Brexiteer Tories waver on support for Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal March 21, 2023 A key group of Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs are yet to say whether they will vote for Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal. Parliament will vote tomorrow on the so-called Stormont brake – a key part of the prime minister’s Windsor Framework agreement that would allow the Northern Ireland Assembly to reject new incoming EU rules. European Research [...]
Brexit: Hospitality sector slams Government’s decision to exclude overseas restaurant and bar workers in shortage occupancy lists March 17, 2023 Hospitality figures have described the government’s decision to not include overseas restaurant and bar workers in its shortage occupation list as “disappointing” as the sector claims that ongoing labour shortages are “crippling” businesses. “Ongoing labour shortages are crippling hospitality businesses, forcing them to reduce their hours and costing the industry billions in lost trade,” Kate [...]
Brexit: Retained EU law deadline must be extended to avoid ‘rushed bonfire’ of regulations, think tank warns March 9, 2023 The post Brexit retained EU law deadline should be extended to avoid a “rushed bonfire” of business regulations, a think tank has warned. Government risks missing a “golden opportunity” to boost the quality of the statute books if it does not lengthen the December 2023 deadline for the so-called sunset clause. Most Brussels legislation will [...]
UK immigration hits record levels despite labour shortages March 8, 2023 Immigration to the UK has hit record levels, despite labour shortages in key sectors, amid a fresh wave of public positivity towards arrivals. In the year ending in June 2022, long-term immigration into the UK was around 1.1m, up by 435,000 on the previous annual figure. Employment-related migration fell in vital sectors such as hospitality [...]
UK’s post-Brexit Solvency II reforms will increase risk of insurers collapsing… by just 0.1 percentage points March 6, 2023 The Bank of England today warned the UK’s planned Solvency II reforms could increase the risk of insurers collapsing… by just 0.1 percentage points. In a letter published today, the BoE’s governor Andrew Bailey said the UK government’s plan to overhaul the EU’s rules will increase the risk of life insurers collapsing by 20 per [...]
UK should restore freedom of movement, says Jean-Claude Juncker March 2, 2023 The UK should restore freedom of movement, Jean-Claude Juncker said today, adding that Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework deal with the EU was “a real breakthrough”. In an interview with LBC, ex-European Commission president Juncker called for Britain to have a “normal relationship” with the trading bloc, including a “kind of freedom of movement for workers”. [...]
Boris Johnson says he will find it ‘very difficult’ to vote for Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal March 2, 2023 Boris Johnson has said he will “find it very difficult to vote for” Rishi Sunak’s deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland. The former Prime Minister has raised concerns about Sunak’s Windsor Framework which aims to resolve the power-sharing deadlock in Stormont. In a Westminster speech today, he said: “I’m going to find it [...]
PMQs: Sunak escapes Brexit grilling amid Hancock WhatsApp row March 1, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has escaped a major Brexit grilling over the Windsor Framework amid a row over former health secretary Matt Hancock’s leaked Covid-19 WhatsApp messages. The PM – whose latest EU trade agreement is widely hoped to end the power-sharing deadlock in Northern Ireland – dodged intense scrutiny over the deal in the [...]
Brexit deal: Sunak says Northern Ireland in ‘unbelievably special position’ with access to both UK AND EU markets February 28, 2023 Rishi Sunak insisted that his new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland addressed the concerns of unionists despite the “small and limited” role for European Union law and its court – while giving Belfast an “unbelievably special position”. The Prime Minister, who was visiting Northern Ireland to sell the deal secured with the European Union, said [...]
Sunak Brexit deal: King Charles meeting with EU’s von der Leyen ‘not unusual’ – Cleverly February 28, 2023 Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has rejected claims that the King was being drawn into political controversy over his meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Cleverly denied ministers were politicising the monarchy following the meeting between the King and the Brussels official at Windsor Castle, which coincided with the agreement of a new [...]