Fisheries
Express
BREXIT trade talks with the EU will formally resume in Brussels today, with a showdown expected over British fisheries. David Frost, Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, met with his EU counterpart last night for an informal dinner. The meeting marked the start of the seventh round of post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and the bloc, and it is hoped the two sides will break the current deadlock and edge closer towards a deal. Mr Frost is being joined by 50 civil servants for the trip, as the UK prepares to stand firm on its red lines set by Prime Minister Boris Johnson – especially over EU access to British fishing waters. But Brussels is confident the UK is beginning to waiver, as time is running out to secure a deal. One EU official, who is closely involved in the post-Brexit trade talks, told Politico: “The UK desperately needs this deal. “If the clock is ticking, reality will start to sink in in London.
Brexit
Telegraph
Britain’s haulage industry has said that the EU’s “intransigence” over granting British lorry drivers’ access to its market amounts to “shooting themselves in the foot.” It comes as a row erupted during the Brexit negotiations in Brussels, dampening expectations of a breakthrough this week. The UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, will tell Brussels that refusal to allow wide-ranging access for British lorries is likely to harm the EU more than the UK, a government source close to the negotiations said. Europe’s economies are already struggling to emerge from the coronavirus. “If this is the outcome then the intransigence of the EU means that they will be shooting themselves in the foot,” said Road Haulage Association chief Richard Burnett.
Sun
BRITAIN’S negotiator warned the EU it needs a deal to keep freight moving freely much more than we do as crunch Brexit talks kicked off in Brussels. David Frost’s team challenged Michel Barnier over his rejection of our offer on truckers’ access which has threatened to derail progress. The row came after the pair enjoyed a private dinner at the bloc’s Berlaymont HQ to tee up this week’s crucial showdown. Industry groups have urged Brussels to compromise, warning its hardline stance risks driving companies to the wall and sparking mass job losses.
Express
EU chiefs have sparked fury by threatening to curb British truckers’ access to European roads as the deadlock over a Brexit trade deal deepens. The haulage row is one of five sticking points which remain between negotiators. Both the UK and the EU have said they remain committed to overcoming the disagreements to complete a deal in just two months’ time. In the latest clash at the Brussels talks, the bloc’s negotiators are to reject a British request for the current wide-ranging road haulage rules for British HGV drivers to remain in place after the UK’s departure from the EU single market and customs union at the end of the year.
Illegal migration
Mail
A young migrant drowned yesterday trying to reach Britain in a 3ft dinghy – tragically highlighting the human cost of the crisis. The victim, who could not swim, had set off from Calais in the middle of the night with a friend. The pair are thought to have accidentally punctured their inflatable craft with the shovels they were using as oars. The dinghy started to sink and – although his friend somehow survived – the Sudanese migrant was unable to make it safely ashore. His body was found on a beach at Sangatte seven hours later. He was only 16, according to France’s citizenship minister.
Times
A 16-year-old Sudanese migrant who could not swim drowned in the Channel after trying to reach Britain in a tiny makeshift boat using shovels as oars. The body of the teenager washed up on a French beach yesterday as about 150 migrants arrived in Dover after making the crossing aboard rigid hulled inflatable dinghies. A beach walker found the body after dawn at Sangatte, near the mouth of the Channel tunnel.
Morning Star
THE death of a 16-year-old Sudanese migrant, whose body was found on a French beach today, has intensified outrage at the British government’s inhumane immigration policies. The boy was part of a group attempting to cross the English Channel into Britain when the makeshift vessel he was on capsized. The tragedy came as an increasing number of migrants have been making the journey in small boats over recent weeks.
Sun
A PASSENGER ferry had to perform a U-turn in the middle of the Channel after “nearly mowing down” migrant boats in its path. P&O’s Pride of Kent – sailing from Calais to Dover – was involved in the close call just after 5am this morning. Ship tracking radar shows the 30,000-tonne vessel coming to a sharp halt at around 5.30am before completely turning around. After around five minutes, it then turns back towards Britain to complete a 360-degree maneuver in the middle of the Channel. Sources say the vessel came across a number of migrants in makeshift dinghies – making it impossible to pass. Ferry bosses are said to be fuming with French authorities for not making efforts to clear the Channel of migrants in dangerous boats.
Parliament
Times
Boris Johnson’s proposal to move parliament to York while the Palace of Westminster is repaired has been rebuffed. MPs and peers agreed in 2018 to a plan that would see them move to temporary facilities near the existing site — a “full decant” — to allow essential repairs and upgrades to be made to the Victorian buildings. That plan is being reviewed amid concerns over the cost, estimated six years ago as approaching £4 billion.
Mirror
Boris Johnson was handed a humiliating slapdown over his plan to move the House of Lords to York on Wednesday. The Prime Minister wants the body behind Parliament’s ongoing refurbishment to look into shifting the upper chamber to the North. But he was told it was not his place to make such a move in a stinging rebuke from the Speakers of both the Lords and the Commons. Mr Johnson wrote to Parliament’s Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body – responsible for reviewing plans to refurbish the crumbling Palace of Westminster.
Guardian
Boris Johnson’s suggestion of moving parliament to York while a multibillion-pound restoration of the Palace of Westminster takes place will not be considered by a body reviewing the plans. The prime minister had requested that a “possible location outside London” be looked at as a place for parliament to sit while the crumbling palace is revamped at an estimated cost of £4bn. However, the sponsor body and delivery authority that are working jointly on the restoration and renewal plans made clear that it was for MPs and peers to decide where they should sit and the York proposal would not form part of the review.
Huffington Post
Boris Johnson’s proposal to move parliament to York while the Palace of Westminster is refurbished has been effectively rejected. The prime minister had asked the body responsible for the multi-billion pound refurbishment of the crumbling palace to explore the possibility of moving parliament to York while work is carried out. But like the so-called “Boris island” airport in the Thames estuary and the garden bridge across the river he backed while London mayor, the PM’s latest eye-catching big idea looks to have fallen by the wayside.
Independent
Boris Johnson’s proposal to temporarily move the House of Lords to York has been rejected by the body in charge of renovating the upper house. The prime minister was reportedly keen on the idea as a symbolic way to stress his commitment to rebalancing the country away from the capital, short of real devolution of power. But the Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority, which is carrying out a review of plans to revamp the Palace of Westminster, said it would not consider such an idea.
Tower of London
Mail
The Tower of London‘s ravens, which according to folklore are key to the success of the nation, are beginning to stray after becoming ‘bored’ in lockdown, according to reports. The legendary birds, which are shrouded in myth, are lacking stimulation due to a lack of visitors and two have already been caught sneaking out of the precincts of their famous home in search of food, according to the Sun. It is part of British folklore that the kingdom, the crown and the Tower of London itself will fall if the six ravens leave.
Sun
PATRIOTIC Brits are today urged to visit the Tower of London to save its ravens — and the country. A lack of tourists means the six “bored” birds are straying. If they fly away, the monarchy and Britain will fall, it is said. Worryingly, two of the seven birds — Merlina and Jubilee — have already begun venturing beyond the castle precincts to forage for food. Today The Sun urges Brits to visit the attraction — home to the Crown Jewels and where the monarch’s enemies were once executed — for the good of the nation.
Education
Times
Schools have been told to hold off issuing Btec results today in further exam chaos after a U-turn from the company in charge. At 4.30pm yesterday, less than 24 hours before results were due to be released, the exam board Pearson told schools not to publish Btec results as they needed more time to recalculate the grades. The turmoil heaps more pressure on Gavin Williamson, the education secretary. He has said that those who do vocational qualifications — often more disadvantaged children — are his priority.
Telegraph
Close to half a million pupils face fresh exam chaos on Thursday after an 11th hour decision to withhold their results. On Wednesday night, with less than 24 hours to go until results day, the exam board Pearson told schools not to publish BTEC results, saying they needed more time to recalculate the grades. It is the latest results exams fiasco and follows the A-level results chaos last week which led to the Government’s U-turn on teachers’ predicted grades.
Mail
Almost one in three GCSE pupils could get top marks today following the exam U-turn fiasco. The proportion with a grade 7 or higher – the equivalent of an old A/A* – is set to rise by almost 30 per cent due to the switch to teacher assessments. This could mean 1.5million grade 7s, 8s and 9s awarded in England, with up to 1,000 pupils gaining a clean sweep of 9s for the first time.
Guardian
Ofqual was warned at least a month ago of flaws in the exams algorithm that left thousands of students devastated, but the regulator pressed ahead amid longstanding ministerial pressure to prevent grade inflation, the Guardian understands. External advisers told the regulator that its formula for deciding England’s pupils’ A-level and GCSE results after the cancellation of exams was “volatile” and risked producing erratic outcomes, sources said.
Times
Gavin Williamson was warned directly that the A-level and GCSE grading system could lead to hundreds of thousands of students being given the wrong results but decided to push ahead, The Times can reveal. A senior source at the Department for Education disclosed that Sir Jon Coles, a former director-general there, wrote to Mr Williamson early last month to express concerns about the algorithm used by Ofqual. He said that, at best, the model being applied to A-level and GCSE grading would be only 75 per cent accurate, meaning that hundreds of thousands of students would get the wrong grades.
Mail
Gavin Williamson was warned the exams algorithm was ‘doomed’ and could see thousands of students receive the wrong results, a senior Department for Education source has revealed. The source said former director-general Sir Jon Coles wrote to Mr Williamson six weeks ago to reveal his concerns about the Ofqual algorithm, claiming that it would only be 75 per cent accurate at best when applied to GCSE and A-Level grading.
Independent
Education secretary Gavin Williamson and the exams regulator Ofqual were warned at least one month ago about flaws in the government’s moderating system for A-level and GCSE exams, according to reports. The Department for Education (DfE) was forced into a humiliating U-turn this week after a controversial algorithm used to moderate results in the absence of exams was abandoned and replaced with estimated grades from teachers.
Universities
Times
Students will be offered incentives to defer their university place until next year after institutions were swamped by applicants with the right grades. Durham University said it was seeking volunteers to take a gap year and join in September 2021. As an enticement, it will guarantee accommodation and offer a bursary. Other universities may follow suit in using bursaries to solve over-supply, and some have already promised accommodation for those who defer.
Sky News
A university is offering money to students who volunteer to defer their entry for a year, amid chaos around admissions following the A-level results debacle. Durham University has promised to honour all offers that were met by would-be undergraduates, but said it would provide incentives to those willing to delay their studies. In an email sent to students and posted on the university’s website, a statement said “capacity issues caused by this unprecedented situation” meant it was possible some of those who only fulfilled their offer requirements after the government U-turn on Monday would have to wait until 2021 to start.
Telegraph
A leading university has begun offering cash incentives to students to defer their studies for a year in order to avoid overcrowding caused by the A-level fiasco. Durham University broke ranks on Tuesday to become the first in the country to offer bursaries and a choice of accommodation to any students willing to delay their entry until 2021. Experts said other universities would now follow suit in an “arms race” of increasing financial incentives to head off overcrowding caused by the Government’s humiliating and last minute U-turn on A-level grades.
Appeals
Times
Head teachers are asking the government to ensure grades assessed by schools cannot be challenged to avoid a flood of appeals by pupils. Private schools are among those concerned that pupils and parents will be upset by the grade allocated in lieu of cancelled GCSE and A-level exams. Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, said letting pupils query their teacher-assessed grades would be “the road to hell”. He told TES magazine: “Ofqual have always said, and we agreed with them, that you should not be able to appeal because there is no one better equipped . . . than the teacher to determine the grade and so it was never going to be possible to appeal [on those grounds].
Quarantine
Mail
There were fresh fears today that Croatia could be added to the UK’s quarantine list as the popular destination saw a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases. The Adriatic nation has seen an upsurge in the past week and this morning posted cases that almost match their highest point in August. These numbers, which are monitored by the Department for Transport, will fuel speculation that it could have its current quarantine-free air bridge removed, bringing it into line with other nations like Spain, Portugal and France.
Sun
AIRPORT coronavirus tests are set to replace 14-day quarantines when travelling from ‘red list’ countries, as Heathrow Airport is ready to become the first to trial £150 swabs. Cabinet ministers are set to meet next week to discuss the new alternative to quarantines. New options include testing passengers between five and 10 days after their arrival to enable them to shorten their 14-day self-isolation, if the results are negative.
Sky News
Boris Johnson has been told to “get a grip” of his coronavirus quarantine policy as Heathrow Airport pushes for the 14-day isolation period to be shortened. The travel hub’s chief executive told Sky News the prime minister needs to act swiftly to stop “holding back the recovery of the UK economy” due to the restrictions on many travellers arriving in the country. The airport has revealed plans for a new testing facility which it hopes will lead to the end of the two-week mandatory quarantine for those returning from countries removed from the UK’s safe list.
Cancer
Sun
DEATHS from skin cancer have risen 150 per cent since the 1970s — with experts issuing a warning to sun lovers. When holidays abroad first became popular, 1.5 in 100,000 Brits died of the disease. By 2017, this was 3.8 per 100,000, Cancer Research UK said. The rise is greater among men and death rates are now three times higher than the 1970s. In 2017, there were 2,357 UK skin cancer deaths.
Mail
A 30-minute dose of radiotherapy administered inside the body is as effective for early breast cancer as conventional therapy lasting up to six weeks, a landmark study has revealed. The treatment – known as targeted intraoperative radiotherapy – also produced fewer side effects and did not affect patients chances of survival or risk of cancer returning compared to accepted methods. It works through a small ball-shaped ‘intrabeam’ device which is placed into the affected breast after surgery.
Times
A single dose of radiotherapy delivered from inside the body in only 30 minutes is as effective for breast cancer as weeks of the treatment, according to a long-term study. Doctors at University College London have developed a technique in which the therapy is given immediately after a tumour is removed, while the patient is still under anaesthetic. A small ball-shaped “Intrabeam” device is placed inside the breast where the cancer had been. Once the radiotherapy dose has been delivered, the ball is removed and the surgical wound closed up.
Courts
Times
Amounting crisis in the courts will put violent criminals on the streets and prolong trauma for victims of crime, senior judges and lawyers have warned, as delays reach unprecedented levels. Research by The Times shows that the backlog of crown court trials is increasing by thousands each week, causing hearings to be delayed for years. The number of pending trials in the crown court, where the most serious offences are heard in England and Wales, has reached about 30,000, according to court service officials.
Times
Ministers have been accused of wasting millions of pounds on “Nightingale courts” that are not being used while they continue to sell traditional court buildings and fail to invest the proceeds in the justice system. Last month, Robert Buckland, QC, the justice secretary, announced a deal for ten makeshift courts — including in a medieval knights’ chamber in Peterborough — as ministers try to clear the backlog of criminal cases.
I’m sure that our Government, on its present performance, are of the opinion that EU fisherfolk will abide to the law in the New Year ! – THEY WON’T as they see the UK as an easy touch, now and always ! ….. Fisherfolk and their EU Nations only take notice of intended policing, and if necessary, backed by force ! – Have we taken any action to enlarge our border control and fisheries protection ? – Like hell we have ! – I have been told that PM Johnson is an admirer of Sir Winston Churchill, so he will know of the saying ‘ACTION THIS DAY’ ! ….. On recent standings, it would seem that our PM would rather be seen in Europe as a total pill, rather than emulate Churchill. – There is much more than just fish involved here. – Sovereignty is not given. – It has to be taken ! ….. By the way, the sad death of a teenager in the Channel has to be seen clearly as ‘Death by Misadventure’, with more on the way !
The Ravens in the Tower of London, with the nonsense of dire consequences if they leave. – Ever thought of putting food out for them ?
Courts have a backlog. – With the dawning of common sense, is it possible to work 24/7 to clear the problem, or is that too simple for our Courts ?
Everything else has been addressed previously, so I’ll cut and run at this point !
With you on all points Mike.
I’m sure I heard somewhere that the raven’s wings are clipped so has there been some sabotage? As in someone stopped doing it – the ‘keeper’ who’s job it is to look after them. Also, are there 6 of them or 7? Strikes me the whole story is a complete Fraud. The ‘media’ have to have something to say.
Personally Pauline, I always took the story of the Ravens to be a pagan runic fabrication, of little interest !
Isn’t it irritating in the extreme that suddenly ”illegal immigrants” are ”migrants”. This does a great disservice to people who’ve spent time and money committing to entering this country legally.
Chaos. That’s what you get when psychopaths run things.
When particularly incensed by some unthinking policy — probably their obsession with renewable energy which is being paid for disproportionately by the old, the poor and the sick – I pointed at the Cons across the council chamber and shouted ‘It’s not that they don’t understand, they don’t care.’
They are not psychopaths. They are not unfeeling. They wear blinkers, they don’t look at what they do, they trust their leaders because they have been trained to do so. It’s not just that they don’t understand. Neither do they care.
JF
“outrage at the British government’s inhumane immigration policies”?
What about outrage at the French unable or unwilling to secure their borders both in and out?
If there is any outrage towards the British Government it is in their absolute refusal to deal with this illegal immigration by removing the attraction factors and not returning the invaders immediately.
Five star hotels, free board and cash, houses? Plenty in France, do they house these migrants, no they don’t but we do on a whole unique level of stupid.
4 star. We’re not that silly. Yet.
JF
Er! Don’t put your money on THAT yet Julian……………once the Four stars are full……….?