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| Article 50 Week: When Britain Officially Bid "Adieu" To Europe | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 27 2017, 02:51 PM (315 Views) | |
| Webster | Mar 27 2017, 02:51 PM Post #1 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) EU's chief Brexit negotiator warns of 'distinct possibility' UK will leave with no deal --This is the week that will see Theresa May triggering article 50, starting the purportedly irreversible process that will see Britain sliding down the slipway and leaving the EU after two years. Today May is in Scotland, giving a speech touching on this and holding what promises to be a very awkward meeting with Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who has emerged her most threatening UK opponent over Brexit. Two other opposition forces, Labour and Ukip, are also setting out their conditions for Brexit. Across the channel the main obstacle to UK Brexit success may turn out to be Michel Barnier, the European commission’s lead negotiator on this issue. He has written an article for today’s Financial Times (paywall) politely raising threats and conditions and it is well worth reading. Here are the main points. --Barnier says there is a “distinct possibility” that the UK and the EU will fail to strike a deal. That would have “severe consequences”, he says. It goes without saying that a no-deal scenario, while a distinct possibility, would have severe consequences for our people and our economies. It would undoubtedly leave the UK worse off. Severe disruption to air transport and long queues at the Channel port of Dover are just some of the many examples of the negative consequences of failing to reach a deal. Others include the disruption of supply chains, including the suspension of the delivery of nuclear material to the UK. --He says the UK will have to reach an early agreement about paying money an exit fee to the EU as it leaves for the talks to succeed. He does not set out how much he expects the UK to pay, although it has been repeatedly reported that it will demand about €60bn (£50bn). He says: Beneficiaries of programmes financed by the European budget will need to know if they can continue relying on our support. There is no price to pay to leave the EU but we must settle our accounts. The 27 member states will honour their commitments and we expect the UK to do the same — because it is the mutually responsible way to act. Barnier cites this as one of three issues that need to be addressed early in the negotiations. The other two are guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals in the UK and Britons living in other EU states, and not undermining peace in Northern Ireland. He goes on: If we cannot resolve these three significant uncertainties at an early stage, we run the risk of failure. Putting things in the right order maximises the chances of reaching an agreement. --He reaffirms his desire to negotiate the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU before negotiating a future trade deal. The British government wants to negotiate both in parallel. But Barnier says: This means agreeing on the orderly withdrawal of the UK before negotiating any future trade deal. The sooner we agree on these principles, the more time we will have to discuss our future partnership. --He says the EU will be “fair yet firm” in the talks in defending the interests of its 27 members states. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 01:54 PM Post #61 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() (The Guardian) Boris Johnson is unlikely to be in the limelight on a day that Downing Street is determined will belong to Theresa May. But the foreign secretary will be meeting his Italian counterpart in London, where sources say he will run through the letter and set out the government’s approach to negotiations. This will be followed by similar conversations over the phone to counterparts in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, as well as with the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and others in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 01:57 PM Post #62 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Günther Oettinger, the influential German EU budget commissioner, has described Britain’s article 50 letter as “a negative message for Europe as a whole, and for the UK especially”. Oettinger, an ally of chancellor Angela Merkel, said he expects “many difficult negotiations in the next weeks and months”. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:00 PM Post #63 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --"We're in - but without the fireworks": Guardian front the day UK joined the EU. Not sure the country ever got more enthusiastic -- (Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian - 29 March 2017) |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:00 PM Post #64 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) The Guardian’s Madrid correspondent, Sam Jones, highlights an online reader poll by the Spanish newspaper El País showing that two thirds of respondents are sad to see the UK depart the EU and would like it to have stayed, while a third are glad. And not everyone in Europe thinks Britain is on a losing wicket, reports Helena Smith. “Great Britain will, according to economists, lose about 2 percent of its GDP over the next five years,” said Giorgos Kyrtsos, a Greek MEP on the Economic and monetary affairs committee. “But things may be more difficult for the EU. After Brexit, the EU is undergoing a period of existential crisis. Instead of emphasising unity among the 27, it has brought out the differences of approach and the difficulties in further integration.” -Read more: http://elpais.com/elpais/2017/03/28/opinion/1490711614_317898.html |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:02 PM Post #65 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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--EU diplomat: "Article 50 letter is May's last chance to bring expectations & rhetoric in UK in line with expectations & rhetoric in Europe". (Patrick Wintour, The Guardian - 29 March 2017) |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:03 PM Post #66 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --At 13.20 today, UK #Brexit notification letter (article 50) will be handed to me by Ambassador Tim Barrow (Donald Tusk, President of the European Council - 29 March 2017) |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:06 PM Post #67 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --Chief Brexit negotiator @MichelBarnier meets @JosephMuscat_JM in #Valletta. Says "this is Day1 of a very long and difficult road' #BrexitDay (Kurt Farrugia, Maltese Minister of Communications - 29 March 2017) |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:08 PM Post #68 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) PMQs --PMQs start very soon. Theresa May has just arrived in the Commons chamber, to loud cheers from her MPs. Theresa May starts by updating MPs on last week’s terrorist attack. She names the victims and offers her condolences. Two people remain in custody, she says. The Ulster Unionist party’s Danny Kinahan congratulates May on triggering article 50. Will May confirm that, in the extremely improbable event of an Irish border poll taking place, the government will back remain? May says today she is giving effect to the decision to leave the EU. She says she is fully committed to ensuring the rights of the Northern Ireland. She says the government’s view is that it is up to Northern Ireland to decide its future. But the Conservatives made clear in their manifesto they want Northern Ireland to stay part of the UK. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:09 PM Post #69 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Jeremy Corbyn starts by paying tribute to the emergency services who responded to the attack last Wednesday, and to the New Ferry explosion. Will the police get all the resources they need? May also praises the work of the emergency services. She has been in touch with the police and the security services investigating the attack. They have the resources they need. Corbyn says there are some problems. Between 2015 and 2018 there will be a real terms cut in police funding of £330m. May says the police budget has been protected. Andy Burnham, at the Labour conference in 2015, said savings could be found. The government did not take that view. It protected the budget, she says. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:09 PM Post #70 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Both sides are apparently agreed that once the article 50 talks start, the top priority must be the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens on the continent. Sam Jones in Madrid reports that the Spanish government has just announced the opening of a one-stop Brexit shop at its London embassy to help the estimated 300,000 Spaniards living in the UK to navigate the process. “The aim is to answer the queries Spanish citizens may have when it comes to the consequences that the UK’s departure from the EU might have for their personal circumstances or those of their relatives,” it said. Among the different topics the counter will offer advice on are: permanent residence; healthcare; private health cover; pensions and other social provisions; educational issues, and tax implications. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:11 PM Post #71 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Corbyn says a Police Federation service found 55% of officers said their morale was low because of underfunding. Police numbers have been cut. Will May think again about cuts to policing? May says the government has protected police budgets. But what has happened since 2010. Crimes traditionally measured by the crime survey have fallen. (She phrases it like this because internet-related crime has gone up.) Corbyn is breaking up his questions, using a 3-3 format, I presume. A Tory MP is asking a question now. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:11 PM Post #72 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian)Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, also offers his condolences to the attack victims. Last year May promised she would secure a UK-wide approach and agreement to Brexit. There is no agreement. Why has May broken her promise? May says she has been clear throughout that she would work with the devolved administrations, that she would develop a UK approach, but that the UK government would take the lead. Scotland is part of the UK. Robertson says May did not deny saying she would seek a UK-wide approach and agreement to Brexit. The SNP government got a higher share of the vote than the UK government. The Scottish parliament voted for a referendum. The UK parliament, the European parliament, and 27 other EU countries will get a choice. Will Scotland get one too? May says she is taking forward the views of the UK. The SNP only want to talk about independence. Now is not the time to be talking about this, she says. |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:12 PM Post #73 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:16 PM Post #74 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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--BREAKING - EU's Tusk has received #Article50 letter from UK (Reuters UK Politics - 29 March 2017) --After nine months the UK has delivered. #Brexit (Donald Tusk, President of the European Council - 29 March 2017) |
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| Webster | Mar 29 2017, 02:18 PM Post #75 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --The Article 50 letter. #Brexit (Donald Tusk, President of the European Council - 29 March 2017) |
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