Category Archives: Brexit

They were both called bloody difficult women. Yet a play opening in London in the new year will portray Theresa May and the anti-Brexit activist Gina Miller as having more in common than stubbornness.

Bloody Difficult Women will even suggest that their similar characteristics and experiences both are diligently hard workers and share a love of cricket could have made them friends if they had not been political opponents over parliaments say over Britains withdrawal from the EU.

Its a psychological human drama about idealism, obsession and delusion, says playwright Tim Walker. A tragedy too, certainly for May, and one about enormous pressures and personal threats for Miller.

Wealthy businesswoman Miller was born in British Guyana and moved to the UK aged 10. In 2016 she decided to take the government to court over Article 50, the UKs EU exit clause. I was furious about people seeing themselves as being above the law by trying to bypass parliament, she says.

Yet, as the drama spells out, while campaigning she experienced hideous abuse some of it racist (go back to where you come from was a regular refrain) and some sexist. Death threats were so severe she had to hire private protection. We also put cameras around the house and installed panic buttons. And I had to have cease-and-desist letters sent to eight individuals.

The play depicts May being advised by two fictional civil servants (Rosen and Guilden names inspired by Hamlets friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) with the younger Guilden eventually resigning because of their Remainer beliefs. Miller, on the other hand, is advised by her third husband, Alan.

In a scene midway through the play, the two women address the audience. When a man takes a stand on something, he is seen as a maverick, declares Miller. But a woman doing this is considered mad.

May responds: Women are not allowed to complain. If we do, we are whiny and hysterical. She adds that if a man messes up, he can shrug his shoulders, hum a little tune and walk away. This is a reference to the resignation speech David Cameron made outside 10 Downing Street in June 2016.

Miller then says that a lot of men hate me; May responds with the same words, before adding, But I have to keep going.

Walker, a former Observer journalist who is now theatre critic for the New European, says that this is not a Brexit play but an episode of Brexit captured in microcosm through a drama centring on two very driven women.

There is a third main character in the play: Paul Dacre, then the hugely powerful editor of the Daily Mail, who is the real villain of the piece. He opines: Miller is a rich woman, who did not even come from here and yet she is trying to obfuscate the will of our people. Dacre promises his support over Brexit to May, but warns her that she had better deliver.

The foul-mouthed Dacre rants to staff about keep making the point that Miller is foreign-born. And use the most awful photos of her.

Miller, at the receiving end of other abuse from the Mail including suggestions from some Brexiters that she should be burned at the stake, suffered even more from follow-up attacks online. But I got nowhere complaining to the paper or the newspaper regulator.

There is a key scene after the judges rule for Miller that parliament must have its say over leaving the EU. This is the judges versus the people, Dacre proclaims before demanding the now infamous Enemies of the people story, in which the Mail singled out the judiciary for defying its wishes. According to the play, this was a step too far for the Mails owner, Lord Rothermere, who, 18 months later, removed Dacre as editor.

As Miller puts it on stage: Dacre set out to break me, but I broke him.

Walker, who has known Miller for nearly a decade, did not tell her he was writing his play, although she has now read it if only to check for factual errors. Mays office has also now been told about the drama, but has not responded.

When May was up against Miller, she was already trapped by her own personality into not listening to some of the wise people in parliament, argues the historian Anthony Seldon, who has penned a biography of May. And yet May really knew Miller was right all the more since she respected parliament. But she had also been influenced by the only other British female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, that you dont turn as it is a weakness. The irony was that Brexit was not something May hugely cared about though others in her party clearly did.

Bloody Difficult Women opens in February at the Riverside Studios in London.

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Bloody difficult women: Brexit play hits the London stage - The Guardian

As 2020 drew to a close, it marked an end to the long, drawn-out process of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. Amid the political and economic uncertainty, Wealth and Asset Managers alike continued to prepare for the UK's departure, says Lea Blinoff, head of solutions at Vestrata.

Now that a deal has been struck and the UK has officially left the EU, many are wondering what specific impact Brexit will have on the Wealth Management industry and the facilitation of cross-border wealth management advice.

The impact of the UK's departure from the EU will be substantial. Following Brexit, UK firms now must treat Europe as a 'third country'. This means that greater care and expertise is needed to onboard and distribute European products in a compliant manner.

Taking advantage of technological innovation will be key for the facilitation of cross-border wealth management advice."

Without a specific licence to facilitate business in the UK, EU firms are no longer able to operate as they previously could, and for UK firms, the same is true for each EU location.

In order to be able to retain and support their existing clients, firms will need not only appropriate licensing, but must also adapt existing frameworks to comply with the regulatory regimes of multiple regulators. They will also have to set up local entities and hire staff in both UK and EU jurisdictions, which will increase operating costs and have a visible impact on resourcing the right expertise.

That said, the post-Brexit environment also provides opportunities for wealth managers moving forward. Until 31 December 2020, the UK incorporated EU Legislation and regulatory requirements into its own regulation, and the rules are still equivalent with those of the EU. However, it is likely that over time, we will see some element of divergence.

The UK has a strong reputation for robust regulatory oversight and investor protection, and we believe it will retain its status as a well organised and controlled country within which to conduct investment business.

While the UK regulator is unlikely to loosen core consumer protection provisions, it may take the opportunity provided by Brexit to rethink certain areas of investor protection requirements, providing UK firms with some opportunities for growth. For example, allowing further segmentation of the definition of "retail investor" would enable sophisticated clients to invest in specific asset classes or product types and broaden their freedom of choice, whilst maintaining the existing controls for retail investors without those needs.

Transaction reporting requirements is another area the regulators have an opportunity to review.

HMG and the UK regulator have recognised the role of technology in partnering with the financial services industry. The recently published Kalifa Review of UK FinTech set out a bold strategy for the UK government to demonstrate leadership in the space. A key aim of the commission is to build trust in this new wave of tech-enabled products and service providers.

FinTechs will be valued partners for wealth managers, enabling them to meet growth challenges, enhance data and analytics capabilities, and provide technology solutions to navigate complex regulation. Ultimately, FinTechs will help wealth managers to improve their investment offerings and services, allowing them to thrive in a multi-jurisdictional regulatory environment.

Taking advantage of technological innovation will be key for the facilitation of cross-border wealth management advice. With the cost base for operating across jurisdictions increasing, Wealth Managers must leverage technology and specialist expertise to overcome the cost hurdles and ensure a robust multi-jurisdictional conduct risk framework.

Many of the wealth managers we speak with acknowledge that developing the technology requirements to meet multiple rule sets provides a real challenge. WealthTech platforms such as Vestrata provide a compliant suite of automated MiFID and UK risk and regulatory controls that can be easily extended to include other global jurisdictions. Coupled with automated monitoring of cross-border transactions, a platform as such provides

Wealth Managers with the confidence to operate across jurisdictions and ensure compliance with multiple frameworks - enabling firms to focus on client engagement and delivering a continued comprehensive investment service to their clients.

Additionally, top performing wealth managers are increasingly partnering with established institutional asset management partners in the development of SMA-type solutions for Discretionary Model Portfolios, instead of merely acting as a funds supermarket'. Those wealth managers who develop these strategic partnerships will benefit from being better prepared for a comprehensive Brexit mitigation plan.

With the UK's exit from the EU, and all the regulatory challenges and opportunities that accompany it, now is an opportune time for Wealth Managers to evaluate their investment solutions partners, ensuring the right level of expertise to navigate complexities in this space.

By Lea Blinoff, Head of Solutions, Vestrata

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How Brexit will affect cross-border wealth management advice - International Investment

Earlier this year it was announced the world's most powerful magnet was being shipped to Cadarache, France, to install at the ITER reactor.

With a magnetic field peaking at 13 Tesla, the magnet will be about 280,000 times more powerful than our planet's magnetic field.

But according to Massachusetts scientists, their magnet promises to generate a field that could be twice as powerful as ITER's and that could be good news for Britain's energy ambitions.

Bob Mumgard, a plasma physicist at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, told The New York Times: "If you go to a much higher magnetic field, you can go to a much smaller size."

The company's proposed reactor could, in theory, be about one-fiftieth the size of the reactor being built in France, while generating as much power.

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Brexit Britain on cusp of huge win as power plant harvesting STAR energy closer to reality - Daily Express

Jonathan Lis explains how the admissions of leading Brexiters five years on expose the continuing corruption of British politics by outright lies

The most interesting thing about Dominic Cummings transformation into a Twitter pundit is not that the wizard has pulled the curtain back on himself, but that he continues to believe himself to be a wizard even after he has done so.

In recent weeks, few discussion topics have escaped the superforecasters lens: climate change, science innovation, fellow pundits. And yet, Cummings most readily and easily gives himself away when it comes to the subject which propelled him into the corridors of power: Brexit.

The Prime Ministers former chief advisor, and mastermind of the Vote Leave campaign, has been discussing Brexit rather a lot. He has insisted that the process would have turned out better if the UK had not triggered Article 50. He has defended the lies written on the side of a red bus that Brexit would result in 350 million a week being sent to the NHS instead of the EU, as well as the imminent arrival of Turkish people in Britain via the countrys future membership of the EU.

But, most strikingly of all, he has admitted that the Leave campaign gave no thought at all to Ireland. It would have been a bit messy but so what, he tweeted. Its a small problem relative to others.

If Brexit was truly settled, the indignation accompanying each of Cummings revelations would bear less significance. But Brexit is not settled. Its problems have not yet fully hit. Its historic offences have not been resolved. And, as a country, we have still not told the truth about it.

Brexit is not an abstract problem. The UK and EU are continuing their tussle over Northern Ireland; stories abound of EU citizens becoming undocumented migrants after the end of the settled status scheme; and arguments rage about labour and supply chains, as supermarkets face shortages and fruit rots in British fields. This week, the Government slipped through the news that it would seek to make permanent its emergency powers for lorry queues.

There is an overarching problem here. We cannot address the challenges of the present, until we accept the lies and injustice that seeded them.

Take the settled status scheme. This was not simply a case of requiring EU citizens to apply to come and live in the UK like other third-country nationals it was demanding that people apply to stay in their own homes. Repeatedly during the 2016 Referendum campaign, Brexiters assured voters and EU citizens that their status would not change. In October 2017, Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary, told EU citizens that your rights will be protected whatever happens. It was not true. The Government has, now, knowingly instigated a new Windrush scandal.

Northern Ireland, too, bears the stain of the Brexiters uninterest. Remainers warned about the consequences of Brexit for the island of Ireland. Right up to the moment the UK finally left the EU, those consequences were flatly denied. As Foreign Secretary, Johnson compared the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland which claimed more than 3,000 lives to the boundary between two London boroughs. As Prime Minister, he has lied that there would be no barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland even after he negotiated the agreement which mandated them. On the premise of an oven-ready deal, he used that lie to win the 2019 General Election.

The indifference shown to the people of Northern Ireland, and a recent bloody civil war, embodied the Brexiters neo-imperial hubris but it was not the only manifestation. Vote Leaves campaign was anchored in racism; not simply around migration from eastern Europe, but deep-seated Islamophobia. This was one of the most important aspects of the referendum.

Although the narrative was almost entirely excised from the national discourse after June 2016, barely mentioned even by Remainers, Turkeys apparent impending membership of the EU was the defining prong of the Vote Leave campaign after migration and Take Back Control. Posters around the country displayed footsteps leading to an open door emblazoned with a British passport with the caption Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU. Another advert highlighted Syria and Iraq on a map next to Turkey. The inference was clear: a vote for Remain meant that tens of millions of Muslim people would soon be descending upon Dover and claiming British citizenship. The then minister Penny Mordaunt even went on television to claim that Britain had no veto over Turkish membership then doubled-down on the lie.

Even now, Cummings claims that Turkey was in fact joining the EU and that then Prime Minister David Cameron was pushing for it. It is a complete misrepresentation.

In the years before the referendum, I worked in the European Parliament, followed the Turkish membership issue, and attended numerous debates on the subject in the Foreign Affairs Committee. Accession talks had proceeded at a glacial pace for more than a decade and showed no signs of progress. The universal consensus across Brussels and the EU capitals was that Turkish membership was not coming for decades, if ever.

Turkey is joining the EU in the same way that NASA is sending astronauts to Mars: it is a valid and important aspiration in principle, but it is not happening for a long time and multiple conditions must first be met. Vote Leave knew this. Armed with the consolidated weapon of cynicism and prejudice, the group lied and lied in a naked attempt to terrify Middle England and it worked.

Some Brexiters contend that, contrary to Remainers warnings, the sky hasnt fallen in since the Brexit vote never mind that the problems are slow, insidious, and only just beginning. But the sky wont fall in wasnt plastered on the side of a bus and did not form any metric of success. Brexit was marketed as a national rejuvenation, not something to be survived. This matters. We cannot simply accept the project as something endorsed by the British people without interrogating, historically, what they actually voted for.

That means measuring the reality against the promises made by the winning side. Brexiters assured us that business and trade would improve, while both have suffered. Companies have gone to the wall. Consumers face new charges. There was no 350 million a week for the NHS. The German manufacturers did not ride to the rescue. The slogans, meanwhile, land today like a sick joke: we did not hold all the cards; the EU did not need us more than we needed them; the exact same benefits were not on offer.

On the fifth anniversary of the EU Referendum, I shared a panel on LBC with Kate Hoey, the Brexit-supporting former Labour MP. When we argued about the Brexiters lies, Hoey said something genuinely extraordinary:

The public arent stupid. They knew that there were lots of things, probably, that the Leave campaign said, that maybe were not, actually, exactly going to work out or be right The public understood very clearly They knew that it wasnt going to be all roses and wonderful things.

The remark was striking in two ways. First, at no point did the Vote Leave campaign concede that there would be anything other than roses and wonderful things. Every single time a Remainer protested about potential problems before the referendum (and indeed for many years after it), Leavers retorted that they were lying or fearmongering. Hoey has no grounds to conclude that Brexit voters did not expect sunlit uplands, because that is all they were ever promised.

But the second point is even more telling. Hoey is not simply admitting that the Vote Leave campaign mis-sold its prospectus. She is not just suggesting that voters expect politicians to lie. She is quite openly proposing that political campaigns do not need to tell the truth.

This, really, is the story of the past five years. It is not just about Brexit, but the legitimised contamination of an entire political culture.

The Brexit leaders have always considered Remainers mugs: not because they lost the vote, but because they told the truth. Cummings endlessly mocks campaigners for highlighting the lie about the 350 million a week for the NHS, because he sees it as bad politics. That is the point. It may have been bad politics, but it was still an outright lie.

The Remain campaign, for all its faults, concerned itself with telling the truth. The Leave campaign simply concerned itself with winning a vote.

It might have been possible for a Leave campaign to win based on facts. Not everyone values migration, economic growth, or harmonising certain political arrangements with ones neighbours. But the fact is that voters were never presented with valid or honest arguments, and were not, therefore, voting for the reality which subsequently transpired.

Brexit has exposed the corruption of our politics. This culture regards honesty and transparency as hopelessly utopian or naive; something more suited to a debating club than civil society. It treats politics as a game, in which the public must simply choose between different lies. It strips election campaigns of any substantive civic purpose and renders them items of theatre. It neuters even the concept of truth.

In the coming months, many thousands of words will be written, rightly, on Brexits economic consequences and the diplomatic storm approaching Northern Ireland. Perhaps we can also find the space for another question: why do British politicians think that voters not only expect lies, but deserve them?

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Cummings' Brexit Confessions Reveal the Hollow Heart of a Hallowed Project Byline Times - Byline Times

Expert claims 'honest reporting' of Brexit economics was 'prejudiced'

Brexit became reality last year as Britain withdrew from the EU and reached a historic trade deal with Brussels. Britains departure from the bloc was chronicled in the 2019 BBC documentary, Inside Europe: 10 Years of Turmoil. The series interviewed those closest to the early Brexit talks, including heads of state, who lift the lid on the moments leading up to the UK and EUs divorce.

One high-profile name who features in the show is Jean-Claude Juncker, the ex-President of the European Commission.

The former head of the EUs executive discussed his interactions with former Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Cameron had tabled a series of demands, which he told EU bosses were essential if he was going to achieve his aim of keeping Britain in the EU.

One key proposal was the Prime Ministers so-called emergency brake which would have curbed EU migrants access to benefits in the UK.

Mr Juncker said: He used all kinds of arguments, reason by numbers, showing that the migration in the direction of Britain was higher than expected.

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Opening up further, the former EU chief admitted he was open to backing Mr Camerons proposal if it meant keeping Britain in the EU.

Speaking about the emergency brake, the EU chief added: I said this is the price to pay, I didnt like the price.

But my feeling was that we have to agree on this because I always had in my mind, maybe even in my heart, this feeling that without Britain we would be poor.

The EU did not grant Mr Cameron his proposal on immigration, which he had sought as he was renegotiating Britains membership.

The Prime Minister headed back to Britain with what his critics viewed as a watered down version of the draft deal he had agreed with the EU.

Hardline MPs from Mr Camerons own Conservative Party and UKIP slammed his deal, saying it was too soft on European immigration into Britain.

Mr Cameron himself was later reported to have said that it was EU leaders refusal to agree to the emergency brake element of his plans that caused the British public to vote for Brexit in 2016.

In recent months the UK and EU have been negotiating further over Brexit in relation to Britains trading relationship with Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs trade with Britain, came into effect at the start of this year.

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It was designed to protect the EUs single market, ensure the flow of goods from Britain, and avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and its southern neighbour, the Republic of Ireland still an EU member state.

However, problems arose due to the strict customs checks on British imports at the Northern Irish border.

The EU has insisted on the inspections, which have interrupted the supply of fresh products such as British sausages into Northern Ireland.

Earlier this year, in response to the EUs stubborn stance on the issue, the UK Government unilaterally extended so-called grace periods periods that allowed businesses time to adapt to the new arrangements.

The move drew legal action from the EU against the UK, although this has now been paused as London and Brussels continue their attempts to thrash out a compromise over the Protocol.

The EU has refused to renegotiate but has said it will consider proposals from the UK that abide by both parties original agreement.

A European Commission spokesperson said: With regards to the request for a standstill, the Commission will carefully assess the new proposals made by the UK, in accordance with the necessary consultation procedures, both internally and with the European Parliament.

In order to provide the necessary space to reflect on these issues and find durable solutions to the implementation of the protocol, we have decided at this stage not to move to the next stage of the infringement procedure, started in March.

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EUs Brexit worries that bloc would be poor without Britain - Daily Express

Boris Johnson outlines plans to hit net zero

Meanwhile Britain is bouncing back from the ravages of the pandemic and flexing its muscles with the EU shackles removed, data published today has indicated - with the economy growing four times faster than France and three times faster than Germany, one expert pointed out. Roland Rudd, the group's former chairman, and Richard Reed, both confirmed their decisions to quit today. One former staffer said:This is a sorry end to a promising campaign which held the government to account for a shoddy Brexit deal.

[THIS LIVE BLOG IS NOW FINISHED: FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS CLICK HERE]

Labour peer Andrew Adonis has insisted the prospect of rejoining the EU remains alive thanks to the European Movement group which he chairs, which he said has record number of members and more than 100 local groups which are growing steadily.

In other news, he UK economy grew by 4.8 percent in the second quarter of 2021 as lockdowns lifted, getting people back into pubs, the Office for National Statistics figures showed.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by a further one percent in June, creating five consecutive months of growth.

The economy also speeded up from 0.6 percent growth in May, the ONS said.

Lockdown restrictions slowly eased through much of the quarter.

Outdoor dining opened again in April, the first month the quarterly data includes, and further restrictions were lifted in May.

ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow said: "GDP is still around two percentage points below its pre-pandemic peak."

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Economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics had expected GDP to grow by 0.6 percent in June, and 4.7 percent across the quarter.

The news will come as a major boost to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, with 75 percent of Britons now fully jabbed.

On Tuesday Johnson tweeted: Our incredible vaccine rollout has now provided protection to 3/4 of UK adults.

We should be proud of this huge national achievement.

Its vital those who havent been vaccinated book their jab to protect themselves, their loved ones and allow us to enjoy our freedoms safely.

Sam Fuller, Director of Financial Markets Online, commented: The pace of the UKs vaccination programme which has successfully delivered two Covid jabs into the arms of 75% of the adult population is an important factor and may explain why UK growth has soared to treble that of Germany and four times that of its European neighbour France."

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7.53am update: This blog is finished. Click here for the latest updates

4.51am update:Finally free from EU! Brexit Britain takes landmark leap as new powers used for first time

Iconic Gower Salt Marsh Lamb has been given protected status in a landmark moment, as ministers used Brexit powers for the first time to protect British products.

The meat is the first item to have been granted the status since the UK left the EU transitional period at the start of the year.

After cutting ties with the bloc, the Government launched its independent Geographical Indication (GI) schemes, which aim to ensure popular and traditional products from across the country can obtain special status to mark out their authenticity and origin.

3.10am update:Daniel Hannan says 'honest reporting' of Brexit economics was 'prejudiced' by Remainers

Brexiteer Hannan slammed experts who could not "bring themselves to admit" that "anything was going right" with Brexit.

Speaking to the US-based economics showBoom and BustMr Hannan took aim at economic experts who he claimed "made mistakes" with their understanding ofBrexit'simpact on the UK economy.

In a scathing attack the former Tory MEP branded "Remain-leaning" experts and media outlets for theirprejudiced attitudes for not wanting Brexit to be a success.

He went on toclaim thatBritain has outperformed theEUeconomically for four years running since the Brexit referendum in 2016 adding that was "hard" for economic experts "to admit that".

His comments come despitethe Office for Budget Responsibility saying Brexit as a whole is expected to leave the UK's economy four percent smaller than it would otherwise have been inside the EU.

0.38am update:Celebrate our success, Boris! Brits left 'in the dark' on brilliant new Brexit trade deals

Britons feel "left in the dark" about the benefits of the UK's brilliant new Brexit trade deals, a survey has found.

Details of deals struck by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss continue to be a mystery, according to the findings.

A poll for the consumer choice group Which? found 67 percent felt the public receives too little information from ministers about trade deals.

Ms Truss has signed deals covering 67 countries in the past two years.

Most of the pacts are roll over deals mirroring the terms of agreements in place from when the UK was a member of the EU.

But fresh agreements with Japan and Australia have been signed since Britain quit the bloc.

11.15pm update:Payback for Brexit Nigel Farage calls out Emmanuel Macron and demands UK tows boats back

Nigel Farage claims French President Emmanuel Macron is looking to give "payback for Brexit" over the migrant crossing crisis as he calls for the UK Government to "tow" the boats back to Calais.

The Godfather of Brexit, Nigel Farage, appeared on Dan Woottons GB News show to talk about the ongoing influx of Channel crossing migrants.

Mr Farage, 57, accused Emmanuel Macron of not doing enough to stop migrants after the decision taken by the British electorate in 2016 when voters opted to leave the European Union.

Isabella Marsans is taking over fromKris Boratyn.

10pm update:'Bad news for Remainiacs!' Britons hit out at Brexit doom-mongers as UK takes huge leap

Brexiteers have brutally mocked Remainers over their continued doom mongering after ministers used Brexit powers for the first time to protect British products.

Following the end of the Brexit transition period, the Government introduced its independent Geographical Indication (GI) schemes in trying to ensure popular and traditional products from across the country can obtain special status to mark out their authenticity and origin.

But these GI schemes do not yet apply to Northern Ireland, which remains covered by the bloc's equivalent under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

When Britain was a European Union member state, Brussels was in charge of deciding which products received special status.

But now Gower Salt Marsh Lamb has been given protected status in a landmark moment.

7:30pm update: David Cameron blurted out 'Blitzkrieg' to Angela Merkel: 'Don't mention the war!

David Cameron evoked Nazi war tactics in a risque joke during a meeting with Angela Merkel, blurting out "Blitzkrieg", a former Government insider told a documentary.

The outgoing German Chancellor, 67, is preparing to step down in 2021, having said she will not stand for a fifth term in office in Germanys September 26 elections.

In recent years, Mrs Merkel has seen her grasp on her Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) party slip away and has been hit by political controversies, including the countrys refugee crisis.

The Chancellors critics have accused her of being too soft on immigration, and an unearthed interview reveals how she once urged Britains former Prime Minister David Cameron to lessen his immigration demands.

7pm update:EUs Brexit worries that bloc would be poor without Britain

EU leaders admitted that the EU "would be poor" after Britain left the trading bloc, an unearthed account shows.

The former head of the EUs executive discussed his interactions with former Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Cameron had tabled a series of demands, which he told EU bosses were essential if he was going to achieve his aim of keeping Britain in the EU.

One key proposal was the Prime Ministers so-called emergency brake which would have curbed EU migrants access to benefits in the UK.

Mr Juncker said: He used all kinds of arguments, reason by numbers, showing that the migration in the direction of Britain was higher than expected.

6:30pm: Lord Moylan calls for UK 'vigilance' with EU to 'preserve our status' in future

Lord Moylan has expressed concern over the leverage the EU continues to have over the UK.

Lord Moylan called for vigilance in future dealings with the bloc to ensure any co-operation preserves the UK as an "independent nation".

The Conservative peer also raised concerns about EU influence on "economic disruption in Northern Ireland and diversion of trade".

6pm update:Embarrassing U-turn for Merkel on her calls for tough EU rules to stop migrant crisis

Germany has performed a screeching U-turn and stopped deportations of Afghan migrants as the Taliban continue their advance in the country.

Separately, the Netherlands also joined the reverse ferret move amid Afghanistans deteriorating security situation.

It comes after both Berlin and the Hague joined a number of EU governments in calling for forced repatriations of Afghan migrants should be allowed if their asylum applications failed.

They were also backed by Belgium, Denmark, Greece and Austria in their effort to harden the blocs rules over fears of a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis.

5:30pm update:Brussels launches new power grab in fury at Poland's media blackout crackdown

Brussels has launched its latest power grab in fury over Poland's perceived crackdown on media freedoms.

The European Commission has raised the prospect of EU-wide legislation to protect the bloc against perceived attacks on freedom of speech and media pluralism.

It comes after eurocrats accused Poland of flouting EU values after its parliament passed a controversial bill that could force the sale of the countrys main independent broadcaster.

The legislation, put forward by the ruling Law and Justice party, would stop companies from outside the European Economic Area owning a majority in Polish media firms.

5pm update:Macron's right-hand man boasts of French vaccine victory after copying UK's roll-out plan

Clement Beaune has hailed the rapid rollout of coronavirus vaccines in France - despite once criticising Britain's single-dose strategy as "risky".

The Europe minister claimed 10 million people have received at least one vaccine dose since his close ally President Emmanuel Macron urged French citizens to get jabbed in July.

In a social media post, Mr Beaune celebrated the sudden rush by people to get vaccinated. He boasted that France is now beating both Germany and the United States in the vaccination race.

4:30pm update:'Petty in the extreme' Brexiteer fury as UK drivers face huge fines when visiting Europe

"Petty" EU rules requiring UK drivers to sport a sticker on their vehicle whenever they drive in Europe underline the bloc's desire to "cause difficulties rather than assist", a Brexiteer has said.

Prior to quitting the bloc, British motorists on the continent have been able to do quite straightforwardly. However, since severing ties with Brussels, the situation has become rather more complex.

In addition, if a vehicle has an EU, England, Scotland, or Wales flag alongside a GB mark on the number plate, it was also need a GB sticker, or the driver could himself or herself liable to a fine by the local authorities - and in addition, such stickers will become invalid in any case next month.

4pm update:Greece warns European Union is not fit to cope with looming 'major migration crisis'

Greece has warned the European Union is not in a position to handle a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis.

Its migration minister said the bloc must attempt to stop people from fleeing the conflict in Afghanistan to stem the flow of would-be asylum seekers.

Notis Mitarachi ramped up his calls to follow through with the deportations of Afghan migrants that have failed with asylum bids.

The Greek was amongst a group of ministers from five other EU nations that said ending returns would send the wrong message.

3:30pm update:Boris Johnson warned he must not surrender to Joe Biden as US trade deal on brink

Boris Johnson must not "surrender" Britain's hard-won, newly reclaimed sovereignty to Joe Biden's USA, a Brexiteer has warned, stressing: "Take back control is about more than Brexit".

Jayne Adye, director of grassroots pro-Brexit campaign group Get Britain Out, was commenting on Britains decision to sign up for Mr Bidens plan for a global minimum rate of corporate tax earlier this year - something she claimed was one of the last things we should be doing.

In addition, she highlighted the case of UK Aerospace specialist Meggitt, which has contracts with the Ministry of Defence and produces key components for Boeing, Airbus and BAE Systems.

Kris Boratyn takes over live reporting from Ciaran McGrath

2.10pm update: Ministers plot to cut civil service jobs as a result of Brexit

Ministers are drawing up plans to cut thousands of civil service jobs as part of a three-year review of government spending.

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People's Vote DEAD 'Sorry end' as plot to re-join EU finally on its knees - Daily Express

A letter to Boris Johnson sent a fortnight ago by James Ramsbotham called on the prime minister to save the north-east from the damage being done to our economy by Brexit and urged him to give it his most urgent and personal attention. Two weeks later, it remains unanswered.

Ramsbotham is the chief executive of the North East England Chamber of Commerce and speaks for thousands of businesses caught by the red tape and extra costs of complying with EU rules. In a recent survey, 38% of members said sales to Europe had fallen since January.

This is not teething problems, he says. Our ports face the EU and our region has the highest proportion of any exporting to the EU. It is vital that more barriers come down.

Surveys by the chamber show that three-quarters of its members wanted to stay in the single market when asked about their personal views.

The same proportion reported they had been financially harmed by leaving the EU.

Many business people in the north-east tell me the only way to improve the situation is to go back into the single market. We didnt say that in the letter because the prime ministers dogmatic attitude to the subject told us it would fall on deaf ears, he says.

Instead, the group called for a relaxation of the rules to allow more HGV truck drivers to work in the UK and more generous funding of the SME Brexit Support Fund to help more companies train staff and buy equipment needed to complete new customs checks.

The letter ended by telling the prime minister: Damaging the ability of businesses who create wealth for our nation will make this country so much poorer. To do so when we are striving to recover from the pandemic, with all of its resulting debt, will burden this nation for decades.

Ramsbotham, a former Barclays Bank executive and the son of former army general David Ramsbotham, a cross-bench life peer, said he is totally apolitical and when not speaking to local businesses, spends much his time talking to the leaders of local councils the majority of them Labour.

It seems to me that this government has broken the traditional link between the Conservative party and business. The real issue is the complete lack of strategic planning. From our perspective, there has been none whatsoever. And Brexit was the same. There was no strategic plan to make Brexit a success, he says.

Tariffs may have remained at zero under the trade deal made between the UK and EU, but Ramsbotham provided a long list of barriers that ministers failed to sort out, including how to apply new rules of origin that determine which goods qualify as tariff-free, difficulties obtaining export health certificates and additional checks on goods that create queues at ports.

His sense of loss from exiting the EU is supported by analysis from Sussex Universitys UK Trade Policy Observatory. Last month, it said that between January and April this year, the trade and cooperation agreement negotiated to succeed customs union membership reduced UK exports to the EU by 18.7% and imports from the EU by 25.8%, compared to the scenario in which the UK did not leave the EU.

The north-east has one of the smallest private sectors relative to the size of the economy after decades of government support that has seen several Whitehall back-office departments decamp from London.

Earlier this year, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced the latest would be a Treasury campus in Darlington, which he said showed the government was serious about levelling up.

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Ramsbotham, who this autumn will step down as the chambers chief executive after 15 years to become chair of Newcastle Building Society, is unimpressed. He says investments are leaching away from the region and holds up the rail manufacturer Hitachis plans for the region as an example.

Hitachi bought a site in the north-east with a view to building trains for the whole of Europe. The place was big enough for three factories, but they have only built one and the rest of the land is vacant. If you want to see where the trains are going to be made for the EU, youll need to visit Hitachis new factory in Italy.

Referring to the cabinet, he says: If Brexit was such a success, you would think they would be shouting it from the rooftops, but they are not.

Go here to read the rest:

Business chief calls on PM to save north-east from Brexit damage - The Guardian

Fulham have one of the leading academies in the country but to sustain it in a post-Brexit world, the club will need to adapt. It is a process that has already begun.

Last month, the club announced a restructuring at academy level, with key personnel moved and new positions created. So far, Huw Jennings has stepped into a more strategic role as head of football development, Mike Cave has taken on Jennings former role as academy director and Colin Omogbehin has moved up from the under-23s to become a first-team development coach.

There is still more to come as this seasons coaching staff for the under-23 side is not yet finalised, with Steve Wigley, who is also head of player development, taking that team in their pre-season. The new director of scouting position is not filled yet either, with the interview process understood to be ongoing.

Link:

How Fulham are making changes to academy to cope with Brexit - The Athletic

Back in 2020, a game called Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition launched on the Nintendo Switch on the exact date that the UK left the European Union, in fact. ("Brexit", as it's more commonly known). The game was a satirical take on British politics set in a post-Brexit alternate universe; you play a bouncer whose job it is to examine people's ID, Papers Please-style, in order to figure out whether or not they should be let in.

Following the success of the first game, UK publisher No More Robots and developer PanicBarn have announced a sequel, Not Tonight 2, and this time it's set across the pond. Here's how it's described in the official PR blurb:

"Not Tonight 2 explores an alternative, defective America, where capitalism and political greed have taken center stage, and democracy is a thing of the past. Written and brought to life by a team of POC writers and artists, this US road trip explores every festering orifice of this Land of Liberty."

The London-based team made sure to hire American writers for this new satire, with the game set to include references to a whole bunch of political hot potatoes: religion, individual freedoms, deportation, border walls, Canada, cults, and KFC. No More Robots have already called it their "most political game yet", with the story centering around three people trying to stop their friend Eduardo from being deported by the "fascist Martyrs regime".

"Immigration Enforcement Case #112: You are under arrest. Unless your friends can cross a broken America, retrieve your identifying documents and stay out of trouble... this is the end of the American dream for you."

The original Not Tonight attracted nearly 400,000 players a considerable success for the indie team and one which informed their decision to line up a new target for their political satire in a sequel.

Not Tonight 2 will launch later this year, although particular platforms have not yet been confirmed.

Due to the sensitive topics mentioned above and the time in the afternoon (in the UK) this news is going live we've ultimately taken the decision to lock comments on this article.

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'Not Tonight 2' Sets Its Post-Brexit Satirical Sights On The US - Nintendo Life

Something shifted this summer. Climate change went from a distant threat to a clear-and-present danger. Something which once seemed like it would affect our grandchildren was happening to us today.

Flash floods in Germany, Belgium and the UK saw the effects of climate change wash into our homes and local streets. The images of wildfires in Turkey and Greece showed a world on fire, a Dante-like portrayal of the warnings wed received for years come vividly to life.

Little has changedin the science. What were experiencing is a change in psychology. Something abstract has become concrete.

But thats not the only change. A new opposition to climate change action is also taking shape. Were starting to see the contours of a coming Tory rebellion against environmental policy.

Leaked WhatsApp messagesby Red Wall MPs this morning showed several influential figures railing against a green agenda. This will not go down well in Red Wall seats,AshfieldMP Lee Anderson said. Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price replied: The reason we have won Red Wall seats is because Labour lost working class voters over decades as the party has become increasingly metropolitan. We wont keep those voters if they see us behaving in the same way.

Downing Street will ignore them for now. The UK is hosting the COP26 summit this autumn, allowing Boris Johnson to counter the sense that Brexit involves a retreat from the world stage. For the time being, it suits him to portray himself as an environmental crusader.

But committing countries to emissions reduction is the easy part. A viable climate strategy rests with implementation. Thats where things get difficult.

When environmental policy resulted in increased energy prices, David Cameron went from an opposition leader who liked being photographed with huskies to the Prime Minister who reportedly demanded we get rid of all that green crap. Its a recurring theme across the world. Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd lost his premiership due to a carbon tax. In France, increased fuel taxes triggered thegilet jaunesmovement, which threw Emmanuel Macrons government into crisis. In the Netherlands, reduced speed limits prompted a fierce political backlash. In Germany, fuel taxes and coal have become frenzied areas of debate.

In nearly all these cases, political fellow-travelers of the Tory Red Wall MPs on the nativist right have sought tocapitaliseon the discontent. Climate change policy has become a key area of opposition for the Dutch Party for Freedom, the Sweden Democrats and Alternative for Germany.

You can see the same process happening here. In his new slot on GB News this week, Nigel Farage branded theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Changereport climate alarmism andsaidhe questioned the obsession with carbon dioxide and its direct link to global warming.

This message fits easily into the fake binary opposition established by Brexit, of an out-of-touch metropolitan elite versus the authentic people of the country. The Tory MPs on WhatsApp yesterday were busy sharing private polling which showed that 47 per cent of petrol drivers supported the Conservatives, while around 70 per cent of electric car drivers backed Labour.

It also highlights a psychological tendencyon theConservative backbenches which seeks to deny long-term causal effects and present a simplified fairy story in place of complex real-world dynamics. We saw this during the Brexit debates, when prominent Leavers rubbished the idea that customs borders involved bureaucracy and delays, only to now see them brought disastrously to life in UK exports to Europe and trade between Britain and Northern Ireland.

We then saw it during the Covid emergency, when many of the same figures railed against lockdowns, only to then watch cases spiral out of control due to the ensuing delay to government action.

Were now in danger of the precise same thing happening again. The European Research Group of Tory MPs acted as a vanguard of Brexit missionary zeal during the break from Europe. The Covid Recovery Group did the same against the second lockdown. Now a new group is beingformed presumably entitled something suitably Orwellian like the Environmental Research Group to challenge the goal of net-zero carbon emissions.

From the early signs, it will follow the same contours as before. Firstly, a rejection of the empirical reality of complex phenomena infavourof simplistic and emotive sloganeering. And secondly, a concerted effort to split the issue into artificial divides between the metropolitan elite and real people. It will attempt to introduce the culture war into the climate change debate.

That would be a disaster of existential proportions. Climate change is real and we are now seeing its effects. Those consequences will fall on all of us equally, whether were from the north or the south, from a city or a town.Their myths and obfuscations must be tackled now before theyre able to take root.

Read more here:

Like Brexit and Covid, rebel Tories are uniting to turn climate change policy into the next culture war - iNews