Britain’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday voted to approve the key element of a post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland reached between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the European Union last month. Members of parliament voted by 515 to 29 in favor of the so-called “Stormont brake,” aimed at offering …
Read More »Two-thirds of Britons think Brexit has damaged UK economy: Poll
Almost two in three Britons believe Brexit – United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2016 – has damaged the country’s economy, according to a new poll. Some 61 percent of voters said leaving the bloc has made Britain’s economy worse, according to the Savanta survey conducted for The …
Read More »‘How’s Brexit going?’ British politics mocked at home and abroad
Britain’s political and economic turmoil has been greeted with thinly veiled satisfaction among pro-European and leftist politicians abroad, with some commentators drawing parallels to chaotic Italy. New British finance minister Jeremy Hunt will set out tax and spending measures on Monday, two weeks earlier than scheduled, as he races to …
Read More »Unilateral action on Northern Irish Brexit rules is wrong, Sinn Fein tells UK PM
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said her party had a “fairly tough” meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday in which they told him taking unilateral action over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland would be wrong. Johnson says the European Union must make concessions on the …
Read More »UK tells EU: Without flexibility, we will act on N.Ireland
Britain warned it might be forced to “act” in a row with the European Union over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, raising the risk of commercial strife and deepening a standoff stirring U.S. concerns for peace in the province. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Thursday Britain would have …
Read More »UK Brexit supremo Frost resigns in blow to PM Johnson
British Brexit minister David Frost resigned on Saturday over disillusionment with the direction of Boris Johnson’s government, dealing a major blow to the embattled prime minister as the Omicron variant sweeps the country. The resignation of Frost, a core architect of Johnson’s tumultuous Brexit strategy, raised questions about the future …
Read More »France wants EU to start legal case against UK
The French government has said it will call on the EU to open legal proceedings against the UK over London’s alleged withholding of fishing licenses. Paris says 73 licenses are now outstanding. Speaking on Friday, Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune told reporters that France had obtained 93% of the …
Read More »France to ‘fight every day’ for more fishing licences in row with UK
France said on Friday it was still waiting for Britain to issue 150 more fishing licences to French vessels in a post-Brexit row that has strained British-French relations, and that it would “fight every day” to obtain them. The dispute has dragged on since Britain left the European Union, with …
Read More »UK sees progress on N.Ireland trade without triggering emergency measures
A senior British minister said on Friday that he was confident London could break an impasse with the EU over post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland without having to trigger emergency measures to safeguard the movement of goods. Britain and the EU agreed to intensify efforts to resolve Northern Ireland …
Read More »UK, EU keep talking but stay far apart in Brexit trade feud
The UK and the European Union inched away from a diplomatic cliff edge on Friday but remained miles apart in a post-Brexit spat that risks escalating into a cross-Channel trade war. Talks to resolve differences over Northern Ireland trade have dragged on for almost a month, with EU officials increasingly …
Read More »UK’s Frost to EU: Stay calm and don’t threaten retaliation
British Brexit minister David Frost said on Wednesday that Brussels should stay calm and avoid embarking on “massive and disproportionate retaliation” if London follows through on its threat to escalate a post-Brexit trade dispute. Frost said he wasn’t yet ready to give up on talks aimed at finding a solution, …
Read More »Britain tells France: Back down in 48 hours or we get tough
Britain gave France 48 hours on Monday to back down in a fishing row that threatens to escalate into a wider trade dispute between two of Europe’s biggest economies or face tortuous legal action under the Brexit trade deal. Post-Brexit bickering over fish culminated last Wednesday in the French seizure …
Read More »Britain, France again at loggerheads over easing fishing row
Britain and France clashed again over a post-Brexit fishing row on Sunday, with London calling on Paris to withdraw its threats and rejecting assertions there had been any agreement to try to cool an argument that could ultimately hurt trade. The two sides painted different pictures of a meeting between …
Read More »Britain steps up post-Brexit dispute with France over fishing
Britain stepped up a war of words with France on Saturday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson refusing to rule out triggering trade dispute action next week in a fishing row and his Brexit minister sharply criticising Paris’ actions. Johnson, who is hosting the U.N. climate summit next week, again said …
Read More »UK, French leaders to meet amid flare-up in post-Brexit fishing row
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend amid a row over post-Brexit fishing rights in which France has seized a British boat and London has threatened to board French trawlers. The flare-up is part of a wider dispute over post-Brexit trade arrangements between Britain …
Read More »France warns two British fishing boats in its waters in wake of Brexit
France gave verbal warnings to two British boats that were fishing in waters off its port of Le Havre, the government said on Thursday, as tension simmers between the neighbors over post-Brexit arrangements. The French maritime ministry said it gave the warnings overnight to the two boats, one of which …
Read More »Stop the poison, UK’s Frost tells EU over post-Brexit deal
British Brexit minister David Frost made an impassioned plea to the European Union on Tuesday to allow for “significant change” to post-Brexit rules governing trade with Northern Ireland, saying only that could draw the poison from their relations. A day before the EU is expected to present its proposals to …
Read More »More than 1,000 migrants cross English Channel to UK in two days
Britain has rescued or intercepted a total of 1,115 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel over just two days, the country’s interior ministry said on Sunday. Rising numbers of Channel crossings by migrants in small boats have contributed to growing tensions between the UK and France following Britain’s departure …
Read More »France threatens to cut power to UK’s Channel Islands in row over fishing licenses
France has said it could cut power to the British Crown dependencies in the English Channel to “pressure” London in a dispute over fishing licenses for French boats. Under the 2020 UK-EU trade deal, French boats are allowed to continue catching fish in British waters if they obtain a license. …
Read More »UK warns EU time is running out to fix Northern Ireland accord
The UK government on Monday said it stood ready to abandon a post-Brexit trading accord for Northern Ireland “soon” unless the EU agreed to wholesale changes. Addressing the annual conference of the ruling Conservative party, Brexit minister David Frost said: “The long bad dream of our EU membership is over. …
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