Category Archives: Brexit

‘You’ve got to be joking’: Mandelson dismisses prospect of UK rejoining EU

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Labour peer says there is little desire among voters for a referendum and in Brussels for renegotiations

Peter Mandelson has dismissed the prospect of an incoming Labour government taking Britain back into the EU, saying “you’ve got to be joking” that Brussels would want to renegotiate the UK’s membership.

The Labour peer, a former EU trade commissioner and close adviser to Keir Starmer, said rejoining the 27-country bloc would require a referendum that UK voters had little desire for, after the Conservatives’ botched handling of Brexit.

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Food trade bodies consider legal action over post-Brexit ‘not for EU’ labelling

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Producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflation

Food industry trade bodies are discussing whether to take legal action against the government over post-Brexit plans that will require all meat and dairy products sold in the UK to be labelled as “not for EU”.

Food producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflation, and they are discussing a legal challenge as a viable option if a solution with the government is not found.

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‘When’s Nigel coming back?’ Farage absence looms large over Reform UK conference

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In Doncaster, at the insurgent rightwing party’s ‘biggest ever’ gathering, one absence is on everybody’ lips

On a sunny day at Doncaster racecourse, those gathered for Reform UK’s “biggest ever party conference” were presented with a dizzying array of pledges to cut tax and ­freeze “non-essential” immigration as its leading lights published a ­programme to “save Britain”. Yet even as the sun beamed down, the shadow of one absent figure seemed to hang over proceedings.

There was a jubilant mood at the South Yorkshire gathering as they cheered leader Richard Tice’s demands for an inquiry into vaccine harms, to break with the World Health Organization and to fire headteachers who refused to drop “critical race theory”.

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Post-Brexit watchdog ‘ready’ to investigate flood of cheaper Chinese electric cars

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Remarks by head of trade authority come amid fears UK firms could be undercut ‘to extinction’

The head of Britain’s post-Brexit trade watchdog has said it is ready to follow Brussels in launching an investigation into Chinese companies flooding the market for electric cars, but the government has not asked it to do so.

Oliver Griffiths, the chief executive of the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), which advises the government on trade defence, said it was keeping lines of communication open with ministers and had been in close contact with the car industry. “We’ll be ready to go if anyone does come to us,” he told the Guardian in an interview.

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UK farmers vow to mount more blockades over cheap post-Brexit imports

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Inspired by French action, British campaigners say they will continue slow tractor protests after Dover roads were blocked

Farmers say there will be further French-style blockades following a slow tractor protest at Dover against low supermarket prices and cheap food imports from post-Brexit trade deals.

Around 40 tractors and other farm vehicles blocked roads around the Kent port for several hours on Friday evening by driving slowly and carrying signs with slogans such as “No More Cheap Imports”.

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Dover Port health body fears gangs of meat smugglers looking to bypass new post-Brexit checks

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Authority weighs up legal action against government over new checks on imported meat taking place 22 miles inland

The Port of Dover could become a target for criminals smuggling illegal and diseased meat into the country under new post-Brexit plans that will involve lorries from the continent being checked 22 miles inland, the port’s health authority has warned.

The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) is now considering legal action against the government over its decision to end physical checks of imported meat at a post within the port. Instead, lorries will be directed to a new checking facility half an hour’s drive up the M20 at Sevington, Ashford.

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Ulez fines scandal: Italian police ‘illegally accessed’ thousands of EU drivers’ data

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Italy’s data protection body investigates claims police shared names and addresses with firm collecting penalties for TfL

The names and addresses of thousands of EU drivers were unlawfully accessed by Italian police and shared with the company that collects Ulez penalties on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), investigators believe.

The Italian data protection authority is investigating claims by Belgium’s government that an unnamed police department misused official powers to pass the personal details of Belgian drivers to Euro Parking Collections, which is employed by TfL to issue fines to enforce London’s low emission zone (Lez) and ultra-low emission zone.

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Italian man removed from UK despite post-Brexit Home Office certificate

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Massimiliano Melargo, who was stopped at airport, has permission to enter and leave UK while awaiting settlement decision

An Italian man has been removed from the UK despite holding a Home Office certificate explicitly stating he has a right to travel in and out of the country while officials process his application to live and work in the country post-Brexit.

Massimiliano Melargo, 27, told how he was detained overnight, separated from his Ukrainian partner, and put on the first plane to Venice by Border Force officials in a step lawyers say contravenes the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK.

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‘It’s all a bit marginal’: claims of Brexit trade perks don’t add up, say firms

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A business department report trumpeting the four-year benefits of leaving the EU does not match the reality faced by companies

On the four-year anniversary of Brexit last Wednesday, business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch trumpeted its successes. “The British people’s conviction that the UK would excel as masters of our own fate has paid dividends,” she said, launching a report detailing the benefits.

Among the top achievements listed were booming sales of honey to Saudi Arabia, surging pet food exports to India, a rush of UK pork, worth £18m over five years, heading into Mexico’s restaurants and homes, and UK beauty products sales leaping in China, thanks to barriers being smashed.

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Dublin not expecting EU objections to new trade rules for Northern Ireland – UK politics live

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Irish foreign minister says he does ‘not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side’

Back at the home affairs committee James Daly (Con) asks why so few police investigations end up in people being charged.

James Cleverly, the home secretary, says the Crown Prosecution Service is independent. He wants to make sure investigations are as professional as possible.

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Northern Ireland to get new Brexit trade rules in deal to restore power sharing

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‘UK internal market’ to be created to ease unionist fears over de facto border in the Irish Sea

• UK politics live – latest updates

New rules to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been unveiled by the government as part of a deal with the Democratic Unionist party that will restore the Stormont executive and install a Sinn Féin first minister.

A command paper titled Safeguarding the Union was published on Wednesday to allay DUP fears about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and to end a two-year boycott of power sharing that has destabilised the country.

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New Brexit food checks likely to mean less choice, warn delis

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Guild of Fine Food fears European suppliers of specialist produce will stop supplying UK because of red tape

Thousands of delicatessens and other specialist food shops have said new border rules that come in from Wednesday are likely to mean reduced choice of products for consumers.

The Guild of Fine Food (GFF), which represents 12,000 businesses, has raised fears that European suppliers of specialist foods such as cheeses and meats will stop supplying the UK as a result of the additional red tape for imported goods.

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Northern Ireland will no longer automatically have to follow EU laws under deal to restore power sharing, DUP leader says – politics live

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The DUP has endorsed a deal with the UK government to restore power sharing in NI, paving an end to two years of political deadlock

This is from Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and first minister designate in the power sharing executive.

I welcome the public declaration by DUP Leader Jeffrey Donaldson that power-sharing will now be restored.
The parties will come together later today. We have much to do to confront the challenges facing our public services, workers and families which require urgent action.

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Tuesday briefing: The late night vote to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland

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In today’s newsletter: how the DUP finally brought two-year boycott of Stormont assembly to an end

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Good morning. It took 726 days, and a fraught five hour meeting that ended at one o’clock this morning – but at last, it looks like power-sharing is back on in Northern Ireland.

At a press conference after a meeting at a remote venue in County Down a few hours ago, Democratic Unionist party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that his party would finally end its boycott of the Stormont assembly. He told journalists: “The result was clear, the DUP has been decisive, I have been mandated to move forward.” That means that the Northern Ireland executive is likely to return before an 8 February deadline for forming an administration. Barring any drama in the next week, Sinn Féin will hold the symbolic first minister position for the first time – and something like normal business will resume.

Middle East | Joe Biden’s defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has vowed the US will take “all necessary actions” to defend its troops after Iran-backed militants killed three and wounded dozens more in a drone attack in Jordan. Qatar’s prime minister said on Monday he hoped any US retaliation would not undercut progress toward a new Israel-Hamas hostage release deal in weekend talks.

Local government | Households across England are facing an inflation-busting £2bn council tax raid this spring despite Rishi Sunak’s promise of pre-election giveaways. After an announcement last week of an extra £600m in local government funding in England, council bosses have been told that the government expects the maximum 4.99% increase in council tax – about £100 extra on a typical band D bill. Read an analysis of the state of council budgets.

Conservatives | Kemi Badenoch is a member of a Conservative WhatsApp group called “Evil Plotters” despite telling party rebels to get behind Rishi Sunak, the Guardian can reveal. The business secretary has criticised party colleagues for “stirring” up suggestions that she could replace the prime minister – but is part of a group rallying round her longer-term ambitions.

Health | Alzheimer’s can be spread from human to human through rare medical accidents, research suggests, although experts stress there is no evidence the disease can be passed between people through everyday activities or routine care.

UK news | The actor and rightwing activist Laurence Fox has lost a high court libel battle with two men he baselessly called paedophiles after they said he was a racist. A judge dismissed Fox’s own claim that the allegations of racism were defamatory and said that damages would be discussed at a later date.

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Brexit border rules could cut shelf life of fresh food from EU by a fifth, say experts

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Requirement for importers to give 24 hours’ notice of deliveries described as ‘unfeasible’ by suppliers

New Brexit border rules could cut the shelf life of fresh food from mainland Europe by a fifth and leave some deliveries from the EU unsaleable, major food bodies have warned.

The SPS Certification Working group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn of the UK’s food supply, has said new rules requiring importers to notify authorities a day before they arrive in the UK was “unfeasible” and could mean that some European businesses decide to stop supplying the UK.

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UK ditches post-Brexit Canada trade talks; Vodafone and Three UK merger under investigation – as it happened

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Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Canada says UK was unwilling to give access to agricultural products

Shares in US chipmaker Intel have slumped in pre-market trading after it revealed a weaker forecast of earnings.

Chipmakers have been flying in recent years as shortages followed by the huge hype over artificial intelligence – which is hungry for processing power – prompted investors to pile into the sector.

Although Intel beat estimates, investors’ disappointment in Intel’s datacentre GPU story’s growth can be primarily attributed to the slower-than-expected product delivery and ramp-up.

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Indonesian fruit picker landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office

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Exclusive: Test case likely against UK’s seasonal worker scheme as charity alleges breach of right to be protected from labour exploitation

When Ismael found himself sleeping rough at York station in the late October cold he struggled to understand how an opportunity to pick berries 7,000 miles from his home had so quickly ended there.

He had left Indonesia less than four months earlier, in July 2022. He was 18 and ready for six months of hard work on a British farm to save for a science degree. “I thought the UK was the best place to work because I could save up a little money and help my parents,” he said.

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Tourists heading to Europe could face 14-hour queues at Dover from October

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New EU entry-exit system could lead to gridlocked roads if scheme goes ahead as planned, MPs hear

Tourists heading to Europe could face waits of up to 14 hours at border controls under a scheme to be launched in October, MPs have been told.

The Port of Dover and the surrounding area could face significant disruption when the EU entry/exit system is introduced unless measures are taken to prevent delays, parliament’s European scrutiny committee has heard.

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New Brexit checks ‘pose existential threat’ to UK fruit and flower growers

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Exclusive: NFU warns blanket import checks from April could fuel long delays and damage future crops

The UK’s fruit and flower growers face an “existential threat” from new post-Brexit border checks that could damage business and affect next year’s crops, the country’s biggest farming body has said.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned that changes to import rules in April, which will impose checks at the border for nearly all young plants coming into the country, could cause long delays and result in plants being damaged or destroyed.

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Sadiq Khan: ‘Free young people from Brexit work and travel ban’

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Mayor calls for ‘youth mobility agreement’ in one of the most pro-European interventions by a Labour politician since EU exit

London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for young people to be able to move freely to and from the EU for the first time since Brexit in order to lessen the economic and cultural damage caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

Speaking to the Observer in one of the most pro-European interventions by a senior Labour politician since the 2016 referendum, Khan said he backs either a bespoke “youth mobility” agreement with EU countries, or changes to post-Brexit visa rules that currently restrict travel and the ability to work in other European countries.

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