm said it considers London as a gateway to Europe for international investors who are seeking access to Germany and other European markets.

In addition to sourcing real estate projects, Coros London employees will include networking with international investors and potential project partners who are seeking access to the European real estate market via London.

We are here to stay as London is going to be one of Coros core markets over the next decade. The opening of our new office is thus an important step in Coros internationalisation and growth strategy, said Leonhard Sachsenhauser, Founding Partnerat Coros.

Despite Brexit, the city remains one of the continents most important real estate markets with exciting real estate projects and is a gateway for international investors.

As an international financial centre and emerging tech hub combined with its heritage of culture, arts and education, London is highly complementary to our key markets Berlin, Munich, and Paris, he added.

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Post-Brexit vote of confidence: German real estate giant Coros lands in London as it opens office in Soho - City A.M.

SCOTTISH fishing businesses have bemoaned the unnecessary hassle of bureaucratic changes to exporting goods to the continent under Brexit rules.

MSPs have also been warned that new customs controls at the UK border to be rolled out in the new year will lead to quite a lot of bureaucracy for hauliers.

Holyroods Economy and Fair Work Committee heard from Bryan Hepburn, the operations manager at DFDS Group, who is based in Shetland.

Mr Hepburn set out the challenges of exporting fish to Europe since new rules were introduced and with the knock-on impact of the pandemic warning the extra time that everything takes has added to the issues.

He said: All our goods like the fish and mussels are all perishable and they lose their value every day they are delayed getting to market and the market is primarily in mainland Europe.

READ MORE:Scotland's 9bn Brexit blow as UK suffers exports drop since leaving EU

So we struggle getting everything down there. Now we can just about get across the border into Boulogne before we run out of time. We used to be able to do down to Spain and the south of France so thats had a knock-on effect for our exports.

Mr Hepburn warns that people just werent prepared for the changes, adding that there was a great cloak of ignorance from some smaller customers.

He added: A lot of the guys that used to pick things up in Europe have just stopped doing it and theyve now because of the driver shortage in Europe, theyve been able to do that.

They just make their money in the UK without having to go abroad. Its just because, frankly, of the hassle of having to get across the border and back again with goods.

Mr Hepburn told MSPs that the uncertainties for businesses and customers over a range of things including VAT creates unnecessary hassle.

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MSPs were also told of the dismay from freight companies over new customs controls at the UK border which will begin in the new year.

A requirement for full customs declarations on goods coming from the EU to the UK will start on January 1, with further post-Brexit border controls being phased in later in the year.

Robert Windsor, of the British International Freight Association, said the new changes coming in force on January 1 are very significant.

He added: In effect, you are seeing the UK reimposing full customs controls on all goods coming from the European Union into the UK.

One of the changes will be a need for pre-notification of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) goods, covering products of animal origin.

Mr Windsor added: It is quite a lot of bureaucracy to go through.

My view and the associations view is these are more significant impacts on the UK as a whole than what we saw on January 1 this year.

Mr Hepburn was also asked about the changes stressing he hoped the changes will not lead to bottlenecks at ports which he has experienced recently.

Seafood being transported to continental Europe from Scotland may be affected, he said, while DFDS is working with its customers to ensure they know about the new rules.

He added: Were actively preparing and were hoping that were going to be ready.

In September, the UK Government said it was delaying implementing a number of border controls in response to the pandemic.

Requirements for export health certificates were pushed back to July 2022 after originally being scheduled for October this year. New customs rules will take effect from January 1.

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Businesses warn over 'unnecessary hassle' caused by Brexit rules ahead of new changes - HeraldScotland

The impact of Covid and Brexit has been blamed for an increasing squeeze on medical supplies including steel used for ligature knives and bottles for blood tests.

For around two weeks in September, the NHS trust that runs community blood testing in Liverpool, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, cancelled all non-urgent tests due to a global shortage of bottles.

That shortage has now eased, but other areas of the trust's operations are also beginning to feel the squeeze.

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Mersey Care runs most of the area's mental health services, including secure psychiatric hospitals, and staff are trained in the use of specialist knives to cut patients free from any ligature if they attempt suicide by hanging.

Global shortages of steel have caused issues replacing these knives.

The global supply chain has been hit due to several factors including shortages of lorry drivers and other specialised roles, port closures due to covid and rising fuel and shipping costs.

This week a meeting of the Mersey Care board of governors heard that problems are beginning to affect different areas.

A Safety Report described how the trust was attempting to deal with potential supply issues.

The board were told: "September saw the residual effects of COVID-19 and possibly Brexit on our supply chain, most acute with the blood bottle shortages early in the month, which did start to ease, although we are now potentially seeing supply issues in other areas such as medical devices, fuel and food costs."

The trust has formed a "supply chain task and finish group" to keep an eye on the issue and escalate any problems to executives.

The problem with ligature knives also highlighted internal issues with how the knives were procured and maintained.

The report noted: "The shortage of steel impacted the supply of ligature knives to the Trust, which, in turn, highlighted differences in process across the three mental health divisions on procurement, training and maintenance of the knives.

"The different process did not only create a gap in controls for dealing with the procurement of knives, it also highlighted a serious patient safety concern on how knives were being maintained."

The trust said it would look at standardising the procurement of a single type of knife.

Earlier this month hospitality and retail bosses were quizzed by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee over labour shortages in the food sector and supply chain.

MPs were told there are "no guarantees" over festive supplies to stores as firms were trying to cope with an "acute" lack of warehouse workers.

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Medical supply chain creaking thanks to 'covid and brexit' - Liverpool Echo

The International Trade Secretary told MPs the deals agreed in principle with the two countries would soon be formalised. It comes after over a year of intense negotiations.

She told the Commons International Trade Committee: "We're just in the final throes."

An agreement with Australia was first announced in June, while a pact with New Zealand was secured last month.

Despite one being agreed four months before the other, the legal texts to formalise both deals are set to be signed at a similar time.

Ms Trevelyan said: "With Australia, we are further along on the process to the final completion of the legal text.

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It is hoped the agreements with help Britain in its plans to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership made up of 11 countries.

She said striking bilateral deals with members already a part of the bloc would help speed up the process.

The minister said: "Where you have a bilateral arrangement already with a country that makes it much easier for them to say 'well, we already know this country', in a simplified way, 'we have a great relationship so we have no anxieties we're bringing in a country into the CPTPP family that wouldn't have the right perspectives and same framework on free trade."

The CPTPP was worth 110billion of UK trade in 2019.

While Ms Trevelyan has hailed the agreements as "fantastic" for the United Kingdom, the National Farmers' Union has criticised the amount of foreign meat that can be imported under the deals.

Brushing off the concerns, the Trade Secretary told the committee: "I think this is great for farmers and I think it is a fantastic deal for removing tariffs on all food and drink exports, from gin and chocolates, to pork and wine.

"There is a great range of liberalisation on all of those.

"We will include protections for our agriculture industry where there are sensitivities - a range of tools to defend British farmers against any unfair trading practices that could lurk, and those things like tariff liberalisation on sensitive goods like beef and lamb will be staged over time."

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Brexit Britain closing in on TWO mega trade deal: 'We're just in the final throes' - Daily Express