France-UK fishing row: Further escalation beckons despite Macron-Johnson meeting in Rome
The government of Jersey has issued nearly 50 additional licences to French boats to fish in its waters, in an apparent effort to stave off threats of sanctions from Paris.
The 49 temporary permits issued today come on top of 66 permanent licences awarded last week, bringing to 162 the total number of French vessels allowed to fish in the area post-Brexit.
However, it is unclear whether the move – agreed last week at a meeting with officials from France, Jersey, the UK and European Commission – will be enough to stop the imposition of measures threatened by Paris if the situation is not resolved to its satisfaction by midnight tonight.
Earlier, Britain threatened to sue France within 48 hours over fishing rights. Lizz Truss, the foreign secretary, said London “will not roll over” in the ongoing war of words with Paris.
The foreign secretary’s comments came after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, warned that he could use “retaliation measures” if Britain does not give ground in the dispute.
France has previously warned that it is prepared to hold up British exports passing through its ports. The two sides have for months been embroiled in a row over Channel fishing permits.
Elsewhere, a bus has been hijacked by armed, masked men and set alight in a predominantly unionist area of Newtownards. Unionist politicians have condemned the attack. It came on the day set by the DUP earlier in the autumn to pull down the institutions at Stormont if major changes to the protocol had not been secured.
Labour market badley affected by Brexit, OBR says
Richard Hughes, chairman of the OBR, has told MPs that the impact of EU migrants leaving the UK during the pandemic is having an impact on the economy, with around 50 per cent who left not expected to return.
He said: “There is an element of loss of migrants who would have otherwise come here or stayed here to stay in the workforce. That is a minority of the effect on the labour force but it is nonetheless a significant one.”
Mr Hughes added: “EU migrants were particularly favourable to the UK finances in the sense that we tended to not pay for their education.
“They came here and were largely in employment. They often didn’t bring dependents with them. What we didn’t know is whether they would stay and collect a pension, or go home,” he said, adding that compared with migrants from other nations EU workers “had some fiscal advantages”.
He added: “The bigger loss comes from the fact that we have a less trade-intensive economy which is less connected in terms of trade with the rest of the world and it has consequences for the long-run productivity of the economy as a whole rather than necessarily the individuals who were either here or not.”
Overall, the number of people leaving the workforce, either through returning to home countries or residents taking early retirement, is expected to be around 160,000, he said.
Matt Mathers1 November 2021 13:58
Full report: Jersey issues new licences for French trawlers in bid to ease Brexit fishing row
The government of Jersey has issued almost 50 additional licences to French boats to fish in its waters, in an apparent effort to stave off threats of sanctions from Paris.
The 49 temporary permits issued today come on top of 66 permanent licences awarded last week, bringing to 162 the total number of French vessels allowed to fish in the area post-Brexit.
Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
Matt Mathers1 November 2021 13:31
Covid scandals further eroded trust in MPs, survey says
Covid scandals have eroded public trust that MPs can behave ethically, research by the anti-corruption watchdog has found.
Participants in a survey of 1,590 people conducted on behalf of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) said the pandemic had exposed poor behaviour by politicians, including breaches of lockdown rules and the awarding of public procurement contracts to ministers’ friends.
The survey found participants were “visibly angry as they recounted the strict pandemic rules they had to follow, which they believed were disregarded by various politicians who subsequently faced few or no consequences”.
A report on the survey singled out Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Matt Hancock as “immediately associated with the word ‘sleaze”‘ and not possessing “the core values expected from political leaders”.
In total, 41 per cent of people felt ministers’ standards of conduct were quite low or very low, compared with 24% who felt they were quite or very high.
For MPs the figures were even worse. Just 20 per cent of people surveyed felt that MPs’ standards of conduct were quite or very high, while 44% felt they were quite or very low.
Polling also found that 43 per cemt of people felt standards had got worse.
Matt Mathers1 November 2021 13:19
Labour claims disgraced MP ‘has no place in parliament’
Following my earlier post (12.26pm), here’s Adam Forrest with some more on Rob Roberts being readmitted to the Conservative Party.
Sam Hancock1 November 2021 13:10
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Sam Hancock1 November 2021 13:01
Migrants leaving UK impacts ‘long-run productivity’ of economy – OBR
The chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) told MPs today that the impact of EU migrants leaving the UK during the pandemic is having an impact on the economy, with around 50 per cent who left not expected to return.
Richard Hughes said EU migrants “were particularly favourable to the UK finances in the sense that we tended to not pay for their education”.
Speaking before the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Hughes said:
“They came here and were largely in employment. They often didn’t bring dependents with them. What we didn’t know is whether they would stay and collect a pension, or go home.
“The bigger loss comes from the fact that we have a less trade-intensive economy which is less connected in terms of trade with the rest of the world and it has consequences for the long-run productivity of the economy as a whole rather than necessarily the individuals who were either here or not.”
Overall, the number of people leaving the workforce, either through returning to home countries or residents taking early retirement, is expected to be around 160,000, he told MPs.
Sam Hancock1 November 2021 12:59
PM to meet Modi at Cop26 to discuss possible climate partnership
Boris Johnson will be meeting his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Cop26 summit to discuss a climate partnership between the two countries.
The meeting will take place after the opening ceremony of the 26th UN climate summit on Monday and is going to be the first in-person bilateral talks between the British and Indian PMs this year since Mr Johnson’s India trip was cancelled twice due to Covid, reports Stuti Mishra.
Sam Hancock1 November 2021 12:48
No 10 refuses to say if UK has retaliatory plans for France
Let’s get the latest on the UK’s fishing row with France. Downing Street today declined to say whether there are contingency plans in place for if the EU member goes ahead with threats it has made, or when it understands the French deadline to be.
A No 10 spokesman said only the government was “keen for France to take a step back from the threats”.
He pointed towards foreign secretary Liz Truss’s warning that the UK could launch dispute settlement proceedings under the Brexit trade deal, and Brexit minister Lord Frost’s threat of retaliatory “practical responses”.
Questioned for a second time if there are contingency plans, the spokesman said: “It is the French who have issued the threat, we’re keen to continue to abide by the Trade and Co-operation Agreement, and continue to look at licences and the validity of them as they’re applied for.”
Asked whether it was clear if the deadline for an agreement on licences set by France for Tuesday was at the beginning or the end of the day, the spokesman said: “That would be a question for the French … It’s the French who have set out the timescale as per their threat, our focus is on trying to work with them and hope they step back from the threats they’ve made.”
Sam Hancock1 November 2021 12:38
MP who sexually harassed staff member back in Tories
Disgraced MP Rob Roberts has been given his Conservative Party membership back despite a warning the move would “let him off the hook” for sexually harassing a member of staff.
The Tories confirmed on Monday that Mr Roberts was a party member again after a 12-week suspension, however the representative for Delyn in North Wales will continue to sit as an independent as the Conservatives are still withholding the party whip in the Commons.
Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds described the scheduled end of Mr Roberts’ suspension as “scandalous”. She added in a tweet: “Rob Roberts should have resigned as an MP the moment he was suspended. That he is now set to return to the Conservative Party shows they’ve let him off the hook.”
Mr Roberts was stripped of the whip after Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel found he broke the sexual misconduct policy by making repeated and unwanted advances to the man – who, after he made the complaint in June last year, told BBC Wales the MP had repeatedly propositioned him, leaving him feeling “uncomfortable”, “shocked” and “horrified”.
Mr Roberts, who became an MP in 2019, apologised for the “completely improper” behaviour but insisted his actions were “romantic” rather than sexual. However, senior party figures have since urged him to do the “honourable” thing and stand down as an MP.
Sam Hancock1 November 2021 12:26
Watch: Macron says Morrison lied to him about submarine deal
Emmanuel Macron says Australian PM lied to him about scrapped submarine deal
Sam Hancock1 November 2021 12:10