Tag: Brexit

Britons have become angrier since the referendum to leave the EU, according to a survey which suggests there is widespread unhappiness about the direction in which the country is heading. Sixty-nine per cent of respondents said they felt their fellow citizens had become “angrier about politics and society” since the Brexit vote in 2016, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, a long-established, annual survey of trust carried out across the globe. Intolerant post-Brexit Britain: history shows we can be better than this | Hugh Muir Read more Forty per cent of people think others are now more likely to take part in violent protests, the UK results from the survey show, even though violent political protest in Britain is rare. One person in six said they had fallen out with friends or relatives over the vote to leave the bloc, the survey found. Some 60% of people who identify with the Conservatives think the country is heading in the right direction, but among Labour identifiers, the figure is just 20%. According to Edelman, which conducted online interviews with more than 2,000 people in the UK between December 18 and January 7, the results show “party politics is clearly failing many Britons”. Play Video 0:45 Both May and Corbyn have seen their trust ratings among their supporters fall considerably over the past year. Some 72% of respondents said they thought life in Britain was unfair, 68% said they wanted to see change, and 53% said they thought the socio-political system was failing them. The figures were similar for those voting leave and remain, but those leaning to Labour (66%) said they were more likely to feel unrepresented than those leaning to the Conservatives (43%). Commenting on the findings, Edelman’s UK and Ireland chief executive, Ed Williams, said: “We are a disunited kingdom – a country that is seen as increasingly unfair, less tolerant and headed in the wrong direction.

The EU has put further pressure on the Brexit talks by confirming it will enforce a hard border on the island of Ireland in the event of a no-deal outcome, despite the risk this would pose to peace. But the Juncker’s spokesman said on Tuesday the likely enforcement of border checks could not be avoided. Of course we stand behind the Good Friday agreement, but that is what no-deal would entail.” How four different customs union options led to the Irish border backstop compromise customs union Red line for DUP No need for Irish border checks, but checks needed on goods moving between NI and the UK Border in the Irish sea UK-NI customs union (soft border) Red line for Brussels Lack of checks on Irish border leaves a back door to the EU single market UK-NI customs union (hard border) Red line for Dublin Hard border to preserve integrity of EU single market contravenes Good Friday agreement customs union Red line for DUP No need for Irish border checks, but checks needed on goods moving between NI and the UK UK-NI customs union (soft border) Red line for Brussels Lack of checks on Irish border leaves a back door to the EU single market UK-NI customs union (hard border) Red line for Dublin Hard border to preserve integrity of EU single market contravenes Good Friday agreement Border in the Irish sea Guardian graphic In the Irish parliament, the prime minister, Leo Varadkar, responded by insisting an arrangement similar to the Irish backstop would still have to be negotiated if the Brexit deal failed to get through the UK parliament. “We already have that agreement. It is the backstop … We have a proposal that does work. We are under no illusions about how challenging that would be.” The Democratic Unionist party’s Brexit spokesman, Sammy Wilson, dismissed the remarks by Juncker’s spokesman. “We have to be firm and flexible at the same time,” Verhofstadt told MEPs. But he ruled out any changes to the withdrawal agreement, including the backstop.

Since the end of The Troubles, Derry has become a vibrant cultural hub in Northern Ireland. But a car bomb that blasted granite chunks off the street and through windows lifted the curtain on something darker going on in this…

It’s a slow sunrise over the Clyde Marina in Ardrossan, on Scotland’s west coast, where Alistair Roberts is fitting the wheelhouse in his new fishing boat, Guide Them. “It’s the first boat to be built on the Clyde for 14 years,” he says, proudly. Why did the fishing industry vote for Brexit? “The transport has to be very quick,” says Ronald Scordia, the managing director at Angelbond, which processes Roberts’ prawn catch. But we don’t know what the new customs paperwork will be, especially for live produce. Indeed, accompanying the debate around Brexit have been calls for the Scottish government to seize the initiative in reforming domestic quota allocation, and consider options such as Norwegian-style community quotas or regional management. Whyte is blunt about one of the looming threats for her members: protests by French fishermen if the UK crashes out with no deal, resulting in an immediate cessation of EU access to British waters. “Most countries are not in the EU and doing perfectly well.” He urges perspective on tariffs, quotas and even direct action. Given the urgency of transporting live catch, Whyte has discussed contingency planning with colleagues. Fishing in numbers 462,000 tonnes: total weight of fish landed by vessels registered in Scotland in 2017 £561m: total fishing income by vessels registered in Scotland in 2017, representing 58% of UK fishing income £1.32bn: total fish exports from UK to EU in 2017 Zero: there are currently no plans to charge for the checking and validation of a UK export catch certificate

Much has been made of the need for Jeremy Corbyn to listen to pro-Brexit voters in Labour’s northern heartlands. Among the activists was Ryan Simms, 26, who works in procurement for the NHS in Leeds and has been a Labour supporter for six years – but only joined the party after Corbyn became leader. “Corbyn wants an election, but it’ll be one where we have the choice between a Tory Brexit deal and some magical unicorn Brexit deal promised by Labour,” Roberts said. She usually supports Labour, but next time she’ll vote Green unless Corbyn backs a people’s vote. More young activists were out demonstrating in areas including Bristol, Leicester, Warwick, York and Edinburgh. “He can enable a Tory Brexit or back a public vote. The large majority of Labour members want a public vote, with 88% saying they would vote to stay in the EU if there was a public vote.” Imagine the proportion of young Labour members who want to stay – 90, 95%? Of the 1.6 million young people who have joined the electorate since 2016, who say they are certain to vote in a future EU referendum, 87% would vote to stay in the EU. “We beat the expectations of the establishment in 2017 because they didn’t pick up my generation’s appetite and enthusiasm for change. But that was when a better Brexit deal was possible, and two years before exit day.

Three-quarters of UK warehouse owners say their space is full to capacity and storage costs have soared by up to 25% in the past three months after a surge in Brexit-related inquiries. A survey of UKWA members from across the country last month found 85% had received Brexit-related inquiries. Businesses have been seeking storage for goods ranging from food ingredients to cat food, packaging materials and finished consumer products in an effort to ensure stocks do not run low in the event of no deal or any deal with the EU that slowed up the free flow of goods. “We have seen more unsolicited inquiries from people out of the blue looking for space. He said Horizon had been asked about storing a wide variety of goods including carpet tiles, telecoms equipment and food. The Food Storage and Distribution Federation (FSDF), which represents 350 warehouse owners and 75% of all commercially available frozen and chilled food warehouses in the country, said its members were turning customers away. Tesco has rented frozen food containers outside its largest stores for the rest of this year. Earlier this month Amazon wrote to UK-based traders who sell on its platform to suggest they consider sending stock to its continental European warehouse to prevent any export delays. Companies ranging from the carmaker Bentley to pharmaceutical firms such as GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, the folding bike maker Brompton and Premier Foods – which makes Bisto, Sharwood’s and Mr Kipling – have all announced plans for stockpiling. One warehousing expert told the Guardian that major pharmaceuticals, alcohol, tobacco and car firms had put plans in place early as their products were both expensive and long-lasting, meaning any storage costs incurred could be more easily absorbed.

Theresa May is expected to reject calls to forge a cross-party consensus on Brexit when she lays out her plan B to parliament on Monday, choosing instead to back new diplomatic efforts in Brussels to renegotiate the Irish backstop. The prime minister held a conference call with her bitterly divided cabinet from the country retreat of Chequers on Sunday evening. Several senior Conservative MPs have suggested they could form a breakaway party if May opted to support a customs union – one of Labour’s central demands, which is also backed by Tory supporters of a Norway-style soft Brexit. Demonstrating the divide in public opinion, the next most popular option, supported by 24% of the public, is to start the process of holding a second referendum. Earlier on Sunday, Liam Fox said it was “the overwhelming view” among party colleagues that the prime minister’s deal was salvageable if she could get change on the backstop. “Now given that we’re in that same place that should be the area that we need to look to find some compromise.” However, a Downing Street source said the plan was “not one we recognise”. The Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said: “I can assure you that the Irish government’s commitment to the entire withdrawal agreement is absolute, including the backstop to ensure, no matter what, an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the Good Friday agreement, are protected.” “The solidarity in the EU is complete there, as Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker made clear: they are waiting to see what Theresa May’s plan B is,” an Irish government source added. He said: “We have to negotiate and also agree a withdrawal agreement with Britain. “When parliament can’t pass laws, not just on Brexit but on other matters, and the government cannot govern through that, then that’s normally when you have a general election,” he told the BBC. NHS plans alternative transport routes to avoid no-deal medicine shortage Read more Tory chair Brandon Lewis emailed all Conservative members on Sunday asking for donations with the subject line “Corbyn wants an election,” though he later insisted the party was preparing for local elections in May.

A leaked poll commissioned by the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign suggests that voters would be less likely to back Labour if the party was committed to stopping Brexit. Twenty-five per cent said it would make them more likely to back Labour, with the rest saying they did not know. The polling also showed the party would lose around the same number of Labour voters as it would gain from the Conservatives. Just 9% of Conservative voters would switch to Labour in those circumstances, but 11% of current Labour voters said it would make them less likely to vote for the party. Corbyn could face string of resignations if he backs 'people's vote' Read more Jeremy Corbyn has made efforts to underline the delicacy of the party’s electoral position in recent days, including at a speech in Wakefield, where he said it must bridge the Brexit divide in order to address nationwide problems of inequality. A Best for Britain spokesman said the polling also showed that the vast majority of Labour voters would not desert the party if it committed to cancelling Brexit. The campaign group also said Labour would see a dividend from Lib Dem and Green voters. Of the Lib Dem voters polled, 39% would be more likely to back Labour and 40% of Green voters. “The poll shows that Conservative voters aren’t there just yet, but we are confident our campaign will get them there.” The cross-party campaign is separate from the People’s Vote campaign, though many MPs support both. The organisation, which was originally associated with the campaigner Gina Miller, who is no longer involved, has received about £800,000 from the philanthropist George Soros and has been involved in a series of eye-catching stunts, including installing a “big red button” outside the Labour conference urging MPs to stop Brexit.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — From Brexit, to the conflict in Syria and disputes with Russia, a geopolitical expert shared his perspective on California's role in global affairs with a Sacramento audience on Wednesday. Political scientist Ian Bremmer was featured in the Sacramento Speaker Series. He’s a frequent guest on just about every cable news channel. KCRA 3 Kellie DeMarco is the host for the series and sat down with Bremmer to get his take on how California fits into the geopolitical picture in 2019 and beyond. Bremmer said while the global economy and the U.S. economy, along with the plunging unemployment rate, is good news, he’s concerned with America’s deteriorating relations with its allies and the failings of nations' governments. “You look over the next few years and say, ‘Wait a second, how can that work?’ Then look inside the U.S., U.K. and Europe and see how many people think the system is rigged against them, that it's not legitimate, their government doesn't work for them, it's fundamentally broken. As a consequence, they're voting for antiestablishment characters. It’s not getting fixed,” he explained. Another key point is that, although Bremmer believes China will eventually become the largest economy in the world, their smaller military and dependence on oil and agriculture will prevent them from toppling the U.S. as the world’s premier superpower. See the full interview with Bremmer in the video above.

It is the deep unseriousness with which this historically serious issue is being treated by many of the protagonists that illuminates most the irresponsibility of it all. Three years later much of the British political class still seems to have no idea. The wreckers in the Conservative Party are willing to destroy everything in their path – British institutions, diplomacy, their country’s international reputation, the compact between generations – in pursuit of an ideological project with an uncertain outcome. His latest wheeze – refusing to talk to Theresa May until she rules out a no-deal Brexit – ignores the fact that she needs help to achieve that. With Corbyn it didn’t have to test very hard. We need to pay attention to the state of our politics and public debate. Our political and media debate needs to hear all points of view (as Peadar Toibin exhorted in an Irish Times podcast). We need to debate and discuss our national interest – something both Paschal Donohoe and Micheál Martin did in impressive speeches this week. How can we help the British? Ireland should be a persuader for EU concessions that do not damage our national interest.