Going prorogue: Boris Johnson could face legal action if Brexit battle builds August 27, 2019 The Prime Minister could be open to an immediate legal challenge by the High Court if he pushes ahead with proroguing parliament in order to force through a no-deal Brexit, Labour has been told. Shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti claims Boris Johnson would be committing “the gravest abuse of power and attack on UK constitutional [...]
Chance of Brexit deal edges up after Boris Johnson’s G7 meetings August 27, 2019 The likelihood that Boris Johnson will be able to secure a new Brexit deal, and avoid crashing out of the EU in October, have edged up following on from a positive series of meetings around the G7 summit. The Prime Minister spent the week leading up to the Biarritz bash jetting off to see key [...]
Boris Johnson hits back at Tusk’s ‘Mr No Deal’ claims August 24, 2019 Boris Johnson has hit back at a claim from the European Council President Donald Tusk that he hoped the Prime Minister would not go down in history as “Mr No Deal”. Speaking at a press conference at the G7 summit in France, Tusk said: “The EU was always open to co-operation when David Cameron wanted [...]
Tusk and Johnson to hold Brexit talks at G7 August 22, 2019 Donald Tusk and Boris Johnson are to hold a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit this coming weekend. The European Council President, who once said there was a “special place in hell” for “those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of how to carry it out safely” will meet the UK [...]
Corbyn convenes Remainer alliance meeting August 22, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn will next week meet with leaders of various opposition parties, as well as senior backbench Tories, as the plan to block a no-deal Brexit gathers pace. The Labour leader has written to 10 MPs, including Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, Tories Dominic Grieve, Oliver Letwin, Guto Bebb and Caroline Spelman, and SNP Westminster [...]
Brexit: No deal most likely outcome, says French aide August 21, 2019 The UK will most likely leave the European Union – but still be on the hook for the £39bn divorce bill, a French presidential aide has told AFP. A no-deal Brexit is the “most likely scenario”, the wire reported, a day before UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to meet his French counterpart Emmanual [...]
Boris in Berlin: PM seeks to woo Merkel after Tusk turns down backstop plea August 21, 2019 Boris Johnson is travelling to Berlin today for his first bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel since taking office, in the hope of breaking the Brexit impasse. The UK Prime Minister will have meet his German counterpart this afternoon, followed by dinner, before travelling to Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on [...]
Business groups hail ‘long overdue’ move on customs system August 21, 2019 Businesses are to be automatically enrolled in a new customs system, as part of government efforts to keep British firms trading after Brexit. HMRC will allocate more than 88,000 firms with an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number in the next fortnight – double the existing number. Letters informing companies of their EORI number [...]
UK officials ‘unshackled’ from EU meetings ahead of Brexit August 20, 2019 The government has told UK officials and ministers to stop attending “most” European Union meetings from the start of next month. The move, which will come into effect from 1 September, is billed as enabling officials to “focus on our future relationship with the EU and other partners around the world”. From that point on, [...]
Tusk rejects PM’s backstop plea as EU27 memo slams ‘misleading’ claim August 20, 2019 The President of the European Council has slapped down Boris Johnson’s suggestion that the Irish backstop be dealt with during transition. Last night the Prime Minister published a letter to Donald Tusk, in which he suggested removing the “anti-democratic” backstop from the withdrawal agreement, suggesting it could be dealt with as part of the future [...]