Facts4EU.com

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  • What’s taking so long? Huge demand for EU laws to be repealed

    After Facts4EU.Org’s appeal, readers respond with demands for change

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    From Motorcycles to Data Protection, from Clinical Trials to Declarations of Interest – there’s no end to EU laws that need changing

    After appealing for readers to nominate the EU laws they most want repealed or amended following Lord Frost’s launch of a review of existing British legislation that originated in Brussels, your favourite fact-based Brexit site has been inundated with suggestions and what the priorities should be.

    We are committed to preparing a compendium of your suggestions to go to the Rt Hon Liz Truss MP and to pro-Brexit MPs, but for now we thought we would brighten your day by giving you a small sample of what we’ve been told by you.

    The suggestions are provided here only with initials and Counties, so readers can see the geographical spread of submissions. Please continue to send your recommendations. Respondents can have no inhibitions or fears about their identities being revealed.

    Make Peers declare any EU interest

    “That difficulty was overcome by Lord Howe who passed a statutory instrument which removed the obligation of these EU supporters to declare their interest. The original rules should now be reinstated with penalties for any peer who fails to declare his receipt of a pension or other benefit from the EU.

    “This is one of the ways in which the EU exerted control over our government without anyone knowing how it was done. It should be stopped. It enabled Brexit to be blocked by unscrupulous individuals in the Lords and it will continue to undermine our freedom and democracy unless it is removed.”

    – MC, London

    Human Rights Act

    There is much consternation that the Government is not proposing to withdraw from the ECHR, so any movement on loosening its grip on our own ability to determine our liberties and how they are protected would be popular.

    Here’s a typical taste of the submissions:

    “Words fail me, as all this Act seems to protect is criminals and does nothing for the hard working ordinary people it was set up to protect.”

    – DS, Lancashire

    Abandon the non-existent ‘Level Playing Field’

    “Renounce the ‘Level Playing Field’ we signed up to in the deal. The EU has talked much about this whilst failing to abide by it in practice.”

    – HP, West Sussex

    Readers believe this seeking of ‘equivalence’ holds us back.

    EU rules make motorcycles less safe, noisier and emit more

    “EU regulations on motorcycle emissions have been tightened to a level which do not just make them more expensive, it makes them more difficult to operate in urban environments.

    “The machines cannot pack multiple systems a car is able to, so are forced to run with extremely lean settings. The effect is to oblige riders to keep the engine spinning fast, engage lower gear, and slip the clutch in traffic. Low speed tractability and throttle control are all affected, especially on sharp street corners and roundabouts, with stalling and unpredictable engine behaviour.

    “Most add-ons and tweaks used to be intended to make them faster, but a recent trend is to buy and fit ‘cheat’ gadgets to fix low speed issues. The EU have now mandated that if such fixes are detected they must be locked out, the ultimate irony is the rider is then forced to ride in an environmentally unfriendly manner!”

    – KA, Yorkshire

    Clinical trials

    “EU regulations governing clinical trials should be abolished and replaced by UK appropriate regs as they previously were.”

    – SN, Devon

    The change suited Big Pharma and punished researchers across the UK as it drove costs up immensely.

    GDPR

    “Amend the Data Protection Act (2018) – the gold-plated version of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) such that we can maintain and incentivise information security (carrot/reward) instead of penalising (risk/fines).

    “What does good data protection law look like? Look at the best (Singapore, ANZ, Switzerland, etc.) and make it the best it can be for international trade and commerce. Show the EU what sensible and pragmatic data protection looks like.”

    – DM, West Midlands

    Observations

    The above suggestions were typical of the varied and often detailed examples sent to Facts4EU by readers. What comes over from the submissions is the very broad range of topics that the British people are dissatisfied with and are now growing impatient to see changed.

    A common refrain is that many people voted simply to leave. They did not vote for more of the same, as a result of a deal they really had no say over.

    “Just Leave,” is the regular comment, ”and start removing the laws we never asked for, and on many occasions tried to stop previously, but were outvoted by a majority of other countries.”

    The great thing that has come out of the appeal we made last week is that readers have many, many reasons. Please keep them coming and help us to provide a bumper document for Liz Truss and Chris Heaton-Harris that leads to real change.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: Readers of Facts4EU.Org ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 23 Dec 2021

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  • Liz Truss and Chris Heaton-Harris must put the country before their party

    Lessons of Lord Frost’s successes & failures must be learned if British interests are to prevail

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Both Truss and Heaton-Harris start with a fair wind behind them

    Part Two of a Facts4EU.Org editorial
    (Read Part One here)

    Lord Frost’s departure as Minister in charge of Brexit negotiations has caused genuine alarm among those wishing to see the Northern Ireland Protocol reformed or revoked, not because he got everything right and is irreplaceable (he didn’t, and he isn’t), but because his speeches revealed a careful and incisive analysis that identified the fundamental problems requiring correction.

    Frost has shown that being a politician in command of his brief can bring respect and a reputation for being in charge.

    It was this all too rare occurrence in British politics – having a minister who actually understands an issue in detail and has the courage and self-belief to stand firm, knowing right can prevail – that ignited a fear that whoever took over from him might not demonstrate such a gift and that consequently the lessons of Frost’s successes and failures would not be learned, that the progress made would be squandered, and that compromise if not capitulation would follow.

    Two cheers for the new team

    The appointment of the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, and the new Europe Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, to take over Frost’s brief has received two cheers from Brexit supporters. A third cheer is, in a sense, being held back because doubts that the Government is genuine about reforming or repealing the Protocol are now stronger than when Frost held the brief.

    To review the prospects readers must firstly remind themselves that David Frost had been a Remainer in the lead up to the referendum. Following the vote, when he was chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, Frost commenced lobbying to make Brexit work for the whisky industry by backing new trade deals that might reduce the high tariffs in countries like India that the EU had shown no interest in reducing. He then became an advisor to Boris Johnson on his appointment as Foreign Secretary.

    We therefore have to give Liz Truss the benefit of the doubt that while she backed Remain during the referendum she also moved quickly to respect the democratic vote and recognise the opportunities that Brexit could bring. Truss has undoubtedly been on a political journey, starting out as a Liberal Democrat with a republican leaning at university before she joined the Conservatives following graduation. She didn’t stop there but continued her route march to become the party’s leading advocate of global free trade.

    Liz Truss Twitter account Jun 2016 – 12 days before the EU referendum

    Liz Truss campaigning for Remain

    This author can only wish far more of those in the Conservative Party, in most cases for all their lives, had so warmly embraced the cause of Britain’s future lying with open markets that reward the creativity, hard work and ambition of our people to succeed.

    Observations

    If there is a worry about the appointment of Liz Truss it is not that she lacks the guile and ambition for the task but that she is in the Foreign Office, an institution where seeing the European Union’s point of view and believing it has greater moral authority than Britain’s has so often prevailed over our own interests. The behaviour of many former British ambassadors provides further examples to give us cause to worry. The recent briefing undermining Lord Frost’s position on removing the adjudication of the ECJ from the Protocol is another warning of institutional resistance.

    Some commentators have averred that Truss might be seduced by the flattery and acclaim that will come from our media hacks, not least the BBC, as well as foreign politicians in Brussels, Dublin and Washington from being on the international stage. I rather doubt it. Her courage and experience in holding out against manufactured public ridicule for winning better access to Japanese markets for British Stilton cheese in the recent trade agreement should show her that her stock rises with an electorate looking for politicians that say what they will do and then, God forbid, do what they say.

    Lessons from recent experience

    If Truss is to have a great political future she must show the guile to be careful about expressing what she believes is possible and then go on at least to meet her public aspirations if not exceed them.

    It is in this realm that Lord Frost had his greatest difficulty. On too many occasions in its dealings with the EU over the last two years the UK Government has set deadlines upon which it would either withdraw from negotiations or threaten to invoke Article 16 of the Protocol. Likewise grace periods of lighter application of regulations have been repeatedly extended – a move that only serves to benefit the trade substitution of GB goods in Northern Ireland by imports from the southern Republic.

    It may be that Lord Frost did not have the political backing of Downing Street or enough Tory MPs to invoke Article 16, we may not know the answer to that for many years. Whatever the truth we now require Liz Truss to ensure deadlines are only set that can and will be met.

    The lesson of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, leader of the DUP, who has made similar threats to withdraw political co-operation in Northern Irish institutions – only then to extend his own deadlines – shows the politicians are too keen to grab a headline without thinking through the consequences.

    The danger of false threats

    Were Truss to replicate this recent tendency to extend deadlines then the game would be up. The EU would know the UK Government is not serious and would undoubtedly double down, looking for concessions rather than giving any itself.

    Conversely, what Frost also showed was that by taking a strong position, laying out the case in speeches and in a Command paper – and then holding the line – would bring the EU to heel. Sefcovic said the EU would not re-negotiate, well who’s re-negotiating now?

    The reassurance by Truss yesterday that invoking Article 16 remains very much a live option and that the ECJ position has not weakened is an encouraging start.

    Heaton-Harris cannot rest on his laurels

    In regard to Chris Heaton-Harris I suggest that just as Liz Truss’s past ‘remainer’ disposition deserves to be set aside, then so too does the Europe Minister’s identity as a leaver.

    Being dubbed as being part of the ‘H Block’ along with Roger Helmer and Daniel Hannan as one of only three Conservative MEPs who were genuine Eurosceptics while in Brussels and Strasbourg does not give him the right to unalloyed reverence or support now. Nor does his period as Chairman of the European Research Group (2010-16). The sorry fact is he voted on the side of Theresa May in all three meaningful votes, backstop included, and therefore has just as much to prove – no more, no less – as Liz Truss.

    A centre forward is only as good as his next goal. Heaton-Harris , a qualified football referee, has to prove himself all over again. He too must resist the pats on the back and the warm adulation that will come his way from those that wish our country ill – be it at home or abroad. He too must recognise that standing up for British interests is what will win him the thanks of his ain folk.

    For both Truss and Heaton-Harris, they must be prepared to put the UK’s long-term interests before their short-term comforts or the electoral fortunes of their party. They must also recognise the majority of people in Northern Ireland want to remain British and that to leave the Protocol in place without substantial reform will be to demonstrate the Conservative Party has no right to call itself unionist.

    We can only wish both Liz Truss and Chris Heaton-Harris well and urge them to prove the doubters wrong – just as Lord Frost did.

    Brian Monteith
    Managing Editor
    For the Facts4EU team

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: Editorial ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 22 Dec 2021

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  • Frost’s departure must not lead to a softer UK stance with the EU: Editorial

    Frost showed how standing up for British interests could get results – the UK Government must not be cowed into making concessions that secedes Northern Ireland to the EU

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    For Liz Truss, taking on Frost’s role is a poisoned chalice; for the PM it is his last chance to live up to his word

    A Facts4EU.Org editorial

    It is not often that Facst4EU.org is moved to publish solely an editorial piece light on facts. The resignation of Lord Frost is however of such import that our good habits of seeking to be evidence-based must be broken – for a good reason.

    The resignation of Lord Frost as the UK Government’s chief Brexit negotiator is a seminal moment of catastrophe among many calamities that have befallen this pro-Brexit Government (many, it has to be said, unforced and of its own making.)

    Yes, the Northern Ireland Protocol that Lord Frost was seeking to amend was originally negotiated by him and signed off by the Prime Minister – but let’s not miss the point. The UK Government had been put in a bind by a Remainer Parliament passing the Benn Act – the sub-optimal deal then negotiated was a means to leave the EU. It was an unsatisfactory means, not being complete and equal for the whole of the UK, but it was a means to get out and then live to fight another day.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    The resignation and the response

    Click the images to read each letter.

    The vindictive EU and the attempted unification of Ireland

    True to form, and as many such as this website and a few others predicted, the EU, rather than be magnanimous and co-operative having won an advantage in retaining part of the UK within the Single Market and Customs Union, then sought to turn the screw.

    The Northern Ireland Protocol became a bludgeon with which to punish the UK by seeking to turn us against ourselves. More checks were being made on goods entering Northern Ireland from mainland Britain than were being made on those from mainland Britain into the EU channel ports – despite the latter being considerably larger by volume and value.

    Worse still, there was some evidence that NI-GB trade was being substituted by NI-RoI trade, so that the economic future of Northern Ireland would re-orientate away from the British mainland towards the Irish Republic. Thus the constitutional implications of the NI Protocol were also slowly being revealed.

    Breaking the Act of Union and the Good Friday Agreement

    Astonishingly it was established that the Act of Union of 1801 that founded the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland – guaranteeing unrestricted trade between all the parts of the UK – had been breached by the EU Withdrawal Act repealing “implicitly” aspects of the Act of Union.

    Unashamedly the UK Government admitted as much when defending the Protocol in the Judicial Review brought by Unionist leaders together with former MEP Ben Habib and the former Labour MP, Baroness Kate Hoey.

    Further, by not seeking the consent of the Northern Irish people for adopting this process of amending the Act of Union the terms of the Belfast (GFA) Agreement were broken. Ironically this was done all in the name of peace, yet it risks the Belfast Agreement retaining acceptance in the Unionist community and the very preservation of peace.

    Lord Frost identified these emerging flaws relatively quickly, as they became so onerous that extension of the periods of grace whereby certain checks were not required were extended.

    Lord Frost stood his ground

    Frost was then assailed by all sorts of critics aspiring to a united Ireland or reasserting the authority of the EU over the UK, calling on him to back down and agree to whatever the EU offered. He stood his ground and threatened to invoke Article 16 which would suspend the Protocol and allow the UK to impose its own customs procedures on all of its own land.

    Frost’s stubbornness brought the EU to the bargaining table when EU Commissioners had said they would not renegotiate. Now they plainly are renegotiating and it is only their British fifth column that gives them solace when they are the abusers in the relationship.

    Frost was also clearly holding out for change in regard to the superiority of the European Courts of Justice over disputes that might arise from the Northern Ireland Protocol – despite being undermined by a nameless civil servant briefing against his position without authority. Have no doubts, the Remainer establishment Blob continues its nefarious work.

    But for all that, now he has gone. Apparently not because of the lack of Government or Party support he was receiving in trying to reform or repeal the Protocol – but because of the direction of travel that Boris Johnson’s government is now taking over the economy, dealing with ‘climate change’ and facing up to the pandemic.

    Observations

    This is a low moment in British politics for those that wish the best for our country. Frost recognised the flaws in his own agreement and was best placed to work to reassert Britain’s interest. But no more.

    The Prime Minister has moved quickly to appoint his Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, to take on Lord Frost’s responsibilities, supported by Chris Heaton-Harris MP as the new Minister for Europe. We must wish them well. Liz Truss – universally recognised as an aspiring Conservative leader and Prime Minister of the future – MUST now deliver on reforming or repealing the Protocol or see her ambitions snuffed out. It is the perfect poisoned chalice from the Prime Minister’s perspective.

    If Truss wins the day she will have saved Johnson’s neck after he lost Frost’s counsel and risked capitulation on the Protocol. If she loses, then his most potent replacement will have been dealt a mortal blow. These are high stakes, but they are of nothing compared to the stakes that matter for the people of Northern Ireland. Our people wish to remain British and want to live under the same laws as the rest of us, made by our own sovereign parliament not that of the EU, which puts its own interests and those of the Republic of Ireland, first.

    Tomorrow we shall weigh-up the task at hand for Liz Truss and Chris Heaton-Harris and provide some background about them. Following that we shall publish a piece on EU laws – a follow-up to an article we wrote last week which proved very popular and which provoked a lot of reaction.

    Brian Monteith
    Managing Editor
    For the Facts4EU team

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: Opinion article ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 21 Dec 2021

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  • Sanctimonious Remainers trip themselves up again

    Leave voters blamed for spreading Covid – but Remain-voting London and Scotland ignored

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Academics forget correlation does not mean causation in search of Holy Grail of blaming Brexit

    A Facts4EU.Org weekend editorial

    New academic research on the geographic prevalence of Covid deaths has been used to blame Leave voters for the prevalence and spread of the virus.

    Unfortunately for those prompting the theory – quickly picked up by Remainer media outlets (such as the New European) and pro-EU campaigns (such as the well-funded and smug Better for Britain) – it doesn’t stand the fact test.

    Correlation versus causation

    The two researchers from Oxford and Glasgow Universities claim that there is a correlation between high Covid death rates in high Leave-voting constituencies and low Covid death rates in Remain voting constituencies, and this may be true.

    Unfortunately they seem to have forgotten a cardinal rule of such research – correlation does not mean causation – for outcomes can be caused by other factors that also happen to exist. Thus some constituencies might have a high incidence of elderly people susceptible to Covid, or other factors such as obesity, travel patterns, nursing homes that can exacerbate Covid or factors that might reduce it.

    A more obvious example that has been suitably ignored is to look at the larger picture of poor Covid outcomes or vaccine uptakes (which are the researchers’ measurements).

    How this is reported within the EU

    Unsurprisingly media within the EU were quick to splash this story. Here is the headline from Euronews, which claims to be the most-watched TV news channel in the bloc.

    © Euronews 2021

    The first area cited in the Euronews report for worst deaths ‘due to Covid’ was Boston in Lincs. According to the Office for National Statistics Boston had a median age of 42.1 years in mid-2016, when the EU Referendum took place. By contrast in London – a heavily-Remain voting part of the country as we state below – the median age was just 34.8 years.

    Given that all official statistics show that the mortality rate ‘due to Covid’ increases dramatically with age, this would seem to be an important point.

    Scotland and London – Remain-voting but with high Covid rates

    Readers might recall that one part of the UK that voted in favour of Remain was Scotland – by 62% to 38% – and yet it is Scotland that has regularly had the worst numbers of Covid cases and deaths. For many weeks it was the Covid capital of Europe according to the WHO – with 10 of the continent’s top 20 regions for Covid being in Scotland. Somehow that doesn’t fit the theory – so it was ignored.

    Readers might also be aware that London had an especially high vote in favour of the EU (60% to 40%) – no surprise really when it is claimed by the French Consulate to have anything between 300,000-400,000 French men and women resident in the capital.

    This ranks London as anywhere between between fifth and eighth in the world’s cities with a French population (fewer than Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, but possibly more than Nice: 340,017, Nantes: 340,017, Montpelier: 309,346 and Strasbourg: 280,966.) Then there all the other EU residents and beneficiaries of free movement. Should they be considered as “anti-vaxxers” and “anti-social superspreaders”, whatever those terms might mean?

    Yet, the reality is that one in three Londoners have apparently not even had one jab – but nearly two out of three voted for the EU.

    “Does not compute, does not compute” a rational person might suggest. Time for the authors to move on?

    Observations

    The efforts to smear Leave voters are really becoming rather tiresome. The latest is clearly an attempt to make out that those people against vaccines and lockdowns are knuckle-dragging troglodytes who also happened to vote for Brexit and must have been right wing nut jobs – rather than to consider they are simply standing up for their liberties and defending the Nuremberg Convention that rules Citizens cannot be forced to have vaccines against their will.

    Reports of children in German schools being shamed in front of classmates if they are unvaccinated and new Austrian laws to fine unvaccinated citizens do not sit easy with most British people – whether they voted Leave or Remain.

    Those Remainers guilty of talking-up their own supposed intellectual superiority by trying to demean people who think for themselves should stop playing games. We can all see they have already given up any possible moral superiority by their craven and judgemental name calling.

    The reality is there were people from all walks of life that voted Leave or Remain and that afterwards respected the democratic vote and moved on, putting their shoulder to the job of making it work for the best of all.

    Ironically, had we not left the EU then the UK Government would not have had the courage to go with British regulatory approval of the vaccines instead of waiting on the long-drawn out EU process.

    Whichever way people voted it is time to be looking forward at what can be achieved rather than still seeking to blame Brexit – like the falsehoods around HGV driver shortages – for every challenge we face.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: World Health Organisation | OWID/Johns Hopkins University | Euronews | Office for National Statistics population figures by region and age ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 18 Dec 2021

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
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    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
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  • How the UK literally dodged a bullet, as EU defence plans are revealed

    Exclusive Facts4EU.Org analysis of league table of huge number of new EU defence partnerships

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Scale of almost 2,000 EU partnerships in 60 defence projects shows truth behind EU drive to create military industrial complex by 2025

    Following exclusive research by Facts4EU.Org we can reveal the EU member states that have become the most immersed in the EU’s military plans and are therefore leading the EU’s programme to build a military-industrial complex by 2025.

    The sheer scale of the tie-ups is simply staggering – with a total of 1961 partnerships by 25 EU member states over the 60 projects thus far.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    1,961 EU defence industry partnerships so far… and counting

    The PESCO partnership league table – top 5

    1. France : 205
    2. Spain : 151
    3. Germany : 142
    4. Italy : 142
    5. Netherlands : 104

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    France tops the EU defence partnership table

    Top of the league is, unsurprisingly, France on 205 partnerships, with Spain second on 151 and Germany and Italy tied on 142 each. The scale of involvement reflects both the capacities of national military industries built up over many decades as well as the military and strategic outlooks of respective governments.

    France is involved in 36% more partnerships than second-placed Spain and 44% more than equal third-placed Germany and Italy.

    The latest on the EU’s military plans

    On 16 November 2021 the EU members of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) programme announced the last 14 of 60 collaborative military projects to date. All are scheduled to be completed by 2025.

    Member states volunteer to be involved in each project of their choosing, with one country taking the lead. They do not need to take part in every project but by doing so they end up in partnership with other countries. Thus the more projects a country is involved in, the more partnerships it will have and more immersed it will be.

    All but one of the twenty-five members of PESCO are partnered with each other – the exception being Ireland, which has partnerships with only seven other countries. The only EU members states not members of PESCO are Denmark and Malta.

    Being outside a project does not mean ‘neutral’ Ireland is not tied into their outcomes or costs – for all PESCO signatories are obliged to adhere to or harmonise the outcomes of each project as well as contribute financially towards them.

    Observations

    If there were any doubts why so many in British military and defence industry circles were interested in remaining involved in PESCO from ‘outside’ the EU, this league table should confirm their motives.

    There seems little doubt that this was all about trying to lead a European defence project, but as so often is the case with EU initiatives the trade-off would have been the ‘one size fits all’ approach and the abandonment of national interests in favour of the European average.

    The league table essentially tells us who is leading and who is being led. Britain’s interests do not always coincide with those of France – or Spain, Germany or Italy – who appear to call the shots. To have had influence would have required the UK to have been involved at least as much as France, for without that level of participation it would have been difficult to have had genuine influence.

    As with fishing, so with defence

    We have been here before. Even though the UK had the majority of fishing resources, other EU nations were keen to conspire and bargain with each other to dismantle the UK’s fishing industry and pillage our resources.

    The same would have been possible with our defence industry. At the very least, being outside the EU allows the UK Government to create limits to international partnerships – such as those with the US or Australia – which protect strategic capabilities and interests and which EU laws would have prevented.

    As an island nation with a global rather than a continental outlook, our defence industry expertise and military capabilities would have been sacrificed on the altar of European statehood and potential European conflicts.

    This was where Theresa May wanted to take us – and we should remember the current Prime Minister chose not to.

    Facts4EU.Org would like to thank Brexit-Watch and other monitors of EU military ambitions who contributed to our research. There is more reading here.

    The Facts4EU team.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

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    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 15 Dec 2021

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  • “Despite Brexit” Northern Ireland wants to stay British, says latest poll

    Lord Ashcroft polling puts nationalist rhetoric on the back foot – reversing his previous findings

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Repeated calls for a ‘border poll’ and claims Irish unification is inevitable continue to be shown as wishful thinking. Lord Frost must take encouragement and refute the damaging Protocol

    New polling by Lord Ashcroft – who regularly conducts the largest polls on major issues across the whole UK – has shown a majority for Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom by 49% to 41% – rising to a significant margin of 56% to 44% when don’t knows are excluded.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    Northern Ireland – Voting intentions regarding the United Kingdom v. the Republic and the EU

    • Stay in the UK : 54%
    • Join Republic of Ireland : 46%

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Just as important for those across the UK who value the constitutional issue is that this outcome reverses a similar poll conducted by Ashcroft in September 2019, when support for Northern Ireland leaving the UK and joining the Republic of Ireland was put at 46% to 45% – turning out at 51% to 49% to in favour of unification after removing don’t knows.

    The latest Ashcroft poll echoes another survey conducted in October by the University of Liverpool that found were there a Border Poll held today, support for remaining in the UK would be 58.6% in favour with 29.8% against. When ‘don’t knows’ were removed support for Northern Ireland remaining in the UK rose to 66.2%.

    Lord Ashcroft’s large scale quantitative polling together with the qualitative findings of focus group discussions demonstrates that the demographic theory – that nationalists need only wait for them to be able to win in a future poll – continues to enjoy support.

    Resonance with Scotland

    Similar factors pertain in Scotland where polling can show those surveyed also believe there will be change in the future – but in both debates voters repeatedly put constitutional change way down the order of priorities of what really matters to them. This is why a belief that change is inevitable rarely actually materialises, as each generation becomes focused on material issues such as healthcare, employment and the relative costs of living in different jurisdictions.

    The Ashcroft polling comes at an important juncture in the negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol and the growing belief in Westminster that if the EU does not make meaningful concessions Lord Frost will be left with no alternative but to suspend operation of the Protocol under its own Article 16 that allows for such a measure by either signatory – the EU or UK.

    For the survey, 3,301 adults in Northern Ireland were interviewed online between 15 and 18 November 2021. To read the full report by Lord Ashcroft polls click here.

    Observations

    The United Kingdom

    Those who believe in the United Kingdom should take heart from the latest findings of Lord Ashcroft’s polling and the recent University of Liverpool survey. The United Kingdom remains the most popular settlement in Northern Ireland – “despite Brexit”.

    The Ashcroft polling confirms some things that we knew already – such as the divide between those supporting or opposing Brexit splits broadly down the divide between Unionists (66%/30% in favour) and Nationalists (95%/4% against). No surprise there when the UK is now outside the EU and the Republic of Ireland remains in it.

    Work remains to be done by unionist politicians on both sides of the Irish Sea, however, for the polling comes with a warning. 67% of those surveyed said they thought Brexit made it “more likely” Northern Ireland would eventually leave the UK and join the Republic of Ireland.

    Unionist party leaders and most importantly the UK Government have to make sure the negotiations over the Protocol strengthen Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and not leave it weakened. Despite a majority of Unionists believing there should not be a border poll, seven out of ten think it will happen and 23% believe it will be within ten years.

    Strengthening the union

    Nevertheless, opportunities for strengthening Northern Ireland’s place in the UK exist and should be seized. Expectations about the outcome of any such border poll should be tempered by the polling finding that when actual costs and benefits of Northern Ireland leaving the UK to join the Republic, the case for remaining British has much in its favour – even though that debate is rarely heard and is seldom championed by mainland politicians.

    To quote the polling, “Voters as a whole were more likely to think that housing costs; food, fuel and energy prices; tax rates and unemployment would be higher in a united Ireland than that they would be lower, while public spending, welfare benefits and (by a small margin) pensions were more likely to be lower.” Only Business investment was thought by voters more likely to be higher than lower in a united Ireland.

    The polling sends a message, therefore, that not only must the Protocol be resolved so the threat to Northern Ireland’s economic links to the mainland are not undermined – but that Boris Johnson’s economic “levelling up” needs to include Northern Ireland and not just the north of England – and be obvious that it does.

    The Facts4EU team.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: Lord Ashcroft polls ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 14 Dec 2021

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  • Lord Frost needs you! Facts4EU.Org launches initiative to repeal EU laws

    Brexit means divergence and now is the time to tell Lord Frost which EU laws to repeal

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    UK Government review of Retained European Union Law is given greater priority – but cannot be left in civil servants’ hands

    Lord Frost has announced he is speeding up the process of changing Retained EU Law (REUL) by launching two reviews: the first into the substance of REUL, and the second into its status in law. This statement by Lord Frost sets out the progress that has been made so far and the next steps. The Government’s overall intention remains, in time, to amend, replace, or repeal all the REUL that is not right for the UK.

    Readers will recall that to provide clarity and reassurance to business there would be minimum disruption as we left the EU and that the vast majority of EU law was rolled over into British statute and remains intact. It was always the intention to review that law and now the process has begun in earnest.

    For a review of the substance of EU law Lord Frost has:-

    “directed Government departments to establish the content of REUL in policy areas for which they are responsible, and to consult stakeholders as necessary. There is no authoritative assessment by Government of which policy areas are most affected by REUL. This first review will deliver such an assessment, and enable us to establish which sectors of the economy and which departments are most affected by REUL.”

    Take note – WE ARE ALL STAKEHOLDERS – we are all able to take part in this consultation

    The second review, running concurrently, will look at the legal implications of REUL, such as how it can take precedence over domestic law – a hugely important aspect of being able to ensure that change means change.

    Lord Frost is to be congratulated on this initiative. It ensures the UK Government is on the front foot and that the benefits of Brexit can now be better realised. Nevertheless we cannot simply leave matters to chance.

    EU sympathisers buried deep in the Whitehall system will be looking to frustrate the process of reform and we cannot allow that to happen. Facts4EU.Org therefore appeals to all our readers to join us and become involved by providing your views.

    Observations

    The news of Lord Frost’s reviews of REUL is terrific news – it is yet another advance of delivering the Brexit bonus by leaving the EU behind and making decisions for ourselves in our own interests.

    The problem is, however, that too many civil servants appear to have their own agendas which would result in shadowing EU law closely – to maintain close alignment with the single market – so it will be easier for the UK to rejoin some day in the future.

    Throwing a proverbial spanner into the works, questioning every change no matter how small, means even current achievements such as the Free Trade Agreements with Australia and New Zealand have still to await ratification before we can see the benefits – a process that is taking an age and is not expected to be completed for another year.

    We also need to remember that it was our own British civil service that infamously took EU laws and then ‘gold plated’ many of them, making them even more invasive, technocratic, costly and unbending – but cunningly passing the blame on to faceless Brussels bureaucrats. Many of our politicians were part of this process too, such as the then Health Minister Anna Soubry providing a majority vote for an EU-wide ban on menthol cigarettes when it was not even Conservative government policy.

    ‘Gold plating’ EU laws has ended, but….

    The practice of ‘gold plating’ has come to an end, as we should be solely responsible for our own laws – but we can expect many civil servants to still defend these past laws as if they were always our own.

    Of course regulations can be necessary, that is not disputed, but if we had not deregulated in the 1980s many of the liberal reforms that allowed innovation and creativity in our economy would never have seen the light of day. One obvious example of how deregulation can be beneficial is being able to walk into an opticians today and have a choice of spectacles rather than the limited ration of NHS designs that took an eternity to arrive.

    If Brexit means anything then it must mean the ability to diverge from laws designed for 27 other countries (and as often than not, just Germany and/or France) that were imposed on the UK because we lost a majority vote. We need laws and regulations that are fit for today’s Global Britain, not for the lowest European common denominator.

    One way Lord Frost can institute the review is to ask that every one of the 72 times the UK lost a vote on a legal imposition at the Council of Ministers is revisited. If the EU proposals were not right for the UK when first proposed there is a very strong likelihood they are not needed now either.

    One such example is the EU’s Water Directive, designed to ensure water provision and quality in southern European countries but which was imposed on water abundant Britain. It placed huge costs on British businesses such as the Scotch whisky industry which drew their water supplies from individual streams and burns to ensure a distinct character.

    So, how can you help?

    To ensure that the REUL is not lost to the Whitehall Blob, Facts4EU.Org is inviting all readers and all Brexit campaign groups to set out a case for the abolition or amendment of particular laws that originated from the EU. You can send them to us here. Already key Brexit-supporting groups including Global Britain, Brexit-Watch and ThinkScotland have agreed to ask their supporters and feed in the answers to Facts4EU.Org – let’s make this widespread. Our team at Facts4EU will then pull the submissions together and present them to Lord Frost so he and his ministers can prioritise what can bring the most beneficial results the soonest.

    This is not a single battle. This will be a campaign lasting years, no doubt with remainers seeking to reverse our proposals at every turn. But we shall triumph. The British people did not vote to leave the EU only for us to keep everything the same. We need to think about which laws are required in the British national interest and which are not, with us abandoning those that are no longer fit for purpose.

    We therefore urge you to get your thinking caps on, consider which laws and regulations you are aware of that have done damage to your business, your community, your livelihood or your family, and let us know. We shall then start writing some reports about them and publish a compendium of what divergence must look like in all its glory.

    The Facts4EU team.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: Lord Frost – Parliament ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sun 12 Dec 2021

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  • First detailed economic study of EU’s NI Protocol argues it’s harming GDP and jobs

    EU’s claim of “Best of both worlds” is now in danger of looking the worst of all worlds

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    Detailed economic report reveals significance of N.I. Protocol to the Province’s economy

    A Fraser of Allander report from the University of Strathclyde estimates that as a result of the EU’s Protocol, Northern Ireland’s GDP will fall 2.6%, NI exports to GB will fall by 6.1%, and to the Rest of the World (ROW) by 8.6%.

    The report goes on to say NI employment will be 1.25% lower, real wages will fall by 3.9%, and overall consumption will fall by 2.5% – all against expectations before the Protocol was introduced.

    The first economic modelling of the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol on the Province’s trade patterns suggests real harm is being done to internal NI-GB trade and there are no grounds to suggest Northern Ireland enjoys “the best of both worlds”, as currently suggested by the EU and in the past by Michael Gove.

    Both the EU Commission and Mr Gove have made the “best of both worlds” claim as a result of Northern Ireland being part of the UK but inside the EU’s customs union and single market.

    Pro-Remain body forecasts poor economic outcome for N.I., because of EU’s Protocol

    The report comes from the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute, which has previously produced economic projections favouring the case for the UK remaining in the EU.

    Nevertheless, while the Institute’s position remains unchanged its latest estimates give no comfort to the EU, the Republic of Ireland, nor to other supporters of the Protocol. It dismisses the case for the Province’s current status providing an economic advantage to Northern Ireland as has consistently been claimed.

    Its modelling suggests NI GDP will fall 2.6% – with mitigations to reduce the impact of the protocol unlikely to take the impact below a GDP fall of 1.7%. NI exports to GB are predicted to fall by 6.1% and to the Rest of the World (ROW) by 8.6%. Meanwhile NI employment will be 1.25% lower, real wages will fall by 3.9%, and overall consumption will fall by 2.5%, according to the predictions in the report.

    All of this comes against the expectations over a nominal 15-year period compared to the period before the Protocol was introduced. On the trade position it estimates imports to NI businesses from GB falling by 5.9% while imports from the ROW increase by 0.5%.

    Observations

    It would be good to know the real figures rather than have modelled estimates but the most recent complete set of official figures available are for two years ago when Theresa May was still Prime Minister.

    The only established economic fact around the Northern Ireland Protocol is that there are no economic facts to inform the debate. Despite deafening political noises, and claim and counter-claim, all actors are flying blind – relying on readings taken in the Republic of Ireland. By definition these cannot capture the necessary data to confirm the Protocol’s impact on where it is actually being applied – Northern Ireland.

    The Fraser of Allander Institute report – which chiefly considers the impact of the Protocol’s non-tariff barriers – goes some way to informing the debate about what is happening on the ground. It blows out of the water the notion Northern Ireland is enjoying the “best of both worlds”.

    While it suggests the best outcome would have been to have had no Brexit at all (not surprising, given the Institute’s past modelling) it cannot be ignored by advocates of the Protocol or defenders of the EU’s position that the findings of an economic institute that has repeatedly favoured remaining in the EU backs up the positions of the UK Government, opponents of the Protocol and Brexiteers still waiting on a real Brexit.

    Given the mainland of Great Britain is Northern Ireland’s largest ‘export’ market it is beyond doubt that creating friction for trade within the UK must harm the economic performance of the province, notwithstanding the damage that it also inflicts to the tenets of the Belfast Agreement and other constitutional arrangements.

    The lack of hard data is a failure of the Northern Ireland Office and must be rectified as a matter of urgency. Thus far the economic debate has, ironically, relied upon interim data being supplied by the Republic of Ireland – with the most recent Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) figures being from 2018/19 before the Protocol was introduced on 1st January 2020. By comparison Republic of Ireland statistics for imports and exports of goods are as recent as September 2021

    Yet through this statistical fog there can be no doubt that economic damage is being done. We can see the lorries being turned away at Larne and Belfast – refused entry within their own country – because their paperwork does not meet the requirements of the EU’s customs rules. We also know from corporates such as M&S how this leads to food being dumped if it cannot reach a mainland market in enough time to be sold. And we know some product lines readily available across the rest of Great Britain are being deleted from sale by British supermarkets to try and overcome the obstacles and avoid profit-eating costs.

    All of these outcomes happen under the temporary ‘grace period’ arrangements before the full impact of EU regulations are applied. It can only get far worse when the relaxations are no longer extended and the Protocol’s real impact is felt.

    Establishing the true patterns of trade must be given the utmost priority, not just for justifying the unpicking of the disastrous Protocol but also for demonstrating the inseparability of the province from the rest of the UK. What has been especially missing is the data reflecting the impact upon the large majority of small and medium-sized NI businesses whose commerce is orientated towards GB and not the Republic.

    The Fraser of Allander modelling gives us some insight as to how this might play out theoretically, albeit without factoring in the wider opportunities Brexit provides.

    Lord Frost must take note: while the defence of Northern Ireland’s place in the UK is about much more than trade patterns, relying on NISRA economic statistics that are more than two years old is simply not acceptable in the digital age. Lord Frost’s colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office must close-up this information gap, not just to be able to defeat the Protocol but to defend the Union itself.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    [ Sources: University of Strathclyde – Fraser of Allander Institute ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 11 Dec 2021

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  • Brexit blame for HGV driver shortage exposed as false

    HGV drivers group finds 5,300 EU residents in UK have re-entered Britain’s HGV workforce

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    HGV drivers who are EU nationals has risen, according to haulage group

    As Christmas approaches, a timely and detailed study of UK Government data produced by haulage industry think tank Driver Require has revealed the good news that not only is the recent shortage of HGV drivers easing off – but we can conclude that the blaming of Brexit by politicians and media commentators as the chief cause of the crisis was wildly misplaced.

    The latest latest bulletin by industry insiders the Driver Require group’s followed its study of the ONS Quarterly Labour Force survey for the 3rd Quarter of 2021 released on 15th November. The ONS survey showed a welcome 12% rise in HGV drivers totalling 28,000 – up from 233,000 in Q2 to 261,000 in Q3.

    Not only that, but the extra 28,000 certificated drivers represents a 40% recovery of the 70,000 drivers that were lost in Q2 during the pandemic.

    EU drivers in Brexit Britain have risen by 22% in the last quarter

    Within the latest ONS data is a very interesting figure – over 5,300 EU Nationals resident in the UK have re-entered Britain’s HGV workforce – suggesting that like so many UK nationals they had left the pool of delivery drivers due to poor pay and conditions, not because they had been forced to ‘return home’ or were denied certification.

    Driver Require has consistently argued that the prime reason for the decline in HGV drivers is the poor pay and working conditions of drivers in the UK, exacerbated by the pandemic lockdowns closing drivers’ facilities. They have also highlighted the restriction on HGV tests – as reported by Facts4EU.Org – that would replace driver retirals, as well as the inability of existing HGV drivers to obtain medical certificates to renew their licences.

    Extract from Driver Require review of Labour Force Survey Q1 2020 (pre-Covid); Q2 2021 & Q3 2021.

    UK HGV drivers (EU Nationals)

    • Q1 2020: 37,000
    • Q2 2021: 24,350
    • Q3 2021: 29,704

    The figures provided by Driver Require show that following the Covid pandemic response the UK HGV workforce had by Q2 2021 fallen by 68,550 – of which 12,650 were EU Nationals. Since then the ONS Q3 shortfall against pre-Covid estimates has reduced to 40,370 with EU nationals contributing 5,354 drivers.

    Driver Require argues the UK is not out of the woods yet, that a great deal more needs to be done to improve both recruitment and retention of drivers by improving pay and working conditions, not least parking, showering and overnight facilities, which remain poor. The next set of ONS survey figures, to be released in January 2022, will show if the progress is being maintained.

    All figures quoted from Driver Require Bulletin copyright of Driver Require and ONS.

    Observations

    Anyone who monitors either mainstream or social media cannot possibly avoid the regularity of blame being placed on Brexit for anything that goes wrong in the UK. We at Facts4EU.org know that this is no coincidence. It is part of a strategy to return the UK to EU membership within the period of the next two general elections. Most recently the blame for the (relatively brief) shortages in our supermarkets and petrol forecourts was put firmly on the UK leaving the EU, allegedly causing EU nationals to return homewards to the continent due to complicated paperwork, customs procedures and a lack of work visas. While the fuel shortage was entirely illusory (there were abundant supplies and the driver shortage did not affect those specialist drivers that drive fuel tankers) some EU nationals may well have decided not to continue making their journeys into and around the UK – but the evidence tells us the causes were many and leaving the EU was insignificant compared to the effects of our country’s response to the Covid pandemic.

    The emerging narrative is that of a British HGV labour force enduring suppressed pay rates in part due to high levels of EU nationals being attracted by relatively beneficial currency values. This distortion in poorer domestic financial reward when coupled with archaic facilities and conditions was already causing employers significant recruitment and retention problems. Then came Covid and with it a series of lockdowns that saw drivers locked out of toilets of the supermarkets they were delivering to; existing drivers unable to have medical check-ups required to renew their HGV licences; many HGV tests being cancelled and applications not being processed by civil servants working from home. It was an easy target for misrepresentation and so it was turned into a cause célèbre by the Brexit blamers. Well, no more. The evidence refutes the lie.

    As we come out of the lockdowns and restrictions so the obstacles to certification and recruitment are being overcome; market forces are now able to respond and improved pay scales are attracting people back to HGV employment. As Driver Require states, we are not out of the woods yet, but the reality is that some of the problems of the haulage industry were caused by our EU membership (eg UK drivers being priced out of the market by cheaper EU nationals) with the symptoms only becoming visible because of Covid happening just after we left the EU. Now we are responsible for our own rules it is for the UK Government to improve the infrastructure and for employers to treat our HGV drivers as Kings of the Road.

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

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    [ Sources: Driver Require | ONS ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 10 Dec 2021

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  • World’s most prolific think tank on UK-EU affairs has new managing editor

    The Brexit Facts4EU.Org team is delighted to announce Brian Monteith joins tomorrow

    Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

    A seasoned professional, Brian Monteith is a superb writer, former MEP, and former MSP

    The Brexit Facts4EU.Org team is pleased to announce that Mr Brian Monteith will be joining tomorrow, Monday 06 Dec 2021, as our new Managing Editor.

    Brian has an excellent pedigree, having had decades of experience as a PR professional and writer. He is also a former MEP (Member of the European Parliament), serving as Chief Whip for the Brexit Party prior to the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, as well as having previously served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament.

    His knowledge of EU affairs is profound and he will be bringing all his experience to bear in directing the team and delivering the standard of research and output for which Facts4EU.Org is proud.

    Commenting, Brian said:

    “I’m looking forward to the challenge in these interesting times as the UK negotiates its new relationship with the European Union.

    “We are all well aware of the developing situations with regard to France, Northern Ireland, fisheries, Article 16 of the Withdrawal Agreement, and many other matters.

    “I look forward to continuing the work in bringing readers the insightful and in-depth coverage for which Facts4EU.Org is rightfully renowned.”

    We are sure all readers will want to join us in wishing Brian well in his new role.

    Observations

    Facts4EU.Org needs you today

    We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

    We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you’ve been thinking about it, but just haven’t got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It’s quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once – we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

    Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

    Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won’t see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue – we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

    If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sun 05 Dec 2021

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    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

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    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

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