The head of the UKs leading employers organisation has stepped up pressure on the government to conclude trade talks with the EU so that the country can move on from the suspended animation of the past four years.

Reflecting on her five years as director general of the CBI, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said her biggest regret was that the issue had not been resolved earlier and warned ministers that businesses grappling with Covid-19 were unprepared for a hard Brexit.

Talks between London and Brussels have intensified in recent days as negotiators grapple with issues such as fishing and state aid.

Fairbairn, who steps down next week, said The thing thats painful is that it has taken so long to get to a resolution. I think we will get a deal. The remaining issues look soluble.

The first female CBI director general said she had barely started in the job when David Cameron announced in February 2016 that a referendum would be held in June that year.

That was the moment everything changed, Fairbairn said. I realised there was an extraordinary debate to be held, not just about the EU but about the type of economy we had created and the kind of country we had become.

Fairbairn said issues that had surfaced as a result of the financial crash of 2008-09 such as fairness and inequality became bound up with the debate about the UKs relationship with the EU.

The CBI campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum but Fairbairn says the employers organisation has always accepted the result.

At our first presidential committee meeting after the referendum the debate wasnt about trade or tariffs but about what the result said about business and its relationship with the British public, and what do we do about it.

Our position has not really changed since 24 June 2016. We completely accepted the result of the referendum and never supported a second referendum. We have campaigned for a good deal that protects jobs from day one.

It [departure from the EU] has had a momentum of its own. It has been almost a perfect storm. The economy has gone into suspended animation while we resolve this seismic issue. I hope we can have a resolution so we can move on.

Despite her optimism that a deal would be done, Fairbairn did not rule out the talks collapsing, an outcome she described as very challenging for CBI member companies.

With much of the country facing new Covid-19 restrictions, the CBI said many companies were going backwards in their Brexit preparations. She urged the government to set up a task force to speed up preparations as soon as an agreement had been reached.

A deal would still mean radical changes for business but would be hugely better than no deal, she said.

Tariff-free trade would be the difference between companies in the automotive sector staying in the UK or going. The automotive sector is 40 times larger than fishing, she added.

A deal would also make customs procedures easier, and would give the UK a base from which to build future agreements that would boost key sectors such as financial services, which Fairbairn said had been almost absent from the current negotiations. A deal is enormously better than no deal.

Despite the short-term challenges, Fairbairn said the UK would make a success of Brexit. Business will do everything possible to make the best of it. There will be areas to explore. There will be areas where it will be good to align with the EU but when it comes to AI and the industries of the future we could find new ways to shape the regulatory environment.

Brexit aside, she said business was also having to cope with a second wave of Covid-19 infections. Fairbairn said the UK had a glimpse of what recovery could look like in the summer but things now looked gloomier and there was a mountain to climb.

The CBI head said she was especially worried about young people, who had been hit hardest by the Covid-19 recession and needed better training, more job opportunities and a wider range of further and higher-education courses to give them a better chance of finding work.

She added: We are not epidemiologists, we put health first. But we need a plan for the short run to keep as much of the economy open as possible. It has to be evidence based and rely on really clear tiering.

Changes last week by the chancellor to the job support scheme to make it more generous had led some companies to rethink lay-offs, but there were sectors of the UK including live events and aviation that faced acute problems.

Fairbairn said: We are going to see significant redundancies. It is going to be tough.

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CBI chief fires parting shot over slow pace of Brexit negotiations - The Guardian

Denials predictably emerged from 10 Downing Street last week over the suggestion in the Observer that Boris Johnson was waiting for the result of the US election before possibly opting for a no-deal Brexit.

However I, for one, place a lot more credence on the judgment and reliability of Sir Ivan Rogers, our former ambassador to the European Union, than I do on anything coming from a Downing Street where Eyetest Cummings continues to rule the roost.

The Observer was reporting on the result of Rogerss soundings among our former EU partners, which showed their common view that Johnson was more likely to propel this benighted nation over the no-deal cliff if, in the end, the US electorate decided not to dump Trump. Hence the wait.

Johnson is all over the place on most things, a reality that is finally beginning to dawn on many of his erstwhile supporters. But Cummings is an even bigger gambler than his dodgy employer: a revolutionary who would have been perfectly at home in early 20th century Russia. I have no idea how he deals at poker, but people who know him I am delighted to say that, though a fellow Islingtonian, I have never, to my knowledge, encountered him say he is definitely a no-dealer on the big issue of the day.

Sorry, there are of course two big issues of the day: Covid and Brexit. And Cummings is so brazen that the man who broke his own lockdown rules on his infamous trip to Barnard Castle has been one of the most hawkish in urging strict tier terms as the plague threatens once again to get out of control.

Now, I did not get where I am today by forecasting election results, but God help us if Trump wins and Johnson and Cummings go for no-deal with the EU and a deal with Trump that takes us in the direction of becoming the 51st state. A Biden victory would restore some sense of decency and normality to international relations, although No 10 must be all too well aware that Biden, who is of Irish extraction, is none too happy with what they have been up to, threatening previous deals on the border and the Good Friday agreement.

As the horror stories about the reality of Brexit begin to sink in, even commentators in the Daily Telegraph have begun to get worried. A line from A Midsummer Nights Dream keeps recurring to me spoken by the late Alan Howard as Theseus/Oberon in Peter Brooks great production, to Puck: What hast thou done?

Polls now suggest that most of the British people disapprove of Brexit according to YouGov, by 50% to 38%. So why on earth do we go charging on, like Tennysons light brigade? While not wishing to overdo the parallels, one cannot help thinking of the way Lloyd George was needed to replace Asquith during the first world war, and Churchill to take over from Chamberlain in the second world war. Alas, the egregious Johnson already thinks he is Churchill. Seldom has a British prime minister been so misguided.

I have pointed out before that, even with a deal, leaving the single market at the end of the year will be extremely disruptive not only from 2 January (1 January being a bank holiday) but for years to come. But leaving without a deal? As Nick Bosanquet, professor of health policy at Imperial College, London, recently pointed out in the Financial Times, the conjuncture of port delays with the virus and long waits in laybys for thousands of lorry drivers, probably in bad weather, would be a classic situation for super-spreading of the virus, and that drivers would have to present recent test results in order to cross.

Bosanquet says the looming national emergency could be avoided only by seeking an agreement with the EU, preferably with a six-month extension of the transition period. I am all in favour of such an extension, preferably leading to an entire rethink of the wisdom of Brexit, and a tail-between-the-legs application to rejoin the EU.

One cannot help but note the understandable calls for the government to have a recovery plan from the economic horrors of the lockdown and its awful impact on employment. However, what people should realise is that, in going ahead with Brexit, the government has already decided on a plan. Unfortunately, it is to make the economic crisis even worse.

Going ahead with Brexit in a time of plague is the height of irresponsibility. It must never be forgotten that the infamous 2016 referendum was advisory, not binding, and fought on a false prospectus.

I know the argument that the people have spoken. But the people speak at every general election, and often change their minds. Moreover, it was only ever some of the people. As Abraham Lincoln reportedly said: You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

Here is the original post:

Support is waning for Johnsons plague-year Brexit - The Guardian

A business-led campaign to widen a thin Brexit deal struck between Britain and the European Union will begin immediately in the new year, it has emerged, amid concerns about the long-term effects on the UKs economy.

In an interview with the Observer, Carolyn Fairbairn, the outgoing director general of the CBI, said that securing a basic deal with the EU should be seen as a starting point for a deeper relationship. She warned of a serious effect on Britains large services sector, including financial and legal services, as well as engineering.

UK government officials remain locked in talks with their Brussels counterparts this weekend, just a fortnight before the deadline identified as the last point at which a deal can be agreed. The main stumbling blocks remain fishing rights and level playing field conditions related to state aid. However, even if a deal is signed off, there are grave concerns among British business bodies over the barriers to trade that it will erect.

Fairbairn said that any deal would be a significant improvement on a no-deal outcome, while the removal of tariffs would be existential for the car industry. However, she said her really big disappointment was the lack of help for British services in the potential deal, adding that the CBI would immediately fight to broaden the agreement.

Any deal we get now is likely to be focused on goods, and it should be treated as a starting point for a more comprehensive deal in the future, she said. At the CBI, we would be doing two things. First of all, we would be looking to help businesses make the most of where we are, to look for the opportunities and to manage that transition. And second, we will be working with the government and supporting the negotiations around building further chapters. [We would like] a services chapter. Well need more on aviation. Well need more on haulage. Data will be crucial. We hope that there will be a data agreement, but there will be more to do on the back of that. That will be the challenge of the next one to two years. And we will be on that case pretty well immediately. But we need that base case of a foundation deal first.

Some groups have raised serious concerns about the extent of new barriers to trade that will be erected even in the event of a deal. While tariffs will be removed, bureaucracy will increase and both government and industry are braced for issues at the border. A business taskforce to manage the transition has been forged between government and industry in an attempt to smooth the Brexit process in the new year.

Looking back on a tumultuous five years in the job, Fairbairn said it had been a mistake, and a lost opportunity for our country for businesses not to have had greater involvement in the shape of the deal.

Cash reserves and stockpiling have been run down as a result of the virus, with many businesses assuming the Brexit transition period would simply be extended. There is some wishful thinking, Fairbairn said. The single thing that would be getting businesses preparing best is a deal. Disruption of some sort is likely.

It comes as Boris Johnson is being warned that securing a deal with the EU is the best and easiest way to improve relations with a Joe Biden White House, should the Democratic candidate win this week. Biden has voiced concern that Johnsons Brexit tactics could affect Northern Irelands Good Friday Agreement.

Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Britains former ambassador to the US who served in Washington between 2007 and 2012, said that a deal was the route through which Johnson could build relations with Biden. I do think that they need to calculate what the impact of no deal would be, not just on the future relationship over free trade agreements, but more generally, on Britains standing with a new Biden administration, he said. No deal looks a very lonely position if youve got a Biden administration in Washington.

The very strong view among Bidens team is that Brexit was a strategic mistake of some magnitude. Theyll be wondering how we fill that gap and will have concluded over the past four years that we havent really been able to identify a new British role in the world.

See original here:

UK industry chief says business needs more from 'thin' Brexit deal - The Guardian

Former foreign secretary David Miliband explained how the special relationship between the UK and US post-Brexit could change if Joe Biden becomes President. While speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News, he said Mr Biden and his team will want the UK to make significant progress with the EU on key issues before agreeing our own future relationship with the US. Due to the quickly approaching end of the transition period, this could ultimately pressure the UK into rushing through a trade deal with the EU to maintain a good working relationship with the US.

Ms Ridge said: "If Joe Biden does win the US election, as the polls suggest, would that actually be good news for the United Kingdom?

"Do you think Joe Biden values the special relationship?"

Mr Miliband replied: "I think Joe Biden values the UK but he is a serious person who will follow the power.

"What Joe Biden knows, when it comes to the coronavirus crisis, the climate change challenge and some of the major global issues he can see that in Paris, Berlin and Brussels you have got 27 countries working together.

DON'T MISS:Brexiteer rages at Brexit deal disaster creating 'challenging 2021'

"There is no question in my mind that in the Biden camp, Brexit has reduced the influence of the UK.

Mr Miliband noted that despite the feelings towards Brexit among Biden and his office, they would still seek to trade with the UK.

He said they would want a deal to be resolved between the UK and EU quickly in the meantime, however.

He continued: "Joe Biden will also be very realistic about the kind of issues we are still struggling with and his urgency for getting things done.

"I think that puts a special premium on the British Government to get the trade deal with the European Union.

"Not only this but to also sort out the ways in which we are going to cooperate on security terms, intelligence terms and foreign policy terms with the EU.

"This is something that has made such little progress and that really leaves us in a weaker position."

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Mr Miliband has also warned of the tentativeness of the relationship between the UK and US.

While speaking to Channel 4 he said: "The special relationship all depends on what the British Government does.

"If the British Government comes to the table with ideas, resources and alliances then we have got an important role to play.

"But if we come with none of those things, I am afraid Washington will look to places where they see real power being exercised."

Read this article:

Brexit outrage: Joe Biden US election win may FORCE UK to agree EU's trade deal terms - Daily Express

LONDON In the greater scheme of things, fishing is a tiny industry. Just 12,000 people in Britain fish from 6,000 vessels, contributing less than half of one percent of gross domestic product less than the upmarket London department store Harrods, according to one analysis. The same holds true for most continental European nations.

Yet, as negotiations between Britain and the European Union on a long-term trade deal grind along toward the Dec. 31 deadline, fisheries are proving to be one of the most politically treacherous sticking points. Heres why the issue is giving negotiators such fits.

Boats from continental Europe have fished off the British coast for centuries, and those communities say they face ruin if they were to be locked out of those waters.

But in Britain, European Union membership has meant sharing British waters with fleets from France or other nations and sometimes seeing bigger, more modern ships catching a larger proportion of the fish. In one zone off the English coast, 84 percent of the cod is allocated to France and just 9 percent to Britain, according to Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermens Organizations.

The British fishing industry contends that its interests were sacrificed for more profitable sectors when the country joined the European Economic Community, a forerunner to the European Union, in 1973. Now that Britain has left the bloc, they want their fish back.

Fishing has a hold on the public imagination in a way that more lucrative sectors say, insurance never will. It can become front page news as it was, periodically, when tensions escalated between Britain and Iceland in the cod wars that simmered from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s. At the time, boats were sometimes rammed, and British warships were even deployed to protect trawlers.

Recent weeks have brought a reminder of those days. A confrontation between British and French boats (in what one newspaper called the scallop wars) was a harbinger, perhaps, of what could happen next year should the trade talks fail. Frances famously assertive fishing crews also have the capacity to blockade Calais the main port linking Britain to continental Europe. That could cause a big disruption to trade.

The politics of navigating this are difficult, as well. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, promised great things to the fishing fleet during the campaign leading up to the 2016 Brexit referendum. Now, he needs to deliver or risk accusations of betrayal. But the French president, Emmanuel Macron, faces an election in 2022, and giving in to the British is not the best way to win votes in France.

Quite a lot. The European Union argues that the current arrangements should continue, with more or less the existing quotas, and with continental trawlers allowed automatic access to most British waters. Britain says this is anathema for an independent coastal state and that the Europeans need to accept that Britain has left their club.

France, whose fishing fleet is particularly affected, has taken the hardest line on the European Union side, with other nations more willing to compromise to reach a wider trade deal.

Another contentious point is how future quotas will be decided. Britain wants annual negotiations of the type that the European Union undertakes with Norway over fish. The European Union argues that, because there more than 100 species to be haggled over (the main negotiations with Norway focus on half a dozen types of fish), such a system is impractical.

The fishing industry is one of the areas where Britain has the advantage in the Brexit trade negotiations, on paper at least. Without an agreement, Britain would regain control of its waters and could ban continental fleets from them.

But there is a downside. Britain exports much of what it catches and imports much of the fish it eats (mainly the cod and haddock that are staples of neighborhood fish and chips shops). Almost half of whats caught by Britains fleet is pelagic, meaning fish that live and feed in open water, rather than on the bottom of the ocean. These are species like mackerel or herring that few Britons touch, and that fetch a better price abroad (as does shellfish).

Although Britain is a net importer of fish, around four-fifths of what is landed by British vessels is exported, mainly to other European countries. Without an agreement, British fish exporters could face tariffs and find their products waiting and perhaps rotting at continental ports while inspectors carry out lengthy checks.

Whatever the rhetoric from Paris, the European Union knows that, without an agreement, continental fishing fleets could be locked out of British waters, so there is an incentive for the European Union to settle. Germany, the blocs biggest economy, is thought to be encouraging the French to compromise. The British seafood industry (including producers of farmed salmon) badly wants access to continental European markets.

The British government has hinted at a potential solution: a transition or glide path under which British fishing quotas would gradually expand at the expense of those of continental nations. That would give the European fleet time to adjust and the British time to expand fishing fleets and revitalize coastal communities to take advantage of new opportunities.

Both sides have an interest in striking a deal, but finding one means navigating choppy political waters.

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The Issue That Might Sink the Brexit Trade Talks: Fishing - The New York Times

Former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib argued the UK has a challenging 2021 ahead. During an interview with Express.co.uk, Mr Habib argued Boris Johnson will likely agree a bad Brexit deal that aligns the UK with the EU. He added that this combined with the consequences of coronavirus would make the next year a challenging one for many.

Mr Habib said: "I think 2021 is looking very very challenging.

"This is because the Government has spent a massive amount of money on this pandemic.

"They have done this through keeping businesses closed, furlough schemes, bounce back loans and coronavirus support schemes."

Mr Habib noted that these moves made by the Government, however necessary, would be a key part of the challenge facing the UK in 2021.

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He continued: "We are going to go into 2021 with Government finances stretched.

"If we sign ourselves into a close deal with the EU, fettering our ability to deregulate and therefore take the burdens off of businesses in a non-monetary manner, we will have a constrained economy.

"This will be a result of regulation and by the amount of debt we have taken on.

"I don't see the prospects of 2021 being bright for the UK.

"I suspect the people like me, people who saw the opportunities that a no deal Brexit would have afforded the UK, will now spend quite a significant proportion of the rest of their lives campaigning and promoting the unpicking of the deal that Boris Johnson is about to sign.

"This is so we can get Britain moving again properly."

Mr Habib also went into details of what areas he believed Boris Johnson disappoint Brexiteers with in his trade deal.

He highlighted the areas Boris Johnson would compromise would be in areas Leavers were most concerned about.

This included fishing rights for the EU, the influence of the European Court of Justice and the level playing field.

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He said: "I think what we are going to get by the time we get to January 1 is a deal.

"But it will be a deal that mirrors, to a very significant extent, the political declaration that the Prime Minister signed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

"In that political declaration, he did sign up to a level playing field, to fix fishing quotas, signed up to considering joining PESCO which is their equivalent of NATO, he has also signed up to cooperation on military into operability.

"He has also signed up to give the Court of Justice of the European Union, quite a large say in what happens in all those matters I just listed.

"I think, unfortunately, we are going to get a deal by January 1st that signs us up very closely to the EU."

See the rest here:

Brexit fury: Leaver rages at Brexit deal disaster and Covid creating 'challenging 2021' - Daily Express

AS the most significant US election in over a century is now upon us, the world holds its breath to see who will emerge as the most powerful politician on earth.

A win for President Trump will doubtless witness four more years of populist government that makes Sauron, the Dark Lord from Tolkiens Lord of the Rings, look like a liberal. A win for Joe Biden may witness a return to more traditional and less divisive US internal and external policies. Crucially though, a victory for the Democrat will force the UK Prime Minister to reassess his relationship with the USA and possibly even his increasingly haphazard policy on Brexit.

Mr Johnson has signalled that a no- deal Brexit, what he euphemistically terms an Australian solution, now looks to be a formality. Scapegoating the EU and attempting to appear as an honest broker only damages Mr Johnsons national and international credibility further and rings urgent alarm bells regarding the months and years ahead.

READ MORE:Joe Biden winning US election is the last big hope for a world on fire

A No-Deal solution has been the clear objective of the Westminster government for some time. It is the route by which their ultimate goal of a laissez- faire market economy can be achieved. The onset of the global pandemic has been regarded by government advisers like Dominic Cummings as an inconvenience or even a useful deviation from his long-term strategy to inflict a libertarian capitalist regime on to the UK, irrespective of its social, political or economic effects on the mass of the population.

Mr Cummings is an admirer of the American president and his unpredictable ignoring of democratic rules and precedents.Like Nigel Farage, he recognises that a defeat for President Trump will damage his political ambitions, as Trumps unfettered populist blueprints would be consigned to the history books.

READ MORE:'Sean Connery stepped in to help me build in Scotland', Donald Trump claims

Mr Cummings thrives on conflict and division and will advise the Prime Minister to continue to stick to an agenda that openly flouts accepted practices. The flagrant breaking of international law witnessed in the controversial UK Internal Market Bill are irrefutable evidence of this. Not only do they openly declare war on devolved administrations but they also adopt a dangerous and cavalier attitude to the fragile peace on the island of Ireland.

The Westminster government would argue that the end justifies the means, irrespective of the effect this may have on others pure Trumpian philosophy in action.

A No-Deal Brexit is a vehicle for increased isolationist individualism, emasculating devolution and eroding the ethos and practices of the welfare state in Britain. It is a gateway to privatised healthcare, widespread dilution of workers rights and the advent of an Americanised social Darwinism wherein the poorest and most vulnerable are discarded as unproductive. The CBI and the TUC have jointly condemned any notion of a No-Deal for two years but have been summarily ignored or scorned by those in power.

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With just two months left we are now on the cusp of leaving the EU without any deal and trading on World Trade Organisation terms, with tariffs and quotas reinstated which will, in the short and long term, prove disastrous for industries such as hospitality, farming, the car industry and fishing. Animal welfare, food and environmental standards will be jettisoned amidst a rogue government running a rogue economy. An estimated 85% of companies will not have necessary documentation in place by January 1, meaning massive border queues for up to nine months with an obvious impact on food and medical distribution in the UK. HMRC estimate that they will spend upwards of 15 billion more on paperwork as we witness a massive increase in bureaucracy.

To make matters worse, if that were possible, it is predicted by most reputable economists that Scotland will suffer more than the rest of the UK under a No-Deal Brexit. Our GDP will decline by around 5% over the first five years of a process that Jacob Rees-Mogg said would take 50 years to settle. As we anticipate a dramatic fall in the pound, increased prices, panic buying and stockpiling it is a puzzle to me why the latest polls put support for an independent Scotland at only 58%.

A No-Deal Brexit will represent the culmination of Cummingss grand plan for a right-wing libertarian state that could lose its main ally and ideological sugar daddy in the coming days. Regardless of how he and Boris Johnson steer the Westminster ship of government, it appears to be irreparably wounded in Scottish eyes by the continuation of a self-harming, disastrous No-Deal Brexit in the midst of a ruinous pandemic.

As Nicholas II and Rasputin are remembered for their part in the end of the Russian monarchy, so Messrs Johnson and Cummings will be remembered for being the harbingers of an independent Scotland.

Owen KellyStirling

Link:

US election outcome will determine what kind of Brexit we get - The National

The former Brexit Party MEP argued that he was not confident Brexiteers would be satisfied with Boris Johnson's Brexit trade deal with the EU. During an interview with Express.co.uk, Mr Habib insisted Boris would get a deal but it would not have the benefits associated with walking away without an agreement. It would also be a deal that would very closely align the UK with the EU.

He claimed these areas of alignment would fall under many issues Brexiteers were concerned about such as fishing, the role of the European Court of Justice, and the level playing field.

Mr Habib said: "I think there is no prospect of, what I would call, a proper no deal exit on December 31.

"Because of that I am convinced that Boris Johnson will be working very hard to do a deal with the EU.

"This is because he doesn't want pernicious effects of the Northern Ireland protocol to be starkly revealed.

DON'T MISS:Boris Johnson warned EU will abandon economic strength for DOMINATION

"The details would be revealed in the event of not having a future trading relationship with the entire United Kingdom."

Mr Habib admitted that he did think the UK would get a deal by the end of the transition period but it would not be one that satisfies true Brexiteers.

He continued: "I think what we are going to get by the time we get to January 1 is a deal.

"But it will be a deal that mirrors, to a very significant extent, the political declaration that the Prime Minister signed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

"In that political declaration, he did sign up to a level playing field, to fix fishing quotas, signed up to considering joining PESCO which is their equivalent of NATO, he has also signed up to cooperation on military into operability.

"He has also signed up to give the Court of Justice of the European Union, quite a large say in what happens in all those matters I just listed.

"I think, unfortunately, we are going to get a deal by January 1st that signs us up very closely to the EU."

Mr Habib also warned the EU would be willing to give up economic growth and benefit to have the UK politically aligned.

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"The EU is not concerned about any loss of trade with the UK due to a poor, or no deal.

"They are in this negotiating for a political aim which is to make sure that a number of things happen.

"One of those things being the UK pays a hefty price for Brexit and that the UK is tethered to the EU as much as possible going forward.

"In tandem with those two aims the EU wants to make sure the EU project isn't undermined by the United Kingdom leaving the European Union."

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Brexit betrayal: Boris Johnson accused of caving to EU bullying in last moments of talks - Daily Express

New research published by The National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs (NFYFC) reveals how young people are pessimistic about future opportunities to live and work in rural areas and believe the pandemic will continue to affect their prospects in the long-term. What needs to be done to support young people, now and in the years ahead, to ensure they can have a stake in the countryside? Jessica Sellick investigates.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. In England, TheChildren Act 1989, makes a number of orders relating to the welfare of children,defininga child (under Section 105) as a person under the age of 18. Prior to that, back in 1933 theChildren and Young Persons Actimposed criminal liability for the abandonment, neglect or ill-treatment of any child under 16 years of age by anyone over 16 years of age.

In practice, there is no one understanding of children and/or young people shared by all agencies and bodies; and no set time or age in which a child necessarily moves to becoming a young adult and through to adulthood.

Inmedicine, for example, the terms children and young people are used from birth until their 18thbirthday with the word children used to refer to younger children who do not have the maturity and understanding to make important decisions for themselves and young people to refer to older or more experienced children who are more likely to be able to make these decisions for themselves. There is no specific age at which childrens services within the health system end, although generally children requiring continuing treatment transition to adult services between the ages of 16 and 18 years, depending on the service area, local factors and the individual.

In education, a child canleave schoolon the last Friday of June if they will be aged 16 years by the end of the summer holidays but they must stay in full-time education, start an apprenticeship or traineeship, or spend 20 hours a week or more working or volunteering while in part-time education or training.

From aged 14 years a child can obtain a part timejobinvolving light work with some restrictions set over the number of hours and when the work can take place. A young adult can leave home without parental consent at the age of 18 years although there are provisions contained within the Childrens Act for exceptional circumstances relating to residence coming to an end before or at aged 16 years.

If a child has been looked after by the Local Authority they are provided with a needs assessment and a pathway plan forleaving carethat can finish when they are aged 21 years. For those children that go on to higher education, the Local Authority has a duty to assist them past the age of 21, to the extent that his or her welfare and educational and training needs requires it.

A 17-year old can obtain a licence todrivea car, small goods vehicle and an agricultural tractor on the road but not a medium or heavy goods vehicle (where they need to be 18 years old) or large passenger vehicle (where they need to reach 21 years of age).

These definitions are important on the one hand illustrating how we make special protection and provision to children (sometimes while they are under or until they reach 16 years of age, 18 years of age, or beyond 18 years under some circumstances); on the other hand children and young people are often regarded as adults able to make and be responsible for their own decisions (e.g. driving, employment). Crucially, some of these definitions determine what support a child/young person is entitled to receive and from whom and when.

Age is also important as it is one of the predictors of differences in attitudes and behaviours. Generations are one means researchers use to group age cohorts; with each cohort typically spanning people born over a 15-20-year time period. The Pew Research Center, for example,definesyounger cohorts asMillennials(anyone born between 1981 and 1996 and aged 24-39 years in 2020) andpost millennialsorGeneration Z(people born between 1997 and 2012, currently aged 8-23 years in 2020). Generational cohorts provide a means for researchers to explore how different formative experiences (e.g. pandemics, recessions) interact with the life cycle and shape their view of the world over the longer-term. For example, theCentre for Longitudinal Studiesat University College London has been undertaking aNational Child Development Studysince 1958, with cohort members followed up ten times since the study began, with the next sweep due to take place in 2020 2021 when the participants will be in their early sixties. The Centre is using participants from this study and four other studies to carry out a national longitudinal study onCOVID-19. Similarly,Generation Scotland, based at the University of Edinburgh, is carrying out aRuralCovidLifesurvey to better understand how COVID-19 measures are affecting the health and wellbeing of people in rural Scottish communities the survey complements a longitudinal health and wellbeing study involving 7,000 families since 2006.

Engaging and empowering young people through research is important for it reveals important insights about their influences, aspirations and outcomes as they move through childhood and adulthood. It also provides an evidence base to guide policy makers providing them with valuable data on a range of issues, their causes, and the effectiveness of different interventions.

What do post millennial young people think about growing up in the countryside? In June 2020, the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs (NFYFC) launched a survey, Your Post-Brexit Rural Future. Funded by Defra and led by the NFYFC and Rose Regeneration, the survey provided young people living and working in rural areas, next generation farmers and land managers with an opportunity to share theirviewson living and working in the countryside, now and into the future. Input to the survey questions was kindly provided byEnglish Rural,AHDB, and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). 528 young people responded to the survey, offering their views on housing, services, farming, skills, COVID-19 and the future.

To build on the survey findings Rose Regeneration carried out 40 follow-up telephone interviews with young farmers. During the lockdown period March-June 2020, young farmers highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on their farm businesses; with some indicating how they had struggled to recruit and/or retain workers, received no income or reduced income from farm diversification activities (e.g. closure of caf/restaurant, holiday lets, wedding venue), had been unable to undertake agricultural training, had been pushed to meet changing supermarket and consumer demands, and had to respond to more people walking in the countryside and not closing gates or keeping to designated footpaths. Young farmers also discussed the closure of some auction marts and the cancellation of agricultural shows which provide important outlets for them to meet each other and connect directly with the public.

Young farmers provided some examples of how they have adapted to COVID-19 and mitigated some of its effects. These included: creating farming bubbles by keeping the same staff together on shifts to work as a protective measure to help reduce the potential risk of transmission and providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and ensuring social distancing. Other on-farm examples included ensuring vehicles are not shared by staff and ensuring vehicle cleaning before and after each journey; increasing online and/or direct sales to consumers (e.g. farm shop, box schemes, roadside sales); piloting new diversification ideas (e.g. pick-your-own, mazes); and purchasing equipment and supplies online rather than visiting premises. Some farm businesses had furloughed staff involved in non-agricultural activities (e.g. hospitality, weddings/events). Young farmers were considering their options in recovering from COVID-19 which varied from looking to increase online sales through to pop up visitor facilities and attractions (e.g. caf, food stand, outdoor/countryside classroom), farm stays [converting agricultural buildings into visitor accommodation] and accessing online training opportunities.

During the lockdown period March-June 2020 Young Farmer Clubs used social media and provided support online/virtually so they could carry on with regular activities that could not happen face-to-face (e.g. meetings, event planning, competitions, rallies); raise awareness and run campaigns (e.g. mental health support, buy local-buy British); and deliver new social activities (e.g. stock judging, bale sculptures, virtual farm tours).

The financial implications of COVID-19 on clubs were emphasised during many of the telephone discussions. These concerns covered three main areas: (1) the impact of a second peak/wave on the next financial year if social distancing measures are still in place or reintroduced; (2) members particularly newer members may not renew their membership if clubs are unable to offer regular face-to-face activities; and (3) Clubs may be unable to generate a surplus and donate money to local or national charities. While many young farmers described how they had benefitted from accessing their club through digital platforms; other members miss face-to-face activities and have struggled to engage with the virtual offer. In some instances, club Chairs made telephone calls to members and/or socially distanced visits. Since lockdown restrictions were eased from July 2020 in some areas, clubs have been trying to balancing online/virtual with restarting some face-to-face activities (in line with Government guidelines).

During COVID-19 Government identified farmers, farm workers and people in the food supply chain as key workers. Young farmers suggested this had led the public to recognise the work they do in supplying the nations food:farmers are key workers, but I dont think a lot of recognition was given to farmers before COVID-19.The majority of interviewees perceived COVID-19 as a short-term problem with farming facing other threats/issues that have been neglected during the pandemic. These issues can be grouped into three themes: (i) Brexit and the transition to a new Agricultural System; (ii) broadband and mobile connectivity; and (iii) climate change and the environment. Young people are thinking about the future and the implications of this bigger picture on their farm business, skills and future work:young farmers are resilient, and innovative, and thats why well make the best of the situation.

Overall, the findings of the research suggest:

1. Young people want to have a stake in the countryside:they care about the community where they live and many take an active part in local organisations and activities (e.g. church, parish council, school, pub). Often growing up and spending many hours working on a farm means they already have a wealth of skills and experiences at a young age compared to their peers not growing up on a farm.

2. Young people are a vital part of the social fabric of rural communities:this has become even more apparent during COVID-19 with many young farmers delivering medicines or groceries and phoning or visiting vulnerable residents for example.

3But they are pessimistic about the future:while many young people want to continue to live and work in the countryside, this research suggests they will only be able to do so if they remain on their family farm. Similarly, many young farmers believe that if they are to have a future in farming, they will need an off-farm income to supplement and sustain them.

4. COVID-19 restrictions have had a big impact on young farmers and clubs:not being able to meet face-to-face and socialise has had a significant effect on the health and wellbeing of young farmers. Clubs are taking stock in looking at how they deliver activities virtually and in person and the support they need to do this.

5. Young people are seeking information and advice and some want morethey are more likely to talk about their mental health than their parents or grandparents. They want more information on housing and activities available for young people. Given the need to undertake further training and skills development [particularly higher-level courses/qualifications] accessing this information will also become increasingly important.

6. Policy and decision makers need to ensure the voices of young farmers are heard:as future farming schemes are developed and introduced, listening and responding to feedback from young farmers will continue to be important. Defra also has a strategic role as rural champion across Government and can ensure some of the themes emerging from the research (e.g. housing, youth services and activities) are picked up by other relevant Government departments.

These findings were discussed at a special panel debate held duringNational Young Farmers Week 2020. This current research and discussion builds on asurveycarried out by the NFYFC in 2016 which sought to gather the ideas of young farmers for a future British Agricultural Policy. Thefindingscovered six areas: negotiating a better deal for young farmers; future farm business culture; employment skills and training; farming regulations; building farm businesses; and farming subsidies. When asked which do you feel it is most important for UK Government negotiators & legislators to focus on, and which do you feel it is most important for farmings industry bodies to focus on?, 79% of the 184 respondents stated that the UK Government should focus on controlling the costs of production and 78% stated that farming industry bodies should focus on consumer confidence. The survey found the two biggest barriers for young farmers wanting to start in or to remain in farming were around access to land and access to credit.

Amid COVID-19 and Brexit these are uncertain times for children and young people wanting to live, grow up, learn, work and spend time in the countryside. On the one hand, there can be particular challenges for young farmers, particularly relating to the time they may have to wait before they have the chance to farm in their own right (e.g. access to land, finance, succession planning), juggling paid work on the farms of others or off-farm, and balancing the demands of studying or training with paid work. On the other hand, their involvedness in farming, sometimes from a very early age, and their passion, means they already have a wealth of skills, knowledge and maturity not always seen in other cohorts of young people in the general population. With many longitudinal studies underway, what might research with young farmers tell us about the effectiveness of policy and industry interventions designed to support the industry post Brexit, and how to make a success of farming as a career? Watch this space.

Jessica is a researcher/project manager at Rose Regeneration and a senior research fellow at The National Centre for Rural Health and Care (NCRHC). Her current work includes supporting health commissioners and providers to measure their response to COVID-19 and with future planning; working with 8 farm support groups across England on a Defra funded resilience programme; and helping 3 places to develop proposals for a Town Deal. Jessica also sits on the board of a Housing Association that supports older and vulnerable people.

She can be contacted by email jessica.sellick@roseregeneration.co.uk, Website -http://roseregeneration.co.uk/ https://www.ncrhc.org/, Blog -http://ruralwords.co.uk, Twitter -@RoseRegen

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What are the implications of COVID-19 and Brexit for the post-millennial generation? - Rural Services Network

The Brexit transition period will not be extended, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer ashe told businesses that it is now down to Boris Johnson to deliver on his promise.

Sir Keir struck a strongly more pro-business tone than his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn as he spoke at the CBI conference.

Sir Keir, who backed Remain in the referendum, said: There is no prospect of an extension.

There was never going to be a vote in parliament on it.

There was no way of it being forced and that is why I say to the prime minister, You promised a deal, get on with it.

The outstanding issues are capable of being resolved. They need to be resolved in the national interest.

The prime minister went to the country last December with one central commitment and that was that he had got a Brexit deal already oven ready and now he needs to deliver on it because the impact on businesses, communities and the whole country will be profound if he fails to make good on that commitment.

The UK is set to leave the Brexit transition period on December 31, but talks on a future trade agreement have proved highly problematic.

Sir Keir said that Labour wanted to work with business.

He said: A Labour government led by me will be pro-business. Working with businesses and recognising businesses for what they are.

Sir Keir said that Covid called for a rethink about the economy and said he would do that with business.

Asked about nationalisation, Sir Keir said: If you look at rail, there are real problems with the franchises that have been running in the last few years.

We are now in a changed situation and the vast majority of the public want to see rail in some sort of common ownership and I support that.

He added: I dont think its a one size fits all, but I do think there are clear examples of where criminal justice would be one of them where simply privatising has not worked.

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Keir Starmer warns there is no prospect of a Brexit extension - The New European

NewsPoliticsBrexit will be a crisis entirely of the UK Governments making, a key ally of Nicola Sturgeon has said, as he dismissed Westminster claims that they had been working collaboratively with Scottish ministers.

Monday, 2nd November 2020, 7:00 am

Constitution Secretary Mike Russell insisted ministers in London had simply ignored the Scottish Government and other devolved administrations throughout the whole Brexit process.

He hit out in a letter to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, who wrote to him recently claiming there was now intensified engagement between Westminster and Holyrood as the UK prepares for the Brexit transition period ending in December.

Mr Gove also complained that Scottish ministers have not given the UK Government access to crucial data on Brexit preparedness.

But Mr Russell insisted that the UK Government had recklessly decided to end the transition period at great cost to Scotland and indeed the UK as a whole.

He added: This action I am afraid typifies the UK Governments whole approach to Brexit total disregard for the wishes and interests of the people of Scotland, contempt for devolution and a drive towards an ever more extreme and damaging Brexit which is going to end with either the worst possible outcome no trade deal or at best a low deal which will cost jobs and hit the economy hard at the worst possible time.

Responding to the Cabinet Office minister, Mr Russell said: I fully understand why you would wish to assert that you have been working collaboratively with the devolved governments, but the facts show that the decisions on Brexit have been taken by the UK Government alone.

This is a crisis entirely of the UK Governments making and people in Scotland are well aware of where the responsibility for the consequences lie.

The Scottish Constitution Secretary said while Mr Gove had referenced the number of meetings held between the UK Government and the devolved administrations, ministers at Holyrood were concerned about the quality and timing of engagement.

His comments come after he told MPs in September that there was now no trust between the Scottish Government and Westminster, complaining that dialogue between the two administrations had become significantly worse since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister.

A UK Government spokesperson said: As the letter from Michael Russell itself acknowledges, officials in the devolved administration in Scotland and UK Government are working closely together on preparations for the end of the Transition Period with dozens of meetings over the last few weeks alone.

The Joint Ministerial Committee on EU negotiations, which brings together UK and devolved administration ministers, has already met six times this year and we look forward to further constructive discussions. We will not always agree on policy but we are committed to working together.

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Brexit will be crisis of UK Government making, Michael Gove is told - The Scotsman