Day: September 8, 2018

    Michel Barnier has expressed his frustration with Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, for allegedly withholding information from the EU, as the question of the Irish border erupted again in the Brexit negotiations. The EU negotiator was said to be disappointed and irritated by Raab’s alleged failure this week to live up to a promise to provide data on the trade flows between the UK and Northern Ireland, which had been requested as part of an attempt to take the drama out of the Irish border issue. The backstop solution for avoiding a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic would result in the province effectively staying in the customs union and single market for goods as the rest of the UK withdraws. The British government has dismissed the backstop as it ...

    British and French fishermen have failed to finalise a deal to end the scallop wars in the English Channel. British and French fishermen have failed to finalise a deal to end the scallop wars in the English Channel. Industry leaders were unable to agree a compensation package during negotiations in Paris on Friday, which was aiming to cease recent skirmishes. The basis of an agreement was formed in London this week, with small UK vessels pledging not to fish in the area of dispute during the period French laws prevented their counterparts. But this was on the basis British crews would not lose out financially, and the price appeared to have been too high for the French during the latest discussions. A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spok...

    Britain will be more likely to secure a free trade agreement with the European Union if it pays the the £39 billion Brexit bill, Michel Barnier has signalled in a concession from Brussels that will bolster Theresa May’s efforts to get the deal through parliament. The European Commission has always insisted that the payment of the financial settlement, a central part of the withdrawal agreement, could not be made conditional on a trade deal. It argued that the payment would settle existing debts and that the future UK-EU agreement must be kept separate. Dominic Raab, the new Brexit Secretary, has pushed for a link between the Brexit deal and the political declaration, which will be a non-binding document that will be used as the basis for trade negotiations during th...