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- Most Britons believe a No Deal Brexit is unlikely (62%) but they remain worried by the prospect of leaving without a deal this Friday, according to a Sky Data poll
Cooper-Letwin
- The House of Lords approved the Cooper-Letwin Bill, which speedily got Royal Assent, and which now requires the Prime Minister to consult Parliament on the length of any new Article 50 delay and mandates her to try to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal
Red Lines still stuck
- Cross-party talks on a deal to break the Brexit deadlock continue. There are reports that May has not moved from her Red Lines, but Downing Street push back saying the government ‘is committed to find a way though’ and ‘is working at a pace to do so’
Flextension to ease the tension
- EU Commission president is said to be recommending a year long ‘flextension’ for the UK, to allow it to create a plan to leave the EU and begin negotiating a future trading deal
Belgium showdown
- An emerging plan for the EU Summit indicates that the countries most affected by Brexit will meet Theresa May in the hours before its start to discuss an agreement and shepherd the debate later on, thereby, avoiding any catastrophic errors
Stricter conditions on UK coming
- Ireland’s Leo Varadkar reiterated that he was open to an extension of the UK deadline, while France’s Emmanuel Macron is likely to impose stricter conditions. These could involve restrictions on the UK using its presence in the EU to disrupt EU business, as suggested by some Brexiteers, with particular concern about the EU budget being obstructed
European Elections looking likely
- The Conservatives are now officially preparing to fight the European elections in May. This was part of the earlier EU demand that the UK had to meet by April 12th, before an extension could even be considered
EU tells Ireland it has ‘got its back’
- Michel Barnier made it very clear to Ireland PM, Leo Varadkar, that the EU pledges full support for the Irish border backstop, regardless of what happens in EU negotiations
China benefiting from EU paralysis
- EU Budget Commissioner says that Brexit has paralyzed decision making in Europe and China has taken advantage to promote its own interests around the world
Politicians in Westminster seen as culpable
- Polls are showing the public is holding Westminster to blame for the Brexit deadlock.
Tories facing big local government seat losses
- Tory pollster Rob Hayward says the Conservatives face a voter deficit, if no Brexit deal is secured by the time of the local elections. He said turnout would dramtically decline and that the Conservatives would see council seats won haemorrhage into big losses
Turning the clock back to 1922
- A delegation of the Conservative Party 1922 Committee visited Theresa May in Downing Street. The group told the PM that the mood among party supporters had turned against her over the weekend, that she is damaging the party with her policies and she should consider stepping down
Britain has becoming a laughing stock
- Former Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne publicly said he has changed his mind over Brexit. He said Brexiteers must swallow their pride and think again, as Brexit has turned the country into a laughing stock
Hardline ERG seems to be shattering
- There were signs the hardline Tory ERG which had opposed Theresa May’s deal are shattering into smaller groups. One MP, Daniel Kaczynski, said he had resigned from the hardcore element of the group and that there was now around 28 Tory rebels in that faction
Boris Johnson in hot water
- The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards accused the former Foreign Secretary of not demonstrating the leadership expected of a senior MP in sticking to Commons rules. The Commissioner warned Johnson of more serious sanctions if he flouts the rule book again
Jaguar Land Rover car sales fall across the year
- JLR sold 578, 915 vehicles in the year to March, down 5.8%. While weaker demand in China was a major factor behind the fall, the EU saw sales slump by 4.5% because of diesel and vehicle emissions issues
Operation Brock is not winning friends
- The vice president of ferry operator DFDS said he was not at all impressed by Operation Brock’s traffic management plan to date, while Port of Dover officials said they were ‘reserving judgement,’ whilst still admitting they did not believe Brock to be the best solution
Brexit confusion could EU tenants in the UK
- EU citizens will face problems renting properties in the UK because of Brexit. Some landlords were likely to refuse EU citizens as future tenants as the government has failed to offer any clear instructions about its settled status scheme
Portsmouth could become a No Deal hotspot
- The government has provided only 10% of the money needed for No Deal Brexit plans at Portsmouth, according to the channel port’s director, Mike Sellers. He confirmed he has told the Department of Transport contingency plans would cost £4m but he’d only seen around £345,000 to date
Jobs at Risk
Jaguar Land Rover begins Brexit shutdown as sales fallJLR’s factory shutdowns began as the carmaker, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata, released full-year results. JLR sold 578,915 vehicles globally in the year to March, down 5.8%. In March alone, sales fell 8.2%, mainly because of an 11.4% decline at Land Rover, while Jaguar recorded a 0.2% dip. The carmaker blamed weaker demand in China, whose economy has slowed sharply. JLR sales in China slumped 34%, while sales in Europe were down 4.5% because of uncertainty around the future of diesel vehicles, and the impact of new emissions legislation. The effects of the fuel efficiency and emissions testing procedure, called WLTP, have been felt across the industry.
8th Apr 2019 – The Guardian
Administrative Fall Out
Home Office denies rejecting Ofsted director’s Brexit settled status applicationThe Home Office has insisted a deputy director of Ofsted hasn’t been ‘denied settled status’ under their scheme for EU nationals. Daniel Muijs, who is Deputy Director of Research and Evaluation for the education watchdog, said he had been `rejected` in a post on Twitter . He wrote: `Have just found out my application for settled status in UK has been rejected. `I now need to find evidence of residence since 2013. Not a good feeling.`
8th Apr 2019 – Daily Mirror
Additional sources: (BBC News)