Brexit news: EU chief ‘vows to ignore Boris Johnson’s deadline’, pushing talks beyond Brussels summit
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EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier holds “intensified” Brexit talks with UK counterpart David Frost in London today. Mr Barnier has reportedly told EU leaders to ignore Boris Johnson’s mid-October deadline for an agreement before the European Council summit.
Elsewhere, chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a new, local furlough scheme today which will subsidise the wages of workers in pubs and restaurants forced to close under coronavirus restrictions.
With pubs and restaurants in northern England expected to be closed next week, it will cover two-thirds of affected workers’ wages. It comes as figures show the economy grew by only 2.1 per cent in August – far below what was expected and a dramatic slow down in the recovery.
Starmer accuses No 10 of ‘confusion, chaos and unfairness’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government had “lost control of the virus” and urged ministers to “get a grip”.
Writing in The Telegraph, he called for local leaders to be “in the room” when decisions are made. “It was an act of gross irresponsibility for anonymous No 10 sources to tell a few newspapers on Thursday about plans to impose further restrictions on millions of people, without any detail, without any consultation and without any statement from the prime minister,” he stated.
“This has significantly added to the sense of confusion, chaos and unfairness in the approach that is being taken.
Despite the angry rhetoric, Starmer has made clear Labour will not side with Tory rebels to vote down the 10pm pub curfew next week. So it seems unlikely he will oppose whatever new restrictions do come in.
PM holds meetings to finalise new ‘traffic light’ system
So what can we expect this afternoon? The Treasury has announced that chancellor Rishi Sunak will reveal “the next stage of the job support scheme” later today, aimed at protecting jobs “that may have to close in the coming weeks and months”.
Boris Johnson is said to be holding a series for meetings in Downing Street today to finalise a simplified, three-tier “traffic light” system for regional restrictions, to be unveiled next week.
And Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon will hold a virtual coronavirus briefing at 12.15pm with national clinical director Jason Leitch.
No-deal chaos? ‘All bets are off’, says Brexit commentator
The FT’s policy editor Peter Foster – one of the country’s most respected Brexit commentators – has said “we need a deal” – pointing to the one-third of businesses who have told the government they’re still not ready for the end of the transition period.
“I am not actually a total doomster,” he has tweeted, explaining that in the event of the deal there will be disruption, but not chaos. “In a ‘no deal’? Well, all bets are off … We need a deal.”
How stubborn will the French be on fishing rights?
Brexit expert Anand Menon, professor at Kings College London, has shed some light on where various EU leaders stand on the thorny issue of fishing rights.
“For the Germans, the notion that trading automobiles is going to be hampered because of French fisherman is nothing short barking mad,” he told ITV – when asked about reports Emmanuel Macron is digging his heels in over fisheries.
A key problem, Professor Menon suggested, is that EU leaders simply don’t care enough yet to speak out and use up “political capital” on the big stumbling blocks. “They have real serious fights to have, over the budget, over rule of law… over all sorts of things that re more important to them than Brexit.”
The UK is said to have offered a plan for catches by EU fishermen to be “phased down” between 2021 and 2024 to give them time to adapt.
One EU diplomat told Reuters earlier this week: “The French realise full well that their demands on fisheries were unrealistic. We need them to climb down at some point.”
Sunak’s job scheme ‘worse than other European countries’, Labour says
Rishi Sunak’s job support scheme is worse than comparable schemes in other European countries, Labour has warned.
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said on Friday that the support scheme which is replacing furlough at the end of October made it needlessly expensive for businesses to project jobs.
An analysis by the party shows that employers have to pay hundreds of pounds per staff member to keep them on the books, under a sky-high employer contribution.
The equivalent German job protection scheme has no employer contribution at all, while those in the French and Dutch schemes are around half the size of the one demanded by the UK programme.
It comes as Sunak is set to announce a new, separate local furlough scheme today. With pubs and restaurants in northern England expected to be closed next week, it will reportedly see workers paid two-thirds of their wages.
Rishi Sunak's job scheme worse than other European countries', Labour says
Shadow chancellor brands scheme ‘a throwback to the worst days of Thatcher’
Welsh first minister criticises ‘disappointing’ lack of reply from PM
With pressure on Boris Johnson to communicate better with the devolved nations, Wales’s first minister has revealed that a letter to the PM urging travel restrictions in parts of England has gone unanswered.
Mark Drakeford described the lack of a reply as “disappointing” but said he was aware of speculation that the UK government could still introduce such restrictions, giving Westminster until Monday to “do the right thing” before taking his own action.
“If the UK government isn't prepared to do that sensible thing and prevent people from travelling and spreading the virus with them, then we will have to rely on our own powers,” Drakeford said.
Conservatives regain lead in YouGov poll
Following a week in which Labour’s mild opposition to the government’s coronavirus response has drawn criticism, the Conservatives have edged back into pole position in YouGov’s latest offering.
Last week both parties were neck-and-neck with 39 per cent of the public vote. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have also dropped three per cent, as Boris Johnson’s have risen by two, however the Labour leader narrowly remains the nation’s preferred choice.
Barnier ‘tells officials Brexit talks must carry on until end of October’
As tensions rise over Boris Johnson’s mid-October deadline for a withdrawal agreement, Downing Street has confirmed negototiations - ongoing today - will resume next week.
“We have had useful discussions this week,” the PM’s official spokesperson told reporters. “Progress has been made in some areas, however there still remains differences on some important issues.”
A reminder that EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has reportedly told a meeting of European ambassadors that a trade deal is now close, but cannot be done any time too soon.
The negotiations will have to continue beyond next week’s big EU Council summit because national leaders will be too be edgy to agree on any compromises during the summit itself, according to The Times.
The newspaper says a confidential briefing note also shows Barnier has warned EU leaders – including Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron – not to react to any of Boris Johnson’s efforts to turn the summit into a deadline.
PM told to withdraw attack on ‘lefty’ lawyers
The chair of the Bar Council, which represents 18,000 barristers, has written to Boris Johnson after he told the Tory conference he wanted to stop the criminal justice system from being “hamstrung” by “lefty human rights lawyers”.
Amanda Pinto QC called on the PM to withdraw his comments “which wrongly seek to politicise and attack lawyers for simply doing their job in the public interest”.
Sturgeon admits ‘lack of clarity’ over cafe rules
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t often admit to failures – but she has conceded that last-minute changes to exempt some cafes from new corona curbs have created a “lack of clarity”.
Sturgeon revealed cafes can be exempt from the central belt shutdown on pubs and restaurants, during the day, if they do not sell alcohol – triggering confusion about how a cafe is defined.
The FM said the cafe exemption aims to address a “potential anomaly” where outlets which have an alcohol licence but where selling drink is “very, very incidental to their business” would have been forced to close.
Sturgeon added: “I readily accept that that has resulted in a lack of clarity. Sometimes that’s the price we have to pay right now for trying to be as flexible as possible.”
Asked whether it was like defining whether a Jaffa Cake was biscuit, Sturgeon said: “In my humble opinion a Jaffa Cake is definitely a biscuit.”
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