Brexit
Just another few days to go, says the Sun.
BRITAIN has threatened to pull the plug on Brexit trade talks this week – and walk away without a deal.
A source close to the negotiations said last night: “One way or another, it’ll all be over by Christmas.”
Officials claimed the Brussels team was still “struggling” to budge an inch over key sticking points, with just 11 days until the transition period ends.
Both teams are still slugging it out every day in the hope of finding a breakthrough after nine years of tense talks.
Last night, talks were still deadlocked as Michel Barnier and his team continued to make “unacceptable” demands on state subsidies and fishing rights.
Insiders in both camps said a decision must be made before Christmas, due to the European Commission’s self-imposed deadline for getting a deal signed off.
But as talks entered their final hours, the UK delegation said a no deal departure looked “increasingly likely”.
Sky News reports a call for the EU to give ground.
The European Union must make a “substantial shift” if Brexit trade talks are to be saved.
That was the warning from Britain in the final days of negotiations between the two sides ahead of the transition period ending on 31 December.
Talks are continuing in Brussels this weekend but UK sources say it is increasingly likely that an agreement will not be reached in time.
A UK government source said: “We need to get any deal right and based on terms which respect what the British people voted for.
BBC News also reports the call.
There will be no post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU unless there is a “substantial shift” from Brussels in the coming days, a government source has told the BBC.
It is understood there is likely to be a decision before Christmas on whether or not a deal can be reached.
The two sides have been in negotiations about how many years it will take to phase in new fisheries arrangements.
And ‘no-deal’ is on the cards says the Mail.
BRITAIN will leave the European Union without a trade deal on December 31 unless Brussels substantially shifts its position, UK Government sources said tonight.
With less than two weeks before a 12-month transition period expires, both sides are calling on the other to back down to achieve a breakthrough after nine months of talks. But neither appears willing to budge on the final sticking points of the EU’s demands for fishing rights in British waters and the so-called level playing field providing fair competition rules.
But there could be ‘mini-deals’ in the offing, says the Telegraph.
Britain and the European Union can agree on a series of “mini unilateral” deals to ease any chaos if no trade deal can be agreed by the end of this month, Michael Gove has said.
Any trade deal is also “realistically” unlikely to be signed off until after Christmas, Mr Gove said, which will mean MPs are likely to vote on any deal just hours before the end of the Brexit transition period.
Any teething problems at the border in the event of a trade deal not being agreed would “resolve themselves to a normal relatively early in the new year,” he said.
Mr Gove also declared that after the transition period Britain and the EU could be as close as the UK and the US, describing it as a new “special relationship” with the EU’s remaining 27 member states.
The latest deadline of today is likely to be ignored, says the Guardian.
The European parliament’s Sunday deadline may pass without agreement on a post-Brexit trade and security deal, France’s European affairs minister, Clément Beaune, has said, as British and EU negotiators continued to haggle over fishing rights.
MEPs have said they will stage a vote of consent on 28 December if terms are agreed by the two sides by midnight central European time on Sunday, raising the stakes for a weekend deal.
But Beaune, a long-time ally of Emmanuel Macron who speaks for the French president on Brexit, said the French government would not be rushed into a deal over the next 48 hours.
“It would be normal not to say: well it’s Sunday evening so let’s wrap it and sacrifice everything,” he said.
We’re heading for no-deal, says the Mail.
Downing Street insisted Brexit trade talks were entering ‘the final hours’ last night and it was ‘increasingly likely’ that the UK would leave the bloc without a deal after the EU tried to mount a last-minute ambush over fishing rights.
Government sources said it was ‘widely expected’ that the negotiations would conclude ‘one way or another’ before Christmas, but that no agreement was imminent.
No 10 was infuriated by an ultimatum from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier that would have allowed Brussels to impose ‘lightning tariffs’ on London if the Government restricted access to UK fishing waters.
EU
The Express goes back more than 40 years for its story.
BREXIT looks set to pull the rug from under Emmanuel Macron as France has long benefited from Britain’s membership of the EU – something even Charles de Gaulle knew would harm the UK economy.
French President Emmanuel Macron is being extremely stubborn with Brexit Britain and appears to be one of the biggest obstacles to EU and UK negotiators as they seek a deal. An agreement appeared in sight until Mr Macron, concerned the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier might compromise too much on fishing rights, intervened and raised doubts about the direction of talks.
Fisheries
Fish from a protected area are being sold in the EU, says the Telegraph.
Nearly all fish caught in a marine protected area off the coast of Britain ended up in the EU, an investigation has found, as trawlermen were accused of “unlawful asset stripping”.
A report by Blue Marine Foundation, a leading NGO, found that the UK accounted for less than five per cent of the more than 100,000 tonnes of fish that were brought to shore at Dogger Bank in the North Sea in 2017 and 2018.
The data will boost calls for the Government to ban destructive fishing in the area after the UK leaves the EU on January 1.
The bloc’s boats are fishing illegally, says the Express.
COASTAL waters around Britain are littered with illegal fishing efforts with most of the fish caught ending up in the EU, a report has found.
It comes amid a chorus of calls for the UK to crack down on overfishing and tighten coastal restrictions after the EU transition period ends. Activists have urged the government to “seize” the opportunity to do so and have called Brexit a “second chance”.
The Blue Marine Foundation has claimed over 100,000 tonnes of fish were brought to shore at Dogger Bank in the North Sea in 2017 and 2018, adding that less than five percent of this was accounted for by the UK.
Christmas
For many people, Christmas is cancelled, says the Telegraph.
Boris Johnson effectively cancelled Christmas for more than 16 million people on Saturday by placing them in fresh draconian lockdown measures to combat a new more infectious strain of coronavirus.
The Prime Minister announced that people living in London and eastern and South East England would no longer be able to spend Christmas with people outside of their household by putting them into a new Tier 4 set of restrictions.
Some 16.4 million people living currently in these areas have effectively returned to the lockdown rules enforced in November, although people are allowed to go to church.
The Times describes it as ‘chaos’.
Christmas plans for millions of families were in chaos last night after tougher coronavirus restrictions were introduced to contain a more infectious strain of the virus.
Boris Johnson unveiled tier 4 restrictions for London, the southeast and parts of eastern England that will prevent 16.4 million people from mixing indoors over the festive period.
The decision to scrap the planned relaxation of Covid rules for Christmas was blamed on the spread of the mutant strain, which has sent infection rates spiralling.
Households can’t mix says ITV News.
Households in London and the south-east England are to be banned from mixing over the festive period, while in the rest of the country, three households will be able to meet indoors on Christmas Day only, Boris Johnson has announced.
New Tier 4 restrictions have also been imposed on millions of people in London and the south-east of England. The tougher rules came into force at midnight on Sunday.
After the prime minister’s statement, Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford announced the country will go into a national lockdown from midnight and “Christmas bubbles” can only be formed on Christmas Day.
The Guardian says the PM has had to backtrack.
The nation’s Christmas plans were plunged into chaos last night after Boris Johnson dramatically abandoned his attempts to avoid tighter Covid restrictions, and instead placed millions of people under new lockdown measures to try to curb a highly infectious new strain of the virus.
In a major U-turn that prompted an immediate backlash from his party, the prime minister placed a third of England’s population under new tier 4 restrictions to counter a Covid strain believed to be up to 70% more transmissible than previous variants.
It means people in a swathe of the south-east and east England and London will not be able to mix with other households at all over Christmas.
There’s fury in the country, claims the Mail.
Boris Johnson faced fury tonight as he dramatically cancelled Christmas for 16.4million people after hitting the panic button on a rampant new mutant strain of coronavirus.
The PM was accused of ‘inconsistency and confusion’ after the extraordinary last-minute U-turn to put a third of England, including London and swathes of the home counties, into a brutal new ‘Tier 4’ from midnight.
The draconian bracket means non-essential shops being forced to shut, and travel restrictions including a ‘stay at home’ order for Christmas Day itself – even though Mr Johnson insisted just days ago that it would be ‘inhuman’ to axe five-day festive ‘bubbles’.
The rest of England will not escape unscathed, with up to three households now only allowed to mix on Christmas Day rather than between December 23 and 27.
New variant
It’s all down to a mutation of the virus, says the Telegraph.
Britain on Saturday night alerted the World Health Organisation about a new variant of the coronavirus that the Prime Minister said may be “up to 70 per cent” more transmissible than earlier strains.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific officer, did not put a number on it but agreed the new strain – now officially named VUI-202012/01 – showed a “substantial increase in transmissibility”.
He said the new variant contained 23 different genetic changes, many associated with parts of the virus which control how it binds to human cells.
Over 60 per cent of new infections in London were now accounted for by the new variant, said Sir Patrick, who added: “It moves fast and is becoming the dominant variant.”
Is this the ‘worst moment of the pandemic’? The Mail reports:
A SAGE expert has called the emergence of a new mutant strain of coronavirus that has forced the cancellations of Christmas as the ‘worst moment of the pandemic’ – as it was revealed the variant is 70 per cent more infectious than others.
British epidemiologist John Edmunds said today that as far as he’s concerned ‘this is the worst moment of the epidemic because of the extraordinary infectivity of the new strain’ of Covid-19.
Speaking at an emergency press conference this afternoon, Robert Peston from ITV News questioned Boris Johnson, Professor Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance about the statement.
Police
The police will take action against those who break the rules, says the Telegraph.
Police have said they will make “no apology” for enforcing new Christmas Day lockdown rules.
Scotland Yard has said that officers across London will pay particular attention to groups who have wilfully ignored the rules with patrols prioritised in high footfall areas of the capital.
It came as five police officers were injured and 29 people arrested following anti-lockdown protests in central London.
Hundreds of people joined marches down Oxford and Regent Street on Saturday, and were dispersed several times by police.
The rules are not easy to follow, reports the Sun.
COPS have said Tier 4 rules “don’t make sense” – and they “won’t be knocking on doors on Christmas Day” to check Brits are following the rules.
Metropolitan Police Federation boss Ken Marsh slammed the new restrictions as “baffling” after festive bubbles were axed for millions in London and the South East.
Christmas plans were plunged into chaos amid warnings from medical experts of a “frighteningly transmissible” new variant of the bug in London and the South East, which can spread up to 70 per cent more easily.
Rules were previously due to be relaxed across the UK from December 23 to 28 to allow families to spend Christmas together.
But the Mail has other ideas.
Police ‘won’t be knocking on people’s doors on Christmas Day’ a federation chief for the UK’s largest force declared last night as London was thrown into Tier 4 rules.
Police forces around the south of England revealed they would be increasing patrols to punish anyone found breaking Number 10’s latest set of restrictions.
At an emergency press conference, Boris Johnson announced a third of England, including London and swathes of the home counties, will be shifted up to the brutal new tier from midnight.
Scotland
North of the border, Wee Burney has locked the door to her country, reports the Telegraph.
Nicola Sturgeon has banned cross-border travel between Scotland and the rest of the UK in the hope of stopping the spread of the new more transmissible strain of Covid-19.
The First Minister said she was “very, very sorry” but the “harsh” ban was needed to prevent any more of the new strain entering Scotland and would apply over Christmas.
A cross-border travel ban has been in place in recent weeks but it was due to be lifted for five days from Dec 23.
Ms Sturgeon also warned that Police Scotland would “strengthen” enforcement of the “strict” ban at the English border, with the force deciding the operational details of how this is achieved.
The Sun reports the travel ban.
SCOTLAND will ban travel from England over the festive period to stop the spread of a highly contagious new strain of coronavirus.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also announced the country would go into lockdown on Boxing Day – as Wales was plunged into Tier 4 restrictions from midnight tonight.
It comes after rules were due to be relaxed across the UK from December 23 to 28 to allow families to spend Christmas together.
But Christmas plans were plunged into chaos amid warnings from medical experts of a “frighteningly transmissible” new variant of the bug in London and the South East, which can spread up to 70 per cent more easily.
And the Labour leader has given in to the Scottish leader, says the Express.
KEIR STARMER has caved into Nicola Sturgeon’s demands for Scottish independence as his plot to promise more devolution has been exposed.
The Labour leader will reveal his plans to undermine the Prime Minister in a keynote speech on Monday. He will say the party’s next manifesto will set out a programme to win power “in order to push as much power as possible away from Westminster”. This will go against Mr Johnson’s insistance that Westminster will not back Scotland’s second bid for independence, as the First Minister continues to push for Scotland to have more power and control away from the rest of the UK.
Wales
And the principality will go into lockdown tonight, says ITV News.
Wales will go into national lockdown from midnight tonight (Saturday), earlier than initially planned, after growing concerns about the spread of a new coronavirus strain.
The first minister said the situation is ”serious” and the country will enter alert level four from midnight.
Rules had been due to be relaxed to allow people to celebrate the festive break with families from 23 to 28 December, however the rules will only be relaxed for Christmas day only – similar to England.
What are the alert level 4 restrictions?
Shopping
Have you finished your Christmas shopping? The Telegraph says there’s a possibility that shoppers will panic.
Supermarkets have urged shoppers not to panic buy as they braced themselves for people who had previously planned to travel for Christmas now rushing to fill up empty cupboards.
With most online booking delivery slots fully booked there are fears the movement of London and the South East into Tier 4 could spark panic buying, with thousands now having to shop for Christmas who were previously relying on visiting relatives.
And in the run-up to today’s lockdown, shops were packed yesterday, says the Mail.
High streets descended into chaos on Saturday as shoppers were left with just hours to buy their Christmas gifts before shops close at midnight tonight in London and South East.
The scramble came after Boris Johnson this afternoon revealed that a third of England – including London and swathes of the home counties – will be thrust into a brutal ‘Tier 4’ lockdown from midnight on Saturday.
The draconian bracket will see non-essential shops shut, and travel restrictions including a ‘stay at home’ order for Christmas Day itself – even though Mr Johnson insisted just days ago that it would be ‘inhuman’ to axe five-day festive ‘bubbles’.
Free speech
Away from the chaos, the Mail reports on a teenager who intends to sue the police.
A teenager who is poised to launch legal action over new police rules that may land children who voice their opinion in the classroom with a criminal record says she is protecting freedom of speech.
The 14-year-old is threatening to bring a judicial review in response to guidance from the College of Policing that officers should keep a record of ‘non-criminal hate incidents’ even when they do not break the law.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, the teenager said: ‘We can’t live in fear that everything we say at school may be recorded somewhere on our records, simply because someone else didn’t like what you said.’
Police:
Simply a numbers game; those who plan to demonstrate just need sufficient numbers to overwhelm them. Maybe a ring of BAME people would stop them too…
Moves fast and becoming dominant. Just like the common cold then?
OK that is not very scientific but after all it is less a killer than other flus and you don’t even know if you have it, isn’t it like any other virus?
There comes a point where viruses don’t kill ALL their hosts because that would exterminate the virus itself.
Even that sounds odd. How can a virus act that logically? Yet I’m sure I’ve heard the theory put forward in the past about viruses.
Natural Selection in action. If a virus is so potent it kills or disables its hosts they will not be able to infect other hosts so it dies out in the community. A less potent viral strain will however spread much further and last longer because its hosts will still be active and in contact with other hosts. Eventually weaker strains win out and so the disease becomes more and more attenuated.
MWT. Yes thanks. That’s right. And I’ve just read the same argument in Lockdown Sceptics.
Like you say it is natural selection.
From across the pond:
There’s quite a lot going on. Trump is still in and stays in until he’s not. For how long remains an open question.
For an easy way to follow this go to
http://www.citizenfreepress.com
: “It moves fast and is becoming the dominant variant.”
Not that fast as it was first identified in Sept and not that dominant as in all that time it only makes up a third of “cases” in parts of the SE. WHO and other scientists are a bit surprised as no evidence exists yet to show it is more infectious. Variant Hancock is a damp squib. Bit like the man himself.
Fathead and Hangdog and the sociopathic commies in SAGE and SPI-B running them have jumped the shark. A lot of people will ignore the diktat which is only guidance as there is no SI for it yet. When no one dies their bluff will be called. Break one irrational edict and the rest start to crumble. Everyone, other than a frightened elderly couple in need of deprogramming, behaved normally on my walk round the town parks this morning, no muzzloids or swervers. Bet they will be celebrating Christmas en famille.