Brexit: MPs sent home for Christmas - but could be recalled 'as early as next week' to approve trade deal - Sky News

MPs will be sent home for the Christmas holidays on Thursday - but could be recalled to Westminster "as early as next week" if a post-Brexit trade deal is agreed, Number 10 has said.

EU and UK negotiators are still yet to breach months of deadlock in talks on a future trade relationship, despite hopes of a possible breakthrough in recent days.

And Downing Street warned that "time is now in short supply to reach an agreement" ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December.

"We expect discussions will continue over the coming days," a spokesman said.

Image: The House of Commons is required to ratify a EU-UK trade deal

Announcing the move for the House of Commons to go into its Christmas recess, Number 10 said that "all the necessary legislation" for the end of the Brexit transition period - barring a possible trade deal - would have completed its passage through parliament by Thursday.

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"In the absence of further substantive business, we will - subject to usual approval by the House - go into recess tomorrow, but with the knowledge that we will recall MPs and peers to legislate for a deal if one is secured," the spokesman said.

"That recall could be as early as next week."

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The move suggests that Downing Street does not see a breakthrough on an EU-UK trade agreement being reached this week, with 48 hours' notice needed to recall parliament.

However, Number 10 said it was confident that - with just 15 days until the end of the transition period - there would still be time for parliament to approve a trade deal, should one be agreed.

"Parliament has long shown it can move at pace and the country would expect nothing less," the spokesman added.

"The process for recall will align with the process for finalising the legislation for a deal, if one is secured, and no time will be lost.

"Under the recall process, we will adapt the days' proceedings to focus exclusively on the passage of that legislation. This may mean meeting at an earlier time.

"We realise that this duty falls not just on MPs and peers, but on the parliamentary staff that make parliament function, to whom we are very grateful."

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How would no Brexit trade deal affect the price of food?

Earlier on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Brussels that "there is a path to an agreement now" on an EU-UK deal.

"The path may be very narrow but it is there," Ms von der Leyen told MEPs, as indicated that fishing rights remains a key sticking point but suggested progress had been made on "level playing field" provisions.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, recently claimed a trade deal could be rushed through both Houses of Parliament very quickly.

"You can really, really truncate the parliamentary process if necessary and if there is a will to do it," he said.

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2020-12-16 19:07:30Z
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Covid-19: Mask warning for Europe, as UK leaders make Christmas plea - BBC News

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Wednesday evening. We'll have another update for you on Thursday morning.

1. Call for 'smaller, safer Christmas'

The four UK nations have agreed to keep relaxed Christmas Covid rules in place - but Scotland, Wales and PM Boris Johnson have announced strengthened guidance. Rules will still be relaxed between 23 and 27 December, but people in Wales will have to limit festive bubbles to two households. And people in Scotland are being asked to only meet on one of the five days. Mr Johnson, meanwhile, said "a smaller Christmas is going to be safer Christmas," adding: "When we say three households can meet on five days... these are maximums, not targets." Separately, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said non-essential shops in Wales would close from the end of trading on Christmas Eve, with an alert level four lockdown starting four days later.

2. WHO warns Europe, sends team to China

Regardless of how many households meet, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said Europeans should be wearing masks during Christmas family gatherings. It said the continent was at "high risk" of a new wave of infections in early 2021. Family gatherings should be held outside if possible and, if indoors, participants should wear masks and practise social distancing. If you want to make your own face covering, the BBC has written a step-by-step guide here. Meanwhile, a team of 10 international WHO scientists will travel to the Chinese city of Wuhan next month to investigate the origins of Covid. China has not opposed an independent investigation, although the WHO has been negotiating for access to the city for a number of months.

3. 'Long Covid' impact estimated

Pinning down how many suffer from "long Covid" has proved elusive, but experimental statistics published today have put it at more than 150,000 people in the UK. Fatigue, coughs and headaches were the most common complaints. Covid patients who had been treated in hospital were more likely to suffer serious complications such as heart attacks, according to the Office for National Statistics. The research marks the start of the ONS's work in estimating the prevalence of long Covid - the longer-term health consequences of even mild coronavirus infections. The ONS said one in 10 people it surveyed who tested positive for Covid-19 still had symptoms 12 weeks later. One in five had symptoms for five weeks or more. You can read more about long Covid here.

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4. Fears over BAME Covid vaccine take up

More than 130,000 people have been vaccinated in the first week of the UK's vaccination programme, but new research has shown people from ethnic minorities in the UK are significantly less likely to take the vaccine. A study from the Royal Society for Public Health found 57% of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people said they would take the vaccine. This compared with 79% of white people who would take a Covid vaccine. Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi warned of the impact of conspiracy theories being shared online.

Kirsty O'Connor

5. When will African countries get the vaccine?

Some countries - such as the UK - have already started administering a Covid-19 vaccine, but there are fears the world's wealthiest nations are hoarding supplies. Some of BBC Africa's readers have been asking how African countries will get the vaccine, and when that might be. BBC Africa Health reporter Rhoda Odhiambo has answered those questions and more in the video below.

Get a longer news briefing from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning, by signing up here.

And don't forget...

Find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

Plus, as part of our CEO Secrets series, we're focusing on start-ups that have launched during this difficult year. This week, we hear from people who worked in the retail sector but have taken a leap.

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• LACKING MOTIVATION?: 6 hours of dance hits to help you stay energised all day long
• THE NAKED SCIENTISTS: Why are people catching coronavirus on purpose?

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2020-12-16 17:23:00Z
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Brexit trade talks: Could the UK and the EU keep negotiating? - BBC News

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The post-Brexit trade talks may be inching towards an agreement - but it is still possible the two sides will run out of time.

The current transition period, during which the UK continues to follow EU rules, began when the UK left the EU, on 31 January, and it ends on New Year's Eve.

If there is no agreement by then, the UK would have no deal with the EU on trade, or on other issues such as security cooperation and fishing.

But could there be a legal fix to allow both sides to keep talking if necessary?

And what would happen if a deal was agreed only at the very last minute?

Could the transition period be extended?

The transition period was designed to preserve current arrangements temporarily and avoid disruption, to allow for negotiations.

But there is no legal basis for extending it.

It's part of an international treaty, the Brexit withdrawal agreement, that said any extension would have to be agreed before 1 July 2020.

And the UK decided not to ask for an extension.

Could there be another sort of extension?

If they wanted to, EU governments and the UK could, in theory, come up with an international agreement outside EU law to give them a temporary extension.

Some international lawyers have also suggested it might be possible to reuse Article 50, the legal basis for the UK's exit from the EU.

But EU lawyers have rejected that.

Any plan for a further brief extension would probably be challenged in the courts.

But it could buy a few extra weeks before that challenge was heard.

Again in theory, that could allow the two sides to complete negotiations not quite finished or give more time for parliaments on both sides to examine a deal properly.

The UK has said in the past it will not consider any kind of extension.

But it wouldn't be the first time the impossible suddenly becomes possible in negotiations involving the EU, once creative lawyers sit down at the table.

"It's legally tricky," Catherine Barnard, professor of EU law, at the University of Cambridge, says.

"But you should never underestimate the ingenuity of lawyers, particularly when their backs are up against the wall."

Is a last-minute deal possible?

Any agreement would need to be vetted by lawyers on both sides - they call it "legal scrubbing" - and translated.

Most of that has probably already been done - there are only a few areas of disagreement left.

• What are the sticking points in Brexit trade talks?

But the deal would still have to be scrutinised and approved - or ratified - by parliamentarians.

And the time to go through hundreds of pages of dense legal text with any degree of thoroughness is fast running out.

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If there were to be awkward compromises hidden within the text - and there would be - there are politicians who would like to find them.

An agreement would, after all, form the basis of EU-UK relations for years to come.

In the UK, that scrutiny would happen at Westminster, where the government has a big majority in the House of Commons.

The devolved parliaments and assemblies would not have a separate vote.

Normally, a treaty can be ratified only at least 21 sitting - or working - days after it has first been presented to Parliament.

But in exceptional circumstances, the government has the power to push ratification through in a single day.

What about EU parliaments?

The process on the EU side would be more complicated because 27 countries are involved.

Agreements are described as either "EU only", which means they involve changing things which are the exclusive responsibility of the EU as a whole, or "mixed", which means they also include things which are the exclusive responsibility of individual member states.

Mixed agreements usually need to be ratified by national and in some cases regional parliaments - but not always.

The recent EU-Japan free trade agreement, for example, contained some mixed provisions but it was decided ratification was necessary at EU level only.

And it is widely assumed the same thing would happen with an EU-UK deal.

In those circumstances a deal would need the written agreement of the Council of the European Union, which could be signed off by government ministers or even ambassadors from each of the member states, and the consent of members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

"Both could give their approval as late as 31 December," Georgina Wright, an associate at the Institute for Government, says.

"Though ideally MEPs would schedule their vote a few days before then.

The second option would be to provisionally apply the agreement, either in part or in full."

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Could the agreement be applied anyway?

EU law (Article 218 paragraph 5 of the EU treaty) allows the council to give the go-ahead for an agreement to be signed and applied provisionally, without formally consulting the European Parliament.

That means things such as tariff-free trade - with no taxes to pay on imports - could continue without parliamentary consent.

But that's never happened with an EU trade deal before.

And it would be very controversial with some MEPs.

But plenty of MEPs say they need more time to examine an agreement properly.

And this would be another way to give them that time.

The alternative would be to have a brief no-deal period in January before a delayed agreement came into force.

But that would mean added disruption.

A provisional arrangement would also be in line with Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt), a piece of international trade law that allows countries to reach "interim" agreements, so they can offer preferential trade terms to each other before they have signed off a full trade deal.

We've talked about Article XXIV before.

Earlier in the Brexit process, it was incorrectly put forward as a solution to allow free trade even if no agreement was in place.

So it's a race against time?

For now, everything rests on intense negotiations behind the scenes.

"The clock puts us all in a very difficult situation," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs on 16 December, "not least this parliament and its right to exercise democratic scrutiny and ratification."

The process is unlikely to be straightforward over the next few weeks, partly because this is all uncharted territory.

But if no-deal is the end result, it won't be the process that is responsible.

It will be politics.

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2020-12-16 17:05:00Z
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COVID-19: Public warned to 'keep it short, keep it local' as Christmas COVID rules change between UK nations - Sky News

Boris Johnson has warned "a smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas" as he urged the public to see festive bubbles of up to three households as "maximums" and not "targets to aim for".

The prime minister told a Downing Street news conference that, following discussions over the last two days, the four nations of the UK had "collectively" agreed to keep the relaxation of COVID restrictions over Christmas.

But, urging restraint, Mr Johnson said all four nations were now offering the same message that: "A smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas, and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas."

Image: The PM urged people to 'think hard' before meeting up over Christmas

However, the prime minister's suggestion of unity among the UK's leaders on keeping the original Christmas rules the same in law was soon undone.

The Welsh government later announced that it would be putting its new guidance on limiting Christmas gatherings to just two households into legislation.

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"Ministers decided this afternoon that we will be amending the regulations in Wales," a spokseman said.

"For 23 to 27 December the restriction on two households meeting will be part of Welsh law.

More from Boris Johnson

"It makes it easier, so we don't have the position where the law says one thing and the guidance says something else."

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had also earlier recommended that those people forming a Christmas bubble should only meet up on one day and not stay overnight "unless it is unavoidable".

In Northern Ireland, First Minister Arlene Foster said the public must take "all and every precaution" at Christmas and proposals for further restrictions would be brought forward on Thursday.

For five days between 23 and 27 December, people across the UK had initially been told they could mix in private homes with those in their "Christmas bubble" of up to three households, while travel restrictions would also be lifted.

These rules remain the same for people in England.

At the Number 10 news conference, Mr Johnson admitted that the "overall situation" is now "worse and more challenging" than when the loosening of restrictions over the festive period was first announced last month.

Mr Johnson said it would not be right to "criminalise" people who have already made plans and "simply want to spend time with their loved ones".

But he said he was asking people to "think hard and in detail about the days ahead and whether you can do more to protect yourself and others", as he urged the public to act well within the rules.

Mr Johnson also advised the public to:

• reduce the number of people you are in contact with to the lowest possible during the five days before the Christmas loosening of restrictions begins on 23 December
• avoid travel from a high prevalence to a low prevalence area, if possible
• avoid overnight stays away from home if you can
• think about waiting to see elderly relatives until after they have been vaccinated
• avoid crowds in the Boxing Day sales
• don't gather in large groups to celebrate the New Year

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'This is not a moment to relax'

The prime minister said there had been "worrying rises" in COVID infections in some parts of the country, with London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire having been put into Tier 3 measures earlier this week.

"So have yourselves a merry little Christmas and, I'm afraid, this year I do mean little," Mr Johnson said.

"But with the vaccine, and all the other measures that we are taking, we do know things will be better in this country by Easter.

"And I'm sure that next year Christmas will be as normal for every family in the country."

The prime minister stressed that he did not want to "cancel Christmas" or "ban it" and that the five-day and three-household rules remain "a highly prescriptive approach".

"I don't think there's been anything like it... probably not since Cromwell's time - heaven knows when we have had something like this before," he said.

England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, told the public to "keep it small, keep it short, keep it local, and think of the most vulnerable people" when gathering over Christmas.

Referring to the roll-out of COVID vaccines, Prof Whitty added: "We are tantalisingly close to the stage where anybody who gets into trouble as the result of actions this Christmas would have been protected in the very near future.

"So, it is very important that people think about that when they make decisions over the next few weeks."

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2020-12-16 17:03:45Z
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Covid: Two household limit at Christmas to be made law - BBC News

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Only two households - plus an additional single person who lives alone - will be able to meet at Christmas in Wales.

The Welsh Government has clarified that guidance set by the first minister on Wednesday will be put into law.

It comes despite earlier reports that the four UK nations had agreed to allow three households to meet.

The restrictions will be in place for 23-27 December.

UK leaders have been under pressure from the medical community and others to tighten or drop the plans, because of fears they would make the coronavirus situation worse.

It comes after a lockdown was announced in Wales for 28 December.

Drakeford 'signed-up' to four-nations agreement

First Minister Mark Drakeford told BBC Wales he was "signed-up" to an agreed "statement" with the other three UK nations despite the variation in the rules.

"Everywhere in the United Kingdom the message we will be giving is the same: do the least you need to do this Christmas, use the freedoms responsibly, carefully and cautiously and think always of the impact that that will have on your own safety and the safety of others."

• Boxing Day sales off ahead of new Wales lockdown
• Postcode check: Find out the rules where you live
• How will Wales' new lockdown work?

He said he was giving "just a single message in Wales" that over that "five day period, only two households, together with a single person household, should be meeting together. 

"We'll bring the regulations and the guidance into alignment with one another because it is only a single message."

Earlier Mr Drakeford told a press conference the situation in Wales was "extremely serious" with one in five tests in the country coming back positive.

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2020-12-16 16:37:00Z
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COVID-19: Christmas laws will stay the same - but public warned to 'keep it short, keep it local' - Sky News

Boris Johnson has warned "a smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas" as he urged the public to see festive bubbles of three households as "maximums" and not "targets to aim for".

The prime minister confirmed that Christmas COVID rules would not be changing in law.

But he admitted that the "overall situation" is now "worse and more challenging" than when the loosening of restrictions over the festive period was announced last month.

For five days between 23 and 27 December, people across the UK will still be able to mix in private homes with those in their "Christmas bubble" of up to three households, while travel restrictions will also be lifted.

Mr Johnson said it would not be right to "criminalise" people who have already made plans and "simply want to spend time with their loved ones".

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But he said he was asking people to "think hard and in detail about the days ahead and whether you can do more to protect yourself and others", as he urged the public to act well within the rules.

"A smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas," the prime minister said at a Downing Street news conference on Wednesday.

More from Boris Johnson

Mr Johnson also advised the public to:

• reduce the number of people you are in contact with to the lowest possible during the five days before the Christmas loosening of restrictions begins on 23 December
• avoid travel from a high prevalence to a low prevalence area, if possible
• avoid overnight stays away from home if you can
• think about waiting to see elderly relatives until after they have been vaccinated
• avoid crowds in the Boxing Day sales
• don't gather in large groups to celebrate the New Year

The prime minister told the news conference there had been "worrying rises" in COVID infections in some parts of the country, with London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire having been put into Tier 3 measures earlier this week.

"So have yourselves a merry little Christmas and, I'm afraid, this year I do mean little," Mr Johnson said.

"But with the vaccine, and all the other measures that we are taking, we do know things will be better in this country by Easter.

"And I'm sure that next year Christmas will be as normal for every family in the country."

England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, supported told Britons to "keep it small, keep it short, keep it local, and think of the most vulnerable people" when gathering over Christmas.

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2020-12-16 15:56:15Z
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