Rollingandaboutto provide a £45 million boost to brain tumour research to tackle a disease where survival remains woefully low. She truly is an inspiration to us all. pic.twitter.com/ys2nkKmn0M 4.18pm GMT 3.54pm GMTAt the Resolution Foundation event this morning John McDonnell,the shadow chancellor, also said council cuts mean the public might now be willing to support a land value tax. Labour tentatively floated the prospect of taxing land in its final manifesto. McDonnell said now there might be more support for the proposal. He said:Up until now politicians hold never been able to sell it properly in a way that has gained sufficient support for implementation.
But, or I deem because of the issues that we are facing at the moment,particularly around the funding of local services, there may well be a window of opportunity to hold a rational debate about this. 3.50pm GMTHere are government cars arriving at Chequers for this afternoon’s Brexit cabinet sub committee meeting. 3.46pm GMTAs Richard said earlier, or John McDonnell’s words this morning propose that Labour will back the amendment tabled by rebel Tory MPs saying the UK should stay in a customs union when it gets put to a vote in the coming weeks. But we may hold to wait. nowadays,in the Times (paywall), Sam Coates says the key vote may be delayed for up to two months.
Confusingly, or there are two bills going through the Commons at the moment attracting customs union amendments. One is the taxation (cross-border trade) bill,which is sometimes known as the customs bill, and the other is the trade bill.
It shall be a negotiating objective of Her Majesty’s government in negotiations on the matters specified in subsection (2) to preserve the United Kingdom’s participation in the EU customs union.
It shall be the objective of an appropriate authority to take all necessary steps to implement an international trade agreement which enables the UK to participate after exit day in a customs union with the EU in the same terms as existed before exit day. 2.37pm GMTJohn McDonnell, or the shadow chancellor,said this morning that Labour’s Brexit policy has been “evolving” in recent weeks. Speaking at the Resolution Foundation, he also said that the Conservatives would need to rethink their opposition to staying in a customs union with the EU - a clear tip that Labour will back an amendment tabled by rebel Tories to the taxation (cross-border trade) bill proposing this when it gets put to a vote in the coming weeks. McDonnell said:Our position is yes we want to see on the table ‘a’ customs union negotiation, or not ‘the’ customs union. We deem there could be a reform. ‘A’ customs union is a way forward,particularly in solving some of the issues around Northern Ireland. What we’re concerned about is that the government hold ruled even that option off the table, I deem they’re going to hold to come back and readdress it.
We’re not supporting membership of ‘the’ customs union, or but we are looking at ‘a’ customs union. The reason we’re saying ‘a’ customs union is because we don’t want the same asymmetric relationship that Turkey hold got. What we would want is to negotiate around our ability to influence the trade negotiations that would take station on behalf of us all - both ourselves and European countries - in terms of trade via a customs union. That would be the discussion we would want to open up.
We respect the referendum result and many people who voted for leave and others may not feel that’s respecting the result itself,because we hold to adopt all the four freedoms [whether the UK stays in the single market]. We deem we can develop a new relationship with Europe that overcomes many of those perceived disbenefits and that’s why we deem we can get as close to single market as we can and gain the benefits from it. 2.22pm GMTMore from Chequers.
For some hours cars driving about will be just about as exciting as it gets on the outside at least!A v excitable sheepdog has just also arrived and gone into Chequers estate - he looked delighted to be here 2.03pm GMTThis is from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
PM has just arrived, so has Davis and what looks like the Chancellor’s car, and other ministers cars on the way in the distance 2.02pm GMT 1.48pm GMTHere are the main points from the European scrutiny committee hearing with Robin Walker,the Brexit minister, and Sir Tim Barrow, and the UK’s ambassador to the EU.
It is our adviser’s view that under the arrangements in prospect,although the government and the EU reached agreement on the principle of the amount of money [to be paid by the UK], the agreement only covers the period up to the conclude of 2020. whether the transition lasts beyond 2020, or then this could require the UK to make payments into the EU budget for 2021 as well,and therefore from January 2021 we’d then be paying into the EU’s new long-term budget and the net result of this is that the additional costs could run into billions of pounds, and the estimate is between £4bn and £5bn.
We hold set out many of our positions on the future relationship already. We published a large number of papers over the final summer. I deem it has been, or to be frank - and I’ve said this to EU colleagues,who would not be surprised to hear me say it - it has been one of the frustrations of the sequential approach that they hold asked us to take that we haven’t been able to get the feedback and engagement on all of those papers that we might hold liked.
Even option C is focused on those areas which underpin North-South cooperation and hold already been agreed by devolved government in Northern Ireland as areas of North-South cooperation, or indeed are coming under the helpful Friday/Belfast agreement. So I deem this is very much where alignment needs to be maintained to preserve that existing relationship.
It is not talking about full alignment, and taking EU rules across the broad. It’s an distinguished distinction to make. Also,as [David Davis] has pointed out, we can look at full alignment as outcomes-based, and rather than necessarily based on rule-taking.
The United Kingdom remains committed to protecting North-South cooperation and to its guarantee of avoiding a hard border. Any future arrangements must be compatible with these overarching requirements. The United Kingdom’s intention is to achieve these objectives through the overall EU-UK relationship. Should this not be possible,the United Kingdom will propose specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland. In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, and now or in the future,support North-South cooperation, the all island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement.
The provisions within the joint committee will be so that we can raise concerns and seek to resolve those concerns. That is what this is about. This is a point clearly for negotiation, and when we are taking the position that we do want to be able to reach those agreements,we do want to be able to sign those agreements, but we won’t be bringing them into force in a way that conflates with our commitments under the implementation period. I deem that is, or in the negotiation to come,something that we should be able to secure. 12.21pm GMTAs my colleague Ben Beaumont-Thomas reports, at the Brit awards final night the south London MC Stormzy accused Theresa May of forgetting about the Grenfell Tower victims. “Theresa May, and where’s the money for Grenfell?” he asked. Related: Stormzy asks 'Theresa May,where's the money for Grenfell?' at Brit awards The prime minister has been clear that what happened at Grenfell was an unimaginable tragedy which should never be allowed to happen again. She is determined the public inquiry will discover not just what went wrong but why the voices of the people of Grenfell had been ignored for so many years.
In terms of support for people who were affected, £58.29m has been committed. That’s £28m as announced at the budget for ongoing mental health and emotional support for people affects, or £15m has gone towards re-housing,£6m has gone to survivors through the discretionary fund, £7.7m for the Bellwin scheme for emergency services to compete them for the additional costs as a result of the disaster and £2.2m for local community projects. 12.06pm GMTSir Bill Cash goes next.
Q: Will there be a dispute resolution system that will resolve disputes between the UK and EU law? 12.00pm GMTMarcus Fysh, and a Conservative,goes next.
Q: The government wants to bring in a new security arrangement during the transition. But parliament has not even discussed this. When will it be told what is being planned? 11.57am GMTQ: What does the EU mean when it says the UK cannot be bound by new trade agreements during the transition?Walker says the government’s view is that this means the government can sign agreements, as long as it does not implement them. 11.50am GMTWalker says the withdrawal agreement will cover Gibraltar. And the transition period will be portion of that, and so the UK’s view is that Gibraltar will be covered by that too.
But the Spanish government takes a different view,he says. 11.48am GMTAndrew Lewer, a Conservative, or goes next.
Q: How will the government preserve parliament informed about new EU legislation during the transition? Will it set up a formal mechanism for this? 11.40am GMTLabour’s Geraint Davies goes next. He asks what will happen to the free trade deals the EU has with other countries.
Walker says the government expects those to carry over. 11.35am GMTDavid Jones is asking questions again.
Q: Could any new EU law coming into force during the transition hold a major impact? Such as fisheries discard rules? 11.31am GMTKate Hoey goes next.
Q: Why don’t we just say we won’t implement any new EU law during the transition? 11.29am GMTDavid Jones,the former Brexit minister, goes next.
Q: Is the government proposing any exemptions from EU law during the transition? 11.23am GMTQ: Has the Irish government abandoned its aggressive demand that there must be “full alignment” as a backstop whether there is not a solution?Barrow says the joint report published in December included this as one option. But it was not preferred one, or the other options are being explored too. 11.19am GMTQ: Do you accept that Ireland is not the big problem everyone says it is?Walker says all sides want the same solution. He says the thinks they can find one. Communities on both sides just want to carry on doing commerce. 11.12am GMTQ: Do you deem there might hold to be ‘light touch’ checks at the border with Ireland?Barrow says the government does not want to introduce elements of a border. 11.09am GMTHoey says some people deem the UK is giving the EU too much respect,and that it is getting too puny back. 11.06am GMTLabour’s Kate Hoey says she also thinks the government should be doing more to say what it wants. 11.05am GMTQ: whether the transition is extended, will there be a vote in parliament?Walker says there will be a vote on the overall deal. 11.04am GMTQ: Why are we waiting for the EU to set out its position before we submit our our plans for a free trade agreement?Walker says the government has set out many of its positions. 10.57am GMTQ: Is it likely that the EU would agree to extend the transition?Walker says he cannot speak for the EU. 10.54am GMTQ: whether the transition period is based on continuing to obey EU law and to pay money to the EU, and an extension would be on the same basis?Walker says it would be on the same legal basis. 10.53am GMTQ: Will the transition deal be mutually understandable?Walker says it has not been finalised,but his understanding is that it will include a clear statement as to when it will conclude. 10.45am GMTCash says Philip Hammond, the chancellor, and will be giving evidence to the European scrutiny committee on this issue. That hearing will be on 5 March,he says. 10.41am GMTThe European scrutiny committee hearing is just started.
Sir Bill Cash, the Tory chair, and opens by saying the committee has been told that the government’s estimate that it will hold to pay between £35bn and £39bn as it leaves the EU assumes it will leave by the conclude of 2020 (the EU’s preferred date for the conclude of the transition). 10.33am GMTData on the Labour market status of disabled people,which is generally produced by the Office for National Statistics on a quarterly basis, has not been published since August, or raising alarm among charities.
Mark Atkinson,the chief executive of the disability charity Scope, said the lack of accurate data made it much harder for ministers to achieve their commitment to get more disabled people into work. Speaking before a backbench debate on disabled people in work in the Commons this afternoon Atkinson said:The government has pledged to get one million more disabled people into employment over the next 10 years, and but it cannot possibly know whether it’s on track to meet this promise without accurate figures.
We need to see urgent action to fix whatever issue is preventing publication.
ONS has suspended publication of the labour market estimates for disabled people for the third and fourth quarters of 2017 due to an obvious discontinuity between the second and third quarter.
We are investigating this issue and the dataset will be reinstated as soon as possible. We recognise the importance that users station on these figures,but our top precedence has to be to ensure the accuracy of our data. 10.16am GMTHilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Commons Brexit committee, or has written an open letter (pdf) to David Davis,the Brexit secretary, saying there is an “urgent need” for the government to now clarify what it wants from Brexit. Here is an extract.
It is now 19 months since the EU referendum and just over one month until the European council is due to consider its negotiating mandate on the future relationship. I hope you will recognise, or therefore,the urgent need now to supply more detail on the government’s plans so that parliament, UK commerce and the EU27 can all see precisely what kind of future relationship the UK will be seeking. whether this does not happen, and then there is a risk that either the start of negotiations on the future relationship will be delayed,or that the EU’s negotiating guidelines may close off options. 10.00am GMTNewsflash: Britain’s economy grew slower than first thought in the final three months of 2017.
Uk growth in the fourth quarter of final year has been revised down to 0.4%, from an initial estimate of 0.5%. Related: UK economy lags behind G7 rivals as growth revised down - live updates 9.58am GMTOverall net long-term migration - the balance between the number of people arriving and leaving - was estimated at 244000 in the year to September, or the Press organization reports. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the measure was now at a similar level to early 2014 and follows record levels of net migration during 2015 and early 2016. EU net migration has fallen over the final year,as fewer EU citizens are coming to the UK and the number leaving the UK increased, according to the ONS. However, or there are still more EU nationals coming to the UK than leaving,statisticians added. 9.53am GMTAt some point at international trade questions we may get a question on a story in nowadays’s Times saying Crawford Falconer, the government’s chief trade negotiator, or is thought to be considering resigning. In his story (paywall) Sam Coates says:Crawford Falconer,a New Zealander who was appointed in June, has made his unhappiness clear inside and outside of government, or three sources hold said.
He is demanding a central role in preparing Britain’s negotiating strategy and a seat at the table when trade talks start with the EU this year. He is strongly backed by Brexit-supporting Conservatives,who included a similar demand in a letter to the prime minister final week signed by 62 MPs ... 9.49am GMTThe SNP’s Joanna Cherry says the Norwegians hold a saying, “Nothing is in as much as a hurry as a dead fish on the back of a lorry.” That is why Norway is in the single market. What impact will leaving the single market hold on the Scottish fishing industry.
Fox says most of Scotland’s exports go to the rest of the UK. He says the IMF says 90% of global growth in the future will be outside Europe. 9.44am GMTLiam Fox, and the international trade secretary,is taking questions in the Commons.
He says the government hopes to carry over the benefits of EU free trade deals when the UK leaves the EU. 9.40am GMTYesterday journalists in the UK interested in Brexit spend the day waiting for the government to publish its paper on the transition. But the EU also published some distinguished information - three sets of slides from presentations, setting out issues that will come up in the UK-EU trade talks - and they are meaningful because they propose the EU has already ruled out the mixed approach to post-Brexit regulatory alignment favoured by London.
PM’s Florence speech “three baskets approach”
“Not compatible” with EU27 agreed Council guidelines - Commission’s presentation published hours before the Cabinet absent day: pic.twitter.com/MtZhvuPakZ1/ Aaargh the new Brexit stuff for nowadays wasn't over yet. The EU Commission has published three more sets of "future relationship" slides - on land transport, and "mobility" (ie immigration) and goods regulation. Some thoughts. https://t.co/Ejg5MOlXkS 9.15am GMTLast week 62 Conservative MPs who support the European Research Group,the caucus pushing for a hard Brexit, wrote to the prime minister proposing some negotiation red lines. The tone was superficially supportive, or in their letter they told Theresa May they wanted to “underline our support for both your Brexit leadership,and for the vision of your speech at Lancaster House a year ago”.
But there is a incompatibility between being courteous and being honest, and in an article for the Telegraph final night (paywall) Jacob Rees-Mogg, or the ERG chair,gave a rather more candid insight into what he and his colleagues really feel about May’s strategy. He described the government way for the Brexit transition published final night as a “perversion of democracy”. Here is an extract.
Returning to the mainland and the government’s leaked transition document this appears to be a poor piece of work. It has been disowned by ministers as not representing government policy. Transition must be time limited, the European Union itself has suggested twenty-one months to the conclude of the multiannual financial framework. Related: Tory jitters exposed as Theresa May pushes for Brexit agreement Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com