This thread covers life in the UK after Brexit and what outcome it will have within the country in the months and years ahead after leaving the EU.
‘Help us or LSO fails’: Sir Simon Rattle’s plea over Covid and Brexit
Sir Simon Rattle and his top team at the London Symphony Orchestra have appealed for government support to help them survive the difficulties created by Brexit and Covid.
The orchestra depended on international touring – much of it in Europe – for 40% of its revenue before the coronavirus, with tours cancelled by the pandemic.
UK proposes phasing in post-Brexit Irish Sea border checks on food
The UK has made a fresh attempt to solve the Brexit tensions in Northern Ireland by asking Brussels to phase in border checks in four stages, it has emerged.
The plan, revealed by BBC Northern Ireland, comes as the Brexit minister, David Frost, urged Brussels to stop “point-scoring” over the Northern Ireland protocol, hinting that the UK would take unilateral action if needed.
In a bluntly worded newspaper article, Lord Frost urged Brussels to find a new way to implement the protocols for trade across the Irish Sea, arguing that the EU had adopted a “purist” approach that was threatening the “political, social, or economic fabric of life in Northern Ireland”.
Farmers warn post-Brexit trade deal with Australia could hit UK agriculture
Tue 18 May 2021
Farmers are warning of “damage” to UK agriculture if Australian beef and lamb producers are granted tariff-free access to the UK as part of the first major post-Brexit trade deal.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) assembled agricultural leaders from all four devolved nations on Tuesday afternoon to voice their concerns amid reports of a split in the cabinet over whether to approve a wide-ranging free trade deal with Australia.
The trade secretary, Liz Truss, is racing to conclude negotiations ahead of the G7 summit, which the UK is hosting in Cornwall in June. The Australian deal is considered crucial, as it would mark the first free trade agreement negotiated since Brexit that was not a rollover of existing agreements with EU trade partners.
UK expected to offer post-Brexit trade deal to Australia
Fri 21 May 2021
UK ministers are expected to offer Australia a trade deal that will gradually eliminate all tariffs and quotas, one seen as a victory for free-trade Brexiters in the cabinet but is likely to prompt alarm among UK farmers.
Downing Street did not deny reports on Friday that the likely offer to Australia would be a transition to zero quotas and tariffs over 15 years, although it insisted discussions were still taking place.
Such an outcome would be viewed as Boris Johnson siding with Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, against the views of the environment secretary, George Eustice, who is understood to be worried that large-scale Australian beef and lamb producers could undercut UK farmers.
With a deal informally scheduled to be agreed next month, on Thursday Johnson chaired a meeting of ministers, including Truss and Eustice. According to the Sun and the BBC, the eventual decision was to seek a 15-year timetable to zero tariffs and quotas.
U.K. Starts Prep for India Trade Deal in Latest Post-Brexit Push
24 May 2021
The U.K. began formal preparation for a free-trade agreement with India, a post-Brexit target for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he seeks to prove the benefit of leaving the European Union.
Britain will do a 14-week consultation on the potential accord with the world’s largest democracy with the aim of starting negotiations in the fall, the Department for International Trade said in a statement. The U.K. and India want to double trade between their two countries by 2030, up from about 23 billion pounds ($33 billion) in 2019.
Tories ‘can’t be trusted’ with economy as post-Brexit trade plummets
25th May
Only as an independent nation can Scotland secure a fair, strong and equal recovery say the SNP after new figures revealed the impact of Brexit and the pandemic on trade.
The impact of Brexit on trading with Europe has been laid bare by the latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). They reveal that UK trade in goods with EU countries has plunged by nearly a quarter.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that total trade in goods with EU countries tumbled by 23.1% in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the same quarter in 2018 – seen as the last stable trading period.
But, in the same period, trading with countries outside the EU edged back by a far less dramatic 0.8% in a sign of the toll taken by Brexit disruption and the ending of the transition period.
EU tourists complain of fingerprinting at UK border
Thu 27 May 2021
EU tourists coming to the UK have told of being fingerprinted, detained and treated like liars by border officials before trying to travel through the Channel tunnel or by ferry at Calais.
Sergio D’Alberti, a 51-year-old Italian hotel manager currently out of work due to the Covid pandemic, told the Guardian he was held for seven hours at the French port after UK Border Force officials concluded he would be a potential drain on the benefits system.
They said his €4,500 (£3,870) in funds was “not sufficient to cover all reasonable costs in relation to your being without working or accessing public funds” and that his lack of return ticket and job added to suspicion he was lying.
UK strikes trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein
Fri 4 Jun 2021
A trade deal struck with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein with provisions for digital paperwork to cut down the time and costs of post-Brexit border bureaucracy has been championed by the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, as a “major boost”.
After months of difficult talks, the comprehensive trade deal was hailed by both the UK and Norwegian governments as being pioneering in its scope and measures, with tariff-free trade in industrial goods secured.
British firms exporting to Norway and Iceland will crucially be able to rely on state-of-the-art electronic documentation to facilitate the onerous customs procedures made necessary by the UK’s exit from the EU.
Truss said the deal would be crucial in boosting an economic relationship already worth £21.6bn, while “supporting jobs and prosperity in all four nations at home”.
Under the deal, Norway has reduced its duties in 26 areas of agriculture, which includes provisions to allow a quantity of West Country farmhouse cheddar, Orkney Scottish Island cheddar, traditional Welsh caerphilly, and Yorkshire wensleydale cheese to avoid full 277% export tariffs. The total quota of UK cheese that can be sold into the Norwegian market tariff free has not increased, however.
Ireland urges Boris Johnson to 'very seriously consider' option to resolve Brexit Protocol tension
Sunday 13 June 2021
Ireland's Prime Minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, has told Sky News there is "a route" to resolving tensions over the Brexit Protocol following US President Joe Biden's intervention.
He urged Boris Johnson to "very seriously consider" a veterinary-type agreement with the EU to eliminate "up to 80% of checks" on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
President Biden cleared the way for what is known as a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement by reassuring London it would not prevent a UK/US trade deal.
Mr Martin said: "I believe the US administration's comments… are interesting as well in so far as they deal with a significant issue that would concern the British government, i.e. the capacity to do a trade deal with the United States whilst also having an SPS arrangement between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
"In my view, there's a legitimate issue there for the United Kingdom government, but in our view, an SPS agreement would deal with up to 80% of all of these issues and I think it's a prize worth certainly exploring in the fullest manner possible."
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He warned it would be "very problematic" if the UK government acted unilaterally for a third time at the end of this month to extend the grace period for checks on chilled meats.
UK-Oz free trade deal agreed by countries' PMs, says Australia's trade minister
Tuesday 15 June 2021
A UK-Australia free trade deal has been agreed between the countries' prime ministers, Australia's minister for trade has said.
Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed the broad terms of the agreement over dinner in Number 10 on Monday evening, said Dan Tehan.
"Both prime ministers have held a positive meeting in London overnight and have resolved outstanding issues in relation to the (Free Trade Agreement)," Mr Tehan said in a statement.
The UK government had been eager to strike a free trade deal with Australia by the end of June to demonstrate its capability of forging new economic opportunities having left the European Union.
A formal announcement would be made later on Tuesday, Mr Tehan said.
UK asks EU to suspend Northern Ireland sausage ban
Wed 16 Jun 2021
The UK has asked the EU to suspend an imminent ban on the sale of British sausages in Northern Ireland to give both sides “breathing space” to negotiate an agreement on the Brexit protocol and avert a trade war.
Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, was speaking days after Boris Johnson warned he would do “whatever it takes” to protect Northern Ireland’s position as part of the UK.
From the end of this month, a grace period on an EU prohibition on the sale of chilled meats from Great Britain in Northern Ireland shops is due to expire as part of the Northern Ireland protocol, designed to prevent the restoration of a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Frost confirmed the UK had proposed an arrangement with the EU in which most of the controversial border checks on meat and dairy products would be abolished but admitted the proposal has had “very little traction” from Brussels.
He told MPs on the Northern Ireland affairs committee it would be a “pity” if the EU did not respond to the request for an extension as the negotiations were “already complex and tense”.
Brexiteers propose return of imperial measurements in report on reducing 'red tape'
June 16, 2021
Boris Johnson has said that a path through the “thicket of burdensome and restrictive regulation” must be cleared to fulfil the potentials of Brexit.
A report from Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) led by Iain Duncan Smith has described Brexit as a "one-off opportunity" to reduce red tape and set out a new regulatory framework.
The taskforce set out more than 100 recommendations which include the authorisation of GM foods to increase crop yields and a return of imperial measurements.
The report claims the 1985 Weights and Measures Act - which makes it an offence for traders to use imperial without metric - has “long been identified as an example of overly prescriptive EU regulation”. They say the legislation should be amended to scrap such a requirement.
The group, which includes Tory MPs George Freeman and Theresa Villiers, also called for a replacement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with a UK Data Protections Framework.
Lord Frost tells Elton John stars need ‘talent’ not just visas to make post-Brexit EU touring a success
June 29, 2021
Musicians including Sir Elton John need “talent”, rather than simply visas, to make a success of post-Brexit touring in the EU, Lord Frost said.
Sir Elton has accused ministers of being unwilling to fix a “gaping hole” in the current Brexit deal which means artists need costly visas to play in the bloc.
He warned that the UK music industry could lose “a generation of talent” because of post-Brexit restrictions on touring the EU.
Brexit minister Lord Frost told MPs that he had a “good conversation” with Sir Elton at a recent meeting over the issue.
He told the DCMS committee: “I can’t help noticing that he had his first hits before the UK even became a member of the European Union, so I think there’s probably more at play here than pure rules applying within the then European Community.
UK and Germany sign post-Brexit defence and foreign policy declaration
Wed 30 Jun 2021
The UK and Germany have agreed a 20-point post-Brexit joint declaration of cooperation affirming their commitment to the “strategic unity of Europe”.
The initiative, which has been under preparation for some time, comes before Friday’s visit to the UK by the outgoing German chancellor, Angela Merkel, during which she will meet the prime minister and the Queen.
The agreement, released coincidentally the day after England had dumped Germany out of the European football championships, reflects Germany’s strong desire to maintain close relations with the UK despite its disappointment at Brexit. The two sides have agreed to set up a new strategic dialogue that will involve the foreign ministers and political directors from both countries meeting once a year for a specific bilateral summit.
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It is probably the first of three bilateral agreements that the UK intends to seal with its largest European partners, which also include France and Italy.
The joint declaration, inevitably a crafted compromise on the two countries’ stances, shows that the UK does not wish to cut itself off from its main European partners on defence and foreign policy, even though it has firmly refused to negotiate a collective foreign and defence cooperation agreement with the European Union. There is also pressure from Washington for the UK not to become a force for disruption inside the EU through arguments with Brussels over trade or defence policy.
On a bland industrial estate in the Gloucestershire town of Yate, sandwiched between the Cotswolds and Bristol, lies a warehouse full of Britain.
Jars of Branston pickle, pots of Ambrosia rice pudding, bags of Bird’s instant custard, Oxo cubes, Sherbet Lemons, Werthers Originals, Simpkins travel sweets in bronze-coloured tins, Del Monte canned peaches, Heinz baked beans, Nik Naks, Frazzles, Walkers, Mini Cheddars, and every flavour of Fisherman’s Friend pack out shelves and line pallets stacked to the ceiling.
A mix of the best lunch box ever and the back of your grandparents’ kitchen cupboard, this wonderland is the main warehouse of a business called British Corner Shop. Started in 1999 by a woman at her kitchen table who would buy beloved British branded products from Tesco and send them out to homesick expats, the business was bought and expanded by Mark Callaghan, now its managing director, in 2004.
There is half a million pounds’ worth of stock here – mainly traditional British food and drink products, which is shipped directly both to expats and the Anglo-curious, and to supermarkets and distributors across the world.
UK food worker shortages push prices up and risk Christmas turkey supplies
Sun 11 Jul 2021
Food prices could rise by about 5% by the autumn – and turkeys and pigs in blankets could be in short supply this Christmas – as shortages of delivery drivers, abattoir staff and other workers drive up pay and other costs.
Industry insiders say that pay for lorry drivers and other supply chain workers, including abbatoir workers, plus vegetable and fruit pickers and packers have all risen because of difficulties in finding sufficient staff.
“There is a war for workers,” said Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, which represents hundreds of firms across the food supply chain. “The only way to get more HGV and logistics drivers is to put up pay.”
While that is good news for relatively low-paid workers, Wright said it would result in food prices rising around 5%. “In the second half of the year that is going to lead to increased prices for customers with food prices up by mid single digits,” he warned.
Tony Goodger, of the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (Aims), said problems in the meat processing industry meant firms were paying at least 10% more for staff than before the pandemic. “Those costs have got be passed on,” he said.
