Liz Truss Leadership "Schmooze Operation" Is In Full Swing As Boris Johnson's Popularity Plummets
As the Tory party continues to plummet in the polls, covert and tactical “schmooze operations” have been gaining pace in Westminster, with senior cabinet ministers including Liz Truss believed to be actively working to win the support of party influe...
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Arron Banks may have been ‘used and exploited’ by Russia, court hears
Journalist Carole Cadwalladr gives evidence as she defends her reporting on multimillionaire Brexit backer
The Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr has told a court she believes the multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks may have been “used and exploited” by the Russian government, as she defended her reporting.
Banks, who funded the Leave.EU campaign group, is suing Cadwalladr for defamation over two instances in which she said the businessman was lying about his relationship with the Russian state.
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Brexit lorry-flow system to cause disruption on M20 motorway for a year | The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/m20-brexit-lorry-delays-barrier-b1993638.html
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Dominic Cummings Claims Boris Johnson Gave Go-Ahead To Lockdown Breaking Party
Dominic Cummings has said he would “swear under oath” that Boris Johnson green lit a drinks party at No 10 during lockdown, despite the PM claiming he had no prior knowledge of the event.
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Pound Seen Falling as UK Growth Slows, Brexit Headwinds Rise | MarketScreener
“So far, the UK has been able to use the pandemic as cover to explain supply-chain issues, but an open…
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Forward thinking beats bitter nostalgia for levelling up
Levelling up is a great slogan, but needs to be a great reality. That can only be achieved by positive vision, not misplaced nostalgia.
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Forward thinking beats bitter nostalgia for levelling up
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One in three UK business owners fear their companies won’t exist in a year as Brexit onslaught intensifies | City AM
“Brexit was and continues to be a real obstacle, the entrepreneurs said, with 73% of those taking part in a…
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Row erupts over plan to allow ‘double jobbing’ in Northern Ireland politics | The Guardian
UK government accused of meddling in democracy over plan to allow MPs to be elected to Stormont and keep Westminster…
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UK economists’ survey: recovery will be slower than in peer countries | FT
“Increased unemployment, bankruptcies and the impact of Brexit are expected to limit the pace of the recovery.” https://www.ft.com/content/21abdaf0-b3b6-4cf9-93f2-007fc1b1b1c8
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Penny Mordaunt Emerges As Dark Horse Tory Leadership Candidate To Succeed Boris Johnson
Penny Mordaunt is emerging as a popular candidate among Conservative MPs to replace Boris Johnson, as the Prime Minister faces a key week in his fight to stay in Downing Street.
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Warning: democracy at risk
The far-right influence coupled with a government of politicians who are taking control for themselves, is a dangerous combination.
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Warning: democracy at risk
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UK exports to EU may drop another 8% as Finland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Greece benefit from Brexit | City AM
“This is largely because smaller EU countries are benefiting from Britain’s departure from the EU, according to the report by…
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Row erupts over plan to allow ‘double jobbing’ in Northern Ireland politics
UK government accused of meddling in democracy over plan to allow MPs to be elected to Stormont and keep Westminster seats
A row over “double jobbing”, which would mean MPs in Westminster also sitting in the Stormont assembly, has erupted in Northern Ireland with accusations the government is trying to prop up the Democratic Unionist party.
The chair of the Northern Ireland affairs committee, Simon Hoare, described the move as a bad idea and urged the House of Lords to reject the relevant amendment to proposed legislation.
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Nadhim Zahawi Insists Boris Johnson's Job Is Safe Despite "Anger And Hurt" Over Parties
The Education Secretary has said the public's anger over a string of allegations of lockdown parties in Downing Street was "not lost on me or my family", but calls for patience over an investigation into the incidents.
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Grassroots for Europe say: Patel’s Bill steals our rights
In April last year, Grassroots for Europe sent Harriet Harman QC MP, chair of the UK Parliament’s Joint Human Rights Committee, a letter signed by 83 local citizen organisations, setting out our concern that our future pro-European public campaign events may be among the intended targets of the draconian new police and ministerial powers created […]
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Time To Go, Big Dog
The country is cursed, at a time of crisis, with a Prime Minister who is not only unfit for office, but is now holed below the waterline.
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EU fires back at Johnson – ‘We didn’t ban Crown stamps on UK pint glasses’ | Express
“The EU told the BBC: ‘EU law doesn’t prevent marking being placed on products, as long as it doesn’t overlap…
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Johnson can’t defy political gravity much longer
The prime minister's future is hanging by a thread as fellow Tory MPs line up to denounce him in the wake of partygate
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Johnson can’t defy political gravity much longer
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Truss’s part in EU talks shows her desperation for a deal | Yorkshire Bylines
“Truss’s part in EU talks began with the threat to trigger Article 16, but her ‘hard-Brexit’ rhetoric is unlikely to…
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Truss’s part in EU talks shows her desperation for a deal to be done
Truss’s part in EU talks began with the threat to trigger Article 16, but her hard-Brexit rhetoric is unlikely to work
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Truss’s part in EU talks shows her desperation for a deal to be done
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EU membership for just 34p a day each | Ideas on Europe
“Being a member of the EU costs on average only around 34p a day each. That’s a bargain, especially as the…
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Oliver Dowden Says Boris Johnson “Committed To Addressing Culture” Of Drinking In No10
The Prime Minister “is committed to addressing the underlying culture” in Downing Street after reports of widespread drinking by staff during lockdown, according to Tory chairman Oliver Dowden.
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Partygate: one more nail in the Unionist coffin?
Being governed by Johnson is a matter of shame for Scotland, not pride. Partygate will not do much to keep the Union in tact.
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Partygate: one more nail in the Unionist coffin?
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Eustice sparks Twitter backlash over farm-income comments | Farmers Weekly
“Farmers quickly took Eustice to task on Twitter, accusing him of seriously underplaying the huge rises in input and labour…
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Twelve good men (and women!) and true: a very brief history of trial by jury
The acquittal of the Colston Four has brought trial by jury into the limelight. John Heywood explores its history and importance.
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Twelve good men (and women!) and true: a very brief history of trial by jury
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Norky’s ramblings: trip to Poland by motorcycle
Norky describes one of his many trips to Poland where he travelled by motorcycle to do some sightseeing.
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Norky’s ramblings: trip to Poland by motorcycle
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Downing Street Staff Feel Dejected By Boris Johnson’s Party Defence
Boris Johnson’s carefully-worded apology over allegations of parties held during the Covid-19 lockdown has been viewed by Downing Street staff as an attempt to absolve him of blame by the official inquiry while others take the fall.
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Covid – The Government’s Perfect Camouflage
The pandemic arrived, uninvited. Clearly, no government wills on their country the appalling havoc a pandemic wreaks. But the Tories are ever the opportunists and Covid has offered them a tremendous opportunity to further themselves. Profiteering and the Covid ‘box of tricks’ We are now familiar with their use of Covid PPE contracts to line […]
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Arron Banks’s lawsuit against reporter a freedom of speech matter, court hears
Carole Cadwalladr’s team sets out defence in first day of libel trial brought by Leave.EU funder
The libel action brought by the multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr should concern “anyone who cares about freedom of speech in this country,” a court has been told.
Banks, who funded the pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign group has brought a defamation action against Cadwalladr over two instances – one in a Ted Talk and one in a tweet – in which she said the businessman was lying about his relationship with the Russian state.
The digital, culture, media and sport committee had found that he had misled parliament in respect of his relationship with Russian officials and had sought to hide the same.
There had been widespread publicity about Banks’s relationship with the Russian state and “his dishonesty and prevarication in respect of that relationship”.
Leave.EU and Banks had been the subject of enforcement action by both the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in relation to their activities during the referendum campaign.
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French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour: another populist player
Will the global lurch to the right and the rise in appeal of populist leaders such as Zemmour mean there will be a French Trump as president?
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour: another populist player
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Tory MPs Receive Hundreds Of Damning Emails From Constituents Over Downing Street Parties
Conservative MPs have said their inboxes have been flooded this week with outraged emails from constituents about the parties held in Downing Street, as public anger erupts over Boris Johnson's handling of the scandal.
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Brexit: NI Protocol talks to intensify next week
The EU and UK are set for intensified negotiations as the foreign secretary hails "cordial" talks.
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Brexit: there’s ‘a deal to be done’ over Northern Ireland, says Liz Truss
A rare joint EU-UK statement says talks will continue next week to deal with outstanding issues
Liz Truss said there was “a deal to be done” over the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland after “constructive talks” with her EU counterpart raised hopes of less rancorous relations with Brussels.
The notably sunny prognosis followed a first meeting between the UK foreign secretary and Maroš Šefčovič, the European commissioner responsible for Brexit issues, at Chevening, the cabinet minister’s official country residence in Kent.
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Has Labour Finally Hit On A Winning Formula With Starmer’s New Top Team?
Six weeks on from Keir Starmer’s “moderates and media performers” shadow cabinet reshuffle, where loyalists were replaced with better known faces, has the Labour leader finally hit on a winning formula?
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Downing Street Has Apologised To The Queen Over Parties Held On The Eve Of Prince Phillip's Funeral
Downing Street has apologised to Buckingham Palace after reports two parties were held inside Number 10 "at time of national mourning" following the Duke of Edinburgh's death.
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Re-enactivism and monument wars
As a historian and art historian, I do not join the love-in for the Colston Four. Tearing down the statue only harms the art.
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Re-enactivism and monument wars
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Northern Ireland manufacturers say Brexit protocol least of worries – survey
Top concern is labour shortages as 28% of manufacturers say trade with EU has increased
Manufacturers in Northern Ireland have ranked the post-Brexit arrangements for trade in Northern Ireland as the least of the challenges facing their businesses, according to a quarterly industry survey, with 28% saying trade with the EU has increased over the last year.
The top concern was listed as labour shortages caused by the pandemic but also the end of freedom of movement that prevents EU citizens living in border counties in the republic of Ireland crossing into Northern Ireland for work.
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Launder my Lies
Launder my lies lord, launder my lies make me safe I pray Here I am on bended knees Pleading to keep my front door keys Launder my lies, dear lord, launder my lies Make me whiter than white Scrub me with brasso and I shall be clean For you are my faithful washing machine O […]
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The German ‘traffic light’ coalition: no commitment to stronger spending powers for the EU
With the new ‘traffic light’ government in Germany, one could have expected a game changer in Germany’s approach to fiscal integration. Instead, the coalition agreement is a compromise between maintaining the old fiscal regulatory framework and showing some moderate opening towards new European spending powers. The coalition agreement of the new German government led by […]
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Boris Johnson's Former Comms Director Apologises Over No 10 Party In His Honour
Boris Johnson’s former communications director, James Slack, has apologised “unreservedly” for the “anger and hurt” he caused by attending a Downing Street leaving party, held in his honour last year.
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Why calls to release security information from Downing Street parties are misplaced
The public is angry about the Downing Street parties but they cannot expect police to breach confidentiality to determine who attended them.
Yorkshire Bylines Local News: Why calls to release security information from Downing Street parties are misplaced
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Work on post-Brexit lorry contraflow system in Kent will disrupt M20 for a year
Concrete barrier must be moved from hard shoulder to central reservation, meaning overnight motorway closures
The Operation Brock system installed to manage expected traffic chaos in Kent after Brexit will now itself cause a year of disruption as the barrier is moved from the edge to the middle of the motorway.
The scheme, costing an initial estimated £35m, was designed to reduce blockages on the roads to and from the Channel ports with a contraflow system for queueing lorries held up by border and customs requirements.
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Met Police Will Not Investigate No 10 Parties Unless Internal Investigation Finds Evidence Of A Crime
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it will not investigate reports a party was held at Downing Street in May 2020 unless an internal investigation finds "evidence of behaviour that is potentially a criminal offence."
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MPs Warned As Suspected Chinese Agent Named After MI5 Investigation
MPs have been told that a Chinese national named Christine Lee is accused of "facilitating financial donations to serving and aspiring politicians".
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A marvellous party: did Noël Coward know everything, all along?
Who was present at the now-infamous work event of May 20th, 2020, in the Downing Street garden? Noël Coward may have the answers.
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Covid Self-Isolation Will Be Cut To Five Days In England From Monday
Sajid Javid has confirmed that the minimum self-isolation period for those who test positive for Covid-19 and their close contacts will be cut from seven days to five.
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Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski Could Be Suspended From Commons After “Insincere” Bullying Apology
A Conservative MP will be suspended from the Commons for a day after he was found to have undermined his own apology for bullying Parliamentary staff.
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Cabinet Ministers Double Down On Defending Boris Johnson After His Leadership Is Bruised By Party Scandal
Cabinet ministers are circling to defend Boris Johnson as the Prime Minister faces calls from some of his own MPs to resign over the 20 May Downing Street garden party.
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A new year of Brexiting
The arrival of 2022 has brought both continuity and change to the UK’s relationship with the EU. The resignation of Lord Frost in December has precipitated a major reorganisation (possibly still on-going) of the government’s management of EU and Brexit affairs, but the new point on the relationship – Foreign Secretary Liz Truss – has […]
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Creative Europe: Increased budget in 2022 to support cultural and creative sectors
The Commission has adopted the 2022 work programme of Creative Europe, which will be followed by the launch of the relevant calls for proposals. With a budget of around €385 million, nearly €100 million more compared to 2021, Creative Europe strengthens its support to creative and cultural partners taking due account of the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 crisis and the growing global competition.
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The Commission steps up action for high quality and inclusive youth volunteering
As one of the first concrete initiatives under the 2022 European Year of Youth, the Commission published its proposal for a Council Recommendation on youth volunteering to facilitate transnational youth volunteering under the European Solidarity Corps or other schemes at national level.
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Some Thoughts on Loss and the Art of Losing
I recently heard the topic ‘The Art of Losing’, discussed on the Radio 4 programme Just a Minute. It was very funny, but not illuminating on the topic itself. I enjoyed it – it was comedy not an education programme. Can Losing be an Art Form? But, losing as an art form? I thought not. […]
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MPs Want To Block Sourcing Of Medical Equipment From Regions With "Genocide Risk"
MPs are planning to back a new amendment to the Health and Care Bill to prevent the sourcing of healthcare equipment from regions of the world where a “serious risk of genocide” is believed to be taking place.
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Open Letter to MPs
Dear Sir, The latest drinks party in the Downing Street garden reportedly attended by both Boris Johnson and his future wife Carrie Symonds when everyone else in the country was in strict lockdown, is absolutely typical of the double standards and hypocrisy of this government and Tory MPs. It is truly remarkable that Tory MPs […]
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The Door Named Number Ten
The die is cast, the deal is done The virus covid set to run Its course o’er rough and ready jokes Of plaintiff minister’s plaintiff cry Be my judge – hedge your bets to live or die Who are you that ask so loud? So quarrelsome You will be cow’d in ditch cold, dreary, bare […]
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Hi hon, how was your day? Northamptonshire MP wheeled out to defend the indefensible
Michael Ellis, Paymaster General and MP for Northampton North, was in parliament today, failing to answer questions about yesterday’s #partygate revelations from ITV.
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Hillsborough and The Sheldon tapestries
A journey through Hillsborough and to the Sheldon tapestries
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Scottish Conservatives Leader Douglas Ross Calls For Boris Johnson To Resign
Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross has called for Boris Johnson to resign after the Prime Minister today admitted to attending a “BYOB” garden party in Downing Street during lockdown.
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Angry Tories Say It's "A Matter Of Time" Before Boris Johnson Is Ousted Over Party Scandal
Conservative MPs have strongly criticised Boris Johnson’s “half-arsed” apology for attending a party in the Number 10 garden while the country was in the first coronavirus lockdown.
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Why are supermarkets letting their masks slip?
Why won’t supermarkets keep their customers safe? Staff are often without face masks and this makes visiting supermarkets unsafe.
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Boris Johnson Has Admitted Attending Downing Street "BYOB" Party And Issued Apology
Boris Johnson has apologised for attending a "BYOB" garden party that took place in Downing Street in May 2020 while strict lockdown restrictions were still in place.
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High Court Rules Government "VIP Lane" For PPE Procurement Was "Unlawful"
The government's operation of a "high priority lane" to allow MPs and ministers to recommend PPE suppliers was "unlawful", the High Court has ruled.
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Angela Rayner Insists Boris Johnson Must Resign If He Attended "BYOB" Party
Labour's deputy leader has said Boris Johnson must resign if multiple claims that he attended a Downing Street garden party on 20 May are correct, as the Prime Minister prepares for arguably the most perilous day of his under-pressure leadership so f...
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‘No running water’: foreign workers criticise UK farm labour scheme
Government report on post-Brexit recruitment finds staff citing no health and safety equipment, racism and unsafe accommodation
Seasonal workers in the UK on a post-Brexit pilot scheme to harvest fruit and vegetables were subjected to “unacceptable” welfare conditions, according to a government review.
Issues cited by workers included a lack of health and safety equipment, racism, and accommodation without any bathrooms, running water or kitchens.
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A Wellbeing Government is the Way Forward
Prioritising ‘wellbeing’ makes sense, in our personal, social, political and international lives. The same process brings all these areas together. What is good for one is good for the other. And vice versa. A holistic approach which considers the whole life, the whole body, and the whole of society will bring the maximum degree of […]
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Jubilee cakes: a recipe for decline…
The platinum jubilee cake competition makes Simon Ferrigno speculate on the ingredients for decades of British decline.
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Rishi Sunak Could Intervene On Soaring Energy Bills Next Month To Ease Cost Of Living Crisis
The Chancellor has hinted he is planning on intervening on energy bills ahead of the price cap announcement in February as he tries to deflect criticism over the looming cost of living crisis.
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Feeling Safe, Being Safe: Strategies to combat Violence against Women and Girls
Barbara challenges the government's strategy on Violence against Women and advocates a strategy where the perpetrator is held to account.
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Ministers Accused Of Hiding "Woeful" Lack Of Ex-Teachers Returning To Classrooms To Fill Covid Gaps
Labour has accused ministers of trying to hide what appears to be a scant response to the government's call for former teachers to return to the classroom to cover staff off sick with Covid-19.
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Exasperated Tories Warn "BYOB" Downing Street Party Could Spell "Ruin" For Boris Johnson
Furious Tory MPs are once again questioning Boris Johnson’s leadership following allegations he attended a pre-organised garden party in Downing Street while the UK was under a strict lockdown.
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Labour Challenges Prime Minister To "Come Clean" On Downing Street "BYOB" Party
Boris Johnson will be in a "very, very difficult" situation if he is found to have broken the rules by attending a lockdown-breaking Downing Street garden party in May, a senior Labour figure has predicted.
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President Sassoli to be honoured in Plenary
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Statement by President von der Leyen on the passing of David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament
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NI Protocol: Government must publish protocol timetable - DUP
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was speaking after meeting the UK Brexit negotiator Liz Truss on Monday.
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Jacob Rees-Mogg Accused Of “Patronising” MPs With Reluctance To Update Voting System
Jacob Rees-Mogg has expressed reservations about expanding proxy voting to MPs with long-term health conditions as he believes some members may use the system for “trivial reasons”.
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Cladding: ‘We are coming for you,’ Michael Gove warns builders of flats in fire-risk dispute – as it happened
Communities secretary has said flat-owners ‘should not be held responsible for paying for work that was not their responsibility in the first place’. This live blog is now closed – for the latest coronavirus updates, please follow the Covid live blog
- Leaseholders will not have to pay to fix any fire risks, vows Gove
- Gove says some developers represent ‘unacceptable face of capitalism’
- Summary of Downing Street lobby briefing
- PM says he’s considering case for cutting isolation period to five days
- Gove claims he was wrong about need for tougher Covid restrictions
- Gove claims Tories can both increase public spending and later cut tax
There are no urgent questions in the Commons today, and just one ministerial statement, the Michael Gove one on cladding, at 3.30pm, the parliamentary authorities have announced.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman was also asked about the possibility of the minimum Covid isolation period in England being cut from seven days to five. Boris Johnson confirmed earlier that this was being kept under consideration. (See 11.18am.) The PM’s spokesman went a bit further, saying the government would like it to happen “soon” – provided the scientific evidence justifies the change. He said the UK Health Security Agency was continuing to look at whether the scientific evidence justified cutting the isolation period to five days (ie, whether that could be done without risk of still-infectious people being released into the community). He said:
If it is possible to go further, we would want to act quickly, but it needs to be based on the latest evidence. And that work is still ongoing. We certainly have not received any further updated advice.
It is something we want done soon. But what is important is that we don’t prejudge the conclusion, and that we allow those that are looking at this to consider the evidence base and provide thorough advice.
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The Troubles Legacy Bill Is Delayed Again And May Not Become Law Until Summer
Exclusive: A contentious bill which deals with Troubles legacy cases faces not being put into law until the summer, as the government is still ironing out the final details of the legislation.
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Leaseholders Still Face Huge Fire Safety Bills Despite New Cladding Support
Mounting fire safety costs are still a significant worry for people living in tower blocks despite minister Michael Gove's major announcement today that leaseholders in lower height buildings will not have to pay for the removal of unsafe cladding.
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Cost Of Living Crisis Poses A “Catastrophic” Threat To Domestic Abuse Victims, Campaigners Warn
The rising cost of living and the end of the £20 Universal Credit uplift could mean domestic violence victims “feel forced to stay with perpetrators”, campaigners have warned.
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Is Big Tobacco winning the smoking war?
Trevor Russel reports on the battle between Big Tobacco and the WHO on the smoking war and tobacco use. Will we reach a smoke-free world?
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The government is doing massive damage to farming
Richard Hall speaks to farmer Andrew Ward about how farmers are changing their views about Brexit due to broken farming promises.
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France to push for EU-wide UK migration treaty over Channel crossings
French government wants whole bloc to act despite warnings other member states have no appetite
France will press the EU to negotiate an asylum and migration treaty with the UK in an attempt to deter people from making the dangerous Channel crossing.
The French government, which last week took up the six-month rotating presidency of the EU council of ministers, wants the whole bloc to act, despite warnings that other member states have no appetite for a migration treaty with Britain.
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Brexit: What's the Northern Ireland Protocol?
The UK could decide to suspend parts of the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, known as the protocol.
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France 2022: Back on the couch
How fitting: this spring, ARTE, the brainy French-German TV channel, will broadcast a second season of ‘En thérapie’, the French version of ‘In Treatment’ (itself based on the Israeli TV hit “Be Tipul”). 35 new episodes of people on the psychiatrist’s couch, composing what Le Monde called ‘an immobile travel across French society in the […]
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Michael Gove Suggests That Free Lateral Flow Tests Will Soon Be Dropped
Michael Gove has dropped a major hint that free lateral flow tests will be phased out in the coming the months, just a day after his Cabinet colleague Nadhim Zahawi sought to shoot down the suggestion.
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Brexit changes will add to soaring costs in 2022, warn UK manufacturers
Make UK says two-thirds of companies fear customs delays and red tape from new rules will further hamper supply chains
Manufacturers have warned that Brexit will add to soaring costs facing British industry, amid concerns that customs delays and red tape will rank among the biggest challenges for firms this year.
Make UK, the industry body representing 20,000 manufacturing firms of all sizes from across the country, said that while optimism among its members had grown, it was being undermined by the after-effects of the UK’s departure from the EU.
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European Media Freedom Act: Commission launches public consultation
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€47 million fund to protect intellectual property of EU SMEs in their COVID-19 recovery and green and digital transitions
Today, the Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) launched the new EU SME Fund, which offers vouchers for EU-based SMEs to help them protect their intellectual property (IP) rights. This is the second EU SME Fund aiming at supporting SMEs in the COVID-19 recovery and green and digital transitions for the next three years (2022-2024).
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The Precipice
Noam Chomsky’s name was familiar to me back in the 70’s while I was studying Computer Science (techniques he pioneered in linguistics were used to define the syntax of programming languages). Fifty years later looking for a book for our recently formed Socialist book club, I came up with this collection of interviews given around […]
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Liz Truss 'willing' to override Northern Ireland-part of Brexit deal
The foreign secretary issues a warning over the Northern Ireland-part of the deal if negotiations fail.
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PM must commit to low taxes or risk losing next election, says David Frost
Former Brexit minister also calls for shake-up of Boris Johnson’s advisory team in first major interview since resigning from cabinet
Boris Johnson’s former Brexit minister who quit last month has warned him to commit to low taxes and the free market or risk losing the next election, as the prime minister comes under continuing pressure from the Conservative right.
David Frost, a former lobbyist whom Johnson made his chief Brexit negotiator and later gave a peerage, said in his first major interview since quitting as a cabinet minister that the Tories needed to “focus on rebuilding the nation and be proud of our history”.
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A tree for Eurovision
Bryan Manley-Green encourages us to not put away our tree just yet, but festoon it with flags, sit back, and enjoy being a true global citizen
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Neoliberal Brexiters are no friends of the ‘red wall’
Labour must make it clear that regions suffering under the long squeeze of austerity have still more to fear from the Tories
Apart from his bad luck in being struck twice by the need to go into isolation from Covid, the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer has a huge, indeed historic, weight on his shoulders. To put it bluntly: this government is so appalling that if, as it hopes, it is re-elected either this year or next, many of us will be seriously tempted to emigrate.
The sleaze that finally overturned one of the safest Tory seats in the land, namely North Shropshire, brought to mind a line in Imperium, a novel by my old friend Robert Harris: Cicero (for it is the fictional he) describes a dodgy politician as “giving corruption a bad name”.
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Anne Hidalgo: Last Presidential Hope for the French Left?
Anne Hidalgo is the directly elected Mayor of a major capital city aspiring to the highest office in the land. We can all name the directly elected Mayor of a major capital city who aspired to the highest office in the land, or a standard-bearer of the Left struggling to unite their movement, let alone […]
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What are the different Conservative factions?
More than a quarter of Tory MPs are aligned to one or more internal movements. Here are the key groups
Well over 100 of the Conservatives’ 361 MPs are aligned with one or more of a string of internal pressure groups. Here are the main ones:
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Colston Four acquitted by Jury
On 5 January 2022, at the Bristol Crown Court, the Colston Four were found innocent of any criminal damage. They were on trial for toppling the statue (as reported in July 2020 by West England Bylines) of Edward Colston, a slave-selling merchant who gave a significant amount of money to the City in his will. […]
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The Wider Europe: a time for experiments
The next steps in the EU’s constitutional development must involve greater care for the wider Europe, Andrew Duff argues. He proposes the introduction of a new category of EU affiliate membership, allowing the EU’s western and eastern neighbours alike to become stable and reliable partners. One of the more diverting exercises in literary criticism during […]
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Farmers could be paid for post-Brexit 'rewilding' land changes
"Radical plans" could see large areas of land in England turned into nature reserves.
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Brexit: Did the EU ban crown marks on pint glasses?
The government said restoring crown stamps to pints was one of the "key successes" of Brexit so far.
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As the Conservatives implode, the red wall suddenly seems in Labour’s grasp | Polly Toynbee
The Brexit balloon is bursting, the cabinet is rife with division – and Keir Starmer and co are increasingly appealing to voters
“I fucking hate the Labour party, they’re a fucking disgrace … They’ve betrayed the working classes, they’ve betrayed ordinary people.” Thus spake Noel Gallagher, the former Oasis guitarist, and out it poured on to Twitter.
Well, he would, wouldn’t he? He long ago regretted that embarrassing Cool Britannia moment of euphoria when Tony Blair summoned stars to a 1997 Downing Street party.
Gallagher’s purist state of mind is shared by a rump of the left, who feel forever betrayed. In my last column I looked ahead with a glimmer of optimism that, after 12 wilderness years, Labour might be on the road back to power. The usual below-the-line warfare had broken out, with responses such as: “I left the Labour party. I will not vote for Starmer, his policies or anyone who supports him.” “He has introduced a Stalin-like purge of the membership, the grassroots, the activists.” “They are worse than the Conservatives.” “A clone of the Tory party.” “Tory-lite.” “Cancelled my membership.”
Here’s a Twitter trope I get all the time: Polly Toynbee and the Guardian helped put the Tories in power (often accompanied by the hashtag #rightwingmedia). Odd this, as the Guardian (and I) backed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour against the Tories in 2017 and 2019. If only we had such influence, the Tories wouldn’t have governed twice as long as Labour all my life.
Sometimes I answer back, other times I retell what Labour achieved when last in power: SureStart, tax credits, civil partnerships, more doctors, nurses and beds that helped reduce long hospital waits, increased school and further education funds, an Equality and Human Rights Commission, free entry to museums, a doubling of foreign aid, free nurseries, lifting more than a million pensioners and more than a million children out of absolute poverty – despite the tragedy of Iraq.
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UK steel future uncertain without US tariffs deal
Europe has reached an agreement over Trump-era taxes but the UK is still facing 25% tariffs.
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Brexit: A year of storms over the Northern Ireland Protocol
How Westminster and Brussels tussled over the Northern Ireland Protocol throughout 2021.
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The Guardian view on levelling up: a flagship policy adrift and becalmed | Editorial
More mayors and a shake-up of local government will not be enough to rebalance the economy and heal the north-south divide
Two years after Boris Johnson made “levelling up” the lodestar of his new administration, the public still struggles to understand what the prime minister means by it. A new YouGov poll has found that half of those questioned either had no idea what the phrase signifies, or were not completely sure. The government’s flagship domestic policy resembles a ghost vessel drifting in a mist of Whitehall obfuscation and procrastination.
After a torrid period, Mr Johnson badly needs this to change in the new year. However fuzzy the follow-through, the political logic of his original pledge to level up England remains crystal clear: as it seeks to hold together the new electoral coalition forged in the 2019 “Brexit election”, improving the situation and prospects of voters in the north and Midlands is fundamental to the government’s hopes of re-election. The pots of money distributed piecemeal via the various levelling-up funds – described as a “drop in the ocean” by the Centre for Cities thinktank – will not cut it. Having promised to restore pride, regenerate places and deliver economic growth in the “red wall”, a convincing plan is urgently required to demonstrate how this will be done. The indications are that this will not be forthcoming, partly for fear of antagonising voters in the more prosperous south.
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What the UK and hauliers can expect from long-delayed Brexit controls
From 1 January checks and paperwork will finally begin and EU exporters face a rude awakening
• ‘It won’t be easy’: the European exporters battling Brexit bureaucracy
EU exporters of cheese, car parts and other goods are facing a mountain of red tape to continue sales to Britain after 1 January once thrice-delayed post-Brexit checks and controls are finally implemented.
They had been due to come into force on 1 January 2021 but were pushed back to July, then to October and finally to January 2022, with a further set of controls due six months later in the coming July.
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‘Perfect storm’: a look back at a tumultuous year of Brexit and Covid
Analysis: UK trade has taken a double whammy and few believe new deals can make up the loss
When Britain fully left the European Union in January, it marked the start of a very difficult 12 months for the entrepreneur Rob Law, whose Trunki children’s suitcases used to sell well in mainland Europe.
“We’ve had so many logistical challenges,” he said. “It’s been the perfect storm.” While trade has picked up since the start of the year, supply bottlenecks and the coronavirus Omicron variant have added to the challenges posed by the end of the transition period.
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Step forward Liz Truss – willing wicker woman for the Brexit bonfire | Stewart Lee
Lord Frost’s exit from Brexit opens the door to the co-author of a book describing Brits as the world’s biggest wasters
In The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973), the key to the sacrifice’s efficacy is that Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodwoodward, 1930), embraces victimhood willingly. And so Liz Truss climbs into her photo-op tank and trundles gladly toward the burning wicker effigy of the role of Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union Brexit (formerly Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union), and the poisoned post claims another scalp. Greater love hath no man.
Lord Frost understood. Did he really exit his Exit Secretary job because he no longer agreed with Boris Johnson’s general direction of travel, namely lurching from one leaking honeypot to another like a priapic bear? Or did the lordly Exiteer realise he could not exit the European Union in a fashion that would garnish his square head with coveted laurels? And so, unzipping the tent flap into the howling Arctic gale of public opinion, Lord Frost declared: “I’m just going to the pub with Brexit hardman Steve Baker’s European Research Group. I may be some time. Masks optional, of course.”
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Johnson’s pig-headed reign approaches its tragicomic climax | William Keegan
Events in the run-up to Christmas have conspired like twists in a novel to reveal the true character of Tory Brexiters
There was a moment last year when Boris Johnson was reported to have gone awol (absent without leave) from governing the country in order to work on a book about Shakespeare.
At the time, many commentators blamed his absence for a crucial delay in decision-making which contributed to thousands of avoidable, Covid-related deaths. Be that as it may, or was, he returned to the helm of state, brushed off many a criticism, and managed to persuade gullible members of the media and electorate that he possessed Teflon qualities and was invincible.
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All revolutions devour their own children. Just look at the Brexiteers | Nick Cohen
Driven by ideological obsession, the Tories move still further from ordinary votersAs the Observer goes to press on Christmas Day, the UK’s ruling Conservatives are contemplating breaking the back of the National Health Service. Maybe they are right to avoid taking all but the most cursory precautions against Omicron. Perhaps the relative mildness of the new variant will outweigh its wild infectiousness. The fact remains that, although they want the crisis to be over, they have no idea if it is over. And on this speculative hope, Conservative MPs are prepared to run the potentially fatal political risk of collapsing the NHS.
So much attention focuses on Boris Johnson’s unfitness to be prime minister that the dissolution of the parliamentary Conservative party into warring bands of ideologues and fantasists is in danger of being lost. Its contempt for rules, its willingness to gamble away its chances of holding power show a movement in the grip of radical rightwing delusion. Contrary to much political commentary, the Conservatives have not reinvented themselves to advance the interests of their new working-class voters. The aristocratic disdain of a Downing Street that partied while forcing the country to lock down shows how widely the values of the Tory elite and the average voter have diverged.
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Brexit: Why is there a row over fishing rights?
Fishing licences near Jersey are threatening trade relations between the UK and France.
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The myth of an overcrowded Britain suits our island psyche – and this government | Andy Beckett
Through Brexit, the Tories effectively promised a less crowded and less cosmopolitan country. And that is what they have created
Britain is full. That vague but powerful assumption has shaped so much of our politics. From the Brexit campaign with its “breaking point” poster of a queue of migrants and refugees, and border-fixated home secretaries from Jack Straw to Priti Patel, to the regular immigration panics spread by newspapers to voters, the idea that these small islands have reached their maximum viable population has become hugely influential.
It’s a convenient situation for the right. Blame for congestion and strained public services can be placed on population growth and migrants, rather than on our profoundly unequal patterns of land ownership and use or Conservative cuts in state spending. But the idea that Britain is full – or too full already – also appeals more widely: to some environmentalists, to people who like peace and quiet, and dislike cities or new housing developments, or think that being British is a privilege that needs protecting. A fear of overcrowding is deep in our island psyche.
Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist
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The Guardian view on Liz Truss and Brexit: new chapter, same story | Editorial
Even with a will to be pragmatic, the foreign secretary will encounter high obstacles to a better relationship with Europe
Since her appointment as foreign secretary in September, Liz Truss has said little about the European Union. Her speeches exalt the UK as the broker of a global “network of liberty”, listing alliances with scarcely any reference to the club of democracies on Britain’s continental doorstep. That omission partly reflects the ideological temper of the Conservative party, to which Ms Truss is highly sensitised. It also expressed divisions of labour in the cabinet when David Frost was in charge of post-Brexit negotiations with Brussels. But since Lord Frost’s resignation, the European portfolio has returned to the Foreign Office. Silence on the subject is no longer an option for the secretary of state.
Her first intervention has been to restate Britain’s readiness to trigger article 16 of the withdrawal agreement, suspending its operation, if grievances regarding the Northern Ireland protocol are not satisfied. The terms demanded by Lord Frost for a renegotiation still stand.
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How twin pressures of Brexit and raw material shortage damaged GDP
Analysis: The UK’s revised-down Q3 figures should come as no surprise given business has been in second gear since 2016
If the newly revised-down figures for Britain’s economic performance in the third quarter show anything, it is that consumers played the starring role in the recovery while the industrial sector struggled under the twin pressures of Brexit and global raw material shortages.
This should not come as a surprise. Ever since 2016’s narrow vote to quit the EU, businesses, and especially manufacturers, have failed to move out of second gear.
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How France and Germany created the EU corona recovery fund
The corona recovery fund, now formally known as Next Generation EU, has been the European Union’s (EU) most important response to the economic and social damages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Unprecedently, the 27 member states entrusted the European Commission to borrow €750 billion and to allocate the money – in large parts in the […]
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Fair Taxation: Commission proposes to end the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes within the EU
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The Commission proposes the next generation of EU own resources
The new own resources proposed today will help to repay the funds raised by the EU to finance the grant component of NextGenerationEU. The new own resources should also finance the Social Climate Fund. The latter is an essential element of the proposed new Emissions Trading System covering buildings and road transport, and will contribute to ensuring that the transition to a decarbonised economy will leave no one behind.
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Council approves EU-UK fishing deal
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European Commission’s Agenda-setting Influence
Who sets the European Union’s policy agenda? The complex nature of the EU’s legislative process, combined with the lack of a clear hierarchy among the core EU institutions, means that it is hard to disentangle the policy contributions of different institutions and determine which one is ultimately responsible for the legislative priorities of the Union. […]
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European Health Union: An empowered HERA in future health emergencies
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Global Europe: the European Union sets out priority areas for cooperation with partner countries and regions around the world
The Commission has adopted the Multiannual Indicative Programmes (MIPs) of Global Europe setting out priority areas for cooperation with partner countries and regions around the world for 2021-27. This also includes the financial allocation for 2021-2024 (country level) and for 2021-2027 (regional level) that will support this cooperation for a total of almost €26.3 billion.
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EU Digital COVID Certificate: Commission adopts binding acceptance period of nine months for vaccination certificates
A clear and uniform acceptance period for vaccination certificates will guarantee that travel measures continue to be coordinated, as called for by the European Council following its latest meeting of 16 December 2021. The new rules will ensure restrictions are based on the best available scientific evidence as well as objective criteria.
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Look at the lauding of David Frost and see a government deranged by the poison of Brexit | Polly Toynbee
A once great election-winning machine is in freefall, brutally exposed by the exit of Johnson’s guru, and the mess left behind
Off he stomps in his union jack socks, the pantomime John Bull who caused so much damage by doing his master’s bidding. As David Frost, the former Brexit minister, departs in a self-important huff, his reasons for going illuminate the strange decline of a once great election-winning machine.
Frost’s resignation letter – which takes aim at Covid restrictions – usefully captures the Tory party’s deranged state of mind. Its call for “a lightly regulated, low-tax, entrepreneurial economy” brims with a primal yearning to liberalise health, safety and food regulations, and workers’ rights. Recently he warned that Brexit will fail if “all we do is import the European social model”. Of all the airily out-of-touch Conservative party conference speeches, his was the wildest: “The British renaissance has begun!”
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
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Deal or No Deal: Revisiting Theresa May’s Brexit Defeat
Theresa May and the shaping of the Brexit process With the provisional entry into force of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the dust is far from settled on the Brexit process. And yet the culmination of the formal stages of talks on the terms of withdrawal and the future relationship – however ‘thin’ […]
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David Frost says his resignation is not about PM's leadership – video
David Frost says his resignation as Brexit minister was over policy not Boris Johnson's leadership.
In his resignation letter (pdf) Lord Frost cited two policy issues he said had prompted his resignation: Covid restrictions, and the 'current direction of travel' in terms of taxation and regulation, generally. But many commentators thought he was being disingenuous and that a dispute over Brexit policy was the key factor
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Main results of the Environment Council
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European Commission authorises fifth safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19
The European Commission has granted a conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) for the COVID‑19 vaccine Nuvaxovid, developed by Novavax, the fifth COVID-19 vaccine authorised in the EU. This authorisation follows a positive scientific recommendation based on a thorough assessment of the safety, effectiveness and quality of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and is endorsed by the Member States.
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David Frost’s resignation leaves PM even more isolated in government
Analysis: trusted adviser’s departure is indicative of anger within Tory ranks over Boris Johnson’s domestic policy agenda
Even before David Frost’s departure from the government this weekend, Boris Johnson’s authority had for weeks been relentlessly battered by unforced errors and scandal.
However, the resignation of the man regarded by Tory rightwingers as the guarantor of a “clean Brexit” is a devastating blow for the prime minister’s authority – as well as depriving him of a trusted friend and adviser.
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Brexit: NI will get medicine at same time as GB, EU proposes
Under plans to simplify the NI Protocol, the EU says medicines will continue to be available.
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Northern Ireland: what are EU and UK proposing and will deal be done?
EU law on medicines may be rewritten and UK has climbed down over ECJ. Here’s what we know
The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020 and all EU rules fell away at the start of 2021. Soon after, a row broke out over the Northern Ireland protocol, the tortuously negotiated agreement to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market and customs union.
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Brexit: UK indicates European court may have NI Protocol role
It could mean the European Court of Justice ruling on EU law but not having a final say in disputes.
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Plenary highlights: Sakharov Prize, digital policy, gender equality
Alexei Navalny was awarded the 2021 Sakharov Prize, MEPs voted on laws shaping the digital world, and pushed for gender equality in the last plenary of 2021.
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In Europe, emergency politics has become unexceptional
After several systemic crises in a decade, emergency politics has taken hold in Europe. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and later the Covid-19 pandemic, governments have responded with exceptional measures. Along the way, they have accumulated extraordinary powers. We might be tempted to think that this form of politics is the natural […]
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EU institutions agree priorities for 2022 for a resilient and reinvigorated EU
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Main results of the European Council
EU leaders discussed developments related to COVID-19, crisis management and resilience, and external relations, including the situation in Belarus and Ukraine. They also debated security and defence, external aspects of migration and energy prices.
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New transport proposals target greater efficiency and more sustainable travel
To support the transition to cleaner, greener, and smarter mobility, in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Commission today adopted four proposals that will modernise the EU's transport system.
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Commission presents guide for a fair transition towards climate neutrality
The proposal pays particular attention to addressing the needs of the people and households that are highly dependent on fossil fuels and could be most affected by the green transition, and invites Member States to make optimal use of public and private funding and work in close cooperation with social partners.
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Towards resilient organizations and societies. A cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary perspective
What is resilience and how do different disciplines and fields approach it? What does resilience mean in different sectors? And what does resilience involve in times of global pandemic? These are some of the questions addressed in a new open access book Towards resilient organizations and societies. A cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary perspective, edited by Rómulo Pinheiro, […]
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Main results of the Foreign Affairs Council
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Commission takes action to improve lifelong learning and employability
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Strengthening human rights and democracy in the world: EU launches a €1.5 billion plan to promote universal values
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Brexit: Non-Irish EU citizens could face Irish border travel checks
Non-Irish EU citizens living in the Republic would need clearance under the proposed UK bill.
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Reform #6: Foreign affairs (vol. 1) – Comprehending our era
Introduction Supposing that most member states of the current European Union have found a way forward to a political union on the right ideological basis as described previously (see Enlightened Europism), the last act of reformation remaining is to redefine Europe’s role in the world. The Republic of the United Europe (or RUE) must realise […]
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The Commission proposes to extend the list of ‘EU crimes' to hate speech and hate crime
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Main results of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council
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Commission presents Action Plan to boost the social economy and create jobs
The European Commission has presented an Action Plan to help the European social economy thrive, tapping into its economic and job-creation potential, as well as its contribution to a fair and inclusive recovery, and the green and digital transitions.
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Police Cooperation Code: Boosting police cooperation across borders for enhanced security
The Police Cooperation Code – which includes a Recommendation on operational police cooperation and new rules on information sharing – will help improve cross-border operations, provide clear channels and timeframes for exchanging information and give Europol a stronger role.
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Commission makes software available to all to benefit businesses, innovators and areas of public interest
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EU strengthens protection against economic coercion
The aim is to deter countries from restricting or threatening to restrict trade or investment to bring about a change of policy in the EU in areas such as climate change, taxation or food safety. The anti-coercion instrument is designed to de-escalate and induce discontinuation of specific coercive measures through dialogue as a first step.
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Main results of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council
Ministers agreed on a proposal for a Council directive on rates of value added tax (VAT). The updates to the legislation aim to ensure member states are treated equally and give them more flexibility to apply reduced and zero VAT rates. The rules also aim to phase out preferential treatments for environmentally harmful goods.
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Council agrees on mandate for negotiations on a EU framework on adequate minimum wages
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Brexit: No breakthrough in latest NI Protocol talks
Maroš Šefčovič says it is "time to get medicines across the finish line" but again no deal is struck.
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UK plays down Brexit link in US steel tariff row
Reports suggesting a US decision to maintain tariffs on UK steel is linked to Brexit are rejected.
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Brexit: Special goods category 'would improve NI Protocol'
A think tank suggests "Northern-Ireland-approved goods" could be exempt from some EU rules.
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Brexit: EU could move unilaterally on NI medicines issue
Maroš Šefčovič says the EU is ready to move on its own over Northern Ireland's medicines problem.
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Asylum and return: Commission proposes temporary legal and practical measures to address the emergency situation at the EU's external border with Belarus
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Commission reiterates calls to step up vaccination, rapid deployment of boosters, vigilance and rapid reaction to Omicron variant
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Global Gateway: up to €300 billion for the European Union's strategy to boost sustainable links around the world
The European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy launch the Global Gateway, the new European Strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport and strengthen health, education and research systems across the world.
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Modernising judicial cooperation: Commission paves the way for further digitalisation of EU justice systems
The European Commission has adopted several initiatives to digitalise EU justice systems, making them more accessible and effective. The overarching aim of the measures is to make digital communication channels the default channel in cross-border judicial cases, thus translating one of the priorities set out in last year's Communication on the Digitalisation of Justice into action.
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Capital Markets Union: Commission proposes new measures to boost Europe's capital markets
The European Commission has adopted a package of measures to improve the ability of companies to raise capital across the EU and ensure that Europeans get the best deals for their savings and investments.
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Coronavirus: Commission proposes to strengthen coordination of safe travel in the EU
The European Commission has proposed to update the rules on coordination of safe and free movement in the EU, which were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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European Semester Autumn Package: rebounding stronger from the crisis and making Europe greener and more digital
The European Commission has launched the 2022 European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination. The European Semester Autumn Package includes the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey, Opinions on euro area Draft Budgetary Plans (DBPs) for 2022, policy recommendations for the euro area and the Commission's proposal for a Joint Employment Report.
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The news changed and we got Brexit
Brexit used to sit on the far side lines of politics. Indeed, the word ‘Brexit’ was only invented in 2012, and until the referendum, most people didn’t know what it meant. (Now it’s in the Oxford English dictionary.) Prior to 2011, tabloids such as the Daily Mail and Daily Express were more fixated on false […]
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Commission outlines contribution of competition policy and its review to green and digital transition, and to a resilient Single Market
The European Commission has adopted a Communication on a competition policy fit for new challenges, which frames the important role of competition policy for Europe's path towards recovery, the green and digital transitions, and for a resilient Single Market.
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European Green Deal: Commission adopts new proposals to stop deforestation
The Commission adopted three new initiatives that are necessary for making the European Green Deal a reality. The Commission is proposing new rules to curb EU-driven deforestation, as well as new rules to facilitate intra-EU waste shipments to promote circular economy and tackle the export of illegal waste and waste challenges to third countries.
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Agreement reached on 2022 EU budget
The Council reached an agreement with the European Parliament on the 2022 EU budget, setting total commitments at €169 515,8 million and payments at €170 603,3 million. Next year’s budget strongly reflects the EU’s main priorities: economic recovery, fighting climate change, and the green and digital transitions.
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Main results of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council
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Coronavirus: Commission approves contract with Valneva to secure a new potential vaccine
The European Commission approved the eighth contract with a pharmaceutical company with a view to purchasing its potential vaccine against COVID-19. The contract with Valneva provides for the possibility for all EU Member States to purchase almost 27 million doses in 2022.
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Main results of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council
Ministers exchanged views on the future of the EU’s economic governance following the COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed the energy price and inflation developments and shared their initial views on the Basel III package.
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What they want: The end of the EU
They want to see the end of the EU altogether. That’s been the aim of prominent Brexiters from the start. And it’s certainly the aim of the guy who started Brexit: former UKIP leader and MEP, and now President of the Reform Party, previously the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage. In September 2017, Mr Farage received […]
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'Serious consequences' if UK suspends post-Brexit deal, warns EU – video
Britain and the EU appear on the brink of a trade war after Brussels accused Boris Johnson of lacking sincerity in negotiations over Northern Ireland’s future. After the latest talks, the EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said that despite Brussels’ attempts to find a compromise, 'we have seen no move at all from the UK side'
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The party’s over
Only the Tories can now save Britain from the Tories. That may seem a strange thing to say, but even Tories know when things have gone too far. The Conservatives have dominated the 19th, 20th and, so far, the 21st centuries. Since the 1830s, the Conservatives have been in the business of winning. They are […]
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Will the UK trigger article 16 – and what will happen if it does?
How likely is it that Britain will trigger the Northern Ireland protocol clause, and could it lead to a trade war?
Fears are growing that the UK will trigger article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, potentially rupturing the already strained relations with the EU. If talks with the EU collapse, it is expected just after Cop26 in seven days’ time.
On Wednesday Ireland’s prime minister heightened concerns that this was almost a racing certainty after his bluntest warning yet to the UK that such a move would be “reckless”, “irresponsible” and have “far-reaching consequences”.
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UK welcomes France's reprieve on fishing row – video
The environment secretary has welcomed France's step back from threats to impose a blockade on British boats and goods in a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licenses. George Eustice denied the UK had acted in any way improperly and said it continued to abide by its obligations. France has been infuriated that some of its small boats are being denied permission to fish in waters around the UK and Channel Islands. 'We had an agreement on fisheries that we all concluded at the end of last year. We've been implementing that in good faith,' Eustice said
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Salty language: why are UK and France fighting over fishing licences?
At the heart of the row is the Brexit deal’s failure to spell out what proof French fishers need to get a permit
Britain and France have been at loggerheads over post-Brexit fishing licences for UK waters since the start of the year. Talks are continuing but both sides have threatened action – and mistranslations have not helped.
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COP26: European Commission announces €1 billion pledge to protect world forests
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced €1 billion at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow as the European Union contribution to the Global Forests Finance Pledge. This 5-year support package from the EU budget will help partner countries to protect, restore and sustainably manage forests worldwide and deliver on the Paris Agreement.
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Liz Truss says France is behaving 'unfairly’ in Brexit fishing row – video
The British foreign secretary criticises the French, accusing Paris of making unreasonable and unwarranted threats and again hinting that President Emmanuel Macron is playing to the crowd, with the forthcoming election in mind. 'The French have behaved unfairly. It’s not within the terms of the trade deal,' she adds. 'And if someone behaves unfairly in a trade deal you’re entitled to take action against them and seek some compensatory measures'
- France has 48 hours to back down in fishing row, warns Liz Truss
- French fishing industry divided over sanctions on UK trawlers
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'Two can play at that game': UK threatens retaliation in France fishing row – video
George Eustice, the environment secretary, has said the UK is considering retaliatory measures against French vessels as a row over fishing rights escalates. 'It is always open to us to increase the enforcement we do on French vessels, to board them, if that is what they do to our vessels,' Eustice said.
The UK has summoned France's ambassador in London and put two Royal Navy patrol vessels on a state of 'high readiness' to tackle potential port blockades after France reacted with fury over reduced access to post-Brexit fishing permits. On Thursday, French maritime police seized a British trawler found in its territorial waters without a licence
- Macron’s re-election hopes may be driving Brexit fishing row, says Eustice
- UK summons French ambassador as fishing rights row escalates
- France to use ‘language of force’ in post-Brexit fishing rights row
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Commission strengthens cybersecurity of wireless devices and products
The Commission has taken action to improve the cybersecurity of wireless devices available on the European market. As mobile phones, smart watches, fitness trackers and wireless toys are more and more present in our everyday life, cyber threats pose a growing risk for every consumer.
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Banking Package 2021: new EU rules to strengthen banks' resilience and better prepare for the future
The European Commission has adopted a review of EU banking rules (the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive). These new rules will ensure that EU banks become more resilient to potential future economic shocks, while contributing to Europe's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to climate neutrality.
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State of the Energy Union 2021: Renewables overtake fossil fuels as the EU's main power source
The Commission adopted its State of the Energy Union Reports for 2021, taking stock of the progress that the EU is making in delivering the clean energy transition, nearly two years after the launch of the European Green Deal.
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Telegraph spreads nonsense about the EU
Former Conservative MEP, Daniel Hannan, has penned an article for The Telegraph with the headline: ‘Poland is learning, as Britain did, that the EU will never let its members be sovereign’ What nonsense. The EU is not a foreign power lording over the members. The EU IS the members. All EU laws and treaties are […]
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Plenary highlights: Poland, Sakharov Prize, climate, food
MEPs said the primacy of EU law must be upheld in Poland, welcomed the EU's new farm to fork strategy and awarded Alexei Navalny the 2021 Sakharov Prize.
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Main results of the European Council
EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss COVID-19, energy prices, trade and external relations. They also held a debate on the rule of law and discussed migration and the EU’s digital transition.
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Commission relaunches the review of EU economic governance
The European Commission has adopted a Communication that takes stock of the changed circumstances for economic governance in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and relaunches the public debate on the review of the EU's economic governance framework.
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BBC Question Time fails to answer my questions
On last week’s BBC Question Time (7 October) host Fiona Bruce announced: “The majority of you voted FOR Brexit in this audience.” She explained: “We select this audience very carefully to be representative”. Her response came after a comment from a member of the audience who said: “We’ve got a lack of foreign workers which […]
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Šefčovič: EU turning rules 'upside down and inside out' to ease post-Brexit tensions – video
The European Union has turned its rules 'upside down and inside out' to ease post-Brexit tensions, the EU's Brexit commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said on Wednesday. Referring specifically to a proposal on the transit of medicine between Northern Ireland and the UK, the Slovak commissioner said the EU sought by doing so to 'find a solid solution to an outstanding challenge'. He added that the priority of the EU was to protect the 'hard-earned gains' of the Good Friday agreement
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Energy prices: Commission presents a toolbox of measures to tackle exceptional situation and its impacts
The Commission adopted a Communication on Energy Prices, to tackle the exceptional rise in global energy prices, which is projected to last through the winter, and help Europe's people and businesses.
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Brexit: What has the European Court of Justice got to do with the NI Protocol?
The UK government wants the European Court of Justice removed from oversight of the NI Protocol.
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EU-Ukraine summit
The summit reaffirmed the continued commitment to strengthening the political association and economic integration of Ukraine with the European Union, and the European Union's unwavering support to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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Afghanistan: Commission announces €1 billion Afghan support package
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Welcome to BBC Brexit Time
The member of the audience at the very back of the studio took presenter Fiona Bruce by surprise on BBC Brexit, sorry, Question Time. Said the jacketed, bespectacled gentleman: “A lot of people voted for Brexit because they didn’t want foreign workers taking our jobs,” “And now, that’s exactly the situation that we’ve got. We’ve […]
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Zero pollution: Commission report shows more needs to be done against water pollution from nitrates
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Commission to provide 60,000 rail passes to young Europeans
The Commission will provide free travel rail passes to 60,000 Europeans aged from 18 to 20 years, thanks to DiscoverEU. Applications open tomorrow, 12 October, at noon and close on 26 October, at noon, for a travel period in 2022, which will be the European Year of Youth.
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Plenary highlights: energy prices, tax revelations, Arctic
MEPs discussed solutions to the current energy price hikes as well as new tax avoidance revelations during October's first plenary session.
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Disability rights: A European Disability Card to harmonise status across the EU
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Main results of the Justice and Home Affairs Council
Ministers held a debate on pre-trial detention, an issue which has an impact on individual freedoms and is also important for mutual trust and mutual recognition. They were also informed about the latest developments regarding the setting up of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO).
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Boris Johnson and the Tory bubble
Boris Johnson’s keynote speech at the Conservatives annual conference was most remarkable and shocking for what he didn’t mention. ▪ No mention of drivers having to queue up for petrol, necessitating the army to help. But he did say, “Isn’t it amazing to be here in person?” ▪ No mention that the cost of heating […]
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EU-Western Balkans summit, Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia
During the summit, EU leaders adopted a declaration, with which the Western Balkans leaders have aligned themselves. The declaration reaffirms the EU's unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
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Main results of the Environment Council
EU environment ministers met in Luxembourg to exchange views on the Fit for 55 package, prepare the COP26 climate summit and discuss the new EU forest strategy for 2030.
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Use of artificial intelligence by the police: MEPs oppose mass surveillance
To combat discrimination and ensure the right to privacy, MEPs demand strong safeguards when artificial intelligence tools are used in law enforcement.
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Commission presents first-ever EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life
The European Commission presented the first-ever EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life. With antisemitism worryingly on the rise, in Europe and beyond, the Strategy sets out a series of measures articulated around three pillars: to prevent all forms of antisemitism; to protect and foster Jewish life; and to promote research, education and Holocaust remembrance.
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Main results of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council
Economy and financial affairs ministers discussed the economic recovery, in particular the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the implementation of the SURE instrument and Malta's national recovery and resilience plan. They also continued preparations for international meetings, including the G20, IMFC and COP26.
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True Tories were Remainers
The party may bear the same name, but Conservatives today are not the same as Conservatives of yesterday. The party has morphed into the Brexit party by deterring or kicking out any MP or Parliamentary candidate who supports EU membership. Or else, Tory MPs and government ministers who used to support Remain have simply transitioned […]
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Two-faced Tories
There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind. But there is something wrong with changing your mind and not allowing others to. That basically sums up those Tories who supported Remain in the referendum but then switched to Leave. They didn’t give much of an explanation for doing so, except to say it’s what ‘the country voted […]
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Rishi Sunak says Brexit will be worth it for the economy in the long term – video
In his speech to the annual Conservative party conference, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said when he backed Brexit five years ago, he was told his political career would be over before it had begun. He went on to outline why, despite the challenges, he believes Britain's departure from the EU will be positive for the UK
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Main results of the Eurogroup meeting
The Eurogroup discussed macro-economic developments in the euro area, including inflation and energy price developments.
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Why Labour should not have supported Brexit
A reader commented that the result of the referendum was clear, and Labour was right to support it. I disagree. The result of the referendum was not clear, and Leave only won by lying and law-breaking on an industrial scale. Brexit has gone ahead on the say-so of a mere 37% of the electorate and […]
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Commission proposes partial suspension of EU–Belarus Visa Facilitation Agreement for officials of the Belarus regime
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Main results of the Competitiveness Council (Internal market and industry)
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Commission launches EU missions to tackle major challenges
The Commission launches five new EU missions, a new and innovative way to work together and improve the lives of people in Europe and beyond. EU missions aim to tackle big challenges in health, climate and the environment, and to achieve ambitious and inspiring goals in these areas.
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New Pact on Migration and Asylum: reporting on developments and stepping up fight against migrant exploitation
One year on from the adoption of the proposal for a New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Commission is presenting a Report on Migration and Asylum. The Commission is also adopting a renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling and a Communication on the application of the Employers Sanctions Directive.
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Main results of the Competitiveness Council (Research)
EU research ministers adopted conclusions on the EU’s global approach to research and innovation and discussed the new European Research Area.
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European Health Union: Towards a reform of EU's pharmaceutical legislation
As part of its work to create a future-proof and crisis-resilient regulatory framework for the pharmaceutical sector, the Commission has published a public consultation on the revision of the EU's pharmaceutical legislation. This is the latest step towards an ambitious reform as announced in the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, adopted in November 2020.
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Council adopts a €5 billion Brexit adjustment reserve
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Merkel's likely successor suggests end of free movement caused UK fuel shortage – video
Olaf Scholz, who is seeking to form a coalition government after the SPD emerged as the biggest party in Germany’s federal elections, said he hoped Boris Johnson would be able to deal with the consequences of the UK’s exit from the EU
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Energy Transition: Commission announces three Energy Compacts at UN High-Level Dialogue in New York
At the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy this week in New York, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans and Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson presented three Energy Compacts, in partnership with the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency.
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Healthy Lifestyle: Commission launches a European-wide campaign
The Commission launched the HealthyLifestyle4All campaign to promote a healthy lifestyle for all, across generations and social groups, with the objective to improve the health and well-being of Europeans. Linking sport and active lifestyles with health, food and other policies, this two-year campaign involves civil society, non-governmental organisations, national, local and regional authorities and international bodies.
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Agriculture: Launch of an annual EU organic day
Today, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission celebrate the launch of an annual ‘EU organic day'. The three institutions signed a joint declaration establishing from now on each 23 September as EU organic day. This follows up on the Action Plan for the development of organic production, adopted by the Commission on 25 March 2021, which announced the creation of such a day to raise awareness of organic production.
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Europeans strongly support science and technology according to new Eurobarometer survey
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European Green Deal: Commission launches public consultation for cleaner air
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Pulling the plug on consumer frustration and e-waste: Commission proposes a common charger for electronic devices
The Commission takes an important step against e-waste and consumer inconvenience, caused by the prevalence of different, incompatible chargers for electronic devices. Years of working with industry on a voluntary approach already brought down the number of mobile phone chargers from 30 to 3 within the last decade, but could not deliver a complete solution. The Commission is now putting forward legislation to establish a common charging solution for all relevant devices.
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Stepping up legal action: Commission urges 19 Member States to implement EU digital and media laws
The Commission takes legal action against 19 Member States failing to deliver the benefits of EU digital legislation in the area of audio-visual media and telecommunications.
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Joe Biden warns UK not to damage Northern Ireland peace over Brexit – video
Joe Biden has underlined the importance of ensuring peace in Northern Ireland is not jeopardised by post-Brexit tensions. Asked about a UK-US trade deal, the US president told reporters in Washington on Tuesday: 'There are two separate issues: on the deal with the UK, that continues to be discussed, but on the protocols, I feel very strongly about those. It was a major bipartisan effort made, and I would not at all like to see – nor, I might add, would many of my Republican colleagues – like to see a change in the Irish accords, and the end result having a closed border again'
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Coronavirus: Commission signs contract for the supply of a monoclonal antibody treatment
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EU and Colombia today open a new chapter to strengthen bilateral relations
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SURE: Report confirms instrument's success in protecting jobs and incomes
The Commission has published its second report on the impact of SURE, the €100 billion instrument designed to protect jobs and incomes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.The report finds that SURE has been successful in cushioning the severe socio-economic impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. National labour market measures supported by SURE are estimated to have reduced unemployment by almost 1.5 million people in 2020.
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Trade and sustainability: Commission proposes new EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences to promote sustainable development in low-income countries
The Commission has adopted the legislative proposal for the new EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) for the period 2024-2034. The Commission is proposing to improve some of the key features of the scheme to better respond to the evolving needs and challenges of GSP countries as well as reinforce the scheme's social, labour environmental and climate dimension.
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Reviewing EU insurance rules: encouraging insurers to invest in Europe's future
The European Commission has today adopted a comprehensive review of EU insurance rules (known as “Solvency II”) so that insurance companies can scale up long-term investment in Europe's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Main results of the General Affairs Council
Ministers assessed the state of play in EU-UK relations, in light of recent events regarding the implementation of the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič updated ministers on the latest developments, including his recent visit to Ireland and Northern Ireland, and ministers reiterated their support for the European Commission's approach.
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Commission launches new Erasmus+ app with an integrated European Student Card
Today, the Commission launched the new Erasmus+ application, marking a new milestone in the digitalisation of the Erasmus+ programme. The new application, available in all EU languages, will provide a digital European Student Card to each student, valid all across the European Union. The future is digital, and this renewed app will make sure students are going even more paperless.
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EU announces additional €119.5 million support to democracy and human rights for 2021
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Joint EU-US Press Release on the Global Methane Pledge
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Mediterranean and Black Seas: Commission proposes fishing opportunities for 2022
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Plenary highlights: State of the EU, Afghanistan, health
MEPs discussed the state of the EU and the situation in Afghanistan and approved the EU Blue Card reform and a fund to help with the impact of Brexit during September's plenary session.
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European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA): Getting ready for future health emergencies
The European Commission is launching the European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to health emergencies. HERA will anticipate threats and potential health crises, through intelligence gathering and building the necessary response capacities.
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Team Europe: €34 billion disbursed so far to tackle COVID-19 in partner countries
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European Health Union: better disease prevention and cross-border cooperation
MEPs are ready to negotiate with member states to reinforce the EU’s disease prevention and control framework and jointly tackle cross-border health threats. The proposal to extend the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was adopted with 598 votes in favour, 84 against and 13 abstentions.
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State of the Union 2021
In her State of the Union address on 15 September 2021, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen outlined flagship initiatives which the Commission plans to undertake in the coming year.
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State of the Union: Commission proposes a Path to the Digital Decade to deliver the EU's digital transformation by 2030
Today, the Commission proposed a Path to the Digital Decade, a concrete plan to achieve the digital transformation of our society and economy by 2030. The proposed Path to the Digital Decade will translate the EUʼs digital ambitions for 2030 into a concrete delivery mechanism.
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State of the Union: Commission calls on Member States to improve journalists' safety across the EU
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New European Bauhaus: new actions and funding to link sustainability to style and inclusion
Today, the Commission adopts a Communication setting out the concept of the New European Bauhaus. This includes a number of policy actions and funding possibilities. The project aims at accelerating the transformation of various economic sectors such as construction and textiles in order to provide access to all citizens to goods that are circular and less carbon intensive.
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NextGenerationEU: Fourth bond issuance maintains strong momentum for EU borrowing for recovery
The European Commission has today raised a further €9 billion to support Europe's recovery from the coronavirus crisis and its consequences, through the fourth NextGenerationEU bond issuance since the start of the programme in mid-June.
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Same-sex marriages and partnerships should be recognised across the EU
The EU should lift all obstacles facing LGBTIQ people when exercising their basic rights, say MEPs. In a resolution on the rights of LGBTIQ persons in the EU (adopted with 387 votes in favour, 161 against and 123 abstaining), the European Parliament emphasises that these citizens should be able to fully exercise their rights, including the right to free movement, everywhere in the Union.
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Protocol not the problem says EU amid Northern Ireland border row – video
The EU has pushed back sharply against demands the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol be scrapped, warning that a renegotiation would merely lead to more instability for traders and communities. The European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, added: 'A renegotiation of the protocol, as the UK government is suggesting, would mean instability, uncertainty and unpredictability in Northern Ireland'
- DUP may walk out of Stormont power-sharing over Brexit protocol
- The Guardian view on the DUP’s Brexit choice: save the protocol or save Stormont
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Main results of the Eurogroup meeting
The Eurogroup discussed the economic situation and how to manage the uneven impact of COVID-19 in the euro area. Ministers also looked into the corporate solvency and adjustment capacity in the recovery period and were informed by the ECB on the latest steps related to the digital euro project.
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2021 Strategic Foresight Report: Enhancing the EU's long-term capacity and freedom to act
The Commission has adopted its second annual Strategic Foresight Report – “The EU's capacity and freedom to act”. This Communication presents a forward-looking and multidisciplinary perspective on the EU's open strategic autonomy in an increasingly multipolar and contested global order.
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Checkatrade boss warns of shortage of skilled trade workers
Richard Harpin says it should be made easier for EU bathroom fitters and kitchen installers to come to the UK.
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Brexit: What is a level playing field?
What is a level playing field in trade and what has it got to do with Brexit?
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How tampon tax, hedgerows and sanctions have changed since Brexit
Tampon tax, hedgerows and sanctions: what's changed since Brexit?
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Turing Scheme: What is the Erasmus replacement?
What will Brexit mean for students in the UK wanting to work or study abroad?
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Brexit: How much disruption has there been so far?
It has been a month since the rules changed in the UK's relationship with the EU.
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Brexit: What you need to know about the UK leaving the EU
The UK and EU begin a new relationship on 1 January 2021.
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Brexit: How will it affect my holiday to Spain? And other questions
We answer some of your questions about Brexit.
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Brexit: What are the key points of the deal?
These are the most important aspects of the UK-EU deal, and what they mean for people's lives and businesses.
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Article 50, backstop etc: Brexit jargon explained
From free trade agreement to no deal, find out what the key terms mean.
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Brexit: Where are we now?
It's been out of the headlines for the past few months, but Brexit is back on the political menu
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Post-Brexit deal: What's happening in the UK-EU talks?
Both sides will soon have to decide when and how they compromise, or whether they are willing to walk away.
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Brexit: What happens now?
Brexit officially happened on 31 January but the UK is now in a transition period until the end of 2020.
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Brexit trade deal: What do the UK and EU want?
The UK and EU have set out their stalls for negotiations on their future relationship.
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Brexit timeline told through culture
We take you through what's happened in the world since the EU referendum was announced.
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Brexit: How did we get here? The past four years in two minutes
It's been more than three years since the UK voted to leave the European Union but how did we get here?
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Brexit Basics: What is the backstop?
Confused by Brexit jargon? Reality Check unpacks the basics.
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Brexit: Your simple guide to the UK leaving the EU
Feeling a little lost about what's going on with Brexit? Here's our basic guide.
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Brexit video explainers
BBC correspondents on the background, jargon, (and some of the) questions and answers as the UK prepares to leave the EU.
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