The Daily Brexit

TRADE Secretary Liam Fox risked undermining the Prime Minister yesterday by insisting a No Deal Brexit “wouldn’t be a disaster”. The Brexit-backing Cabinet Minister also said reactions to the doom-laden forecasts earlier this week on the economic pain Brexit would cause had been “completely overblown”. Liam Fox is positive about a No Deal BrexitAFP It came as the Prime Minister warned Tory rebels threatening to vote down her Brexit deal on December 11 they could cost their own constituents’ their jobs. Speaking in Argentina she said her deal was the best to protect the economy- and there was “no alternative” on the table. The Sun earlier this week revealed fears the Government will lose by 200 votes – plunging No.10 into chaos. The Bank of England on Wednesday warned a disruptive No Deal could plunge the country into the biggest recession since the 1930s. PM Theresa May at the G20 with Juncker and MacronRex Features But speaking in Bristol yesterday, Dr Fox insisted that

Sam Gyimah has resigned as Universities and Science Minister to vote against May’s deal, citing the EU’s attitude over the Gallileo Satellite programme as an example of the difficulties ahead with this deal. He was a remainer, very much part of the Cameron liberal-conservative tendency, he has posted on Facebook his reasons for resigning: I will vote against the Government’s EU Withdrawal Agreement. After careful consideration and reflection, I cannot support the Government’s deal and as such, I have tended my resignation as Universities and Science Minister. This line struck Guido as echoing Boris Johnson What is the alternative, I hear people say? Sometimes it seems our horizons have been narrowed and our expectations lowered to the point where potentially crippling ourselves politically and economically for decades to come is seen as a success we should welcome. Sam was seen lunching with Jo Johnson and Justine Greening this week, so don’t expect him to join the ERG. H

Not a day goes by without Theresa May getting attacked by MPs on her own side, ridiculed by the Opposition, derided by the media and mocked by sketch writers; she faces a constant and continuing threat to her leadership. The only thing going for her is her stated determination to ensure the UK leaves the EU on the date Parliament decreed, 29th March 2019, and on that issue, she has the backing of the British people. This is the reason why she has been able to survive. MPs may have the numbers to delay or block Brexit, but the people have the final say; in 2016 they said Leave; today they say get on with it. Every other option other than the proposed Withdrawal Agreement or leaving the EU without a deal, does, of necessity, involve an extension of Article 50 and if Article 50 is extended once, it could be extended again and again until we relent and forget about Leaving the EU altogether. Renegotiating the current deal in any meaningful way would require months if not years; a

I recently added my name to a long list of other business leaders calling on MPs to reject the EU Withdrawal Agreement. But whereas those trying to keep us in the EU, or who support this deal, like to roll out big name brands from huge multinational companies, we speak as those who make up a larger part of the economy – Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). According to the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 99.9% of all businesses in the UK are SMEs and account for over half of the private sector turnover in this country. Small businesses, like the technology company I helped found, which employs over 15 people in the UK, are the life blood of our economy. Those entrepreneurs who have staked their own money and reputations on realising an idea – whether it’s the sole trader, the family-run business or the established regional player – are the ones politicians should be listening to when it comes to our future relationship

In my last BrexitCentral article , I posed the rather obvious question to the EU: “Would you rather have a no-deal-style Irish border with or without £39 billion?”  That choice, which Brussels seems not to have understood, has now come into sharp focus and it seems now that the answer is likely to be presented to them as a fait accompli. Aside from the niceties, the fundamental objection to Theresa May’s proposed deal is the potentially perpetual lock-in to a customs union. The “joint committee” means of course that it will be for the EU to decide when or whether we can leave. It is unheard of, and utterly unacceptable, for anyone (and certainly any country) to be potentially bound in perpetuity by an arrangement that they have no ability to terminate. In the political declaration – i.e. informally – the EU says that the Irish backstop, separating Northern Ireland from the UK by remaining in the customs union and adhering to the EU rule book, might be avoidable by either a te

THERESA May today warned Donald Trump she will tell him to his face that he is wrong about her Brexit deal. The Prime Minister made the icy threat when asked about the President’s embarrassing comments that her deal will leave the UK unable to strike a US trade pact. The pair met at the G20 summit today – but one-on-one talks were not plannedReuters Mr Trump’s outburst couldn’t have come at a worse time for the PM, as she tries to persuade her party to back the deal. In a series of interviews with broadcasters this lunchtime, Mrs May hit back at the President. She said: “I’m very happy to tell President Trump and others that we will have an independent trade policy… “We can do a trade deal with the US. We have a working group with the United States looking at what a trade agreement with the United States what it might contain, once we have left the European Union. “We can’t negotiate and sign trade deals until we have left the EU, once we have we will be able to do that.”

The mysterious beleaguered new centrist political party bankrolled by the LoveFilm tycoon and former investment banker Simon Franks and has this week finally registered with the Electoral Commission as a political party. Guido thought he would remind readers of the greatest hits of ‘United for Change’ over the last few months… Ironically, United for Change split in August, with co-founder Adam Knight leaving to found another uniting centrist party… The fledgling group then tried to hire an ad agency to help them understand life outside of London… And all the while suffering massive staff walkouts . Guido hears that there has been a complete staff turnover since August… The party originally hit news headlines with the suggestion it had £50 million behind it, however Guido understands that it is now struggling for cash. The £50 million figure amounted to the total net worth of those who had expressed an interest in backing it at the time, so doesn’t come close to the actual a

Catch up on my latest speech to the European Parliament. pic.twitter.com/js1HZ379UD — Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 30, 2018 Nigel Farage, standing just yards from Michel Barnier, yesterday told the European Parliament that May’s Withdrawal Agreement is a good deal… “It’s a good deal… for the European Union. For the UK I think it’s probably the worst deal in history. … you probably can’t even believe your luck that you came up against a British Prime Minister who met every single demand of yours.” Punchy stuff… The post Nigel Farage: This is a Good Deal appeared first on Guido Fawkes .

Global warming theorists have been claiming for decades that earth is at the no-return tipping point for global warming. Sceptics have for decades argued that it is possible to undo warming with climate technologies that would cost billions rather than the trillions of damage to the global economy advocated by eco-fundamentalists. A technological solution that didn’t force humanity back to the stone age. Reducing Earth’s heat capture by injecting aerosols into the atmosphere from high-altitude aircraft has long been suggested as a way of reflecting sun rays back out to space. Now a credible study suggests it is possible and relatively inexpensive. Research published in Environmental Research Letters , suggests stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) is a workable solution. Dr. Gernot Wagner, from Harvard University’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, co-author of the study, says: “Solar geoengineering is often described as ‘fast, cheap, and imperfect’…

THE EU has threatened MPs that the UK would remain in the bloc or face No Deal at all if Theresa May’s Brexit plan is shot down. Donald Tusk said today that the union would be prepared for “every scenario” in the event that the PM can’t get her deal passed in less than a fortnight’s time. The EU has warned Britain that if they vote down May’s deal, we could Remain in the blocAFP or licensors Speaking at the G20 summit in Argentina this lunchtime, the EU Council boss said: “A few days before the vote in the House of Commons it is becoming more and more clear that this deal is the best possible – in fact the only possible one. “If this deal is rejected in the Commons we are left with, as was already stressed a few weeks ago by Prime Minister May, an alternative: No Deal or no Brexit at all. “I want to reassure you that the EU is prepared for every scenario.” Mr Tusk has previously said that the UK deciding it wanted to remain would be the easiest option for the bloc. Donald

THERESA May today warned Donald Trump she will tell him to his face that he is wrong about her Brexit deal. The Prime Minister made the icy threat when asked about the President’s embarrassing comments that her deal will leave the UK unable to strike a US trade pact. Theresa May said she would tell Donald Trump we can do a trade dealITV Mr Trump’s outburst couldn’t have come at a worse time for the PM, as she tries to persuade her party to back the deal. In a series of interviews with broadcasters this lunchtime, Mrs May hit back at the President. She said: “I’m very happy to tell President Trump and others that we will have an independent trade policy… “We can do a trade deal with the US. We have a working group with the United States looking at what a trade agreement with the United States what it might contain, once we have left the European Union. “We can’t negotiate and sign trade deals until we have left the EU, once we have we will be able to do that.” Earlier this

Macron has threatened to veto a trade deal with the Mercusur bloc of South American countries, if Brazil’s new President-elect Jair Bolsonaro follows through with his pledge to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. The deal is still not complete, even after 17 years of negotiations. When the EU negotiates trade deals with other countries, any one of the 28 EU member states can veto the signing of it, making the process painfully sclerotic. When the UK leaves the EU’s Customs Union, we will be able to sign a deal with Brazil if we want to – without having to seek Macron’s permission… The post Macron Threatens to Veto EU – South American Trade Deal appeared first on Guido Fawkes .