Trade deal
The government has published a summary of the trade deal here.
Boris now has to persuade his MPs that he has secured a good deal, says the Telegraph.
Boris Johnson has urged hardline Tory Eurosceptics to put the public’s interests before their own in a bid to head off any potential rebellion over his Brexit trade deal.
The Prime Minister told them the deal, agreed with the EU on Christmas Eve, delivers “on every one of our manifesto commitments” to take back control of money, laws, borders and fish.
The European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers will reconvene its “Star Chamber” of expert lawyers when the deal is published, when senior MPs will scrutinise it line by line before deciding whether to vote for it when Parliament is recalled on December 30.
Several have already expressed unhappiness with the lack of time they will have to go through the 1,246-page document, suggesting they are effectively being asked to vote it through on faith.
On Friday the Prime Minister was given a huge boost when a leading group of economists predicted that Britain’s economy will surge ahead of its nearest rival, France, over the next 15 years.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) said that by 2035 the current 9 per cent gap between the British and French economies will have widened to 23 per cent, defying the predictions of many Remainers.
The Sun says Boris had a row about taxes.
BORIS Johnson secured his landmark Christmas Eve Brexit deal hours after telling Brussels: “I won’t sign it — I won’t,” in a massive row about taxes.
The livid PM warned the EU its demands to slap trade tariffs on Britain if we did not let them fish our waters forever was a deal breaker.
A source told The Sun: “The PM was ready to walk at that point.
“We were writing a script trying to explain to the world we had blown up a £660billion deal over less than a billion quid of fish.”
Mr Johnson’s hardline stance saw Brussels blink on the demand late on Tuesday, with the EU asking for a long transition for their fishing boats “as cover” for their climbdown.
The Times has a column written by Michael Gove.
The Brexit trade agreement will allow Britain and the European Union to enjoy a “special relationship” and put an end to the “ugly” politics since the referendum, Michael Gove says.
The Cabinet Office minister, writing for The Times today, adopts the phrase usually reserved for the UK’s alliance with the United States as he seeks to present the agreement struck on Christmas Eve as a new start for Britain and its neighbours.
While ambassadors from the 27 remaining EU states spent yesterday combing through the 1,246-page core agreement in a closed-door meeting in Brussels, the British government has so far published only a short summary.
EU
The bloc’s ambassadors – not the MEPs – have said the agreement is OK, says the Telegraph.
Ambassadors from European member states have raised “no objections” to the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU, with the agreement set to be implemented in the New Year before it is formally ratified.
Ambassadors from the member states were briefed on the contents of the deal on Friday by Michel Barnier, who led Brussels’ negotiating team in the talks with the UK.
They have written to the European Parliament to say they intend to take a decision on the preliminary application of the deal within days, but must first review more than 1,000 pages of legal text.
And the Independent says this will mean the agreement will be ratified next week.
EU member states are expected to approve the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal within days – bypassing the European Parliament in order to put the agreement into effect before Britain leaves the single market on Thursday.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries were dragged from their families on Christmas morning for their first look at the still-unpublished 1,200-page text, which was agreed with the UK on Thursday afternoon.
National governments are widely expected to bypass the European Parliament and put the agreement into effect on a provisional basis in the coming days, to avoid a no deal at the end of the year.
The Guardian claims there’s ‘little doubt’ the agreement will go through the bloc.
The 27 members of the EU are expected to approve the post-Brexit trade deal with the UK within days after a Christmas Day briefing of ambassadors by Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief negotiator.
Experts across Europe, from Berlin to Paris and Rome, will now pore over the 1,246-page text, although much of it is well known in the capitals and there is little doubt that the agreement will be signed off.
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission leader, were able to announce completion of the nine months of trade and security negotiations on Christmas Eve after the two teams led by Barnier and his UK counterpart, David Frost, had agreed terms at 1.44pm UK time.
Fisheries
Both sides are complaining about the fisheries deal, says the Telegraph.
Boris Johnson has “totally capitulated” on fishing in the EU trade deal negotiations, but both sides have compromised, EU diplomatic sources have claimed.
On Thursday Mr Johnson finally accepted the bloc’s final offer of returning 25 percent of the value of fish caught in UK waters to British fishermen. It was a “big move”, sources said, because he had been demanding 35 percent of the value of the catch.
French officials claimed that the British had made major last minute concessions. The UK and EU settled on a five and a half year transition period before annual negotiations over fishing opportunities would begin.
President ‘Mackerel’ is in trouble, says the Express.
EMMANUEL Macron’s apparent capitulation on the key Brexit issue has angered French fishermen, who have demanded a meeting with the country’s Prime Minister Jean Castex.
Meanwhile Irish fishermen have reacted furiously after the UK and the EU struck their last-gasp trade deal yesterday – with the head of a prominent trade organisation claiming they had been “sacrificed” by Brussels.
Boulogne-sur-Mer Mayor Frederic Cuvillier said the agreement left much obscured, telling Europe 1 radio: “Relief for our fishermen, but what will be the impact on stocks? Who, for example, will be handling the controls? And over what time?” he told Europe 1 radio. “The only certainty today is that we need to find, during the transition period, more deals within the deal.”
And British fishermen are also outraged, says the Mail.
Fishing chiefs yesterday accused Boris Johnson of betraying their industry in the interests of preserving free trade with the EU.
Under the post-Brexit agreement struck on Christmas Eve the EU will give up only 25 per cent of the value of fish caught in UK waters – with a five-and-a-half-year transition period.
The UK had initially insisted on reclaiming 80 per cent over three years.
Despite admitting he had given ground, the Prime Minister claimed the agreement was a success.
Sporting a tie with a fish motif, he told reporters: ‘The EU began with I think wanting a transition period of 14 years, we wanted three years, we’ve ended up at five years.
Immigration
Free movement will end, says the Mail.
The UK’s post-Brexit immigration structure will work on a points based system while new restrictions for British travellers will come into force as free movement ends.
It comes as the government announced a Brexit deal had finally been reached following months of intense negotiations between the UK and European Union.
The summary of the deal was published by Number 10 at 4.30pm on Christmas Eve, hours before the Prime Minister issued his upbeat ‘Brexmas’ message.
The new system has been designed to welcome the ‘brightest and best’ candidates from January 2021, the government’s statement said.
‘All of this supports the government’s new immigration policy, ensuring that the brightest and best global talent can come to the UK for business purposes,’ it read.
Labour Party
But will Kier Starmer’s MPs back the bill? Maybe not says the Telegraph.
Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to face front bench resignations next week after ordering his party to vote for Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
The Labour leader announced on Christmas Eve that his party will “accept and vote for” the Government’s agreement with the EU, in a move he conceded was a “difficult and tough decision”.
Labour will impose a three-line whip on the vote and shadow ministers will be required to fall into line or quit the frontbench, it is understood. The Prime Minister has confirmed the deal will come before the Commons next Wednesday, ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period at 11pm on Thursday.
The Labour MPs are rebelling, says the Mail.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing a rebellion from a number of Labour MPs who will defy his three-line whip over the new Brexit deal.
The Labour leader said on Christmas Eve he will assent to Boris Johnson‘s historic deal even though he expressed doubts over the agreement.
He said it was a ‘thin deal’ that will not protect many industries including British manufacturing, financial services, the creative arts and workplace rights.
But he acknowledged a no deal scenario would be worse for Britain.
Tier 4
Meanwhile, now Christmas is over, the latest Covid lockdown comes into force, says the Express.
MILLIONS of Britons have woken up to new coronavirus restrictions as Tier 4 measures are imposed in increasing numbers of regions.
It is thought as many as six million additional people have been placed under the Government’s toughest coronavirus rules. The measures mean that all non-essential shops, hairdressers, gyms and more will be forced to close.
On Christmas Day, the UK recorded 32,725 new cases of coronavirus and 570 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
Within the past seven days, 244,146 people had tested positive for the virus and 3,654 had died. Both figures represented marked increases from the seven days prior.
The Mirror also has the story.
Six million more people will wake up on Boxing Day to tightened Tier 4 Covid curbs.
Some 24 million people will be under the strictest measures after more areas of the UK are lifted into Tier 4 at a minute past midnight.
The briefest relaxation was allowed in Tiers 1, 2 and 3 so families could celebrate Christmas Day.
But as the clock heralds Boxing Day, tougher restrictions are back.
Areas moving to Tier 4 are: Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, those parts of Essex not yet in Tier 4, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire including Portsmouth and Southampton, except the New Forest.
The other three nations are also in lockdown, says BBC News.
Harsher Covid restrictions now apply to millions more people, as rule changes come into force across the UK.
Around six million people in east and south-east England have gone into tier four, England’s highest Covid level – which includes a “stay at home” order.
Lockdowns have also started in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and measures have been reimposed in Wales after being eased for Christmas.
It comes after official UK coronavirus deaths passed 70,000 on Christmas Day.
Antibodies
The Guardian brings us an exclusive report on a new drug.
British scientists are trialling a new drug that could prevent someone who has been exposed to coronavirus from going on to develop the disease Covid-19, which experts say could save many lives.
The antibody therapy would confer instant immunity against the disease and could be given as an emergency treatment to hospital inpatients and care home residents to help contain outbreaks.
People living in households where someone has caught Covid could be injected with the drug to ensure they do not become infected too. It could also be given to university students, among whom the virus has spread rapidly because they live, study and socialise together.
ITV News has picked up the news.
A new antibody treatment with the potential to give people immediate protection after being exposed to Covid-19 and prevent illness is being trialled in the UK.
The University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) is looking into the use of an antibody which could offer long-term protection to patients when it would be too late to offer a vaccine, as part of a new trial called Storm Chaser.
Scientists have also begun a second clinical trial named Provent, to examine the use of the antibody for people who may not benefit from vaccinations, such as patients with a compromised immune system, or those at increased risk of coronavirus infection due to factors such as age and existing conditions.
The treatment gives immediate protection, says Yahoo News.
A new antibody treatment with the potential to give people immediate protection after being exposed to Covid-19 and prevent illness is being trialled in the UK.
The University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) is looking into the use of an antibody which could offer long-term protection to patients when it would be too late to offer a vaccine, as part of a new trial called Storm Chaser.
Scientists have also begun a second clinical trial named Provent, to examine the use of the antibody for people who may not benefit from vaccinations, such as patients with a compromised immune system, or those at increased risk of Covid-19 infection due to factors such as age and existing conditions.
Trials are under way, says Sky News.
A new antibody treatment is being trialled amid hopes that it could prevent people from developing COVID-19 after being exposed to the disease.
The antibody, known as AZD7442, has been developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and is being looked at by the University College London Hospitals NHS Trust as part of a new trial called Storm Chaser.
UCLH virologist Dr Catherine Houlihan, who is leading the Storm Chaser trial, said: “We know that this antibody combination can neutralise the virus, so we hope to find that giving this treatment via injection can lead to immediate protection against the development of COVID-19 in people who have been exposed – when it would be too late to offer a vaccine.”
It’s described as an emergency treatment in the Mail.
A new antibody treatment with the potential to give people instant immunity after being exposed to Covid-19 and prevent illness is being trialled by British scientists in the UK.
The drug would offer immediate and long-term protection to patients when it would be too late to offer a vaccine, potentially saving thousands of lives.
It could be given as an emergency treatment to hospital inpatients, care home residents and university students to help reduce the spread of the virus.
People who live with someone has caught Covid or been exposed to them could be injected with the drug to stop them becoming infected, even if they have not had a coronavirus vaccine.
Pubs
The Express has an exclusive story about a reduction in VAT on beer.
Breaking free from the EU on January 1 will allow ministers to throw traditional pubs a tax cut lifeline, industry chiefs said.
Brussels red tape has stopped the government extending its reduced VAT rate for the struggling hospitality sector to alcohol sales. Pubs and Brewers would be given a £130 million boost if the government takes advantage of the post-Brexit freedom, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.
Dover
There are still thousands of lorries trying to get across the Channel, reports the Telegraph.
The Army has sent in 800 soldiers to speed up Covid-19 testing for lorry drivers stuck at Dover, as Kent villagers lowered food bags on ropes to the stranded M20 truckers.
More than 4,000 drivers have spent Christmas Day stuck in their cabs due to the chaos at the port caused by Emmanuel Macron’s shutdown of cross-channel traffic earlier this week.
The British soldiers have been deployed to the makeshift testing centre set up at Manston Airport, as well as to distribute food and water.
The backlog is moving, says the Express.
BRITAIN is clearing its lorry backlog in Dover after thousands of goods vehicles finally crossed the Channel on Christmas Day.
It came after ferry services between Dover and Calais were allowed to resume on Wednesday. France closed the border between itself and the UK late last week as fears mounted of a new strain of coronavirus identified in England.
It meant many freight drivers had to spend Christmas in designated lorry backlog sites in Kent as they awaited negative tests in order to cross.
The army has been brought in, reports the Mail.
Around 4,000 lorry drivers are still waiting to cross The Channel after 800 military personnel were drafted in to help clear the logjams in Kent that kept them from seeing their families at Christmas.
Despite efforts to help those stranded in their trucks get home before the festive season, thousands were still left waiting around yesterday.
More than 10,000 Covid-19 tests have been carried out in an effort to clear the lorries, with just 24 positive results, as the French demand a negative Covid test from drivers before they are allowed to cross the border.
Scotland
Wee Burney will use whatever excuse she can to get a second independence referendum, says the Mail.
Nicola Sturgeon is expected to use the Brexit trade deal to launch a fresh push for Scottish independence.
The First Minister hit out at the agreement reached on Thursday, saying it showed now was the time for Scotland to ‘chart our own future as an independent, European nation’.
Reacting to the news that a Brexit deal had been sealed, she reiterated that it was happening against her will and claimed Boris Johnson had broken promises to Scotland’s fishing industry.
Brexit has altered the way Scots think about independence, says Yahoo News.
For those stalwart Scottish independence activists still online on Christmas Eve afternoon, the message could not have been simpler: the only way to escape the disaster of Brexit is to leave the UK at the earliest opportunity.
Brexit has significantly changed the nature of support for independence since 62% of Scotland voted to remain in the EU in 2016, against the UK grain, but the question remains whether the conclusion of a post-Brexit trade and security deal will shift voter sentiment further.
While the expected “Brexit bounce” did not materialise immediately, with voters dubious about inviting further constitutional uncertainty, polls have shown a steady increase in support for independence over the past four years.
With what we are hearing tonight Boris ,as we sailors say, has been swinging to light. In other words telling porkie pies.
Eu attending committees to govern the agreement – that is not leaving especially when they are covering up a lot of workings.
This must be thrown out ! Lies and more lies, we people must now start to destroy the eu by boycott of everything they stand for
Oh. Now don’t ask me how I manage to do this but J.R. has just told me there is a unilateral renunciation clause in the treaty.
And we will need it Pauline. I have only so far reached 173 superficially. They appear to be assuming government of our country It bristles with detail to be cast in steel. It is full of assumptions that we will do and grow the same and on their model. It is full of attempt to guide us with assumed EU superior everything.
No wonder they had to dump Cummings. It is so far nothing to beproud of. I am ashamed.
I recognise the same in UKIP’s Tory corrupted and comic NEC manifesto
Boris did once mention something about being dead in a ditch.
The time has come… once more we have been betrayed by our own leaders.
Agriculture has been sacrificed on the altar of the Great Green Goddess,whose Chief Priestess holds sway in the bedroom of No.10.
The ditch might be a touch extreme. Perhaps Boris should retire from public life, take little Princess Nut-nut and go and live in Brighton amongst those of similar persuasions. A pretty dire punishment.
The betrayal is nothing new. The Prophet Ezekiel wrote about it some 2600 years ago (Chap 34 vs 1-10)
“…Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3. Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;
8. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
9. Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;
10. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
Sounds familiar…
This deal!,
I see I hear what this that and the other nation MSM , political party fishermen think
But as far as I can see nobody mentions the dread phrase B R I N O (Brexit in name only – if nobody can remember)
Or even if this is a bad deal – half in half out I believe was the definition of a previous surrendering..
Is everybody too scared, bemused or frit to utter the letters BRINO?
Is nobody prepared to tell our Emporer he is not wearing new clothes in fact they’ve stripped him naked?
That he/we have not taken full and unassailable control of our laws our borders, our waters in fact our destiny
They’re reserving judgement until they’ve read all 1200 pages, why? It’s as plain as a pike staff to me we’ve been sold a pup.
And nobody is furious ( outside our circle) echoing the undoubted fury that must come from the betrayed grass rooters of this nation.
,
I omitted to add a word after “surrendering”……………….you know who! ……please add your own
I cannot bring myself to add or utter her name, never mind that now of our present PM
Roger, his name is Coco the Clown. His next job after leaving Downing Street is at Billy Smarts in the Big Top with Hancock as his side kick. It will be the unfunniest slap stick comedy routine in history. Permission to throw as many bad tomatoes as you like…….
we are not half in or half out we are slaves to what brussels says. If our mps vote for this they are finished. The Tory party will be history and we need a General election before this XXXX is signed
Please spend the hours been bored but you can see how we are been shafted
After all the bellyaching we have been hearing from her, if Nicola Sturgeon want to hold another Scottish independence referendum, and she wants to win it, she should hold it in England.
And I’d vote for Scotland’s independence Phillip. That country is a drain on English resources, but we south of the border are not given a say in the matter. Pity.
I’m sure that we would all like to be rid of them but I’m also sure that the EU would break its own rules and allow Scotland membership in order to cause problems for us.
Regardless of everything else. What is going to be done to replace the hundreds of thousands of businesses gone, by something new. Bear in mind banks now have all the money, and the only business easy to start that requires almost no money is hospitality. Starting up any kind of solid future business that is going to be any use, stability and weight, to the country requires enormous money NEVER normally provided by banks ( Due to Politics/Professions/ Institution carve ups ) . . There used to be a company called 3i’s which provided a tiny proportion of the money needed. But I expect its been prostituted and swallowed up by the establishment/big business.
In banking, business, politics ,services etc New thinking is now urgent without the drag of the establishment minutae and bureaucracy. The HoC must use Select committees remorselessly and it is just possiblethat these entities can be groundbreaking.
A sober account of what’s going on and what’s going to happen in the coming days…
Across the Pond.
If only we had our own Trump and the military restored to its proper strength.
Have been following this on several sites and this one is really good and have subscribed – thanks.
Thank you Lindsay, and welcome.
Scotland:
Those who really want to leave the UK and remain in the EU have a clear option; go and live there. The devolutions should be reversed.
Here here ! I second that proposal. All those who want to live under the jackbook of the eu should get a flight to Brussels
One doesn’t have to read far into the Boris sell-out to see what else is coming: “The UK is, of course, culturally, spiritually and emotionally part of Europe.” What a load of rubbish!
Next we read “Trade and Cooperation Agreement”. Cooperation is not what we voted for!
Fisheries; EU given most of our fish? Absolutely unacceptable!
We must wait for the actual agreement text and proper legal interpretation (i.e. not from government) to see what else we have lost…
Jack Thomas. You are so right. That phrase the u.k. is of course . . . . . .part of europe is enough to make me throw up.
BJ must be off his rocker. Why on earth did he say that? He’s given in. He did not need to butter them up any more.
We can not wait though can we. This new Treaty is to be rushed through in 2 days, is it?
The only hope is that E.R.G. Star Chamber will come up with something in time.
perhaps they did!