Ed's Brexit round-up
8th Sep 2017 / By Ed Barker
- This week a leaked Home Office report on migration was released to the Guardian. The detailed report covered a number of areas, however a core theme running central to it was a proposed restriction of ‘unskilled’ migrants from outside the UK, and a desire to use domestic employment instead. The report did state that certain sectors would be looked at on a case by case basis for exceptions to this, without specifying agriculture. The NPA’s full response can be found here. Despite being a day old, the proposals have already led to disagreement in the Cabinet.
- This week, MPs returned from the summer recess back to Westminster, though the House will sit for two weeks until party conference season starts later in the month. In this time, we can expect most parliamentary time to be dedicated to the Repeal Bill, now known as the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
- The EU has requested that the UK maintain intellectual property rights in food and wine. In a paper release this week, the EU will request that the UK maintain geographically protected status for European products such as Champagne and Parmesan. Such definitions have often been central to Free Trade Agreements between the EU and other countries, and the UK’s desire to seek trade deals with non-EU countries has led to such jitters in Brussels.
- And finally, it appears that the Labour party have made a u-turn on key Brexit policy by keeping the UK in a single market with the EU. Although slim on detail, it does give a clear alternative to the Government’s current course of policy.