Britain will resume talks with the European Union on Thursday, marking a new push by the two sides to protect billions of dollars worth of trade from the beginning of next year.
Ratings agency Moody’s cut the United Kingdom’s debt rating on Friday over the huge economic hit from the coronavirus crisis, Brexit and the lack of clear budget plans from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.
The negotiations between Britain and the European Union over their future relationship are lurching toward a crisis after European Union leaders told Boris Johnson he must make concessions only hours before the prime minister is due to decide whether to walk away.
Support for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom has risen to a record high of 58%, an Ipsos Mori poll released on Wednesday suggested. The poll of 1,045 adults aged over 16 across Scotland, conducted from Oct 2 to 9, saw only 42% back staying in the union once undecided voters were stripped out.
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared himself disappointed in the progress of post-Brexit trade talks on Wednesday, but he will wait for news from an EU summit before deciding whether to pull the plug.
The European Union demanded a substantive movement on Tuesday from Britain on fisheries, dispute settlement, and guarantees of fair competition in their talks on a post-Brexit trade deal, with Germany saying they were at a critical stage.
Boris Johnson has told the French president the UK wants to “explore every avenue” to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, days before the PM's self-imposed deadline. Johnson told Emmanuel Macron “intensive talks” were needed to “bridge significant gaps” remaining across the negotiating table.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce new measures to tackle a growing coronavirus crisis on Monday, moving to work more closely with local leaders from England's worst affected areas.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson does not particularly wish for the Brexit transition period to end without a new trade deal in place but believes that Britain could live with such an outcome, he said on Sunday.
By Gwynne Dyer – “I’ve got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel,” said Blackadder’s sidekick Baldrick in the BBC’s brilliant historical comedy series ‘Blackadder.’ In fact, he said, “I have a cunning plan” in almost every episode, but the plans hardly ever worked, and it became a popular catch-phrase.