Category Archives: Brexit

Brexit has beached the fishing boats at Hastings. The two-man crew of Paul Joys boat Kaya have left for shore jobs, after the price of the huss they land fell to just 2p a kilo. Exports to the European Union are Brexit-blighted, with fishers across Britain poleaxed by new costs and regulations, their catches rotting before they reach EU markets. Its costing them millions already.

For the past two years Joy, a passionate Brexiter, has consistently told me he believes his industry would be shafted in any trade deal. Betrayed, sacrificed, he says, outraged at the governments failure to secure British fishing rights for 12 miles around the coast, and now crippled by the export costs. So when foreign secretary Dominic Raab has the effrontery to tell the BBCs Andrew Marr that this is a great deal for the fishing industry, he must know its not true.

Other industries want to know if Boris Johnsons promised compensation for fishing losses means a huge subsidy in perpetuity for this less than 0.2% sliver of the economy? Because the problems exploding in one industry after another, in less than three Brexit weeks, are not going away.

Friction is the new normal. As the chief EU negotiator, Michel Barnier said firmly last week, things have changed for good. UK choices mean mechanical, obvious, inevitable consequences when you leave the single market and thats what the British wished to do. Its not French revenge, or bloody-minded Brussels, but ordinary life as a third country.

The plight of the fishers is just a vivid emblem for the great blow that is falling on exporting parts of the economy. Michael Goves December warnings of bumpy moments upped an octave in the first week of this year, to Britain should prepare for significant border disruption.

That well-staged last-minute-deal melodrama was designed to end Brexit stories, relegating all boring details of the aftermath to the business pages. Not so. The stories are so strong even the ardent Brexit-creating press cant resist them though now those newspapers add a self-exculpatory slant that blames the government for a bad Brexit. Here are some random discoveries since Brexit day.

The Sun warns of Brexits threat to the Cheltenham Festival: last year 180 Irish horses ran, but this year, Brexit leaves Irish racehorse trainers fearing colossal tax bill. Likewise, the cost of taking UK showjump horses across the Channel is prohibitive for their British owners. Motorsport faces similar fees for cars shipped to EU races.

The fashion industry especially Asos-type, cheap end with small margins is hitting a rules-of-origin crisis, paying new duties on its many products manufactured outside the EU. Fun stories in the Sun include the lorry driver crossing the Gibraltar/Spain border whose bottle of Nandos sauce is confiscated, along with all those ham sandwiches snatched by the Dutch. The Daily Telegraph reports the flight of Europeans from England, but not from remain-voting Scotland and Northern Ireland. Farmers Weekly sends up flares about plunging meat prices, due to delayed exports.

All these losses to a host of smaller industries mount up fast. But look at the Sunday Times report on the crisis in a car industry thats worth 42bn in exports, employing 823,000 people, where car-part delays are halting production at some factories. Yet still, most economically deadly is the unseen slipping away of invisibles, where that 80% of the economy in services is already leaking tax revenues. Bloomberg keeps up its grim recording of no likely progress: City of Londons plight laid bare as Brexit deal hopes fade, it reports.

And then there is the unfolding Northern Ireland disaster. Stena Line ferries has diverted its Great Britain-Northern Ireland sea crossings to the Rosslare-to-Cherbourg route instead. The Times headline reads Doldrums ahead in shipping forecast as Brexit complicates customs.

Over the past year I have been following the impending haulage disaster through Manfreight, a 200-lorry company in Coleraine. Its owner Chris Slowey says no, the crisis in the GB/UK crossing is not down to teething problems, as Raab put it, but is baked into the nature of Brexit. His lorries carrying exports to England return empty, doubling his costs, as English exporters find it too costly to sell to Northern Ireland and thats permanent. The Telegraph reports that one in 10 lorries are being turned back at the EU border. Delays will continue: spot checks at EU borders are standard. So will queues, lorry parks and roadside squalor. The pandemic has worsened the Brexit effect, but that was a good reason to extend the transition period.

Its only human to confess to some remainer I told you so glee when ex-MP Kate Hoey wails in the Telegraph, The Tories have betrayed Northern Ireland with their Brexit deal. What on earth did she expect? Thats why Northern Ireland wisely voted remain.

Expect a lot more shocked Brexiters to discover what they have done, the Brexit cabinet itself is on a steep learning curve. Heres one Telegraph columnist: We Brexiters are being blamed for the problems we warned about. In reality, the fault lies squarely with the government and poor planning. Oh the schadenfreude! Thats a sharp U-turn from the Telegraphs too-eager 1 January report from the Dover front: Chaos? What chaos?

As Brexiters turn on each other, Brexit politics move fast. Until now the Tories planned to move on, only reviving Brexit done triumphalism to re-arouse the captured red wall at the election: Labour just wanted to bury the whole issue.

But the scale of the eruptions bursting out in one sector after another requires the opposition to find its footing on this tricky terrain. Many like Paul Joy on Hastings beach are still as passionately pro-Brexit as ever. Fearlessly, Labour needs to regain its voice of outrage that Brexit leaders deliberately shut their ears to what leaving the single market and the customs union really meant. A better Brexit deal really was possible.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

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Brexiters are waking up to the damage they've done - The Guardian

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - British fashion group Superdry will use bonded warehouses to avoid having to pay tariffs on product re-exported to the European Union, its boss said on Tuesday.

UK retailers, including Marks & Spencer and ASOS , have complained of issues re-exporting goods to EU countries since the end of the Brexit transition period on Dec. 31, with tariffs imposed on items not made in the UK.

Superdry CEO Julian Dunkerton said the firm was well placed because most of the product it sold in Europe was shipped from suppliers directly to its warehouse in Belgium.

We are one of the best prepared and the least affected, he told Reuters.

He said that for product not sent direct to Europe the group will utilise bonded warehouses.

Tariffs dont need to be paid when goods are moved between the bonded warehouses.

Well be bonded by April, both in Europe and the UK, Dunkerton said, pointing out that about 40% of its sales were made in Europe. (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)

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Superdry to use bonded warehouses to avoid post Brexit EU tariffs - Reuters

A major British wine agent has described how his business is facing its biggest threat in 30 years because the government did not think through Brexit.

Daniel Lambert who imports up to 2m bottles of wine a year for 300 retailers including supermarkets, said he is unable to import wine from the EU because of the complex and unworkable HM Revenue and Customs system, which requires companies to work out one of 10,000 different combinations to describe the product they want to import.

We were a pretty good little business, we were doing quite well, until Brexit came along, he said.

While we knew Brexit would be a car crash we did not know it was going to be a multiple pile-up in the fog with fatalities, he tweeted in a thread over the weekend that has resonated with thousands on Twitter.

HM Revenue and Customs are being as helpful as they can be, but its not their fault they are civil servants. This is the governments fault and they dont give a shit about business. Boris Johnson said fuck business and this is exactly what they are doing, he said.

We knew they would screw it up, so Im not surprised. Im just disappointed, he told the Guardian.

Lambert, who is temporarily unable to import wine from the EU, said he would survive, but that ultimately consumers will lose out because there will still be a mountain of paperwork even if the initial problems were sorted out.

Wine per bottle on retail will increase by at least 1 per bottle for mass market products; for niche small batch wines you are looking at 1.50 or even 2.00 on the bottle prices. Theres another of those Brexit dividends, he said.

Lambert started his business in Bridgend in 1992 and said this was the biggest threat he had faced, leading him to consider leaving the country when his children complete their education.

His was one of the many businesses that thought they were fully prepared, taking detailed steps to mitigate against the worst possible scenario, a no-deal Brexit, five months ago.

He went as far as setting up a bonded warehouse system to enable all the customs and duties paperwork to be done in house rather than on the border where they would face impediments in a no-deal scenario.

It was very complicated to get to that point and in fact HMRC told us they were surprised at how prepared we were.

By 9 December we had, as far as we were concerned, done everything we needed to do.

Now I literally cannot bring wine in from the EU, he said.

At the heart of the issue is a complex piece of paperwork, called Chief, that was used for imports from non-EU countries before Brexit.

Now you would think that government would want to make using Chief as easy as possible as now there are millions of businesses having to use it, said Lambert.

Wrong, this is the only HMRC system where there is no number to call. Just an email with a five-day turn around. Remember that when government say they are doing all they can to help, said Lambert.

His company was familiar with the system as it had for years imported wines from places such as the US and Australia. The system worked for him like clockwork until Brexit hit.

It requires him to answer 64 questions just to import a bottle of wine and can easily go wrong when it comes to matching a commodity code and a customs procedure code (CPC) as that varies according to the type of wine and its alcohol strength.

If I remember correctly, Chief has 10,000 different combinations depending on what type of import youre doing, depending on the commodity code itself. So you have to get the combination between the commodity code and the CPC code exactly right, otherwise [it] wont allow the declaration to happen, the system wont give you the green light, he said.

Lambert said the system is antiquated and so complex even companies like his that are used to using Chief have come a cropper with next to zero meaningful help from HMRC.

I originally put a query into HMRC on 4 January to ask whats the CPC code for this [a particular wine] and they said it depends on your declaration, after five days. That was the answer. Well thats not really helping is it?

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'A multiple pile-up in the fog': wine agent's fury at Brexit red tape - The Guardian

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson calls them the awesome foursome.

These days, two of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom are less keen on Britains prime minister than he is on them. The result could be a big threat to one of his objectives for Brexit: stronger internal relations within the UK.

Kellner is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, where his research focuses on Brexit, populism, and electoral democracy.

Historically, the UK has never been a fixed entity. Relations between England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have fluctuated. Less than one hundred years ago, the UK comprised all of the British isles, before a bitter civil war led to the secession of twenty-six of Irelands thirty-two counties in 1922.

Tensions have never disappeared. For three decades between the late 1960s and the late 1990s, Northern Irelandand occasionally English citiessuffered from the Troubles, the Irish Republican Armys (IRAs) violent campaign to reunite Ireland by force. The IRA killed more than 2,000 people, their loyalist, pro-UK opponents more than 1,000, and the British army more than 300.

In Scotland and Wales, nationalist parties have made their mark more peacefully. Both countries now have their own national parliaments with substantial powers, but while the appetite for full independence is limited in Wales, it has grown in Scotland.

Brexit has now added a new dimension to these historical tensions. It may well contribute over time to the breaking up of the United Kingdom; only a brave gambler would bet on both Scotland and Northern Ireland still belonging to the UK in 2040.

Let us take the two in turn.

When Scotlands new parliament first met in 1999, one of its members was applauded for declaring: The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on March 25 in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened.

That statement is long on nationalist nostalgia but short on accuracy. Scotlands currency, and hence its overall economic powers, is controlled by Londonas are its defense and foreign policy.

When the UK voted for Brexit in 2016, Scots divided by almost two to one in favor of staying in the EU. But Scotland was bound by the UK-wide result: it was forced to leave the EU along with England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

This reopened a debate that seemed to have been settled in 2014, when a Scottish independence referendum resulted in Scots voting by 55 to 45 percent to remain in the UK. It was supposed to be a once-in-a-generation decision that offered Scots continuing membership of both the UK and the EU.

Many Scots now feel that their only way to rejoin the EU is to break away from the UK. More than ever before, the nationalist and European causes in Scotland have come togetherand have been gaining support.

For the first time, polls conducted in 2020 report that a majority of Scots now favor independence from the UK. The rise in support is a direct response to Scotland being forced against its will to leave the EU.

In 2021, Scotland will elect a new parliament. The Scottish National Party (SNP) is set for its best-ever result and will remain in power in Edinburgh. Together with the Greens, also pro-independence and pro-EU, the SNP will be sure of a majorityand possibly a large majorityfor a fresh referendum on independence.

Legally, however, Scotlands politicians do not have the power to call a referendum. They can ask for one, but the decision rests with Westminster. Here, the Conservatives enjoy a large majority, and they oppose a fresh referendum. Johnson, the Conservative Party leader, says the Scots should wait forty years before another independence vote.

In the short run, Londons veto will prevail. The long run is another matter. If the Conservatives remain in power in Westminster, and the SNP in Edinburgh, the stage will be set for a constitutional crisis. Reluctantly, the Conservatives may have to give way.

Alternatively, the Conservatives may be voted out of office at the next UK general election. However, the main opposition party, Labour, will find it extremely hard to win outright. A far more likely outcome, if the Conservatives do lose, is a minority Labour government dependent on SNP support. And the price of that support will be agreement on a new vote on Scottish independence.

One way or another, a referendum is likely before 2030. Scotlands departure from the UK is a distinct possibility.

Northern Irelands politics are very different; but its destination may be the same as Scotlands. Its political tribes are driven by religion: the Protestant majority is overwhelmingly pro-British, while the Catholic minority wants a reunited Ireland. For the time being, therefore, most of Northern Irelands voters want to stay within the UK.

But three factors are changing that simple political arithmetic.

First, demographicsdriven by birth rates and migrationare edging Northern Ireland slowly but remorselessly toward a Catholic majority.

Second, a small but growing minority of voters reject the sectarian divide and no longer vote according to their religion.

Thirdand this is the one respect in which Northern Ireland resembles ScotlandBrexit is making a difference. Under the new UK-EU agreement on future relations, concluded on December 24, 2020, the island of Ireland remains politically divided but is economically more united than at any time since 1922.

There are no border posts, rules, or tariffs to impede trade across the 500-kilometer border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic; but trade between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain is now subject to significant checks, resulting in empty shelves in Northern Irish supermarkets.

The demographic and economic logic of Northern Ireland points to Irish reunification in the next 1020 years.

Already, polls indicate a shift in views toward a 50-50 division on whether to leave the UK. Meanwhile, the prospect of rejoining the EUwhich 56 percent of Northern Irish voters in 2016 did not want to leaveis attractive, not just to Catholic nationalists, but also to the growing minority of anti-sectarian Protestants.

Only in Wales do nationalists remain in a clear minority.

By 2040, Johnsons awesome foursome may be a thing of the past. Brexit could end up dividing the United Kingdom more comprehensively than it divides Europe.

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Brexit and the Gradual Disintegration of the United Kingdom - Carnegie Europe

The Irish construction industry is expected to grow by 15 per cent in 2021 despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit-related delays, according to a new report by infrastructure consultancy firm Aecom.

In an annual construction industry review, to be published on Thursday, the group says that while construction output is unlikely to reach pre-Covid 19 levels, it is expected that development in 2021 will significantly exceed 2020 levels.

While 2021 has got off to a bad start for the industry, the report anticipates a strong year for the sector based on a presumption that normal activity will resume shortly as the vaccine roll-out continues.

The report indicates that, in general terms, demand has not been impacted but rather activity has been delayed.

Last year, Aecom estimated the cost of construction increased by about 1 per cent. In 2021, it is estimating a conservative further increase of 2 per cent.

On Brexit, the report suggests access to materials and other equipment has been unaffected to date.

Aecom Ireland director John ORegan said on Tuesday the sector was better prepared than last year to deal with challenges.

Despite the challenges associated with the dual impact of the Covid-19 and Brexit, the projected growth rate of 15 per cent for 2021 highlights the industrys resilience at the moment, he said.

While the first lockdown was very difficult, as an unanticipated event, the sector is now more prepared to effectively manage the associated challenges related to materials, cost, and logistics.

That being said, hospitality and retail has been put on hold and, while significant commercial office developments are proceeding on site, the uncertainty around the shape of the future office workplace will slow demand in this sector.

Mr ORegan said it would be important for the industry that promised rail projects such as the Dart expansion and Metrolink progress as planned.

Our report also suggests that, while we are dealing with two very real threats to our supply chains, the price inflation for 2021 will only be marginally higher than 2020, reporting at 2 per cent, he said.

This is very positive news for the industry and for consumers as there was considerable anticipation that the cost of building would climb sharply in 2021.

Looking ahead, our report highlights that a key element of promoting sustainable growth for the construction industry is ensuring that promised rail projects such as the Dart expansion and Metrolink progress as planned.

While it may not seem priority now, we must double down our commitment to rail development as it will enhance our work life balance, support housing and development outside of our cities and go a long way towards our carbon emission targets.

Mr ORegan also called for the establishment of a national housing task force consisting of industry and public sector players, which could aid the fast and cost-effective delivery of housing across the country.

Along with the benefits of such a taskforce, the economic restart after the coronavirus means there is a chance to improve and speed up the planning and delivery process, which is delaying many pipeline projects, he added.

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Construction to grow by 15% in 2021 despite Covid and Brexit - The Irish Times

Politicians from Labour and the Liberal Democrats have hit out at the Conservative governments handling on the Brexit touring negotiations with the EU.

AfterPrime Minister Boris Johnsons Brexit trade deal failed to secure visa-free travel for artists wishing to tour Europe(addinghuge costs to future live music tours of the continent will be incurredandpreventing rising and developing UK artists from being able to afford it), a row erupted over who was responsible.

Last week,Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden put the blame for this at the foot of the EUfollowingreports that a standard proposal that would exempt performers from needing a visa to enter countries in the EU for trips under 90 days was actually turned down by the UK government. The EU then hit back,denying claims that they had rejected the UKs ambitious proposals, and that in fact they offered the UK 90 days of visa-free travel but the UK responded with their own proposal of just 30 days. See more info on the different dealshere.

Now, opposition MPs have added to the chorus from artists and music industry bosses calling on the government to take this seriously and fix it, as fans continue to sign the 250,000-strong petition and write to their MPs calling for visa-free travel for musicians and crew to be established.

Tory attempts to shift the blame onto the EU are just not good enough, Labours Shadow Minister for Culture Alison McGovern told NME. Ministers promised time and again that UK musicians would not face barriers to touring in Europe as a result of Brexit.

They have let our music community down and need to fix this as soon as possible. The EU have said they are open to an arrangement so the Tories need to get on with it.

She added: Its been a terrible nine months for musicians and those who work alongside them compounded by an inflexible Tory chancellor unwilling to help those whose employment does not fit his rigid mould.

This problem isnt insurmountable, but it takes a political will that sadly seems to be lacking.

Protestors demonstrate against Brexit CREDIT: Getty Images

Meanwhile, Jane Bonham Carter, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the House of Lords, told NME that she has been meeting with the Incorporated Society of Musicians to try and move the situation beyond the blame game.

The government has made a right mess of this for artists, she said. Having promised them that there would be no problem touring in Europe, the deal theyve struck will hammer musicians and performers with costly permits and a mountain of paperwork. This will hit artists at an especially tough time with the COVID-19 related ban on live music but especially young and emerging artists, who may now find touring in Europe unviable.

Carter also described the EU offer that the UK government rejected as reasonable and said that negotiations needed to resume to fix this problem urgently.

The EU made an offer specifically for artists which quite reasonably wanted reciprocity for their own artists; the UK instead made a counteroffer for all business travellers which was more difficult to agree on, she continued. By the way, reciprocity is good for Britain because it means no disruption to seeing our favourite foreign acts here in the UK. Just think of the damage this will do to festival line-ups and so on. The government blaming the EU is predictable but it does nothing to help our creative industries.

She added: The government, quite simply, needs to get back around the negotiating table and secure a better deal specifically for creative industries with paperwork-free travel in Europe for British artists and their equipment.

I believe there is a willingness on all sides to get this done and so the quicker the blame game ends and the sooner the details are thrashed out the better. Some form of reciprocity is going to be key and the government must understand that will be good for Britain.

CREDIT: Getty Images

At the height of the row last week, Dowden had said that it was the EU letting down music on both sides of the Channel not us, before EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that he regretted that the British didnt display any greater ambition.

In a response to the recent petition, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport wrote: During our negotiations with the EU, we sought a mutually beneficial agreement that would have allowed performers to continue performing across the continent without the need for work permits. Specifically, we proposed to capture the work done by musicians, artists and entertainers, and their accompanying staff through the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors. This was a straightforward solution for our creative industries which would have benefited all sides.

The EU turned down our proposals on the basis that musicians were providing a service which they viewed as necessitating a work permit and/or visa.

They also added that they were taking all steps we can to make the new processes as straightforward as possible for UK artists performing across the continent.

Last week also saw music industry insiders amplify their fears thatthe current Brexit deal could also prevent UK artists from being able to play in the US, claiming that if talent is unable to acquire international recognition through the usual channel of playing neighbouring European countries with ease, then this could make them ineligible for a visa.

The rest is here:

Opposition parties hit out at government's handling of Brexit touring row - NME

Feet up, mug of tea in hand and breathe. Time to tick Brexit off your worries list? Dont you believe it, because among the devilish details (most of which present more difficulties than impossibilities, thereby still eating time and expense) lurks a ticking time bomb that threatens to destabilise the UK car industry unless urgent action is taken.

It relates to a requirement for the UK or EU content of cars to ramp up between now and 2027, with a particular emphasis on the entire battery in any EV being sourced from either of the regions by that date. Failure to meet these rules of origin will result in 10% tariffs being added that would threaten the value of assembling cars in the UK.

If you judge on EVs UK market share of 6.6% last year, you might well see it as an issue gladly kicked down the road, but the trajectory of uptake is heading only one way to 2030 and beyond.

Some 200,000 today work in vehicle manufacturing and its supply chain, many in jobs, most notably engine-related, that are on a path to no longer existing.

The choice is between encouraging battery makers to invest here (gigafactories cost billions, take around two years to build and need very complex supply chains) or giving away the skills and employment opportunities and importing from the EU, as Mini does on a relatively small scale for the Electric (proving that the objections over complexity and cost are surmountable, at least).

At present, the latter looks more likely than the former. Today we have one battery facility in Sunderland, built by Nissan to support Leaf EV production, now sold but still supplying the factory and a second at the late planning stage, being set up by Britishvolt, a start-up thats set to launch in 2024 to supply a currently unknown customer base.

Sunderland makes about 2GW of batteries per year, and Britishvolt will take that figure to 15GW, or enough to make around 250,000 EVs. In normal times, the UK makes around 1.3 million cars annually, so the need to scale up again if we want homegrown production beyond 2030 is clear.

Yet for now, theres no visible queue of willing investors or government encouragement to make the UK look more enticing to investors. Meanwhile, EU nations are fast-tracking their plans and getting a headstart on developing the infrastructure that will be at the heart of the industry in the future.

Our place in the car-making hierarchy right now drives huge amounts of employment, revenue and investment. But without long-term planning, a large slice of its competitiveness is going to come back into the spotlight in just a few years.

READ MORE

Nissan satisfied with Brexit deal outcome, says UK boss

Inside the industry: How long will Brexit blight the car world?

Analysis: 'British' cars matter more than ever for the UK post-Brexit

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Inside the industry: Why rule of origin is a Brexit time bomb - Autocar

Tens of thousands of Edinburgh residents have come from different EU countries to make an outstanding contribution to the city, its economy, society and national life. It voted by one of the biggest margins in the country to remain in the European Union.

As the Brexit disaster unfolds with the fishing industry facing multi-million-pound losses and transportation and border problems beginning to bite for other sectors, UK opposition leaders have sadly walked away from defending links with European Union.

Sir Keir Starmer, who was elected as Labour leader with a key commitment to retain freedom of movement has now ditched his promise. Less than 10 months after making this one of his top ten pledges, Sir Keir told the Andrew Marr programme on BBC television that he would not campaign to restore free movement as it would require extensive renegotiation of the Brexit treaty.

He was followed on the political programme by Sir Ed Davey, of the Liberal Democrats, who has announced that his party will not be campaigning to rejoin the European Union.

This is in direct contradiction to the promises made by the Scottish Liberal Democrats that they would. Edinburgh Western Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton previously pledged: We have a party policy on this, both at a Scottish level and at a federal level. If we leave the European Union then this party will automatically pivot from the party of remain to the party of re-entry. I think we have to say that loud and clear and not be afraid of saying that. We will be the party of re-entry. Just as the Lib Dems betrayed their commitment on university tuition fees, they are now walking away from their promises on the European Union.

For thousands of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters, the shocking Brexit conversion of their parties will make them question their continuing support. This helps explain the soaring support for the Scottish National Party and Scottish independence.

In recent days, the 18th poll in a row showed a majority for independence and the SNP was polling at 53 per cent support. In Edinburgh, the pro-Brexit Conservatives face losing Edinburgh Central, the Brexit U-turning Labour Party would lose Edinburgh South and Brexit sell-out Liberal Democrats would lose Edinburgh Western.

None of this is, of course, automatic. If Edinburghs pro-European electorate wants to elect pro-European candidates in the Scottish Parliament elections they will have to turnout and vote for them.

Opinion polls are no guarantee of success. Residents should make sure they are registered and given coronavirus restrictions should apply for a postal vote too. Not only should domestic voters who have been deprived of their EU citizenship against their will cast their ballots. So too should European and international residents who are entitled to vote and have been denied continuing residency in a European Union country.

Now that Labour and the Liberal Democrats have given up on the European Union there is only one major mainstream European option for Scotland: electing an SNP government, holding an independence referendum and rejoining the EU. Edinburgh is a European city and could soon become the capital of an EU member state.

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Brexit: Scotland only has one way to rejoin the EU and that's independence Angus Robertson - Edinburgh News

Scam artists are exploiting a surge in messages from delivery companies seeking Brexit-related taxes and charges by sending out bogus alerts looking for financial details from unsuspecting consumers.

Gardai have warned that with online shopping and parcel deliveries increasing due to the Covid -19 pandemic the potential risk to peoples personal and payment data has increased.

In a statement the Garda said was aware of a scam operating that sees emails and texts circulated under the branding of various courier companies.

In such messages recipients are asked to pay additional costs for customs clearance prior to delivery of parcels. In some instances these emails texts have been circulated in Irish.

Det Supt Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said anyone who gets messages like this should not provide any payment details and instead take a screenshot of the text or email and delete it. Anyone who believes they have been the victim of fraud is asked to report the matter to their local Garda station.

Det Supt Cryan said scammers were taking advantage of the confusion around Brexit and criminals would be using uncertainty to defraud people.

Anyone who receives unsolicited correspondence and is awaiting a package should first independently verify the status of the package with the relevant postal service or courier.

People are being warned not to click links in unsolicited texts or emails and to never provide payment details or give away personal data like PIN, card numbers or passwords.

People should also not open attachments in unsolicited emails and make sure computerhave the most up-to-date anti-virus software installed. Similarly people are being told to be wary of unsolicited phone calls.

Be careful, do your research, dont rush in, ask yourself why me? Why am I getting this great offer, and if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is, Det Sup Cryan said.

Read the rest here:

Scammers exploit Brexit taxes and charges for packages - The Irish Times

(Bloomberg) -- The new rules for the bankers who made London financial capital of Europe are still uncertain after Brexit, but one outcome is already clear: a stream of dealmakers across the English Channel.

While thousands of traders and salespeople have already made the move, the next wave is likely to include the high-flyers who advise on strategy, mergers and capital raising, say more than a dozen officials at global institutions. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., for one, is moving senior investment bankers out of London to the continent.

I would expect that 3,000 to 4,000 more investment bankers, especially industry-focused specialists and debt and equity issuance advisers, will have to leave London and come back to Europe, said Andreas Halin, founder of Global Mind Executive Search Consultants GmbH, a Frankfurt-based firm that specializes in the sector.

The prospect of losing a highly paid cadre of taxpayers is particularly bad news for the U.K., since it relies so much on financial services for revenue. The industry employs more than one million people, makes up about 7% of the economy, and accounts for more than a 10th of all tax revenue.

While a U.K.-EU trade deal was sealed in late December, talks on financial services are only just beginning -- with no deadline for completion. EU officials must rule separately that British financial regulations and oversight are strong enough to create a level playing field. Thousands of jobs and more than $1 trillion of assets are already moving to Europe.

Chaperones

For the dealmakers who will be on the move, the issue is one of access. Bankers in London can no longer directly pitch transactions or capital-raising operations to corporate clients on the continent. They require the involvement of a so-called chaperone -- a colleague within the EU to make the first move to contact the client with a business idea.

To manage in the new world, Goldman Sachs is expanding its investment-banking footprint in Europe, moving bankers from London to outposts such as Frankfurt and Madrid.

Story continues

Macario Prieto, head of technology, media and telecom in the region, is relocating to Germanys finance hub, according to spokesman Sebastian Howell. Hell be followed by three other bankers including Konrad Krallmann, who advises financial institutions on deals. At the same time, its doubling its presence in the Spanish capital to 60 bankers by the end of this year, say people familiar with the matter.

Differing Policies

To be sure, rules are far from straightforward and policies hardly uniform. At UBS Group AG, London-based bankers can still initiate business with clients in Germany thanks to a bilateral Swiss-German accord, but cant do so in Spain, said people familiar with the situation.

At Credit Suisse Group AG, all investment bankers in London now have to go through EU-based middlemen when proposing business to a client, according to a person familiar with the matter. That includes even bankers who advise on mergers and acquisitions, though officials at other lenders said they arent applying the chaperone system for their merger advisers.

Spokespeople at UBS and Credit Suisse declined to comment.

Others may also just be trying to finesse the system. Less than two weeks after Brexit fully kicked in, European regulators raised a red flag. U.K. financiers are resorting to questionable practices to improperly preserve the status quo, the Paris-based European Securities and Markets Authority said in a statement Wednesday.

Some firms are trying to circumvent regulations by using online pop-up I agree boxes that claim transactions are made at a clients exclusive initiative, known as reverse soliciation, ESMA said.

We explicitly warn clients against making wide use of reverse solicitation, said Manuel Lorenz, who heads the German financial-services regulatory practice at law firm Baker McKenzie. That does not rule out the involvement of British investment bankers on a deal, if properly structured and as long as the business is not booked in the U.K.

The European Central Bank has signaled its determination to keep an eye on the situation. Activities and services involving EU clients are to be carried out predominantly within the EU, an ECB spokesperson said. Where national regimes allow the provision of cross-border services from a third country, the ECB expects banks not to use such set-ups as a usual means to carry out large volumes of activities in the EU. The ECB is closely monitoring developments to avoid fragmentation or regulatory arbitrage.

Tough Talk

National regulators are also talking tough. Germanys watchdog Bafin in late December reminded financial institutions that U.K. entities and their European branches would no longer have the freedom to provide financial services to clients in Germany and that it will enforce the new rules.

The warning may have surprised some banks because its tone implies Bafin is serious about it and will be strict, said Christian Schmies, an expert on regulation at the law firm Hengeler Mueller in Frankfurt.

Senior investment bankers said in interviews that the first few days of the year were marked by compliance classes, getting drilled on the changes faced by a sovereign Britain that could further erode Londons significance.

(Adds ECB comment in 15th paragraph.)

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