Category Archives: Foreign policy

Russia ‘hired network of Britons to go after enemies of Putin’

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Exclusive: MPs who drew up Russia report suppressed by PM were told of ‘infiltration’

Russia has been accused of hiring a network of British politicians and consultants to help advance its criminal interests and to “go after” Vladimir Putin’s enemies in London, MPs who drew up the Russia report suppressed by Boris Johnson were told.

In secret evidence submitted to parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC), the campaigner and financier Bill Browder claimed Moscow had been able to “infiltrate” UK society by using well-paid British intermediaries.

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UK to withdraw from EU aviation safety regulator, Shapps says

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Transport secretary says senior figures will gradually return to UK as regulatory powers revert to CAA

The UK is to withdraw from the European Union aviation safety regulator (EASA) after the Brexit transition period, Grant Shapps has confirmed.

The transport secretary said many of the most senior figures at the organisation headquartered in Cologne, Germany were British and that they would gradually return to the UK throughout this year as regulatory powers reverted to the Civil Aviation Authority.

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Brexit ‘opportunity to ban supertrawlers from UK waters’

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Environmental groups fear link between huge ships and spikes in dolphin deaths

Brexit offers the perfect opportunity to ban industrial supertrawler fishing boats from UK waters, according to campaigners.

The factory-sized ships can be hundreds of feet long and have been criticised for indiscriminate fishing as they catch hundreds of thousands of fish in relatively short periods. Environmentalists fear their presence correlates with spikes in numbers of dolphins washing up dead.

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British residents in Spain ‘confused and alarmed’ about post-Brexit future

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Lack of information has left thousands of expats confused about status, study shows

Britons living in Spain are confused and fearful about their post-Brexit futures “to a quite shocking extent”, according to the author of a study, with poor support and communication from British and Spanish authorities mainly to blame.

Despite the withdrawal agreement securing the basic rights of UK citizens legally resident on the continent, Karen O’Reilly, a sociology professor at Loughborough University, said her research revealed “enormous levels of uncertainty and worry”.

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Barnier warns of grave differences between EU and UK in trade talks

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EU negotiator sets out main obstacles to deal, including rights convention and fishing

Michel Barnier has spoken of grave differences between the EU and the UK over their future relationship, warning that Boris Johnson’s refusal to formally commit to the European convention on human rights would limit cooperation in fighting crime.

Following the first round of negotiations between the two 100-strong teams, the EU’s chief negotiator said there were many “serious divergences” between the two sides.

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British economy ‘to grow 0.16% at best under US trade deal’

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Admission lays bare limited benefits of ‘ambitious’ agreement with Donald Trump

The British economy would be at most 0.16% larger by the middle of the next decade under a comprehensive trade deal with the US, the government has admitted, laying bare the limited benefits from striking an agreement with Donald Trump.

In a document published by Liz Truss’s Department for International Trade designed to kick-start post-Brexit trade talks with the Trump White House, the government said the British economy stood to benefit from an “ambitious and comprehensive” trade deal worth a fraction of GDP, equivalent to £3.4bn after 15 years.

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Boris Johnson talks tough before US trade talks

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PM maintains that NHS is not on the table and animal welfare standards won’t drop

Boris Johnson has said he will drive a hard bargain as the UK outlined its negotiating objectives for the forthcoming trade talks with the US.

Despite fears that disagreements between London and Washington could obstruct the launch of the negotiations, a government press release claimed the prime minister wanted to open up opportunities for British businesses and investors while also ensuring the NHS was not for sale via the desired free trade agreement.

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UK races to find extra 50,000 staff for post-Brexit paperwork

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New recruits needed to process millions of extra declaration forms from 1 January 2021

A race to hire 50,000 people in the next six months to process Brexit paperwork is under way after the government confirmed they would be needed for border operations.

But experts have warned it will be a challenge to train enough people in time to be competent in the complexity of customs declarations and the second layer of red tape involving entry and exit declaration forms that are mandatory for trading with the EU.

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UK to withdraw from European arrest warrant

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Government document reveals plans to ditch tool that allows for fast extradition of criminals

The UK is to abandon a crucial tool used to speed up the transfer of criminals across borders with other European countries.

Acting against the warnings of senior law enforcement officials, the government said it would not be seeking to participate in the European arrest warrant (EAW) as part of the future relationship with the European Union.

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Barnier pours scorn on Johnson’s spokesman ahead of trade talks

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EU negotiator signals future relationship negotiations are on course for acrimonious start

Negotiations over Britain’s future relationship with the EU appear on course for an acrimonious start after Michel Barnier poured scorn on Boris Johnson’s spokesman and suggested the new Northern Ireland secretary did not understand the withdrawal agreement.

Barnier said he expected the talks, starting on Monday, to be “very difficult” but pronounced Brussels as “ready” following the official sign-off by EU ministers of their instructions for their chief negotiator.

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EU to demand right to punish UK if it fails to shadow Brussels rules

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Member states agree EU should have right to apply sanctions if divergence causes ‘disruptions’

The EU will demand the right to punish Britain if the government fails to shadow the Brussels rulebook in the future, member states have agreed, as Boris Johnson was warned that the bloc would not be hurried into a deal on the future relationship.

A final draft of the EU’s negotiating position agreed by ambassadors on Monday, ready for ministerial sign off on Tuesday, establishes the bloc’s developing environmental, social and workers’ standards as the baseline for a trade deal.

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Brexit: UK reneging on Northern Ireland pledges risks trade deals with US and EU

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Concerns raised after reports negotiating team told to devise plans to ‘get around’ protocol in withdrawal agreement

Reneging on the special Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland will risk trade deals with both the EU and the US, experts have warned.

Concern has been raised after Boris Johnson’s Brexit negotiating team has reportedly been ordered to come up with plans to “get around” the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement, which includes checks on goods and food going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

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Brexit deal ‘a different ball game’ to Canada agreement, warns EU

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Brussels aide says UK cannot have similar trade pact because of proximity to member states

Downing Street’s hopes of a Canada-style trade deal with the EU have been dealt a further blow after a senior adviser to Brussels’ chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the bloc’s relationship with the North American country was a “different ball game”.

As the two sides prepare for the start of negotiations next month, Stefaan De Rynck highlighted the UK’s proximity to Brussels compared with Canada as a key factor, as well as warning that the trade talks could get “rather difficult”.

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UK to close door to non-English speakers and unskilled workers

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Government plans to take ‘full control’ of borders a disaster for economy and jobs, say industry leaders and Labour

Britain is to close its borders to unskilled workers and those who can’t speak English as part of a fundamental overhaul of immigration laws that will end the era of cheap EU labour in factories, warehouses, hotels and restaurants.

Unveiling its Australian-style points system on Wednesday, the government will say it is grasping a unique opportunity to take “full control” of British borders “for the first time in decades” and eliminate the “distortion” caused by EU freedom of movement.

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UK Brexit negotiator accused of treating Britain and EU as ‘two different planets’

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Verhofstadt says it would be a ‘hell of a job’ to achieve success using David Frost’s approach

Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator has been accused of treating the EU and the UK as if they are “living on two different planets” after vowing to break all regulatory ties with Brussels.

Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister who has led the European parliament’s approach to Brexit, said it would be a “hell of a job” to secure a successful outcome from the negotiation using the British approach.

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We won’t budge on escaping EU rules, says UK’s Brexit negotiator

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David Frost says democratic consent would snap if UK agreed to EU alignment

The democratic consent of the British public would “snap dramatically and finally” if the UK continued to be tied to EU rules, Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator has said.

In his first public speech since his appointment to the role, David Frost said Downing Street was not engaging in game-playing by rejecting alignment with EU laws after 2020.

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Brexit: Britain and EU ‘will rip each other apart’ in trade talks

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French foreign minister says it will be hard for UK to strike deal by end of year given differences

Britain and the European Union are going to rip each other apart in talks over a future trade deal, the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has predicted, while also holding out hope that UK defence co-operation with Europe will continue.

Speaking at the Munich security forum, he added it would be tough for Britain to achieve its aim of a free trade deal by the end of the year given the differences between the two sides.

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Macron sets out 10-year vision for EU with call for more integration

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French president says EU must have effective defence policy, larger budget and integrated capital markets

Europe’s middle classes will only remain reconciled to the European Union if it becomes more integrated, with an effective defence policy, a larger budget and integrated capital markets, and is shorn of vetoes that slow decision-making, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said.

Setting out his 10-year vision for Europe on Saturday, Macron said he still wanted to see the UK involved in defence, but urged European countries to recognise that in terms of social welfare, Europe had a different values to the US.

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Marie Yovanovitch: former ambassador warns of ‘amoral’ US foreign policy

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She cited a need for the country to be ‘principled, consistent and trustworthy’ while accepting an award for diplomacy

The former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, has warned that the US had adopted an “amoral” foreign policy that “substitutes threats, fear and confusion for trust”.

In her first public remarks since leaving the US foreign service two weeks ago, Yovanovitch said that the Trump administration’s handling of foreign policy risked alienating allies and driving them into the arms of other partners they find more reliable.

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