HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018

: Wishing you a Very Happy New Year 2018 :

Ernest Tomlinson - Prelude on Old Lang Syne

Geoffrey Nobes - Prelude on Lavenham - International Staff Band of the Salvation Army

Irving Berlin - Holiday Inn - Let's Start the New Year Right

Brexit - end of year view

The Snowman

On 24th January the Supreme Court of the UK handed down its judgment in the Miller and Dos Santos litigation - post 24th January.  By a majority of 8 to3 the court held that an Act of Parliament was required to authorise the giving of notice under Article 50.   The Act was duly passed - European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 and the Prime Minister sent the notice to the EU on 29th March 2017 triggering the Article 50 two year period - post 29th March.

 The last weekend of 2017 is now here and, unsurprisingly, Brexit continues to dominate much of the news.  Whilst one might reasonably have expected

Laura Plummer ~ a devastating outcome

Laura Plummer (aged 33) was arrested in Egypt for importing 290 tablets of the drug Tramadol.  She said that the painkilling drug was for her Egyptian husband whom she said suffers back problems.  Plummer has now been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment - see The Telegraph 26th December - where it is reported - 'Standing before the judge in court on Christmas Day, Ms Plummer was asked: “You are accused of smuggling and possessing Tramadol to Egypt?”  Misunderstanding the question, she replied “yes” and the judge then instructed the session clerk to record that she had confessed.'

It is of interest to see what sort of sentence would be imposed in the courts of England and Wales for a similar importation.

Christmas 2017

Best wishes to all readers for a truly Happy Christmas and New Year 2018.

"So remember while December Brings the only Christmas day, in the year let there be Christmas in the things you do and say."

Racially aggravated assault ~ Raheem Sterling's attacker

 Raheem Sterling is a midfield professional footballer with Manchester City.  He suffered an unprovoked attack by Karl Anderson (29) who pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault.  Anderson has a criminal record containing 25 convictions for 37 offences, including football-related violence.  He was sentenced at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court to 16 weeks imprisonment and ordered to pay compensation of £100 plus the required surcharge of £115.

This BBC Report says that Anderson kicked Sterling four times during the assault and also used racist language as well as telling Sterling he wanted his mother and child to die.  The Guardian 20th December offers rather more detail including information about the racial abuse.  Then there is the The Manchester Evening News report indicating that Sterling suffered bruising to his leg.

My immediate reaction to the sentence was that Anderson "got off lightly."  I thought I would check that view out.

Damian Green ~ Ministerial Code bites

Mr Damian Green was appointed First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 11 June 2017.  He has now left the government and The Telegraph (20th December) has published an exchange of letters between the Prime Minister and Mr Green.

As reported by The Guardian 1st December 2017  Mr Green was investigated by the Cabinet Secretary about an accusation of  inappropriate behaviour towards a young Conservative activist, Kate Maltby.

R v Liam Allan: the crucial question of disclosure

"In criminal cases, the State has the Police, an agency for the discovery of evidence, superior to anything which even the wealthiest defendant could employ" - Lord Devlin (1976)

Liam Allan, a criminology student at Greenwich University, was charged with six counts of rape and six of sexual assault.  During the trial, the contents came to light of mobile telephone messages sent by the complainant including messages asking Mr Allan for sex.  This material had been held electronically by the Police.  The outcome was that prosecuting counsel (Mr Jerry Hayes) offered no evidence against Mr Allan and the case against him ended. 

Brexit ~ Guidelines for Withdrawal negotiations Phase 2

Today (15th December) the European Council agreed that "sufficient progress" has been made on citizens' rights. Ireland and the financial settlement to permit negotiations to proceed to Phase 2.  The Council has issued its guidelines for this next phase:

European Council 15th December 2017 - Guidelines for Brexit negotiations - (or directly to the 4 page pdf - HERE).

Here are the key points:

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill amendment ~ don't get too excited

In what has been portrayed as a serious defeat for the government, the House of Commons voted 309 to 305 to amend Clause 9 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.  See, for example, Sky News 14th December and BBC News 14th December.  The defeat may be embarrassing for Ministers but it is not likely to be too serious a setback.

As originally drafted, Clause 9(1) stated:

The Joint UK EU Report (4) - Euratom and Other points

On Friday 8th December, there was acceptance by the EU that "sufficient progress" had been made to allow talks to proceed further - Joint report from the negotiators of the EU and the UK government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU.  This post is the fourth and final post taking an overview of the Joint Report.

Agreement or understanding was reached on some other points as set out in paras 87 to 95.

The Joint UK-EU Report (3) - The money !

On Friday 8th December, there was acceptance by the EU that "sufficient progress" had been made to allow talks to proceed further - Joint report from the negotiators of the EU and the UK government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU.  This post looks at the Report in relation to the Financial Settlement.  It is covered in some detail in paras. 57 to 86 but a great deal remains to be worked out as negotiations proceed.

A methodology, with four parts, has been agreed for the financial settlement. 

The Joint UK-EU Report (2) - Ireland and Northern Ireland

On Friday 8th December, there was acceptance by the EU that "sufficient progress" had been made to allow talks to proceed further - Joint report from the negotiators of the EU and the UK government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU.  This post looks at the Report in relation to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Background:

It was obvious even before the 2016 Referendum that the island of Ireland would present particular difficulties with Brexit which will result in a land border between a European Union Member State (the Republic of Ireland) and part of the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland).  Very few people ever truly wanted a "hard border" between the two along with all the necessary customs checks.

In her Lancaster House Speech (January 2017), Theresa May stated the wish to retain the "Common Travel Area":

The Joint UK-EU Report (1) - Those vital Citizens' Rights

On Friday 8th December, after what had clearly been difficult negotiations, there was acceptance by the EU that "sufficient progress" had been made to allow talks to proceed further - Joint report from the negotiators of the EU and the UK government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU.

The EU Commission does not have the final say on whether negotiations can proceed further.  That decision will be taken at the European Council meeting on 14th/15th December though it is generally thought that the Council will endorse the Joint Report.

• European Council (Art.50), 15 December 2017
• Statement by President Donald Tusk on the draft guidelines for the second phase of the Brexit negotiations (press release, 08/12/2017)
• Brexit (background information) 

This post looks at (A) the nature of the Joint Report; (B) Transition and (C) the Citizens' rights part of the Joint Report.

A REPORT and not a Withdrawal Agreement:

EU Negotiations ~ more information

As covered in the immediately preceding post, the European Commission has given its view that "sufficient progress" has been made in Phase 1 of the Brexit negotiations.  The agreement came following an intense few days of negotiations.  See Joint Report.

See also statement 8th December by Michel Barnier

The following material is also of importance:

Prime Minister's commitments to Northern Ireland

Example case studies: EU citizens' rights in the UK

Status of EU citizens in the UK: what you need to know

Statement 8th December by Donald Tusk (European Council President) on Draft Guidelines for Phase 2

"Sufficient progress" achieved with EU

Breakfast in Brussels

Updated 9th December - reaction in the media

It was announced this morning that the European Commission is of the opinion that "sufficient progress" has been over Citizens' rights, Northern Ireland and the financial settlement to permit talks to move forward.

See the European Commission Press Release

For the detail - Joint report from the negotiators of the EU and the UK government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU

The Commission's Press Release states:

Brexit ~ David Davis at Exiting EU Committee // Lords report on what if no deal.

One year ago today, the House of Commons held a debate entitled "The Government's Plan for Brexit."    The debate ended with a House of Commons Resolution -

Resolutions of House of Commons:

"That this House recognises that leaving the EU is the defining issue facing the UK; notes the resolution on parliamentary scrutiny of the UK leaving the EU agreed by the House on 12 October 2016; recognises that it is Parliament’s responsibility to properly scrutinise the Government while respecting the decision of the British people to leave the European Union; confirms that there should be no disclosure of material that could be reasonably judged to damage the UK in any negotiations to depart from the European Union after Article 50 has been triggered; and calls on the Prime Minister to commit to publishing the Government’s plan for leaving the EU before Article 50 is invoked, consistently with the principles agreed without division by this House on 12 October; recognises that this House should respect the wishes of the United Kingdom as expressed in the referendum on 23 June; and further calls on the Government to invoke Article 50 by 31 March 2017."

Monday 4th December - Brexit chaos

Updated

Monday 4th December looked like a day of chaos with the UK-EU Brexit negotiations.  The UK Prime Minister (Theresa May) was in Brussels for a meeting with the European Commission President (Mr Jean-Claude Juncker) and she hoped for an agreement which would avoid a "hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.   As the day progressed, news began to emerge that a formula had been found by which the UK would maintain "regulatory convergence" between Northern Ireland and the Republic and thus avoid the hard border that would be unacceptable to Dublin.  (The precise nature of this convergence was not spelled out).

An obvious problem

Mr Damian Green's Office Computer

Updated 20.50 hrs - Statement by HM Inspector of Constabulary

The Rt. Hon. Damian Green MP is First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office in the present UK government.  His Wikipedia entry records - "Green entered Parliament in the 1997 election by winning the seat of Ashford in Kent.  He served in several shadow ministerial positions, including Transport Secretary and Immigration Minister.  Green came to national prominence in November 2008 after being arrested and having his parliamentary office raided by police, although no case was brought.  He was the Minister of State for Police and Criminal Justice until 14 July 2014. He was appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by Prime Minister Theresa May in July 2016. Following the June 2017 general election, he was appointed First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office.

The Guardian 1st December 2017 reports

Financial settlement with EU - a note

December is with us and Brexit continues to dominate the headlines.  Here is a brief note on the vexed question of the financial settlement over which the EU and UK negotiators have been locking horns.

As far as I can see, the only publicly available details of any Financial Settlement arising on Brexit are those published by the EU earlier this year (12th June) - European Commission Position Paper which this blog took a brief look at HERE.

"The British have never wanted to turn the Union into a military power."

Two recent speeches by Michel Barnier (EU Chief Brexit Negotiator) are of interest: one is a speech is on the Future of the EU and the other on Security and Defence. This post is an overview of the speeches.

20th November:

First, on 20th November, Mr Barnier spoke to the Centre for European Reform (CER) on the Future of the EU which, as things stand, will not include the UK after 29th March 2019.  Mr Barnier made some key points in this speech: