UK urges EU to extend grace period to 2023 in bid to soften Brexit impact February 3, 2021 Britain has asked the EU for a grace period extension until 2023 on checks made on trade moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has written to the European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic to ask for urgent political solutions on a number of issues at the [...]
UK to split from EU rules and unveil post-Brexit state aid regime February 3, 2021 Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will today outline the UK’s post-Brexit rules on government subsidies in a major break with the EU. A statement from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) department said the new set of rules, which supersede the EU’s state aid regime, will mean “local authorities, public bodies and the devolved administrations [...]
Cabinet minister rubbishes Sunak’s plan to give Universal Credit claimants one-off £1,000 payment February 3, 2021 Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey has rubbished Rishi Sunak’s idea of giving a £1,000 lump sum payment to Universal Credit holders in what is a new front in an ongoing cabinet row about welfare payments. Coffey told MPs today that Sunak’s lump sum payment idea, intended to offset a cut in a temporary uplift [...]
UK threatens to cut all Myanmar aid if Aung San Suu Kyi not released February 2, 2021 The UK government has threatened to withdraw all aid to Myanmar if the country’s military does not release detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cease the current coup attempt. Asia minister Nigel Adams told MPs today that it would “suspend” aid to Myanmar, which all goes to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), if democracy is not [...]
UK fishermen to be hit with permanent ban on selling shellfish to EU February 2, 2021 The UK’s fishermen have been warned they face a permanent ban of selling some types of shellfish to the EU as they no longer conform to the bloc’s safety standards. The post-Brexit ban is set to include oysters, mussels, scallops, cockles and clams. It comes after thousands of tonnes of British shellfish has been unable [...]
City of London lobby urges EU to grant UK financial services firms widespread access to its markets February 2, 2021 The City of London’s most influential lobby group has urged Brussels to grant Britain’s finance sector wide-ranging post-Brexit access as talks between the UK and EU on financial services continue. The CityUK today called for the EU to grant regulatory equivalence to the sector, while also calling for the UK government to provide more clarity [...]
The UK has applied to join the CPTPP trading bloc – but what is it? February 1, 2021 The UK government last week formally applied to join the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trading bloc, ushering in a new post-Brexit era. International trade secretary Liz Truss told the BBC yesterday that a potential entry into the bloc would secure “future growth” as the UK would move closer to developing, [...]
Covid: Boris Johnson ‘optimistic’ Brits can book summer holidays in 2021 February 1, 2021 Boris Johnson has today said he is “optimistic” Brits will be able to go on summer holidays this year, after Covid restrictions are eased. The Prime Minister said he could not give “concrete” details for when travel will be allowed and that “some things have got to go right”, like the UK’s vaccine rollout. The [...]
Rishi Sunak set to release Covid recovery plan this month February 1, 2021 Rishi Sunak will release a plan for the UK’s post-Covid economic recovery this month alongside Boris Johnson’s roadmap of how the country will ease the current lockdown. The plan will reportedly include a medium-term strategy for how the UK will boost investment and skills as the economy starts its recovery, and will be released before [...]
CBI calls for government to consult business more widely to draw up lockdown exit plan February 1, 2021 One of the UK’s mot influential business bodies has called on the government to reach out to the country’s private sector for advice on how to reopen the economy post-lockdown. The CBI has written to business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to ask the government to outline six elements when drawing up its lockdown exit strategy, including [...]
