The date of Brexit will be written into law as Theresa May warned Tory rebels that the process of leaving the European Union will not be derailed. Amendments to legislation going through Parliament will spell out that the UK’s membership of the EU will end at 11pm GMT, midnight in Brussels, on 29 March 2019.
The UK has two weeks to clarify key issues or make concessions if progress is to be made in Brexit talks, the bloc's chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier was speaking after meeting the Brexit secretary for talks on citizens' rights, the Irish border, and the UK's divorce bill.
Current Brexit negotiations resemble “a prime-time soap opera”, the president of the Confederation of British Industry, CBI, is expected to claim on Monday, according to BBC. Paul Drechsler will tell the lobby group's annual conference it is time for government and business to unite behind “a clear strategy”.
The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the first time in a decade to contain an increase in inflation stoked by the Brexit vote, in what is otherwise a moment of high uncertainty for the economy. In a statement Thursday, the bank said it had lifted its benchmark rate, which affects the cost of loans and savings rates in the wider economy, to 0.50% from the record low of 0.25%.
The Bank of England expects Britain to lose up to 75,000 financial services jobs in the years after its departure from the European Union in 2019, the BBC reported. London dominates global currency trading and is Europe’s main finance hub.
The British Labour party is seeking to up the pressure on ministers over their refusal to release a series of Brexit impact studies. The government has confirmed that 58 reports looking at different sectors of the economy have been prepared, but is resisting calls to publish them; saying to do so would undermine the UK's negotiating position.
Sixteen months after a majority of voters decided the only way for the United Kingdom is to leave the European Union, a new poll says the number of those who regret the vote has risen to its highest level.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was made furious by the leaks from Brexit talks about Theresa May as Berlin fears her leadership could come to an end if attacks against her continue. May reportedly begged for help according to details of a dinner between the prime minister and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker published by German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Sunday.
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire media mogul and former mayor of New York, has said Brexit is the “single stupidest thing any country has ever done” apart from the election of Donald Trump as US president. Bloomberg argued that “it is really hard to understand why a country that was doing so well wanted to ruin it” with the Brexit vote, in a series of outspoken remarks made at a technology conference in Boston a fortnight ago.
Philip Hammond has said he is “confident” businesses will be given the Brexit certainty they need although he sidestepped calls to ensure transition principles are guaranteed by Christmas. The UK Chancellor acknowledged the principles of a transition period are “urgent and pressing”, also telling MPs the Government wants them agreed with the European Union “as soon as possible”.