French minister warns against London ‘blackmail’ as second stage of Brexit talks near February 24, 2020 France will not be “blackmailed” into a rushed trade deal between the UK and EU, an Elysee minister has warned, as Brussels prepares to publish its negotiating mandate for the next stage of Brexit talks. Amélie de Montchalin, France’s secretary of state for European affairs, told France24 this morning she would be bringing a “clear [...]
Brexit: Blue passports to return from March 2020 February 22, 2020 British passports will return to their original blue colour for the first time since 1988 from next month, when the UK government will issue the first blue passports since the Brexit vote. The first blue passports will be issued from early March and from mid-2020 all new passports issued to Brits will be blue. The [...]
Exclusive: Did someone say chicken? UK preparing to break with EU on food safety at WTO meeting February 20, 2020 Downing Street is considering taking an independent stance on food safety at an upcoming WTO summit, in yet another breach of transition rules within the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The stage will be set when the US formally welcomes the UK as an independent member of the WTO during a meeting about sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) [...]
Downing Street poised to axe business councils February 20, 2020 Downing Street is planning a major shake-up of the way it deals with the business community, with officials planning to scrap the system created by Theresa May. Number 10 officials are poised to axe the five business councils set up by the former Prime Minister around business lines, including one for financial and professional services. [...]
Chart attack: EU and UK at war over misleading stats in Brexit trade talks February 20, 2020 A row has erupted between the UK and EU over both sides’ misleading use of charts to score political points in Brexit trade talks. Yesterday the European Commission published a series of new slides arguing why the UK should not be granted the same kind of trade deal as Canada. Read more: EU ‘fails to [...]
UK and EU need to rebuild trust to reach agreement on equivalence, report warns February 18, 2020 The UK and EU must rebuild trust “at a political level” before they can reach an agreement on the City’s future regulatory relationship with the bloc, according to a new report. Britain is seeking “comprehensive” or “permanent” equivalence with the bloc to ensure the City maintains permanent access to EU markets, but the EU has [...]
DfT unveils plan to head off Brexit-induced mega traffic jams in Kent February 17, 2020 The government is to deploy a San Francisco-style moveable barrier in the hope of avoiding Brexit-induced mega traffic jams throughout Kent. The £60m moveable barrier, creating a temporary contraflow system, can be set up “within hours” and will be available from December, transport secretary Grant Shapps revealed this morning. Although the UK has officially left the [...]
An inclusive market economy is well within reach post-Brexit February 13, 2020 In his Greenwich speech last week, the Prime Minister persuasively set out how the Brexit process must carry with it a Canada-style free trade agreement, resting on the “indispensable principle of comparative advantage.” For Boris Johnson, this means embracing free trade to raise living standards and lift people out of poverty, while casting aside the [...]
European Parliament sets up more Brexit drama as it backs ‘dynamic alignment’ February 12, 2020 London looks set for another head-on collision with Brussels as the two sides gear up for trade talks, after the European Parliament said any deal must be based on two areas already ruled out by Downing Street. This morning MEPs gave their backing for chief negotiator Michel Barnier to press the case for a post-Brexit [...]
UK and EU must avoid a ‘punch-up’ over financial services, says incoming BoE governor Bailey February 12, 2020 Britain and the European Union must find a way to settle disagreements over how the UK’s finance industry can do business with the bloc without it descending into a “metaphorical punch-up”, said incoming Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey. Bailey, who is currently head of the Financial Conduct Authority, also said it would be “hard [...]