Associate Director covering migration, trade, and communities @IPPR. All views my own
Sep 22, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
The new Retained EU Law Bill today gives the govt extraordinary new deregulatory powers.
It would allow the government to revoke any piece of secondary retained EU law, without the need for an Act of Parliament.
bills.parliament.uk/bills/3340/pub…
This means the govt could remove key worker and environmental protections with minimal parliamentary scrutiny.
Working Time Regulations are at particular risk, which entitle workers to a maximum 48 hour working week, minimum rest periods, and 4 weeks’ paid annual leave.
Mar 13, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
One govt official in today's papers says new plans for sponsoring Ukrainian refugees may 'sound a bit strange'.
These plans do sound odd to me and raise a few alarm bells.
First, I'm concerned about funding arrangements. Papers say that sponsors will get £350 per month to host refugees.
But under refugee resettlement, govt provides £8,520 per person to local authorities in first year - equivalent to double this.
Mar 10, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Good to see Home Office U-turn on allowing online-only visa applications for Ukrainian passport holders.
But major gaps still remain in UK support for Ukrainians.
Ultimately, the UK still has no humanitarian route for Ukrainians without family in UK.
And while details have not yet been published, I'm concerned this is a wholly inappropriate route for meeting the needs of Ukrainians.
Oct 14, 2019 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
New @IPPR report out today assesses the risk posed by a no-deal Brexit to workers' rights - short thread for those who don't have time to read in full! (1/12) thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/w…
To start with, it's clear this govt does have a genuine interest in lowering EU-derived labour standards.
See for instance Sajid Javid's 'Brexit red tape challenge' to 'improve or remove' EU laws after Brexit (2/12) ftadviser.com/regulation/201…
Dec 1, 2018 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Many people still seem to think that May's deal is for a soft Brexit. Quick thread to explain why I think this is seriously misguided (1)
First it's clear from the political declaration that the EU is offering an FTA. It's an ambitious FTA, but still just an FTA. The emphasis is on regulatory autonomy - the word 'autonomy' is used 12 times. (2)
Nov 22, 2018 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Some thoughts on the political declaration on future partnership (economic bits only). First, it's clear from this document that the UK is heading towards a hard Brexit, with considerable implications for cross-border trade (1)
The agreement removes all tariffs and quantitative restrictions, which we already knew. The key question is non-tariff barriers. (2)
Nov 15, 2018 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Quick thread on the Level Playing Field rules within the Irish backstop - will the withdrawal agreement safeguard workers' rights and environmental protections? From a first look I doubt trade unions or environmental groups will be too pleased (1)
First, the good news: the non-regression clauses are much stronger than normal in an FTA. Typically they are restricted to only apply when either party is deregulating to encourage trade or investment. But the UK-EU non-regression clauses apply in all circumstances (2)
