Last night the government’s flagship points-based immigration bill cleared the final parliamentary hurdle to become law – by a majority of 104 – ensuring free movement will cease when the Transition Period comes to an end. Naturally, not a single Labour MP voted for it…
It’s now more crucial than ever for Parliament to expedite putting in place all necessary legislation for post-Brexit Britain, as yesterday also marked the last possible opportunity for Britain to request an extension to the transition period. As promised by the Government, yesterday’s deadline under Article 132 of the Withdrawal Agreement came and went without such a request, meaning Britain is now committed by international treaty to become fully independent on 31st December 2020.
If he wasn’t having to deal with a deadly global pandemic, this year would be going pretty well for Boris…
Today marks four years since the UK voted to leave the EU by a decisive margin of 1,269,501 votes. In the Wembley debate days before the vote, Boris Johnson said we wanted 23 June to become the UK’s ‘independence day’. Today the PM doubled down on that theme, by announcing that from 4 July (another country’s independence day) the lockdown will be significantly eased. Cheers!
There are reports that the EU is preparing to relax the stringent approach it has taken up until this point to fisheries in its FTA negotiations with the UK. In what Reuters describes as the EU’s “first major concession”, an EU official told the news agency that “there have been hints of a possible reconciliation of approaches… We would be looking to shift on demands to keep everything as is now”. The next round of digital talks start next week…
Sir Keir dodged a question this morning on his LBC phone in about calling for an extension to the transition period. The former Remainer-in-Chief is now saying he wants to see a deal done by the end of the year, refusing to commit to calling for a pause in the process. Now the line is “we’re a long way from December so we’ll see how we get on”. A clear sign he’s keen not to appear too Remainy. What a shift…
Post-Brexit negotiations are continuing at pace with David Frost and Michel Barnier conducting a “constructive” video call this afternoon, where they agreed three new week-long rounds of negotiations for the UK’s new FTA with the EU.
The rounds, which will take place via videoconference, have been agreed for the weeks commencing:
- 20 April
- 11 May
- 1 June
After which there will be a “High Level meeting” to take stock of the progress made. The UK is sticking steadfastly to its December deadline…
UPDATE: And here’s the video call in action:
The heads of both sides of the EU future relationship negotiation teams are now in isolation. While 69 year old Barnier tweeted yesterday that he had tested positive for the disease, Bloomberg is now reporting that David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator “is isolating himself after showing symptoms of the virus”. He has not yet been tested. Post-Brexit FTA negotiations will not restart any time soon…
Guido wishes them both a speedy recovery.
