“BREXIT BRIEF” – ISSUE 5, 9th March 2018

Let’s get ready to rumble   

Two weeks ago I admitted to you that I am not a football fan. I can now go further and confess that I am not a boxing enthusiast either. However, over the last seven days in Brexitland, it has been difficult not to feel like we have been watching a series of “shadow” boxing bouts. (Thankfully these are less distressing for participants and spectators as no one gets hurt).

Prime Minister Theresa May was first into the ring last Friday with her “really” big speech about what a Brexit deal acceptable to the UK might look like. Given the tensions between Remainers and Brexiteers inside her own Conservative Party, she achieved a remarkable feat by receiving praise from both sides afterwards. Her remarks included an admission that "no-one will get everything they want." She insisted that that a “hard” Irish border or a damp one in the Irish Sea separating the Northern Ireland from Great Britain was “unacceptable.” And Mrs May said that the UK would expect a bespoke trade deal with the EU, adding that every trade agreement “is cherry picking.”

Rather than seek to deliver a knock-out blow, the initial response from Brussels was anything but punchy with the EU’s Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier offering a mildly-encouraging “welcome” for her remarks. However, Guy Verhofstadt, Mr Barnier’s counterpart in the European Parliament, was much more confrontational. "Theresa May needed to move beyond vague aspirations, we can only hope that serious proposals have been put in the post,” he barked.  

To underline his street-fighting credentials, Mr Verhofstadt then jumped on the Eurostar and came to London to stare down his opponent. Unfortunately for him, the man in the red, white and blue corner was Brexit Secretary David Davis who once served as an elite British soldier with the part-time SAS reserve (capable of killing but only at weekends). Quickly realising his error, Mr Verhofstadt chose not to be a tough Guy and scuttled back to Brussels.  

Panic over, the continental mood music soon returned to the theme from Rocky. First a leaked EU document criticised Theresa May’s speech for being “a change in tone, but not in substance.” Then European Council President Donald Tusk appeared at a press conference armed with a newly-published set of draft EU guidelines for the forthcoming trade talks. “Our agreement will not make trade between the UK and EU frictionless or smoother," sniffed the (other) Donald. "It will make it more complicated and costly than today for all of us." We shall see.  

Returning one last time to my now exhausted boxing analogy, there does seem to be an increased sense of confidence amongst Remainers and Brexiteers following the Prime Minister’s speech. As a result, the EU’s attempts to “trash talk” the UK appear not to be increasing fears in the British corner as the Brexit negotiations move towards the latter rounds.   

Ministers determined to keep pledges shock 

It was the veterinary highlight of the Parliamentary month yesterday with Questions to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. One not to miss! That is unless you are the actual Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Michael Gove, who was in America. His deputy, George Eustace, stood in and again rightly spoke up about the importance of animal welfare in the United Kingdom after Brexit. He told the House of Commons: “I have always been consistently clear that we will not lower our high animal welfare standards and high food standards in this country in pursuit of a trade deal.”  

You can be confident that Eville & Jones will continue to do all in our power to ensure that the British Government keeps and, indeed, strengthens this commitment which will clearly only be deliverable with the professional support of more vets on farms and full-time in abattoirs.  

Also this week, Immigration Minister Caroline Noakes repeated the Government’s pledge to protect EU citizens’ rights after March 2019. She told MPs: “We have agreed with the EU that we will introduce a new settled status scheme under UK law for EU citizens and their family members covered by the agreement. Those who have already had five years of continuous residence in the UK will be eligible to apply for settled status. Others will be able to remain in the UK to build up their five years’ residence.” Good. 

Meanwhile in America…

I have always regarded Eville & Jones as a family and, as a family publication, it would therefore not be appropriate for me to report on what Donald Trump may or may not have got up to with an “adult film star” in years gone past. Suffice to say that this week’s US media coverage of his alleged misdemeanours has been Stormy.  

More worryingly for the rest of the world, last night he signed a commitment to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imported into America whilst characteristically revelling in the drama that an inevitable global trade war would bring. In the last few hours, the White House also announced that the President will meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, aka “Little Rocket Man,” to discuss nuclear weapons. Given that the trade tariffs are not due to be introduced for another two weeks and the meeting with Kim is unlikely to happen before May, it is far from certain that either event will occur.

But both stories have forced his Stormy problem down the news agenda, meaning it’s mission accomplished for the Commander-in-Chief.  

Enjoy your weekend.

Jason 

Jason Aldiss BEM

Managing Director