Which? Magazine has been busily lobbying MPs to support protectionist amendments to the Government’s Trade Bill this evening. In a mass co-ordinated email, the magazine has been attempting to scaremonger MPs into embedding EU protectionism against American food in UK law. In their letter the magazine writes…

“… trading partners like the US continue to push to be able to export lower-standard food to the UK. To send a strong signal to trading partners and reassure consumers across the country, I’d urge you to: – vote for New Clauses 4, 7 and 11, and amendment 20, to the Trade Bill”

So why is usually pro-choice Which? so vociferously trying to take away choice from British consumers? Could it be that Sue Davies – who now leads the magazine’s work on Brexit and trade policy – was the chair of the EU’s European Food Safety Authority from 2012 to 2016. Classic eurocrat lobbying MPs to keep Brussels rules post-Brexit…

Today’s SNP Opposition Debate is on the unsurprising topic of extending the Transition Period. Their motion says,

“this House welcomes the European Union’s openness to extend the transition period for negotiations; calls on the Government to immediately accept this offer”

Clearly the SNP haven’t been concentrating, as the deadline for requesting a transition period extension came and went over a fortnight ago; with EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic saying “I take this as a definite conclusion of this discussion”. Guido wouldn’t interpret Sefcovic’s statement as “openness to extend the transition period”…

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves has plunged Labour into yet another Brexit policy muddle. On Sunday morning she attempted to whack the government’s £700 million spend to toughen up border infrastructure as “too little too late”. Yet that evening shadow Health minister Justin Madders, spoke against the spending on the BBC’s Westminster Hour saying “I’m not sure what we are getting ready for yet”. On top of this, in May Reeves told Sophy Ridge that she wanted “government to focus wholly at the moment on tackling the Coronavirus”. If May was too early and now is too late when did Reeves want the border bolstering to come?..

Yesterday in the Commons, Reeves repeated her “too little too late” maxim, telling MPs that:

“The best way to help all businesses to prepare is, of course, to agree a deal with the European Union on the terms that we were told to expect. That means no fees, charges, tariffs or quantitative restrictions across all sectors. It does not mean, as we heard in the statement today, customs, physical checks, export declarations, a commodity code, and economic operator restrictions and identification”

A curious argument from Reeves as surely she knows leaving the Single Market and Customs Union does mean all these things, whether the UK ends up in an Australia-style relationship or Canadian-style Free Trade Agreement. Stronger border infrastructure is part of the point of taking back control. Or has she perhaps inadvertently revealed Labour’s secret Brexit plan – trap the U.K. in the EU customs union and single market by the back door?

As this week’s negotiating round with the EU wraps up, David Frost has said “significant differences… still remain between us on a number of important issues.” Read the statement in full below:

“We have completed our discussion of the full range of issues in the negotiation in just over three days. Our talks were face to face for the first time since March and this has given extra depth and flexibility to our discussions.

 

“The negotiations have been comprehensive and useful. But they have also underlined the significant differences that still remain between us on a number of important issues.

 

“We remain committed to working hard to find an early understanding on the principles underlying an agreement out of the intensified talks process during July, as agreed at the HLM on 15 June.

 

“Talks will continue next week in London as agreed in the revised terms of reference published on 12 June.”

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 31^st 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!