Month: March 2020

The government's previous preparations for a potential no-deal Brexit stand it in "incredibly good stead" to help firms deal with the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak, the former business secretary has told Sky News. Andrea Leadsom told Sky's political editor Beth Rigby that there was a "huge amount" that ministers could do to "ensure that businesses are protected". Ms Leadsom continued: "Ironically, I think a lot of the work we […]

There remain "serious" differences between the UK and EU after the first round of trade talks, the bloc's chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier said "very difficult" areas needed to be resolved, but a "good agreement for both sides" remained possible. He said there were disagreements over competition rules, police co-operation, and how a deal would be enforced. Mr Barnier also dismissed UK proposals on fishing as "impractical". A UK […]

A Tory MP has called for a new June bank holiday to celebrate the 2016 Brexit referendum. Peter Bone wants an annual “United Kingdom Day” on the Friday closest to 23 June, the day the European Union poll was held. He said the referendum’s anniversary should be officially marked as it “invigorated the country”, but added the government has been “sniffy” about the idea. The backbencher told the Commons on […]

Britain is optimistic it can reach agreement with the European Union over future fishing rights by July as it is not asking for anything extraordinary, environment minister George Eustice said on Wednesday. Britain left the bloc at the end of January and has begun negotiations on a trade deal to govern future ties. The British government wants a separate agreement on fishing which sets out a process for annual negotiations […]