Good morning and welcome to your Unbound Daily Briefing for Thursday 18th June – topics we are covering today include:
- Makerfield By-Election Shadow Looms Large
- Lib Dem Speech Goes by Unnoticed
- EU Reset Summit Date Announced
- India FTA In Effect Date Agreed
Makerfield By-Election Shadow Looms Large
Three by-elections are taking place today, but the focus is all on the Makerfield by-election, as it has implications on the leadership of the nation. As a cross-party campaign organisation, we neither endorse or rally against any of the candidates and wish them all well today. However with our focus on national sovereignty, and the known leave majority within Makerfield in 2016, we will be paying close attention to the outcomes and how certain parties perform against others.
We expect the news cycle, after 10pm this evening and on through the weekend, to be almost solely dominated by post-Makerfield analysis and commentary – and the implications for the leadership of the Labour party and indeed the country as a whole.
Lib Dem Speech Goes by Unnoticed
It may not have been something you caught in the news cycle yesterday afternoon, but the leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey gave the keynote speech at a European Movement seminar yesterday on their “new plan” to realign and move closer to Europe. To reiterate our cross-party nature, we neither endorse nor rally against any political party – however we do notice that the “new plan” appears to essentially be the same as the stated position of the Liberal Democrats for the last decade.
In what was a surprising announcement though, Liberal Democrat spokesperson and MP, Lisa Smart, did confirm on BBC Politics Live yesterday that rejoining the EU was “not an option” – and that they knew this because Lib Dem MPs had been meeting with senior MEPs and EU council members in recent weeks who had confirmed it was not on the cards.
Britain Unbound released polling yesterday, alongside the Ed Davey keynote speech, that showed the Lib Dem policy of rejoining the EU Customs Union was not supported by a majority of people in the UK – including by a majority of former and current Lib Dem voters.
- Watch the keynote speech from Sir Ed Davey here
- Read our article and watch the video clip of BBC Politics Live here
- Read our press release on the latest polling against Lib Dem policy here
EU Reset Summit Date Announced
The UK and EU have confirmed a date for the delayed UK-EU Summit, of 22nd July. This Summit is to follow on from that which was held last May, and is expected to include the signing of three new agreements, being:
- An SPS agreement (dynamic alignment with EU rules, to reduce border checks on UK exported agrifoods)
- An agreement linking the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) with the EU one (so more dynamic alignment)
- A Youth Mobility Scheme (originally a red line for the UK, but now sold as a positive not an EU demand)
The deal had previously been reportedly stuck and at risk of not proceeding, due to an additional demand from the EU to allow EU students to study at UK universities paying the lower domestic rate and not the international student rate. That the EU has agreed to a date, suggests that this red line on the side of the UK has also been conceded, without further concessions to benefit the UK.
We will be watching the comms on this particular summit very closely.
India FTA In Effect Date Agreed
Also announced yesterday on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, was the date that the UK-India FTA will come into effect between both nations. This Brexit benefit will be in operation from 15th July.
