Category Archives: Trade policy

Dominic Cummings’ data law shake-up a danger to trade, says EU

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Exclusive: proposed rewriting of data protection rules said to put vital cooperation in doubt

A radical “pro-tech” plan championed by Dominic Cummings to rewrite Britain’s data protection laws is endangering future cooperation with the EU worth billions to the British economy, Brussels has warned.

The government’s newly published national data strategy, promising a “transformation” long sought by Boris Johnson’s chief adviser and the former Vote Leave director, has sparked concern at a sensitive time with the continued flow of data between the UK and EU member states in question.

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UK awards border contract to firm criticised over role in US deportations

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Exclusive: tech firm Palantir has come under fire for links to Trump’s drive to eject migrants

The government has awarded oversight of the UK’s post-Brexit border and customs data to Palantir, an American tech firm notorious for assisting the Trump administration’s drive to deport migrants from the US.

Palantir, whose co-founder Peter Thiel has been a vocal supporter of Trump, was formally awarded a contract last week to manage the data analytics and architecture of the UK’s new “border flow tool”, which will collate data on the transit of goods and customs from 31 December, according to a Cabinet Office document seen by the Guardian.

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Biden and Pelosi warn UK over risking Good Friday agreement

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Leading Democrats tell UK foreign secretary that Northern Ireland peace deal cannot be casualty of Brexit

Joe Biden on Wednesday joined the clamour of Democrats warning Boris Johnson not to let the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement become a casualty of his Brexit talks.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is in Washington trying to repair relations with pro-Irish Democrats amid concerns that the UK’s attempt to leave the EU on its own terms will undermine the Good Friday peace agreement.

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Irish MEP in line for EU finance role vacated due to lockdown scandal

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Mairead McGuinness to take role in overseeing access for the City of London to EU markets

The veteran MEP Mairead McGuinness has been proposed as Ireland’s new EU commissioner, replacing Phil Hogan, who was forced to resign after breaching coronavirus lockdown rules.

McGuinness, a European parliament vice-president, would take on the portfolio of financial services, giving her a key role in overseeing access for the City of London to EU markets.

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UK’s chief Brexit negotiator has ‘brass neck’, says former May aide

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Gavin Barwell angered by David Frost’s suggestion that May government ‘blinked’ in negotiations

Theresa May’s former chief of staff has accused the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, of having a “brass neck” after he said the UK government had “blinked first” in negotiations.

Gavin Barwell, a key member of the former prime minister’s negotiating team, said Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement was “95% the work of his predecessors” and a deal had only been secured by conceding to the EU’s demand for some customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain, which May’s team had not agreed to.

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Tony Abbott’s UK trade role sparks conflict of interest concerns

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Calls for Australian government to regard him as a foreign agent and explain how he can possibly work on a post-Brexit trade deal

The controversial appointment of Australian former prime minister Tony Abbott as an official trade adviser for the UK has sparked questions as to how he will manage conflicts of interest.

The UK government officially confirmed Abbott’s appointment on Friday, defying a barrage of criticism over accusations of misogynistic and homophobic comments, and his views on the climate emergency.

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Former Australian PM Tony Abbott confirmed as UK trade adviser

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Critics say Abbott’s views on women and homosexuality and the climate crisis make him unfit for role

Boris Johnson has appointed Tony Abbott as an official UK trade adviser, defying widespread condemnation of the former Australian prime minister’s record of misogyny and homophobia and his views on the climate emergency.

Abbott, whose consideration for the role prompted criticism from opposition parties, charities and LGBT and environmental activists, is among nine external advisers appointed to the Board of Trade. The board, revived by Theresa May, is intended to help shape post-Brexit trade policy.

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Tony Abbott: some elderly Covid patients could be left to die naturally

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‘Health dictatorships’ failing to consider economic costs of crisis, ex-Australian PM says

Tony Abbott, the former Australian prime minister tipped to become a UK trade envoy, has railed against Covid “health dictatorships”, saying the economic cost of lockdowns meant families should be allowed to consider letting elderly relatives with the coronavirus die by letting nature take its course.

He claimed it was costing the Australian government as much as $200,000 (£110,000) to give an elderly person an extra year’s life, substantially beyond what governments would usually pay for life-saving drugs.

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No 10 blames EU and plays down prospects of Brexit trade deal

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Spokesman for Boris Johnson says hopes of meeting deadline in December are dwindling

Downing Street has played down the prospect of reaching a trade deal with the EU in time for December, saying it will be “very difficult” – and blaming Brussels’ insistence on tackling tough issues upfront.

The UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, is meeting his EU counterpart Michel Barnier in London, in advance of the next round of formal talks next week.

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Choosing Tony Abbott as UK trade envoy ‘staggering’, says Labour

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Emily Thornberry labels ex-Australian PM a ‘Trump-worshipping misogynist’ amid reports of role

The shadow trade secretary, Emily Thornberry, has condemned reports that Boris Johnson is preparing to appoint the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott to a senior trade role, calling Abbott a “Trump-worshipping misogynist”.

The Department of Trade declined to comment publicly on Wednesday but insisted no decision had yet been made, after the Sun reported that Abbott would be given a leading role on the board of trade.

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Brexit backers Tate & Lyle set to gain £73m from end of EU trade tariffs

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Greenpeace investigators say the firm, which also donated to the Conservatives, will be sole beneficiary of rule changes on importing raw cane sugar

A company that backed Brexit and has donated to the Conservatives is in line to save £73m as the only direct beneficiary of a post-Brexit trade reform.

Under plans that will come into force at the end of the year, the government has confirmed that companies will be able to import 260,000 tonnes of raw sugar cane from anywhere in the world, tariff-free.

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Russians ‘hacked Liam Fox’s emails’ to obtain dossier on US-UK trade talks

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Hackers reportedly accessed account last year and obtained dossier cited by Jeremy Corbyn during election campaign

Classified documents relating to US-UK trade talks are believed to have been hacked by Russians from an email account belonging to the former minister Liam Fox, it has emerged.

A report from Reuters said Russian hackers accessed Fox’s account several times between July and October last year and obtained a dossier that ultimately ended up in the hands of Jeremy Corbyn during the election campaign. The then Labour leader said the 451-page dossier showed the NHS “was on the table” in trade talks with the US.

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Pandemic has exposed Britain’s vulnerabilities says food policy review

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Henry Dimbleby’s national food strategy starts with review of ‘slow-motion disaster’ diet, poverty, and post-Brexit laws

It is a year since Michael Gove asked the businessman Henry Dimbleby to produce a national food strategy. In that time the coronavirus pandemic has brutally exposed the cracks in the British food system so the launch of part one of his review this Wednesday comes in a new and urgent context.

After only a few weeks of lockdown three million people in Britain were in households where someone was forced to skip meals and go hungry.

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I’m optimistic about a Brexit deal – despite the gloomy outlook | Charles Grant

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Both Brussels and London have moved in talks, and both grasp the political advantages of even a minimal free trade agreement

• Charles Grant is the director of the Centre for European Reform

After six rounds of talks, the UK and the EU are far from reaching an accord on their future relationship. Both sides are warning that failure – meaning that Britain would leave after the transition period on 31 December without a deal – is a real prospect. Those working for Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, complain that the British have wasted July by refusing to offer meaningful compromises.

Failure is certainly possible. But a deal this year is more likely, for several reasons. First, there has been more progress than one might suppose from the public comments of Barnier and David Frost, the UK negotiator. The EU has hinted at a softer line on fisheries and state aid, and agreed that an arbitration mechanism rather than the European court of justice should adjudicate on disputes.

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Britain to resume sale of arms to Saudi Arabia despite Yemen fears

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Official review finds airstrikes on civilians were ‘isolated incidents’

Britain is to resume the sales of arms to Saudi Arabia that could be used in the Yemeni conflict just over a year after the court of appeal ruled them unlawful because ministers had not properly assessed the risk to civilian casualties.

In a written statement, the trade secretary, Liz Truss, said sales would restart after an official review concluded there had been only “isolated incidents” of airstrikes in Yemen that breached humanitarian law.

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EU parliament leader: Boris Johnson seems unwilling to find compromise in Brexit talks

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Exclusive: David Sassoli says UK appeared unenthusiastic in recent trade negotiations

Boris Johnson appeared unwilling to compromise in order to secure a trade and security deal with Brussels when he joined EU leaders for a summit last week, one of the three who attended the meeting has told the Guardian.

David Sassoli, the president of the European parliament, punctured a recent outbreak of optimism over a potential deal by warning that the EU had been left concerned at the end of a video conference call by the lack of “enthusiasm” to find common ground on the most contentious issues.

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UK begins talks with Australia and New Zealand on free trade deal for post-Brexit era

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Australian and New Zealand ministers say they are eager to do deals with the UK as their economies emerge from the coronavirus crisis

Australia and New Zealand are about to begin negotiations on a free trade agreement with the UK in what the Australian trade minister said was “a strong signal of our mutual support for free trade” in a post-Covid-19 world.

Simon Birmingham said Australia was “ready to help the UK find new beginnings post-Brexit and in doing so, open up new doors for our farmers, businesses and investors”.

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Brexit: full controls on goods entering UK will not apply until July 2021

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Three-phased plan for Brexit border checks welcomed as UK formally rejects extension to transition period

Full border controls on goods entering the UK will not apply until July next year the government has announced, as it formally notified the EU it does not want an extension to the transition period.

The announcement of a three-phased plan for Brexit border checks was welcomed by industry leaders but represents the most dramatic change to international trading since 1993 when the single market was introduced.

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Brexit: EU may veto UK trade deal lacking safeguards, leaked report reveals

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Draft resolution urges British government to ‘revise its negotiating position’

The European parliament could veto any trade deal between the UK and the European Union that lacks “robust” safeguards to ensure fair competition and strong standards on the environment and workers’ rights, according to a leaked document.

A draft resolution, seen by the Guardian, which will be put to a vote on Friday, underlines the implicit threat to block the EU-UK trade deal. Urging the British government to “revise its negotiation position”, the text states that a level playing field is the “necessary condition for the European parliament to give its consent to a trade agreement with the UK”. 

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Britain ‘absent from world stage’ by failing to condemn abuses by Trump and China

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After ‘appalling scenes’ in US and Hong Kong, the shadow foreign secretary attacks UK policy for putting growth and trade ahead of human rights

Britain is “absenting itself from the world stage” by refusing to show leadership over Hong Kong residents, confront China or condemn President Trump over his handling of the fallout from George Floyd’s killing, the shadow foreign secretary has warned.

In her most stinging attack on Britain’s foreign policy, Lisa Nandy said that the government was now displaying “a pattern of behaviour that is becoming very, very troubling”, and that the UK’s actions were being noted by leaders around the world.

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