UK strikes deal with France to beef up border protection November 29, 2020 The number of officers patrolling French beaches near Calais will double in a bid to stop increasing numbers of migrant boats crossing the channel in attempts to reach the UK border. The UK and French governments struck a deal yesterday to enforce the increased measures, with the Home Office saying it “will bolster the patrolling [...]
Brexit: Chance of no-deal exit ‘underpriced’, says Number 10 November 29, 2020 There is still a reasonably good chance the UK will leave the post-Brexit transition period on a no-deal basis, according to Downing Street. The UK will leave the EU’s single market and customs union with or without a trade deal on 31 December. A no-deal exit would mean that trade barriers between the EU and [...]
Tiering it down: Boris Johnson backtracks on Covid restrictions November 29, 2020 Boris Johnson has bent to the demands of Tory backbench MPs by softening England’s future Covid restrictions regime. Johnson wrote to MPs telling them that people stuck in the strictest Covid restrictions will have them downgraded next month, while also promising that the tier system will end earlier than expected. Millions of people put into [...]
Brexit: Intensive UK-EU trade talks entering ‘last week’, says Dominic Raab November 29, 2020 Post-Brexit trade negotiations between the UK and EU are set to enter the “last week or so” of “substantive” talks, according to foreign secretary Dominic Raab. The UK is set to leave the EU’s single market and customs union on 31 December, leaving little time to close a Brexit trade deal and get it ratified [...]
Today: ‘Urgent’ EU meeting on fisheries may signal breakthrough in Brexit talks November 27, 2020 Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier has summoned fisheries ministers from EU nations, indicating that a major breakthrough in Brexit talks could be about to happen. The “urgent” meeting is reportedly taking place today. Find all our Brexit coverage in one place – simply click here Future fisheries arrangements between the UK and EU have been [...]
Brexit: UK business groups ‘crying out for certainty’ as talks drag on November 26, 2020 Some of Britain’s largest business groups have made a fresh plea for post-Brexit certainty from the government as the country is just 35 days away from leaving the EU completely. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), British Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses told City A.M. that their members desperately need to [...]
London in tier 2: You can attend a Premier League match again November 26, 2020 London’s Premier League clubs will be allowed to have up to 2,000 people attend matches from next month, after the capital was placed into Tier 2 Covid restrictions. The new restrictions mean that fans can enter through the turnstiles at their favourite grounds from 3 December. Arsenal’s Europa League fixture against Rapid Vienna next Thursday [...]
Labour hits out at £2bn ‘bombshell’ council tax rise November 26, 2020 Labour has hit out at Rishi Sunak for hiking council tax in yesterday’s spending review, claiming it was hidden in the text. The chancellor’s spending review yesterday gave all local authorities the power to increase council tax bills by two per cent without holding a referendum. Local authorities that manage social care institutions are able [...]
Fulham residents hit with matchday parking fees – even with no fans at Craven Cottage November 25, 2020 Tory MP Greg Hands has hit out at Fulham and Hammersmith Council for implementing matchday parking restrictions around Fulham FC’s Craven Cottage, despite there being no fans at games. The council is charging people £2.50 an hour to park in some areas around the Premier League club’s ground, with £80 fines given to cars parked [...]
OBR: ‘No-deal’ Brexit to wipe 2 per cent off GDP – with finance worst hit November 25, 2020 Official forecasts suggest a “no-deal” Brexit will hit the UK economy to the tune of two per cent next year and scar the economy for years to come. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that real GDP will be 1.5 per cent lower in five years than its current central GDP assumption if London [...]