Corbyn convenes Remainer alliance meeting August 22, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn will next week meet with leaders of various opposition parties, as well as senior backbench Tories, as the plan to block a no-deal Brexit gathers pace. The Labour leader has written to 10 MPs, including Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, Tories Dominic Grieve, Oliver Letwin, Guto Bebb and Caroline Spelman, and SNP Westminster [...]
Ted Baker finance boss bags Mulberry role August 22, 2019 Ted Baker’s finance boss Charles Anderson has quit after 17 years to join luxury bag brand Mulberry. Anderson will join Mulberry’s board as group finance director in early October, replacing Neil Ritchie who stepped down on 30 June. During his time at Ted Baker, Anderson played an active role in its international expansion and systems [...]
Johnson ‘a known liar’ and Corbyn a ‘coward’, claims Channel 4 News boss August 22, 2019 Boris Johnson is a “known liar”, while he and Jeremy Corbyn are “cowards” who are fostering a decline in democracy, a leading broadcaster has claimed. Using last night’s MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Channel 4 News chief Dorothy Byrne said the drop in politicians holding themselves up for proper scrutiny had become “critical [...]
Merkel: I can see possibilities for a Brexit solution August 21, 2019 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she sees “possibilities” for a solution to the deadlock over the Irish backstop, paving the way for a Brexit deal. Speaking this evening ahead of bilateral talks with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Merkel told reporters: “I see possibilities [to solve the backstop impasse] through, for example shaping the future [...]
Brexit: No deal most likely outcome, says French aide August 21, 2019 The UK will most likely leave the European Union – but still be on the hook for the £39bn divorce bill, a French presidential aide has told AFP. A no-deal Brexit is the “most likely scenario”, the wire reported, a day before UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to meet his French counterpart Emmanual [...]
Boris in Berlin: PM seeks to woo Merkel after Tusk turns down backstop plea August 21, 2019 Boris Johnson is travelling to Berlin today for his first bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel since taking office, in the hope of breaking the Brexit impasse. The UK Prime Minister will have meet his German counterpart this afternoon, followed by dinner, before travelling to Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on [...]
Trump scraps Denmark trip over Greenland grudge August 21, 2019 Donald Trump has cancelled his trip to Denmark after the Danish Prime Minister told him Greenland was not for sale. Over the weekend Mette Frederiksen shrugged off the US President’s suggestion that he buy the island – which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory – as a joke and dubbing it “an absurd discussion”. But Trump [...]
Business groups hail ‘long overdue’ move on customs system August 21, 2019 Businesses are to be automatically enrolled in a new customs system, as part of government efforts to keep British firms trading after Brexit. HMRC will allocate more than 88,000 firms with an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number in the next fortnight – double the existing number. Letters informing companies of their EORI number [...]
UK officials ‘unshackled’ from EU meetings ahead of Brexit August 20, 2019 The government has told UK officials and ministers to stop attending “most” European Union meetings from the start of next month. The move, which will come into effect from 1 September, is billed as enabling officials to “focus on our future relationship with the EU and other partners around the world”. From that point on, [...]
Tusk rejects PM’s backstop plea as EU27 memo slams ‘misleading’ claim August 20, 2019 The President of the European Council has slapped down Boris Johnson’s suggestion that the Irish backstop be dealt with during transition. Last night the Prime Minister published a letter to Donald Tusk, in which he suggested removing the “anti-democratic” backstop from the withdrawal agreement, suggesting it could be dealt with as part of the future [...]