Gibraltar considers joining EU’s Schengen open borders area to ease damage from Brexit
Gibraltar is considering joining the EU’s Schengen open borders area to limit disruption caused by Brexit, its chief minister has said. Fabian Picardo, the territory’s leader, said it did not “make sense” for Gibraltar to be cut off from the rest of Europe given its location bordering Spain. A decision to join the full Schengen area by the micro-state could mean UK travellers would have to apply for a mini-visa known as ETIAS to visit after Brexit.
A pack of young Brexiteers attacked Remain protester Steve Bray in London yesterday, damaging his equipment and leaving him with light injuries. The thugs were stupid enough to film their violence.
Repugnant, and not a good herald of things to come.
Brexit: NI Assembly votes to withhold Brexit bill consent
The Northern Ireland Assembly has passed a motion withholding consent for the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. The motion put forward by the Executive Office asked MLAs to consider parts of the Brexit bill that affected Northern Ireland. It passed without a formal division on Monday. All 18 Westminster MPs from Northern Ireland opposed the prime minister's Brexit deal last month. The bill includes a role for the assembly in deciding whether Northern Ireland should still follow some EU customs rules. The motion was to "affirm that the assembly does not agree to give its consent" to that. 'Untold damage'
A former secretary of state has said the government's Brexit plans will do "untold damage" to Northern Ireland businesses. Labour's Lord Hain said the government was asking small and medium businesses in Northern Ireland to "buy a pig in a poke". He said NI businesses have been told they would just have to adjust to new regulations, but it was still not clear what those would be. Lord Hain also accused the government of "trying to have it both ways".
Quite clearly a case of him looking into whether a “ good old bong” was possible. The funding was tongue in cheek, but obviously lost on low end newspaper readers, who are generally a grim bunch.They are only ever happy when they form large groups to get their own way. Frequently forgetting what democracy is all about. There is a rumor that Westminster’s local Rag and Bone Man will receive a bullseye for making a watered down version of Big Ben. He’ ll be there to pick up this dilapidated old front bench,that never really served its purpose since it was manufactured. Five years of grieving?😭
The benefit of spending £500,000 on Big Ben bonging is a ridiculous waste of money. It will also pi55 off half the country, when Boris is supposed to be bringing it back together. I haven't a clue what on earth Big Ben has got to do with democracy? It will be really interesting how Brexit turns out, after the gradual exposure of the Boris lies. Just this week Boris claimed that they intend to sort out the worst ever NHS waiting times, he didn't mention that they intend to do this by knocking the targets on the head. So they intend to address the problem of continually missing the targets badly, by no longer having any targets. The EU have made it clear about Irish border checks, which he lied about. They have also made it clear that a comprehensive deal cannot be negotiated by the end of the year, and that the amount of Single Market access we are able to get will depend on how closely we are aligned. The amount of tariff free, frictionless, quotaless, trade we wish to do with them will also depend on alignment. However Boris keeps saying he will get all the above, and diverge. Good luck with that Boris.
Problems are for solving. Without them, life would be very boring and mundane. Regarding the bonging, I don’t think it needs to be marked with any bells or whistles,or bongs. I don’t think it’s a significant enough event. As for Farage, he can do what he likes,as long as I’m not paying for it. Regarding the NHS, European hospitals have long waits, and folks on trolleys queuing up, so why is the NHS always deemed to be failing?Its always under the microscope. Doctors and nurses make up less than a third of NHS employees, so there are other areas that also need looking at. If there’s ever an epidemic, you’re be wasting your time going to hospital. There’s too many people in this country for the hospitals to cope with. Take my small village,there’s 250 homes under construction, an 80 bed care home,offices and 71 retirement homes. There could be hundreds more built on the sight in a further phase. Then there’s the delayed village Centre project,250 new homes/ flats above ground floor retail space. So that could add up to thousands more folk in just a small village, which already has long waiting lists to see a doctor. Having more doctors and nurses in my area won’t cure nowt. Having free movement of people just exacerbates the problem. I’d be up for a five year ban on unskilled workers, whilst new hospitals are built. Then see how things pan out for the black hole that is the NHS. I’m not fussed about leaving the EU, and there will be changes to come for some folk here. I’m not shaking in my boots worrying about alignment etc, they’re problems that can be overcome.They do give the big egos and media something to chew on though. And you do need ammunition to take into battle, so it’s best to keep the posturing going until it’s time to lay their hands down. Past trade surpluses and deficits won’t be a guide to the new dawn, so forget them. Don’t believe what you read in newspapers or on tv,it will pan out ok. Trust me😉
NHS faces huge clinical negligence legal fees bill
The NHS in England faces paying out £4.3bn in legal fees to settle outstanding claims of clinical negligence, the BBC has learned through a Freedom of Information request. Each year the NHS receives more than 10,000 new claims for compensation.
Johnson suffers triple defeat in Lords on EU citizens’ rights and European law in post-Brexit Britain PM accused of leaving UK ‘staring down barrel of no-deal Brexit’ Gibraltar considers joining EU’s Schengen area to ease Brexit damage Politics Explained: Could Gibraltar join borderless Schengen area after Brexit?
UK government plan to ditch EU regulations means British firms could be locked out, Brussels warns Tariff and quota free access sought by UK dependent on signing up to 'level playingfield'
The UK government's plan to ditch alignment on EU rules will see some British firms locked out of EU markets after Brexit, Brussels has warned.
But the comments have provoked a stern warning from the continent. Asked about the pledge European Commission said on Monday that any divergence would see UK firms given less market access in the upcoming trade deal.
"We've made out position very clear, there is a link between moving away from EU regulation and the degree of access that's possible under the single market," the spokesperson told reporters in Brussels on Monday
Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney also weighed in, warning that there was "no way EU will ever sign up to a trade deal that allows tariff and quota free and frictionless access to UK goods if there isn’t a Level Playing Field in terms of how they’re produced".
He added: "I don’t think anyone in UK should underestimate the strength of feeling."
Boris Johnson will have an international scandal on his hands if he continues to throw EU citizens under the bus
When Boris Johnson brought back his Brexit bill to this new majority-Conservative parliament, the debate shifted from whether the UK would leave the European Union to what kind of country we will become when we do. No longer having to court the votes of moderate MPs, Johnson is now trying to strip away the commitments he made. Gone are the pledges not to water down workers’ rights and environmental standards. Gone is the commitment to reunite unaccompanied refugee children with their families. Gone is Johnson’s promise to automatically guarantee in law the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.
Each of those U-turns by Johnson and his Conservative Party show that their vision for our country is mean and heartless. It couldn’t be more different from the Liberal Democrat vision of a United Kingdom that is open, compassionate and fair.
Not Thornberry-elitist. And not Long Bailey-not another Momentum puppet. Momentum-the party within the Party that had absolutely nothing to say on Brexit.
Labour leadership: Jess Phillips admits she 'probably won't win' after 'awful' first hustings Centrist candidate needs backing of shopworkers’ union Usdaw later on Monday - or her bid could be doomed
Add on. If folks do leave the U.K, there will be shortages obv.Cheap Labour, which I’ve witnessed myself, is exploitation.Buisnesses that run on cheap Labour need to sort their lives out. It’s shock and horror if we see it in other countries, but not in our own. If the owners put their prices up, so be it, the consumer is king.They can fold. Our fisheries for financial access to the Euro markets is the big issue. Finances are done online,try catching something to eat online. The EU don’t want to do a deal in a year,they can’t be arsed. They’ve got a load of mess to sort out in their own bloc.They are the ones carrying more weight and worry than our government. You shouldn’t have a personal vendetta against this government because you voted against it. That’s all history now. Next to nobody even comments on Brexit, or even sees this thread. It’s achieving nothing imo.Apart from nitpicking obv. It’s clear that people prefer poker to politics.
Kevin Maguire: 'Soaring food prices and job losses are the reality of Boris Johnson's Brexit' Dire warnings from British industries after Chancellor Sajid Javid admitted businesses will be hit, exposes why the Prime Minister focuses on the trivial
There is no £350m NHS pot of gold at the end of the Brexit rainbow but redundancies are feared in cars and pharmaceuticals alongside increased shopping costs.
When trust is a major issue in politics it is breathtaking a cynical liar was given an 80-seat parliamentary majority.
This is the year a charlatan PM fears he’ll begin to be held to account, Labour Governments and the David Cameron-Theresa May Tory eras fading in the rear view mirror. The economy, health, education, crime and Brexit are problems he must be forced to own.
Blue bricks inserted into Labour’s red wall will turn to dust the moment Johnson’s new friends in the North realise the Janus-face charmer has smiles away from elections only for his hobnobbing rich elite. Britain’s Trump mini-me will similarly continue denying uncomfortable truths, fooling enough of the people enough of the time. But I’ve a feeling this time next year people won’t find the Johnson joke so funny, Big Ben Brexit bong-kers bombing a sign of trouble’s to come.
There is "no chance" new Tory MPs will be invited to the Durham Miners' Gala, the area's miners' association president has said. Alan Mardghum paraphrased the prime minister to say he would "rather die in a ditch" than see members of the Conservative Party, which had done "its best to destroy miners", attend. The area was a Labour stronghold but it recently lost four of its seven seats. The gala is the UK's biggest annual gathering of trade union members.
Some of the area's new MPs have now expressed a desire to attend.
Ex-PM Gordon Brown: 'I think the United Kingdom could end' Speaking to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg, former prime minister Gordon Brown has warned the United Kingdom "could end" unless the UK "fundamentally changes".
Quite clearly a case of him looking into whether a “ good old bong” was possible. The funding was tongue in cheek, but obviously lost on low end newspaper readers, who are generally a grim bunch.They are only ever happy when they form large groups to get their own way. Frequently forgetting what democracy is all about. There is a rumor that Westminster’s local Rag and Bone Man will receive a bullseye for making a watered down version of Big Ben. He’ ll be there to pick up this dilapidated old front bench,that never really served its purpose since it was manufactured. Five years of grieving?😭
U.S. and British ministers trade threats in tit-for-tat tax row
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his British counterpart Sajid Javid clashed over taxation on Wednesday in a brewing battle over how Europe taxes the world's biggest technology firms. Javid said Britain would press ahead with a digital service tax in April even as Mnuchin, sitting feet away on the same stage, said such a move could generate "arbitrary" retaliation. Several European nations are considering taxes on search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces to compensate for lost revenues, drawing the ire of the U.S. which claims that such a tax unfairly targets US firms.
"International tax issues are very complicated and take a long time to look at. If people want to just arbitrarily put taxes on our digital companies, we'll consider arbitrarily putting taxes on car companies," Mnuchin told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Comments
Gibraltar is considering joining the EU’s Schengen open borders area to limit disruption caused by Brexit, its chief minister has said.
Fabian Picardo, the territory’s leader, said it did not “make sense” for Gibraltar to be cut off from the rest of Europe given its location bordering Spain.
A decision to join the full Schengen area by the micro-state could mean UK travellers would have to apply for a mini-visa known as ETIAS to visit after Brexit.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/gibraltar-considers-joining-eus-schengen-open-borders-area-to-ease-damage-from-brexit/ar-BBZ95iO?ocid=spartanntp
Mike Stuchbery
✔
@MikeStuchbery_
A pack of young Brexiteers attacked Remain protester Steve Bray in London yesterday, damaging his equipment and leaving him with light injuries. The thugs were stupid enough to film their violence.
Repugnant, and not a good herald of things to come.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/sterling-falls-javid-comments-stoke-095350064.html
The Northern Ireland Assembly has passed a motion withholding consent for the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.
The motion put forward by the Executive Office asked MLAs to consider parts of the Brexit bill that affected Northern Ireland.
It passed without a formal division on Monday.
All 18 Westminster MPs from Northern Ireland opposed the prime minister's Brexit deal last month.
The bill includes a role for the assembly in deciding whether Northern Ireland should still follow some EU customs rules.
The motion was to "affirm that the assembly does not agree to give its consent" to that.
'Untold damage'
A former secretary of state has said the government's Brexit plans will do "untold damage" to Northern Ireland businesses.
Labour's Lord Hain said the government was asking small and medium businesses in Northern Ireland to "buy a pig in a poke".
He said NI businesses have been told they would just have to adjust to new regulations, but it was still not clear what those would be.
Lord Hain also accused the government of "trying to have it both ways".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-51174448
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/politics/brexit-trade-talks-with-eu-may-be-delayed-until-march-brussels-says/ar-BBZ94Gb?ocid=spartandhp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/keir-starmer-becomes-first-labour-leadership-candidate-to-make-it-onto-ballot/ar-BBZ9hIP?ocid=spartandhp
The NHS in England faces paying out £4.3bn in legal fees to settle outstanding claims of clinical negligence, the BBC has learned through a Freedom of Information request.
Each year the NHS receives more than 10,000 new claims for compensation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51180944
Johnson suffers triple defeat in Lords on EU citizens’ rights and European law in post-Brexit Britain
PM accused of leaving UK ‘staring down barrel of no-deal Brexit’
Gibraltar considers joining EU’s Schengen area to ease Brexit damage
Politics Explained: Could Gibraltar join borderless Schengen area after Brexit?
Tariff and quota free access sought by UK dependent on signing up to 'level playingfield'
The UK government's plan to ditch alignment on EU rules will see some British firms locked out of EU markets after Brexit, Brussels has warned.
But the comments have provoked a stern warning from the continent. Asked about the pledge European Commission said on Monday that any divergence would see UK firms given less market access in the upcoming trade deal.
"We've made out position very clear, there is a link between moving away from EU regulation and the degree of access that's possible under the single market," the spokesperson told reporters in Brussels on Monday
Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney also weighed in, warning that there was "no way EU will ever sign up to a trade deal that allows tariff and quota free and frictionless access to UK goods if there isn’t a Level Playing Field in terms of how they’re produced".
He added: "I don’t think anyone in UK should underestimate the strength of feeling."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-uk-government-plan-eu-regulations-javid-boris-johnson-a9293366.html
When Boris Johnson brought back his Brexit bill to this new majority-Conservative parliament, the debate shifted from whether the UK would leave the European Union to what kind of country we will become when we do.
No longer having to court the votes of moderate MPs, Johnson is now trying to strip away the commitments he made. Gone are the pledges not to water down workers’ rights and environmental standards. Gone is the commitment to reunite unaccompanied refugee children with their families. Gone is Johnson’s promise to automatically guarantee in law the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.
Each of those U-turns by Johnson and his Conservative Party show that their vision for our country is mean and heartless. It couldn’t be more different from the Liberal Democrat vision of a United Kingdom that is open, compassionate and fair.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boris-johnson-eu-citizens-brexit-withdrawal-agreement-bill-a9291796.html
Labour leadership: Jess Phillips admits she 'probably won't win' after 'awful' first hustings
Centrist candidate needs backing of shopworkers’ union Usdaw later on Monday - or her bid could be doomed
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-leadership-jess-phillips-keir-starmer-rebecca-long-bailey-endorsement-a9291531.html
Dire warnings from British industries after Chancellor Sajid Javid admitted businesses will be hit, exposes why the Prime Minister focuses on the trivial
There is no £350m NHS pot of gold at the end of the Brexit rainbow but redundancies are feared in cars and pharmaceuticals alongside increased shopping costs.
When trust is a major issue in politics it is breathtaking a cynical liar was given an 80-seat parliamentary majority.
This is the year a charlatan PM fears he’ll begin to be held to account, Labour Governments and the David Cameron-Theresa May Tory eras fading in the rear view mirror.
The economy, health, education, crime and Brexit are problems he must be forced to own.
Blue bricks inserted into Labour’s red wall will turn to dust the moment Johnson’s new friends in the North realise the Janus-face charmer has smiles away from elections only for his hobnobbing rich elite.
Britain’s Trump mini-me will similarly continue denying uncomfortable truths, fooling enough of the people enough of the time.
But I’ve a feeling this time next year people won’t find the Johnson joke so funny, Big Ben Brexit bong-kers bombing a sign of trouble’s to come.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/kevin-maguire-soaring-food-prices-21314201
There is "no chance" new Tory MPs will be invited to the Durham Miners' Gala, the area's miners' association president has said.
Alan Mardghum paraphrased the prime minister to say he would "rather die in a ditch" than see members of the Conservative Party, which had done "its best to destroy miners", attend.
The area was a Labour stronghold but it recently lost four of its seven seats.
The gala is the UK's biggest annual gathering of trade union members.
Some of the area's new MPs have now expressed a desire to attend.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-51182901
Speaking to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg, former prime minister Gordon Brown has warned the United Kingdom "could end" unless the UK "fundamentally changes".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-51179863/ex-pm-gordon-brown-i-think-the-united-kingdom-could-end
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his British counterpart Sajid Javid clashed over taxation on Wednesday in a brewing battle over how Europe taxes the world's biggest technology firms.
Javid said Britain would press ahead with a digital service tax in April even as Mnuchin, sitting feet away on the same stage, said such a move could generate "arbitrary" retaliation.
Several European nations are considering taxes on search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces to compensate for lost revenues, drawing the ire of the U.S. which claims that such a tax unfairly targets US firms.
"International tax issues are very complicated and take a long time to look at. If people want to just arbitrarily put taxes on our digital companies, we'll consider arbitrarily putting taxes on car companies," Mnuchin told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/us-and-british-ministers-trade-threats-in-tit-for-tat-tax-row/ar-BBZd5lJ?ocid=spartandhp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/jaguar-land-rover-announces-hundreds-of-redundancies-as-halewood-plant-makes-major-change-to-shift-pattern/ar-BBZd3hW?ocid=spartanntp