02 February 2017

Week in Brief: UK

BREXIT: The Supreme Court has handed down its judgement and has held that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, cannot trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by exercise of the Royal Prerogative.  It must be done by statute, namely an Act of Parliament passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords with the Royal Assent.

Theresa May has agreed to publish a White Paper setting out the Government’s plan and its terms for leaving the EU.  It appears that her decision was prompted by the threat of a rebellion by MPs from within her own party, who had insisted on knowing what the Government’s policy was.

Members of Parliament debated the triggering of Article 50.  The government won the vote on the motion with a large majority.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Theresa May travelled to the USA to visit President Donald Trump at the Whitehouse.  She allied herself with Donald Trump’s stance on China.  She criticised China’s assertive approach, referred to Iran’s malign influence, accepted that Israel needed more support and acknowledged Russia’s role in attempts to build peace in the Middle East.

The proposed state visit of Donald Trump to the UK in June is facing a problem, given the divergent views on climate change held by the President and by Prince Charles.  The US team has described the difference as a serious “risk factor”.  The Prince would almost certainly meet Donald Trump and the worry is that he might try to lecture the President or attempt to persuade him to change his views.  The danger is that Trump might “erupt”.  It remains to be seen whether this concern and the risk of wide spread demonstrations will result in the cancellation of the proposed visit.

A former senior civil servant in the Foreign Office has suggested that the proposed state visit of Trump be downgraded to avoid causing embarrassment to the Queen, in view of the controversy which surrounds the invitation.

The UK has persuaded the President to mitigate the effect of an executive order banning Muslims from entering the USA.  UK citizens with dual nationality will not be affected by the ban.

See comments Leading Trumps and Donald and Theresa’s Love-In.

LABOUR: Jeremy Corbyn has lost two shadow front bench spokesmen.  One, the shadow education minister, has announced that she will ignore the Labour leader’s instructions to vote in favour of the legislation required to give effect to the result of the EU referendum.  Her constituency voted to remain in the EU and she has said that her task is to represent their interests.

The Labour shadow secretary of state for Wales has said that she considers the EU referendum a disaster.  Another shadow minister, Rachael Maskell, is to hold a debate in her constituency.  If her constituency instructs her to vote against the triggering of Article 50, she will do so.  Estimates put the number of rebels (those who will defy Corbyn and vote against Article 50) at approximately 100.

Corbyn was thinking of imposing a three-line whip, but may have to back down, given the number of MPs and shadow ministers who will not vote as instructed.

ECONOMY: Official statistics have confirmed that the UK economy grew faster than any other G7 nation in 2016, including the USA, despite the result of the EU referendum.  The Treasury’s warnings of the risks of a recession if the UK voted to leave, have proved ill-founded so far.

FRAUD: Six people have been convicted for a fraud in which millions of pounds were taken from customers of HBOS.  Two of those convicted worked for the bank.  All six face lengthy jail sentences.

HOMELESS: Concerns have been expressed over the number of homeless people sleeping on the streets of towns and cities in England.  Estimates show that there has been a rise of 51%.  Research carried out in London indicate that most come from outside the UK, with a third from Romania, Poland and Lithuania.

 

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