Brexit

Lords told sales of Scottish shellfish among areas that may benefit – but agreement will not erase all paperworkEurope live – latest updatesA new agriculture agreement with the EU would not wipe out all Brexit paperwork but may greatly increase sales of Scottish langoustines and oysters, the House of Lords has heard.The UK and EU are close to finalising a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to reduce Brexit trade barriers, and while it will have “modest” impact on the UK economy the agreement will be significant, peers on the European affairs committee were told on Tuesday. Continue reading...

But Labour’s ‘halfway house’ approach risks losing support from progressives and ‘red wall’ voters, experts sayUK politics live – latest updatesSupport for rejoining the EU rather than simply rejoining the single market is growing among British voters, with more than 80% of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green party supporters favouring this option, research mapping voter attitudes 10 years after the Brexit referendum shows.But Labour’s “muted” approach means it now risks losing support among progressive voters and in “red wall” constituencies, experts have said as part of a research by Best for Britain. Continue reading...

Concerns raised over use of travel data in determining whether people are ‘continuously’ in UK, after HMRC fiasco Ministers are to start removing post-Brexit residency rights from EU citizens who are no longer “continuously” living in the UK.The initiative is legal under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement but the decision to use travel data to partially determine absences has raised concerns following the HMRC fiasco that saw almost 20,000 parents stripped of child benefits because of inaccurate Home Office border data. Continue reading...

Rising energy bills give Reform and Tories opening to attack net zero while government hesitant to make case for clean energyCould net zero become “the next Brexit”? That is the fear stalking climate advocates as the oil crisis caused by the war on Iran starts to bite.A powerful coalition of the well-funded Reform party, led by Nigel Farage, the Conservative party, some business interests, and the UK’s right-wing media, are engaged in an onslaught against the longstanding target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Continue reading...