Latest news with #EuropeanEconomicCommunity
Press and Journal
19-05-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
'Horror show' trade deal for Scots fishing fleet
North-east fishing chief Mike Park and his industry peers have angrily branded PM Sir Keir Starmer's trade deal with the EU as an 'utter betrayal'. EU boats will have had their current level of access to key UK fishing grounds extended for a further 12 years. Details of the trade pact struck between prime minister Sir Keir and EU counterparts emerged earlier today. The UK Government has claimed it will protect British fishing access, rights and areas. There is no increase in the amount of fish EU vessels can catch in UK waters, it said. According to the government, this provides 'stability and certainty' for the sector. But Scottish fishing chiefs are outraged by the package agreed with Brussels. They see it as another blow to the Scottish sector after two-previous major let-downs. The UK's controversial entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 ushered in the much-despised Common Fisheries Policy. And the Brexit trade deal negotiated by former PM Boris Johnson was a big disappointment for the industry. Mike Park, Stonehaven-based chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers' Association, said: 'It's an utter betrayal of the fishing industry for the third time. 'Whereas the (EU) exit deal was significantly worse than expected, the mechanisms through which the industry could renegotiate has now also been removed.' Scottish Fishermen's Federation chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said: 'This deal is a horror show for Scottish fishermen, far worse than Boris Johnson's botched Brexit agreement. ''It is clear Sir Keir Starmer made the whole deal on the backs of our fishermen and coastal communities, granting EU vessels 12 years of continuous access to UK waters at the last minute in order secure other objectives.' Ms Macdonald added: 'This highlights the total indifference of the British political establishment to the interests of our fishing sector, with Sir Keir becoming the third prime minister after Edward Heath and Johnson to betray the industry. 'Any attempt by either the UK or EU to portray the new deal as a continuation of existing arrangements would be a lie. 'The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (Brexit deal) paved the way for annual access negotiations from 2026. 'At the weekend, Sir Keir said the deal would be measured against how much it would improve job prospects and allow our communities to flourish. 'Giving away a national asset such as our rich and healthy fishing grounds for no discernible benefit not only fails both of these tests, but is a disgrace that will ensure the enmity of this proud industry for many years to come.' The government pledged to 'back coastal communities' by investing £360 million in new technology and equipment to modernise the UK fleet, training to help upskill the workforce, and funding to support tourism and boost seafood exports. As part of the deal, new SPS measures will make it easier for food and drink to be imported and exported by slashing costs and red tape. Sir Keir hailed the agreement as 'good for jobs, good for bills, and good for our borders'. But Gordon and Buchan Conservative MP Harriet Cross branded it 'Starmer's surrender'. She called it 'one of the biggest acts of betrayal that our fishing industry has seen in Scotland'. Ms Cross added: 'Our fishermen have been used as a pawn by Keir Starmer, which will result in catastrophic consequences for our coastal communities. 'This is a complete abandonment of our fishing fleets, when the industry should be benefiting from the opportunities presented by leaving the EU and the Common Fisheries Policy.' Meanwhile, Orkney and Shetland Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael called the deal 'deeply disappointing'. He added: ' Fishermen were hoping for a reset after the incompetence of the previous Tory government in protecting fishing interests. 'Instead, it seems that the stench of Boris Johnson's bungled 2020 deal will linger over us for a generation. 'If there is a silver lining for fishermen it will be in easements for trade and stability for key export markets – but that is still far from the 'sea of opportunity' that was promised in the past.'
New Statesman
19-05-2025
- Politics
- New Statesman
Labour's Europe deal is a trap for Brexiteers
Photo byThe Europe question is never settled; it just re-emerges in a new form. Labour knows this better than most parties. In 1975, under Harold Wilson, it held a referendum to resolve the UK's European Economic Community membership. Eight years later, it advocated withdrawal without a vote at all. By 1988, as British trade unionists sang 'Frère Jacques' in tribute to President Delors of the European Commission, Labour had embraced Europe as a bulwark against Thatcherism. Keir Starmer's own career mirrors these convulsions. He was a pro-European of the Delors age – embracing the project as a vehicle to advance human rights and social legislation. In 2018, with the unscripted declaration that 'nobody is ruling out Remain as an option', he established himself as a leader-in-waiting. Yet two years later, in an act of ruthless pragmatism, Starmer whipped Labour MPs to vote for Boris Johnson's deal. Then, as before, some insisted that the Europe question had been resolved. But this was never likely to prove the case for long. In spite of Johnson's 2019 landslide victory, Brexit soon became a moribund cause. The political and economic winds driving integration have only grown stronger. When Kemi Badenoch spoke in the House of Commons of our 'hard-won Brexit freedoms', she was met with laughter from across the Labour benches – a reflection of the disrepute into which the project has fallen. Leavers used to take pride in asserting that the elites were on the wrong side of the people, but they now find this charge thrown back at them. Just 30 per cent of voters now believe the UK was right to leave the EU and only 11 per cent believe the project has been a success. Sixty-four per cent favour a closer relationship with Europe, while 55 per cent are outright Rejoiners. Here is why No 10 does not fear the cries of 'Brexit betrayal' from recalcitrant Leavers. For many voters, Labour's 'reset' is still too hard rather than too soft. The deal agreed this morning includes a new defence and security partnership (with UK firms to gain access to a £150bn EU rearmament fund), a reduction in checks on British produce sold in Europe, the merger of the UK and European emissions-trading schemes and the opening of e-passport gates to British tourists (ending perhaps the most visible sign of Brexit). Negotiations over a youth mobility scheme, including the UK rejoining the Erasmus student exchange programme, will continue. Starmer's most notable concession was granting EU fishing boats access to British waters for 12 years, meaning these rights will now expire in 2038 (the UK had sought just a four- or five-year extension). It is economics, as well as politics, that is pushing Britain back towards Europe. In recent months, Rachel Reeves, traditionally one of the cabinet's most Eurosceptic members, has grown increasingly confident in her attacks on the 'failed Brexit deal'. It is not hard to see why – the EU, as she has noted, remains by far the UK's largest trading partner (accounting for 41 per cent of British exports and 51 per cent of imports). Here is a chance for the Chancellor to ease her nightmarish fiscal calculations (with the Office for Budget Responsibility potentially 'scoring' the new deal as a boost to future GDP growth). Labour aides also see a potent political dividing line with Reform and the Tories. 'If they oppose the deal, they're supporting job cuts and barriers to trade,' a Reeves adviser told me. Chancellors always use the 'baseline' to their advantage – a Labour incumbent will warn that a Conservative government would mean deeper spending cuts; a Tory incumbent will warn that a Labour government would mean higher tax rises. Now, with much of British business on her side, Reeves will be able to argue that a new administration would jeopardise improved trade deals. While her Brexiteer opponents cry betrayal, the Chancellor will emphasise growth and stability. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe On this, the government believes it has an increasingly strong story to tell. 'If you add together the India deal, the America deal and the European deal, you can clearly see a UK government improving the terms of trade at a rapid clip,' a senior source told me. In another political universe, Leavers would be claiming this flurry of deals as a 'Brexit benefit', offering sceptical but constructive opposition. But as they speak only of British failure, Labour believes it can trap Reform and the Tories on the wrong side of both voters and business. This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here. [See also: Keir Starmer's 'island of strangers'] Related
Business Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Times
Why are the British becoming so French?
THE air in the corner of Battersea where I live is suffused with the smell of butter thanks to a new bakery-cum-café. August Bakery produces bread and croissants in such delicious profusion that the place is permanently packed. At weekends (which these days appear to start on Friday), people queue around the block from eight in the morning for their little piece of baked paradise. Is this one of many signs that Britain is turning into France? The British and French have had a turbulent relationship since at least the Norman Conquest in 1066 (I have on my shelves a fat book entitled A Thousand Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke). Charles de Gaulle vetoed British membership of the then European Economic Community in 1963 and 1967 on the grounds that, as a maritime nation, the British looked to the world rather than to the continent. Many Britons voted for Brexit in 2016 for the same reason. One leading Brexiteer, Peter (now Lord) Lilley, kept a portrait of De Gaulle on his office wall during his various ministerial appointments. Yet rather than turning toward the world, the British seem to be doing everything in their power to turn into their old rival. England now has 450 wineries producing 3.15 million bottles annually. The sparkling wines are even good. The shelves of supermarkets such as Waitrose and Marks & Spencer testify to how Britons over 40 now prefer wine to beer. Britain can now boast many first-rate restaurants and farmers' markets (though the average British provincial town is still not a patch of its French equivalent). There is even a popular category of pubs — gastro pubs — that specialise in things like duck confit or steak frites rather than fish and chips or shepherd's pie. The queue outside the August Bakery on a Friday morning is also testimony to Britain's enthusiasm for another aspect of French culture: a work-life balance tilted more toward life. A decade or so ago, the British scoffed at France's taste for taking a month-long vacation in the summer and reading books such as Bonjour Paresse ('Hello Laziness') by Corinne Maier, which describes how she got away with doing nothing at work, and Absolument dé-bor-dée! ('Absolutely Snowed Under'), which describes how French public-sector workers competed to do as little as possible. Now scoffing has turned into imitation. Nine million working-age Britons are 'economically inactive'; 43 per cent of Britons tell pollsters it would be a good thing if less importance was placed on work compared with 40 per cent of French; 93 per cent say that leisure is important to their lives compared with 86 per cent of French. If popular culture is pushing Britain in a French direction, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government is also pushing it. Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, is masterminding a Labour Employment Rights Bill that aims to reinforce employment rights, entrench statutory sick pay and family leave and outlaw zero-hour contracts; it will, in other words, make the British labour market as rigid as the French. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, is in the process of creating a national energy champion, Great British Energy, which is intended to boost the production of clean energy. The British political system is well advanced in its transition from a parliamentary system into a French-style presidential system. Successive British prime ministers have gathered more and more power into their own hands. The British Foreign Office is now all but irrelevant from a strategic point of view, as the big decisions are taken in Downing Street. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up The electorate is also fracturing along French lines. France has seen the two main postwar parties, the conservatives and the socialists, first lose their monopoly of power and then enter sharp decline. For the first time since the Second World War, it's possible to imagine this happening in Britain, particularly to the Tories. France has also seen a radical right party, previously called the National Front and now the National Rally, move from the periphery to the centre of politics, with the largest number of opposition delegates in the French parliament and deep roots in provincial France. Nigel Farage's Reform Party is currently 10 points ahead of Labour in the polls and is building a professional political machine in left-behind Britain. Moreover, Farage is abandoning his residual Thatcherite politics in favour of Marine le Pen-style state activism. Starmer's embrace of hardline immigration policies this week shows just how frightened he is of Reform. The provision of fresh-baked croissants to the citizens of Battersea and beyond is a cause for celebration. So is the profusion of first-class restaurants and wineries. But other aspects of Britain's ongoing Frenchification are more worrying. The French may work relatively short hours, but they are also among the most productive workers in the world. The British, by contrast, are likely to combine short hours with low productivity. The French have a long tradition of staffing state companies with the brightest products of their educational system. The British tend to staff them with either local bureaucrats or failed businesspeople. There is a big difference between Britain's accidental and gerrymandered presidential system and France's carefully crafted one. The British prime minister works in a rickety town house rather than the Élysée Palace and is sorely lacking in support staff. He must also perform residual but time-consuming parliamentary duties such as appearing at prime minister's question time, a ritual that no less a public performer than Tony Blair described as 'nerve-racking, discombobulating, nail-biting, bowel-moving, terror-inspiring, courage-draining'. Hence a troubling dynamic in Britain's national transformation: Our embrace of both presidential politics and national champions will almost certainly speed up the advance of Nigel Farage and his band of gilets jaunes. But at least we'll have a better supply of croissants and coffee to comfort us as we watch Vichy rise. BLOOMBERG
Bloomberg
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Why Are the British Becoming So French?
The air in the corner of Battersea where I live is suffused with the smell of butter thanks to a new bakery-cum-café. August Bakery produces bread and croissants in such delicious profusion that the place is permanently packed. At weekends (which these days appear to start on Friday), people queue around the block from eight in the morning for their little piece of baked paradise. Is this one of many signs that Britain is turning into France? The British and French have had a turbulent relationship since at least the Norman Conquest in 1066 (I have on my shelves a fat book entitled A Thousand Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke). Charles de Gaulle vetoed British membership of the then European Economic Community in 1963 and 1967 on the grounds that, as a maritime nation, the British looked to the world rather than to the continent. Many Britons voted for Brexit in 2016 for the same reason. One leading Brexiteer, Peter (now Lord) Lilley, kept a portrait of De Gaulle on his office wall during his various ministerial appointments.
Local France
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Local France
A French history of the referendum
Over the border in Switzerland, referendums are a regular occurrence with the country's tradition of 'direct democracy' meaning that residents are constantly being asked to vote on single topics, ranging from big changes like equal marriage or assisted dying to smaller and more local matters. In France, however, national referendums are rare - although the city of Paris has been experimenting with this format, with locals being asked for their opinion on a ban on electronic scooters, plans to extend pedestrianised streets and an increase in parking prices for SUVs. It's still unclear what this year's referendum will be about - Macron said only that it will be a series of questions, with the votes taking place on the same day, on "important social and economic reforms". He said only that the votes would be "in the coming months", although autumn is thought to be a likely time frame. Referendums in France don't always turn out well for the government that calls them, which perhaps explains their comparative rarity. Here's a look at some of the key votes from the Fifth Republic, the period from 1958 to the present day; May 2005 - EU Constitution changes France's last major referendum was 20 years ago, and resulted in a bruising defeat for president Jacques Chirac. The subject was somewhat technical - changes to the governing mechanisms for the EU - but in what was widely interpreted as a rejection of the EU, rather than the specifics of the treaty change, the French people voted 'no' by 54 percent to 46 percent. Advertisement The result was humiliating for Chirac, who was in favour of the changes but who had opted not to put them before parliament, and instead to ask the French people directly. April 1972 and September 1992 - more EU The 2005 referendum marked the third time the French people had been asked about in the EU - in 1972 they voted 68 percent in favour of expanding the European Economic Community, creating the body that became the European Union. In 1992 they voted on ratifying the Maastricht Treaty, which created the framework of the modern EU with broader economic and security cooperation. After what was described as a "lively" campaign, France eventually voted yes by just 51 percent. September 2000 - shorter presidential terms Until 2000, French presidents were elected for a seven-year mandate. This was dropped down to five years after the French people agreed with the idea - 73 percent, albeit with a very low turnout, just thirty percent of the population felt strongly enough to vote. Advertisement The change was proposed by Jacques Chirac who also became the first beneficiary of it - in 2002 he was re-elected, for a five-year term. Any changes to the role of president requires a change of the Constitution, which can only be done in a very narrow set of circumstances , one of which is that a clear majority of the population has voted for it in a referendum. The current system in which the president is directly elected via universal suffrage also came about after a referendum in 1962, called by Charles De Gaulle. This brings us neatly to De Gaulle, who called three of the most consequential referendums in the history of the French firth republic. January 1961 and April 1962 - Algerian independence Independence for the French colony of Algeria came about after a brutal, years-long armed struggle in which many people died and the French republic itself came close to toppling. But it ended with two referendums. The first, in 1961 asked the Algerian people themselves whether they wanted 'self determination' - by a large margin (75 percent) they voted yes. The following year France as a whole was asked if it agreed with the Evian Agreement, which laid out the conditions for a cease-fire and then negotiations with an Algerian government, effectively bringing the war to an end - 90 percent of people were in agreement. Advertisement April 1969 - Reform of the Senate and regional government But the most consequential reform for De Gaulle himself was perhaps the dullest topic ever subjected to a public vote in France - changes to the regional government organisation and reform of the French Senate. Perhaps over-confident after winning three previous votes, De Gaulle called the vote on the changes, but the referendum rapidly became a vote of confidence in his presidency after a bruising series of crises. The French people voted 'non' to the changes by 52.41 percent, and De Gaulle resigned the following day. After surviving major crises including weeks of nationwide strikes and protests in May 1968, the threat of a coup by military leaders over his Algeria peace plan, France's Resistance hero was eventually brought down by a vote on local government.
