EU is trying to ‘blackmail’ the UK over a Brexit divorce bill, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox tells ITV News https://t.co/rqSH7cPjXy pic.twitter.com/5JWDfcNitI
— ITV News (@itvnews) September 1, 2017
Worth reading Pieter Cleppe from Open Europe on why the EU is likely to soften its position and break the deadlock on trade talks and the divorce bill. Davis’ theme yesterday that the UK is being pragmatic and it’s the EU being obstinate is gaining traction…
The UK will export 90 iconic red London buses to Mexico as export finance worth £1.7 billion enables buoyant Brexit Britain to break free into global markets. Theresa May will today visit the Alexander Dennis bus factory in Guildford today, just one of 137 firms helped by UK Export Finance (UKEF) since it was put under the control of the Department for International Trade.
90 low-emission buses will reduce congestion and pollution on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma, and will begin transporting passengers from the end of this year. The new Brexit Britain export funding includes;
Making exports great again…
Back in June, Guido told you a consensus was forming between Hammond, Fox et al on a time-limited 2-3 year transition outside the single market and customs union. As other publications breathlessly reported on Cabinet splits and Brexit coming off the rails, we wrote:
“Everyone in government including Philip Hammond agrees on a destination outside the single market and customs union… Hammond and Leavers now agree on a “softer landing”, so long as the transition is short and time-limited… this seems to Guido a sensible approach for a smooth, real Brexit.”
Yesterday Hammond and Fox dashed the hopes of the less reality-based Remainers, writing a joint article for the Sunday Telegraph confirming what Guido readers already knew:
“We will leave the customs union and be free to negotiate the best trade deals around the world as an independent, open, trading nation. We will leave the single market, because there was a vote for change on June 23rd and that is what we will deliver… We believe a time-limited interim period will be important to further our national interest and give business greater certainty – but it cannot be indefinite; it cannot be a back door to staying in the EU.”
A lot of what is being published by the FT, Guardian and Evening Standard at the moment is wishful thinking, and sometimes just plain wrong. For weeks they reported the government was being torn apart by splits over the transition. Then Osborne’s Standard praised Hammond for securing victory on the transition and said the government had made the “right call”. Today Remainers are moaning Hammond has “caved in”. The reality has been clear for some time for those willing to see it: a time-limited 2-3 year transition outside the single market and customs union. As Guido readers have known for months…
Michael Gove flatly ruled out chlorinated chicken in Brexit Britain’s supermarkets on the Today programme, hours after Liam Fox insisted there was no health issue with US-style chemically washed poultry. Fox is right that this whole row is confected and that the science doesn’t justify the ruffled feathers. Scaremongering by opportunistic Remainers maybe, but regardless of the facts chlorine chicken is always going to be unpopular, will cut through to the public and not help the PR for Brexit. The story should have been shut down days ago, it is distracting from Labour’s student debt row and what should have been a very good week for the Tories…
.@LiamFox says any Brexit transition period should end before the next general election #marr pic.twitter.com/4AFPOzimb5
— The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) July 23, 2017
The BBC always describes good economic news as ‘Despite Brexit’ says @LiamFox pic.twitter.com/XD7miGPuCO
— BrexitCentral (@BrexitCentral) July 6, 2017
A lot of Remainers are whingeing about these comments by Liam Fox this morning criticising the BBC. Worth noting that last night’s Newsnight ran a story claiming Brexit isn’t going to happen, which shows how reality-based some elements of the Beeb are. And it is pretty obvious that other pundits would rather Britain fail than Brexit succeed. Fox isn’t wrong…
Theresa May and Liam Fox have confirmed the UK will leave the customs union by hiring a globally respected Chief Negotiation Adviser. Crawford Falconer is a New Zealander with 25 years of experience at negotiating trade deals. His job will be to “develop and negotiate free trade agreements and market access deals with non-EU countries”. An important moment in the ongoing battle for Brexit: striking trade deals would not be possible if Britain were to remain in the customs union. Sorry Phil, bad news for opportunistic Remainers…
We already knew that #Brexit means Brexit. Now @LiamFoxMP says "Theresa May is Theresa May" #Ridge pic.twitter.com/iEPGkdbewN
— SophyRidge On Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) March 12, 2017
Liam Fox making friends and trolling lefties:
“The United Kingdom, is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not need to bury its 20th century history in a pan-European project”.
Liam Byrne is having some fun via the medium of written questions:
Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times Mr Adam Werritty has been received on his Department’s premises at his behest since he took office.
Greg Hands: None.
At a cost of £165 to the taxpayer per question, worth a shot?
The Fleet Street Fox – or as we should now call her “Mrs Flapjack” – wrote these words six months ago today in The New European. Liam Fox has bested the Fleet Street Fox. With Johnson, Davis and Fox all still in office unscathed, her invitation is now operative…
Should @Nigel_Farage be a ‘bridge’ between UK and Trump? #marr asks @LiamFoxMP https://t.co/33JhfrwoTP
— The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) December 18, 2016
Party before country?
David Davis has insisted EU citizens will not be used as a bargaining chip after Liam Fox described their right to remain in the UK as “one of our main cards”. Davis told tonight’s Spectator fringe that he is “100% sure” all EU citizens currently in Britain will be allowed to stay, there will be no deportations, and it will be the first issue dealt with during the negotiation.
“It’s a legal right. If you’ve been here five years you have an indefinite leave to remain anyway… if people have been here two and a half years, by the time we leave they’ll have been here five years so there’s no risk.
We have no intention of deporting people or setting about treating people who through no fault of their own are here during a transition. But what we have to do is we have to also keep in mind the rights of British citizens abroad. So we’ll fix the whole thing together and I am absolutely 100% sure we’ll be able to do that and there will be no difficulty for anybody…
If we take the whole thing together, there’ll be nobody taken hostage, nobody used as a bargaining chip. I suspect it’ll be the first thing on the agenda when we actually start the discussion.”
Sensible words after the Lobby got all excited about Fox earlier.
Good to see Dr. Fox already getting to grips with the new job…
UPDATE: A spokesman for Liam Fox gets in touch:
“This sign was not put up by Dr Fox or his staff but obviously by someone having a laugh. It is nice to see that people around Parliament have a good sense of humour.”
Theresa May won 165 votes yesterday but has only 118 supporters publicly declared. This means she has around 50 spare backers whom her rivals fear she will employ tactically in order to guarantee her preferred opponent makes the ballot. Naturally Team TM deny they will gerrymander the vote.
Two Fox supporters – David Nuttall and Edward Leigh – have publicly jumped over to Leadsom. Another – Robert Syms – has gone to May. Gove will be working hard stressing his liberal credentials to Crabb backers. The bookies are now offering near enough the same odds for a May-Gove ballot as a May-Leadsom…
Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May were tied in ConservativeHome‘s most recent self-selecting leadership poll. While Leadsom has largely replaced Boris in the previous week’s poll, Gove lags, just ahead of Fox (previously tied with Leadsom for third) into fifth place. Guido suspects the next leader of the Tories is going to be a woman…
A source close to Liam Fox tells Guido he will announce his leadership bid tomorrow. This comes after speculation he was in talks with Theresa May, which is denied by both sides. Of course this could be some snakes and ladders in the hope of being offered a top Cabinet post. But the plan right now is that Fox for leader will launch tomorrow…
Leave message: Liam Fox says EU migration causes intense pressure on housing.
Remain message: Patrick Stewart doesn’t want postwar Europe to unravel.
Cut through: Corbyn finally joins the In campaign, mixed results.
Leave social media count: 443,227 likes, 49,283 followers.
Remain social media count: 448,263 likes, 32,622 followers.
Odds: Remain 1/3, Leave between 11/4
Latest poll: Remain 41%, Leave 41% (YouGov, online). Poll of Polls is now Remain 51%, Leave 49%.
Before Govians get too excited Guido should of course caveat that this is what Mike Smithson calls a “voodoo poll“, a self-selecting unweighted poll of readers. It does still show a clear trend; Remainers are down, Leavers are up.
Priti Patel is equal in popularity to Osborne as far as ConHomies are concerned (20 to 1 if you feel lucky). After the disappointment with Saj (7%), many on the right who don’t trust Boris and think Fox is past it are increasingly thinking about the merits of Priti. One to watch…
The French interior minister last year rubbished the idea promoted by Cameron today that France might tear up their agreement with Britain on border controls if we left the EU. Bernard Cazeneuve said:
[…] Read the rest“Calling for the border with the English to be opened is not a responsible solution.
Top Corbynista Cat Smith on the general election:
“…we didn’t lose it…”
