Now for the real face of Brexit… and it’s not pretty
Brexit is far from sorted. Now Britain has left the EU, the government is embarking a radical programme which will remove protections for employees and threaten the future of the NHS.
Category: Brexit
Selling to Europe from Sussex
The tragedy of the hard Brexit pursued by the UK is that so many Europe-focused businesses have become instantly unviable, whether they’re selling Scottish langoustines to France, Welsh lamb to Germany or language services to the Netherlands. The Brexit impacts that are being disingenuously described as teething troubles are actually structural.
If you’re going to lie, make it a BIG one
You’d think, wouldn’t you, that the most dangerous lie would be a sneaky one, one that is reasonably close to the truth? One that kind of grows on the truth − on the fertile fabric of what we already know to be true. But no, it seems that a Big Lie is more potent because in order to believe it you have to disbelieve everything else.
How Covid has challenged political certainties
Political certainties have been jettisoned by a combination of Covid and Brexit. Tories traditionally hold the purse strings tight while Labour demonstrates a greater tendency to spend on public services but today, we’re seeing unprecedented levels of public spending increasing. Tom Serpell explores the implications for political loyalties.
Dinners to comfort distraught Remainers
A group of East Sussex Remainers found a foodie way to not only beat the Brexit blues, but to continue to travel Europe even during lockdown. Ginny Foster reports on a Covid-secure idea to share good food, drink and company.
The waiting game: Will post-Brexit bureaucracy cause chaos at our Sussex ports?
The deal with the EU may give some certainty to businesses and hauliers, but it also means a mountain of red tape. Ginny Smith assesses the threat border bureaucracy poses to our local ports like Newhaven.
Johnson’s Brexit deal: For richer or for poorer?
Juliet Lodge summarises reactions on Twitter to the last-minute Brexit deal agreed between the UK and the EU. With Boris Johnson’s early promise of frictionless trade abandoned, and parliament given just one day to debate the deal, what does the future hold for Britain’s relationship with its largest trading partner?
A fishy tale and a slippery concept: two key sticking points in EU and UK negotiations
In this extract from a webinar on 10 December Lord Hannay of Chiswick discusses two key issues in the Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK: the concept of ‘sovereignty’ and the question of fisheries.
Brexit trade deal on a knife-edge: lies and U-turns have destroyed trust
The EU is right not to trust the British government. False promises and outright lies about a trade deal have been dripped into the British public’s and EU’s ears by Brexiteers since 2016. Many of these promises have been quietly dropped in the intervening years, as the reality proved more difficult and ministers’ big claims have come to nothing.
Border farce – and the ‘big lie’ at the heart of Brexit
EU cooperation is vital for our security – although Brexiteers won’t publicly admit it
After Brexit, a future that could be hard to stomach
US trade deal will usher in lower food standards, warns expert
Doomed from the start? A Remainer looks back
A fatal flaw in the Remain movement may have been the lack of diverse young voices
Cold comfort for farmers in post-Brexit free-for-all
The future of British food and farming is at stake
All at sea over a Brexit deal – and fishermen may be left high and dry
The fishermen of Hastings once dreamt of a return to a Britain that charted its own course, freed from having to share its coastal waters and fishing opportunities with French, Spanish and Dutch rivals. It was a powerful message behind Brexit – symbolising ‘our island nation’, which once ruled the waves and now had to […]
Free and equal in dignity and rights … for now
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948) They’re invisible, intangible and all too easy to lose down the back of the sofa – but you really do need to hang on to human rights. Britain can look back with justifiable pride at a long […]
Defenders of Democracy: Gina Miller
At a time when our Parliamentary democracy is under threat as never before, those few courageous voices in the media and in public life who are prepared to come forward and expose corruption, wrong-doing and lying, sometimes appear to be the only upholders of our democratic system. This is the third in a series of […]
Sussex MPs fought the law – and Loughton abstained
The dark days for British democracy are coming in battalions at the moment, but Tuesday’s House of Commons vote on the Internal Market bill still stands out. MPs approved the bill by 340 votes to 256, despite fears that it could lead to the UK breaking international law. The bill is controversial because it contradicts […]
Something fishy afoot as Brexit future nears
Rod Watson explores the trade tarrif and duties implications arising from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
Dare we trust the UK government?
True to form, the UK government has started their media PR machine and war-mongering rhetoric to blame their own ignorance and breach of International Law on the EU, so one has to ask: with so much hot air flying from the mouths of these Tories, can we trust the UK government to do anything to […]
Caulfield’s grasp of oven-ready deal proves half-baked
it is extremely concerning that an elected MP has such an inadequate grasp of the issues
Plumpton College joins call to Save British Farming
Plumpton College joined a national call to Save British Farming yesterday amid claims that the double-whammy of the government’s agriculture bill and a no-deal Brexit could drive one in three farms out of business by 2025. Local campaigners warned that smaller farms would be worst hit. Thanking Plumpton College for its support, Save British Farming […]
What’s the big deal?
The government’s disingenuous drivel about being tough on the EU and getting world beating deals is enough to make anyone want to run a mile. And trade deals may seem to be unrelated to anything in our daily lives. But with just over 130 days until the end of the transition period, trade deals – or the lack of them – are about to become very relevant to all of us.
Brexit angst for British residents in Germany
The events that have unfolded since the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016 have left many of us – UK citizens who live in EU countries – in the soup. Followed by Pig’s Ear and Eton Mess. The aftertaste is vile.
Take back control? Protect the NHS? No thanks, say Sussex MPs
Before Parliament went on its summer holidays, MPs were offered the chance to take back control of the government’s trade policy, and to protect the NHS from a US trade deal. And across Sussex, they rejected that opportunity. As Parliament debated the post-Brexit trade bill, Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly brought forward an amendment requiring Parliamentary […]
Fed up with Brexit? Foodie resistance starts here
What do you know about farming, a friend asked? The answer is … not much. But I have a passion for locally produced food and worry about the looming threat of Brexit. The more I’ve looked into it, the more it has made me an ardent campaigner to lessen the impact of leaving the EU […]