Brexit LIVE: Macron’s banking chief gloats about £151billion asset grab from London

Brexit: UK economy needs ‘fast growth’ to recover says Tice

Bank of France chief executive Francois Villeroy de Galhau said while London remains Europe’s financial hub, other major European cities such as Paris, Dublin, and Frankfurt are all scrambling to remain active and healthy in the 19-nation eurozone after Brexit. He told a press briefing business and asset movement across the Channel will continue throughout the course of this year.

Mr de Galhau said: “In spite of the pandemic, almost 2,500 jobs have already been transferred and around 50 British entities have authorised the relocation of at least €170bn (£151bn) in assets to France at the end of 2020.

“Other relocations are expected and should increase over the course of this year.”

The Bank of France chief added it has become clear is that Brexit has forced Europe into developing its own financial autonomy.

The European Union is letting London clearinghouses to operate throughout the continent until mid-2022 as Europe does not have comparable institutions of its own.

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But once that period has passed, financial transactions, in theory, are going to have to be settled within the EU.

Last month, Boris Johnson admitted the Brexit deal with the EU “does not go as far as we would like” in allowing access to EU markets for financial services.

But Chancellor Rishi Sunak has since provided a glimmer of hope, offering the prospect of improved access in that would see the City of London remain Europe’s financial hub.

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11.34am update: US trade deal masterplan: Boris launches Joe Biden charm offensive with two secret weapons

Boris Johnson will look to win around Joe Biden by outlining the UK’s shared stance and strategy on China and Northern Ireland as part of plans to secure a lucrative trade deal with the US.

The two policies could fastrack Mr Johnson into Mr Biden’s good books – as talks over an all-important trade agreement with the US stall.

Cracking down on China, in particular, is seen as a way for Mr Johnson to put the UK in pole position ahead of the EU, who recently signed a controversial deal with Beijing.

Britain has clashed with China over the controversial law imposed on Hong Kong, spy issues around Huawei and treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Downing Street officials insist their approach to China is in contrast to the EU, which rushed through a new investment deal with Beijing just as the ink was drying on the post-Brexit trade deal between London and Brussels.

The deal was still pushed through, despite Mr Biden’s incoming National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan urging the EU to take America’s “common concerns” into account – something the new US President’s team are “deeply unhappy about”, according to the UK’s former national security adviser Mark Sedwill writing in The Daily Mail.

The UK Government will also attempt to soothe concerns from Mr Biden over Brexit and, in particular, Northern Ireland.

10.53am update: Fishing fury: Alarm raised over ‘someone in London trying to cook books and STEAL quotas’

Northern Irish fishermen are not getting a fair share of Brexit fish stocks because UK officials are “cooking the books” and “stealing quotas”, it has been claimed.

Northern Irish fishing leaders fear they are set to lose out post-Brexit under a “discriminatory” UK system. Fleets from the region currently have a quota of 8.4 percent in terms of how much they can catch under terms agreed as part of the Christmas Eve Brexit trade deal.

However, Alan McCulla, chief executive of the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation, claimed the UK government had ignored Northern Ireland.

Giving evidence to MLAs on Stormont’s Agriculture Committee, Mr McCulla said it appeared one discriminatory system is to be replaced by another.

He added: “That’s the level we have got to, having replaced one EU system of discrimination to Northern Ireland fishermen, that we’re now going to replace it with a GB system that applies more discrimination.”

The UK government will decide fishing quotas across the country in the coming weeks following quota gains from the EU.

10am update: Brexit trade explosion: UK on brink of securing lucrative 11-country superdeal

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to joining a mega-trade bloc with 11 countries including Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore.

The Government minister said the UK would formally request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) “shortly”. Joining to the group has been a key aim of Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade strategy.

The CPTPP is made up of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

“We will shortly submit our formal request to join this free trade area,” Truss told a City & Financial Global conference.

She described the bloc as “one of the world’s most dynamic trading areas”.

UK exports of 95 percent of goods would be tariff-free if Britain’s application to the trade pact is confirmed.

9.10am update: No wish in business for ‘bonfire of workers’ rights’

When asked BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about the Government looking at scrapping some EU labour laws, James Reed, chairman of Reed recruitment firm, said: “I don’t think there’s any wish in business, that I am aware of, for a so-called bonfire of workers’ rights.

“I think it is very important workers’ rights are protected.

“They must be protected because fair treatment is the bedrock of good workplace relations, so I am hopeful that is protected and secure.”

8.43am update: Irony is dead! EU official orders UK to stop interfering with Brussels’ sovereignty

Brussels has made an incredible demand for the UK to “respect its autonomy” in an incredible outburst – despite failing to recognise Britain’s own sovereignty throughout Brexit talks.

Throughout Brexit talks, the EU forced the UK to keep alignment in many areas and, as seen by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, there are many sectors where the two have agreed to a level playing field despite Britain’s newfound sovereignty.

Despite the EU’s demands for Britain to follow its regulations, Brussels’ new ambassador to the UK, João Vale de Almeida, insisted the UK should not interfere in its trade deal with China.

The EU-China deal has come under scrutiny for its lack of workers’ rights provisions and loose terms on state aid, two areas Brussels forced the UK to strict agreements on.

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8.29am update: Theresa May BLASTS Boris Johnson as ‘moral failure’ in post-Brexit British values snub

Theresa May has lashed out at Boris Johnson for his record as Prime Minister, accusing him of abandoning Britain’s “position of global moral leadership”.

The former Conservative Prime Minister penned an article criticising her successor over cutting foreign aid targets.

She suggested Mr Johnson failed to honour British values by threatening to break international law in Brexit negotiations.

Hailing the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, Mrs May also urged Mr Johnson to return to a foreign policy centred on a “Global Britain”.

Mrs May highlighted Mr Johnson’s Internal Market Bill, which originally violated the already signed Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, and his refusal to commit to spending 0.7 percent of GDP on foreign aid in her article.

She said: “Threatening to break international law by going back on a treaty we had just signed and abandoning our position of global moral leadership as the only major economy to meet both the two percent defence spending target and the 0.7 percent international aid target were not actions which, in my view, raised our credibility in the eyes of the world.

“Other countries listen to what we say not simply because of who we are, but because of what we do. The world does not owe us a prominent place on its stage.

“Whatever the rhetoric we deploy, it is our actions which count. So, we should do nothing which signals a retreat from our global commitments.”

8.07am update: Seafood exporters boosted by £100,000 compensation package

The UK Government has said seafood exports hit by Brexit red tape and delays will be able to claim up to £100,000 in compensation.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced a £23 million compensation package for firms exporting fish and shellfish to the EU who can show they have experienced “genuine loss”.

The scheme will be aimned at small and medium operators with payments made retrospectively to cover losses incurred since Brexit began.

Downing Street added it will consult with the industry throughout the UK on the eligibility criteria – as well as working with the devolved administrations – with details to be announced in the “coming days”.

On Monday, seafood hauliers descended on Westminster to protest against the terms of the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, which has seen them struggling to access markets in the bloc.

They have seen significant disruption to exports of fresh fish and seafood to the EU following the introduction of new checks and npaperwork since the end of the Brexit transition period on New Year’s Eve.

7.50am update: Brexit just the beginning! Boris handed perfect way to destroy Labour in North for good

Brexit should kickstart a radical agenda to transform communities across northern England and make them Conservative strongholds, the MP for Britain’s most marginal constituency has told Express.co.uk

With Britain finally freed from EU laws and regulations, the Government can turn its full attention to combatting the coronavirus pandemic and then delivering on an ambitious agenda.

Boris Johnson is eager to use his premiership to reward those Brexiteer voters in the north of England who normally vote Labour but backed the Tories at the last election.

But there are plenty who see Brexit as the start of a wider shake-up of Westminster and want to see reform of the civil service, House of Lords, and even the funding model of the BBC.

Nigel Farage has renamed Brexit Party the Reform Party and pledged action on such issues.

However, Bury North MP James Daly, one of those Conservatives elected for the first time in 2019, wants the Government to seize on Brexit as a chance to better support local communities and do more to deliver on issues that matter to voters’ every day lives.

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