United Kingdom

  Details of the historic free trade agreement between the UK and EU have been published in full, as EU ambassadors began the process of assessing and approving the terms of the deal before the end of the year. The landmark trade deal, which was announced by UK prime minister Boris Johnson and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday, will come into provisional force on January 1, and is the biggest bilateral trade deal signed by either country, covering trade worth around £660bn. The deal, which followed nine months of tense negotiations, will guarantee tariff-free trade on most goods and create a platform for future co-operation on issues such as crime-fighting, energy and data sharing. However concerns are emerging surrounding the support for UK b...

    A further 800 military personnel have been sent to Kent to help thousands of lorry drivers waiting to cross into France on Christmas Day. Some 1,100 troops have been deployed as part of the operation at the English Channel border after French Covid-19 restrictions caused severe disruption at the Port of Dover. Thousands of hauliers are now spending Christmas Day in their cabs despite efforts to clear the backlog of lorries. Army personnel will be testing drivers for coronavirus and distributing food and water, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday that more than 10,000 tests had been carried out, of which 24 came back positive for the virus. France closed its border last Sunday following the discovery of a fast-spreadi...

    Boris Johnson today declared the deal is done after striking a historic trade pact between the UK and EU. The deal on goods worth £668 billion will mean zero tariffs and zero quotas, a UK source said, and would mean Britain has taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters. Four-and-a-half years after the 2016 Brexit referendum, agreement was reached just hours before Christmas Day. Mr Johnson tweeted a picture of himself smiling with both thumbs lifted in the air. The deal is done, he wrote. At a Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson said the deal will protect jobs across this country and has taken back control of our laws and our destiny. He said that for the first time since 1973 the UK will be an independent coastal state w...

    Agreement on a post-Brexit trade deal appears likely to be announced within hours, after nine months of tortuous negotiations. A meeting of EU ambassadors has been pencilled in for Christmas Eve to start the ratification process. Sources in Brussels and London confirmed they believed the talks were now coming to a successful conclusion. Diplomats representing the EU member states are already combing through some of the the 2,000 pages of legal text that have been agreed. The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is understood to have been in constant contact with Boris Johnson in the last 72 hours, as she has sought to strike a compromise satisfactory to Downing Street and the member states. A final call is believed to be scheduled for Wednesday eve...

    Officials in France have agreed to ease some restrictions on travellers entering the country from the UK following a surge in cases from a mutated form of the coronavirus. The conditions set out by French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri will allow people to travel into the country providing they have a recent negative test result. However it remains unclear whether the decision will ease congestion around Kent caused by a backlog of hauliers some of who will tonight spend a third night sleeping in their cabs on UK motorways, parking lots and lay-bys as their path to the continent is blocked. French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri said: Planes, boats and Eurostar trains will resume service as of tomorrow morning. French nationals, people living ...

    Emmanuel Macron has said that he wants to sort out the ban on traffic from the UK within the next few hours, Boris Johnson said after a phone call with the French president. Mr Johnson described his conversation with Mr Macron as “excellent”, but gave no details on what relaxation the French president might introduce to restrictions which have blocked freight and passenger transport over the Channel. The phone call came around seven hours after French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djellaba said that a new health protocol would be agreed within hours to permit the resumption of movements from the UK. The delay suggested that expected progress had not been made. France’s block was announced late on Sunday in response to the UK’s announcement of the discovery of a ...

    The new strain of COVID-19 is out of control and people need to behave as if they already have the virus, especially in the new Tier 4 areas of England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned. The five-day Christmas bubble period has been reduced to just Christmas Day for England, Wales and Scotland and scrapped completely for areas in England under new Tier 4 rules but remains in Northern Ireland. The fresh tough coronavirus measures which MPs will vote on in January affect those in London, most of the South East, and parts of eastern England. Mr Hancock said everybody was looking forward to Christmas, but the new infectious and rapid-spreading strain was out of control and the government had to act "quickly and decisively. He suggested the strengthened measure...

    Boris Johnson has issued a new “stay at home” order covering London and much of the south and east of England, and dramatically curtailed plans for Christmas mixing nationwide, in response to a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus. Just days after reaffirming the festive “bubble” plan and claiming it would be “inhuman” to cancel Christmas, the prime minister announced the creation of a new, stricter “tier 4”. Only households living outside this area will now be allowed to mix for Christmas in England – and then only for a single day, 25 December, with long-distance travel discouraged. The Scottish and Welsh governments have been briefed on the situation and are expected to announce their own plans. The new tier 4 rules will come into effect at midnight, and wi...

    Labour’s leadership is seeking to head off a new party split over Brexit by arguing any EU-UK trade deal will present Britain with the opportunity to work with Brussels to implement higher standards on workers rights and the environment. Keir Starmer, Labour leader, wants to back a Brexit deal to try to win back Eurosceptic voters in “red wall” seats, which were lost to the Conservatives in last year’s general election. The alternative, he has repeatedly argued, would be to risk the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit. That position has prompted a backlash among many pro-EU party members, MPs and shadow ministers who believe the party should abstain on what they say is likely to be a “wafer-thin” free trade agreement. Some junior frontbenchers are privately threaten...

    Boris Johnson is ready to recall parliament over its Christmas break if a trade deal is agreed with the EU, Downing Street has said. Contrary to expectations in Westminster, the prime minister decided to send MPs home on Thursday, with the warning that they could be called back at any time in the next two weeks to rush through ratifying legislation. A No 10 source said talks were expected to continue in Brussels over the coming days and the recall could be as early as next week. Signals from Brussels suggested that the two sides are inching towards agreement, with little more than a fortnight to go before the 31 December deadline to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The departure of MPs and peers will intensify pressure for a swift agreement by adding potential delays into t...