Post-Brexit licences for exporting food to EU cost UK firms up to £65m last year
UK companies spent up to £65m last year on licences to export food and agricultural products to the EU – costs that the government is promising to eliminate as part of a new deal to be agreed by 2027,Government figures released on Tuesday showed it issued 328,727 such licences last year, at a cost of between £113 and £200 each,That would put the total cost to business at somewhere between £37m and £65m,Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of European negotiations, will on Wednesday pledge to eliminate such costs as he promises a new agreement with the EU in the next 18 months,In an event at the Spectator offices in London to be hosted by the leading Brexiter Michael Gove, Thomas-Symonds will make a vocally political argument for becoming closer to the EU.
Ministers have decided in recent months their attempts to realign with Brussels enjoy more support than the approach of the Conservatives or Reform UK, which have promised to rip up Labour’s renegotiated deal.Thomas-Symonds will take specific aim at Farage, arguing: “Nigel Farage’s manifesto at the next election will say in writing he wants to take Britain backwards, cutting at least £9bn from the economy, bringing with it a risk to jobs and a risk of food prices going up.”A day after the Reform leader gave a speech warning that Britain was under threat from an “invasion” of asylum seekers, Thomas-Symonds will add: “Nigel Farage wants Britain to fail.His model of politics feeds on it, offering the easy answers, dividing communities and stoking anger.”Keir Starmer announced a new agreement with the EU in May, as part of which ministers agreed to pursue a series of specific deals, including one on food and agricultural products.
The prime minister was attacked at the time by the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, who argued that the UK was “being dragged back” into the EU, and Farage, the Reform leader, who called it a “Brexit betrayal”.Labour ministers have been keen to avoid any perception that they are reintroducing a customs union or free movement by the back door.But Thomas-Symonds’ speech on Wednesday indicates they are feeling more confident about making a pro-EU case for removing trade barriers.He will say the government is “putting in the hard yards, not resting on empty slogans” and that its policy is based on “sovereignty, in the national interest”.Labour says its new agricultural deal will mean fewer checks on meat, fish, fruit and vegetables imported from the EU, and an end to the current export-licensing scheme.
A report on Tuesday from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said these costs had been particularly burdensome for smaller business, warning: “These firms often lack the capacity and economies of scale to manage the administrative and compliance demands associated with NTMs (non-tariff measures).“This has created a competitive disadvantage between smaller firms and larger operators with in-house capability – although all stakeholders report increased costs.”In April, British supermarkets and food producers, including Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s, urged the EU to complete the proposed goods and agricultural deal, saying the existing arrangement had led to “unnecessary red tape”.A Labour spokesperson said: “The Tory Brexit deal was a complete failure, saddling businesses with costs they shouldn’t have had to face and harming our economy in the process.“But Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have both committed to ripping up Labour’s agreement and keeping this damaging red tape in place.
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The death of the review? Cultural criticism is at risk of erasure
Media layoffs are no longer breaking news; at this point, it’s more of a weekly check-in to determine which publications are shaving a few more jobs, firing people en masse, or shuttering altogether. But for the admittedly niche demographic that follows the ups and downs of professional film and culture criticism, it’s been a particularly rough couple of weeks, in part because the job losses feel so specifically targeted. The Chicago Tribune isn’t just undergoing a round of layoffs to weather some bad economic news; they’re eliminating the position of film critic entirely, and with it mainstay Michael Phillips, who inherited a beat once occupied by Gene Siskel.Phillips kept the Siskel torch burning in more ways than one; after Ebert retired from regular on-camera reviews, Phillips co-hosted a Siskel & Ebert offshoot with AO Scott, who has since also left the film-crit world, albeit voluntarily. But over at the New York Times, where Scott still works at the Book Review, four culture critics have recently been reassigned, essentially stripped of their original titles before being eventually replaced by … well, let’s have culture editor Sia Michel try to explain it: “Our readers are hungry for trusted guides to help them make sense of this complicated landscape, not only through traditional reviews but also with essays, new story forms, videos and experimentation with other platforms
Autumn arts preview games
The boisterous “looter shooter” series returns, bringing ridiculously powerful weapons, a cool new hoverbike and a vast planet to explore, while dealing with the threat of a ruthless cosmic dictator known as the Timekeeper. It’s been five years since the last instalment, and developer Gearbox has massively updated the signature cartoon visuals to bring us the next generation of sci-fi comic book anarchy. Released 12 September; PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch (3 October)Looking to scare yourself stupid as the long dark nights draw in? The first completely new instalment in Konami’s psychological horror series for over a decade has been cautiously welcomed by fans – but the proof will be in the (extremely bloody) pudding. Set in 1960s Japan, it follows high-school student Hinako Shimizu as her home town becomes shrouded in a dense fog filled with freakish monsters. 25 September; PC, PS5, XboxThe superlative footie simulation heads back on to the pitch, sporting a revived game engine with an emphasis on fluid animation, super smart computer-controlled teammates and of course accurate up-to-date teams and players
‘Wall of blowing dust’ sweeps through Burning Man festival and upends camps
Burning Man festival temporarily ground to a halt over the weekend due to dust storms and high winds that sent tents flying and plunged visibility to near zero.On Monday, organizers of the Nevada festival said the Black Rock City airport and the festival gates had reopened as the festival officially got under way.According to San Francisco Chronicle, a powerful dust storm swept through the Black Rock Desert – where the annual event is held – on Saturday evening, damaging campsites, causing travel delays and resulting in at least four minor injuries.The National Weather Service issued a dust storm advisory for the area that evening, warning of a “wall of blowing dust” moving northward at 30mph (48km/h), with strong wind gusts “in excess of 45mph”.One attendee told the Chronicle they saw tents and structures “being ripped and torn down by the wind speeds even though we buttoned everything down as best as we could”
Noel Clarke libel case: a resounding victory for the Guardian, women and the law | Letters
While I wholeheartedly agree that the Guardian deserves credit for defending the Noel Clarke libel case, Katharine Viner misses a vital component in her conclusion (The Noel Clarke judgment is a victory for the brave women who told us their stories – and for journalism, 22 August).Yes it was a “good day for the Guardian, for media in the public interest, and for women” – but it was also a good day for the judiciary. Without confidence in the integrity of our court system, the risks of pursuing the case to a conclusion may well have been stacked against you. Mrs Justice Steyn gave a resounding condemnation of Clarke’s behaviour and upheld the accuracy of the stories published. Well done her, the Guardian and the women who bravely told their stories
‘The pope complained about the lyrics!’: the Bluebells and Siobhan Fahey on how they made Young at Heart
‘I had moved down from Glasgow and was sharing a council flat with the girls from Bananarama. We wrote the song after watching the Frank Sinatra film’I first glimpsed Siobhan Fahey at my publisher’s offices. Later that day, when I was being interviewed by Smash Hits, I told the interviewer: “I really fancy Siobhan from Bananarama.” The next night, she was at our concert, at the front. I remember saying to my bandmates Ken and Dave McCluskey: “I’m gonna get off with her
Can Netflix find your new favourite watch based on your star sign?
As you will already be aware, one of the downsides of the streaming era is decision paralysis. In times gone by, people would watch television by simply turning their television on, watching whatever was showing at that precise moment and then complaining about it. But now, as you find yourself forced to pick from every single film and series ever made, you feel overwhelmed. You spend entire evenings scrolling through submenu after submenu, glazing over as your inability to find something to watch ossifies into dissociative panic.The challenge for the streamers is how to effectively curate this infinite content
Some of us boomers would love to downsize – but where to? | Letters
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