Post-Brexit News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Brexit: UK and EU ‘strike customs deal’ in protocol breakthrough

7 hours ago

The UK and EU have reached an agreement on customs in hopes the two sides are close to ending the post-Brexit dispute over Northern Ireland Protocol, it has been reported.

Brussels is said to have accepted a British plan that would avoid routine checks on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland in a major breakthrough in the ongoing row.

The agreement is based on proposals for green and red lanes which would see goods flowing unimpeded from GB to NI, while goods set for export into the Republic of Ireland would see checks in Northern Irish ports, according to The Times.

Citing government sources, the newspaper also reported that Brussels has made concessions of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), a key sticking point in UK-EU talks.

For the first time, it recognised that the ECJ could rule on Northern Ireland issues only if a case was referred on by courts there.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 73356.html

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

How the UK sacrificed its car industry

February 15, 2023

Will Britain, as Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have both promised, really turn into the “next Silicon Valley”? It is bold talk. Some might say Panglossian. Although in truth, perhaps it’s to be expected from a weak administration troubled by divisions, haunted by former leaders and struggling to shake off the impression that it is the last-gasp government of a party worn out after largely wasting 13 years in power.

But we should not be too harsh on Sunak and Hunt, even if their supposed plans to turbocharge growth through harnessing of technology look skeletal. Prime ministers must pretend to have purpose while chancellors must talk up economic prospects by pushing back against tides of negativity. After the latest data showed Britain’s economy to be flatlining rather than contracting, Hunt insisted it was “more resilient than many feared”. But if you really want to see the sorry state of our economy and our nation’s struggles to adapt to the fast-changing world, take a look at one sector that is laden with national symbolism and long been a bellwether for our economic health.

This is the British car industry, a production hub reliant on sophisticated supply lines and a proven beacon of innovation. It is a sector that has shown an uncanny ability to reflect the zeitgeist through its rollercoaster ups and downs since the Second World War. It boomed after the birth of mass motoring, then crashed in spectacular style amid industrial strife, before its careful restoration with a woman driver at the wheel. Now it is being allowed to rot again, partly thanks to the stewardship of a glossy magazine’s former motoring columnist. Perhaps we should have been more alarmed by Boris Johnson’s cavalier approach to cars when we discovered he had racked up £4,000 in parking tickets for GQ.

Once it was the world’s second biggest, but now our shrivelling car sector has sunk to the fringe of the top 20, just behind Slovakia and one place ahead of Iran. Last year, we produced 775,014 cars. This was the fewest since 1956 — a time when an Austin A30 cost £529, a gallon of petrol was 22p (or four shillings and six pence in “old money”) and there were no motorways. There were only 3.3 million drivers, roughly one-tenth of the numbers cramming our roads today, some no doubt humming along to that year’s biggest hit by Pat Boone. Almost all their cars were made in this country by five makers — Nuffield/BMC, Ford, Rootes, Standard-Triumph and Vauxhall — and three of them were British-owned.

https://unherd.com/2023/02/how-britain- ... -industry/

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Sounds like the first person is deluded.

[wjfox]

Sounds like the first person is deluded.

They were being sarcastic.

[Time_Traveller]

Sounds like the first person is deluded.

They were being sarcastic.

Ah, never mind

[Time_Traveller]

Boris Johnson ‘being a nuisance’ as he threatens to derail Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal

7 hours ago

Boris Johnson is threatening to derail Rishi Sunak’s efforts to thrash out a new Brexit deal after warning that ditching the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill would be a “great mistake”.

The former Tory prime minister was accused of being a “nuisance” and “wrecker” as he was criticised for encouraging the DUP to resist a compromise over the post-Brexit arrangements. A source close to the former PM said: “His general thinking is that it would be a great mistake to drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.”

Mr Johnson’s first intervention on Brexit since departing No 10 comes as Mr Sunak is expected to announce an agreement with the EU on the contentious post-Brexit trading arrangements. The Sunak government has indicated that a successful outcome to talks in Brussels would mean the protocol bill – which would unilaterally override checks – would no longer be required.

A senior government source said: “If we can find a way to satisfactorily resolve the issues with the protocol then you wouldn’t need the bill. But we haven’t resolved them yet.”

Mr Johnson negotiated the protocol, which created economic barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as part of his Brexit deal. But he later turned against it. Relations with the EU deteriorated further over the Johnson government’s controversial protocol bill, sparking warnings about a trade war. But the bill is still seen by Brexiteers as a key bargaining chip with the EU.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... ments-area

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

'The deal is done': UK and EU reportedly secure new Northern Ireland protocol deal

27 February 2023, 14:27

Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have struck a deal over the Northern Ireland protocol, according to reports.

The prime minister and EU chief finalised the long-awaited agreement to ease the trading issues created by the Northern Ireland protocol during a summit at Windsor on Monday, a senior government source told the PA news agency.

“An agreement has been reached. The deal is done,” they said.

The European Commission president will go on to have tea with the King at Windsor Castle despite criticisms that the meeting would drag Charles into the politically contentious deal.

https://www.upday.com/uk/uk-and-eu-repo ... tocol-deal

[wjfox]

So after yesterday's new deal, we're told today by Sunak, that being in both the European single market and the UK market makes Northern Ireland the "world's most exciting economic zone" and "an incredibly attractive place to invest."

i.e. the status which England, Wales, and Scotland all enjoyed before (but absolutely MUST NOT have now).

How do Brexiters hold such blatantly contradictory ideas in their heads?

[Time_Traveller]

So after yesterday's new deal, we're told today by Sunak, that being in both the European single market and the UK market makes Northern Ireland the "world's most exciting economic zone" and "an incredibly attractive place to invest."

i.e. the status which England, Wales, and Scotland all enjoyed before (but absolutely MUST NOT have now).

How do Brexiters hold such blatantly contradictory ideas in their heads?

Precisely, they need to get their thick heads looked at.

[weatheriscool]

Sunak draws ire after hailing Northern Ireland’s access to UK and EU markets

Rishi Sunak has eulogised Northern Ireland’s “unique” and privileged position in having easy trade access to both the UK and EU markets – prompting critics to note that this was the case for the entire country before Brexit.ework implemented, we get the executive back up and running, Northern Ireland is in the unbelievably special position, the unique position in the entire world in having privileged access not just to the UK home market, which is the fifth biggest in the world, but also the European Union single market.

Speaking at a Coca-Cola factory in Lisburn, he said: “If we get this right, if we get this framework implemented, we get the executive back up and running, Northern Ireland is in the unbelievably special position, the unique position in the entire world in having privileged access not just to the UK home market, which is the fifth biggest in the world, but also the European Union single market.

“Nobody else has that. No one – only you guys only here. And that is the prize. I can tell you, when I go around the world and talk to businesses, they say: ‘That’s interesting.’ Nowhere else does that exist. It’s like the world’s most exciting economic zone.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... trade-deal

[Time_Traveller]

No 10 gives DUP legal ‘assurances’ that Northern Ireland will remain in UK

Fri 3 Mar 2023 11.51 GMT

The government has promised to underline Northern Ireland’s place in the UK with legal “assurances” in an effort to convince unionists to back Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, said on Friday that the government would introduce legislation to allay Democratic Unionist party (DUP) concerns about the Windsor framework.

Northern Ireland’s place in the UK was secure, he told the BBC. “So we’ll be looking to bring forward amendments to the Northern Ireland Act of 1998 to provide further assurances on that matter. Reassurances in law that Northern Ireland remains an integral part of the United Kingdom, and it’s the government saying that in primary legislation which is what people are asking for.”

The offer was an attempt to quell mounting pressure on Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, to reject the revised Brexit deal for Northern Ireland that was announced on Monday. Donaldson has said the party would take its time – possibly weeks – to study the deal before giving a verdict. However, some high-profile DUP figures and hardline unionists outside the party have already signalled opposition, saying the deal eroded Northern Ireland’s place in the union.

Heaton-Harris said the “groundbreaking” agreement was “very good” for Northern Ireland and would not be renegotiated. “This is the deal we have done with the EU and this is what is on the table.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... main-in-uk

The British government unilaterally messes with the constitutional rights of the GFA on the 25th anniversary.

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

UK’s Brexit Trade Deal

31 March 2023

The regulations and previous tariffs on palm oil at the behest of Malaysia – a country notorious for its rife logging, resource extraction, exploitation, corruption and land-grabbing.

Signed today, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will bring a mere 0.08% to Britain’s economy at the expense of environmental safeguarding against a product linked to mass deforestation.

The demand for palm oil has decimated forests across south-east Asia.

Used in many foods and household products, producers have logged huge swathes of forest in Indonesia and Malaysia to plant monocultures of oil palm trees – often at the expense of indigenous communities, biodiversity and top soil health. But that hasn’t stopped Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch today announcing that palm oil is a “great product”.

The EU brought in new regulations against palm oil and other commodities in December, banning the sale of products linked to deforestation. The ban, celebrated by green campaigners, put the onus on importers to show that production of their specific goods has not damaged forests.

https://bylinetimes.com/2023/03/31/uks- ... -palm-oil/

[wjfox]

[wjfox]