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We are part of the plan. We have always been part of the plan. This is the latest stark warning to the West from Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr, following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Cadwalladr, as regular spiked readers are no doubt familiar, has spent the past several years tirelessly uncovering an elaborate hidden conspiracy that can apparently explain more or less every global development that liberal centrists see as unwelcome. Brexit, Trump and now the war in Ukraine are all part of the plot and Russia, Facebook and Brexit-supporting businessman Arron Banks (who is currently suing Cadwalladr for libel) are always somehow connected.

In an extraordinary outburst last night, Cadwalladr claimed that the war in Ukraine is not all it seems. Rather, Russias invasion is merely one front in the first Great Information War. And we in the West have apparently been under sustained attack in this war since at least 2014. And if you havent noticed theres a war going on, thats because it is being carried out invisibly.

Social media may seem like a fun way to pass the time, or a good way to keep up with whats going on in the world, but for Cadwalladr Facebook is a weapon a thermobaric bomb, she says, only online. It has apparently allowed Russia to carry out hybrid warfare on steroids. It has given the likes of Vladimir Putin a golden Willy Wonka ticket to manipulate hearts and minds. Almost completely invisibly. Weve been under attack for eight years now, Cadwalladr claims. But we refuse to acknowledge this, because in Britain, were a captured state. Oh, and its somehow also the fault of her arch-nemesis, Arron Banks. Former Vote Leave mastermind Dominic Cummings gets a walk-on role, too. If this story doesnt quite make sense to you, then perhaps the Russians have already got to you.

Such extraordinary claims are nothing new for Cadwalladr, of course. She has long tried to paint Brexit, in particular, as the handiwork of Facebook, of data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica, of Russian money, Russian bots, Russian disinformation and Russia Today as part of a coordinated plot to hijack democracy by a shadowy global operation. Now that Brexit is done, she tells us that Brexit is just a small plot point in a much bigger, more nefarious scheme.

Carole has essentially fashioned herself as a QAnon leader for centrist liberals a kind of Alex Jones for embittered Remainers in the UK and anti-Trumpists in the US. Yet unlike the real Alex Jones, who is shunned from mainstream platforms, Cadwalladrs crackpot theories have been indulged and encouraged by the liberal elites. She has been lavished with awards from the Orwell Prize, Reporters Without Borders, the Hay Festival and the Political Studies Association, and was nominated for a Pulitzer in the US. Yet so many of Caroles big reveals are presented with quite major caveats, such as Is it true? Who knows? and we are in the dark about so much, suggesting that she might not know the truth after all.

Cadwalladr and her fans see themselves as truth tellers crusading against the tide of foreign disinformation, or dezinformatsiya, in the Russian, as Carole insists on calling it. And as the West is gripped by war fever, there is no doubt a receptive audience for any claim against Russia and Putin, no matter how mad (the first tweet in Cadwalladrs Ukraine thread has over 46,000 likes).

But if these incoherent ramblings are what passes for truth these days, then we are in deep trouble.

Fraser Myers is deputy editor at spiked and host of the spiked podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @FraserMyers.

To enquire about republishing spikeds content, a right to reply or to request a correction, please contact the managing editor, Viv Regan.

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The invasion of Ukraine has nothing to do with Brexit - Spiked

LONDON The EU has accused the U.K. of failing to comply with its post-Brexit obligations toward EU nationals in Britain.

European Commission Vice President Maroefovi and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss met Monday in Brussels for the ninth meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, a regular forum to discuss the implementation of the Brexit divorce deal and its Northern Ireland protocol.

The meeting ended with the Commission accusing Britain of breaching the Withdrawal Agreement with its treatment of EU nationals, and without a deal on any of the outstanding post-Brexit differences on Northern Ireland trade rules.

Speaking at a press conference, efovi said he regretted the U.K.s position on citizens rights and said talks on Irish Sea trade rules required more time, pointing out that Mondays meeting had yielded neither a breakthrough nor a breakdown.

Under the U.K.s EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), EU citizens who settled in Britain before Brexit and lived in the country for less than five years can be granted pre-settled status, allowing them to preserve their rights to live, work and access U.K. public services.

But the EU has for many months fought the U.K.s decision to require this group to make a second application within five years of the granting of pre-settled status. If they fail to do so, the Home Office will consider them unlawfully present in the U.K. and no longer entitled to exercise residence rights. About 2 million EU citizens might be affected by this requirement, according to the Commission.

efovi also accused the U.K. of splitting EU citizens into two cohorts indistinguishable on the basis of their EUSS status depending on whether they had private health insurance during periods of their residence when they were economically inactive, among other factors. Londons view is that they are being more generous with EU nationals than what the Withdrawal Agreement requires.

I had to regret the U.K.s position on both issues so far and I will consider our next steps, he said. We are speaking about millions of people, their livelihoods, their families, their individual destiny and I think it was a commitment from both of us that we will do our utmost for the U.K. nationals in the EU and the EU citizens staying in the U.K.

efovi added he believed an amicable solution to these issues could still be reached through the EU-U.K. Specialised Committee on Citizens Rights. This is not the first time the EU has brought up these problems in Joint Committee meetings, but an EU official said the Commission will now consider whether to launch consultations on citizens rights, and could ultimately trigger an arbitration process.

Brussels has not yet decided on the timeline of any action, but the official said the Commission might not wait for the outcome of judicial review proceedings on the second application requirement, launched in December by the Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA), a body that seeks to ensure the rights of EU citizens settled in the U.K. before Brexit are respected.

A British official said the EU-U.K. relationship on citizens rights is working well despite teething problems for both sides.

London also raised three areas of concern: the lack of an adequate appeal process in some EU countries for Brits who are refused residence status; problems with paperwork proving peoples right to be other countries; and people being asked to prove things they shouldnt have to in order to access their rights. The EU promised to make progress in these areas.

The vast majority of people, whether theyre EU people in the U.K. or U.K. people in EU member states, have had their status confirmed, the official said. But obviously this is an incredibly sensitive and important area and we're being clear on what needs to happen for those who are facing problems.

Since the start of the year, the EU and the U.K. have sought to intensify technical talks on easing the burden for Northern Irelands citizens and businesses of the new post-Brexit trade rules. But they failed to deliver a partial deal on customs paperwork or medicines supply from Great Britain into Northern Ireland before the start of the campaign for the Northern Ireland Assembly election, as they had hoped.

efovi, however, tried to strike a positive tone, praising Britain for starting to give the EU access to its customs databases after keeping EU officials waiting for more than a year.

An EU official said there has been some incremental progress on customs facilitation, including the accuracy of the data the U.K. collects, and on the safeguards required by Brussels in exchange for fewer formalities. However, there is no agreement on the number of data fields in a customs declaration, with Brussels offering a reduction from 80 to 30 and London considering the offer insufficient.

Progress on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls on agri-food products and live animals moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland will not be unlocked until Britain accepts it must apply the standards it agreed to under the Northern Ireland protocol, the EU official said.

The U.K., meanwhile, continues to accuse the Commission of obsessing over hypothetical scenarios that it says have a very low likelihood of happening such as illicit English olive oil finding its way into the EU single market through Northern Ireland unless it carries a custom code.

efovi told reporters he considered the row over the supply of medicines from Great Britain into Northern Ireland to have been solved, although this is yet to be confirmed by the U.K. government. Officials will redouble their efforts in the coming weeks to reach practical solutions to their outstanding differences over customs requirements and SPS checks, he added.

The talks, however, are expected to enter a more quiet phase so as to not interfere in the Northern Ireland election, due May 5. Earlier this month, the regional executive collapsed after the main unionist party in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionists, withdrew their first minister over opposition to the protocol.

In a joint statement, Truss and efovi expressed the ongoing determination of both parties to ensure that the outstanding issues in the context of the protocol are addressed, and durable solutions found for the benefit of citizens, businesses and stability in Northern Ireland.

Leonie Kijewski contributed reporting from Brussels.

This article has been updated.

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EU gets tough with UK over post-Brexit citizens rights - POLITICO Europe

Writing for the Telegraph, Former Minister of State for Transport Tom Harris blasted Brits who stated Jeremy Corbyn would have been a better Premier after reports of alleged Covid parties in No 10 were revealed.

The 58-year-old ex Labour MP stated former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn losing the election in 2019 was a lucky escape.

Mr Harris, who headed vote-leave in Scotland, wrote: Now, there are no doubt those of Boris Johnsons critics who regard the above scenario as preferable to, or at least the equivalence of, a couple of legally dubious parties in the Downing Street garden.

As the scale of Russian aggression and anti-democratic actions become more apparent, however, Britons should be careful.

December 2019 represented a lucky escape for our country, whatever you may think of the victor that night or since.

The installation of Corbyn in Number 10 would not just have been disastrous for Britain; far worse than that, it would have been an undeserved, key victory for Putin and his mafiocracy in Moscow.

What is happening in Ukraine is serious, grown-up politics, and concerns about drinks parties and even Brexit pale into insignificance in the fight against corrupt autocracies that view their neighbours territory with envious eyes.

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Brexit: Farage issues warning to Leave voters hopes of promised system slipping - Daily Express

The government is to launch a study of the economic benefits of reintroducing imperial units of measurement, to quantify a supposed advantage of Brexit.

Ministers provoked mockery from opposition politicians with the ludicrous move, which will be overseen by the business department this year.

In 2019, Boris Johnson pledged to usher in a new era of generosity and tolerance towards traditional measurements and suggested that measuring in pounds and ounces was ancient liberty.

This month he appointed Jacob Rees-Mogg as minister for Brexit opportunities in order to examine how Britain can benefit from leaving the EU.

Imperial-only labelling fell out of business use when Britain joined the European common market in the early 1970s, but some people who remember the esoteric counting system remain attached to it.

Imperials alternative system of measuring weights and volume of products was used more or less exclusively in Britain though the US maintains a parallel system with similar names but different measurements.

As opposed to the metric system of weight, in which 1,000 grams are equivalent to one kilogram, the imperial system says there are 14 pounds in a stone and 16 ounces in a pound.

For liquid, there are 20 fluid ounces in a pint and 160 fluid ounces in a gallon, instead of metrics 1,000 millilitres in a litre.

While the measurements have largely been out of use for some 60 years, they are believed by politicians to be beloved of some older voters, and so occasionally become a political issue. In reality, Britain operates a mixed system, with businesses using metric weights and measures, while imperial miles are used on roadsigns and pints used in pubs.

Paul Scully, a Tory business minister, said reintroducing imperial labelling would be an important step in taking back control and that a planned assessment of the economic impact on business will be carried out in due course.

But the Liberal Democrat business spokesperson Sarah Olney accused the government of wasting taxpayer money and said there were more important things to worry about.

The fact the government is undertaking a study into this shows just how out of touch they are, she told The Independent.

Its ludicrous that they think this will help businesses after they hit them with a national insurance rise and have done nothing to help with their soaring energy bills.

Ministers must explain how reverting to a system not used in nearly 60 years will help businesses attract new customers, and how imperial units will be of any help to companies looking to trade with the rest of the world when the vast majority of countries use the metric system.

Runners line up for the start of The Anshin Security Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle at Taunton Racecourse

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Shoes on display at the ROKER AW22 presentation at London Fashion Week, in London

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The waters of the River Severn in edge towards homes in Ironbridge, Shropshire, as more wet and windy weather is set to sweep the UK. Storm Franklin is set to strike the UK just days after Storm Eunice destroyed buildings and left 1.4 million homes without power

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Damaged caused to home of Dominic Good, in Stondon Massey, near Brentwood, Essex, after a 400-year-old oak tree in his garden was uprooted by Storm Eunice.

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Activists from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protest against the use of feathers in clothing, ahead of London Fashion Week

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Hailey Duff, left, Vicky Wright, centre and Jennifer Dodds in action for Great Britsin during their womens curling round robin match against Japan at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Team GB sealed a 10-4 victory

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Romney sheep graze the grass around the dormant vines at Nyetimber's Manor Vineyard at West Chiltington in West Sussex. The herd from a local farm form part of Nyetimber's sustainability program and are utilised for vineyard maintenance, keeping the grass low, reducing the risk of frost, maintaining grass leys on the estate and saving the cost of fuel for mowing

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New arrival Upendi and mother Cheka in the bonobo enclosure at Twycross Zoo, Leicestershire

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Workers move a crate containing Season's Greetings by street artist Banksy from a retail unit at Ty'r Orsaf, Port Talbot, prior to its journey to a temporary storage unit at an undisclosed location

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Dog walkers enjoy the early morning sunrise at Tynemouth Beach in North Tyneside, on the north east coast of England

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A Leicester City invades the pitch as Nottingham Forest celebrate scoring their sides third goal of the game during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at the City Ground, Nottingham

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Stadium staff remove a flare from the pitch during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at Selhurst Park

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"The Nuba Survival" is a five-metre-tall statue of two skeletons locked in an embrace in Checkendon, Oxfordshire. The statue was created by local artist John Buckley

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Kew horticulturists attending to the Rising sun display at the Kew Orchid Festival: Costa Rica, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, west London

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Protesters campaign against corruption in London

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Lorries queue for the Port of Dover in Kent, as the Dover TAP is enforced due to the high volume of lorries waiting to cross the Channel

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Nelson Beaumont-Laurencia applies finishing touches to a sculpture of a tiger, commissioned byManchester Business Improvement District to celebrate the Chinese New Year, is unveiled in St Anns Square

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A house on Overhill terrace in Gateshead, lost its roof on 29 January after strong winds from Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK

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A newly painted bicycle sign is seen on the middle of the road at Westminster Bridge, as the new Highway Code rules start today together with giving pedestrians priority at junctions

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School children take part in a rally in support of British Sign Language becoming a recognised language in the UK, outside the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, as the British Sign Language Private Members Bill, introduced by Rosie Cooper MP, reaches its second reading in the House

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A rare six-week-old southern white rhino calf called Zawadi, explores her paddock for the first time at Africa Alive! in Lowestoft

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson jogs with his dog Dilyn, in London

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Rowers (front to back) Charlotte Irving, Kat Cordiner and Abby Johnston, on their way to shatter the world record for rowing across the Atlantic

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A grey seal pup on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as the pupping season draws to a close at one of the UKs most important sites for the mammals

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Participants prepare to take part in the Crisis icebreaker cold water challenge at Tooting Bec Lido in London

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Willesborough Windmill, a white smock mill built in 1869 is bathed in the morning sunshine as the moon sets behind in Ashford, Kent

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A jet skier jumps the waves off the coast at Blyth in Northumberland

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Britains Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, participate in a therapy session with individuals who have experienced the care system, during a visit to the Foundling Museum in London

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Ecologist Emma Smart (left) and retired GP Dr Diana Warner outside HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey, following their release from the prison where Emma undertook a 26-day hunger strike during her incarceration. Ms Smart was sentenced in November, along with other members of Insulate Britain, to serve four months for breaking a High Court injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 motorway during the morning rush hour on 8 October last year

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A TV presenter holds a copy of a newspaper outside 10 Downing Streetafter the Prime Minister apologised for attending a gathering of colleagues in the Number Ten garden in May 2020, while the UK was in strict lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic

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Fitness guru Derrick Evans after receiving an MBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle

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Brexit: Government to launch study on economic benefits of reintroducing imperial units - The Independent

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The UK games development industry is suffering from a labour shortage. Partly driven by the pandemic and a surge in demand for games, this shortage -- and its attendant inflation in salaries -- has been exacerbated by the implementation of Brexit, which has added significant expense and time-investment to hiring talent from Britain's neighbors in the European Union.

"We have over 300 jobs advertised live on our website right now, and another 300 waiting in the pipeline," says Simon Hope, recruitment director at employment agency Aardvark Swift. "It's crazy, really crazy. Ultimately, there's only so many people to go around."

Hope says that prior to Brexit, around 20% of his placements in the UK came direct from the EU. That number has now dropped to 5%, mainly due to a reluctance among EU nationals to move to a country that is now outside the EU. In the past two years, an estimated 200,000 EU nationals have left Britain to return to the continent.

Simon Hope, Aardvark Swift

Most of Aardvark Swift's clients are UK-based game studios and publishers. Prior to Brexit, hiring an EU employee required minimal paperwork. Now, companies must sponsor each potential employee from the EU, apply for visas, and pay expensive healthcare surcharges ("high four figures, and that's before family members," says Hope) which previously existed only at a nominal level. Employers must prove that they have made a valid attempt to seek out applications from UK citizens.

Hope estimates that the entire process can now take three-to-four months. Little wonder that potential applicants prefer to take jobs inside the EU.

Jon Holmes, founder and studio director at Liverpool-based Milky Tea, says hiring new talent is a major headache, which threatens company's bottom line. "Before Brexit, three quarters of our applications came from the EU," he says. "That's gone. British companies are all scrapping for the same talent, and that's pushed salaries up at least 20%, which makes a big difference, especially if you're making a lot of hires."

Holmes says that although there are short-term workarounds, like hiring contractors and emphasising a commitment to remote work, they all have their costs and practical downsides. Longer term, he says, Britain could become a far less attractive destination for international development talent than in the pre-Brexit era.

"We've had offers on the table, and then been turned down, because someone else has come in with a ridiculous offer," he says. "It's created a volatile environment. Five years ago, a producer's salary was pretty well understood. Now, I couldn't say with any confidence."

"The future is about bringing on junior talent, but you have to first invest in years of training... And there's just not enough universities to fulfill demand."

Jon Holmes, Milky Tea

John Clark, CEO at Curve, says: "If you look at countries like Poland, Serbia, Spain and others in the EU, you see those regions supporting their studios with investment. Nationals returning home to those countries, either because of the pandemic, or Brexit, or both, are finding good places to work in their home countries. They are being made to feel safe and secure at a time when Brexit makes them feel uncertain about the UK."

Curve's chairman Stuart Dinsey is a former chair of the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment. He points out that plenty of other countries and other industries are struggling with COVID-related labour shortages, and wage inflation. In such circumstances, high competition for talent and visa delays are understandable.

"Skilled workers can get a Tier 2 visa and the salary thresholds are low enough that it's not a problem for this industry," he says. "I think it's more of a sentiment problem. There has been a reduction in the number of EU nationals living in the UK as a result of Brexit. There's no shadow of a doubt, that's had an impact. But UK companies are still hiring people from the EU."

The UK, says Clark, remains an attractive destination for talent, with a host of potential employers ranging from ambitious start-ups to international giants. "We have the biggest footprint of games industry professionals in Europe, and a host of companies where people all over the world want to work," he says.

Even so, the current climate calls for practical solutions, as those same companies compete with one another to hit their release date and innovation targets. Since COVID, Milky Tea has committed to remote work for all employees, using central offices as social hubs and secure locations for servers and equipment. This gives the company freedom to work with contractors and freelancers in the EU, offering them long-term contracts, without counting them as full-time employees.

"We've managed to attract some really good senior recruits who might not have come to us a few years ago," says Holmes, pointing to the various benefits of remote working. "A lot of people have decided that they're never doing that two-hour commute again. They want to spend more time with their family."

Stuart Dinsey, Curve

However, this solution presents its own problems. "Even something like IT can become an issue," says Holmes. "We ship them equipment, we pay taxes on that, then when the equipment needs repair, it all has to be shipped back."

There are human difficulties, too. Contractors cannot claim benefits such as pensions, and many feel exposed by the lack of a full employment contract. Companies are obliged to invest in remote onboarding protocols and on helping freelancers with chores like filing their taxes.

Payroll companies are sprouting up that take care of many of these issues. They understand local tax and employment laws. But they are an additional cost, and a risk, especially during a time when demand is high, and new operators are flooding the sector.

Remote work has a host of challenges that game companies are currently struggling to resolve. At the same time, some employers (and employees) prefer the in-office option, and are keen to get back to pre-pandemic work patterns.

Another option is for UK-based companies to buy their way onto the continent, by opening or acquiring studios.

"If a company needs to hire 200 people, it might make sense to buy a studio with maybe 20 or 50 people," says Hope. "That gives them a legal entity from which they can grow. If they're hiring EU nationals from within the EU, it becomes a much simpler process."

"If a company needs to hire 200 people, it might make sense to buy a studio with maybe 20 or 50 people. If they're hiring EU nationals from within the EU, it becomes a much simpler process"

Simon Hope, Aardvark Swift

Clark adds: "As a business we are looking to increase our own portfolio and looking to acquire studios. And we certainly will look where the talent is, and if that takes us to an overseas region, where there might be skills we can add, that's something we would support."

It's an expensive option, and it's only available to larger employers. At an international level, it also strengthens other countries' abilities to create talent hubs, such as the recent growth of studios in Barcelona. At Milky Tea, Holmes worries that this will diminish the power of the UK gaming industry, most particularly in the eyes of the UK government.

"A place like Barcelona can offer lifestyle benefits, like the sunshine and all that," he says. "But they're also getting hugely generous tax breaks that are fuelling this growth, far greater than in the UK. And the more opportunities a city can offer, the greater the benefits of working there."

He says the representatives of various countries are in the UK, tempting employers to open offices in their region. And while some EU countries appear to be committed to spending money on attracting talent, the UK might waver.

"I worry that the UK government will look at the games industry, and start to rethink the benefits of VGTR [Video Games Tax Relief]. I can see them looking at ways to save money, especially after the expense of the last few years and the cost of Brexit overall."

He says that while this isn't something that's likely to happen soon, it would have a disastrous effect on the UK business. Many companies use their tax savings to invest in prototypes and training, which all lead to growth.

John Clark, Curve

Longer term, British employers are beginning to work more closely with universities to create a talent pipeline that can repair the ongoing shortage. Holmes praises establishments like Teesside University and the University of Central Lancashire, with which he's cooperated on training and workplace initiatives. But he cautions that it takes a long time to take a promising graduate to a senior level.

"The future is about bringing on junior talent, but you have to first invest in years of training, even some of the basics of workplace engagement, so there's always going to be a need for experiences, senior hires. And there's just not enough universities like those to fulfill demand."

Dinsey adds that universities will not succeed in closing the talent gap as they currently stand: "The courses should be more vocational and more directed to useful skills. We need to examine whether universities are engaging enough with the major employers in this country to make sure their courses are geared towards putting people into employment."

So while there are short term fixes, and long-term opportunities for plugging the talent gap, they all have their costs and their risks. What is certainly true is that this is a problem that's not going away anytime soon. And that games industry employers in the UK are finding Brexit's restrictions difficult to navigate.

"In the games industry, we're probably stronger as a country than anywhere else in Europe," says Clark. "That makes us appealing as a country. But freedom of movement means that if I'm an employer in Sweden or France or wherever, I've got greater access to developers across the continent. And that gives them an advantage over us."

If you have jobs news to share or a new hire you want to shout about, please contact us on newhires@gamesindustry.biz

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The UK games industry is struggling with Brexit - GamesIndustry.biz

UK businesses have paid out a record 4.5bn in customs duties over the past year, as the extra bureaucracy imposed by Brexit begins to bite.

The costly new duties slapped on British firms increased 64 per cent in the year leading up to January 2022, new research has found.

The huge hike follows new customs controls on exports, which came into force at the start of last year following the UKs exit from the EU single market and customs union.

Figures compiled by accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young show that the five months leading up to 31 January 2022 were the highest individual months for customs duties ever seen in the UK.

The analysts also warned that the sums could soar further this year, after new custom controls on imports were imposed at the start of last month and rules of origin requirements became even stricter.

From 1 January, Boris Johnsons government introduced a requirement that importers show a declaration in respect of the origin of goods at the point of entry.

If a firm cannot provide all the paperwork showing the origin of their product, they may be liable to pay the full rate of customs duty, and could even face penalties.

Over the past year, customs duties have been a hugely significant additional cost for many businesses, said Michelle Dale, senior manager at UHY Hacker Young who said the post-Brexit increase was really biting.

She added: The cost of tariffs and extra paperwork is causing serious difficulties for many businesses, who are already struggling to stay profitable in the face of mounting pandemic-induced costs.

Business groups have warned that many firms importing and exporting goods between the UK and the EU will be questioning whether their business models are still viable.

MPs and peers on the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission have called on the government to relaunch the financial support fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hit by post-Brexit red tape a scheme that closed in June.

It comes as logistics chiefs urged the government to start building more lorry parks nearDoveror face complete gridlock around the port, as post-Brexit checks continue to cause delays.

Desperate drivers caught in four-hour queues near Dover have been forced to s*** in the bushes and throw bottles of urine out of the window,The Independenthas been told.

The government has asked National Highways to identify new sites for lorries. But ministers have not yet committed to building an extra park despite a promise by chancellor Rishi Sunak in the autumn Budget to spend 32.5m on driver facilities.

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UK firms hit by record 4.5bn in customs duties after Brexit checks imposed - The Independent

The Treasury has announced plans to unlock more than 10bn of UK infrastructure investment through a post-Brexit overhaul of the insurance industry.

Announcing a shake-up for the City of London after leaving the EU, the economic secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said that a comprehensive package of reforms for the insurance sector would help enable UK-based firms to invest more in infrastructure projects.

Speaking at the Association of British Insurers annual dinner on Monday, he said EU-focused rules known as Solvency II would be replaced by a new UK regime that would give insurance firms more flexibility to invest capital in long-term growth projects.

EU regulation doesnt work for us any more and the government is determined to fix that by tailoring the prudential regulation of insurers to our unique circumstances, he said.

We have a genuine opportunity to maintain and grow an innovative and vibrant insurance sector while protecting policyholders and making it easier for insurance firms to use long-term capital to unlock growth.

The move comes as the government pushes to demonstrate there are benefits from Brexit for the British economy, despite official figures showing a dramatic drop in UK trade and ongoing criticism from business leaders over the higher costs and reams of red tape unleashed by leaving the EU.

The UKs insurance sector has been subject to the Solvency II rules since they were introduced in 2016 to harmonise regulation across the EU and promote the stability of firms after the 2008 financial crisis.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, appointed as the Brexit opportunities minister earlier this month, has called for a rewriting of EU financial rules to meet the prime ministers ambition of an investment big bang in Britain powered by the City of London.

However, the plan for a post-Brexit regulatory overhaul is similar to changes already being pursued by Brussels to unlock 90bn (75bn) in European insurance assets, in a process that would also have applied in the UK had it remained a member state.

Under the changes being considered in the UK, the Treasury said there would be changes to enable insurers to invest in long-term assets such as infrastructure and to reduce current regulatory reporting requirements. Glen said that the reforms would still provide safeguards for policyholders from any failures in the insurance sector.

The reforms are expected to create an opportunity worth in the region of tens of billions of pounds for insurance firms to invest in long-term capital to unlock growth, it said.

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Treasury plans post-Brexit overhaul of insurance industry - The Guardian

In a report published by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament, MEPs said they "regret" not having more involvement in the campaign against Brexit ahead of the 2016 vote.

They said: "[The Committee] believes that it is the responsibility and role of the Union and its Member States to do more to preserve the European integration process, protect European values and principles, including the principle of sincere cooperation, and prevent the repetition of a withdrawal from the EU;

"Regrets, in this context, the restraint and limited engagement of the European Parliament and its committees in the run-up to the UK referendum, which left UK citizens, who were EU citizens at the time, without full access to information on the functioning of the EU and the implications of the withdrawal."

The findings sparked fury among Express.co.uk readers who claimed more involvement by the EU in the anti-Brexit campaign would have resulted in a higher percentage of Leave voters.

Express.co.uk reader Figaro99 said: "EU lies never stop, if they had been honest and said the future for the UK was losing sterling and adopting the euro, plus unelected bureaucrats in Brussels setting our income tax rates, the vote to Leave would have been 80 percent."

Reader Emma Grate added: "What they will regret is taking the p*** out of the UK when the EU crumbles around them very shortly."

And reader MiniMiner argued: "No the mistake the EU made was to send Cameron back with nothing.

"The mistake the UK made was to have the NI Protocol courtesy of Remainers."

To which reader Qarlo replied: "Spot on. They sent Cameron packing with a few crumbs and laughed about it.

"I bet they're not laughing now? Former PM Treason May allowed the EU to weaponise Northern Ireland. That woman should be rotting in a jail cell, along with Olly Robbins and other Quisling types."

Echoing their comments, Eu-defier said: "And, if they had got involved in the UK's internal affairs, it would have sent more voters towards the Leave camp...

"Nobody wants a corrupt political experiment interfering in our business."

In the findings, the Committee, led by Danuta Maria Hubner for the assessment of Article 50, said UK citizens were left "without full access to information" on the ins and outs of the EU ahead of the Brexit referendum.

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The debate came as the EU is still locking horns with the UK on post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.

The UK and EU have reiterated their determination to find "durable solutions" to the Northern Ireland Protocol after a meeting on the contentious trading arrangements ended without a breakthrough.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic issued a joint statement after taking stock of progress in negotiations to reduce red tape associated with the disputed Irish Sea trade rules.

Talks between the two sides will now continue, but it is anticipated engagement will be more low key in the coming weeks and months, with London and Brussels keen to avoid raising tensions amid the forthcoming Assembly election campaign in Northern Ireland.

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On Monday, Ms Truss and Mr Sefcovic jointly chaired an EU/UK committee on the implementation of the protocol.

Afterwards, Ms Truss said unilaterally suspending elements of the protocol - by triggering Article 16 mechanism - remained an option for the UK Government, but she said her focus was on finding a negotiated solution with the EU.

She said: Article 16 is in the protocol as a safeguard if things aren't working as they should.

"But what I want to do is achieve through constructive negotiations the solutions in place to benefit both communities in Northern Ireland."

Mr Sefcovic said intensified negotiations over recent months to find an agreed settlement, discussions that involved more than 100 meetings, had so far resulted in "neither a breakthrough nor a breakdown".

Mr Sefcovic, who described his relationship with Ms Truss as "positive" and "excellent", said talks would continue with a "laser focus" on practical solutions.

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EU lies never stop! Brexit fury as MEPs report on 2016 referendum backfires - Daily Express

My Irish mother taught me always to try to see the good in people. But it has to be admitted that the attempt to see the good in Alexander Boris Johnson would, in another of her favourite sayings, try the patience of Job.

It is already a commonplace in this country and around the civilised world that our prime minister is a charlatan on an industrial scale. John Major knew what he was about when declaring, as a prime minister himself, that Johnson should not even be allowed to fight a parliamentary seat.

The late Lord Carrington resigned as foreign secretary on principle over the fiasco that led to the Falklands war in 1982 the war generally thought to have saved Margaret Thatchers skin after shed achieved the dubious distinction of being the most unpopular prime minister since the second world war. Many years later, Carrington found himself listening to some young-fogey Tories discussing the case for making Johnson prime minister. There was a pause. Anyway, said the good Lord, he wont do.

There are some Johnson loyalists who say he should do the decent thing and resign as honourably as he can in the circumstances. But most witnesses to the sorry spectacle of his premiership think he couldnt spot a decent thing even if it were a favoured horse running in the 3.30 at Newmarket.

I am reminded of Dostoevskys short story A Bad Business. Things go badly wrong when the general, whose driver has disappeared, turns down a lift from a colleague and heads off into the night, with unfortunate repercussions. It has been a Bad Business since Johnson, who notwithstanding his irresponsible reporting of fantasy stories about Brussels was in no doubt that it would be crazy for the UK to leave the EU, but decided to put self-interest above country in leading the mendacious Leave campaign.

But here we are, as Harold Macmillan once said, and the question is: where do we go from here?

Macmillan was prime minister when the British economy was lagging behind what was then the European Economic Community. We tried forming a rival group the European Free Trade Area (EFTA), seven nations as opposed to the EEC Six. The joke was that Europe was at sixes and sevens.

It soon became apparent that we needed to link up with the EEC. We applied twice, were turned down by President de Gaulle, and finally joined in 1973. Now I have an awful feeling of deja vu.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves talk about making Brexit work. I can only hope that this is tactical stuff intended to appease red wall voters, who were really protesting at the social consequences of several decades of industrial decline and, lets face it, the well-meant but disastrous Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

It looks as though Labours defeated Remainers envisage a return to the 1950s and early 1960s, to begin the process of rebuilding a relationship with the EU a process whose logical outcome would be rejoining in decades to come.

But why wait? Why should Labour attach itself to the chimerical goal of making Brexit work? For the truth that dare not speak its name is that Brexit doesnt work, and never will. The experiment has been tried and has failed. All this stuff about the opportunities of Brexit? There are none. Johnson may have packed his sordid cabinet with Brexiters and time-servers, but the all-party public accounts committee is beyond the reach of his soiled hands. As its chair, Dame Meg Hillier, was reported as saying in the Financial Time: the only detectable impact of Brexit is increased costs, paperwork and border delays.

There was a classic moment on television last week when a lorry driver held up in one of those dreadful queues on the Dover road was asked: Is it going to get any better? His reply was to the point: Not unless we go back into the EU.

Now, I read that it suits Labour, while protesting against him all the way to the electoral bank, to see Johnson remain in office. But, to paraphrase Carrington above: this wont do. The man has besmirched the office, and the good name of the country. One of the Brexit secretaries who failed to make Brexit work because it cant is my old friend David Davis. He was right to echo Cromwell and say to Johnson: In the name of God, go! Even if Johnson were to be succeeded by another Brexiter, there are no morally cogent grounds for acquiescing in his continuance in office.

I cannot resist concluding with yet another quotation from the Roman poet Juvenal: Hoc volo, sic iubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas. (I want this done, so I order it done: let my wish replace rational judgment.) This epitomises our present prime ministers mentality. A nation suffers.

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How much longer do we have to pretend that Brexit might work? - The Guardian

Swapping their pastures for the concrete jungle, hundreds of Britains farmers will take off their wellies this week and head to a conference centre in central Birmingham for the annual shindig of the National Farmers Union (NFU).

Nearly 1,500 food producers will meet to discuss the blueprint for the future of British farming, against the backdrop of the biggest upheaval in a generation in agriculture, following the UKs departure from the EU and the pandemic, and amid discussions about future land use in the face of the climate crisis.

Farmers insist Covid only increased consumers appetite to buy British, especially at a time when global supply chains were disrupted. But the past two years have shown its not always easy for food producers to get their produce from field to fork.

The industry is grappling with worker shortages following Brexit and Covid, when many European workers went back to their home countries. A shortage of workers has already resulted in unpicked fruit being left to rot in fields, and a cull of healthy pigs on farms because of a lack of staff at slaughterhouses. An estimated 35,000 animals have been killed and wont enter the food chain.

All this is taking place before farmers feel the impact of the UKs post-Brexit trade deals with food-producing nations Australia and New Zealand, which will see their exporters theoretically able to send limitless amounts of lamb, beef and dairy produce to the UK within 15 years.

These are bitter pills to swallow for an organisation which backed staying in the EU before the Brexit vote.

While the focus of the conference will be on the future, and life beyond the EUs subsidy scheme known as the common agricultural policy (CAP) and worth 3bn a year to UK farmers food producers are, like most other businesses, bearing the brunt of rising costs. The most pressing concerns for most farmers are the three Fs feed, fuel and fertiliser all of which rocketed in price, leaving many wondering how much fertiliser they can afford to buy for the spring planting season.

Agriculture makes only a very small contribution to the UKs annual economic output approximately 0.5% yet it is the lifeblood of many rural communities, and inflation will be a major worry for people in some of the regions which are at the heart of the governments levelling-up ambitions.

NFU president Minette Batters who is seeking re-election for a third term representing the interests of around 55,000 English and Welsh farmers is clear on the importance of farming for ensuring domestic food supply and sustaining rural ways of life.

TV presenter Jeremy Clarksons attempts to reinvent himself as a farmer may have proved TV ratings gold, and his Clarksons Farm series has been recommissioned for a second series, but Batters recently told the Observer that she doubted whether the current crop of politicians understood the importance of agriculture.

So you could be forgiven for thinking that George Eustice, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, and himself of Cornish farming stock, might receive a rather frosty reception from the assembled food producers when he gives a speech at the conference. In recent months, many farmers have criticised the apparent disconnection between Eustices resoundingly positive portrayal of the opportunities for British agriculture and the current realities of farming life.

Access to seasonal workers remains a thorny issue, with the government keeping the number of permits at the 30,000 allowed in 2021, resisting calls from producers for a significant increase in the quota. Industry insiders criticise Defra, Eustices department, for having little influence in cabinet, and say it is the Home Office calling the shots when it comes to setting the numbers for post-Brexit visa allocation for seasonal workers.

Far from their fields, expect farmers this week to issue some stark warnings over how continued worker shortages will impact domestic food production, and how taking back control could lead to Britons eating more imported food.

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Australian rivals and Brexit barriers leave UK farmers on stony ground - The Guardian