Yesterday the Brittish Parliament opened when the Queen traditionally deleivered the Queens Speech, plan of the new Government after the General Election held last week.
After the Queen, PM Johnson made his opening remarks and comment, which have made the main healdlines of media in United Kingdom today.
In his remarks Boris Johnson promised a “golden age” for Britain following in what the prime minister has called “the most radical Queen’s Speech in a generation”.
A new Brexit Bill has been presented to stop campaigners trying to scupper its progress in the courts ahead of the UK’s expected exit from the European Union in six weeks’ time.
Conservative MPs cheered yesterday as the House of Commons agreed to sit on Friday to consider legislation required to implement the Prime Minister’s deal that he hammered out with EU leaders last October.
The news came as the Government confirmed that the Department for Exiting the European Union will be disbanded at the end of next month as Brexit happens.
The announcement prompted speculation that Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove will be given a new role running an enlarged Department for International Trade in February’s expected Cabinet reshuffle.
The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will be debated at second reading before the Commons breaks tonight for a fortnight’s Christmas break.
MPs should also agreed an accelerated timetable for the legislation which should see it pass through tall of its Commons stages by Thursday January 9.
The strengthened version of the Bill makes clear that the UK will leave the EU at 11pm on Friday January 31, rather than leaving open the possibility of quitting the trading bloc earlier than that date.
It also makes it unlawful for any minister to stop the UK leaving on Jan 31 or extending the implementation period to after Dec 31 2020.
MPs will also not be given a veto over an extension of the transition period – nor will they have to approve the future relationship treaty, despite the commitments existing in the last version of the legislation.
Officials are hoping that these changes mean the Bill – which MPs are due to vote on at around 2.30pm today – has now been designed to stop any challenges in the Supreme Court.
Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, said that “with goodwill” the UK and EU can agree a trade deal by the end of 2020.
He said: ” I’m very confident that with goodwill on both sides, we can succeed in getting a very good deal.
“The Prime Minister succeeded in three months in doing what I think most people felt including me was probably impossible. With will with verve, with drive and with precision in our objectives, I think we could achieve it.”
For me, as EU citizen and global Customs expert with 35 years of experience from 125 countries of Customs, borders and trade policy, there is now a choice to be made.
There are two ways to approach the biggest Customs & border challenge of our lifetime. Either we identify the challenges/problems/opportunities of Brexit & talk about how difficult it will be.
Or. We identify the challenges/problems/opportunities of Brexit related to trade & together come up with the best border management process in the world based on existing best practices taken to a new level. I know what I prefer & what side I will be on.
Sources: The Telgraph, SkyNews
I like New York, Bruce Springsteen and actor Ed Norton. How wonderful it is to read a short piece about all of them in Variety, when Springsteen makes tribute to Nortons’ katest film, ‘Motherless Brooklyn’.
Here is the article:
“My soul was not at peace with God.” Edward Norton’s beautifully realized neo-noir, “Motherless Brooklyn,” wrestles with this condition throughout its duration. His hero is an unlikely gumshoe with Tourette’s syndrome, compelled to solve a mystery and avenge a loss, and Norton’s warm, compassionate performance brings the soul to this wonderful film.
He also wrote, produced and directed it and the piece burns with the quiet fire and emotionally all-in stakes of a real auteur passion project. It’s both gorgeous to watch and a treasure to listen to. And take it from me, as someone who has made a career performing in the thing he writes while directing the rest of the band and producing the sound too … it ain’t easy to wear all those hats and make it all come together, but he pulls off that rarest of tricks. Time and place are meticulously rendered by Dick Pope’s stunning cinematography, and the score and music are inspirationally handled by Daniel Pemberton, who brings the noir with the assistance of the Miles Davis-in-the-’50s trumpet stylings of Wynton Marsalis.
And big questions are at the heart of Ed’s film. In great noir, of course, nothing is ever as it seems and the hand that holds the puppet strings is never far out of view. But in “Motherless Brooklyn” there’s more: poor and minority neighborhoods are being bought up, demolished and gentrified, forcing out their tenants. Does the city belong to the people who live in it or the powers that be? Who gets to make that decision? Lionel eventually finds the answers he’s looking for but then as now, history repeats itself, power corrupts and people get played like pawns … unless someone steps up.
“Look at you Motherless Brooklyn. You got no one looking out for you.” As the film says, we all need someone looking out for us and this is where Lionel finds his place and brings us our redemption. By the end, “Motherless Brooklyn” finds its way down this thorny path and through the dark. So does our protagonist, leaving us with just enough hope to face the dawn.
Bruce Springsteen
Source: Variety
Today I was in Bahrain for meetings. This is a very ijteresting coubtry and it has been great to get to know it more.
To be able to have discussions with colleagues here about modern border processing, trade facilitation and trade is inspiring, interesting and important.
The Government agencies, and especially Customs, are advanced and willing to take new steps towards the future.
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