Theresa May has asked officials to draw up revised proposals for post-Brexit customs arrangements after a key meeting with her most senior ministers. The Brexit sub committee met on Wednesday to try to agree on a new model to replace the UK's membership of the customs union.
The European Union economy slowed in the first quarter of the year, official Eurostat figures have showed. Economic growth in the Euro zone slowed to 0.4% for the period from January to March 2018, compared with 0.7% in the previous quarter. Growth in the 19-country single currency bloc reached 2.5% year-on-year.
Senior Brexiteer MPs have delivered an “ultimatum” demanding Prime Minister Theresa May drops one of the government's preferred post-Brexit customs options. A 30-page document passed to the BBC says a “customs partnership” would make meaningful trade deals “impossible” and render the International Trade Department “obsolete”.
The British government has agreed to calls for new measures aimed at increasing transparency in offshore tax havens. Facing a possible Commons defeat, ministers said they would not oppose an amendment to force British overseas territories to publish details of the true owners of companies based there.
A new UK-U.S. Antarctic research program to improve the prediction of future sea-level rise was launched on Monday at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Cambridge. The £20 million 5-year research collaboration, funded jointly by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), brings together over 100 polar scientists from leading UK and U.S. research organizations.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said that there is “a real risk” that no agreement will be reached with the UK in talks on its withdrawal from the political bloc. Speaking on a visit to the Border area of Ireland, Mr Barnier said that the EU was preparing for all options, including the possibility that Brussels and London cannot reach a deal on the UK’s departure in March 2019.
Sajid Javid has promised to “do whatever it takes” to put right problems faced by the Windrush generation after he succeeded Amber Rudd as United Kingdom's home secretary. Mr Javid said as a second generation migrant he was “angry” at the treatment of those caught up in the saga. He also disowned the “hostile environment” tag attached to the government's migration policy.
Lords have voted to give Parliament a potentially decisive say over the outcome of Brexit talks. An amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill giving MPs the power to stop the UK from leaving without a deal or to make Theresa May return to negotiations was approved by 335 votes to 244. Its supporters said Parliament, not ministers, must “determine the future of the country”.
Voters in London are expected to punish Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party at local government elections this week which could embolden critics of her Brexit strategy, but are not expected to trigger her downfall.
Britain's interior minister, Home Secretary, Amber Rudd resigned on Sunday amid claims she misled lawmakers over whether her department held targets for removing illegal immigrants in the country. “The prime minister has tonight accepted the resignation of the home secretary,” said a spokesman for the office of premier Theresa May.