I normally defer to @CER_Grant on all things EUish. But my London and Brussels sources give me a different version of the obstacles to that never-quite-reached free trade agreement. I am told there is a potential deal in view on fishing, but that on state aid,...
non-regression of environmental, social and other “level playing field” standards plus enforcement mechanisms, there are still differences of serious principle. The stress by @DavidGHFrost that British sovereignty must be respected is manifest in the UK’s proposal on these...
largely competition issues falling well short of what most EU governments can tolerate. Or at least so I am told. So @MichelBarnier has tonight arrived in London uncertain whether he is wasting his time. No deal is certainly not seen as an impossible and unlikely outcome...
on his side. “We have no idea whether Boris Johnson will move” said one of his colleagues. “Maybe we will learn more this weekend”.

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More from @Peston

27 Nov
In order for the global economy to avoid a slump as a result of premature fiscal consolidation by UK and other developed economies, it would be incredibly helpful if the G7 and other wealthy nations could collectively convert their incremental Covid debt into...
the equivalent of 100 year war bonds. If they all issued these bonds, then the normal beggar my neighbour that goes on between sovereign borrowers, and which could be devastating for individual nations and collectively sub-optimal for global recovery, could be avoided. It...
would also allow most rich nations to avoid growth impairing and public-service damaging austerity, on the important path back to fiscal sustainability - which would avoid strife and civil unrest in divided country like the UK, but would also be good for poorer nations, in...
Read 6 tweets
25 Nov
Cutting the aid budget from the symbolically important 0.7% of national income to 0.5% seems weird for a PM who said Brexit was about creating Global Britain - and when the UK is about to chair the G7 and COP26. Not at all clear why @BorisJohnson wants this fight...
especially with his own party. This is what @David_Cameron said about the plan to @Telegraph on Saturday: “Abandoning the .7 target for aid would be a moral, strategic and political mistake. Moral, because we should be keeping our promises to the worlds poorest...
not breaking them. A strategic error, because we would be signalling retreat from one of the UK’s vital acts of global leadership. And a political mistake because the U.K. is about to chair the G7 and important climate change negotiations”. Since the 0.7% is law and...
Read 4 tweets
24 Nov
And Labour says @Jacob_Rees_Mogg knew exactly what he was doing in drafting a bill (and presenting it at the last moment) that does nothing for MPs who want to participate in debates from home because their partners or children are clinically vulnerable. Also under Mogg's...
motion, anyone applying to participate in debates from home would have to certify themselves as clinically vulnerable, which some MPs feel is an invasion of their privacy. This government is urging all of us to work from home if we can. @Jacob_Rees_Mogg is...
not only saying this doesn't apply to MPs but as it happens he isn't fixing the problem raised by the Tory MP Tracey Crouch, who was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to participate virtually in a debate on cancer in Westminster Hall...
Read 5 tweets
24 Nov
Confirmed: the nightmare of Christmas, not before. As I pointed out Sunday, we'll have to choose just 2 other households to "bubble" with for 5 days from 23 to 27 Dec. I don't know about you, but I am not looking to our household's debate about our 2 favourite other households
And to make matters even more stressful, we can "bubble" with the other two households at home, in places of worship or outdoors, but there's no letting off steam in pubs or restaurants.
There seems to be some confusion your end. It is two households plus your own household, FIXED for the whole five days. The same three households in one bubble for five days. Got it? What this means, eg, is that if you have four children living away from home in four different...
Read 4 tweets
18 Nov
The Pfizer/BionNTech efficacy rate in those aged over 65 is 94%. Very good news. Here is the release investors.pfizer.com/investor-news/…
On stability of the vaccine, and ability to distribute it, this very important from Pfizer too: "Pfizer is confident in its vast experience, expertise and existing cold-chain infrastructure to distribute the vaccine around the world. The companies have developed specially...
designed, temperature-controlled thermal shippers utilizing dry ice to maintain temperature conditions of -70°C±10°C. They can be used be as temporary storage units for 15 days by refilling with dry ice. Each shipper contains a GPS-enabled thermal sensor to track...
Read 4 tweets
17 Nov
If the UK government came late to the Moderna party, and has bought less of its vaccine than is ideal, the fault is not that of Kate Bingham and her Vaccine Taskforce. It is down to the mandate set her by the PM. He told her at the outset to purchase potential vaccines that...
could be available for use as early as possible, and preferably before the end of the year. And Bingham was clear in July that Moderna - although a world class biotech company - does not have an established distribution network in Europe. So she knew that even if its...
research delivered a good vaccine, it would not be available for use here till the end of March or beginning of April at the earliest. And so it has turned out. That said, it looks an excellent vaccine, and the 5m doses she has secured is only enough to protect 2.5m people (or...
Read 10 tweets

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