Category Archives: Brexit

UK proposes US-style waivers for EU citizens crossing Irish border

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Plans for foreign citizens to need pre-clearance to enter Northern Ireland denounced as ‘hardening of border’

EU citizens and other non-Irish or non-British nationals who cross the border from the republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland will have to get pre-clearance under new rules being proposed by the UK government.

They will require a US-style waiver known as an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to cross the border as part of the new post-Brexit immigration nationality and borders bill.

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Poll shows Anglo-French antipathy on rise amid post-Brexit bickering

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Exclusive: political tensions prompt increase in numbers of French with negative view of Brits and vice versa

A year of post-Brexit bickering has left the French and the British feeling significantly less well disposed towards each other, a poll shows.

After ill-tempered exchanges over everything from fishing to submarines and Covid travel rules to the Northern Ireland protocol, the YouGov poll found that favourable opinions of the British had slid in France and other EU countries.

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Brexit leaves EU-bound Christmas presents out in the cold

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An increase in red tape and charges means headaches for those sending gifts to Europe

People preparing to send Christmas parcels to family and friends in Europe face being caught out by post-Brexit red tape and charges that threaten to take some of the joy out of gift-giving.

A warning has also been sounded that some of those who have sent gifts to the EU this year have encountered problems ranging from delays and unexpected charges to items going missing.

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‘We are sick of double speak’: French government intensifies attack on Johnson over Channel tragedy – live

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Latest updates: Macron slams Boris Johnson for trying to negotiate with him via Twitter as it cancels talks with UK officials over Channel crossings

The French government has accused Boris Johnson of “double speak”. In a briefing, the French government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, said that the proposal in Johnson’s letter to Emmanuel Macron for France to take back people who successfully cross the Channel on small boats was “clearly not what we need to solve this problem”.

According to PA Media, Attal also said that the letter doesn’t correspond at all” with the discussions Johnson and Macron had when they spoke on Wednesday. Atta went on: “We are sick of double speak.”

What would be completely unacceptable, a stain on our country and a scandal would be to see in future those whose parents have died being placed in inappropriate institutions, in elderly care homes or mental health institutions.

That would be something that I think would bring shame to our country as well as an utterly inappropriate lifestyle for those to whom we should be giving the best possible care.

This is not a bill about a condition, it is not about dealing with Down’s syndrome, it is about people who deserve the same ability to demand the best health, education and care as the rest of our society.

It is not on our part an act of charity, it is an act of empowerment and the recognition that all members of our society must have a right to respect, independence and dignity. That is why I brought this bill forward.

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French fishers to block Channel tunnel in Brexit licences row

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Members of industry association say large number of vehicles will be used to block key artery between nations

French fishers are threatening to block access to the Channel tunnel and the ferry port in Calais on Friday as part of an ongoing dispute over access to the waters between France and the UK in the wake of Brexit.

They have branded the UK’s approach as “contemptuous” and “humiliating” and say they have no other option but to block access to the port and tunnel along with two other ports, Saint-Malo and Ouistreham.

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‘All my friends went home’: a fruit picker on life without EU workers

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With fellow Europeans leaving the UK, and no British workers taking their place, Eleanor Popa’s job harvesting strawberries has gone from tough to tough and lonely. Will the farm survive another year?

Eleanor Popa used to sleep in a six-berth caravan on the site of Sharrington Strawberries, a 16-hectare (40-acre) strawberry farm in Melton Constable, Norfolk. Now, there are only four people in her caravan: everyone else has left to work in EU countries. “My friends,” she says, “they went home, or to work in Spain and Germany. A lot of them did not come back to work this year.”

Popa, who is from Bulgaria, has been a fruit picker for two years. “It’s hard work,” she says. “We have to get up early and pick. It’s 6am in the summer. Now we get up at 7.30am. And we work in tunnels. Sometimes it’s cold, sometimes it’s hot. Sometimes it’s windy. It can be boring.” Picking strawberries is skilled work. “It took me a month to learn how to pick the fruit,” she says.

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UK and EU must ‘knuckle down’ on Brexit disputes, says Irish PM

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Micheál Martin calls for resolution on Northern Ireland, saying: ‘don’t leave it until Christmas Eve this year’

The Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin, has said the UK and EU need to “knuckle down” and resolve the dispute over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements.

The UK’s Brexit minister, Lord Frost, will hold further talks with the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, on Friday, with the UK still warning it could unilaterally suspend parts of the Northern Ireland deal unless major changes are made.

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Dining across the divide: ‘I think some of the ideas are horrible – but it’s nice to sit and talk’

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One is a Belgian resident in the UK, the other was a Ukip candidate: can two strangers find any common ground?

Stijn, 47, Norwich

Occupation Humanitarian aid worker

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Denmark accuses UK of breaking Brexit fishing deal over trawling ban

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Exclusive: Danish minister says proposal to ban bottom trawling in Dogger Bank ‘a very big problem’

Denmark has accused the UK of breaching the post-Brexit fisheries deal over plans to ban destructive bottom trawling in a North Sea conservation zone.

The UK announced in February that it wanted to ban bottom trawling at the Dogger Bank conservation zone in the North Sea, a move hailed by environmentalists hopeful of seeing a resurgence of halibut, sharks and skate in the once marine life rich sandbank.

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‘I don’t blame customers for getting annoyed’: a coffee house owner on life without EU workers

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Anas Zein Al-Abdeen owns a chain of four Middle Eastern coffee houses around Birmingham. But, the 40-year-old says, while customers are plentiful, staff are another matter

Anas Zein Al-Abdeen doesn’t want to close his business for three days a week – but, increasingly, it looks like his only option. He simply can’t get the staff. “It’s horrific,” he says. “We can’t plan for anything.”

The 40-year-old British-Syrian businessman runs Damascena, an independent chain of four Middle Eastern coffee houses in and around Birmingham. All of his cafes are affected, but the one in central Birmingham is the most short-staffed, with 25 workers instead of the usual 30. “It’s very stressful,” he says. “Most businesses worry about getting customers. But I’m just worried if we can serve them or not.”

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Brexit has made it easier for small boat crossings to reach UK, refugees say

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Outside EU, people can no longer be returned to other European countries under legislation known as Dublin regulation

Refugees living in northern France say Brexit has made it easier for them to reach the UK in small boats, as it emerged that record numbers of people crossed the Channel in one day.

Despite the worsening weather conditions and the UK government’s attempts to deter them, 1,185 people made the crossing on Thursday, according to the Home Office.

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EU welcomes ‘change in tone’ from UK at Northern Ireland Brexit talks

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Brussels Brexit chief offers glimmer of hope, but London says threat of article 16 still on the table

A glimmer of hope of a solution to the dispute over the Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements has emerged after a fourth week of talks ended on Friday.

After a week of recriminations and the threat of a trade war, the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič said there had been a change in tone from the UK’s Brexit minister, David Frost, confirming the UK had stepped back from the brink of triggering article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol.

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EU to tell Frost Brexit talks will fail unless he ditches ECJ demand

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Concerns grow that Boris Johnson has already decided to trigger article 16 of Northern Ireland protocol

The EU’s Brexit commissioner will tell David Frost that negotiations over Northern Ireland are doomed to fail unless he drops an “unattainable” demand over the role of the European court of justice.

At a meeting in London on Friday, Maroš Šefčovič will warn the UK’s Brexit minister, Lord Frost, that Downing Street needs to “take a step” towards the EU for the talks to be “meaningful”.

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Joe Biden supports EU position on Northern Ireland, says Von der Leyen

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Brussels chief says US president agrees Britain should not ditch post-Brexit protocol

Ursula von der Leyen has claimed that the EU’s position on Northern Ireland has the support of the US president, as Brussels prepares a “ladder” of retaliatory options up to and including the suspension of the UK trade deal over Boris Johnson’s threats to ditch the current post-Brexit arrangements.

After a meeting at the White House, the European Commission president said Joe Biden was in agreement with the bloc that Johnson should not upend the tortuously negotiated Northern Ireland protocol.

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Northern Ireland: bus hijacked and set alight on outskirts of Belfast

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Incident near Rathcoole in Newtownabbey sparks fresh fears of Brexit-related violence in region

A bus has been set on fire after it was hijacked by four masked men on the outskirts of Belfast.

The men boarded the double-decker bus in Church Road near Rathcoole in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, at about 7.45pm on Sunday, ordered passengers to get off and set it alight.

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EU could shelve Brexit trade deal if UK triggers article 16, Irish minister warns

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Simon Coveney accuses British government of ‘deliberately forcing breakdown’ in negotiations over Northern Ireland

The prospect of a trade war between the UK and the EU has edged closer, with Ireland giving the clearest hint yet that Brussels plans to suspend the entire trade deal struck last December if the British government suspends the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol.

The Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, accused the UK of “deliberately forcing a breakdown” in negotiations over Northern Ireland, adding that there was still time to step back from the brink.

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Brexit: EU warns of ‘serious consequences’ if UK invokes article 16

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Maroš Šefčovič says Brussels has seen no concessions from UK side in Northern Ireland protocol dispute

Britain and the EU appear on the brink of a trade war after Brussels accused Boris Johnson of lacking sincerity in negotiations over Northern Ireland’s future and warned of “serious consequences” if Downing Street suspended the post-Brexit deal.

As he emerged from his latest tense meeting with the UK’s Brexit minister, the EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said that despite Brussels’ attempts to find a compromise, “we have seen no move at all from the UK side”.

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Will the UK trigger article 16 – and what will happen if it does?

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How likely is it that Britain will trigger the Northern Ireland protocol clause, and could it lead to a trade war?

Fears are growing that the UK will trigger article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, potentially rupturing the already strained relations with the EU. If current talks with the EU collapse, it is expected just after Cop26 in seven days’ time.

On Wednesday Ireland’s prime minister heightened concerns that this was now almost a racing certainty after his bluntest warning yet to the UK that such a move would be “reckless”, “irresponsible” and have “far-reaching consequences”.

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EU scientists demand bloc finalise UK’s membership of £80bn programme

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Researchers fear Horizon Europe programme is collateral damage in UK-EU political dispute

More than 1,000 universities and 50 academies of science across Europe have called on the EU to “immediately” finalise the UK’s membership of its flagship £80bn research programme and end the 10-month delay to the ratification process.

In a letter to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, they say the lengthy delay is “endangering current and future plans for collaboration” and any further delay will “result in a major weakening of our collective research strength”.

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