Michel Barnier has told bloc he is prepared for four more days of make-or-break negotiations

Michel Barnier has told MEPs he is prepared for a further four days of make-or-break Brexit negotiations, with growing scepticism among EU member states about the utility of further talks.

Having spent a week in isolation after a member of the bloc’s team tested positive for coronavirus, Barnier and his staff resumed face-to-face negotiations in London on Saturday morning.

Most people in Britain were brought up in a country that offered the faint hope of justice. The police would investigate corruption, if only occasionally. Politicians would dodge and weave but avoid flat-out lies. Political parties had moral standards, however flexible, and if a minister disgraced himself or herself they could resign. Opposition politicians, journalists, satirists, charities and alliances of concerned citizens worked on the assumption that if they exposed wrongdoing there was a chance it would stop.

I don’t wish to romanticise the past. My small point is that we have not always been as shamefully governed as we are governed today. Countries change and not always for the better. Corruptions of public life in Britain that were once challenged now pass unpunished. The old codes that restrained the powerful have proved useless against politicians who say: “We can break them and no one can stop us.” Boris Johnson’s administration now lies as a matter of policy and a matter of course.

Leader planning to throw weight behind a deal if last-minute negotiations succeed in coming days

Keir Starmer is preparing to risk a party rift by throwing Labour’s weight behind a Brexit deal if last-minute negotiations succeed in the coming days.

In what he hopes will be a signal to “red wall” voters that the party has heard them, multiple Labour sources said Starmer, and Cabinet Office shadow minister, Rachel Reeves – who has been liaising with backbenchers on the issue – are minded to impose a three-line whip in support of a deal, subject to the detail.

British tourists, chalet owners and resort staff wait for winter season decisions across Europe

British holidaymakers, chalet owners and resort staff are in limbo as countries across Europe decide whether or not this winter’s ski season will go ahead.

This week, Britain’s biggest ski operator Crystal Ski Holidays was forced to cancel all its French ski trips in December after President Macron ordered the nation’s resorts to stay shut until the new year.

The prime minister needs to look beyond 31 December and start repairing relations with Britain’s neighbours

Boris Johnson has said that Britain will “prosper mightily” in the event that no trade deal is agreed with the EU before the end of the year. That hypothesis is coming dangerously close to being tested.

Brexit talks continue in London this weekend, with signals that a free trade deal is achievable by the end of the year, but far from certain. The areas where differences remain are mainly fishing, state subsidies, and the mechanism for enforcing whatever is agreed. Those are not minor issues.

Activists deface dozens of road signs on county border referencing fears of unsanitary gridlock

Road signs at the Kent border welcoming drivers to the “Garden of England” have been defaced by anti-Brexit protesters to label the county the “Toilet of England”.

A group called EU Flag Mafia said they had used “scissors and stickers” to transform dozens of signs at 27 entry roads across the 90-mile county border.

Rolling coverage of the latest business and markets news, as England prepares to exit its national Covid lockdown

4.22pm GMT

The FTSE 100 has managed to pare its losses and is now trading just 0.1% lower, having been down nearly 0.9% in morning trading.

But the more domestically-focused FTSE 250 is still taking a hit, down 0.9% for the session.

2.35pm GMT

US stock are climbing at the open:

U.S. stocks open higher https://t.co/pwJnv88tel pic.twitter.com/e7pt0LonqZ

UK’s failure to offer assurances over regulatory changes is causing delays, EU diplomats told

The City of London is facing fresh Brexit uncertainty after Brussels raised doubts over access to the EU market being granted by the end of the year for firms in any of the 26 areas of the financial services sector awaiting decisions.

Diplomats for the EU’s member states were told in a behind-closed-doors meeting in Brussels that the failure of the British government to offer assurances over regulatory changes after 1 January was holding up the so-called “equivalence decisions”.

It is a kind of madness that a thin deal or no deal is government policy. Labour has a choice to make, and fast

Envy is an unworthy emotion, and yet I feel it. It first struck on Monday, as Joe Biden announced his top tier of cabinet appointments, naming a team of calm, competent, deeply experienced lieutenants that will contrast sharply with Britain’s cabinet of all the talentless. The green-eyed demon struck again on Thursday as I watched Biden issue a series of Thanksgiving messages with a warmth and humanity alien to the man he will succeed. It’s clearer every day that in electing Biden and rejecting Donald Trump, Americans are moving to undo the great error they made in 2016. I envy that – because we are still stuck with ours.

Of course Trumpism will live on in some form, but in January 2021 Americans will formally conclude the chapter that opened with Trump’s victory four years ago. In the same month, we will start our Brexit story in earnest, leaving the European Union not just in name but in practice. As America’s encounter with the reality of 2016-vintage populist nationalism ends, so ours will begin.

French government tells EU chief negotiator to remember that UK needs a deal more than the EU

The French government has urged Michel Barnier not to be intimidated in the Brexit standoff with Downing Street, as his British counterpart hinted at pressure on him to end the talks.

During a briefing on Friday, the EU’s chief negotiator advised ambassadors that he would resume the negotiations in London, despite his threat to pull out earlier in the week.

Ministers have refused to sign safeguards, potentially spelling disaster for farmers after Brexit

Ministers’ pledges to preserve the UK’s food and farming standards after Brexit will not prevent the import of lower-standard products and could spell potential disaster for Britain’s farmers, a report has found.

The government has repeatedly promised that a ban on chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef would remain in place after Brexit, and has made changes to the way future trade bills will be scrutinised. But ministers have refused to sign safeguards on imported food into law, despite pressure from consumers and civil society groups.

I’d rather chew my arm off than celebrate leaving the EU. But this event may help us retell our national story

If there’s one thing everyone in this country can still agree on, it’s that expecting us to agree on anything is doomed.

So when Theresa May unveiled her plans for a Festival of Brexit Britain, to be staged in 2022 in the vain hope of glueing a divided country back together again, she did so to near-universal derision. What the hell was Brexit culture, anyway? Spam fritters, Rule Britannia, and Nigel Farage leading a flotilla out from Dover to set fire to a few symbolic French fishing boats? Snarking about how impossibly lame Festival UK 2022 (as it’s officially known) was going to be – on a par with one of those rip-off British “winter wonderlands”, which turns out to consist of a drunk Santa and some angry elves brawling in a muddy car park – has been one of the few genuine joys of recent years. But now even that seems to have been taken away from us, with the horrible prospect that it might actually be ... not that bad?

Three outstanding issues have to be resolved: fishing, standards and domestic subsidies, and dispute resolution

• EU threatens to pull out of Brexit talks if UK refuses compromise

In just over five weeks, the UK will leave the EU’s single market and customs union with or without a trade and security deal. Much of the 600-plus pages of legal text is complete, but three outstanding issues remain to be resolved. Such are the differences between the two sides that it is likely the politicians will have to take over from the negotiators, who are running out of track given their respective mandates.

Related: EU threatens to pull out of Brexit talks if UK refuses to compromise

Michel Barnier says further negotiations would be pointless if UK does not change stance

• Brexit talks: the sticking points

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has warned David Frost that without a major negotiating shift by Downing Street within the next 48 hours he will pull out of the Brexit negotiations in London this weekend, pushing the talks into a fresh crisis.

In talks via videoconference on Tuesday, Barnier told his British counterpart that further negotiations would be pointless if the UK was not willing to compromise on the outstanding issues.

Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday it was still uncertain if a deal on the future relationship between the EU and the UK could be struck before the end of the year. The European commission president  said mechanisms to resolve differences should be clear to avoid reliving the withdrawal agreement implementation controversy 

• Von der Leyen: EU willing to be 'creative' to seal Brexit deal
  

Arguments over fish stocks have been blocking a wider trade deal. How did it come to this and why does it matter?

US President-elect Joe Biden says he would like to avoid a guarded border between the UK and Ireland as Brexit negotiations continue. Speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said "We do not want a guarded border. We want to make sure – we’ve worked too long to get Ireland worked out, and I talked with the British prime minister, I talked with the Taoiseach, I talked with others, I talked to the French. The idea of having a border north and south once again being closed is just not right, we’ve just got to keep the border open."

• 'America is back': Biden and Harris announce first cabinet picks – live

To one sort of capitalist, the insecurity and chaos that Brexit will bring is horrifying. To the other, it is highly profitable

Where there is chaos, the government will multiply it. Where people are pushed to the brink, it will shove them over. Boris Johnson ignored the pleas of businesses and politicians across the UK – especially in Northern Ireland – to extend the Brexit transition process. Never mind the pandemic, never mind unemployment, poverty and insecurity – nothing must prevent our experiment in unassisted flight. We will leap from the white cliffs on 1 January, come what may.

Perhaps, after so much macho bluster, the government will take the last of its last chances and strike a deal this week. If so, with scarcely any time for refinement, the agreement is likely to be rushed and bodged. In any event, pain will follow. Disruption at the border is likely to be felt across the nation.

British people have a bizarrely hysterical relationship with the festive season – and Boris Johnson is taking advantage

One thing I have noticed, peering at people’s lives on Instagram Stories, is that some of us are celebrating Christmas early this year. Nothing too major – a tree here, a dazzle of fairy lights there, a mince pie snuck into a mouth in the actual month of November – but you can feel it building: not an anticipation, exactly, and not the giddiness of Christmases past, but almost a festive sigh: well, there’s not much else to do, is there? Let’s just put up a tree. Normally I would find this behaviour so tacky it would verge on the morally reprehensible, but honestly, it’s 2020. Let people have their tinsel and listen to Wham!.

The way I see it, there are three main reasons for this: boredom (lockdown is boring), a fundamental, bone-deep craving for joy (this year has – whichever way you spin it – been a miserable one), and the bizarrely hysterical relationship this country has with the concept of Christmas. I am a Christmas apologist – I love Christmas, sorry! It slaps! But it is supposed to come in waves, and this time in any normal year we would be deep into the eye-rolling phase of the festivities: the turkey–stuffing sandwiches announced with a fanfare in the various meal deals, the first jingle of Christmas music over the supermarket sound system, the faux snow on the windows, the stacked tubs of Celebrations, an annoyingly cheerful e-invite to an office party being held, inexplicably, on a Tuesday evening. The first phase of Christmas is a groan, but then, slowly, joyously, you warm to it: you hum some Shakin’ Stevens; you eat a small round chocolate wrapped in foil to look like a sprout; you come to, half-cut, at someone else’s dinner table, wearing a pair of reindeer antlers you don’t remember seeing before. Whether you want it to or not, Christmas catches up with you in the end.

The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has warned that the economic cost of a no-deal Brexit would be bigger in the long term than the damage caused by Covid-19.

The fallout from the pandemic and the second national lockdown in England was having a much bigger short-term impact on the economy, Bailey said, but he argued the lack of a trade agreement would cause long-lasting damage when he spoke to MPs at a Treasury committee meeting

• No-deal Brexit to cost more than Covid, Bank of England governor says

The British public does not echo Reform UK’s scepticism over virus rules

A few weeks back, I was pondering whether it’s a case of once a sceptic, always a sceptic. Specifically, what the overlap might be between Euroscepticism and lockdown scepticism in Britain. It’s this exact overlap that Nigel Farage is seeking to exploit with his rebranding of the Brexit party as the anti-lockdown Reform UK.

Luckily, a timely piece of political analysis from Professor Tim Bale and Dr Alan Wager sets out to assess how many people sit with Nigel in “the centre of that Venn diagram” of scepticisms.

The Tory rhetoric on the UK’s future after Brexit has no clear vision and even less strategy

The “global Britain” mantra was adopted by Theresa May at the 2016 Conservative party conference in an attempt to define the country’s post-Brexit relationship with the world. According to the Foreign Office, it means “investing in our relationships, championing the rules-based international order and demonstrating that the UK is open, outward-looking and confident on the world stage”.

The fact that this is what postwar Britain has always done, or tried to do, has not deterred Boris Johnson from pretending it is a new idea. Yet his government has repeatedly failed to articulate coherent strategies for realising these laudable aims. An example is its the still-delayed integrated defence and foreign policy review. At a time when key relationships with the US, Europe and China face enormous strains, this lack of vision and direction is very damaging.

Winston Churchill should be held to account when Britain throws itself out of the EU. Who is to blame for breaking up and impoverishing the United Kingdom? Churchill, by his followers’ own admission. Who is responsible for the border in the Irish Sea, the food shortages, the irresistible rise of Scottish nationalism, the needless blows to the stricken economy of a plague-ridden nation? No need to ask: Winston’s been at it again.

Not the Churchill of history, but a Churchillian delusion that has been a generation in the making. Its falsity will become apparent on 1 January. Until then, Tories can still pretend that their promises that Brexit would enrich us weren’t false. They can still opine that once “Boris” has completed Brexit he can move on to levelling up or tackling Covid or whatever other issue flits through his half-formed mind. They still don’t realise that in a few weeks their words will sound as absurd as saying: “After I’ve broken my legs, I will run a marathon.”

The chancellor’s scope for long-term planning on Wednesday is limited – but there may still be significant signals of change

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced Rishi Sunak to postpone both his planned autumn budget and the announcement of plans for public spending until the middle of the decade. So uncertain is the short-term outlook that the chancellor will now outline what the government intends to spend for one year only, 2021-22. These are some of the things to look out for.

Ursula von der Leyen has expressed optimism over Brexit negotiations, saying there had been progress and movement on important files, despite weeks at near standstill.

The European commission president has been attending negotiations virtually while the chief EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, is in self-isolation after a close official tested positive for coronavirus.

A trade and security agreement with Britain is close to being finalised, EU ambassadors have been told, but the risk remains of an accidental no-deal Brexit in six weeks

• Brexit deal close to being finalised, EU ambassadors told

The new year will bring changes in trade and security regardless of a breakthrough in talks with the EU. Here’s how

A “major breakthrough” will be needed to seal a Brexit deal in the coming days. But the public and businesses face significant changes and disruption to day-to-day life and trade from 11pm on 31 December, deal or no deal.

Back in January the UK committed to a “hard Brexit”, quitting the customs union and the single market. The new year will see the end of 30 years of trading conventions, easy tourist travel and French or Spanish retirement dreams. It also creates potential gaps in policing, funding nightmares for science and a mountain of red tape for heavy industries.

Infighting laid bare by Lee Cain’s exit shows Vote Leave camp is clinging on to power

Brexit is fewer than 50 days away. Many would have expected that come 1 January, when the “oven ready” departure from the EU is finally served up, the influence of the Vote Leave operation within Downing Street would inevitably fade and decline, paving the way for a new era of leadership by Boris Johnson focused on a sovereign and global Britain.

After all, he spoke in February of the “great voyage” the country was embarking upon, warning other countries not to underestimate’s the UK’s determination to make its mark on the world with an “independent voice”.

PM urged to recognise pursuit of no-deal Brexit would be regarded as serious error by US

Boris Johnson faces a catastrophe in terms of future relations with Washington if he pursues a no-deal Brexit, the former head of the Foreign Office and a succession of ex-ambassadors have said.

The calls add pressure on the UK to revise its internal market bill, currently in the Lords, that includes clauses enabling the UK to breach international law and set up a hard border on the island of Ireland, a move deeply opposed by Joe Biden’s foreign policy team.

The UK prime minister insisted there is scope for cooperation with the incoming Biden administration as he congratulated the Democrat and his running mate Kamala Harris.

Biden, who has Irish ancestry, has made it clear there will be no agreement on a post-Brexit UK-US trade deal if a no-deal outcome threatens the Good Friday agreement. 

‘There is far more that unites the government of this country and governments in Washington at any stage than divides us,’ Johnson said.

• How Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the fight for America’s soul – video
  
• Donald Trump’s defeat is wonderful for the world and trouble for Boris Johnson

During a debate between lawmakers on Brexit negotiations, the president of the European council, Charles Michel, has said that while the EU is keen to maintain close links with the UK, Britain cannot expect to 'have your cake and eat it'. 

Michel said it was not reasonable for the UK to want 'access to our single market' while also diverging from standards and regulations when it suited

• UK welcomes Barnier's 'significant' remarks on unlocking Brexit talks
• Follow all the day’s political developments – live

Michael Gove performed a U-turn at the dispatch box in which he praised a ‘constructive move’ by the EU minutes after declaring the talks ‘effectively ended’. Speaking in the Commons, Gove had claimed a litany of failures of the EU to engage in good faith with the UK, but then welcomed the offer by the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, to ‘intensify’ talks

• UK refuses to restart Brexit talks despite EU accepting its demands
  

Theresa May reacted in shock as Michael Gove claimed the UK can 'co-operate more effectively' in many areas over border security outside the EU than 'we ever could inside'. The Conservative former prime minister also appeared to mouth 'utter rubbish' in the Commons, after she accused the government of being 'resigned to the prospect of no deal' and asked the Cabinet Office minister about access to security databases.

Speaking in parliament on Monday, May said neither Gove nor Boris Johnson had mentioned security in recent statements, adding: "Will [Gove] confirm that if the UK walks away with no-deal then our police and law enforcement agencies will no longer have the necessary access to databases, such as PNR (passenger name record), in order to continue to identify and catch criminals and potential terrorists in order to keep us safe?'

 Gove responded that 'significant progress' had been made over security co-operation

PM has told firms to prepare to trade with EU ‘based on simple principles of global free trade’

• Latest Brexit and Covid developments – live

The prime minister claimed that due to the stubborn intransigence of the EU he had to conclude that the “Canada-style” trade deal that he was seeking was not going to be successfully negotiated without a “fundamental” change in Brussels’ negotiating position. He said it was therefore important that business prepare to trade with the EU on the basis of “arrangements that are more like Australia’s, based on simple principles of global free trade”.

In a televised speech, the British prime minister accuses the European Union of being unwilling 'to offer this country the same terms as Canada' and that by 1 January, when the Brexit transition period ends, the UK will be more likely to be entering trade arrangements like those of Australia. Without a 'fundamental change of approach' by the EU, Johnson says trade and security talks in Brussels will not progress

• Boris Johnson tells UK: prepare for a no-deal Brexit

Boris Johnson said 15 October was the deadline, but he might not walk away just yet

Boris Johnson said on 7 September that if there was a lack of agreement by the time EU leaders meet in Brussels on 15 October then he could not see any hope of a deal at all, and both sides should at that stage “accept that and move on”.

Scheduled talks between UK and EU have ended and only 90 days remain until end of transition period

This week the last scheduled talks were held between EU and UK negotiators on a Brexit trade and security deal. Only 90 days remain until the end of the transition period, when Britain will leave the EU’s economic system, deal or no deal.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, says the EU has formally launched proceedings against Britain after Boris Johnson failed to respond to a request to drop parts of draft legislation that would overwrite the Brexit withdrawal agreement and protocols for Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The UK had been put on formal notice by Brussels over the internal market bill, tabled by the prime minister last month. Von der Leyen said the UK had a month to send observations and in the meantime the EU 'stands by our commitments'

• Full report: EU launches legal action against UK for breaching Brexit withdrawal agreement
  

In the transformed global setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, the major pro-EU groups are coming together to campaign for the UK to agree with the EU to postpone by two years the hard end-date of the UK's exit transition period. Colin Gordon (Oxford for Europe) sets the scene.

The UK has the same rules as the EU right now – but EU rules are evolving continuously under the pressure of technological change. The main Directive about trading securities is about to be examined later this year - as part of the normal review cycle. The UK will not be at the table when the EU debates reversing a key concession to the UK after the Great Financial Crash. Very technical yes, but very significant!

The significance of financial services to the UK economy – two handy factoids:

1. Importance of tax revenues: Britain’s financial services sector contributed a record £75.5bn in tax in 2019, according to a new report on behalf of the City of London Corporation, amounting to 10.5 per cent of all government tax receipts.

Importance of exports of financial services: in 2017, there was a surplus in financial services trade of £44 billion (43% of financial services exports went to the EU). Even after this surplus, the UK still recorded an overall deficit of £73 billion on the balance of international payments that year (or 3.5% of GDP – the largest by far amongst the world’s leading economies).

Background:
At the end of this year, UK financial services firms will lose their “passporting rights” to deliver services into the EU. However, they may be allowed to continue to provide some services if the EU decides that UK regulations are “equivalent”. The draft Council negotiating directive makes it clear that this will be a unilateral decision by the EU – as it has always been for “third countries”. Presently, equivalence does not even apply to banking, but is of huge importance for trading in financial instruments – securities, derivatives etc.

However, the FT has reported – with the aid of a long distance camera shot of the UK’s negotiating documents – that “The British government is demanding the EU sign up to a “permanent equivalence” regime for financial services that will last for “decades to come” to ensure the City of London can maintain access to the European market after Brexit.”  The EU’s chief negotiator – Michel Barnier – responded immediately in striking language “I would like to take this opportunity to make it clear to certain people in the United Kingdom bearing authority that they should not kid themselves about this - there will not be general, open-ended, ongoing equivalence in financial services".

The EU has not forgotten that the City was the epicentre of the Great Financial Crash (GFC) that wrought havoc with the EU’s economy (as well as with the UK’s!). A huge wave of post-Crash legislation ensured that the financial stability of the EU would never be imperilled again. Reviewing this legislation to cope with market changes poses a difficulty for the UK. Maintain “equivalence” with EU rules while they are in a continuous process of evolution: be a “vassal state” OR “take back control” and lose “equivalence” – and thus business.

Specific example: Regulation of trading in financial instruments (MiFID II).

The Investment Services Directive (ISD) of 1993 was a key plank of Mrs Thatcher’s drive to create a single market to rival that of the US. So it was enacted just after the single market came into force in 1992. Major changes in the structure of financial markets occurred in the succeeding decade – driven by technological developments - so MiFID I was enacted in 2004 to respond to this.  In the light of bad experiences in the GFC, the Directive was updated in 2014 as MiFID II. It came into in force in 2018 and, as usual with financial services legislation, is now up for review after two years. So a proposal is due later this year. As the UK is no longer in the EU, it will not be at the negotiating table.

At first glance, some of the initial proposals from the European Securities Market Authority (ESMA) to the European Commission are highly technical tweaks on data reporting. However, discussion is rising about repealing aspects of the “open access” rules of MiFID II for settling derivatives trades – where London has overwhelming dominance at the moment. The scale of these markets is mind-boggling: The notional value of euro-denominated derivatives is about 50 time EU GDP! They are at the heart of the provision of liquidity in securities markets – so correspondingly at the heart of concerns about financial stability in the EU.

The UK pushed hard for MiFID II rules to require exchanges to allow traders to have “open access” to settle their derivative trades at whatever EU-regulated clearing house they chose. As London will soon cease to be subject to EU rules, EU players are now arguing – unsurprisingly - against the continuation of that rule. In time, that could well push market liquidity in euros away from London and into the euro area.

Graham Bishop is Chair of the European Movement National Council. 

By the time you read this, the UK will have formally left the EU. There are no real words to describe the magnitude of this historic mistake and the range of feelings we are all going through. Sandra Khadhouri, Campaigner and Communicator and L4E Committee Member, searches for hope.

As I was in Brussels for business, I was able to pop in to the European Movement International’s (EMI) meeting with Carnegie Europe in the European Parliament last Wednesday. The triggers for the meeting were two-fold: Carnegie has just published its Report on “Six ideas for rejuvenating European democracy” whilst the European Commission that day had formally adopted its Communication on the Conference on the Future of Europe. EMI’s President – Eva Maydell MEP – hosted the event and Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica introduced the Commission’s paper.

She was at pains to say that there must be no “pre-judging” of the outcome of such a consultation exercise. The history of these “conferences” is that they acquire a life of their own and massive change can emerge. Could this make the EU become an attraction to British voters again in the fullness of time?

The topic was irresistible after Dave Rowen had introduced his recent survey of Branch Chairs to the National Council two weeks ago.  They put the top priority – by far – for EM (UK) as “promoting the EU, its values and its benefits”, along with “democracy” as a major wish. So it was a great privilege to listen to an author of this new project in the Parliament buildings where the project was launched only in October 2019. The plan is for a formal launch of the Conference on Europe Day – 9^thMay – with completion in 2022 so that the output can be in force and operational for the European Parliament elections in 2024. A demanding timetable if history is any guide!

Are our supporters fully aware of this project? Doubtful. A quick Google search only produced coverage in the FT and Guardian – highlighting the risk that UK media will now cut coverage of the EU down to the bare essentials of the negotiations. I can recommend the free content from Euractiv– and their coverage of the Commission’s launch. We will need access to this calibre of factual journalism as the UK press cuts the news flow from the EU.

The Communication described the Conference as “As a major pan-European democratic exercise, the Conference will be a new public forum for an open, inclusive, transparent and structured debate with citizens around a number of key priorities and challenges.” The scale of the ambition is also clear from the European Parliament’s recent resolution:

 -  European values, fundamental rights and freedoms,

-  Democratic and institutional aspects of the EU,

-  Environmental challenges and the climate crisis,

-  Social justice and equality,

-  Economic and employment issues including taxation,

-  Digital transformation,

-  Security and the role of the EU in the world

Carnegie’s six ideas also illustrate the breadth of the ambition for this project:

• Craft a compelling democratic narrative against the rise in illiberal values.
• Establish a more democratic way to elect European leaders.
• Foster a more transnational form of European party politics.
• Improve direct citizen consultations and democratic participation.
• Embrace a more positive approach to digital democracy that not only manages the risks of new technologies but also harnesses their potential.
• Strengthen public participation through a revamped European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI).

Graham Bishop is the Chairman of The European Movement National Council.

In Greek mythology, the King of the Gods, Zeus, fell in love with a Phoenician princess called Europa. He presented himself in the form of a bull, and whisked her away on his back, as shown in pictures from antiquity.

We know Jo Pye as London4Europe’s Volunteer Coordinator, who energetically manages our Volunteer Support Group. But one of her other many hats is a Bereavement Counsellor for women and families who suffer Early Pregnancy Loss. In this remarkable contribution, she applies what she has learned in that field, to handling the latest outcome of Brexit.

When the history of Brexit is written, the Lib Dems’ decision to let Johnson hold this election will be seen as a key strategic error.

The post Why we lost – and where we go from here appeared first on InFacts.

We can kick Johnson out. So brave the elements and vote for the candidates with the best chance of beating the Tories.

The post 7 reasons to vote Johnson out appeared first on InFacts.

Relying on the WTO for our trade was always a terrible idea. Now that the US president has ripped a hole in it, it’s economic suicide.

The post Trump sabotages Brexiters’ last-ditch safety net appeared first on InFacts.

Good news from YouGov poll is Tory lead is shrinking. Bad news is they are still ahead because too many pro-European votes are being wasted.

The post With a final tactical voting push, we can beat Johnson appeared first on InFacts.

We are one day from decision day. The stakes have never been higher. This is what a victory for the Tories tomorrow will mean. Please circulate this widely - and above all - persuade somebody that a vote for Johnson will not "Get Brexit Done". Andy Pye, L4E Secretary makes a final plea.

The torrent of words, inane slogans repeated ad nauseam, exaggerations, blatant mistruths and inventions might soon be behind us, hopes Richard Wassell, Vice-Chair of London4Europe.

A Tory victory means more chaos. The only way to end the arguments over Brexit and fix our real problems is to vote them out.

The post Johnson won’t stop the chaos – that’s just propaganda appeared first on InFacts.

Johnson yesterday hinted he would axe the licence fee. This had two purposes: cover up his NHS blunder and pummel the BBC into submission.

The post Tories bully BBC because it’s easily cowed appeared first on InFacts.

PM rips off Love Actually in his video but misses out the punch line: “Just because it’s Christmas and at Christmas you tell the truth.”

The post At Christmas you tell the truth, but not if you’re Johnson appeared first on InFacts.

Right-wing press has branded Corbyn unelectable. They are right - he is. Not for the reasons they suggest, but because of simple maths.

The post Don’t worry about voting tactically for Corbyn. He won’t win appeared first on InFacts.

To cover up Johnson’s NHS disaster, Tories fabricate story about Labour activist punching Hancock aide.

The post Tory “punch” propaganda backfires appeared first on InFacts.

Not only is Johnson lying about surrendering to the EU demand for an internal UK border, he isn’t ready to deliver a deal by December 2020.

The post Johnson’s dishonesty and disorganisation on Irish Sea border appeared first on InFacts.

One thing we can all agree about Brexit is our wish for it to end. However, it is hard to identify much further common ground. Some believe the best way to end the uncertainty is to elect a Conservative Government on 12 December, and so get it over with. That is just plain wrong, says Vice-Chair of L4E Nick Hopkinson.

As we prepare to leave the European Union, a £3.5 billion fund to provide equity and grant funding for start-ups in so-called deep tech industries is about to be launched. Andy Pye, technical writer and L4E Secretary is trying not to cry.

What an evening!  Six great local speakers, passionate about the EU, and passionately explaining why.

it comes naturally for us to trust each other. Reciprocal trust is fundamental to the smooth working of the societies in which we live. But untrustworthiness has become so widespread that it is no longer being automatically condemned, argues our correspondent Future of Our Children.

"Make It Stop" or, alternatively, “Make Brexit Stop" are logos you’re bound to see more of over the next few weeks, says Jo Pye, London4Europe's Volunteer Support Coordinator.

Tees4Europe Chair Scott Hunter reflects on Andrew Adonis visiting his group, and how the group's youngest campaigner highlighted the one good thing about Brexit. 

On 16 September, Andrew Adonis kindly agreed to come to address an audience at an event hosted by Tees4Europe. We booked the hall, circulated tickets, picked Andrew up at the station, and   then promptly upstaged him. We had decided that among our other speakers there should be a young person. One name was suggested, and, without asking too many questions, we booked her. Millie, it turns out, was not the sixth former we were expecting. She is 14. It would be an exaggeration to say that at this point that I started to panic, but it certainly had me on edge. But I needn’t have worried.  In the space of five minutes, Millie spoke cogently on just about every Brexit-related topic you could think of. It was a breath-taking performance.  It hasn’t been easy to select highlights to present here, as there were so many, but here goes …

“As an aspiring Royal Navy engineer and somebody with a keen interest in STEM, standing for science, technology, engineering and maths, the effects of leaving the EU on the UK’s defence, military and STEM is of great concern to me. The EU’s member states work together on a number of defence-related issues, such as researching new defence technologies and joint military deployments. The UK contributes financial support to EU security activities, which fund numerous missions such as the combat of piracy off the Horn of Africa and the prevention of human trafficking in the Mediterranean to name but two. Therefore, it worries me deeply that our exit from the EU will damage both the UK’s military and defence, as well as that of the EU. We are stronger together; we are safer together …

“Now, there is one good thing about Brexit. I know, I know, I’ve been talking about what a disaster leaving the EU would be for the last 5 minutes, but don’t panic. In the past, I think young people have viewed politics as something they need to worry about when they’re older, and something for adults to deal with. Since the Brexit referendum, I believe that young people have become increasingly interested and invested in the politics that will affect their futures, and much more willing to make their voices heard…”

And thus Millie Sheridan brought the house down.

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No Deal is not democracy

Despite some awful weather forecasts in the preceding days and the start of the school holidays, big crowds gathered at noon in Park Lane last Saturday. As publicity had been limited everyone was pleasantly surprised by the turnout - given the inevitably short timescale to protest against the seemingly unstoppable coronation of “Boris” -. Yet it was on a scale that enabled us all to march comfortably all the way to Parliament Square and hear the excellent speeches (and music!)

1066 Branch was delighted to have the new EM campaign banner – vividly stating “I’m a European!” It drew great attention as we waited in Park Lane. We were delighted to be joined by three ladies from Bath for Europe to help carry it – essential given the size! While we were waiting, we handed out huge wadges of the new EM leaflets round the March. They flew out of our hands!

A great aura permeated the warm streets of London – with a wonderful feeling of togetherness by an amazingly diverse crowd. But it was tinged with a slightly harder edge this time - people like us will not permit such a folly as Brexit to happen – many banners called for “revolt”.

Together, we marched to Parliament Square and managed to hold up our banner at the foot of the Churchill Statue. Judging by his great European speeches founding the European Movement, he would have approved thoroughly!

Most encouragingly, we Remainers are clearly getting kitted up for demos now – judging by the intensity of flags, hats, whistles etc. The whistling outside Downing Street was almost painful in its intensity. 

Graham Bishop is Vice-Chairman of European Movement UK and Board member of the Kangaroo Group.

Eastbourne European Movement Dinner July 2019

Clive Black was the speaker at our July dinner. He opened his talk by stating that the legal

services sector is a UK success story. It is the second largest legal services market in the

world, the largest within the EU, contributes over £26 billion to the economy and is the

jurisdiction of choice for international commercial transactions, dispute resolution and

arbitration.

Thanks to a series of ground-breaking directives which apply across the EU, law firms and

lawyers are granted many rights including being able to: practice as a solicitor on a

permanent basis, give advice on English, EU & international law, to appear in national and

European courts in conjunction with a local lawyer, and to requalify, without an equivalent

exam, after 3 years of practising host state law. He illustrated this liberating effect by stating

that it is easier for a lawyer qualified in Estonia to set up a legal practice in Portugal than it is

for a lawyer in New York State to set up practice at the California Bar.

He went on to explain the challenges Brexit poses to this remarkable achievement. After

Brexit, these ground-breaking directives which allow so much freedom, will be replaced by a

system whereby the professional bodies such as the Law Society and Bar Council may need

to negotiate with 31 national regimes, lawyers will face challenges over market access and

practice rights, individuals over judicial cooperation and the UK over its global status of

English and Welsh law.

He gave an analysis of the impact of Brexit on a number of scenarios including a ‘no deal’

Brexit which could cost the sector up to £3 billion by 2025. The impact could also mean that

judgements made in UK courts not being enforced in EU countries, consumers not being able

to enforce their contracts in EU states, difficulty in claiming for motor insurance accidents,

loss of cross border co-operation in family law matters and could lead to the end of

collaboration on security and policing. His talk gave a fascinating and informative insight

into the UK legal sector and how it might be impacted by Brexit.

Our next dinner is on 11 September where Prof Anwan-Scully will talk about Brexit and the

Disuniting Kingdom. If you would like to come along please call our Chair, Paula Welch on

07510 851722 or visit www.europeanmovementeastbourne.uk

Tim Bale, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London, was the speaker at our June dinner held at Eastbourne's Hydro Hotel and attended by over 80 members and their guests.

He opened his talk, ‘How to win a second referendum’ by saying that lessons needed to be drawn from the Leave and Remain campaigns of 2016. He looked at the reasons why the Leave campaign had won. In 2016 the campaign was at an immediate advantage following many years of negative messages in the media. Polls showed that the British never felt as European as other EU countries and politicians never made much of an effort to sell the upside of EU membership.

The message of ‘Take Back Control’ was simple and powerful as was the counter message ‘Project Fear’. The outcome of Brexit was deliberately vague so the Remain campaign found it difficult to counter. The Leave campaign was well planned, had charismatic leaders, very good data gathering and technical ability and was clever about using it, targeting people who wouldn’t normally vote.

He then looked at the reasons why the Remain campaign lost. It was predicted that Remain would win and it was just assumed that people would think the economic risk too high. The messages were complex and not easy to get across and the thrust of the campaign was overwhelmingly negative.

The Chancellor’s claim that each person would lose several thousand pounds was not credible. Many businesses did not want to come out publicly on the side of Remain. David Cameron made demands on the EU that were never going to be met. The campaign had no counter attack to the immigration issue. Jeremy Corbyn sat out the campaign and Labour voters were not given the cue from their party and the campaign did not target people who rarely vote.

Finally, he made suggestions that might help any future Remain campaign: use real working people, not celebrities, use simple, powerful messages about people who are disenfranchised, utilise SME rather than big businesses, don’t let outsiders get involved or interfere. The speaker at our next dinner on 10 July 2019 will be Clive Black talking about Brexit and the Business of Law.

If you would like to come along please call our Chair, Paula Welch on 07510 851722 or visit www.europeanmovementeastbourne.uk

Harpenden for Europe, our neighbouring group, organised an event on Tuesday 2 July entitled 'Europe - What next?'. Judith Leary-Joyce, one of St Albans for Europe's founder members, reports on the evening.

On a balmy May evening, European Movement members were invited to an event introducing Lord Heseltine as the new President of European Movement UK, the parent organisation of St Albans for Europe. It took place at Church House just behind Westminster Abbey. Although our group was only set up in 2017, European Movement has been going since 1949, advocating all that time for Britain’s future at the heart of a united Europe. As the Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell, Chair of European Movement explained, Lord Heseltine is in illustrious company – the first President was Sir Winston Churchill and a number of former Prime Ministers from Harold MacMillan to Ted Heath followed.