Brexit
The Express outlines the prospect of a sell-out.
BREXITEERS have condemned the Government’s approach to leaving the European Union with the next round of talks due to start in Brussels this week.
Champions of leaving the EU fear that Brussels is on course to secure lasting influence over British life and that the future of the United Kingdom is under direct threat. Boris Johnson’s leadership of the country during the coronavirus pandemic has come under direct attack with one of the most influential campaigners for Brexit warning of a return to the crises of the 1970s. John Longworth, a former director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce who co-chaired the Leave Means Leave campaign, said the PM had become an “infringer” of civil liberties with “nanny state policies fit for a full-on Marxist administration”.
There is also deep concern the UK could remain entangled in EU defence programmes once the Brexit transition phase is over at the end of the year.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson wants the British negotiating team led by David Frost to force major changes to Britain’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, warning that it “leaves the EU with a firm grip on important areas of UK economic policy and law-making powers”.
The Telegraph claims there’ll be legal action.
Trade bodies have threatened legal action against the Government’s new Brexit customs system, claiming it will unfairly distort competition.
In a heated meeting of HM Revenue and Customs’s expert customs panel, industry groups said the new Trader Support Service, which will enable the Government effectively to act as a customs agent on behalf of traders, would destroy businesses that provided customs brokerage services themselves.
Fisheries
There’s still a big problem surrounding the fish in British waters says the Express.
FRANCE has been branded as one of the countries which will be worst-hit by Brexit as it Emmanuel Macron will lose his stake in the UK’s resource-rich waters along with Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland.
Britain is set to regain control over who can access its fishing waters after Brexit as multiple EU countries are set to lose their equal access to the seas. Barrie Deas, the CEO of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, explained EU vessels have automatic access to the resource-rich UK waters meaning they have more to lose in Brexit negotiations. It comes as the bloc wants to see the status quo maintained for fishing access and quotas, but the UK Government wants Britain to have controls of its own waters.
Of those EU fishing nations set to lose out the most after Brexit, Mr Deas told Express.co.uk: “France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, and that is because when the UK joined the EEC as it was, the existing member states made it a precondition that the principle of equal access for fishing vessels was part of the deal.
Immigrants
The Border Force’s ‘immigrant ferry service’ has been hard at it, reports the Mail.
More than 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK in 10 days after crossing the Channel in small boats.
Some 1,004 migrants were brought ashore by Border Force between August 4 and 13, analysis found.
This takes the total so far this year to at least 4,511, more than double the amount thought to have crossed during the whole of 2019.
On Saturday the Home Office confirmed that 89 migrants who made the crossing in five boats were brought to the UK on Thursday, as well as 48 who arrived in four boats on Friday.
Today, some 16 migrants were pictured arriving in Dover. Two Border Force vessels were seen – one of which contained five women.
Officials were seen helping the migrants – all wearing orange life jackets – off the boat and onto dry land.
And the Telegraph reports an MoD announcement.
The Royal Navy has been called in for the first time this summer to help tackle the Channel migrant crisis after more than 1,000 people reached the UK in the last ten days.
The Ministry of Defence announced on Saturday evening that it was sending a specialist team to “support the daily running of Border Force operations”, after another 90 people successfully made the crossing yesterday.
It is the first time since January 2019 that the Royal Navy has been employed in the effort to stop the clandestine crossings, and the taskforce of around a dozen officers will help to plan and organise operations, working alongside Border Force officials.
The Metro says there’s been an average of 100 migrants a day.
More than 1,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in just 10 days. An analysis revealed 1,004 people squeezed into dozens of small boats and braved the dangerous conditions to get to the UK between August 4 and 13. The latest burst brings the total this year to at least 4,511 – more than double the number of migrants who crossed in 2019. Another 89 arrivals reached Britain’s shores on Thursday, while a further 48 made the crossing on Friday.
The migrants mainly arrive from France, and witnesses have been shocked when they see people making the journey – with Border Force officers seen escorting heavily-pregnant women and even babies off the small boats. The Government is under increasing pressure to bring the surge under control amid criticism from Labour and human rights campaigners its handling of the situation ‘lacks competence and compassion’.
A senior migration body has accused the PM of losing control of the situation, reports Breitbart.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has “lost control” of the growing illegal migration crisis, despite promises from Johnson to send back boat migrants, a report from Migration Watch UK claimed.
The report from the mass-migration sceptic think tank said that one year after the prime minister warned illegal migrants that the government “will send you back”, increasing waves of illegal migration have beset the United Kingdom.
According to the latest BBC estimate, approximately 4,200 illegal migrants have arrived in the UK since the start of the year by crossing the English Channel in small rubber boats from France. Since the beginning of last year, only 155 boat migrants have successfully been deported.
Upon arriving in the UK, most illegal migrants put in claims for asylum status to remain in the country, the report found.
The main issue Migration Watch UK highlighted in the report seen by Breitbart London is the so-called “pull factors” for migrants attempting to reach the UK, saying that “for many illegal entrants, getting to the UK is a no-lose option”.
But it’s the French’s fault, reports the Mail.
Judges have condemned France for its ‘degrading and inhumane’ treatment of refugees in a scathing landmark ruling.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said the French authorities ‘had failed in their duties’ to support those who applied for asylum in the country, leaving them to sleep rough on the streets for months in ‘constant fear of being attacked or robbed’.
Its criticism came after three asylum-seekers accused the French government of failing to uphold its own domestic law which requires the state to provide basic necessities such as food and shelter while refugees await a decision on their asylum application.
The ECHR ordered the French government to pay a total of £32,000 in compensation to the three men.
And our Home Secretary agrees, report the Sun.
PRITI Patel has claimed migrants cross the Channel in small boats to escape “racist” France.
The Home Secretary says many make the perilous voyage believing Britain will treat them more fairly.
She said our reputation as a tolerant country was a big draw for many.
Ms Patel made the remarks in a Zoom call with Tory MPs seeking action to halt the surge.
One said: “Priti was asked why the migrants are so desperate to leave France and come here.
“She told us some believe racism to be an issue.
“They claim they feel discriminated against when, for example, looking for work in France.
“Others claimed they feared being tortured if they stayed in France or Germany.
A bit further east, the Metro claims Greece is being heartless.
Greece has been accused of sailing migrants out of its territory and leaving them to fend for themselves in motorless boats in the middle of the sea. It’s been reported that at least 1,072 people were expelled from the country in this way since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The New York Times has uncovered 31 different incidents using evidence from multiple eye witnesses, the Turkish coast guard, and independent watchdogs.
House of Lords
Peers are coining it in, reports the Express.
A FRESH expenses scandal in the House of Lords is threatening to explode after shocking new research revealed peers are receiving tens of thousands of pounds despite barely voting on any debates or bills coming through the upper chamber.
The average life peer claimed £20,935 (including travel expenses) between April 2019 and February 2020 but only contributed to 12 debates, produced seven written questions and voted just 23 times. The research from the New Statesman magazine found: “140 eligible peers took part in no debates in from April 2019-Feb 2020. Neither could they reasonably claim to have participated by listening and voting rather than speaking: on average, those 140 peers voted ten times out of a possible 51.
Labour Party
There’s a war between the left and right in the party, says Sky News.
The new co-chair of the Corbyn-supporting campaign group Momentum has accused Labour of trying to “destroy” left-wing elements of the party.
The comments by Gaya Sriskanthan are in response to an email from Labour‘s general secretary, in which he said debates aimed at rejecting an internationally agreed definition of antisemitism should not take place within local party meetings.
In Facebook posts leaked to Sky News, Ms Sriskanthan warns activists not to “fall for the bait or they’ll use it to suspend everyone”.
“This is clearly an issue of shutting down democratic debate and we have to focus our arguments on the principle rather than the details of what we want to talk about, or they will use any excuse to destroy left [Constituency Labour Parties]”, she wrote.
PHE
The failings of Public Health England have been recognised, says the Telegraph.
Public Health England (PHE) is to be scrapped and replaced by a new body specifically designed to protect the country against a pandemic by early next month, the Telegraph can disclose.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock will this week announce a merger of the pandemic response work of PHE with NHS Test and Trace into a new body, called the National Institute for Health Protection, modelled on Germany’s Robert Koch Institute.
The Health Secretary, who returns to work after a UK holiday this week, wants to give PHE’s replacement time to be set up before a feared surge in coronavirus cases this autumn.
The Independent also has the story.
Public Health England is to be scrapped and replaced by a new organisation set up to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is expected to announce this week that the pandemic response work of PHE will be merged with the NHS Test and Trace programme.
The new body will be called the Institute for Health Protection, according to The Sunday Telegraph, and will be modelled on Germany’s Robert Koch Institute. It will become “effective” next month, although the change will be completed in spring.
Education
The kerfuffle over A level results could be repeated next week, says the Guardian.
Nearly 5 million GCSEs will this week be awarded using a controversial model that education experts fear could lead to even more results being downgraded than in last week’s A-levels fiasco.
According to analysis shared with the Observer, more than 4.6 million GCSEs in England – about 97% of the total – will be assigned solely by the algorithm drawn up by exam regulator Ofqual. Teacher rankings will be taken into consideration, but not teacher-assessed grades submitted by schools and colleges.
Natalie Perera, executive director of the Education Policy Institute thinktank, said: “We will almost certainly see a repeat of the many problems seen with A-levels, only with GCSEs they could be more severe. A larger year group, combined with the fact that GCSE grades are often harder to predict, will mean that Ofqual could place even greater emphasis on its standardisation model. There is a real risk that even more grades will be pushed down as a result.”
And the Telegraph reports a u-turn by Ofqual.
Teachers’ predicted grades can now be used by students who are appealing their A-level or GCSE results, the exam watchdog has ruled in a major about-turn.
The admission came in a document published on Saturday evening by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) amid growing fury about the algorithm that was used to calculate most pupils’ grades this summer.
Ministers were accused of doing a “Sturgeon by the back door”, a reference to the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s decision last week to withdraw results that had been downgraded and award students their teachers’ predicted grades.
Earlier this week it emerged that close to 40 per cent of A-level results had been downgraded by an algorithm Ofqual had designed to standardise results, with predictions that GCSE results day this coming Thursday will prompt an even bigger fallout.
Students can appeal, says the Guardian, but they’ll have to meet certain criteria to do so.
Students in England hoping to appeal their A-level and GCSE exam results based on their mock grades will need to meet a set of eight criteria to be considered “valid”, the exams regulator Ofqual has revealed.
Ofqual on Saturday confirmed that a route of appeal will be offered to students whose mock grade was higher than their calculated one, with exam boards ready to process applications from Monday.
Students who were unable to take a written mock exam before schools and colleges closed on 20 March will also be able to appeal on the basis of non-exam assessment marks, the regulator added.
It comes after thousands of A-level students received lower grades than expected on Thursday, after 39% of results were downgraded by Ofqual’s algorithm.
Among the criteria for what constitutes a valid mock grade are the conditions of the assessment, including whether there was appropriate invigilation and no possibility of corrections and revisions.
But the advice was quickly withdrawn, reports the Guardian.
The exams regulator for England has dramatically suspended its criteria for students hoping to challenge their A-level grades on the basis of their results in mock exams.
In a brief statement, Ofqual said the policy was “being reviewed” by its board and that further information would be released “in due course”.
No reason for the decision was immediately available.
The move comes just hours after the body published its criteria for mock exam results to be considered as the basis of an appeal.
It threatened to plunge the A-level process into further disarray following an outcry from students after almost 40% of predicted grades were downgraded by the regulator’s “moderation” algorithm.
The Mail also reports the latest u-turn.
The exams regulator for England has dramatically suspended its criteria for students hoping to challenge their A-level grades on the basis of their results in mock exams.
In a brief statement, Ofqual said the policy was ‘being reviewed’ by its board and that further information would be released ‘in due course’.
No reason for the decision was immediately available, sparking confusion for parents across the country and sparked calls for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to resign.
The move comes just hours after the body published its criteria for mock exam results to be considered as the basis of an appeal.
Students are cross says Sky News.
Students have pledged to hold the government to account over the A-level results row as the exams regulator for England dramatically suspended its policy on exam appeals.
Around 280,000 students saw their grades fall by one grade or more following the introduction of a new algorithm, which was put in place after the coronavirus lockdown led to exams being cancelled.
But students have been left furious by the new system, with many losing their places on their chosen courses after not meeting the required grades.
The courts could be involved says the Times.
Teenagers and their parents are turning to the courts as the row about the fairness of the emergency marking system used to award A-level grades intensifies.
Scores of pupils have lost places at Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, after the results teachers had predicted for them were downgraded by a computer algorithm designed by the exam regulator Ofqual.
Some dropped from As and Bs to Ds or even Us — grades far lower than they were expected to achieve had they been able to sit the exams, which were cancelled because of the coronavirus.
Holidays
Staycations are the name of the game, rather than risking quarantine, reports the Mail.
Britons are shunning international travel sending holiday prices plummeting as more nations are put on the UK’s quarantine list.
The cost of holidays to quarantine-free Turkey and Greece has plunged by 28 per cent on average while a week-long trip to Italy has halved in price, comparison website Travel Supermarket found.
Experts fear the last-minute introduction of quarantine in various countries could be to blame for Britons avoiding overseas trips.
Hotel Leftis Romantica, a three-star spot in Corfu, will cost just £305 per person for a five-night stay, including return flights.
A trip for the same duration to the Kalypso Studios & Apartments in Kavos costs even less, standing at £295 per person.
Delfi Hotel & Spa in Bodrum, Turkey, costs just £408 per person and includes breakfast.
Cancer
The pandemic may have killed more people who were unable to receive treatment for other complaints, says the Times.
Thousands of lives may be lost to cancer because 250,000 patients were not referred to hospital for urgent checks, says a report to be published this week.
Family doctors made 339,242 urgent cancer referrals in England between April and June, down from 594,060 in the same period last year — a drop of 43%.
The fall in the number of people seeing their GP with symptoms, and in referrals for scans, is resulting in cancers being spotted too late, according to the research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Carnall Farrar, a healthcare management consultancy.
IMMIGRANTS:
Hotel in Priti Patel’s constituency fully booked with immigrants.
https://youtu.be/INy6s0Hw6mg
Brexit – a dog’s dinner. On a comment page in one online newspaper, “if Nigel was given the opportunity to fix things he would run a mile” and anyway “Nigel is just controlled opposition”.
Freddie,
You’re a hero ..Working hard and cleverly…But
Everybody already agrees with what you are saying. But
NOBODY trusts the NEC
Emasculate or jettison it , and use the best ones.
DO not try to do anything yourself.. You are the leader .
No shortage of talkers.. Try do’ers..
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the IOM — which has said that mass migration is “inevitable, desirable, [and] necessary”
What a load of cobblers…
If the UN is as powerful as it imagines itself to be, then it can use that power to improve conditions in the countries from which the refugees are fleeing.
It won’t, of course, because its great plan is to destabilise and eventually destroy the “West” with its centuries old Judeo-Christian based society.
The land area of the UK is 93,409 sq Miles
The current population is estimated to be just short of 68 MILLION
That equates to 725 people/ sq mile, or to put it in perspective, 2,25 people per an average sized football pitch… assuming that the country is all flat.
Take away the area of concrete, tarmac and steel that makes up our urban areas, then take away the areas of mountain and moorland that are too steep to support anything other than hardy sheep and birds, and it becomes quite clear to the man in the street why we already import more than 50% of our food.
The man in the street has more nous than our politicians.
We are full up.,,,No vacancies.
‘The man in the street has more nous than our politicians’
The problem is most men in the street walk on by.
Agree with everything you say by the way.
Totally agree Richard.
So the Navy are to ‘Assist’ the Border Farce. Sounds like the navy will help even more of them in.
Communist plague update:
Top Docs – Masks Don’t Work!
One of the unis has done a ‘study’ showing people will accept restrictions on their llives permanently if no vaccine is found (Mail). Fancy that! There has to be no effective vaccine and that’s always true with viruses or there would be no flu deaths. Obey the programme sheeple!
Drivel.
All vaccines used in the UK are effective so long as you get the right one. There are many strains of flu.
Polio and smallpox have been eliminated by the use of vaccines for example.
Not true Harryagain. Polio and smallpox infections were dropping before vaccines because sanitation was improving.
Not that I object to all vaccines. Had polio and TB jabs, probably others and no damage done.
But the medical ‘industry’ is now run entirely by the global pharmaceutical industry who do not care what damage they do because they make a massive profit. Vaccines are more and more powerful and full of more and more damaging poisons. They are NOT subject to effective safety testing even in the UK. Most of them are unnecessary because the illness does not kill or maim but there is clear evidence for instance that MMR vaccine has caused autism.
The annual flu vaccines are not preventing flu because there is no way to know what would be effective and also because there is no regulation of what is in the jab. The pharmaceutical industry could put ANYTHING in it.
Harry Again. No need to be abusive to someone just because you don’t like their views, what sort of manners is that ? What you say does not recognise let alone even begin to resolve the multiple momentous issues surrounding the proposed covid vaccine.
Social media and committees have now officially won. PHE is to be officially renamed.
Every birth must be registered as amember of a committee. Refusal will be taken as racist . All committees must register as being represeneted on the Great Committee in the Skye. All committee members over the age of 2 will be issued with a lump of wood and a sheetof cardboard with which to hit dangerous racist combatants. UKIP ( As a leading destructive committee ) can now die with a traitorous Tory blue smile, and/or a fatuous Labour sour pink, on its face
Every committee should be replaced by one responsible person who getsthe blame or cheers.. He may need assistants but they are his responsibility so he is first for the sack,. ( So he’s worth his wages and title. ). If he delegates , the same applies to him.
So nobody is blameless and/or unsackable etc. HOWLS Of FURY from civil service, unions, do gooders and lefties. So it works..
It is not a theory.
Its just business.
Sorry, Iintended ” UKIP, NEC”.could die. Not UKIP Itself necessarily
TG Spokes, how many more times are you going to mention UKIP, the NEC and Freddie. Its getting tedious now. Most of the comments for the new leader’s not very good videos on the UKIP Facebook site, are negative ones. Anyway, whereabouts in Debbie’s precis of the news is UKIP mentioned in any form. I’ve read it and re-read it, but can’t see any mention at all. Just saying……
I m sorry Colin. I am trying to help ukip but I’m not going to tell the world. It’s simple They need to ask. Simple. Normally and politely. I have tried normal channels for six years. I am not going to help arrogance. Nigel has the respect of the people. Gerard listened a bit. Ukip still has the tattered remnant of respect from the public, it will be a shame if they finally lose everything. Every thing I do is for my country . Always has been.. Simple. I keep going.
I’m beginning to follow your drift there TGS. The PHE amalgamation with ? renaming drivel, looks like something Hancock has cooked up to save his own face.
Hm, hm, yes of course, all very interesting I’m sure. What you don’t seem to realise, is that the leader himself is on the NEC as well, so maybe he doesn’t trust himself either. If one was to follow your thread to the endth degree he could set an example and could get rid of himself. How about that then. Judging by his performance thus far, I don’t think I’ll be returning to the UKIP fold anytime soon. The Brexit Party, providing that Nigel Farage and Richard Tice get their act together, is the way forward, not UKIP or any other of the factions that split after the Henry Bolton debacle.
I reckon we could have an educational arguement here Colin ( It’s Glen Spokes by the way and I’m out there like a sore thumb . but not doing social stuff ). But a good example of pink running by committee is in the A levels. The final accolade of socialist education by committee.. Fair ?, Accurate ? Who is actually responsible ? There is only one answer . Give the job To the Universities concerned. They are the clever ones. It is their job. Not that of some Political numbwit.and his empire.