UK in Strasbourg
The ECtHR has ruled that Chong & Ors v the UK (App No. 29753/16), a case concerning the 1948 Batang Kali killings by British soldiers, is inadmissible because it did not fall within its jurisdiction as the events had occurred more than ten years before the UK had given individual applicants the right to apply directly to the court.
UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU
Philip Hammond has insisted the “SuperCanada” Brexit plan, backed by rebel Conservatives including Boris Johnson, is “not on offer” from the EU. Meanwhile Theresa May has insisted that her Brexit blueprint is ‘not dead’ despite Boris Johnson’s latest attack on her Chequers plan on the first day of the Conservatives’ annual conference.
Former prime minister John Major has voiced support for a second referendum based on ‘fact not fantasy’ whilst criticising the Brexiters who have been attacking Theresa May.
For the UK in a Changing Europe, Matt Bevington has argued that the real Brexit deadline is not when it appears to be.
The Financial Times has published an article discussing what the EU will do if Westminster votes down a Brexit deal.
Theresa May is preparing to limit Britain’s ability to strike free-trade deals after Brexit in a significant concession to the EU aimed at breaking the deadlock in negotiations. Dominic Raab has also stated that Britain is looking at how regulatory checks on some goods could be used as part of a solution to move Brexit talks, notably a “backstop deal” for the Irish border, forward. Hugo Dixon on In Facts has also discussed the potential new concessions the Tories are planning to advance the Brexit negotiations.
James Hanratty, a former judge who oversaw Hong Kong’s handover to China, has warned Brexit negotiators that the process of rewriting the territory’s laws and treaties took eight years.
The campaigning group Fair Vote UK has taken the first step in judicial review proceedings by sending a pre-action letter to the Government, reviewing the prime minister’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into the Brexit referendum.
DUP leaders have warned Theresa May that they will vote down any Brexit deal that would lead to a customs border in the Irish Sea. However Theresa May is insisting that she will not allow any Brexit deal to split mainland Britain from Northern Ireland. Subsequently Ireland has boosted the Prime Minister’s hopes of breaking the impasse by backing her emerging plan for an all-UK customs union with the EU, urging her to publish the border plan as soon as possible.
France is stepping up its preparations for a no-deal Brexit, with the Government assuming wide-ranging decree powers to put in place customs controls, safeguard rights for British expatriates and ensure that cross-Channel trains will continue to run.
According to a YouGov poll, an overwhelming majority of LGBT+ people want a People’s Vote on Brexit and would vote to remain in the EU.
Donald Tusk has raised hopes of a breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations by declaring that a so-called “Canada +++” deal is on the table.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published analysis of the exposure of different workers to potential trade barriers between the EU and UK, finding that Brexit will hit poorly educated men hardest.
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