Fisheries
Our fish are still causing a problem within the Brexit talks, says the Telegraph.
Michel Barnier doubled down on Brussels’ demand that fishing rights be linked to trade in the Brexit deal on Friday and warned the UK and EU were at the “moment of truth” in the negotiations.
Brussels wants the power to freeze British companies, and especially the fishing industry, out of the Brexit trade deal and the Single Market, if EU fishermen are shut out of UK waters in the future.
The EU’s chief negotiator said it was “unacceptable” that Britain could cut off access to UK waters but keep the benefits of the trade deal with the bloc. He said that would not be “fair” or “honest”.
Mr Barnier said, “The European Union also has to maintain its sovereign right to react or to compensate by adjusting the conditions for products, and especially fisheries products, to the Single Market.”
The Times says the PM has told the Frenchman where he can stick his suggestion.
Boris Johnson has rejected an ultimatum from Michel Barnier that gave him just hours to accept a demand that would allow Brussels to impose trade tariffs on Britain if access to fishing is cut.
The EU’s chief negotiator told MEPs yesterday that the time had come “when decisions need to be taken . . . in the few crucial hours that remain” to finish Brexit trade, fishing and security talks this weekend.
The prime minister insisted that Mr Barnier needed to come to the table with concessions if the EU wanted to avoid no deal. “Our door is open, we’ll keep talking but I have to say things are looking difficult,” he said.
Breitbart reports Boris’ comments that the bloc should stop demanding access to our fish.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to abandon demands for continued control over Britain’s lucrative fishing waters, or he will walk away from the Brexit negotiations without a deal.
Prime Minister Johnson confirmed in a statement on Thursday following a call with the head of the EU’s executive arm that negotiations were “now in a serious situation”. He said that it was “very likely” that the United Kingdom would leave the bloc’s institutions on New Year’s Eve without a deal, moving on to a World Trade Organization (WTO) relationship, or what Mr Johnson calls, “Australia-style terms”.
Barnier has made a new proposal, says the Guardian.
Michel Barnier has sought to break the deadlock in what he described as the final “few hours” of the post-Brexit trade talks with a new proposal on EU fishing access in British waters, after Boris Johnson called on Brussels to move to seal a deal.
After meetings with aides to the EU’s heads of state and government and fisheries ministers, Barnier was locked in late-night discussions with the UK negotiators led by David Frost, at what Barnier described as a “moment of truth”.
Talks are expected to continue into Saturday, with UK sources downplaying the chances of a breakthrough following Barnier’s move.
‘Get real’ is the demand reported in the Sun.
IT IS TIME for Brussels to get real on fishing demands and come to the table with “sense”, Boris Johnson warned last night.
EU and British trade negotiators face a weekend of rowing about access to UK waters next year after concluding a 1,800 page Brexit trade deal came down to a straight haggle on fishing numbers.
The Prime Minister said it was time for Brussels to see “sense” and drop demands for EIGHT further years of access for EU boats and then another round of negotiations that could see Britain slapped with trade taxes if European fishermen are squeezed then.
The EU’s current offer would be a reduction of around 24 per cent of the current access they get – a proposal rejected as unrealistic by the UK who have offered a three to four year phasing out.
The Mail says talks are continuing despite the impasse.
Boris Johnson will hold fresh Brexit talks today after the latest bid to break the deadlock on fishing fell flat.
The Prime Minister is expected to warn European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen that failure to accept Britain’s right to control its own fishing grounds will sink hopes of a trade deal.
Mr Johnson yesterday urged EU leaders to ‘see sense’ by dropping demands which he said ‘no sensible Government’ could accept.
During a visit to Bolton, he suggested the UK had already made ‘a lot’ of concessions and now needed to see movement from Brussels. ‘Our door is open, we’ll keep talking, but I have to say things are looking difficult,’ he said.
And the Express reports that French fishermen will get nasty if they’re not allowed to fish in our waters.
FRENCH FISHERMEN have warned they will block British ships and lorries from entering continental Europe if they are banned from UK fishing waters under a no deal Brexit.
Talks between the UK and EU are ongoing in a bid to negotiate a new trade agreement that would come into effect from the start of next year. However the two sides remain deadlocked over fishing rights and how far Britain can deviate from EU ‘level playing field’ regulations.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph Jean-Yves Noel, a 35-year-old French fisherman, said he and his colleagues have plans to blockade UK goods if there is a no deal exit.
He commented: “If we can’t fish in their waters, they can’t sell their fish here.
“We will block their boats and lorries, that is for sure.”
We’re being threatened, says the Express.
THE Government’s threat to deploy Royal Navy vessels to police UK waters in the event of a no-deal outcome is a “dangerous idea” which could seriously damage bilateral relations between the UK and France, a French MEP has warned.
Nicolas Bay, general secretary of the right-wing National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen, was speaking in response to plans to task four naval vessels to patrol the English Channel to prevent illegal fishing after the end of the year – which in theory could mean all foreign vessels being barred if no agreement is reached. With less than two weeks before the end of the transition period, uncertainty over post-Brexit access to UK waters still unresolved, and remains a key sticking point for both sides.
Immigrants
The gangs facilitating Channel crossings are offering a deal, says the Mail.
People smuggling gangs are offering a ‘Christmas discount’ to migrants wanting to cross the Channel to Britain illegally for as little as £300 a head.
Security sources said the organised criminals have slashed prices as the UK Border Force prepares for a surge in crossings over the festive period.
Intelligence reports suggest average costs for migrants are around £500 to £1,000, with some gangs offering deals for as little as £300, it is understood.
In September the average price was around £2,700 a head and at the beginning of the year just over £4,000.
The Sun calls the traffickers ‘evil’.
EVIL small boat smugglers have slashed prices they are charging migrants to cross the Channel ahead of expected festive surge, the Home Office has been warned.
Allies of Priti Patel last night branded the bargain basement offers “a vile wheeze”.
Intelligence reports from Northern France suggests that some gangs are charging as little as £300 to be smuggled into the UK, with average costs now between £500 to £1,000.
That’s up from September when the average price was around £3,000.
International trade
No deal? No problem with trade, says the Express.
A TRADE deal with India could be worth up to £100billion, the biggest Brexit trade agreement signed so far – and offering a massive endorsement for Boris Johnson’s Global Britain vision in the process, an economist has said.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was in India this week helping to build closer relationships in the Indo-Pacific region. With a fortnight left before the end of the transition period, India is certain to be a crucial partner going forward, with Mr Raab and Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s meeting intended to map out relations between the two countries.
Mr Johnson is also scheduled to visit India in January to strengthen the relationship – and Gaurav Singh, founding partner at JPIN, India’s biggest investment incubator, told Express.co.uk the potential benefits for both sides were enormous.
Vaccine
In an exclusive report, the Telegraph claims the next type of vaccine will be available very soon.
The Oxford vaccine is expected to be approved within days of Christmas, kickstarting a massive drive to give jabs to millions of people in January, The Telegraph can reveal.
Senior Whitehall sources believe the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will authorise the vaccines on December 28 or 29 after final data is provided to the regulator on Monday.
Football stadia and other sites across the country will then be opened from the first week of January, to allow mass vaccinations on a scale never seen before in the UK.
The Mirror has picked up the story.
The Oxford coronavirus vaccine is expected to be rolled out in Britain within days of Christmas, it has been revealed.
Approval for the jab – developed with pharma giant AstraZeneca – could speed up the UK’s vaccine rollout dramatically.
Britain has ordered on 100million doses of the Oxford jab on top of 40million of the Pfizer vaccine, which is already being rolled out.
The Daily Telegraph disclosed last night that the latest vaccine should be approved just days after Christmas.
If so, it will kick-start a drive to vaccinated millions of people a week from January.
New variant
A mutation of the virus could be causing trouble, says the Telegraph.
An emergency toughening of Covid restrictions could be announced as soon as Saturday after Boris Johnson was handed alarming new evidence of the transmissibility of a mutant strain of the virus.
The Prime Minister called an unscheduled meeting of senior ministers on Friday night to discuss how to contain the new variant, which has so far been largely confined to London and the South East.
Travel restrictions are among the measures under discussion, with one source suggesting the Government could even restrict travel between the South East and other parts of the country.
The Guardian reports on an emergency meeting.
Boris Johnson summoned ministers for an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss how to tackle mounting concerns about the new strain of coronavirus identified in parts of south-east England.
The variant is thought to be more infectious and could trigger possible restrictions including curbs on travel between the south-east, including London, and the rest of the country, according to reports, but ministers insisted that no decisions have been made.
New restrictions could be imminent, says Yahoo News.
An emergency toughening of Covid restrictions could be announced as soon as Saturday after Boris Johnson was handed alarming new evidence of the transmissibility of a mutant strain of the virus.
The Prime Minister called an unscheduled meeting of senior ministers on Friday night to discuss how to contain the new variant, which has so far been largely confined to London and the South East.
Travel restrictions are among the measures under discussion, with one source suggesting the Government could even restrict travel between the South East and other parts of the country.
And the new variant could be pushing up the number of cases, reports ITV News.
Senior government scientists have said the increasing rates of Covid-19 in the South East of England are likely to be linked to the new variant of the virus, ITV News understands.
The new strain of the virus, identified by Matt Hancock on Monday, is in all likelihood more substantially infectious than other strains we’ve been dealing with until now.
It may be an alarming development but one that does not surprise virologists.
It’s a lot more contagious says the Sun.
THE new Covid-19 variant that has ripped through the South East is said to be 50 per cent more contagious than the original strain.
Boris Johnson was holed up in emergency meetings on Friday night after being presented with evidence the new Covid strain ripping through the South East is “frighteningly transmissable.”
A government source told The Sun: “What we do not know yet is whether the new strain is more or less likely to cause you harm, but what we have learnt is that it will pass to person to person much more easily and that is what we are really worried about.”
The new variant is more virulent, says the Mail.
Covid is three times more likely to kill hospitalised patients than seasonal influenza, a study has revealed.
Early indicators at the start of the pandemic hinted that the coronavirus was only as deadly as the flu. But this theory has since been comprehensively disproven, despite data showing the infection poses little threat to anyone except the elderly and vulnerable.
The latest study is based on national data from France and reveals granular detail about the true differences between the two viruses.
And the new restrictions could hit travel plans, says the Express.
BRITONS could be instructed not to travel out of London or the southeast later today as a new ultra-infectious strain of coronavirus is spreading rapidly.
The new “mutant” strain of the virus, which originated in Kent, is being blamed for a sudden surge in hospitalisations in the capital.
Boris Johnson could announce the new travel advice on Saturday at a press conference according to The Sun.
Testing
But plans to send a testing kit to every home have hit problems, reports the Times.
Boris Johnson’s plan to avoid a third national lockdown by posting millions of testing kits to homes every week is being blocked by the medicines regulator.
The prime minister refused to rule out a January lockdown yesterday as English hospitals were on course to face a record number of coronavirus patients after Christmas.
Doctors and NHS leaders said the country was heading “inexorably” for further restrictions, with warnings that a winter lockdown would need to be tougher than the one lifted this month.
NHS
And after the festive season there could be lots more cases, reports the Telegraph.
Nurses warned on Friday of a post-Christmas “tsunami” of Covid hospital cases, as it emerged the number of ambulances waiting outside due to crowded A&E departments has nearly doubled.
Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, called on ministers to give “fresh and more detailed” advice about festive gatherings.
Her comments came as some hospitals came close to running out of beds.
A fifth of trusts in England are now dealing with more coronavirus patients than at the height of the first wave, analysis shows, with half treating at least 50 per cent.
The Mirror reports there could be another national lockdown.
The whole of the UK could be thrust into lockdown after Christmas amid warnings of a “tsunami” of coronavirus cases.
The R-number is now between 1.1 and 1.2, confirming Covid-19 cases are surging once again.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to rule out a third national lockdown. He said: “The reality is that the rates of infection have increased very much in the last few weeks.”
But the Mail claims NHS hospitals are not overwhelmed.
NHS data still shows hospitals to be quieter than they were this time last year amid the looming threat of a third national lockdown in the New Year as the second wave of coronavirus continues to bite and the number of Covid patients approaches levels seen in England’s peak in April.
Despite the health service having more breathing room than 12 months ago, Boris Johnson today refused to rule out another national shutdown as he warned the country was struggling to get a grip on the winter wave of infections.
The Morning Star claims the PM is being pressured into further restrictions.
BORIS JOHNSON is under increased pressure to limit his Christmas relaxation of restrictions as medics warned of an “unrelenting tsunami” of coronavirus cases over the coming weeks.
The Prime Minister did not rule out a third lockdown for England today, while health chiefs predicted that frontline NHS services would be snowed under with demand as a result of the festive free-for-all.
Northern Ireland and Wales are set for lockdowns in the days after Christmas, while in Scotland the option for a post-Christmas lockdown “remains on the table,” Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said.
The Independent has a lovely scare story!
London will run out of hospital beds within weeks, NHS England bosses have said.
The care body warned that if coronavirus admissions continue at their current rate, the city will be short of 600 critical care beds and 1,500 general hospital beds by 5 January.
It was revealed to hospital bosses from across the city in a webinar on Thursday night and comes after the capital experienced a sharp rise in coronavirus cases and hospital admissions – with patients needing critical care increasing by almost 9 per cent in a day earlier this week.
Education
Will testing in schools go ahead? The Telegraph reports:
The roll-out of mass testing in schools is on the brink of collapse after unions said they “fully support” headteachers who refuse to take part.
A joint statement from all the major education unions, school governors and the Church of England which runs around a quarter of the nation’s schools, said the proposals were “inoperable”.
They accused the Government of making a “chaotic and rushed” announcement on the final day of term, adding that it is “simply not realistic” to expect schools to recruit, train and organise volunteers to administer tests in time for the start of next term.
The Guardian also has the story.
The government’s plans for mass Covid testing of secondary pupils after Christmas are in disarray after unions told members not to work on the scheme over the holidays, branding it “inoperable” and “undeliverable”.
A statement by the four main teaching unions and the National Governance Association advised staff to delay preparations until the start of term on 4 or 5 January and refuse to work on the scheme over the Christmas break.
“It is our view that due to the chaotic and rushed nature of this announcement, the lack of proper guidance and an absence of appropriate support, the government’s plan in its current form will be inoperable for most schools and colleges,” the statement said.
Tier 4 stay at home order. The lunatic in charge is making it up as he goes along. This is taking things far too far now, and he has to be stopped in his tracks, and this has to be done quickly. End of democracy, end of personal freedoms has arrived. What a sad state of affairs this is. The supposed ‘R’ rate is 1.4, but did we have all sheer lunacy in March when that figure was at 3.0 Will our inept parliament put an end to this outrage, don’t bank on it.
I simply don’t believe a word of these breathless claims that hospitals are overrun with Covid patients and running out of beds. The trick will be something along the lines of hospitals’ having allocated 10% or their beds to alleged Covid patients (tested positive using dodgy PCR run at 40 cycles) but these are taken up so another 5% are needed. In the 2017/8 winter the papers were full of flu sufferers lying on gurneys in hospital corridors. If it got to that level I would still be unimpressed. Use the sodding Nightingales.
Actually saw another unmuzzled bloke shopping in Aldi today for the first time ever. My attractive checkout lady was also mask free and put my change right in my hand, fingers and all. These little vignettes of normality are what keeps me going.
Brexit
No body sane wants a single trade deal which deals in everything from birth to death, from my left hand to the end of the cosmos, or from the Big Bang to eternity at once… CRAZED. and helps no body. But the Civil Service being huge, overweight and arrogant is overly sure they can tailor it to their needs.
Instead
Chop out everything not trade . Make other mini deals for Other seperate deals like Air travel, Defence, Fishing, or whatever. These make sense. If you want, then Balance A Bit of Fish with their air travel. and everyone knows what you are doing in a contained ‘ properly ‘ described seperate agreement.
There is no sense in the way we are doing this other than SECRESY, LIES , ADVANTAGE, and simple THEFT…Mrs May’s way
CORRUPTION on a GRAND SCALE.
And that is what you now are going to get.
TG Spokes, don’t muddy the waters. We don’t want any deals or new treaties mini, or otherwise with the European Union. They have had more than enough time to thrash something out between them and failed miserably. Now Johnson needs to grow a backbone for once, and pull the plug in its entirety on these shambolic talks. This country can quite easily stand on its own two feet and makes its own way in the world without the millstone of the EU around our neck. Just sit back and relax and have your fill of fresh Scottish salmon, kippers, whiskey, oatcakes, marmalade, shortbread biscuits and Dundee cake!!!
Indeed Colin.
+1 I agree Colin, I’ve survived comfortably without any Eu goods or produce. Let them sweat, say no when they ask for talks, we will survive
I envy you Colin.Whatever the deal, if we can squirm out there are several problems ahead. The first is the ridiculoud debt Rishi has lumbered the country with. Second is repairing the damage. Third is bringing down tax rates. ( Nothing else will give us growth.) Fourth is sorting out our energy instead of playing Leggo. And fifth is to move the economy to a retional set of laws to improve the wealth distribution . Whilest fighting off the crazed Unions aggression. It is totally possible with original thought. I’ll showyou how if you want.
Then theres all the usual claptrap of Policing and the courts. English ( If they’re OK for the commonwealth and USA then that’s fine . Ignore Yurrup. Then Religions. Then Political corruption ( inc. HoL and HoC the revolving door etc. etc etc ) Then mending our society.
An on n on non..
TG Spokes…Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay, I sort of get your drift, but no need to envy me. I just don’t want any more treaties, deals, discussions, talks or anything to do with the European no matter how small or insignificant it may be, and the same can be said of Boris Johnson and his increasingly utterly ridiculous dictatorial government which insists on treating the citizens of this country like naughty schoolchildren. I am sick to death with both of them. After you have had another bottle of whiskey and kipper or two, perhaps you would show me some original thought. I would be interested…..
insert ‘Union’ after European, I have had one too many whiskies myself….
1,800 page treaty!? Maastrict was only about 80 pages, and see the damage that did.
So the Brexit trade deal is now 1800 pages long? That’s more than three times the number of pages in the Withdrawal Treaty. A forest more than three times bigger for Brussels to hide its traps and snares within.