Year: 2020

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 […]

Theresa May's chief Brexit adviser has insisted her under-fire Chequers plan is deliverable and "respects" both the UK's sovereignty and the EU's autonomy. Appearing before MPs, Oliver Robbins was urged to put the prime minister's blueprint for future relations with the EU after Brexit "out of its misery". Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said it was "completely impossible" to marry the UK and EU's underlying demands. But Mr Robbins insisted […]

The Scottish government has said it is seeking clarity from Westminster on whether it will be responsible for implementing the Irish Sea border. That border refers to new controls on GB to NI trade at the end of the Brexit transition period. A NI minister said his Scottish counterparts told him they would not accept new checks at Scottish ports. The EU has warned that if the UK does not […]