5. Weekly Newsletter

UK halts Canada trade talks

The UK has paused trade talks with Canada, leaving UK farmers with reduced access to Canadian markets. The suspension in talks is because Canada demanded concessions on hormone-treated beef, which is blocked by UK legislation. This is the first time trade talks with another country have broken down post-Brexit. The halted negotiations will primarily affect farmers and carmakers.

Trade between the UK was worth £26 billion per year, and the decision to suspend trade talks has left a tariff of 245% on British Cheese. The preferential deal with cars will also end this year, which means the 9,000 cars per year exported to Canada will become less cost-efficient. William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the suspension was “unwelcome news” for UK businesses.

Newspapers

The UK’s front page news cycle over the last seven days has covered a wide range of topics: UK consumer confidence hits a two-year high in January, Royal Mail is considering cutting deliveries to 3 days a week following its scandal, and the UK car industry is back after £24 billion pledged in a single. Some of the newspaper headlines from this week were:

• • Financial Times-‘London accounts for almost half of booming UK services exports‘
  • Financial Times-‘UK to ban disposable vapes as Sunak warns of ‘endemic’ impact on youth’
  • Financial Times-‘Labour faces doubts over 2030 ‘clean energy’ target after delay to UK nuclear plant’
  • Financial Times-‘Post Office chair quits board as UK government seeks ‘new leadership’
  • The Guardian-‘Young People in UK having to refuse jobs due to high costs, report finds.
  • The Times-‘John Lewis: 11,000 jobs could go as group plots £260m turnaround’
  • Sunday Telegraph- ‘Three in four burglaries unsolved in England and Wales last year’

UK-DUP agreement on restoring power-sharing to Northern Ireland

After almost two years since the collapse of the power-sharing government due to disagreements over post-Brexit trade agreements, the Democratic Union Party (DUP) has agreed on a power-sharing arrangement for Northern Ireland under UK legislation. According to the DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the agreed-upon package of measures will provide the basis for a renewed devolved government. The DUP leader also states that this deal will safeguard Northern Ireland’s place within the UK and remove the checking of goods.

However, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson also said that the DUP may only begin the process once the UK government has implemented the agreement, even though he remains optimistic about its swift implementation.