Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

The British diplomat in charge of explaining Brexit to the US government, Congress and public, has resigned, saying she was no longer prepared to “peddle half-truths on behalf of a government I do not trust”.

Alexandra Hall Hall, the Brexit counsellor at the UK embassy in Washington, had been frustrated with the job for some time, according to friends and colleagues.

They said she felt she was not being given enough reliable information to do her job, which was to explain Britain’s departure from the EU to US audiences and help promote a strong US-UK relationship post-Brexit.

Her resignation, which was addressed to the chargé d’affaires, Michael Tatham, and circulated among close colleagues at the embassy, was damning in its description of the Johnson government’s integrity.

“I have been increasingly dismayed by the way in which our political leaders have tried to deliver Brexit, with reluctance to address honestly, even with our own citizens, the challenges and trade-offs which Brexit involves; the use of misleading or disingenuous arguments about the implications of the various options before us; and some behaviour towards our institutions, which, were it happening in another country, we would almost certainly as diplomats have received instructions to register our concern,” Hall Hall wrote in the letter, dated 3 December.

The letter was published by CNN, and its authenticity was confirmed to the Guardian by diplomatic sources.

“It makes our job to promote democracy and the rule of law that much harder, if we are not seen to be upholding these core values at home,” Hall Hall said. “I am also at a stage in life where I would prefer to do something more rewarding with my time, than peddle half-truths on behalf of a government I do not trust.”

Hall Hall was still working at the embassy on Friday, but is due to leave in the week before Christmas. She is married to the American head of the International Republican Institute, Daniel Twining.

“She was really good at her job and really well respected around town,” said a source who had frequent dealings with Hall Hall over Brexit and its consequences. “She has done everything right, and has had legitimate concerns. This is not something that has just developed in the past week or two. It dates back, but I had the impression her concerns were being dealt with internally. I am surprised it has come to this.”

A foreign office spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on the detail of an individual’s resignation.”

The UK embassy has been without an ambassador since July, when Kim Darroch resigned following the leak of internal foreign office cables in which he described the Trump administration as dysfunctional, faction-riven and inept. The nomination of a successor has been delayed by political turmoil in Britain.

As a member of the Conservative party, as a foot soldier in its ranks through most of its recent battles, as a citizen proud of its achievements, I must put my country first. And the only way to revisit the Brexit dilemma is to vote first for the disenfranchised Conservatives, and then Liberal Democrat candidates and create a coalition of power.

Only in that way can we clear the obstacle of Brexit and tackle the domestic agenda so long frustrated by the most divisive, corrosive, irrelevant political deviation of modern times.

For a man with a colourful private life, it is a bold boast. Boris Johnson has claimed there will be a bonking bonanza across Britain if he stays in No 10.

The prime minister predicted a post-Brexit baby boom to mirror 2012, the year of the London Olympics. He said: “Cupid’s darts will fly once we get Brexit done. Romance will bloom across the whole nation.”

Johnson said: “There was one after the Olympics, as I correctly prophesied in a speech in 2012, it was quite amazing. There was a big baby boom.”

His comments will lead to speculation that he might start a family with his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, 31. Asked about that prospect, he said: “I am not going to make any demographic projections.” Pressed on whether the patter of tiny feet might be heard in No 10, Johnson — whose Wikipedia entry says he has “at least five” children — added: “I don’t comment about that sort of thing.”

While 2012 did see the biggest baby boom for 40 years, the cause was said to be the release of the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey rather than the Olympics.

Brexit is already credited with at least one birth. Tory MPs Andrea Jenkyns and Jack Lopresti nicknamed their son “Brexit Clifford” when he was born in March 2017, nine months after the referendum.

In the weeks leading up to the general election triggered by the Brexit crisis, Phoebe Greenwood and Ekaterina Ochagavia have driven the length of the border that has proved one of the most contentious issues in the Brexit debate. We hear from the people living along it, and what they think is at stake in the election

Study shows a third have lost jobs as travel firms fear new rules on Britons working abroad

A third of UK seasonal jobs in ski resorts and summer activity holidays have disappeared because of fears over Brexit, research shows.

A year after the industry warned that 25,000 jobs were at risk, a survey of 65 independent travel specialists including Mark Warner, Ski World and festive operators in Lapland revealed that a third – 1,700 among those polled – had already gone. Industry leaders have said their business models are not sustainable outside the EU because companies will no longer be able to hire and deploy British staff on temporary contracts post Brexit.

“What came back in the survey was that a large number of owners are actually looking to sell, they say ‘we are contemplating shutting down’ or ‘we will just close down because it is not viable’,” said Charles Owen, the co-founder of Seasonal Business in Travel (SBIT), which commissioned the survey.

He runs Jack’s bar in the Meribel ski resort in the French Alps and says owners are “terrified” of a post-Brexit future. Many are looking at closing down, he says, threatening a £16bn contribution to Britain’s economy, £1bn of which goes directly to the Exchequer in tax receipts.

The figures come a year after SBIT warned that Alpine resort holidays were being jeopardised by Brexit and the end of what is known as “posted worker” rules, which allow any citizen of one member state to work in another for up to two years but continue employment as a worker paying tax in their home country.

This has allowed specialist holiday operators in the Alps and elsewhere to mushroom as they typically use British staff for every stage of the package from the meet and greet and airport transfers, to child minding and cooking and cleaning services.

“Everybody thinks freedom of movement is just about Polish plumbers and painters coming to England, but it’s not, it’s also about UK nationals being able to go to Europe and work a season in a ski resort or on a summer activity holiday,” said Owen. “There are about 25,000 workers in our sector and almost all of them are British.”

Brexit will also affect others outside the travel sector who work in the EU on short-term contracts but remain on British books paying tax and national insurance contributions as if they were living in the UK.

The IT sector across Europe also typically employs people on short-term contracts.

The latest EU data shows that 49,496 British nationals are “posted workers”, issued with the A1 tax certificate which logs their contributions in their home state.

Owen says he has a break clause in his contract to run Jack’s pub that will allow him to stop operating if the posted worker arrangements expire because of Brexit.

Dan Fox, the managing director of Ski Weekends, said the EU had “brought us the most incredible benefits of freedom of movement of our staff, transport and resources”, and holidaymakers had benefited because of the explosion in small companies able to offer a diverse range of holidays.

In Brussels, all the 28 EU heads of state and government, except Boris Johnson, are gathering for a two-day summit.

Johnson is being represented by Donald Tusk’s replacement as European council president, Charles Michel, a former prime minister of Belgium.

As Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, arrived at the Europa building, where leaders are meeting, he was asked what advice he would give the newly elected prime minister of the UK, whoever he may be.

“To get a majority in the House of Commons and to be able to fulfil the agreements we decided on both sides”, Bettel told reporters.

“To have a parliament in London that agrees on the future relationship and all these things very quickly.”

Bettel’s comments reflect the widely held view among the leaders that a Johnson majority and an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the EU on 31 January would now be the least worst outcome.

Speaking at an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said he hoped that the general election would not produce a hung parliament.

He told reporters:

The best thing for Ireland, for the UK and for Europe would be an end to the uncertainty, so whether that’s prime minister Johnson winning with a large majority, or remain parties winning a majority, we’ll work with whatever the outcome is.

What has been very hard to work with was a hung parliament that wasn’t able to come to a majority decision on anything. I just hope we’re not in that position tomorrow.

Varadkar warned, however, that Brexit would not be done with if the UK leaves on 31 January. He said:

Brexit doesn’t just end with the UK leaving the European Union. We move on to the next phase and that’s going to be really important.

The withdrawal agreement doesn’t solve the issue of trade, and the trading relationship between Britain and Ireland is essential for our agrifood sector, for our exporters and our small businesses. So it’s going to be really crucial for Ireland that we get a good deal on trade with the UK.

(And Scotland's new Independence referendum, I suppose.)

The media and their masters won big.

I wish Labour hadn’t linked themselves with Remain.

Maybe in fact that's why they lost.