Tag: Brexit

• Wednesday, October 31st 2018 - 08:49 UTC

  Foreign Office plans major embassy and staff expansion ahead of post-Brexit

  

  Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced on Tuesday announced a major expansion of Britain's diplomatic network around the world, five months before it leaves the European Union. For the first time, people from outside the civil service will be eligible to become ambassadors as the Foreign Office seeks to swell its numbers by almost 1,000.

• Tuesday, October 30th 2018 - 08:40 UTC

  UK Budget time: “Austerity coming to an end” announces Chancellor Hammond

  

  Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has said the “era of austerity is finally coming to an end”, in his last Budget before Brexit. He spent a windfall from better public finances on more money for universal credit and bringing forward planned income tax cuts by a year.

• Sunday, October 28th 2018 - 18:00 UTC

  Fitch cautious about UK as no-deal Brexit scenario looks inevitable

  

  The increased likelihood of a no-deal Brexit scenario has led ratings agency Fitch to envision serious damages to the United Kingdom's economy for future assessments, although it maintained Britain's long-term AA grade... For now.

• Saturday, October 27th 2018 - 08:39 UTC

  A no Brexit deal will slow sharply UK economic growth, says think tank

  

  A no-deal Brexit could slam the brakes on the UK’s economic growth, wiping out Chancellor Philip Hammond’s hopes of boosting public spending, a think tank has said. If the UK fails to reach a withdrawal deal with the EU and moves on to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules next March, GDP growth can be expected to slow sharply from 1.4% this year to 0.3% in both 2019 and 2020, said the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr).

• Friday, October 26th 2018 - 08:48 UTC

  Falklands: Brexit and Argentina's plan for closer links with the Islands

  

  Brexit brings a chance to strengthen ties between Argentina and the Falkland Islands, the country's foreign minister Jorge Faurie said in London. Faurie met with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the pair discussed increasing trade and travel links between the Falkland Islands and South America.

• Friday, October 26th 2018 - 08:19 UTC

  Scotland's Sturgeon convinced a no deal Brexit, the most likely outcome

  

  A no-deal Brexit may be the “most likely outcome” of the UK’s negotiations with the EU, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has told MSPs. The First Minister said that while the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc are 95% agreed, there remains an “impasse” over the issue of the Irish border.

• Friday, October 26th 2018 - 08:19 UTC

  Lords furious with Brexit Secretary who refuses to attend and inform EU Select Committee

  

  The House of Lords EU Select Committee has written to Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab urging him not to stand in the way of Parliamentary scrutiny, and to honor his previous commitment to give evidence to Committees “on a regular basis”.

• Thursday, October 25th 2018 - 08:25 UTC

  PM Theresa May wins the day and defuses Tory revolt on Brexit

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May has been applauded by Tory MPs at a meeting in which she sought to persuade her critics to get behind her in Brexit talks. The prime minister has been addressing all her MPs in Parliament, many of whom are seeking a change of approach. Asked by one MP what concessions she had made to the EU, she set out areas where the EU had itself given ground.

• Thursday, October 25th 2018 - 08:25 UTC

  Gibraltar prepared and confident on a Withdrawal Agreement from EU

  

  Gibraltar will step up its contingency planning as from January 1, 2019, if there is no certainty of a Withdrawal Agreement and implementation period by that date, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told an influential House of Lords select committee. Addressing the EU Select Committee, he also signaled his hope that Gibraltar, the UK and Spain could salvage elements of the Gibraltar negotiations even in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit between the UK and the EU.

• Wednesday, October 24th 2018 - 08:39 UTC

  Risk of return to violence if a hard Brexit is imposed, says Irish president Higgins

  

  Irish President Michael D Higgins has said he shares the concerns of the country’s premier Leo Varadkar that there is a risk of a return to violence if a hard border is imposed post-Brexit. Mr Higgins said: “I do share the Taoiseach’s concern.”