Brexit

Scotland would have to wait up to 10 years to re-join the EU if it decides to opt for independence from the UK, according to the Institute for Government (IfG).The think tank said it would require the best part of a decade for the process to be sorted out, and would “inevitably” lead to the emergence of a hard border with England.The SNP has argued that Scotland has been taken out of the EU “against our will”, with first minister Nicola Sturgeon claiming her country’s future lies as an “independent European nation”.However, a new report from the IfG found that an application to join the bloc would almost certainly mean a long wait and Scotland having to adopt the Euro as its currency.“The EU would probably welcome an application from an independent Scotland, but only if Scottish independence were based on agreement with the UK government,” the think tank’s report states.“Under EU law, Scotland could only formally apply to join the EU once it had secured its independence from the UK, and the whole process could take the best part of a decade.”The academics found that joining the EU would probably mean an independent Scotland joining the single market and customs union – and as a result the Anglo-Scottish border would become a new regulatory frontier for the EU.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayEven if a looser model of integration was adopted, such as Scotland joining the European Economic Area (EEA), it would not mean frictionless access to both the EU and the UK markets.“As an EU member state, Scotland would have no choice but to enforce customs processes, as well as regulatory checks on goods such as animal and plant products,” the IfG report states.The authors of the London-based think tank, viewed as neither left nor right-wing, added: “There would be a need for new border infrastructure to enforce these rules.”Noting that Scottish businesses trade roughly three times as much with the rest of the UK as with the EU, the authors said that the SNP needed to be “open” about the “costs as well as benefits” of EU membership.Ms Sturgeon clashed with rival Scottish political leaders during Tuesday’s BBC Holyrood election debate.The SNP chief claimed Scotland was in danger of going in the “wrong direction” if it left decisions to Boris Johnson’s government, adding: “It’s up to the people of Scotland to decide.”However, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “If she obsessed about fighting poverty as much as she does about the constitution, imagine how different Scotland could be as a result.” More

Watch live as MPs discuss controversial bill to crack down on protestsThe EU has begun legal action against the UK government following Boris Johnson’s announcement that he would change parts of the deal he signed last year to netter suit British businesses. The European Commission on Monday described the move as a “serious” violation of the agreement and has started legal proceedings against the UK with two formal letters which were sent on Monday.UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will overhaul the UK’s armed forces, with plans to modernise the country’s defence and make the UK “match-fit.”Mr Johnson will unveil plans on Tuesday in the government’s Integrated Review of the UK’s defence and foreign relations. Meanwhile, in an attempt to reduce the number of people using their cars, Mr Johnson has launched a £3bn “bus revolution” as part of the government’s “leveling up” agenda.The strategy intends to encourage people to choose buses over cars with the promise that there will be better coordinated bus services countrywide.It was also announced that over 1,000 civil service jobs will move from London to Scotland. Of these, 500 are from the Foreign Office and will move from the capital up to East Kilbride.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayShow latest update
1615819785PM looking forward to talking with ‘EU friends’ over measures linked to Northern Ireland Boris Johnson has said that he is looking forward to discussions with the UK’s “EU friends” over what he called sensible temporary measures linked to the Northern Ireland Protocol.When asked why problems with the EU had arisen so quickly after a deal was agreed on, Mr Johnson said: “We haven’t seen the EU’s letter yet.“But I think what I would say to our friends in Brussels is very simple – the protocol is there to uphold and to guarantee, to buttress the Good Friday Agreement.“It (the protocol) should guarantee not just trade and movement north-south but east-west as well.“That’s all we’re trying to sort out with some temporary and technical measures which we think are very sensible.“But obviously we’ll look forward to our discussions with our EU friends and see where we get to.”The prime minister was on an official visit to Coventry when he was questioned on the subject. More

Ireland’s foreign minister has accused the UK of “perverse nationalism” and “narrow-minded thinking” in attempting to race ahead of the EU to reach a trade deal with Washington alone.Calling for a more collaborative effort, Simon Coveney said that rather than “competing for attention” in Joe Biden’s administration, Britain, the EU, the US and Canada should work together to come to a joint agreement.In an interview with The Times, however, he also reiterated concerns about trust in the UK as a negotiating partner being weakened after the unilateral decision to extend the so-called “grace period” in the Northern Ireland Protocol.But addressing the prospect of a US trade deal — something desired by Brexiteers who argued for an independent trading policy — Mr Coveney claimed there was “enough division and competition globally rather than creating more locally”.“Rather than the EU and UK competing for attention in Washington, looking to be the first to do a trade deal, it makes sense for UK, EU and US and Canada to do one together,” he said.“The idea that Britain can get their first is narrow-minded thinking, frankly. It’s a perverse nationalism when actually Britain and the EU should work together as partners.”When pressed on his remark in a separate interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Coveney appeared to soften his language, saying: “I was asked a question about a transatlantic trade deal and I said I don’t think it makes any sense for some in the UK to see this as a race to see who can get a trade deal with the US first.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayHe added: “We should be looking at a transatlantic trade deal that involves the EU, the UK, the US and Canada and others if they want to be involved. “We all run economies that are based on very similar rules and structures and in my view a transatlantic relationship involving Britain should be a powerful one economically and globally.”His call for a joint trade deal is unlikely to be accepted by No 10, as Mr Johnson has often touted a transatlantic trade agreement between the UK and the US as a benefit of leaving the bloc and has previously said it will “reflect the unique closeness of our two great nations”.Speaking after a damaging row between the EU and the UK over the Northern Ireland Protocol, Mr Coveney also told The Times: “It has reinforced an awful lot of the doubts in Brussels about whether or not this really is a British government we can rely on to be a trusted partner when it comes to implementing what has already been agreed.”The grace period – a temporary relaxation of checks for supermarkets and suppliers – was put in place to allow firms time to adapt to new trade barriers across the Irish Sea and was due to expire at the end of March.Speaking on Friday, Boris Johnson told a virtual press conference on a visit to Northern Ireland that the Protocol needed to be “corrected”.“You can’t have a situation in which soil or parcels or tractors with mud on their tyres or whatever are prevented from moving easily from one part of the UK to another — it’s all one United Kingdom,” he said.The prime minister added: “What I didn’t want to see was loads of checks on stuff going from GB to NI in such a way as to interrupt trade and to confuse and irritate people.”“I didn’t want to see barriers to the circulation of sausages and tractors with mud on their tyres and all the rest of it, and nor did I think that would be necessary and I think that’s why we put in the easements we have, because I think it’s sensible for there to be some balance in this and I think there’s a commonsensical way forward and that’s what we want to have.” In a separate interview, the cabinet minister Brandon Lewis admitted a tweet posted by the government’s Northern Ireland Office claiming there “will be no border” in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland after Brexit had not stood the test of time.He told the News letter newspaper: “That tweet has not stood the test of time very well and you’ve got to try to learn from those experience; you’ve got to fall down a bit to know how to get back up… I’ll make sure that I’m bearing those issues in mind when I tweet in the future.” More

Cricket pitch soil in Northern Ireland may have to be dug up and replaced due to post-Brexit protocol arrangements, according to officials for the sport in the province.The special clay-containing material known as loam, obtained from counties in England, gives the ball its predictable bounce on the pitch.However, bureaucracy introduced following Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal has caused disruption for suppliers sending a range of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.Carrickfergus Cricket Club groundsman Michael Kennedy said: “If we do not get this stuff it looks like we are going to have to dig our square up and replace it with something else, and that is going to be a disaster.”Northern Ireland continues to follow some the EU’s rules on trade to prevent a hard border, which has caused particular problems for the supply of agricultural goods from Great Britain.Mr Kennedy said the loam supply issue needed to be resolved before renewal work on the surface begins in September – and warned the pitch could start to deteriorate and became unsafe.“There is no alternative, we cannot just nip down to the local merchant and buy a bag of this,” he said. “I have been involved in cricket for 15 years and it is what other generations have used before … We are sitting here at the moment trying to work out what we can do.”Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayUel Graham, cricket operations manager for the Northern Cricket Union (NCU), said not having loam available created a “far-reaching”problem at all levels of the sport, from international down to schools.He said: “If they are not able to prepare and maintain pitches, that would mean pitches may need to be replaced more often, which is a very costly aspect.“Covid has already had a major impact on clubs with a truncated season last year, so any additional financial burden is something clubs would find very difficult.” More

Patel: BLM protests ‘dreadful’ and taking the knee ‘wrong’Disruption to trade caused by Brexit represents the first signs of structural issues which will cut UK GDP for years to come, senior economists have told The Independent – while warning it can no longer be dismissed as “teething problems”.The experts said they could see nothing from the first six weeks of 2021 to persuade them to amend forecasts of tens of billions of pounds of damage to the economy over the coming years, though hard figures on the cost of quitting the single market and customs union will not emerge for a few months.Current analysis by the EU predicts Britain’s divorce from the bloc will cause a 2.25 per cent hit to the UK economy by 2022 – £40bn in lost growth over two years.It comes as Westminster has been urged to support Scotland’s struggling whisky industry after “complicated bureaucracy post-Brexit” caused overseas exports to drop by 23 per cent.In an open letter to rural affairs secretary George Eustice, Scottish rural economy minister Fergus Ewing said the once “booming” sector was failing due to complications caused by coronavirus, Brexit and tariffs imposed by the US following a dispute with the EU.“I have written to the UK government urging them to address the problems and will do my utmost to help one of Scotland’s greatest food and drink success stories get through this challenging time,” Mr Ewing said in a statement. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayShow latest update
1613227256Heathrow says government’s hotel quarantine plan not readyThe government’s hotel quarantine policy is not ready to launch with less than 48 hours to go, Britain’s largest airport has warned. Ministers have promised hotel quarantine will start on Monday, but in a statement issued on Saturday morning Heathrow airport said “significant gaps still remain”.MPs have warned of chaotic scenes at airports, while the union representing border force workers says staff are going on shift for the weekend unaware of what rules they will be enforcing come Monday.My colleagues Jon Stone and Simon Calder report:Sam Hancock13 February 2021 14:401613225456Boots staff who worked at Covid government testing sites lose jobsBoots staff who volunteered to take on potentially dangerous roles at government coronavirus testing sites for the high-street giant have lost their jobs.The pharmacy’s employees have been helping to operate official drive-in centres across the UK since March.Boots said it would have been wrong to give those who had signed up to work in the government’s testing scheme special treatment in its redundancy process.Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has more:Sam Hancock13 February 2021 14:101613223035Patel BLM remarks ‘unacceptable,’ says shadow home secretaryPressure continues to mount on Priti Patel after she branded the anti-racism protest movement Black Lives Matter “dreadful” and criticised the practice of taking a knee.Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said his counterpart’s comments were “unacceptable” and that the BLM movement was “a powerful call for change from across society”.“To be dismissed like this by the Home Secretary is unacceptable,” he added.Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports: Sam Hancock13 February 2021 13:301613220739Government backtracks on public sector payment cap, unions sayA government U-turn means regulations aimed at preventing excessive payments to the highest earners have been revoked. It comes after court action by trade unions which demanded the £95,000 cap on public sector redundancy payments be reversed. Unions said the rules would have hit low-paid workers the hardest, affecting long-serving local government workers who earned just £23,500 and were made redundant. Unison’s general secretary, Christina McAnea, told The Guardian on Saturday: “It’s great the government has finally seen sense and stepped back from this damaging regulation that threatened to blight the retirement of millions of workers.“Through no fault of their own, long-serving staff over the age of 55 and facing redundancy would have been hit by the regulation. Because they’re obliged to take their pensions if they lose their jobs, when combined with redundancy payments the final amount could have exceeded the £95,000 cap.“All along the Treasury was told that the regulations were flawed, and they would hit ordinary workers. Unfortunately, ministers wouldn’t listen, so Unison had to take them to court.“The government has wasted much time and money and should now abandon any plans to reintroduce the regulations.“Instead, ministers should concentrate on supporting dedicated public service workers who are delivering for their communities in the most challenging of circumstances.”Sam Hancock13 February 2021 12:521613216475Tory MP tells Johnson to help British fishermen ‘sell more’ produce Conservative MP John Redwood has urged Boris Johnson to do more for the fishing industry, saying there were “plenty of options” to help British workers “sell more of our fish” which are not being carried out. The Brexiteer tweeted: “Let’s have more determination from our government to boost our fishing industry.“There are plenty of options to help them to land, process and sell more of our fish as we take control of our waters effectively.”It comes after Michael Gove said on Thursday that Britain is prepared to do “whatever is required” to support its fishermen post-Brexit. Though he admitted there were “bureaucratic obstacles” to “negotiate and navigate” with the EU.Sam Hancock13 February 2021 11:411613215065Brexit disruption cannot be dismissed as ‘teething issues’, economists warnDisruption to trade seen so far as a result of Brexit represents the first signs of structural issues which will cut UK GDP for years to come, senior economists have said.Experts speaking to The Independent said they had seen nothing during the first six weeks of 2021 to persuade them to amend forecasts of tens of billions of pounds of damage to the economy over the coming years.The gloomy assessments came after the European Commission released the first formal analysis of the impact of Brexit to be compiled since the transition out of the EU, which predicted a 2.25 per cent hit to the UK economy by 2022 – equivalent to £40bn in lost growth over two years.Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:Sam Hancock13 February 2021 11:171613213839Kent lorry queues avoided as freight flows ‘back to normal’Freight flows in Kent have returned to normal meaning the lorry queue crisis has now been avoided, according to government officials.Figures seen by the BBC show outbound lorry traffic for Britain for the month so far at 98 per cent of last February’s levels, while inbound traffic is at 99 per cent of last year’s levels.One official told the broadcaster the government is “pleased that overall flows are back to normal” as it was announced some 80-90 per cent of laden lorries were arriving “border-ready”.Sam Hancock13 February 2021 10:571613211984NI vegetable company wins M&S contract amid supply issuesA Comber-based vegetable producer has been given the go ahead to supply M&S stores across Ireland amid ongoing stock logistic issues between Britain and Ireland, caused by Brexit. Mash Direct will supply eight of its products to the retailer, according to reports in the Belfast Telegraph, including its signature mash potato and potato cakes in its own brand sleeves and packaging.Last month M&S was forced to temporarily drop hundreds of products from its stores in the Republic after the company saw competitors’ lorries barred from travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland. More