Joint statement between UK and EU agrees to ‘spare no effort’ in implementing solutions
Michael Gove and the European commission’s vice-president have reiterated their “full commitment” to the Northern Ireland protocol following crisis talks in London.
A joint statement said Gove and Maroš Šefčovič had a “frank but constructive discussion” on Thursday evening, in which they agreed to “spare no effort” in implementing solutions.
Continue reading...Departure to cost EU 0.5% of GDP but UK 2.25% by end 2022, according to first official estimate since deal was agreed
The economic blow dealt by Brexit will be four times greater in the UK than the EU, according to the latest forecasts by Brussels.
A month into the new relationship, the European commission said the UK’s exit on the terms agreed by Boris Johnson’s government would generate a loss in gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2022 of about 2.25% in the UK compared with continued membership. In contrast, the hit for the EU is estimated to be about 0.5% over the same period.
Continue reading...New report finds lawyers, journalists and health workers at risk during pandemic have struggled to get help from embassies
The UK government has failed in its pledge to help those on the frontline of the global fight for human rights during the pandemic, according to a new report.
Amnesty International said health workers, lawyers, journalists and rights activists from around the world who were living under constant threat during the Covid-19 pandemic struggled to get support or funding from British embassies.
Continue reading...Foreign minister says Britain will continue to assess issue according to ‘strict licensing criteria’
British ministers have refused to join the US in suspending arms sales to Saudi Arabia for offensive use in war-torn Yemen, saying the UK makes its own decisions about selling weapons.
The US president, Joe Biden, announced the suspension last week, meeting a longstanding campaign pledge.
Continue reading...Government has not been straight with fishing industry, says Sam Baron of Baron Shellfish in Bridlington
A lobster exporter who is winding up his 60-year-old family business has blamed the government for failing to be honest about Brexit red tape and hidden costs.
Sam Baron, who worked alongside his father to set up Baron Shellfish in Bridlington, east Yorkshire, said the government had failed to be straight with the fishing industry.
Continue reading...Exporters badly hit already but KPMG says ‘biggest headaches’ have yet to come’ for importers
British firms are warning of further Brexit red tape as the government prepares to introduce a long list of new controls on imports from the European Union in April and July.
In the coming months further checks are due to be phased in at the UK border, controlling everything from the import of sausages and live mussels to horses and trees, as well as the locations these checks can take place.
Continue reading...Northern Ireland has become a touchstone for Brexit Britain as trade barriers threaten wider disruption. In the port of Larne, the challenges being faced offer useful lessons for the wider UK
The union jack flew proudly on Friday over the Victoria Orange Hall, a community centre in the Northern Irish port of Larne. Ferries arrived and trucks rolled off. In many ways it appeared to be business – and trade – as usual.
But tensions have been high in recent days because of post-Brexit border issues. Across much of Northern Ireland, supermarkets are struggling to fill shelves because exporters from Great Britain were unprepared for new checks – so consignments have not arrived.
Continue reading...Analysis: From Yemen and the Middle East, to Russia and China, the UK has to step up diplomatically
Joe Biden’s promise that the US is back on the world stage as an advocate of multilateralism holds huge opportunities for the UK so long as it steps up a gear diplomatically, uses its presidency of the G7 well and shifts its stance in the Middle East.
In the short term, Biden’s promise to end support for offensive operations in Yemen has led to calls for the UK to suspend its arms sales to Saudi Arabia, including from the Conservative chair of the defence select committee, Tobias Ellwood, and the shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy.
Continue reading...MI5 concluded three Beijing security ministry employees used cover of working for Chinese press agencies
Britain quietly expelled three Chinese spies last year who it said were posing as journalists, it has emerged, as tensions flare between the two countries over a range of media issues.
The intelligence agency MI5 concluded the three worked for China’s powerful Ministry of State Security (MSS) but had been using the cover of working for the country’s press agencies.
Continue reading...The idea that Hong Kong migration will give the UK an entrepreneurial rocket boost is based on imperial stereotypes
Ministers swell with pride as they speak of profound ties of history and friendship, while polling shows that a substantial majority of Britons are in favour and newspaper headlines are overwhelmingly positive.
Immigration has always been a contentious issue in Britain. So why, as the UK opens a path to citizenship for millions of Hong Kong residents, is it different this time?
Continue reading...Prime minister criticises Brussels for invoking article 16 of post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol
Boris Johnson has accused the EU of appearing to “cast doubt” on the Good Friday agreement, with last week’s decision to invoke article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol.
Speaking at prime minister’s questions after a call with Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, Johnson said: “It was most regrettable that the EU should seem to cast doubt on the Good Friday agreement, the principles of the peace process, by seeming to call for a border across the island of Ireland.”
Continue reading...Trade secretary had previously hinted supplies may not be diverted until UK population was vaccinated
The UK could help the EU and other nations with coronavirus vaccine supplies even before the domestic vaccination programme has been completed, the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, has said.
As ministers sought to smooth relations with Brussels after the EU’s much-criticised and swiftly rescinded decision to impose a vaccine border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Truss sought to stress the need for international cooperation.
Continue reading...Tory MPs use short-lived announcement of export ban to call for overhaul of trade deal, as EU chief is attacked over U-turn
The European Union’s threat to impose a vaccine border between Northern Ireland and the Republic risks reigniting one of Brexit’s bitterest disputes, as senior Tories said the move proved the need for an immediate overhaul of the bloc’s treatment of Northern Ireland.
The renewed demands emerged with the EU facing an extraordinary backlash over its bungled announcement of potential export controls on vaccines produced within the bloc. The World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the move and the pharmaceutical industry warned that the measures would damage their vaccination efforts.
Continue reading...‘History and geography don’t change – I don’t think British destiny is different to ours,’ says French president
Emmanuel Macron has warned that Boris Johnson’s government has to decide who its allies are, insisting that “half-friends is not a concept”.
“What politics does Great Britain wish to choose? It cannot be the best ally of the US, the best ally of the EU and the new Singapore … It has to choose a model,” the French president said, in an interview with the Guardian and a small group of other media.
Continue reading...Decision to reduce overseas aid represents a ‘major challenge’ to partner countries’ Covid responses, FCDO warned
The British government’s decision to slash at least 50% in overseas aid within the next few weeks has been called a “gut punch” to the world’s poorest.
Reacting to the news that diplomats had been ordered to cut billions in aid over the next six weeks, experts warned that many lives would be lost and the UK stood to lose its reputation as a global “force for good”.
Continue reading...Officials have just weeks to slash costs, prompting fears that speed of cuts could cost lives
British diplomats have been instructed to find at least 50% cuts in UK overseas bilateral aid in the next few weeks in advance of the next financial year, the Labour party has said.
Sarah Champion, the Labour chair of parliament’s international development select committee, said: “Our ambassadors have today been instructed by the Foreign Office to cut 50-70% from the aid budget.”
Continue reading...European nationals added to voluntary returns scheme, which can include flights and up to £2,000 for resettlement
EU citizens are being offered financial incentives to leave the UK, the Guardian has learned, months before the deadline to apply for settled status.
From 1 January EU citizens have quietly been added to the government’s voluntary returns scheme where financial support is offered as an encouragement to return to their country of origin.
Continue reading...Denying mission full privileges under the Vienna convention risks poisoning diplomatic ties, No 10 told
Downing Street has been warned by Brussels that downgrading the status of the EU’s ambassador to the UK will poison diplomatic relations for years to come.
The UK has so far declined to grant the bloc’s representative, João Vale de Almeida, and his 25-strong mission the privileges and immunities afforded to diplomats under the Vienna convention.
Continue reading...Exporters advised by Department for International Trade officials to form EU-based companies to circumvent border issues
British businesses that export to the continent are being encouraged by government trade advisers to set up separate companies inside the EU in order to get around extra charges, paperwork and taxes resulting from Brexit, the Observer can reveal.
In an extraordinary twist to the Brexit saga, UK small businesses are being told by advisers working for the Department for International Trade (DIT) that the best way to circumvent border issues and VAT problems that have been piling up since 1 January is to register new firms within the EU single market, from where they can distribute their goods far more freely.
Continue reading...Less than a month after leaving the EU, trade is flowing so badly that small firms are moving operations abroad to survive
Christophe Fricke lectures in German at the University of Bristol and adores living in England. He was born in Germany but his anglophilia became so strong after moving here that he wrote a book called 111 Gründe, England zu lieben (“111 Reasons to Love England”) in 2018. He selected the gardens of Cornwall, the National Portrait Gallery, the way the English use collective nouns for groups of animals (herds, packs, and so on) and their fascination with murder cases in his varied list of reasons for loving this country.
But since 1 January, Fricke has been reminded that there are also worrying things about life in England – and being outside the EU is now chief among them.
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