Brexit – ‘He would not like to kick the bucket until Brexit was switched.” These words were expressed at the memorial service last seven day stretch of my dear companion and previous Observer associate Dick Leonard.

Dick passed on a month prior at the mature age of 90. The speaker was his widow, Irène Heidelberger-Leonard, before a gathering of grievers who incorporated the Labor chief Keir Starmer, to whom Dick had been something of a political tutor.

Dick’s commitment to the European reason was with the end goal that he endangered his political profession – he was parliamentary private secretary to the Labor bureau serve Anthony Crosland from 1970 to 1974 – when he joined 68 other Labor rebels, driven by Roy Jenkins, in casting a ballot in 1971 for joining the European people group, against Labor strategy at that point. Indeed, Labor’s mentality towards what is presently the EU has consistently been a rollercoaster ride, and same story, different day, with noticeable Labor legislators weakly tolerating a Brexit that is obviously a catastrophe and should be switched.

Why, even that conspicuous guilty party and engineer of the lying Leave crusade seemed, by all accounts, to be thinking again about everything in his BBC Two meeting last week. “Is Brexit a smart thought? Nobody on Earth knows,” asserted the improper Dominic Cummings. In reality, said the executive’s previous closest companion, it was maybe “totally sensible to say Brexit was a slip-up”.

I’ll say it is totally sensible. A considerable lot of us here on Earth realize that very well indeed. However, Cummings – nearly showing that in conveying Brexit for Johnson he was just acting in the limit of a recruited soldier of fortune – likewise revealed to us that anybody persuaded that Brexit was something worth being thankful for must “have some issues”.

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The media are currently packed every day with calamity stories. The Northern Ireland “convention” is unfeasible. The grievous Brexit serve Lord Frost makes this country a fool each time he says the arrangement that the UK joined to – for the transient political comfort of Johnson – ought to be reconsidered because the EU is being – hang tight for it – absurd! He brings to mind the Groucho Marx joke: “These are my standards. What’s more, in the event that you don’t care for them … indeed, I have others.”

One starts to puzzle over whether Cummings presently feels that, on top of the multitude of other very much pitched prime ecclesiastical errors, the bedlam of Brexit may add to Johnson’s defeat – a critical sign being the way “opportunity day” on 19 July quickly transformed into disaster day around the same time that the Northern Ireland emergency turned out to be completely show. In the previous case it didn’t require footballers to humiliate the public authority: simply the CEO of Marks and Spencer.

Source – https://www.theguardian.com/

Brexit needs to be reversed – Labour must say it out loud
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Piers Morgan has left ITV’s Good Morning Britain following a row over comments he made about the Duchess of Sussex.

It brings the controversial host’s time on the show to an end after six years.

ITV announced the decision after Ofcom said it was investigating his comments after receiving 41,000 complaints.

On Monday’s show, Morgan said he “didn’t believe a word” the duchess had told Oprah Winfrey about her mental health in an interview.

An ITV spokesperson said: “Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”

The channel confirmed to the BBC that his departure from the breakfast news show will take effect immediately but declined to say who would be replacing him on Wednesday.

In a tweet on Wednesday morning Morgan said that he had reflected on his opinion on the Oprah interview and still did not believe Meghan, adding that “freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on”.

“Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions,” he said.

Morgan’s departure followed an on-air clash with weather presenter Alex Beresford, who criticised his colleague on Tuesday for “continuing to trash” the duchess, prompting Morgan to walk off set. He returned within 10 minutes.

Also on Tuesday, ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said she “completely believed what [the duchess] says”, adding that ITV is “totally committed to” mental health.

Mental health charity Mind, which is a partner with ITV on its Britain Get Talking campaign, also criticised Morgan, saying it was “disappointed” by the presenter’s comments.

What did Piers Morgan say?

On Monday’s programme, Morgan picked up on the duchess’s claim that her request to senior Buckingham Palace officials for help was rejected, after she told Oprah she had had suicidal thoughts.

“Who did you go to?” he said. “What did they say to you? I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report.

“The fact that she’s fired up this onslaught against our Royal Family I think is contemptible.”

He also referred to the duchess as the “Pinocchio Princess” in a tweet later that morning.

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Following an outcry, he said on Tuesday’s episode that “I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what” Meghan said, but that it was “not for me to question if she felt suicidal”.

He added: “My real concern was a disbelief frankly… that she went to a senior member of the Royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family.”

Source – https://www.bbc.com/

Piers Morgan leaves ITV’s GMB after row over Meghan remarks
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Brexit – The UK’s new trade deal with the EU marks “the beginning of a moment of national renewal”, Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator has said.

The agreement was announced on Christmas Eve, after months of fraught talks on issues such as fishing rights and business rules.

Lord Frost described it as “one of the biggest and broadest” ever.

MPs will vote on the deal in Parliament on 30 December, with the UK to exit existing trading rules on 31 December.

The European Parliament also needs to ratify it, while EU ambassadors received a Christmas Day briefing on the trade deal from EU negotiator Michel Barnier.

A 1,246-page document, which has been published on the UK government’s website, sets out the post-Brexit relationship with the EU and includes about 800 pages of annexes and footnotes.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Lord Frost said: “There’s no more role for the European Court of Justice, there’s no direct effects of EU law, there’s no alignment of any kind, and we’re out of the single market and out of the customs union just as the manifesto said we would.

“All choices are in our hands as a country and it’s now up to us to decide how we use them and how we go forward in the future.”

Senior members of the UK negotiating team added the deal allowed for a “managed divergence” from EU rules and standards.

A free trade agreement usually rules out tariffs being applied to imported goods. Under the terms of this deal if either party acts in a way the other views as anti-competitive, they can go to an independent arbitrator. If that doesn’t resolve the complaint, either party can impose tariffs.

The French Minister for Europe Clément Beaune said: “There is no country in the world that will be subject to as many export rules to us as the UK.”

But the UK negotiators described the rules as “standard” for third party trade deals.

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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – who campaigned against Brexit – said the deal did not provide adequate protections for jobs, manufacturing, financial services or workplace rights and was “not the deal the government promised”.

But with no time left to renegotiate, the only choice was between “this deal or no deal”, he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described it as “fair” and “balanced”, saying it was now “time to turn the page and look to the future”.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Brexit trade deal ‘moment of national renewal’, says Lord Frost
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Trade deal – If at first you don’t succeed you can try and try. But eventually, sometimes, failure is what follows.

That now seems the likely outcome of months of talks designed to create a smooth path for the country towards a different future – a deal that, in theory, would ease the junction from membership of a huge trading bloc to a world outside.

There is a chance still that a couple of frantic days could result in a change.

The prime minister could decide that after all, the potential disruption of no deal is just too great to risk.

The EU president might be able to persuade continental leaders to budge, as they gather in Brussels today.

But the chance of reassessing and refreshing the efforts seem now remote.

• What are the sticking points in Brexit trade talks?

The talks between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen were difficult – the gaps between them no slimmer at the end than the start.

The hoped-for mutual understanding, the nudge or wink to pursue Brexit compromise, did not come.

The only agreement was on when they might call a halt.

For the first time in a world of highly moveable deadlines, they announced that a final decision must be taken by the end of the weekend.

‘It’s dystopian’

Both sides want to stick to their principles. But that determination right now has set them on the path to the practical Brexit outcome they both wanted to avoid – and, if nothing changes, the chance of significant disruption at least in the short term for the country in many different ways.

And for both sides, failing to agree would be a real political accident – something they don’t want, and that didn’t have to happen.

One diplomat told me: “It’s dystopian – the UK wants to have the absolute freedom to do things it will probably never do – apart from some tinkering. The EU wants to protect itself from things that will probably never come.”

People involved in the negotiations believed that there was a way through that could protect each part.

But unless one side, or more likely both, aren’t willing to give up some of their principles very fast, or the negotiators come up with a sudden miracle, then for all his optimism, Boris Johnson may fail to achieve the trade deal that Brexiteers boasted would be easy.

A result that he always said he would be ready for, but no doubt what he wanted to avert.

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Trade deal on Brexit now looking remote
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Brexit – The UK and EU will resume face-to-face Brexit trade talks in London this weekend, as negotiators race to reach a deal before a looming deadline.

It comes after EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier left a period of self-isolation after a colleague tested positive for Covid last week.

Ahead of travelling to the UK, he said the “same significant divergences persist” in negotiations.

After arriving, he said he would work with “patience and determination”.

Earlier, Boris Johnson insisted the likelihood of a deal depended on the EU.

Speaking on Friday, the prime minister told reporters that “there’s a deal there to be done if they want to do it”.

But he added “substantial and important differences” remained between the two sides, with just over a month left before a December deadline.

Negotiators are striving to strike a deal to govern their trading relationship once the UK’s post-Brexit transition period ends in January 2021.

Talks have been continuing via video link for the past week or so, after the positive Covid-19 test in a member of Mr Barnier’s team.

Mr Barnier travelled to London after briefing EU ambassadors and members of the European Parliament on talks.

“In line with Belgian rules, my team and I are no longer in quarantine. Physical negotiations can continue,” he wrote on Twitter.

Ahead of in-person talks getting back under way, his UK counterpart Lord David Frost pledged to “do my utmost” see if a deal is possible.

“It is late, but a deal is still possible, and I will continue to talk until it’s clear that it isn’t,” he tweeted on Friday.

He added that any deal would have to “fully respect UK sovereignty,” including over fishing waters and a regime for subsidising businesses.

“An agreement on any other basis is not possible,” he added.

If the UK is holding off making compromises, in the hope of squeezing more last-minute concessions out of Brussels, it might be successful when it comes to fish.

On Friday, we heard talk of Michel Barnier being about to propose that between 15% and 18% of the fish quota caught in UK waters by EU fleets would be restored to the UK under a free trade agreement.

That was later dismissed by a number of European diplomats, as merely one of “many proposals doing the rounds”.

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But whatever happens on the fish front – and Brussels knows it has some big compromises to make – as much as the EU wants a deal with the UK, it’s unlikely to let go of its insistence on two other issues: common competition regulations and a tough means of policing them.

Asked about the chances of an agreement, Mr Johnson said the “likelihood of a deal is very much determined by our friends and partners in the EU”.

He added that a trade agreement would “benefit people on both sides of the Channel,” but insisted the UK could “prosper mightily” without one.

“Everybody’s working very hard – but clearly there are substantial and important differences to be bridged, but we’re getting on with it.”

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Brexit: Barnier arrives in UK for talks
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Boris Johnson has backed his key adviser Dominic Cummings, amid a row over the aide’s travel during the lockdown. The PM said he believed Mr Cummings had “no alternative” but to travel from London to the North East for childcare “when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus”.

“In every respect, he has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity,” Mr Johnson said.

It follows calls from several Tory MPs for Mr Cummings’ resignation.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson’s decision to take no action against Mr Cummings was “an insult to sacrifices made by the British people”.

Leaving Downing Street after about six hours in Number 10 on Sunday, Mr Cummings refused to answer questions.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson said parents and teachers should prepare for the phased reopening of schools in England to start on 1 June as planned.

He also announced that a further 118 people had died with coronavirus in the UK, across all settings, bringing the total to 36,793.

On Saturday, Mr Cummings and the government had said he acted “reasonably and legally” in response to the original claims that he drove 260 miles from London to County Durham with his wife, who had coronavirus symptoms.

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The aide then faced further allegations on Sunday of a second trip to the North East, reported by The Observer and Sunday Mirror.

But, speaking at Downing Street’s daily coronavirus briefing, Mr Johnson called “some” of the claims “palpably false”.

Mr Johnson said he held “extensive” discussions on Sunday with Mr Cummings, who he said “followed the instincts of every father and every parent – and I do not mark him down for that”.

“Looking at the very severe childcare difficulties that presented themselves to Dominic Cummings and his family, I think that what they did was totally understandable – there’s actually guidance… about what you need to do about the pressures that families face when they have childcare needs.

“He found those needs where they could best be served, best be delivered and yes, that did involve travel.”

When asked whether Mr Cummings made a trip to Barnard Castle – 30 miles from Durham – during his isolation in April, Mr Johnson said his aide isolated for 14 days and he was “content that in all periods and in both sides (of isolation) he behaved responsibly and correctly”.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

Boris Johnson backs key aide Dominic Cummings in lockdown row
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Coronavirus – NORTH Korea has allegedly lost 180 soldiers to coronavirus, with thousands in quarantine as the illness infects thousands across the region.

North Korea’s military reported on March 6 that the military’s medical corps had sent a report detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the country’s soldiers to military leaders according to a Daily NK insider.

The shocking report said that 180 soldiers had died in January and February and that approximately 3,700 soldiers are currently under quarantine.

The soldiers who had died were stationed on or around the country’s border with China in North Pyongan, Chagang, Ryanggang, and North Hamgyong provinces.

The military’s leadership had ordered military hospitals to collect data on the number of soldiers who had died after suffering from high fevers stemming from pneumonia, tuberculosis, asthma or colds and how many are in quarantine.

It comes as neighbouring South Korea reported a total of 7,478 cases of coronavirus, the second-most for any nation after China.

Fifty-three people have died in South Korea which is much fewer than Italy and Iran.

North Korea faces a fight for their national existence if coronavirus is not contained in the country, but Kim still sent South Korea a letter of condolence for their crisis last week.

An official who was not showing any symptoms was quarantined after returning from China in February but was brutally executed for going to a public bath instead.

The newly reported numbers showing the shocking truth about the situation have caused uproar and panic throughout North Korea’s military.

Leaders are now taking several measures to prevent the spread of what appears to be COVID-19 infections.

Corpses are now to be “thoroughly disinfected”, which goes against the North Korean government’s order that all hospitals cremate all corpses.

Daily NK’s military source explained: “There’s just too many bodies [to be cremated in the military] and they didn’t want news [of the cremations] to leak outside the military.

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“I haven’t heard of corpses being cremated in military hospitals.

“The military leadership likely believes that suddenly asking the hospitals to cremate all the bodies would create a big headache for medical staff.”

The authorities have also ordered the military hospitals to disinfect the quarantined areas with methanol, where sick soldiers are being hospitalized on a daily basis.

Military leaders have also ordered that soldiers with weak immune systems or who suffered from health issues in the past be “observed closely”.

Source – https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/

Coronavirus ‘kills 180 North Korean soldiers’, diplomats flee
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Boris Johnson promised not so long ago that Sajid Javid would be his chancellor, in front of an audience and the TV cameras.

In characteristically bombastic style, before he could be completely sure he would be back as PM, Boris Johnson said: “I’m going to give you an absolutely categorical assurance I will keep Sajid Javid as my chancellor. I think he’s a great guy, and I think he is doing a fantastic job.”

So what on earth has just then happened?

As one cabinet minister suggested, it seems Sajid Javid’s departure is “a little bit of accident and a little bit of design”.

Two weeks ago, if the now former chancellor had been fired it might not have seemed that surprising.

There were well-known tensions between the two teams, not necessarily between the two men themselves.

And there was plenty of briefing around that the relationship was strained between Mr Javid and the prime minister’s top adviser, Dominic Cummings.

There were not profound policy clashes perhaps, but there was certainly some of the traditional friction – No 10 that wants to be able to spend, No 11 that wants to hold the cheque book tightly.

But in recent days, there had been plenty of warm noises that Mr Javid was safe in government.

Even though No 10 has bold ideas for reform, they had concluded it seemed there wasn’t much point ripping up the relationship at the top.

What however they were determined to change was the atmosphere and the balance between the wider institutions – the political machine of Downing Street and the wider Treasury team.

For a deeply motivated group inside No 10, that meant forcing changes on the chancellor as noted by the well plugged-in Conservative blogger Paul Goodman earlier this month.

The possibility of that had not gone unnoticed by the Treasury team, and I understand that Mr Javid had discussed with friends what to do in that circumstance.

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If he were presented with a fait accompli, he had considered that he might have to quit.

Walking in front of the cameras at Downing Street this morning therefore, he was aware of what might have been about to happen.

I’m told the meeting between the two powerful men started cordially, with Mr Boris Johnson praising Mr Javid’s time in the job, before hitting him with the demand that he’d love him to stay, but without his team.

Whispers suggest the chancellor (still in the job at that point) asked the prime minister for what precisely his advisers had actually done wrong, but he was short on evidence.

After the pair went “round in circles”, they took a break, at which point in a series of “side meetings” senior figures like the chief whip and Eddie Lister, another senior No 10 adviser, tried to persuade Mr Javid to stay.

He did not back down though, and then it’s said in another one-on-one meeting with the PM, he tendered his resignation.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Boris Johnson chooses power over personnel in cabinet reshuffle
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Brexit – A cause for celebration for some, a sobering moment for others. The UK formally ended its EU membership at the stroke of midnight on Friday in Brussels, 23:00 GMT in London.

A projection of a countdown clock in Downing Street marked the occasion.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed the “dawn of a new era”, promising “real national renewal” after 47 years of EU membership.

With the divorce now sealed, one chapter of Brexit has come to an end. The next, however, has only just begun.

This is where we are now.

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What will change?

At first, not much.

An 11-month transition period has begun and the UK will largely stick to EU rules.

The really big changes will come when that transition ends. But the EU really is now a club of 27 members and not 28.

In other words, the UK stays for now in the EU’s customs union and single market. That means the same trade rules and free movement of goods and services. Freedom of movement for people stays the same and the EU’s top court still has jurisdiction.

But there will be no more British voices in the European Parliament and no British ministers at EU meetings where big decisions are made.

Instead, the UK will try to agree on a different economic partnership with the EU and forge new ones beyond.

What does it mean for me?

If you’re British you are no longer an EU citizen. But for now, you can still travel around the EU as freely as before.

The same goes if you’re an EU citizen in the UK.

But after the transition period, which the UK vows will end on 31 December 2020, immigration rules will change for UK and EU citizens.

What happens now?

The UK and the EU will use the next 11 months to negotiate a new relationship. Few on the EU side believe that is long enough, including EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, but Boris Johnson has vowed to do so.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

Brexit: The UK has officially left the EU
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Meghan Markle is wasting no time embarking on her and Prince Harry’s independent career path amid their exit as senior members of the royal family.

The Duchess of Sussex already inked a deal with Disney before she and Prince Harry shocked the world with their “Megxit” announcement this week, according to a new report.

U.K.’s The Times claims the duchess recorded a voiceover for a Disney project before she and Prince Harry left for a six-week-long sabbatical ahead of the Christmas holiday.

The outlet claims Markle did the voiceover in return for a donation to Elephants Without Borders, a non-profit organization in Botswana that aims to protect the species from poaching.

News of the deal comes months after Meghan Markle attended the U.K. premiere of “The Lion King” in London. The Duchess’ attendance at the red carpet event made headlines after she was spotted speaking to Pharrell about the lack of privacy that comes along with being a royal.

As Pharrell complimented Meghan and Harry’s marriage, the Duchess of Sussex responded, “Oh, thank you. They don’t make it easy.”

As a part of their big announcement on Wednesday, Prince Harry and Meghan updated their official Sussexroyal.com website with answers to burning questions about how the couple’s finances would be impacted by reduced royal roles.

The couple explained that in the current structure, they do not earn “any income in any form,” but value the “ability to earn a professional income.”

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A rep for Elephants Without Borders did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Source – https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/

Meghan Markle already signed a deal with Disney amid royal exit
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