Brexit Briefing 19 Archives - Bremain in Spain

Bremain Brexelection Briefing 3

Dec 8, 2019 | Brexit Briefing 19, News

Bremain BrexElection Briefing (3)

We provide an extract of articles from a variety of news sources that you may have missed over the past week. To read the whole story please click on the link.

Labour poll surge after blasting Tory cuts that ‘make UK vulnerable to terror’

Mr Corbyn warned cuts to the justice system can lead to “missed chances to intervene in the lives of people who go on to commit absolutely inexcusable acts”. He said: “You can’t keep people safe on the cheap.” He was backed by criminologist and former prison officer Ian Acheson, who led a government review of Islamist extremism in prisons and probation. Mr Acheson said: “At the heart of this is the destruction of the prison and probation service through crazy, failed, ideological austerity cuts.” (Ben Glaze Mirror 1 December)

Boris Johnson pledges to strengthen border security checks on EU nationals

Boris Johnson is pushing for a post-Brexit reform of border rules designed to strengthen security checks over Europeans entering the U.K. In the aftermath of Friday’s London Bridge terrorist attack, in which two people died and three others were injured, the Conservative Party put forward a package of five changes to border rules, including a requirement for Europeans to submit to electronic clearance procedures before entering the U.K. The party has pledged to implement the changes once it has ended freedom of movement after Brexit. (Cristina Gallardo Politico.EU 2 December)

The Election’s impact on the Pound: is it all about Brexit?

It’s no surprise that a recent YouGov survey revealed that 68% of the British electorate rank Brexit in their top three most important issues facing the country. This is up from 64% in the runup to the 2017 general election. According to Ipsos Mori’s monthly survey; if voters are asked to name one issue that’s concerned them throughout the last 12 months, Brexit comes out top. 57% named it as the most important issue in the September survey, with no other topic receiving more than 3%. Let’s look at the election’s impact on the pound. How do the major political parties plan to address the Brexit issue if they win? How could the potential outcomes impact the pound? (RationalFX 3 December)

Why UK should be in EU. Sucking up to Trump won’t get Johnson a good deal.

Trump will throw his might around – with friend or foe – if he can get away with it. The only way to stop him is to stand up to him. As part of the EU, we have the strength to stand up to bullies all around the world. If Johnson gets his way and drags us out of the 28-nation bloc, we won’t. Trump says he will do a beautiful trade deal with us. But it will be beautiful for him, and ugly for us. If Johnson doesn’t agree to push up the prices the NHS pays for US-made drugs and open up our market to chlorine-washed chicken, he probably won’t get a deal at all. (Hugo Dixon InFacts 4 December)

Liberal Democrats hope tactical voting will win them Conservative seat in Winchester

Liberal Democrats hope a tight race in Winchester could create an upset for the Conservatives who are trying to hold onto this constituency that voted to remain. Some voters are now considering tactical voting – voting for a candidate other than their favourite in order to defeat an undesired candidate. The Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Plaid Cymru have formed a remain electoral pact in an attempt to defeat pro-Brexit candidates. (Vincent McAviney & Jack Parrock Euronews last updated: 5 December)

People with learning disabilities slam Tory candidate for saying they should be paid less

People with learning disabilities have hit back at comments made by a Tory candidate that they should be paid less than minimum wage as ‘they don’t understand money’. Sally-Ann Hart, the Conservative candidate for Hastings and Rye, was met with jeers and boos as she suggested paying disabled people less at a hustings event. (Zoe Drewett Metro 6 December)

General election 2019: Labour leads on combating climate change, says Friends of the Earth

Labour has has the most impressive environmental policies, a Friends of the Earth (FoE) survey has found. While the Greens and the Liberal Democrats also set out important policies to tackle climate change, the Conservatives scored poorly.Key areas covered in the survey included climate targets, energy, transport, food and nature. In contrast to the Conservatives ‘actively damaging’ transport policies, Labour has revealed a new policy to curb emissions caused by flying. (Clea Skopeliti inews 7 December)

We hope you have enjoyed reading the above extracts from important news stories published over the last 7 days and would welcome any comments you may have.

Bremain Brexelection Briefing 2

Dec 1, 2019 | Brexit Briefing 19, News

Welcome to Bremain in Spain’s second Brexit/Election update on the week’s news. We have given a “snippet” of each article and if you would like to read the whole story please click on the link.

Tory general election manifesto: 6 bits of bad news buried in the small print

The devil is in the detail – and in this case, the details are pretty devilish. Here’s our round up of the small print of Boris Johnson’s election blueprint – and what they’ve left out altogether. Boris Johnson launched his first manifesto as leader of the Conservative Party today ahead of December’s General Election. Some of the headline promises have already started to fall apart – notably the pledge to recruit 50,000 new nurses, which isn’t strictly true.

(Mikey Smith & Dan Bloom Mirror 24 November updated 25 November)

How Britain could still face a cliff-edge Brexit

Even if Johnson wins next month’s election and takes Britain out of the bloc on Jan. 31, his government and the other 27 member states of the EU will have an 11-month transition period to negotiate a future relationship. If they fail to hammer out a new trade deal by the end of 2020, which experts say is likely, and they fail to agree to extend the transition period for more negotiations, Britain will effectively be facing a disorderly no-deal Brexit again.

(John Chalmers Reuters 25 November)

If Tories win UK elections, Johnson’s ‘preposterous’ Brexit plans threaten no-deal

The British prime minister and Conservative leader is centring his campaign on the mantra “Get Brexit Done” – promising to take the UK out of the EU on the January 31 deadline after passing his withdrawal agreement, then end the transition period (under which Britain would remain in the single market and customs union) on the scheduled date of December 31, 2020.

(Tom Wheeldon France 24 26 November)

Nurse refuses to shake Boris’s hand until he delivers promise of 50,000 new nurses

Boris Johnson got a grilling from staff at a hospital in Penzance over his election promises for the NHS. The Prime Minister was asked if he had a ‘nurses tree’ as well as a magic money tree after pledging to deliver 50,000 new nurses for the NHS. He was accused of ‘deceit’ over the pledge after it emerged nearly half of the nurses promised already work for the NHS.

(Zoe Drewett Metro 27 November)

General election 2019: Why Labour’s ‘red wall’ could be about to crumble – and how the party is dealing with it

Even in the worst of times, Labour could count on a “red wall” stretching across North Wales and England which remained loyal to the party. From the Mersey to the Humber, taking in the big cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Hull and their surrounding areas, supporting Labour was ingrained in generations of working-class voters. But that wall could be about to crumble. A detailed YouGov analysis released on Wednesday will send a chill down Labour spines because it predicts a succession of previous party strongholds falling into Boris Johnson’s hands. (Nigel Morris inews 28 November)

The legacy of Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker

It’s a relationship that has had its rows and rocky periods, but after five years as the couple in charge of the European Union, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker will no doubt leave with a sigh of relief that the EU show is still on the road. Even if one of the lead players wants to leave. (Mark Webster CGTN 29 November)

Boris Johnson’s lead halved, putting UK in ‘hung parliament territory’, latest poll reveals

The Conservative lead in the general election campaign has been more than halved in just one week, putting the UK in “hung parliament territory”, an exclusive poll for The Independent shows. Boris Johnson’s party is now only six points ahead of Labour, it has found – matching other surveys suggesting the race is tightening dramatically, amid growing Tory nervousness. (Rob Merrick The Independent 30 Nov)

We hope you have enjoyed reading the above extracts from important news stories published over the last 7 days and would welcome any comments you may have on how we are bringing the latest news to you.

Bremain BrexElection Briefing

Nov 24, 2019 | Brexit Briefing 19

Welcome to Bremain in Spain’s first Brexit/Election update on the weeks’ news. We have given a “taster” of each article and if you would like to read the whole story please click on the link. We plan to produce the Bremain BrexElection Briefing each week right up to the General Election on 12 December. Please click on the links under the introduction to read the full stories.

General election 2019: How popular are the party leaders?

In recent weeks, the polling company Opinium has asked voters whether they approve or disapprove of the job that each party leader is doing – or, in the case of Boris Johnson, how they think he is performing as prime minister. None of the four leaders (comparable figures are not available for the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon) emerges as especially popular.

(Sir John Curtice BBC News 17 November)

Labour pledges fox hunting crackdown with plan to boost rural police numbers

Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, Sue Hayman, said a £4.5m fund would be used to almost double the number of officers tasked with prosecuting wildlife crimes from 88 to 170. The cash boost will come as part of the party’s wider commitment to increase frontline police numbers, and will see rural crime units given new resources to tackle illegal hunting.

(John Johnston PoliticsHome 18th November)

Boris versus Binface: The barmiest battles in Britain’s ‘Brexit election’

Brexit will dominate the campaign, and will probably decide the result. But in these extraordinary times — Guy Verhofstadt joked this week that Netflix couldn’t hope to compete with British politics — it is not surprising that there are some unusual local battles shaping up. From Boris to Count Binface — and a French resident who doesn’t even want your vote — here are some of the oddest constituency contests to watch out for.

(Alastair Jamieson euronews 19 November)

Commons Confidential: Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.

Invisible Chancellor Sajid Javid is growing frustrated at appearing in public as regularly as Lord Lucan. Cynical liar Boris Johnson’s guarantee that he’ll remain at the Treasury if the Tories win is as redeemable as the Prime Minister’s sweet nothings to scorned Jennifer Arcuri. Javid increasingly frets, I hear, that Downing Street vetoing a head-to-head TV debate with John McDonnell is a vote of no confidence. The Tory leader’s control of his Chancellor is a parallel universe to Labour, where the shadow chancellor controls the leader.

(Kevin Maguire New Statesman 20 November)

Disinterest Looks To Be The Only Winner In This Election

Picking a “least worst” candidate is not the most inspiring choice, but for most of us, this lacklustre election campaign leaves us with just that. Who do we not trust least? Whose rash spending pledges are the least unconvincing? In the race to the bottom, the biggest risk for the two main parties is that people will bail out on them – make a new choice entirely, spoil their ballot paper or just not turn out at all. An election which seemed to take an age to call could pass us all by in a blur of indifference. Which isn’t healthy.

(Jimmy Leach Huffpost 21 November)

Chancellor skewered on TV over Boris Johnson’s wrong claim he’ll give workers £500

Sajid Javid was made to squirm by Charlie Stayt on BBC Breakfast as he was challenged over Boris Johnson’s incorrect statements on Tory policy in Teesside yesterday. The policy would see the Tories raise the threshold that earners start to pay National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from £8,632 threshold now to £9,500 in 2020/21. And eventually it would be raised to £12,500 – but there is no date for that yet. Only then would the rise be worth what Boris Johnson pledged – £500 a year. The initial rise is only worth about £85 a year, the IFS think tank said.

(Tom Davidson Mirror 21 November)

Labour in voter registration push as Tories target overseas home buyers

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will urge millions of eligible voters to register before the deadline as the Tories announce plans to raise stamp duty for people from overseas buying UK property. The news comes as the leaders of the four-largest Westminster parties prepare to clash in another TV set-piece on Friday evening. It comes as a two-hour long episode of Question Time from 7pm in Sheffield on BBC One, where an audience will quiz Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mr Corbyn, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for 30 minutes each.

(ITV News Report 22 November)

Conservatives would force rail unions to operate services during strikes

The Conservative Party has pledged to end all-out rail strikes by proposing a law that would require some services to operate during industrial action. Rail providers and unions would be forced to sign “minimum service agreements” that would lay out the number and role of staff who would remain at work in the event of a strike.

(Joanna Whitehead iNews 23 November)

We hope you have enjoyed reading all the above extracts from important news stories published over the last 7 days and would welcome any comments you may have.