Tag: United Kingdom

• Wednesday, February 20th 2019 - 08:32 UTC

  UK record employment in 2018 fourth quarter; jobless rate 4%, lowest since 1975

  

  The number of people in work in the UK has continued to climb, with a record 32.6 million employed between October and December, the latest Office for National Statistics figure show. Unemployment was little-changed in the three-month period at 1.36 million.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 10:10 UTC

  Seven MPs quit Labour criticizing the party's Brexit policy and anti-Semitism

  

  Seven British Labour MPs have quit their party and set up as a group of independents, saying politics in Britain is “broken” and criticising Labour policy on Brexit and its failure to tackle anti-Semitism among its membership.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 09:21 UTC

  Hammond visit to China called off amid reports of Beijing anger with UK defense actions

  

  A visit to China by Chancellor Phillip Hammond has been called off amid reports a speech by the UK's defense secretary angered Beijing. There were plans for trade talks between Mr Hammond and senior Chinese government figures during the brief visit this week. But last week, Gavin Williamson had indicated the UK's intention to send an aircraft carrier to the Pacific.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 09:00 UTC

  UK Border Force nets 34 migrants in a boat in the Channel

  

  A group of 34 migrants have been brought ashore after the UK Border Force intercepted a boat in the Channel. The group of people, whose nationalities are not yet known, were brought to shore at Dover by a coastal patrol vessel and given blankets.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 10:05 UTC

  PM Theresa May writes to 317 Tory MPs urging to unite behind a Brexit deal

  

  Theresa May has written to all 317 Tory MPs, urging them to unite behind a Brexit deal while warning them “history will judge us all” over the process. Efforts will resume this Monday to persuade the EU to agree changes to the “backstop” plan to prevent the return of customs checks on the Irish border.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 08:57 UTC

  UK Government guarantees EU funding programs in Gibraltar

  

  In November, the European Union and the United Kingdom concluded the terms of an agreement for the orderly departure of the UK from the European Union. Gibraltar was part of that agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement includes a transitional phase until the end of 2020, which also covers Gibraltar.

• Saturday, February 16th 2019 - 11:12 UTC

  Brexit “has raised tensions again and brought back a lot of the rhetoric of the past” warns ex Irish premier

  

  Brexit has “raised tensions” on the island of Ireland and “complicated” progress towards a lasting peace, one of the authors of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) has told MPs. The former premier of the Republic of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, said people were worried that a no-deal UK withdrawal from the EU would be the start of a “slippery slope” to a hard border, with checkpoints and troops.

• Saturday, February 16th 2019 - 11:10 UTC

  Brexit has cost UK economy some £80 billion since the 2016 vote, says BoE policymaker

  

  Brexit has cost the British economy at least £80 billion since the referendum and the shock of a no-deal divorce could see interest rates slashed, according to a Bank of England policymaker. Gertjan Vlieghe, an external member of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, said that, since the June 2016 vote, 2% has been shaved off GDP.

• Saturday, February 16th 2019 - 11:06 UTC

  UK retired diplomats call on PM May to delay Brexit or a second referendum

  

  A group of retired diplomats have issued a plea to Theresa May to delay Brexit to allow more time to establish a clearer plan or allow for a second referendum. In a statement to The Times, more than 40 former ambassadors and Foreign Office mandarins warned that if the Prime Minister secured agreement on her plan, it would not mark the end of uncertainty but the start of years of negotiations.

• Saturday, February 16th 2019 - 10:46 UTC

  Theresa May sticks to her Brexit strategy despite Tories row and Commons defeat

  

  British Prime Minister Theresa May is sticking to her Brexit strategy, despite her party rowing in the wake of her latest Commons defeat. MPs rejected a motion endorsing her approach by 303 to 258, with 66 Tory MPs abstaining, leading one minister to accuse Brexiteer rebels of “treachery”.