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PUBLISHED: 09:25 10 May 2020 | UPDATED: 09:59 10 May 2020

Cash Boyle

Communities Minister Robert Jenrick appeared on Sophy Ridge today, Sunday May 10, to explain the government's new coronavirus slogan. Picture: Sophy Ridge on Sunday

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Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives has replaced the previous slogan of Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives, in an update which presenter Sophy Ridge called so vague, its bordering on being meaningless.

Jenrick responded by justifying the update, arguing that a broader message is required because were now past the peak.

He then outlined the definition of stay alert, which to the trained eye contained most of the criteria required by the previous messaging, such as adhering to social distancing and strict hygiene, alongside the all-encompassing respecting others.

The apparent lack of difference in substance between the old and new messaging led the presenter to label the advice as wooly, making the point that a person can be alert anywhere: You can stay alert whilst staying at home, you can stay alert and go to work, you can stay alert while having 20 of your friends over for a party.

Jenrick refused to be drawn on the specifics of any possible easing of lockdown, leaving that job to prime minister Boris Johnson, who is expected to outline the practical changes at tonights daily briefing.

He did clarify, however, that staying at home will remain an important part of the message, despite no longer featuring on the official slogan.

Countering this, Ridge argued that the stay at home message really ought to be ditched entirely, given the degree to which people have broken lockdown over the past few days of hot weather.

The communities minister didnt address the overwhelming evidence that this message is no longer as effective as it once was, choosing to assert that the vast majority of the public are being responsible.

Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press with your support. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.

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Robert Jenrick struggles to explain new coronavirus messaging from government | Latest Brexit news and top stories - The New European

Opinion

PUBLISHED: 11:18 09 May 2020 | UPDATED: 18:31 09 May 2020

Barnaby Towns

U2's Bono waves to a giant EU flag, with one star as the Union Flag, at the o2 Arena in London, during their eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour. Photograp: Andrew Matthews/PA.

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Britains future with Europe remains unclear, but one thing is certain, it needs to request an extension to the Brexit transition period. BARNABY TOWNS explains that unity is strength.

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Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only continue to grow with your support.

Europe Day is celebrated by the European Union on May 9th, commemorating the 1950 Schuman Declaration, signed by France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux nations 70 years ago. French foreign minister Schuman presented a proposal from the French government for a European Coal and Steel Community, under which former foes would pool coal and steel production, making another war between Germany and France not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.

Sadly, the United Kingdom sat on the sidelines a post-war bad habit repeated over the past seven decades. Back then, the Attlee Governments commitment to nationalisation, Labour policy stretching back to 1918 when it wrote the policy into clause four of the partys constitution, stood in the way of British participation. Accordingly, Attlee opposed having control over these industries handed over to an authority that is utterly undemocratic and responsible to no-one.

In fact, the ECSC was overseen by a High Authority composed of independent nation state appointees; a Common Assembly comprising national parliamentarians; a Special Council of national ministers, and a Court of Justice. As with EU membership, British accession wouldnt have prevented a future British Parliament from leaving.

There also were political considerations in Britains detachment. Deputy Prime Minister Herbert Morrison, tracked down by his civil servants to the Ivy Restaurant in Londons Covent Garden for a decision, reportedly declaimed with characteristic bluntness: The Durham miners wont wear it.

Tories and Liberals, unencumbered by commitment to nationalisation and that trade union link, were more enthusiastic. Winston Churchill, as Leader of the Opposition, led a march to Downing Street urging British participation in convening a European Assembly. On the ECSC, Churchill said the opposition was prepared to consider, and if convinced to accept, the abrogation of national sovereignty, provided that we are satisfied with the conditions and safeguards.

But when the Conservatives returned to power in 1951, coal but not steel remained state-owned alongside a conciliatory approach to the trade unions. ECSC membership wasnt pursued. After Churchill resigned in April 1955, Britain continued to perambulate around the periphery, sending a delegation to the conference of the six ECSC member states in Messina, Italy, at their invitation, but left the negotiations in November. The Six continued without the UK, signing the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

This historic indifference to the European Economic Community, only to be reversed 16 years later as it became clear that the UK lagged behind its continental neighbours economically, continues in our own time, as the government stubbornly persists with its Brexit timetable as the coronavirus pandemic rages. Amid such headlines as: BoE warns UK to enter worst recession for 300 years, it continues hell bent on an arbitrary date to end the so-called transition period in which the UK follows EU rules without a seat at the table on December 31st this year, as all governments and the EU are knee-deep in crisis.

The UK can ill-afford government estimates of a 7-11% cut in gross domestic product over 15 years, which represents the range between a bare-bones trade agreement and no-deal crash-outthe two outcomes that the government is prepared to countenance. At the same time, the government admits that, for example, a trade agreement with Trumps America, which may take ages to negotiate, would add no more than 0.1-0.4% GDP. Meanwhile, the Bank of England estimates a 14% GDP wipe-out this year alone, thanks to the governments lockdown measures.

A typical post-war UK government wouldnt at this time embark upon radically recasting Britains trade arrangements and wrenching the economy out of the half-billion-person transnational free trade zone that is the EU for an uncertain future negotiated without the EUs wealth and size as leverage. But this is no ordinary government, including at cabinet level starry-eyed ideologues such as Home Secretary Priti Patel and Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb, whose inexperience is historically unusual. As is Boris Johnson who made their cause his own but who, as a government adviser observes: didnt chair any meetings liked his country breaks didnt work weekends didnt do urgent crisis planning.

Whether or not Johnsons recent brush with death has caused him to take the pandemic more seriously, he isnt taking the views of British citizens as such two-thirds of whom want the transition period extended, including half of Tory and Leave voters. Yet much less consequential local elections are postponed one year.

Britain needs an extension. After that, the government has a big parliamentary majority to pursue its ideological agenda. And the opposition badly needs to articulate a clear, persuasive, economically-rational alternative.

Barnaby Towns is a former government special adviser.

Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press with your support. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.

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Europe Day reminds us that unity is strength | Latest Brexit news and top stories - The New European

THE FISHING industry in Shetland has voiced its opposition to suggestions by opposition politicians that the Brexit transition period should be extended by another two years.

Shetland Fishermens Association (SFA) said the industry had been opposed to a transition period from day one and was ready for the UK to become an independent coastal state tomorrow if required.

In the light of the Covid-19 crisis and the deep recession forecast for 2020, Liberal Democrats and the SNP have been lobbying for an additional delay before the UK leaves the EU.

Welcoming Labours support for the proposal, Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael said: Unless the government does the right thing and extends the transition period we risk crashing out without a trade deal, delivering a double whammy just as we try to recover from the current crisis.

The NHS, food supply chains and the economy are all already under huge amounts of pressure. People are rightly worried about their loved ones and about their jobs.

We need to be able to put Brexit issues to one side for the moment, in order to focus on protecting the most vulnerable.

But Simon Collins, the SFAs executive officer, said that as far as he could see there was not much appetite within the government to extend, and fishing was a special case anyway.

The institutional arrangements have been in place for 40 years. The only thing that needs to be arranged is to have an extra seat and a different flag at the negotiating table, but the arrangements of how it all works are understood, Collins said.

If we were required to operate as an independent coastal state as of tomorrow, we could; so for us there is no reason to delay.

Whatever decisions are being made for other parts of the economy, for which we cant speak, as far as fishing is concerned our stance is absolutely clear: we have every intention to push the government to deliver, at least for fishing, that we are an independent coastal state by the end of the year.

There is no technical reason why we cant be. We didnt want a transition period and we certainly dont want an extension.

Collins added that once the UK is an independent coastal state and fishing matters be devolved to Scotland, the country would finally be in a position to implement measures against the hugely controversial and environmentally damaging gillnet fishing undertaken by a fleet of Spanish owned vessels in Shetland and Scottish waters.

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kristof lauwers; Shutterstock

The neoclassical Four Courts building in Dublin is currently under renovation

Dr David Cowan reports on how the Irish legal profession is responding to coronavirus

Top Irish law firms McCann FitzGerald and William Fry are cutting pay for their lawyers as the Covid-19 pandemic hits the Irish legal sector.

They are among a number of firms stressing their priority is to protect jobs by instituting pay cuts as opposed to making redundancies, an approach that was trailblazed by Norton Rose Fulbrights EMEA arm on 2 April when it revived the flex scheme it operated in the wake of the financial crisis.

McCann FitzGerald has implemented a 20% reduction in working hours and salary for most of its staff for a four-month period employees earning less than 38,000 will not be affected. Staff holiday entitlements are also protected.

In a statement, the firm said the interim measures have been introduced to protect all jobs as it was experiencing a significant contraction in demand for some services.

William Fry has made remuneration cuts for its highest earners of up to 20% as part of its temporary cost-cutting measures.

Discretionary costs, earnings cuts and the deferral of profit distributions will all be introduced on a scale up to 20% for those on the highest fixed-income bands.

Arthur Cox is not cutting pay at this time but will not hand out bonuses this year and is making significant reductions to partner distributions.

The firm has also let go some support staff on fixed-term contracts and introduced a voluntary scheme for staff who wish to apply for career breaks, reduced working weeks or term-time work.

The measures bring to an abrupt end a period of optimism about the prospects of the Irish legal market in the wake of the UKs exit from the EU that saw number of international firms open offices in Dublin, most recently Dentons, which unveiled its plans for an office in January.

Over the last three years, Clyde & Co, Simmons & Simmons, Lewis Silkin and Pinsent Masons have all moved into Dublin while record numbers of UK-qualified solicitors have joined the Roll of Solicitors as a means of gaining access to the EU market.

Crisis support launched

The bandaged, iconic Four Courts home of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court has been under covers for restoration work for a couple of years already, but now appears to be a metaphor for a legal market at a crossroads.

To support firms, the Law Society of Ireland has launched a new service, Crisis Practice Support. It aims to deliver practical support to help solicitors remain operational during lockdown, which remains in place until 18 May before a phased unwinding of the measures.

The societys president, Michele OBoyle, said: Ensuring the continuity of solicitors essential services will directly help other small businesses through this difficult time.

The legal services provided by the solicitors profession are necessary to support other essential services, as well as vulnerable people in the community. Although legal firms across the country are physically closed to the public to maintain social distancing, they remain open for business while respecting necessary restrictions.

Remote Courts

While law firms might be temporarily in reverse, the court system moved forward with its plans to develop remote courts.

The project went live on 20 April when both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal heard cases using a video streaming app called PEXIP, which parties can join from other services, including Skype or Zoom.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Mr Justice Frank Clarke said: Remote hearings will be suitable for some types of proceedings in the High Court and a limited number of cases in the District and Circuit Courts. The court presidents and the courts Service are exploring ways in which to increase the number of cases which can be dealt with in physical hearings.

Further reading on the Covid-19 pandemic

After Covid-19, client tensions that pre-existed the pandemic will become intolerable Law firms banking on a return to the old way of doing business once the immediate crisis is over are doomed, argues Rob Millard

Under lockdown socialising between international colleagues has increased Colin Passmore outlines the measures Simmons & Simmons has been taking to promote staff wellbeing during the Covid-19 crisis

After Covid-19 lockdown will virtual arbitrations become the new normal? Michela D'Avino and Bahaa Ezzelarab argue that remote arbitration hearings should be carefully considered as an option to avoid costly delays

A question of timing: the different responses of US and UK elite law firms to Covid-19 Looming decisions over associate pay and bonuses are a factor in the timing of UK law firm Coronavirus measures

Above all, this crisis too will pass Rob Millard foresees large law firm mergers and accelerated digitisation in the wake of Covid-19

'It is about being proactive and decisive' Norton Rose Fulbright EMEA managing partner Peter Scott on the thinking behind the firm's flexible working scheme

General counsel braced for six-month shock to their businesses, survey finds MoFo poll of 110 GCs finds them making unprecedented decisions as HR issues dominate

'Now is the time for law firms to deliver on their stated values' Consultant Tony Williams advises law firm leaders to avoid knee jerk decisions and go into communication overdrive during the Covid-19 crisis

Unprecedented response to Covid-19 is 'testament to legal profession's resilienceStewart Salwin is impressed by how quickly the Arizona courts have adapted to the coronavirus crisis

Staff welfare, supply chain and privacy: the coronavirus-related issues keeping GCs awake at night Linklaters, Baker McKenzie and Ropes & Gray have published the most sought-after briefings, according to Lexology

'I have realised how powerful technology now is': an Italian lawyer's take on Covid-19The lockdown is forcing Italians to embrace digitisation - and that even includes its public officials, writes Gabriella Geatti

Coronavirus risk may be unprecedented, but the fundamental principles of crisis response still applyCrisis PR specialist Bethaney Durkin advises law firms impacted by the coronavirus to act quickly while avoiding a kneejerk response

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McCann FitzGerald and William Fry cut pay as Covid-19 reverses Brexit optimism in Ireland - The Global Legal Post

If we rewind to six months ago, the largest driver behind the movements in the FTSE 100 stock index was Brexit. The general election, which was held in December, had that issue at its heart. Following the election result, the FTSE 100 index surged higher, with sentiment running positive that finally economic uncertainty could be over.

Yet the Covid-19 pandemic has seen an unprecedented shift in investors thinking so far in 2020. The sudden rise of the virus, and the harshness with which it has affected businesses the world over, are largely unparalleled. But with growing signs that the virus has been contained, and plans to reopen economies, concern could fade.

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For several reasons, this could mean smart investors should already be starting to think about Brexit again, as a key influence on the price of their investments.

In recent weeks, comments from the UK Government have been very clear on the Brexit stance. Were still being told the government will say no to any extension beyond the end of 2020 if the EU asks for it. Some may have thought that the impact of the virus would see negotiations pushed back, but thats not the case (at least thats the message so far).

This increases the chances of no agreement being reached by the two sides due to the time lost thus far. Should we have little Brexit breakthrough over the next three months, then autumn could see volatility rising for the FTSE 100 index. This would likely mimic the sharp moves following the news headlines we saw over the course of last year.

You could argue that the FTSE 100 index is already moving on from focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic. The market saw the second best April performance in a decade. Another example of this short-term memory of stock markets can be seen in the US. The NASDAQ index (which has a lot of tech names listed) is even back at January levels. This means it has seen a positive performance in 2020.

Why this could push Brexit back to the foreground is that investors will be looking ahead now to what the next big event could be. Markets in the US are starting to look towards the Presidential elections. Here on the other side of the pond, they could turn to Brexit.

So what do the above musings mean for my investing strategy? At the back end of last year I wrote a piece here, discussing where best to look. Id continue to look to buy domestic firms within the index, as these will perform better if we see a Brexit agreement before the end of the year. Look to housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey to lead the way as demand picks up.

Also, Id look to buy defensive stocks (still with a domestic tilt). Some good examples are Tesco and J Sainsbury. These supermarkets should perform robustly, even if the UK does not have an agreement by the end of the year.

Ultimately, try and think ahead of the curve, to avoid being caught out later this year.

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2 reasons why Brexit could soon be the biggest factor influencing the FTSE 100 index - Motley Fool UK

Dollar: The US Dollar has been moderating as risk-on sentiment attempts to gather momentum, while investors begin pricing in expectations that US interest rates may turn negative before the year is over. Could the speeches by Federal Reserve officials over the coming days lead to major moves in the Greenback?

Gold: Bullion remains range-bound but has managed to seize on the chance to climb slightly higher, thanks to the softer Dollar. What would negative US interest rates mean for Gold prices?

Pound: The Pound is enjoying a slight lift as the UK is on the path towards reopening its economy. However, with Brexit negotiations set to resume this week, could the Pound see bouts of heightened volatility over the near-term?

Oil: Amid signs of more major economies reopening, Oil traders will be awaiting key monthly reports by OPEC and the IEA this week, while also keeping a watchful eye over US inventories. Can the current equilibrium hold for Oil prices?

Monday, 11 May France set to reopen economy, Shanghai Disneyland to reopen, Brexit talks to continue

Tuesday, 12 May Fed speak, US inflation

Wednesday, 13 May US crude oil inventory, OPEC monthly report, UK GDP, EU industrial production

Thursday, 14 May US initial jobless claims, IEA monthly report

Friday, 15 May Chinas industrial production, US and China retail sales, Brexit update, Euro-area GDP

Major markets: UK, Europe, Japan, US, Hong Kong, China

EMEA: Turkey, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia

ME & GCC: Egypt, Lebanon, UAE, Saudi Arabia

Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, India

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The week ahead: Brexit talks to continue, US and China retail sales eyed - FXStreet

Aine McMahon, Press Association

10 May, 2020 13:10

First Minister Arlene Foster has said the British Government should not be "distracted" by talks of extending the Brexit transition period.

The UK Government has insisted the transition period will not be extended beyond 2020, despite officials in London and Brussels admitting there has been little progress in the two rounds of formal talks held so far.

December 31 is the deadline for the end of the transition period unless the UK agrees by June to extend it.

READ MORE:Passengers from Ireland to be exempt from 14-day mandatory quarantine for UK arrivals

Speaking to Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mrs Foster said: "At the moment we are talking to the Government about Brexit. We have a very particular issue around the Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol. We have been engaging with the Paymaster and Michael Gove around that issue.

"It is important that we get clarity for our businesses in Northern Ireland.

"We should not be distracted by talk of lengthening the transition or anything like that. We need to make sure that we are focused and that we get started for the sake of our businesses in Northern Ireland."

First minister Arlene Foster. Picture by Presseye

On Friday, TnaisteSimon Coveney said the Covid-19 pandemic has made the timeline for a UK-EU trade deal "virtually impossible".

"Covid-19 has made what is already a very, very difficult timeline to get agreement virtually impossible," he said.

"Given the added complications of Covid-19, it surely makes sense to seek a bit more time to navigate our way through these very difficult waters in the months ahead so that we can get a good outcome for the UK and EU."

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Arlene Foster: Talk of extension to Brexit transition period a 'distraction' - The Irish News