Gary Gibbon
Brexit strains in the Cabinet
Individual Cabinet Ministers are getting their briefings on Theresa May’s new Brexit proposals ahead of Friday’s special Cabinet meeting.
Search results for ‘Merkel’
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Gary Gibbon
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Brexit crunch time – but immigration dominates EU talks
Arriving in Brussels, Theresa May insisted “we’ve already seen flexibility from the EU.” But hopes of progress in negotiations on Brexit are surely at odds with the fact that the issue dominating EU diplomacy at the moment is migration. Only this morning Angela Merkel warned that “migration could end up determining Europe’s destiny.”
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Migration shaking up European politics
After five days at sea, a charity rescue ship with 230 migrants on board has been allowed to dock in Malta. It was turned away by the newly-formed Italian government, which has a policy of not allowing charity rescue ships to use its ports. The migration issue is shaking up politics around the continent, not…
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Several killed after van crashes into crowd in Muenster
A huge police operation is underway after three people were killed and 20 injured when a vehicle crashed into a crowd sitting outside a popular bar in the German city of Muenster. Police say the driver then shot himself dead – but warned it was too early to speculate about a motive. The German Chancellor Angela…
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Is Trump sticking to his word over the Russian spy case?
President Trump said that – when the UK reaches a conclusion about the attack on Sergei Skripal – he would “certainly take that finding as fact”. He promised to “condemn Russia or whoever it may be” who’s responsible. But now that Theresa May has said Russia was “culpable for the attempted murder,” has Trump stuck to his word?
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Holocaust Memorial Day
The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid a wreath in Poland at a memorial to the thousands of Jewish people who died fighting German forces in the Warsw ghetto uprising in 1943. Elsewhere, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a “disgrace” that Jewish schools and synagogues had to be protected by security guards.…
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Gary Gibbon
Brexit talks: May and Macron do lunch
The skies opened and thunder could be heard as Mrs May and President Macron went into Sandhurst to begin their talks and a rainbow was visible in the sky.
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A delicate diplomatic dance: Brexit talks move on to second-stage
As the European Council ended, there was snippy language from some EU27 leaders about the need for the UK Government to get on with making its mind up about where it wants to go with the future relationship with the EU post-Brexit. But there was also guidance that the EU is ready to start exploratory…
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Gary Gibbon
The EU27 will likely sign off on the Brexit divorce agreement tomorrow – so what next on trade and the timetable
In Brussels here today you sense the EU leaders are still in “managing the process” mode on Brexit. They have much else on their collective plates and are not about to re-think their Brexit approach.
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Germany coalition talks collapse
There’s more political upheaval in Germany, where talks on forming a coalition government have collapsed. Germany’s president has appealed to party leaders to reconsider after the Free Democrats walked out late last night, saying there was “no basis of trust”. Chancellor Angela Merkel said tonight that fresh elections would be the best option if the talks can’t be rescued.
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Gary Gibbon
Warmer words intended to bolster May as she returns to Westminster
Many here in Brussels are under no illusions how difficult it could be for Theresa May to deliver what they are asking for.
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Gary Gibbon
EU summit dinner: rogue states on the menu
There’s a bit of diplomatic Jenga going on at this summit. Angela Merkel and others want to extract money, tens of billions of it, from the UK, ideally without toppling Theresa May. So you see tough language from Mark Rutte, head of the newly formed government in the Netherlands, a traditional British ally, spelling out…
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Gary Gibbon
What does Theresa May actually want?
Theresa May comes into this summit deeply disappointed at the EU’s lack of haste in talks and its stubborn refusal to move on from discussing exit terms to trade talks. But imagine this. Theresa May is sitting in the dinner tonight and when her moment comes to address the other EU leaders makes a compelling…
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Jeremy Corbyn is wrong: you don’t have to be a member of the EU to be part of the single market
Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday that a Labour government would leave the single market because remaining in it is ‘dependent on membership of the EU’. Commentators have been quick to point out that there are four countries in the single market that are not members of the EU. But is there more going on here…
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Gary Gibbon
EU leaders wonder if UK general election signals counter-revolution
The EU delegations, as ever rather well informed about UK politics, mutter that Theresa May can’t last for long and appears to be the prisoner of the Hard Brexit Right (as they would term it).
