UK & other courts
Judges in the Netherlands have suspended the extradition of a suspected drug smuggler to the UK because they fear he will be held in “inhuman or degrading” conditions in a British prison.
Evaluation of UK’s international obligations
According to Nobel-prize winning economist Sir Angus Deaton, rising inequality in Britain risks putting the country on the same path as the US to become one of the most unequal nations on earth.
A catalogue of errors by the Home Office has led to a loss of access to £600,000 of EU funds earmarked for the most deprived people in Britain and has put a further £2.9m at risk.
UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU
Keir Starmer has expressed doubts that any cross-party Brexit deal lacking a confirmatory referendum could pass Parliament, warning up to 150 Labour MPs would reject an agreement that did not include one. However Theresa May remains opposed to any form of Brexit referendum. Meanwhile sacked defence secretary Gavin Williamson has warned Theresa May her talks with the Labour party over Brexit amount to a “betrayal”, and Cabinet ministers have argued to scrap formal Brexit talks with Labour and launch a final attempt to secure a compromise in Parliament with indicative votes.
PoliticsHome reports that the new Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage is on course to win nearly 50 seats at the next general election after overtaking the Conservatives in a national poll for the first time, with pressure mounting on the prime minster to quit as Tory support falls.
Jeremy Hunt has argued that the UK must double its defence budget in the decade after Brexit.
MPs are to be given another vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement bill in June; however The Guardian reports that MPs on all sides of the Brexit divide have vowed to vote it down, and the DUP has warned Theresa May that her Brexit plan will suffer a fresh defeat next month unless she manages to secure changes to the Northern Ireland backstop. Number 10 has warned that this Brexit vote will be make or break for Theresa May’s future as prime minister. The Financial Times has discussed why May is likely to face defeat.
A YouGov poll has studied the voting intention figures for the European Parliament.
For the Centre for European Reform, Charles Grant has discussed the Brussels view of Brexit.
Theresa May has promised to set a timetable for the election of her successor after the next Brexit vote in the first week of June, with the new prime minister to be in post by the Tory party conference in Autumn. Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, has outlined the most recent version of the Withdrawal Agreement and what it means for Brexit in an open letter.
Talks between the Conservatives and Labour to find a compromise over Brexit are set to end without agreement after six weeks. However a leak has revealed Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn discussed a plan to leave the EU on July 31 and avoid a second referendum.
No Comments