Brexit weekly briefing: election soundbites replace hard news
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Version 0 of 1. Boris Johnson under fire for series of false claims as he promises to ‘get Brexit done’ Welcome to the Guardian’s weekly Brexit briefing. If you’d like to receive this as a weekly email, sign up here. You can catch our latest Brexit Means … podcast here, and for daily updates head to Andrew Sparrow’s politics live blog. Top stories With the election campaign in full swing and due to last for nearly another month, actual Brexit news – as opposed to snappy slogans, disingenuous claims and unfulfillable promises – was at something of a premium. The EU launched legal action after Britain failed to nominate a candidate for the European commission, and the outgoing European council president, Donald Tusk, called on anti-Brexit campaigners to keep fighting in the run-up to the polls. Somewhat embarrassingly, Tesla cited Brexit uncertainty after choosing Germany rather than the UK as the site for its new European plant – and Australia (backed by 14 other countries) demanded compensation for Brexit trade disruption. Otherwise it was all pretty much what you’d expect. The Conservatives pledged to cut overall immigration (but dropped any idea of a target) and increase spending on neglected towns. They also shelved a corporate tax cut in favour of public spending. The PM continued to repeat a limited selection of election soundbites, including the meaningless promise to “get Brexit done”, and was rightly given stick for a string of inaccurate statements. (He wasn’t the only one: Michael Gove, too, was accused of lying about EU citizens’ NHS rights). On the Labour side, Jeremy Corbyn promised to outspend the Tories with a £26bn rescue plan for the NHS and made headlines with an ambitious plan to nationalise part of BT and provide free broadband across the UK. It ran into predictable trouble, however, after Unite’s Len McCluskey said victory in the general election would require a tough line on free movement. Corbyn said the party’s manifesto would allow “a great deal of” – but not altogether free – movement. For their part, the Lib Dems found themselves in difficulty over their insistence – against the wishes of some candidates - on standing in highly marginal seats held by Labour over the Conservatives, and for selective use of polling data in their leaflets. What’s next No change from last week, really: Johnson’s stated plan is to secure a majority big enough for him to get his Brexit deal through parliament by 31 January, then negotiate the UK’s future relationship with the EU – including a new trade deal – before the end of the transition period in December 2020. The polls suggest he could be on course to accomplish the former, but there isn’t a serious trade expert alive who would bet on him achieving the latter. Since the PM has said he will never extend the transition period, this raises questions about what happens at the end of next year if the trade deal has not been agreed (and ratified). Best of the rest Brexit could weaken rules on antibiotics in farming, activists warn. Stressed Whitehall staff at ‘breaking point’ over Brexit. Voters’ choice is Tory no-deal Brexit or second referendum, says Gauke. Police assessing claims that Tories offered peerages to Brexit party. Roland Rudd exits People’s Vote amid continuing rancour. ‘CVs at bottom of pile’: Britons in EU say Brexit is taking its toll. Rising proportion of EU citizens in UK given temporary ‘pre-settled status’. Top comment In the Guardian, Anand Menon and Catherine Barnard say Johnson is deluded if he thinks he can “get Brexit done” in a hurry: Top tweet: Anti-Brexit journalist Ian Dunt lays it on the line: |