Brexit
Express
BREXIT negotiators are gearing up for a round of crunch talks to avert a full-blown trade war in the dispute over EU rules for Northern Ireland.
The threat of a “sausage war” will loom over the discussions as officials work to thrash out a solution to end trade disruptions in the region. Wrangling will likely focus on an EU ban on British chilled meats, such as sausages and burgers, being sold in Northern Ireland. A grace period from the EU’s red tape is set to expire at the end of next month, meaning the sale of British bangers must be stopped in the area’s supermarkets unless an agreement is found.
Ministers are privately planning whether to override the Brexit treaty and unilaterally extend the grace period to protect supplies.
Brussels chief Maros Sefcovic has previously threatened to react “swiftly, firmly and resolutely” if Britain unilaterally extends the grace period in the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Any such action would likely prompt further legal action that could ultimately lead to punitive tariffs on British exports and the suspension of parts of the post-Brexit trade agreement.
Mr Sefcovic, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, has vowed to be “flexible” in finding solutions that protect Northern Ireland’s place within the UK.
EU
Express
A NEW survey has found that a “large proportion” of EU citizens are planning to leave the UK because of Brexit.
A new study by the University of Strathclyde’s found that 58.62 percent of EU respondents living in the UK believe that Brexit increased the likelihood of them leaving the UK.
On average, respondents had lived in the UK for almost 19 years, and 82.2 percent live in England.
The respondents felt unrepresented in the UK society, with 58 percent of them thinking non-British citizens with settled status or indefinite leave to remain should be allowed to vote in general elections.
One respondent said: “This was firmly my forever country.
“Now, much less so, not just Brexit although that is the main driver, but [also the] Tory government, corruption, hostile environment, rising inequality, reduced public spending.”
Breitbart
The European Union has accused Belarus of attacking the bloc with Iraqi migrants by forcing them to cross the borders into Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
European leaders had accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of not only orchestrating and facilitating migrant flows, but of flying migrants directly from Iraq to Minsk and marching them to Belarus’s borders with European Union member-states, allegedly to blackmail the bloc which has clashed with the former Soviet territory since its disputed election.
Lithuania, a small Baltic nation of around 2.8 million, has seen 4,100 illegals cross from Belarus so far this year — more than 50 times that arrived in 2020. Earlier this month, Lithuania ordered its border guards to repel all attempts at illegal entry, with force if necessary.
The country’s border guard agency released footage alleging to show Belarusian riot police forcing migrants to cross the border into Lithuania, according to Sky News, with the current presidency of the Council of the European Union calling it “aggressive behaviour”.
The EU president continued that it is “unacceptable and amounts to a direct attack aimed at destabilising and pressurising the EU.
The City
Express
“EYE-WATERING” levels of investment in the City of London totalling at least £14billion this year alone have pulled the rug from under Brexit naysayers claiming the Square Mile would falter outside the EU, a financial analyst has said.
Tom Bohills, co-vice chairman of the CityUnited Project, was speaking at the end of a week in which a report published by the European Banking Association revealed just 95 bankers earning in excess of €1million a year quit the City for Europe prior to Brexit. He furthermore pointed to KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech report, which underlined the scale of investment in London-based financial technology businesses in the first half of 2021.
This indicates of the top ten fintech deals in the European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) regions, four totalling more than £14billion and involving Refinitiv (£10.86billion), Paysafe Group (£1billion), Nutmeg (£726.27billion) and LendInvest (£500million) were centred on the Capital.
Furthermore, another, involving GoCo Group, worth £600million, was centred on Newport in south Wales.
Mr Bohills told Express.co.uk: “European governments spent five years and tens of millions of pounds building international schools and hosting glitzy embassy receptions to try and lure bankers from the UK.
Climate change
Mail
Prince Charles today makes his most powerful intervention to date in the fight against climate change, telling Britain’s business leaders they must help, or the planet is ‘done for’.
Drawing emotionally on his family connections to wildfire-racked Greece, the prince issues a robust challenge to big business to join his crusade for action ‘before it’s finally too late’.
The heir to the throne says that humanity’s ‘only hope’ is for business chiefs to join world leaders in an ‘epic battle’ to avert ‘climate catastrophe’.
Writing exclusively for the Daily Mail, the Prince of Wales declares that business ‘with its trillions of dollars’ has an ‘absolutely critical’ role to play. He says that unlocking this private sector investment could bring about a ‘game-changing green transition’.
Using visceral and emotional language, Charles talks about the wildfires devastating his beloved Greece, saying the scenes have been ‘terrifying’ and ‘the stuff of nightmares’.
He tells of his heartbreak at seeing the land where his father and grandfather were born being ‘swallowed up by ferocious flames’ and warns that ‘time is rapidly running out’.
A similar story may be read in the Independent
GPs
Telegraph
GPs are ignoring orders to allow patients face-to-face appointments despite the easing of lockdown restrictions, The Telegraph can reveal.
In May, health officials ordered all surgeries to abandon a system of “total triage” introduced during the pandemic, which meant those seeking to see a GP were told to have an online or phone discussion first.
The NHS guidance promised patients the right to see a GP in person, with doctors told to respect their preferences.
But official figures show that since then – despite the easing of lockdown restrictions – access to practices has remained unchanged.
Just 56 per cent of patients were given a face-to-face appointment in June, official figures for England show – the same as the previous month, when the rules were changed to say every practice should make a “clear offer of appointments in person”.
The pledge to “respect preferences for face-to-face care” has triggered a mounting backlash from doctors’ unions.
Terror attacks
Express
THE UK could be facing the threat of new terror attacks on a similar scale to the 9-11 assault on the US in 2001, a former British commander has warned.
Amid the chaotic withdrawal of British and US troops from Afghanistan, intelligence and security experts fear the country will once again become a breeding ground for terrorism. Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, has warned there is a “possibility’ of terrorists targeting the UK.
He told the Mirror: “There is the possibility of a 9-11 style spectacular, on Government buildings, sports grounds, and major targets.
“If they cannot get the US, the UK remains a large target.
“Freedom in Afghanistan, as we have seen with 9-11, will give them time and help to plan such an attack.”
After announcing the US would withdraw from the country, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in a short number of weeks.
Similar stories may be read in the Sun, Mirror
Afghanistan
Independent
Boris Johnson has said he would work with the Taliban insurgency if necessary to “find a solution” for Afghanistan, as the government navigates “formidable” challenges in evacuating people from Kabul.
The prime minister also sought to defend Dominic Raab, the under-fire foreign secretary who has faced a litany of questions over his handling of the crisis, insisting he “absolutely” had confidence in the cabinet minister.
Following a fourth emergency session of Cobra, Mr Johnson said he wanted to assure people that “political and diplomatic efforts to find a solution for Afghanistan” will continue, including “working with the Taliban, of course, if necessary”.
It comes as leading human rights charity Amnesty International claimed militants had tortured and killed several members of an ethnic minority group – raising concerns of a return to its repressive regime of the late 1990s.
Witnesses told Amnesty that the Taliban had carried out a massacre of the Hazara minority in early July in Ghanzi — about 60 miles southwest of Kabul, where the rapid evacuation of foreign nationals is currently underway.
Similar stories may be read in ITV News, Breitbart
‘Great reset’
Breitbart
The Davos-based World Economic Forum (WEF) has predicted that countries will begin tracking people by their heartbeats as wearing masks during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic has made facial surveillance more difficult.
In a video posted on social media on Wednesday, the globalist ‘Great Reset’ group said that the pandemic could see the governments track people based on their heartbeat.
“Facial recognition systems are often stumped by face masks but your heartbeat is just as unique as your face,” the World Economic Forum said.
The WEF went on to say that the American space agency NASA has developed “a system that can ID you from your heartbeat using a laser”.
According to a 2019 article from the MIT Technology Review, the Pentagon has developed a “Jetson prototype” of a machine that can detect the “unique cardiac signature from 200 meters away, even through clothes.”
The NASA-developed ‘Heartbeat ID‘ claims to be a “new biometric technique to verify someone’s identity. It can be used in everything from replacing an individuals PC passwords to access a bank account.”
The Klaus Schwab-run organisation went on to predict that instead of commuting to work, people will gather in communal “neighbourhood hubs” equipped with gyms, bars, and art galleries that would be “no more than a fifteen-minute walk from home”.
“Ghost Kitchens” will supply people with their restaurant fix, delivered to your homes, rather than eating out, the World Economic Forum continued.
Breitbart
Civil rights campaigners have warned that Britain is heading towards a “dystopian” future in which Chinese-style facial recognition cameras are used to turn public spaces into “open-air prisons”.
Last week, the Home Office published new proposed guidelines for the use of AI camera surveillance of the British public in order to “enable operators of surveillance camera systems to make legitimate use of available technology in a way that the public would rightly expect and to a standard that maintains public trust and confidence.”
The guidance, which is the first update to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice in eight years, has been criticised as “bare bones” and a threat to civil liberties by campaigners.
The former Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter told the BBC: “I don’t think it provides much guidance to law enforcement, I don’t really it provides a great deal of guidance to the public as to how the technology will be deployed.”
Mr Porter added that he found it odd that the guidance made no mention of how such systems will be implemented in Transport For London, which operates thousands of cameras.
Megan Goulding, a lawyer for the civil rights group Liberty added: “One year since our case led the court to agree that this technology violates our rights and threatens our liberty, these guidelines fail to properly account for either the court’s findings or the dangers created by this dystopian surveillance tool.
“Facial recognition will not make us safer, it will turn public spaces into open-air prisons and entrench patterns of discrimination that already oppress entire communities.”
Extinction Rebellion
Mail
Policing the last three major Extinction Rebellion protests cost £50million and next week’s fortnight of action is set to cost many millions more, Scotland Yard chiefs warned yesterday.
The eco-warriors plan to disrupt the City of London, the Bank of England and high street banks to demonstrate against global warming.
Previous demonstrations saw the group block Waterloo Bridge in London for more than a week, park a pink yacht in Oxford Circus, glue themselves to roads and stop the distribution of 3.5million newspapers by blockading a printing press.
With another protest looming, senior Tories, businesses and commuters are braced for more disruption to life and the economy.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith: ‘Extinction Rebellion have proven themselves to be desperate attention-seekers frantically trying to remain relevant and distracting from their own cause.
‘These protests will cause havoc for ordinary people.’
Senior officers warned that ambulances and police cars driving to emergencies could be delayed by the roadblocks and officers would have to be redeployed to cope with the chaos.
A similar story may be read in the Morning Star.
Russia
Sun
VLADIMIR Putin’s spy ship armed with state-of-the-art stealth subs has been spotted lurking over UK internet cables, sparking fears they could be cut.
The Yantar was caught loitering above major undersea cables off the Irish coastline on Tuesday night in what is being viewed as Putin’s latest push to scare the West.
The vessel was above at least one commercial sub-sea cable and was seen zig-zagging through seas north of Mayo and Donegal in an apparent search for more.
It then moved to the west of Killybegs fishing harbour before scuttling off into the Atlantic.
Ireland’s Defence Force and NATO are on alert and monitoring the situation, according to The Times.
This comes as Putin‘s shadowy fleet of submarines continue a campaign of tampering with the West’s vital undersea internet cables.
The vessels are operated by a shadowy branch of the Russian military that answers directly to Putin.
Puppies
BBC News
Welfare standards for dogs imported to the UK are to be tightened amid a rise in the “grim trade” of puppy smuggling, the government has said.
Plans include raising the minimum age for imported puppies from 15 weeks to 6 months and banning the importing of dogs with cropped ears or docked tails.
Bringing heavily pregnant dogs into the UK would also be banned.
The number of puppies seized at the border jumped from 324 in 2019 to 843 last year.
They were just a fraction of the 66,000 dogs imported into the UK in 2020 but the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said poor treatment and smuggling was on the increase.
In one case, four beagle puppies were found – hungry, dehydrated and just eight weeks old – in the back of an abandoned vehicle in London.
They were believed to have been illegally imported from the Republic of Ireland.
A similar story may be read in the Mail
Brexit
I agree with the sentiment that the UK has changed over the last twenty years. Of course it has, the UK has been under the influence of the EU for the last twenty plus years. What did the people interviewed expect.
The change actually started in the 70s when there was local government reform and local government became less local and county councils also became more remote. Then there was devolution when three of the fout UK nations had there own assemblies. Then there was education, education, education when one prime minister decoded that 59% of school leavers had to have a university education. There was the consequential loss of technical colleges where most of the UK’s greatest engineers were educated. This country needs engineering more than lawyers, the former are wealth producers.
Over the last twenty plus years we have seen the police service off loading many of its responsibilities to other agencies who generally are failing the communities. The CPS also seem to be ignoring communities by the closure of local courts, 30 plus miles to the nearest court is not local justice when there is no local public transport.
Hopefully some politicians might recognise the the way that the UK is becoming a third world nation with a large fiscal deficit that has yet to be addressed. A large internal fiscal market does not mean that the UK is a rich country.
Will the politicians to encourage long term (20 plus years) manufacturing and engineering in the UK. The railway industry shows the decline when the UK cannot provide the excellent Inter City Power 125 power units. There has been the loss of lorry building and home grown car manufacturing. Other industries have suffered with the UK being in EU. The UK has been let down by the UK politicians and civl servants at all levels.
Yes, with Brexit the UK might become a more industrialised country and thus a wealthier country. membership of the EU has not benefited the UK.
I almost said ‘No Comment, it’s all a load of unbelievable poppycock’.
But I must say one thing. Our esteemed future King Charles 111, used to enthuse about ‘Organic Farming’.
That seemed a good policy and anyway harmless.
Now?
Well doesn’t madness run in the family?
The situation is pretty dire. We are being misled by a bunch of self-serving incompetents.
Just three days ago “Our Boris”, the Fat Controller said, “…West could ecognise Taliban as Legit Afghan Govt if they Protect ‘Human Rights and Inclusivity’”
Well, I never… ‘uman rights? inclusivity?
It shows his mental capacity to be on a par with Sleepy Joe Biden.
Yesterday General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of the Defence Staff, claimed that the Taliban are honourable “country boys” who “want an Afghanistan that is inclusive for all”… what they actually are are a disparate collection of tribespeople… and, thanks to the precipitate departure of American troops leaving behind their equipment on Biden’s orders, they are incredibly well armed.
These “Good ol’ Country Boys” are religious zealots. They intend to impose Sharia Law in its most stringent form. It is “inclusive”. Accept it.or die. Yes, they are “honourable” in their own eyes… First, ISLAM,then the tribe and the family. If you fall outside that,take great care.
As devoted adherents of the Religion of Peace they practise Taqiyya. That is, lying (to infidels) to advance and protect Islam (and themselves from said infidels) – it is both a virtue and a duty. (they have been practising for a long time and have become very good at it)
How can one “negotiate” with such people? I think that the Turkish genes in Boris understand Taqiyya perfectly… he has been practising on us for a long time.
All true.
I agree fully with your ideas , i believe Boris is mentally incompetent and should be removed, by the Conservatives, from office.
We have a similar problem to the USA.
Get rid of Biden, they get Kamala Harris by default
Get rid of Kamala and who is next in line… Nancy Pelosi.
Who is the alternative to Boris? A pretty ghastly selection
I have always had good thoughts about Ian Duncan Smith. Nothing fancy… a steady old buffer. But poor old chap still bears the knife scars on his back from last time round as leader of the party.
Indeed Mike; we need rid and soon.
I am increasingly becoming aware of the political dilemna facing our senior politicians, which they are finding increasingly intractable, and realy, really bad.
Basically, The country has run out of money and it is starting to show. The armed forces is agood example. The excuse for the MOD and its waste is ‘ defence ‘.. But there are other piorities. and other wastes. But they are all pruned to inability.
It now becomes obvious that the corruption makes its demands, and threats start. to take effect. There is no money. Who will suffer. Not the corrupt. But being hidden becomes fragile. Traditional wastes of money become pressuredd (In itself a form of corruption.), and scapegoats become more frequent and fearful.