Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

We've not had a English/Franco war for some time now. Maybe we are due?

(with Scotland as a French ally).

Vote reverses decision by the parliamentary body that flag should be lowered on Brexit day

The Scottish government has narrowly won a vote to keep the EU flag flying over the Edinburgh parliament building after Brexit, despite being accused of undermining the impartial status of Holyrood’s governing body.

The result came at the end of a fractious afternoon in the Holyrood chamber, with the Scottish National party government facing heavy criticism for taking up parliamentary time with the flag motion and another debate about independence, which was likewise won by a small margin.

The flag vote, which the SNP secured by nine votes with the support of the Scottish Greens, reversed a previous decision by the Scottish parliamentary corporate body (SPCB) – a management group made up of members of each of Holyrood’s parties – that the flag should be lowered at 23:00 on 31 January, the moment the UK officially leaves the EU. This is the first time that Holyrood has overturned a decision of the governing body in this way.

Opposition members characterised the move as setting a dangerous precedent, interfering with the decision-making of the neutral management group.

But the cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs, Fiona Hyslop, insisted that continuing to fly the flag was “an opportunity for the Scottish parliament to stand firm in solidarity with the 230,000 EU citizens who live in Scotland”.

Hyslop said it would also give “a practical demonstration” of the sense of loss felt by many Scots at leaving the EU: “At times of uncertainty and disruption, symbols matter.”

The presiding officer, Ken Macintosh – Holyrood’s equivalent of the House of Commons Speaker – had appealed to the Scottish government by letter last week not to make the flag-flying policy a political issue.

Macintosh wrote: “The corporate body recognises entirely the sensitivity that remains over Europe, but its decision is not a political one. Our flags reflect our relationships in law.”

In the chamber on Wednesday, the Scottish Conservatives argued that the SNP should not be wasting parliamentary time debating flags when key public services like education, health and prisons deserved more political attention, with Liz Smith arguing that it set a dangerous precedent to interfere in a body elected “to make decisions on an impartial basis to the collective benefit of all of us”.

Scottish Labour’s Claire Baker added that there was a clear risk of the Scottish parliament beginning to direct and politicise the corporate body, especially if the vote was won by a narrow margin.

“This is the time when we should be focusing on the real challenges facing Scotland as a consequence of that decision, which I don’t believe are encapsulated in a debate about whether to fly a flag.”

Baker added: “What is problematic is the way this debate politicises the decision, undermines the status of the corporate body and questions their ability to act independently of parliament.”

Following the irritable 30-minute debate, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, introduced another motion which called on MSPs to back holding a second referendum in 2020.

Sturgeon asked MSPs whether they supported the principle of people having the right to choose and to change their minds. “Given what the Tories have in store, another referendum on independence is not just legitimate,” she said.

Sturgeon, who will set out her next steps on Friday after Boris Johnson rejected her call for the legal powers to hold another referendum was ridiculed by the Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard, for wasting Holyrood’s time to “placate an over-agitating political base of activists”.

“The first minister is playing a game. Nobody in this chamber really believes there will be a referendum this year,” he said.

Reflecting growing differences within Scottish Labour on constitutional policy, the party’s former Brexit spokesperson Neil Findlay interjected that he might have backed a “more realistic and rational” motion because he believed in “the sovereign right of the Scottish people”, but added that it made no sense to hold a fresh referendum until the full consequences of Brexit were known.

MSPs previously backed a motion calling for a second referendum in March 2017 by a margin of 69 to 59 but neither that nor Wednesday’s vote can bind the UK government.

it made no sense to hold a fresh referendum until the full consequences of Brexit were known.

LONDON (Reuters) - Brexit is the United Kingdom’s biggest geopolitical move in decades. What will change and what will stay the same when Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday at 2300 GMT?

POWER
While the United Kingdom remains a member in all but name, it loses its vote in the meetings in Brussels that ultimately decide EU policy on matters ranging from financial services to the definition of a European-made car.

The United Kingdom accounts for about 15% of the EU’s economy and is its biggest military spender, and the City of London is the world’s international financial capital. But the United Kingdom’s economy is worth about $2.7 trillion economy, so is much smaller than the EU’s current $18.3 trillion economy.

Brussels will try to discern exactly how Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to overhaul the United Kingdom: will he try to build a competitor just outside the EU by turbo-charging the economy and the City of London?

PEOPLE
British and EU citizens will continue to have the right to live and work in each other’s countries until the end of the year because both sides agreed a transition period which preserves membership in all but name until 2021.

The British government has told the estimated 3.5 million EU citizens living in Britain that they have until at least the end of the December to register to retain their rights.

Johnson has said he will introduce an Australian points-based immigration system after Brexit which he says would allow talented people into the country while barring entry to low-skilled workers.

COMPANIES AND CUSTOMS
The regulatory environment for companies won’t change following Brexit because of the transition period.

After the end of the transition deal, UK customs will apply for goods coming from third countries to Northern Ireland only. For goods deemed to be headed for the EU market, UK authorities will collect EU tariffs.

There will be no customs checks on the island of Ireland — they will be done in ports. UK authorities will be in charge of applying the EU customs rules in Northern Ireland.

TRADE
As soon as the United Kingdom formally leaves the EU on Jan. 31, it can start negotiating trade deals with other countries.

The European Union - which accounts for about half of the United Kingdom’s trade - and the United States are the government’s top targets for securing new trade deals.

A sticking point in U.S. talks will be a British proposal for a unilateral digital services tax, despite a U.S. threat to levy retaliatory tariffs on British-made autos.

MONEY
There will in effect be no change for Britain’s vast financial services industry dealing with customers in the EU for the next 11 months because of the transition period.

All EU financial rules will still be applicable in Britain until the end of December. Banks, asset managers and insurers in Britain will continue to have full, unfettered access to investors in the bloc during that period.

The sector’s future access to investors in the EU will be one of the first issues to be discussed and must be finalised by the end of June.

The government will be looking for the EU to make what is known as an “equivalence” ruling to allow those firms to continue trading with the bloc.

50p Brexit coins
Three million 50p coins commemorating Brexit will be entering circulation on 31 January. The coins will read: “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” and another seven million will enter circulation over the next year. The chancellor, Sajid Javid, was given the first batch of coins and will be presenting one to Boris Johnson on Brexit day.

Just like everything to do with Brexit, the coins have proven to be controversial.

Leave Means Leave rally
The Leave Means Leave campaign has been given the go-ahead to host a rally that is due to take place between 21:00 and 23:15 on the 31st. Headed by Richard Tice, the campaign has organised speakers alongside light shows and music to celebrate Brexit day.

Address from Boris Johnson
As part of Downing Street’s Brexit day plans, the prime minister will give a speech on the future of the UK at 11pm. Johnson will be starting the day in the north of England, where he will chair a meeting with cabinet ministers, discussing “prosperity and opportunity” for the region. The government has not given any more details on the meeting.

Countdown clock
The government has announced that a countdown clock will be projected onto Downing Street buildings to mark the exact moment the UK leaves the EU – 11pm. As well as the countdown clock, union jack flags will be flown around Parliament Square.

London is Open
This event, launched by the mayor, Sadiq Khan, opens the doors of City Hall to support EU Londoners with free legal advice and emotional support services. With details of Britain’s future relationship with the EU still to be clarified, many Londoners have questions about the EU Settlement Scheme and what their future in the UK will look like.

Protest at the London Eye
Demonstrators will be gathering on the South Bank in London to protest leaving the EU. During the protest, called Shine a Light Through the Darkness, participants will shine torch lights in a recognition of the detrimental effects they say Brexit will have on the NHS and workers’ rights. Similar demonstrations will take place in Brighton and Bournemouth.

What won’t be happening:
The church bells will not be ringing out for Brexit, and nor will Big Ben. Vicars have said the eurosceptics’ bongs for 1 February will worsen divides in the country, while the Commons authorities said it could not justify the Big Ben costs, despite crowdfunding efforts by StandUp4Brexit. The campaigners managed to raise more than £270,000 of the £500,000 necessary to speed up repairs in time for 31 January.

In an equally disappointing development for the most fervent Brexit supporters, police have refused to lift the curfew on fireworks. UK law states that fireworks may not be used between the hours of 11 pm and 7am except for on 5 November or 31 December.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The leaders of the European Union’s three institutions warned Britain on Friday that unless it adopts the bloc’s standards on environment, labor, taxation and state aid it cannot expect “the highest quality access to the single market”.

“Without being a member, you cannot retain the benefits of membership,” they said in an op-ed published by several European media on Friday, ahead of Britain’s exit from the EU at midnight in Brussels (2300 GMT).

“Without the free movement of people, there can be no free movement of capital, goods and services,” European Council President Charles Michel, European Parliament President David Sassoli and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote.

The presidents were due to comment on Brexit and the future of the EU at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT).

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The more Britain diverges from EU rules and regulations after Brexit, the less access to the bloc’s single market it will have, European Council President Charles Michel said on Friday.

“The more the UK will diverge from the EU standards, the less the access to the single market they will have,” Michel said.

Michel, European Parliament President David Sassoli and the head of the bloc’s executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission, also said the EU would now focus on fighting climate change and advancing digitalization.

“We want to have the best possible relationship with the United Kingdom but it will never replicate the benefits of membership,” von der Leyen told reporters in a joint statement.

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government has been clear it is seeking a Canada-style free trade agreement with the European Union after Brexit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Friday.

The spokesman was responding to a report in The Times newspaper which said Johnson is ready to accept the “off-the-shelf” trade model that was first proposed by Chief European Union negotiator Michel Barnier.