UK ‘nowhere close to’ renegotiating commerce cope with EU
Many are viewing the brand new UK authorities’s enthusiasm for right this moment’s summit as an indication it’s eager to reset its relationship with the European Union after eight years of post-referendum bickering.
However UK international secretary David Lammy, who has been chatting with the media this morning, has mentioned the UK is “nowhere near” negotiating agreements with the bloc.
The European Union and the European Fee won’t be up and working till December following their elections, he mentioned.
Lammy instructed BBC Breakfast:
In fact, we’re coming into into discussions however we’re nowhere close to a negotiation on the commerce settlement – that paper skinny commerce settlement that Boris Johnson struck – the veterinary deal that we’ve mentioned that we need to get, the mutual {qualifications} that we need to work on and the UK-EU safety pact that we’re proposing to Europe that can allow us to debate a complete vary of points throughout the European household.
He mentioned safety, Ukraine and migration could be key factors of dialogue on the summit.
By way of future UK negotiations with the EU, he mentioned:
I’m actually not going to point out my hand earlier than negotiations have even begun.
He repeated that Labour has mentioned it won’t deliver Britain again into the only market or EU customs union however that the Authorities does need a greater commerce settlement.
Key occasions
Some extra of the arrivals pictured at Blenheim Palace for a summit for the European Political Neighborhood (EPC) right this moment, courtesy of the newswires:
Listed here are among the discussions which have taken place at earlier EPC summits, in response to the gov.uk web site:
On the final assembly in Granada, the UK led discussions on AI and unlawful migration. In Moldova, the main focus was on supporting the host nation within the face of Russian hybrid threats, as effectively constructing power resilience. Whereas on the first EPC assembly in Prague, talks centred round Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the necessity for Europe to face united in opposition to his aggression.
In case you’re catching up on yesterday’s politics information, my colleague Peter Walker put collectively this useful breakdown of the important thing factors from the king’s speech. From schooling and power to renters and railways, it’s all there:
Labour should ramp up renewable power to fulfill 2030 local weather vows, says watchdog
Fiona Harvey
The brand new Labour authorities should oversee an enormous ramping up of renewable power technology on this parliament or the UK will breach its worldwide obligations below the Paris settlement, the federal government’s local weather watchdog has mentioned.
The Conservative authorities left the nation drastically off monitor to fulfill its worldwide commitments, regardless of setting the carbon-cutting goal earlier than internet hosting the Cop26 local weather summit in Glasgow in 2021, the Committee on Local weather Change present in its most up-to-date annual report.
In a damning verdict on the Tories, and Rishi Sunak’s tenure particularly, the CCC discovered that the insurance policies that Labour inherited would lead to solely a couple of third of the emissions cuts essential to achieve the UK’s Paris settlement goal of chopping carbon by 68% by 2030.
The report, compiled by scientists and specialists, mentioned the final authorities “signalled a slowing of pace and reversed or delayed key policies … gave inconsistent messages on its commitment to the actions needed to reach net zero, with cancellations of, and delays and exemptions to, important policies. It claimed to be acting in the long-term interests of the country but there was no evidence backing the claim that dialling back ambition would reduce costs to citizens.”
In the present day’s schedule
We talked about this earlier however in case you missed it, right here’s what we’re anticipating right this moment (all timings are BST):
10am: Opening session
11.30am: Household picture
Noon: Thematic roundtables
1pm: Alternative for bilateral/multilateral conferences and lunch
2.45pm: Closing plenary
3.45pm: Reception with His Majesty King Charles III
4.45pm: Bilateral/multilateral conferences and departures
UK ‘nowhere close to’ renegotiating commerce cope with EU
Many are viewing the brand new UK authorities’s enthusiasm for right this moment’s summit as an indication it’s eager to reset its relationship with the European Union after eight years of post-referendum bickering.
However UK international secretary David Lammy, who has been chatting with the media this morning, has mentioned the UK is “nowhere near” negotiating agreements with the bloc.
The European Union and the European Fee won’t be up and working till December following their elections, he mentioned.
Lammy instructed BBC Breakfast:
In fact, we’re coming into into discussions however we’re nowhere close to a negotiation on the commerce settlement – that paper skinny commerce settlement that Boris Johnson struck – the veterinary deal that we’ve mentioned that we need to get, the mutual {qualifications} that we need to work on and the UK-EU safety pact that we’re proposing to Europe that can allow us to debate a complete vary of points throughout the European household.
He mentioned safety, Ukraine and migration could be key factors of dialogue on the summit.
By way of future UK negotiations with the EU, he mentioned:
I’m actually not going to point out my hand earlier than negotiations have even begun.
He repeated that Labour has mentioned it won’t deliver Britain again into the only market or EU customs union however that the Authorities does need a greater commerce settlement.
Proposed UK-EU safety pact ‘will be welcomed in Brussels’, MEP says
Jennifer Rankin
Labour’s proposed international coverage and safety pact with the EU sounds “quite promising”, the top of the European parliament’s international affairs committee has mentioned, including that the British authorities ought to use the following weeks and months to give you proposals which are “as concrete as possible”.
David McAllister, a veteran German MEP and shut ally of European Fee president, Ursula von der Leyen, mentioned such a pact ought to cowl financial, local weather, well being, cyber and power safety. His listing overlaps with the sweeping set of concepts proposed by the UK international secretary, David Lammy, who not too long ago met his counterparts in Berlin, Stockholm and Bydgoszcz in northern Poland.
Chatting with the Guardian earlier than the European Political Neighborhood (EPC) summit that can deliver collectively leaders from about 45 European nations at Blenheim Palace on Thursday, McAllister mentioned:
We now have at all times wished nearer post-Brexit safety cooperation. For the time being we have now because the EU extra structured ties with the US, Canada and Norway than we do with the UK. So if David Lammy and [the defence secretary] John Healey are calling for a safety pact with the EU, I feel that this can be welcomed in Brussels.
The primary European leaders have begun to reach:
Starmer to give attention to border safety and immigration at summit
Lisa O’Carroll
Keir Starmer will put immigration and border safety on the centre of his first summit with European leaders, as he races to agree modifications to the asylum system to interchange the defunct Rwanda scheme.
Starmer is predicted to inform leaders on the summit he desires to “renew” Britain’s relations with Europe, with new border controls and an settlement on defence and safety on the coronary heart of any renegotiation.
He’ll introduce a plenary session within the morning throughout which Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, can even communicate, amid rising concern amongst European leaders about what a second Donald Trump presidency would possibly imply for the conflict in Ukraine.
In a press release launched earlier than the assembly, Starmer mentioned:
We can’t let the challenges of the latest previous outline {our relationships} of the longer term. That’s the reason European safety can be on the forefront of this authorities’s international and defence priorities, and why I’m targeted on seizing this second to resume our relationship with Europe.
The EPC will fireplace the beginning gun on this authorities’s new method to Europe, one that won’t simply profit us now, however for generations to return, from dismantling the people-smuggling webs trafficking individuals throughout Europe, to standing as much as Putin’s barbaric actions in Ukraine and destabilising exercise throughout Europe.
He’ll make a direct plea to his fellow leaders to not block his makes an attempt to agree new border controls, saying: “We will only be able to secure our borders, drive economic growth and defend our democracies if we work together.”
Good morning, and welcome to the UK politics weblog as Keir Starmer prepares to welcome leaders at Blenheim Palace for a summit for the European Political Neighborhood.
We can be bringing you all of the developments because the newly elected prime minister prepares to welcome some 45 nationwide leaders.
The EPC, proposed by France’s Emmanuel Macron, isn’t supposed to debate EU-UK relations, but it surely provides Starmer a stage to showcase a brand new method to the union following the acrimony of Brexit.
As Reuters experiences, he’ll inform the gathering that the UK plans to “take a more active and greater convening role on the world stage,” particularly by serving to Ukraine combat Russia’s invasion and dealing to crack down on the people-smuggling gangs.
“We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our relationships of the future,” Starmer mentioned. “That is why European security will be at the forefront of this government’s foreign and defence priorities, and why I am focused on seizing this moment to renew our relationship with Europe.”
For these attending – together with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, France’s Macron, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk and outgoing Nato Secretary-Common Jens Stoltenberg – the summit can even be dominated with worries over continued US assist if Donald Trump wins the presidency.
Right here’s the schedule for right this moment
8.00: Arrivals and doorsteps
10.00: Opening session
11.30: Household picture
12.00: Thematic roundtables
13:00: Alternative for bilateral/multilateral conferences and lunch
14.45: Closing plenary
15:45: Reception with His Majesty King Charles III
16:45: Bilateral/multilateral conferences and departures
Stick with us for all of the information and different UK political developments
