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Faisal Islam Profile picture
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23 Mar, 4 tweets, 1 min read
President Biden addressing the EU Council meeting this week ...
After USTR acknowledged “ongoing review” of US-UK negotiations to date, my understanding is attempt here is to make it pro green etc.

But entire backdrop of any UK-US deal now so different from an administration that under Trump wanted to undermine EU & detach UK from it...
When I interviewed Trump’s USTR Lighthizer, was clear he was very focussed that what he would offer to UK would depend on how clean was the break between UK & EU, and he was sceptical UK would actually do it.

Question now is whether USTR will pick up reins of same negotiation...
Ie is the “ongoing review” a strictly trade thing or part of a more general strategic push by Washington to heal some of the post Brexit UK-EU divide, and keep a close eye on related N. Ireland situation...

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More from @faisalislam

Faisal Islam Profile picture
23 Mar
Very interesting report from the Industrial Strategy Council explaining the UK state role in helping academics/ industry compress the OXford/ Astra vaccine development from 10-15 years to 11 months - though the ISC has just itself been disbanded by Government:
Government comes out of this report from Council it has disbanded very well - indeed this could be just the thing to send to EU capitals to explain why as co-parent of the vaccine, there was a certain expectation of its first fruits, while supplying rest of world at cost
Vaccine Taskforce became a “co-creator” of solutions for vaccine development with Oxford University which “proved crucial” in expediting trials... replaced DHSC as “owner”...

MHRA embedded staff at AZ to allow rolling clinical trials...
Read 9 tweets
Faisal Islam Profile picture
23 Mar
Blimey - of the 693,000 payrolled jobs lost over past pandemic year... 611k or 88% have been lost to under 35 year olds...
Overall this mornings jobs numbers did show some stabilisation at an unemployment rate of 5%, lower on latest weekly measures - despite new lockdown. Obvs thanks to 5m on furlough and employers adapting better to restrictions...
And the ONS latest attempt to estimate how many foreign workers left the uk over the past year - puts it at 180,000 fewer - roughly the population of Portsmouth lost of EU workers, presumed to have returned home. Less Than some early estimates but doesn’t include self employed.
Read 4 tweets
Faisal Islam Profile picture
21 Mar
Again Kate Bingham comes out of this well - day 1 coordination with US - this argues, as Id heard, German efforts to push the Biontech (Pfizer) vaccine invented in Germany came up against a bet on sanofi and precautionary principle applied to new mRNA tech nytimes.com/2021/03/20/wor…
Ie EU grabbed this competence in health during crisis from nation states - then applied non crisis value for money procurement & risk averse precautionary principles to programme. Difficult not to see that eg Germany would have done better if this had stayed national competence
As NYT put it and I’ve detailed elsewhere UK & US went into business with the pharma industry as a type of VC partner, and derisked the investments too, and so got hold of the supplies first....
Read 6 tweets
Faisal Islam Profile picture
16 Mar
Punchy response to PMs Integrated Review aim for UK “science superpower” from biggest UK private science funder ⁦@wellcometrust⁩ : research/ aid cuts/ no clarity on post Brexit Horizon research funding threaten to damage and eclipse ambition: wellcome.org/news/science-s…
“Aid cuts mean UK scientists will have to abandon work they’ve already started, often in partnership with academics in developing countries. It is unprecedented to not honour existing commitments..will damage our national reputation & flies in face of ‘global Britain’ ambitions”
On post EU Horizon research Wellcome warns of effective £1bn cut:
While “welcoming decision to continue participation in Horizon... they will be immensely frustrated, with good reason, if it’s going to be paid for by cuts to other research. We urgently need reassurance on this.”
Read 7 tweets
Faisal Islam Profile picture
12 Mar
NEW
First month in new post Brexit trading arrangements sees UK exports to EU down 40.7% and imports down 28.8%: official ONS figures....

Some shifted in to Dec stockpiling, & lockdown a factor

GDP also fell 2.9% in Jan, much less than first lockdowns

ons.gov.uk/economy/nation…
Monthly figures can be erratic, and the Govt argued yesterday that some of this has normalised in port lorry flow data on February, but even taking all that into account that is still a significant fall. Important to see trend now over next few months.
ONS: “External evidence suggests some of the slower trade for goods in early January 2021 could be attributable to disruption caused by the end of the transition period. In addition, we also need to consider the stronger November and December stockpiling trade figures”
Read 4 tweets
Faisal Islam Profile picture
11 Mar
NEW:

Govt delays post Brexit import paperwork checks due next month and in July... until October, and into next year
Govt: “we have not seen generalised disruption... however recognise scale and significance of challenges” in adjusting to Brexit changes at same time as Covid impacts:
Written ministerial statement from CDL Gove here:

questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statem…
Read 15 tweets

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