EU warns it will not accept pig in a poke Brexit.

From the good financial news link -

About 1,000 EU finance firms are eyeing up opening offices in the UK for the first time, according to financial consultancy Bovill.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the firm found that 1,500 money managers, payment firms and insurers have applied for permission to continue operating in the UK after Brexit.

Around two-thirds had no prior physical operations in Britain, it said.

It suggests London "is set to remain a key global financial centre", it added.

"Many of these European firms will be opening offices for the first time, which is good news for UK professional advice firms across multiple industries including lawyers, accountants, consultants and recruiters." said Mike Johnson, managing consultant at Bovill.

Terrible news for the remainers. So there will be feck all on the bbc!

Guardian news that you don't get from GMB - EU overpromising and underdelivering

EU promises vaccine push amid continuing shortages
My colleagues Daniel Boffey and Helen Sullivan report on comments from the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who has insisted that the EU is “catching up” with the UK’s coronavirus vaccination programme in response to renewed criticism of the rollout among the 27 member states.

With 6% receiving a first jab so far across the EU against 27% in the UK, their story continues:

Shortages of vaccine doses continue to blight national plans across the bloc, with Belgium the latest to warn of “serious delays” to its plans, with vaccination of people over 65 postponed to the end of March.

There is also mounting evidence of the AstraZeneca vaccine being rejected and left unused in fridges following weeks of bad publicity, including Emmanuel Macron’s unsubstantiated claim that it is “quasi-ineffective” among older groups.


They've vaccinated just a quarter of the UK tally but they are ''catching up'' there's nothing like the truth in the EU gulag.

PatDunne wrote:

Guardian news that you don't get from GMB - EU overpromising and underdelivering

EU promises vaccine push amid continuing shortages
My colleagues Daniel Boffey and Helen Sullivan report on comments from the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who has insisted that the EU is “catching up” with the UK’s coronavirus vaccination programme in response to renewed criticism of the rollout among the 27 member states.

With 6% receiving a first jab so far across the EU against 27% in the UK, their story continues:

Shortages of vaccine doses continue to blight national plans across the bloc, with Belgium the latest to warn of “serious delays” to its plans, with vaccination of people over 65 postponed to the end of March.

There is also mounting evidence of the AstraZeneca vaccine being rejected and left unused in fridges following weeks of bad publicity, including Emmanuel Macron’s unsubstantiated claim that it is “quasi-ineffective” among older groups.


They've vaccinated just a quarter of the UK tally but they are ''catching up'' there's nothing like the truth in the EU gulag.

Seems there's a change of heart in Germany concerning the Astrazeneca...

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The EU clim that vacc don't work on over 65's is a piss poor attempt to cover up the fact they haven't managed to order enough for their needs.

Earwegoagain wrote:

The EU clim that vacc don't work on over 65's is a piss poor attempt to cover up the fact they haven't managed to order enough for their needs.

They couldn't fool you but I think Harve bought the story.

Dirty tricks by the eu....

'The Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, has accused the European Union of trying to poach business from the City of London in the wake of Brexit, labelling the bloc’s recent activity a “very serious escalation”.

Mr Bailey told the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday the EU now seems more interested in taking euro-denominated derivatives clearing business out of London and into the EU than making sure the UK’s regulations are “equivalent” to the bloc’s for financial stability reasons.

“That seems to be where the debate is heading,” he told MPs.


“I’m not surprised by that. Brexit has been the stimulus to revise this debate.”

The governor said it looked like the EU was preparing to exert regulatory pressure on EU financial firms to shift their activity out of London and into the EU.

A document from a European Commission working group was reported by Reuters this week to show Europe’s largest banks are being asked justify why they should not clear derivatives in the EU.

“Frankly, it would be a serious escalation of the issue,” said Mr Bailey, and suggested such pressure would be of “dubious legality”.

“I have to say to you that would be highly controversial – and that would be something that we would have to, and want to, resist very firmly.”

Mr Bailey did not specify what form that resistance would take, saying it would be for ministers to decide.

“I’m not going to obviously say how the government would react to that because that’s for the government to think about and we will work very closely with them on this but it would be a very serious escalation in my view of the issue,” he said.

The EU granted the UK regulation temporary equivalence in September for derivatives clearing, enabling the activity to continue to take place in the City of London after the end of the Brexit transition on 31 December.

The UK had hoped to obtain full equivalence from Brussels for clearing and also other financial activities and is in talks with Brussels to produce a post-Brexit memorandum of understanding on financial services, due next month.

But Mr Bailey said that the recent attitude of the EU suggested that equivalence was a “sideshow” and that the EU’s real agenda seemed to be a “location policy” of shepherding as much lucrative financial services activity out of London and into the bloc as possible.

In his Mansion House speech earlier this month Mr Bailey warned that the EU seemed to be trying to “cut off” the UK on financial services, which he said would be a “mistake”.

The temporary equivalence for UK derivatives clearing by the EU expires in the middle of 2022.

The UK was not granted equivalence by the EU for EU share trading. That has already resulted in billions of euros trading activity shifting out of London into mainland Europe this year.'

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Daily Express

Thank goodness the Tories are in charge now and can rip up the deal the Conservatives negotiated.

seadog wrote:

Daily Express

Thank goodness the Tories are in charge now and can rip up the deal the Conservatives negotiated.

Last Conservative government was Maggie's.
All of them since have been lukewarm liberals.

The poor dears, whatever their political proclivities, do seem a tad confused about what they voted for.

Whisky a go go: US to drop tariffs on UK exports including scotch

The White House has agreed to drop retaliatory US tariffs on UK exports including scotch whisky, raising hopes of a post-Brexit transatlantic trade deal.

In 2019, the then US president, Donald Trump, imposed a 25% tariff on a range of European Union exports, as part of a 16-year trade dispute over state support for aerospace rivals Boeing and Airbus.

Estimates released last month suggested the duty had led to a £500m dropoff in sales of Scottish single malt alone.

But the Department for International Trade (DIT) said on Thursday the Biden administration had ended the tariff. The move followed the UK scrapping punitive measures against Boeing in January.

“The easier it is for Americans to buy a bottle of Macallan, Talisker or Glenfiddich, the more money those producers will have to invest in their businesses, their staff and futures,” said the trade minister Liz Truss. “Today’s agreement shows that both the UK and the US are determined to work together to build back better and take our trading relationship to new heights.”

The rapprochement, which was first reported by the Spectator, will also result in tariffs being lifted on a range of goods, including £11m of cashmere, £38m of pork products and £45m of cheese, the DIT said.

“From scotch whisky distillers to stilton-makers, businesses across the UK will benefit from the US decision today to suspend tariffs in this dispute,” said Boris Johnson.

The government said it would continue to seek a “fair settlement” with the White House that removed all remaining punitive tariffs

Italy blocks export of AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia as tensions rise over jab access

Italy is first country to impose European Union export ban after blocking shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca jabs

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Tgwu wrote:

Italy blocks export of AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia as tensions rise over jab access

Italy is first country to impose European Union export ban after blocking shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca jabs

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They don't want it but they don't want anyone else to have it, make your mind up EU.

Jab wars.

Who could have foreseen this a few years ago?

I await the Holywood blockbuster.

Ant Middleton isn't up to much send him over with a couple of his mates pronto.

Tgwu wrote:

'Everything has stayed in EU!' Brussels gloats after stopping AstraZeneca jabs going to UK

THE European Commission has boasted about its vaccine export controls after it confirmed a vaccine plant in the Netherlands was no longer sending AstraZeneca jabs to Brexit Britain.

We make our own. Right here in the UK. The EU can go feck themselves.

Such nice people those Europeans, can see why we left.

Scum the lot of them!

US giant announces huge offshore wind plant - 3,000 jobs being created on Teesside and a US giant choosing the North East over France because of its recently-announced Freeport status! Bloody Brexit!

POI wrote:

US giant announces huge offshore wind plant - 3,000 jobs being created on Teesside and a US giant choosing the North East over France because of its recently-announced Freeport status! Bloody Brexit!

Another lie perpetuated by Johnsons mob. Freeports were available whilst we were in the EU to a limited degree
Sunak had his arse handed to him only yesterday over that

Same ludicrous claims over the vaccine rollout completely debunked that we couldnt have done it whilst part of the EU

Thats not aimed at you POI

harvetheslayer wrote:

POI wrote:

US giant announces huge offshore wind plant - 3,000 jobs being created on Teesside and a US giant choosing the North East over France because of its recently-announced Freeport status! Bloody Brexit!

Another lie perpetuated by Johnsons mob. Freeports were available whilst we were in the EU to a limited degree
Sunak had his arse handed to him only yesterday over that

Same ludicrous claims over the vaccine rollout completely debunked that we couldnt have done it whilst part of the EU

Thats not aimed at you POI

Utter bullshit Harve if still in the EU we would have had to sign up to their vaccine procurement plan which is piss poor and months behind ours.
As for freeports we didn't see many whilst we were in the EU.

US trade deal edges closer as Liz Truss readies for high-level talks with Washington


LIZ Truss today reveals how a US trade deal will help spread wealth to every corner of the UK ahead of high-level talks with Washington.

The Cabinet minister hailed relations with Joe Biden’s new administration as “very positive” and insisted there is a “fantastic” agreement to be done. Britain has been held back for nearly 50 years by Brussels but is now free to strike trading terms that will benefit all four nations, Ms Truss said. She backed our crusade to Unite The Kingdom and said the country is a “family” and should stick together.

Ms Truss said: “We’re a family and I don’t want to see a future where we are divided.

“I think we bring so much benefit to each other and we work so well together and the union has been a massive success story and I want it to keep that way.”

The International Trade Secretary said there has been a “very good start” to the relationship with the White House.

She will speak to new US trade official Katherine Tai for the first time to hammer out the timetable for securing a free trade agreement.

“I’m expecting to have a call with the new US trade representative over the next fortnight,” she said.

“I will be looking to establish a timetable with her. But we have made very good progress towards a deal, there’s a fantastic deal to be done for both countries and it will, of course, help grow our economy post-covid and give more opportunities right across the United Kingdom.”

The UK and US will also work together to stop China harming world trade.

So far, we have had a very positive relationship with the new Biden administration,” she added.

“We also want to work with the US on making trade fairer across the world and stopping unfair trade practices, for example, unfair industrial subsidies from countries like China.”

The International Trade Secretary scored a major victory for the Scottish whisky industry last week after securing an agreement with the US to suspend 25 per cent trade tariffs.

Donald Trump slapped the punishing levies on some exports in a tit for tat 16-year battle with the EU over aerospace subsidies.

Ms Truss is in talks to make the changes permanent and is “absolutely confident” of securing an agreement.

“We have been in this dispute for over 16s years and the reality is the EU failed to solve it,” she said during a visit to whisky distillery in Scotland.

“But as an independent trading nation we have been able to de escalate this dispute, get the parties to the table and I’m confident we can have a negotiated solution.

“And this is what we can do across the board, bringing in trade deals that lower tariffs, that give more opportunities to businesses across the union.”

The US is the biggest single export market for Scottish whisky and the move has helped protect 30,000 jobs across Scotland.

Ms Truss said it “shows what happens when you have a “United Kingdom trade policy where we can deliver for every part of the union”.

The agreement has set a positive tone for negotiations with the new US administration on a full free trade agreement, which will have “fantastic benefits right across the union”.

“Some of the biggest benefits will be felt in Scotland,” Ms Truss said. “It will boost Scottish GDP by more than half a billion pounds and it will benefit the 2,000 businesses that already export to the United States.

“We are also working on an enhanced trade partnership with India, a massive opportunity for Scotch whisky there to get down some of the very high tariffs - currently 150 per cent.”