1. LINE

      Text:AAAPrint
      Politics

      May backs down over EU citizens residency fee

      1
      2019-01-22 14:58:03China Daily Editor : Mo Hong'e ECNS App Download

      British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced her government is dropping the 65-pound ($84) charge for European Union citizens to apply for settled status in Britain after the country's exit from the EU, known as Brexit, and refunding the fee for anyone who has already paid.

      The announcement came as she addressed the House of Commons with details of her so-called Brexit Plan B proposals, after her initial scheme, endorsed by the leaders of the other 27 EU member states, was resoundingly rejected by members of Parliament last week.

      There had been speculation that May was set to announce the dropping of the so-called Irish Backstop as part of her Plan B. As it stands, the Irish backstop proposal means that if a trade deal to keep an open border between Northern and the Republic of Ireland cannot be reached in time for Brexit, the United Kingdom would effectively continue to be part of an EU customs union, with detailed points to be finalized.

      This is unpalatable to many hardline Brexit supporters and highly contentious with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, upon whose support May's minority government relies for support.

      But any interference with the backstop would have been hugely controversial, as it would have been seen as compromising the Good Friday Agreement, the settlement agreed in 1998 between politicians in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which brought about the end of the decades of bloody civil conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.

      This prospect had been flatly rejected by both the Irish government and EU negotiators, but in the event May said "this government will not reopen the Belfast agreement" and insisted she had "never" considered doing so.

      Following last week's defeat, May had said she would engage in cross-party talks, but they never happened after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted he would not take part unless the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, meaning Britain leaving with no arrangement in place and potentially having huge economic and social impact, was ruled out.

      May has still not taken this possibility of the table, saying that the best way to rule out no-deal was to agree a deal with the EU, or alternatively, to extend Britain's Article 50 period of notice, but the EU would only be willing to agree to this if there was a clear plan of intent attached.

      This, she said, would not respect the result of the 2016 referendum, because by ruling out no-deal, the government would effectively be revoking Article 50. She also rejected calls for a second referendum, saying it was"our duty" to go through with the result of the first one, and warned that it would set a dangerous precedent.

      In his response, Corbyn said the lack of concessions May had made demonstrated that she was still in denial about the size of her defeat last week, and he called her plan for cross-party talks "a sham".

      Labour will back amendments seeking to rule out a no-deal Brexit, he added, and will look at the case for a people's vote on the final outcome.

      May said the government is now seeking advice from a "range" of voices independent of Parliament as to what should be the next steps, and that progress was being made but Corbyn "doesn't know because he didn't turn up."

      If the much-discussed no-deal Brexit should happen, the government has drawn up contingency plans for troop deployment in the case of potential civil unrest, and conducted tests for the disruption that would be caused at British ports where goods are imported.

      The National Health Service has become the world's biggest buyer of refrigeration, to stockpile medicines, and now private individuals are following that lead.

      The Guardian newspaper says three-quarters of UK warehouse owners reporting fears about Brexit have driven up storage costs by up to 25 percent in the last three months.

      In a survey conducted by the UK Warehousing Association, or UKWA, 85 percent of those questioned said they had received inquiries related to Brexit, and almost 75 percent were now unable to take on new customers.

      Related news

      MorePhoto

      Most popular in 24h

      MoreTop news

      MoreVideo

      News
      Politics
      Business
      Society
      Culture
      Military
      Sci-tech
      Entertainment
      Sports
      Odd
      Features
      Biz
      Economy
      Travel
      Travel News
      Travel Types
      Events
      Food
      Hotel
      Bar & Club
      Architecture
      Gallery
      Photo
      CNS Photo
      Video
      Video
      Learning Chinese
      Learn About China
      Social Chinese
      Business Chinese
      Buzz Words
      Bilingual
      Resources
      ECNS Wire
      Special Coverage
      Infographics
      Voices
      LINE
      Back to top Links | About Us | Jobs | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
      Copyright ©1999-2019 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
      主站蜘蛛池模板: 成年在线网站免费观看无广告| 日本不卡免费新一区二区三区| 成人免费一级毛片在线播放视频 | 亚洲成a∧人片在线观看无码| 国产在线jyzzjyzz免费麻豆| 久久久久亚洲Av无码专| 中文字幕免费在线| 久久久久亚洲AV无码麻豆| 91麻豆最新在线人成免费观看| 亚洲午夜电影一区二区三区| 欧美男同gv免费网站观看| 在线观看亚洲AV日韩A∨| 国产精品国产午夜免费福利看| 在线播放亚洲精品| 中文字幕亚洲无线码| 亚洲午夜免费视频| 97久久国产亚洲精品超碰热| 国产精品免费视频播放器| 九一在线完整视频免费观看| 亚洲女同成av人片在线观看| 无码成A毛片免费| 亚洲人成77777在线播放网站不卡| 性感美女视频免费网站午夜 | 亚洲精品伦理熟女国产一区二区| 四虎成人精品一区二区免费网站| 色屁屁在线观看视频免费| 久久久久噜噜噜亚洲熟女综合| 久久免费精品视频| 亚洲五月综合缴情婷婷| 亚洲AV无码不卡在线观看下载| 女同免费毛片在线播放| 亚洲美免无码中文字幕在线| 日韩精品无码人妻免费视频 | 亚洲乱码日产精品BD在线观看| 美女被免费视频网站a国产| www成人免费视频| 亚洲欧洲精品久久| mm1313亚洲国产精品美女| a级片在线免费看| 亚洲综合色婷婷在线观看| 亚洲色欲一区二区三区在线观看|