Displaying items by tag: Brexit

The House of Lords, by 245 votes to 218, has voted for the UK effectively to remain in the EU's single market after Brexit, even though neither the government nor the Labour leadership backed the move. Ministers warned that staying in the European Economic Area (EEA) would not give the UK ‘control of our borders or our laws’. The issue will now return to the Commons, where pro-EU MPs said they were hopeful of getting the support needed to prevent the changes being overturned. Under what is known as the ‘Norway model’ (Norway is one of three countries outside the EU which belong to the EEA) free movement laws would also apply, so that EU citizens could move to all EEA countries to work and live. The government's Brexit bill also suffered a series of other defeats in the Lords.

The Financial times recently asked what Sajid Javid’s becoming home secretary means for Brexit. Some suggest that his appointment on Monday, Tuesday’s Lords vote preventing a ‘no deal walk away’, and Wednesday’s customs union defeat (see next article) create additional challenges for our Prime Minister and her government at this strategic time. Pray for God to strengthen, clarify and bless every communication, written and spoken, between London, Ireland and Europe. May confusion in departments be replaced with precise fact finding, mistrust replaced with confident expectations, turmoil replaced with peace, and God to strengthen all who are weary from heavy workloads. Ask God to exchange blame strategies for honest appraisal where it’s due and inaccuracies for wise revisions, and inject integrity into current circumstances.

A crisis Cabinet meeting failed to back Theresa May's plan for a ‘customs partnership’ with Brussels. Key Brexit sub-committee members tried to thrash out a model for the UK's future trade links with Brussels in two hours of tense discussions that ended in deadlock. Insiders said that Sajid Javid had been instrumental in rejecting her plan. Mrs May ordered ministers and officials to carry out ‘further work’ on two options and return with revised proposals at a later date. Whitehall sources reported that six ministers oppose her option and want a looser customs arrangement with Brussels. Boris Johnson urged Mrs May to stick to the principles of her keynote speech at the Mansion House earlier this year which clearly stated that Britain would not form any customs union with the EU after Brexit. International trade secretary Liam Fox said the customs partnership was ‘not compatible’ with Brexit.

At the time of writing Brexit talks are continuing between the EU and British officials. Time is limited to solve the Irish border issue, with just four more rounds of meetings scheduled before the summit. Pray for David Davis and Olly Robbins leading the negotiations for the UK and Sabine Weyand, Michel Barnier’s deputy, negotiating for the EU. Brussels wants the whole withdrawal agreement, including citizens’ rights, the financial settlement, transition period, and Northern Ireland border to be agreed by the October meeting of the European Council, so that they can be scrutinised and approved by the European parliament. DUP leader Arlene Foster accused Mr Barnier of not understanding the Unionist position on the border.

Claims from a Cambridge Analytica (CA) whistle-blower that the Leave campaign won by ‘cheating’ has some people calling for a second vote and others hoping the result can be overturned by Parliament. Our electoral system is under scrutiny, as new evidence shows that both remainers and leavers appear to have done what they could financially to maximise their vote. Researchers now believe it is probable that both sides were up to similar tricks. The controversy over the Brexit vote has drawn British involvement with CA to the attention of Transparency International. If Brexit campaigns end up on the wrong side of the law, pray that they will face the subsequent consequences. But, however we reached Brexit, the referendum result has three likely guarantors: the Conservative backbench, the Labour frontbench, and public opinion. See also article 4 in the World section, about CA.

On 20 March environment secretary Michael Gove told Tory MPs to 'keep their eyes on the prize' in the row over Brexit and fishing waters after the latest Europe Brexit meetings. Theresa May’s agreement to keep EU fishing policies during the transition period meant the UK had not got what it wanted from the negotiations. Control of fishing waters has been delayed. The next day protesters threw dead fish into the Thames outside Parliament, in solidarity with the fishing communities who expected to control UK waters the day it leaves the EU. The demonstrations were called environmental vandalism. Jacob Rees-Mogg said the proposal for Britain to remain in the EU's Common Fisheries Policy for almost two years after March 2019, with no say over the allocation of quotas, would not command the support of the Commons, adding he was not pleased with the transition deal but he could live with it.  See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43484031

Theresa May’s post-Brexit plans for Northern Ireland to be under the same rules and regulations as the rest of the UK and to leave the EU customs union were challenged in the EU’s 120-page draft withdrawal agreement that includes Northern Ireland in a future customs union. The draft requires checks on goods coming in from the UK; in order for this to happen, single market legislation will also apply. The EU plan would create a border through the Irish Sea, which the UK will not accept. Michel Barnier challenged May to offer something different. The DUP is propping up the UK Government; some believe one wrong decision could see their support withdrawn. Boris Johnson said that the Northern Ireland border row is being used to frustrate Brexit, and there were ‘very good solutions’ to avoid the need for a hard border. Pray for the UK’s future to be directed by God’s Spirit, prompting MPs in all decisions they make.

The Brexit secretary, David Davis, has hit back at negative suggestions that Brexit will lead to an Anglo-Saxon race to the bottom, saying that fears are based on neither history, intention, nor interest. International trade secretary Liam Fox has warned EU leaders that imposing new tariff barriers with the UK would make their economies less competitive, and stressed the benefits of the high UK standards of goods. Meanwhile a letter to Theresa May signed by sixty Tory MPs insisted that the UK should make a clean break with the EU, stating that the UK must be able to negotiate trade deals with other countries as soon as it leaves the EU, and must gain full ‘regulatory autonomy’. Both speeches and the letter set out key Brexit issues ahead of the MPs’ ‘away day’ at Chequers on 22 February. Pray that all decisions made there will lead to a new, fresh positive team of British MPs standing strong behind Theresa May for frictionless change.

Simon Coveney, Tánaiste (Irish deputy leader), has said that through the Brexit negotiations Ireland wished to see the creation of the closest possible future connection between the EU and the UK. He said, ‘A key strategic objective is to ensure that the outcome of Brexit does not undermine the hard-won gains of the peace process, as exemplified by the Good Friday Agreement. Despite the efforts of both governments in recent months, and especially in recent weeks, it is deeply regrettable that there is at present no power-sharing executive in place. However, we will not give up - we cannot give up. We urgently need to see the restoration of the Northern Ireland executive and assembly, to harness greater and broader input into how to make the best of Brexit.’

A draft section of the UK and EU withdrawal agreement, reflecting the EU’s stated directives (yet to be finalised), was leaked to the media. It said that the EU wants to restrict the UK's access to the single market in the transition phase if there is a difference of opinion after Brexit. There will be an EU summit at the end of March. Between now and then Theresa May and her government will be discussing options and deciding the best proposals for a way forward which would avoid having tariffs imposed on British goods. Speaking on Radio 4, Bernard Jenkin, chair of the Commons public administration committee, said it would be utterly perverse if the EU imposed tariffs on British goods, and its comments indicate how fearful it is - so much so that it has to make these silly threats.