Brexit compounded UK's shortage of doctors, says study

LONDON, United Kingdom - Brexit has compounded a shortage of doctors in Britain, with an estimated shortfall of 4,000 in major specialty areas from EU countries, a study published Sunday said.

It comes as the crisis-hit NHS state-funded health service struggles after years of underfinancing, with record waiting lists for some hospital care due to the Covid pandemic but also a lack of doctors and nurses.

The Nuffield Trust, an independent health think tank, focused on four fields of medicine -- anaesthesia, pediatrics, cardio-thoracic surgery and psychiatry -- where European doctors had been particularly relied upon before the UK left the European Union.

It found that in the four areas -- where recruitment was already challenging -- "the increase in EU and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) staff slowed down, falling below the projected increase".

If the trend seen before Brexit had continued, there should have been more than 41,000 doctors from the EU or EFTA (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein) registered in 2021, or at least 4,000 more than the figures showed.

"The campaign and result of the EU referendum is the obvious reason for a change in trend around 2015 and 2016," the study, commissioned by The Guardian newspaper, said.

It highlighted initial uncertainty over new rules for the movement of people, followed by tighter visa rules and "deteriorating work conditions" in the health system.

"The findings suggest that stagnation in the number of EU doctors in these specialities has exacerbated existing shortages in areas where the NHS has not been able to find enough qualified staff elsewhere," it added.

The Royal College of Nursing last week announced that its members would next month hold their first strike action in the union's 106-year history in England and Wales, citing pay, conditions -- and chronic staff shortages.

Agence France-Presse

Year of trials and tribulations for Britain's royals

LONDON, United Kingdom — It was a year of trials and tribulations for Britain's royals that Queen Elizabeth II called "quite bumpy" in her Christmas Day message.

Here are some of the scandals and misfortunes to have troubled Britain's 93-year-old monarch.

The ailing prince

The year began with the queen's husband Prince Philip overturning his Land Rover after crashing it into an oncoming car.


It ended with the 98-year-old undergoing hospital treatment for what Buckingham Palace described as a "pre-existing condition".

The January accident left a woman with a broken wrist and the prince "shocked and shaken", according to a witness.

The prince was forced to undergo a routine breath test — which he passed.

He blamed the accident on glare from the winter sun and was soon seen driving around the private grounds of one of the royal mansions, but later voluntarily surrendered his driving licence.

Yet time has taken its toll on the queen's companion of 72 years.

He retired from public life in 2017 and had a hip replacement operation the following year.

"Once you get to that age things don't work as well," his son Charles told a reporter on Monday.

The 'favourite son'

The queen's children and grandchildren have frequently been caught up in mischief, but few of their problems have approached the one now facing Prince Andrew — the man often referred to as the queen's "favourite son".

Andrew was dogged throughout the year by allegations that he had sex with one of the victims of US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when she was a teenager.

Andrew's attempts to clear his name in a BBC interview in November could have hardly gone worse.

The prince looked stiff and unapologetic — a performance akin to "watching a man in quicksand", according to PR consultant Mark Borkowski.

Andrew's lines of defence included a bizarre claim that he never sweated — his accuser said he perspired profusely - and that he only stayed at Epstein's home because it was the "honourable" thing to do.

"There is concern in Buckingham Palace," a royal source told The Sunday Times after the interview was aired.

The prince promised to "step back from public duties" a few days later.

The bickering grandchildren

Princess Diana's sons William and Harry found comfort in each other following their mother's death in a 1997 Paris car crash.

But the two princes found themselves dragged into a tabloid scandal involving rumours of a growing rift.

Prince Harry admitted in October that the two were "certainly on different paths".

"Inevitably stuff happens," he said in an ITV interview that was treated as a sensational revelation by some of the newspapers.

Both Harry and his American actress wife Meghan Markle spoke about their struggles living in the public eye.

Harry took legal action against two newspapers over the alleged illegal interception of voicemail messages around the same time.

Meghan filed a separate lawsuit against a paper that published excerpts of letters her estranged father had sent to her.

The Brexit mess

The bitter divisions over Britain's future that have accompanied its exit from the European Union have also given the queen some grief.

She became embroiled in the saga after she approved the suspension of parliament requested by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in August, amid accusations he was trying to stop lawmakers discussing Brexit.

The Supreme Court subsequently ruled that Johnson's request was unlawful as it stopped parliament from carrying out its duties.

The queen herself holds only symbolic power — in practice she has to follow the advice of her ministers.

But the BBC's royal correspondent Jonny Dymond called it "a hideous moment for the palace".

source: philstar.com

Boris Johnson wins race to become Britain's next prime minister

LONDON, United Kingdom — Boris Johnson won the race to become Britain's next prime minister on Tuesday, heading straight into a confrontation over Brexit with Brussels and parliament, as well as a tense diplomatic stand-off with Iran.

The former London mayor easily beat his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, in a vote of grassroots members of the governing Conservative Party.

He is expected to be confirmed as prime minister on Wednesday when Theresa May formally tenders her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II.

US President Donald Trump was the first world leader to offer his congratulations, saying: "He will be great!"

It is a triumph for a man who has always coveted the premiership. But Johnson, known for his jokes and bluster, is taking over at a time of immense political upheaval.

Three years after the referendum vote to leave the European Union, Britain remains a member amid continued wrangling in a divided parliament on how to proceed.

'We'll get Brexit done'

Johnson led the referendum "Leave" campaign and -- after May delayed Brexit twice -- insists the latest deadline must be met, with or without a divorce agreement with the EU.

"We're going to get Brexit done on October 31," he declared in a speech to party members in London, after winning 66 percent of almost 140,000 votes cast.

However, Brussels says it will not renegotiate the deal it struck with May to ease the end of a 46-year partnership -- even after British MPs rejected it three times.

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said Tuesday he wanted to work with Johnson "to facilitate the ratification of the withdrawal agreement and achieve an orderly Brexit".

Ursula von der Leyen, who will take over as head of the European Commission on November 1, congratulated Johnson but warned of "challenging times ahead of us".

Although parliament dislikes May's deal, Johnson faces significant opposition from MPs to his threat to leaving with no deal, including from Conservative colleagues.

Several ministers said they will not serve under Johnson, warning that severing ties overnight with Britain's closest trading partner is deeply irresponsible.

But Johnson insisted he could change the atmosphere in parliament, saying: "Like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy ropes of self-doubt and negativity."

'Brilliant or a disaster'

After addressing Conservative MPs privately following his victory, Johnson told reporters he was "impatient".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said his speech "left everybody feeling good, and positive and cheerful."

One Brexiteer MP added: "The clouds have lifted."

However, Johnson's premiership is vulnerable.

His government will command a majority of just two -- 320 votes to 318 -- in parliament's lower House of Commons.

Colleagues who disagree with Johnson are willing to give him a chance to get a Brexit deal, at least over parliament's impending six-week summer recess.

But if "no deal" looks likely in September, many MPs have vowed to stop him -- a move that could trigger an early election.

The main opposition Labour party is not expected to force a confidence vote this week, but challenged him to call an election.

However, both Labour and the Conservatives are struggling to appeal to a public deeply divided over Britain's future, facing a pincer movement from Nigel Farage's eurosceptic Brexit Party and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats.

Business leaders called on Johnson to seek accord with Brussels, with Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the Confederation of British Industry lobby, saying he "must not underestimate the benefits of a good deal".

The pound bounced briefly higher before falling lower again to $1.24 after Johnson's victory was announced.

Outside parliament, where pro- and anti-Brexit protesters gather daily, reaction to Johnson's victory was mixed.

"It's the most we can hope for," said eurosceptic Michelle Pearce, 64, adding: "He'll be brilliant or a disaster."

Ruth Fryer, 66, wearing a "bin Brexit" badge, added: "He's a bit of a loose cannon and no one knows what he'll do."

Gulf tensions

Johnson's domestic battles might initially have to take a backseat as he manages tensions with Iran.

The Islamic republic seized a UK-flagged tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz last Friday.

The stand-off comes amid escalating tensions between Iran and the United States over the Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted his congratulations to Johnson, saying: "Iran does not seek confrontation.

"But we have 1,500 miles of Persian Gulf coastline. These are our waters and we will protect them."

source: philstar.com

British PM plots next move in Brexit stalemate

LONDON — The British cabinet was to gather on Tuesday seeking a way to leave the EU with a deal in 10 days' time, with torn MPs rejecting every possible path to Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May was to call in her cabinet to discuss the next steps after lawmakers failed to find a majority on any alternative to the divorce deal she struck with Brussels — an agreement they have also rejected three times already.

Brussels has set Britain an April 12 deadline to agree to the divorce deal, settle on an alternative or crash out of the European Union.

Backbenchers in parliament's lower House of Commons seized the initiative by holding a round of votes last week on eight alternative Brexit options, but failed to agree on any of them.

It refined them down into four choices on Monday but once again a majority voted no to them all, even with the cabinet abstaining.

The result was close for proposals to negotiate a permanent customs union with the EU.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay hinted the government could now bring its deal back for a fourth vote this week and avoid a longer delay to Brexit that would mean holding European Parliament elections in May.

"To secure any further extension, the government will have to put forward a credible proposition to the EU," he said.

"The only option is to find a way through which allows the UK to leave with a deal.

"The best course of action is to do so as soon as possible."

He said the cabinet would meet on Tuesday to consider the results of Monday's votes "and how we should proceed".

'Face the abyss': Verhofstadt

Following Monday's votes, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, said: "A hard Brexit becomes nearly inevitable".

When MPs meet again on Wednesday "the UK has a last chance to break the deadlock or face the abyss," he said.

The EU has called an emergency summit for April 10 and warned that without a plan, Britain risks abruptly ending ties with its largest trading partner two days later, causing huge economic disruption.

Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King's College London, told AFP that Tuesday's cabinet meeting would be "relatively upbeat".

"The cabinet can say 'OK, the ground is perhaps right to come back to parliament for a fourth time with Mrs May's deal' and say to parliament, 'look, we gave you two chances to come up with something, you've failed both times. Vote for this deal otherwise next week there is a real danger of no-deal'."

Britain voted by 52 percent to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum, but the process has been mired in divisions over the terms of the divorce and what kind of future ties to seek.

The political chaos forced May to postpone Britain's exit from the original date of March 29.

Elusive majority

Monday's first motion, calling for the government to negotiate a permanent customs union with the EU, was defeated by 276 votes to 273.

The second option, dubbed "Common Market 2.0", would accept May's divorce terms but require her to negotiate a new EU customs arrangement and membership of the EU single market. It was beaten by 282 votes to 261.

A vote on plans for a second referendum went down by 292 to 280.

The final option, which would have instructed government to revoke the legislation to leave the EU a day before Britain is due to crash out, was rejected by 292 to 191.

Nick Boles, the MP who had proposed the Common Market 2.0 plan, quit May's Conservative Party after the vote.

"I have given everything to an attempt to find a compromise," an emotional Boles told parliament.

"I have failed chiefly because my party refuses to compromise. I regret therefore to announce I can no longer sit for this party," he said.

The Conservatives rely on backing from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionists for a narrow majority, which shrunk even further with Boles' departure.

'Division and despair'

Tuesday's newspaper front pages raked over the continued impasse.

"Farce as Commons fails to agree any Brexit plan AGAIN," said the Daily Mail.

"We voted for Brexit, all you say is no," said the Daily Express.

The Daily Mirror called it "another night of division and despair".

The Guardian's analysis said May "still faces an intractable decision, a ticking clock, a mutinous party, an aghast British public and a frankly baffled EU."

source: philstar.com

UK PM survives confidence vote over Brexit deal

LONDON, United Kingdom — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday survived a confidence vote by her own MPs but lost the support of one third of her colleagues, signalling the battle she still faces to get her Brexit deal through parliament.

May won the backing of 200 Conservative lawmakers, but 117 voted to oust her -- and only after she conceded she would step down before the 2022 election.

"I'm pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot," she said outside her Downing Street office after the result was announced.

"A significant number of colleagues did cast votes against me and I've listened to what they've said."

She said she wanted to "get on with the job of delivering Brexit", and to see "politicians on all sides coming together".

The result, announced after a secret ballot, was met with huge cheers from May's supporters gathered in parliament, while the pound rose on the news.

But leading Brexit rebel Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of at least 48 Tory MPs who triggered the vote by writing a letter of no confidence in May, said it was a "terrible result".

"She ought to go and see the queen and resign urgently," he told the BBC.


Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage tweeted that May "limps on to her next failure, the deal won't pass and the real crisis is close".

Rees-Mogg and other eurosceptics hate the divorce deal May agreed with the EU last month, which they fear risks tying Britain to the bloc for years after Brexit on March 29.

The confidence vote followed her decision on Monday to postpone a planned vote in the House of Commons on the text, because she feared a crushing defeat.

She has promised to hold that vote by January 21 -- when she may yet still lose, plunging the Brexit process into fresh crisis.

Irish warning

May heads to Brussels on Thursday for a pre-planned EU summit, where she will press fellow leaders to give her something to help sell the Brexit deal to sceptical MPs.

Many Conservatives, and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionists (DUP) who prop up the government, fear an arrangement to keep open the Irish border could see Britain trapped in an endless customs union with the EU.

After a whistlestop tour of European capitals on Tuesday, she said on Wednesday she would continue to seek "legal and political assurances" over the temporary nature of the so-called "backstop".

But while EU leaders expressed sympathy for her difficulties, they firmly rejected any attempt to renegotiate a Brexit deal that was only secured last month after 17 months of talks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she still "has hope for an orderly exit" but "no intention to change the exit agreement".

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had a similar message after a call late Wednesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

His office said the pair "agreed to work to provide reassurance to the UK (but) the agreement cannot be reopened or contradicted".

'Enough to cling on'

MPs and ministers had rallied round May ahead of the vote, and finance minister Philip Hammond said May's victory would unite the party and "flush out the extremists".

But in a private meeting with MPs before they cast their ballots, she acknowledged the weakness of her position by setting a limit on her own leadership, lawmakers said.

"It is not her intention to lead the party in the 2022 general election," Solicitor General Robert Buckland told the BBC afterwards.

May is now immune to further Conservative confidence votes for a year, but if defeated on her Brexit deal, her government could still face a confidence vote in parliament.

Simon Hix, of the London School of Economics, said Wednesday's result was "enough to cling on, but 117 against her means the Commons arithmetic on Brexit is now even tougher".

Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said it showed the "Tory civil war... is far from over", adding: "More trouble ahead."

The delays to the Brexit deal have prompted both the EU and Britain to step up preparations for the potentially disastrous scenario where there is no agreement at all.

source: philstar.com

EU court rules Britain can revoke Brexit unilaterally

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg — Europe's top court ruled Monday that Britain could halt Brexit without the approval of fellow EU member states, in a victory for pro-Europeans on the eve of a key House of Commons vote.

"The United Kingdom is free to revoke unilaterally the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU," the European Court of Justice said, in response to a suit from a group of Scottish politicians.

"Such a revocation, decided in accordance with its own national constitutional requirements, would have the effect that the United Kingdom remains in the EU under terms that are unchanged as regards its status as a member State," the court ruled.

Following a 2016 referendum, Britain declared its intention to quit the European Union on March 29 last year, triggering the "Article 50" EU treaty procedure that would see it definitively leave two years later, on the same date next year.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's government insists it has no intention of halting the process and has agreed a draft withdrawal agreement with the 27 remaining member states.

The withdrawal agreement is expected to go before the British parliament for approval on Tuesday.

If, as appears likely, it is rejected it would raise fears that Britain could crash out of the union on March 29 without a deal or that it could revoke or postpone Brexit in order to hold another referendum.

The court's ruling will be welcomed by campaigners for a second referendum, but May's government insists it has no intention of reversing course, whatever the court in Luxembourg might say.


"We don't want to stay in the EU. We voted very clearly," Environment Secretary Michael Gove, an influential cabinet Brexiteer, told BBC radio.

"This case is all very well but it doesn't alter either the result of the referendum or the clear intention of the government to leave.

"It's the intent of the government to honour that referendum mandate."

source: philstar.com

British MPs wrangle ahead of momentous Brexit debate

London - UK lawmakers held up a momentous Brexit debate on yesterday, accusing the government of contempt over its handling of the withdrawal agreement, as a top EU legal opinion stated Britain could even call off its departure from the bloc altogether.

Prime Minister Theresa May is facing resistance on all sides of the House of Commons to the withdrawal agreement she struck with the European Union last month.

Its chances of being approved look slim, raising the risk of Britain crashing out of the world's largest single market on March 29 without trade arrangements in place.


The Conservative leader was set to tell MPs in a speech later on yesterday that the deal "delivers for the British people".

"The British people want us to get on with a deal that honours the referendum and allows us to come together again as a country, whichever way we voted," May will say, according to comments released by her Downing Street office.

But her speech is being delayed by a dispute over the government's refusal to publish the full legal advice it has received about the implications of May's plan.

Conservative House leader Andrea Leadsom told MPs that May's government had a right to receive confidential opinions that were unhampered by political considerations.

"What we break now may be very difficult to fix later," Leadsom said.

Opposition Labour Party member Keir Starmer said "the government is wilfully refusing to comply with a binding order of this House and that is contempt".

The row is unlikely to have any impact on the course of Brexit.

But it does highlight how little control May's fragile minority government has over MPs ahead of next yesterday crucial vote.

- 'Brexit shambles' -

Pro-European MPs pressing for a second referendum on staying in the EU received a sudden boost from an opinion issued by a legal adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona stated that Britain could halt the entire process without the agreement of other EU countries.

"That possibility continues to exist until the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded," he said.

Downing Street reaffirmed on yesterday that May has absolutely no intention of doing so -- and that the ruling was in either case only advisory.

"It does nothing, in any event, to change the clear position of the government that Article 50 is not going to be revoked," May's spokesman said.

But the Scottish National Party's Alyn Smith -- one of several MPs who brought the case -- proclaimed: "We now have a roadmap out of the Brexit shambles."

- Renegotiate Brexit? -

The vote next week has huge implications for Britain's future and that of May herself.

Left-wing Labour said May's defeat next yesterday would likely trigger a confidence vote to bring down her government.

She has also been constantly challenged by hardline eurosceptics in her own party and might face an internal leadership contest as well.

Hardline Conservative Brexiteers say May's compromise deal does not represent enough of a break with Brussels.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) -- the Northern Ireland party propping up May's government -- also objects to special provisions for the province.

Many of May's critics want her to go back and renegotiate.

- Brexit bill -

The EU Withdrawal Agreement covers a settlement of £39 billion (43.7 billion euros, $49.8 billion) that Britain will have to play for leaving.

It also sets out the rights of EU expatriates and plans for a post-Brexit transition period lasting to December 2020.

The extra time is intended to give both sides a chance to strike a new trade and security relationship.

Failure to do so would trigger a "backstop" arrangement that keeps Britain in an EU customs union -- with Northern Ireland also following EU rules on regulation of goods.

May insists this is necessary to avoid border checks in Ireland. Opponents say this risks tying Britain to the EU for years to come.

source: philstar.com

Days from summit, May takes Brexit battle to Brussels

Brussels - Theresa May briefly escaped the Westminster bear pit to bring her Brexit battle to Brussels on yesterday, just four days before the divorce deal is to be signed.

After enduring another parliamentary grilling at prime minister's questions in London, the British leader crossed the Channel and met EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

The pair shook hands and posed briefly for photographers before heading into talks in the Commission's Berlaymont headquarters for what an EU spokesman had earlier called "afternoon tea".


Having seen off -- at least for now -- a potential leadership challenge by hardline Brexiteers in her own party, she hopes to wring out of Brussels a Brexit arrangement that she can sell to her parliament.

The withdrawal treaty itself is all but final, and preparations are under way for a summit on Sunday to sign it, but there remains the matter of a parallel 20-page political declaration on future EU-UK ties.

European diplomats and EU officials have been in intense talks on the declaration this week. One of them told AFP that they now expect to publish it on Thursday morning, after May's afternoon tea with Juncker.

Neither side has much wiggle room left to polish the text, but May must show that she has left nothing on the table if she is to convince British members of parliament to ratify the deal in the coming weeks.

May and Juncker were expected to cover fishing rights and the movement of goods after Brexit, as well as the duration of the transition period and the British territory of Gibraltar, which lies on an outcrop off Spain.

- Spain, N. Ireland pressure -

May faces pressure from her Northern Irish allies, who oppose a deal they say weakens British sovereignty in their province, and from Spain, which warned it might oppose the accord over Gibraltar.

Madrid wants a veto over applying any agreement on post-transition relations to Gibraltar, but May told MPs on yesterday that Britain "will not exclude Gibraltar from our negotiations on the future relationship".

There is frustration among some EU countries at Spain trying to play hardball so late in the game.

"We are following the latest developments with growing concern and incomprehension -- among the EU27 our Spanish friends are all alone on this," an EU diplomat told AFP.

Two of May's top ministers quit last week, including her Brexit secretary, while MPs from all parties came out against it -- increasing the chances that Britain will crash out of the Union on March 29 without an agreement.

A minister who opposed Brexit and who returned to May's cabinet in a reshuffle triggered by the resignations, tried to rule out this economically disruptive scenario.

"It is my view that the parliament, the House of Commons, will stop no deal ... There isn't a majority in the House of Commons to allow that to take place," Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd told BBC radio.

The withdrawal deal covers Britain's financial settlement, expatriate citizens' rights, contingency plans to keep open the Irish border and the terms of a post-Brexit transition.

Officials are now racing to agree the accompanying outline statement on the future trading and security relationship for after Britain leaves the EU's single market and customs union in March.

- 'Show our displeasure' -

Opposition to the agreement is also building in the pro-Brexit camp.

On Monday, MPs from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) abstained on three budget votes in the Commons and voted against a fourth, despite their deal to back the government on finance matters.

Anti-Europe Conservatives have also savaged the divorce deal, which they say keeps Britain too close to the EU.

Rebels led by MP Jacob Rees-Mogg failed in their attempt to force an immediate confidence vote in May's leadership, but warned they would keep trying.

The withdrawal agreement sets out plans for a 21-month transition after Brexit, in which Britain and the EU want to turn their outline agreement on the future relationship into a full trade deal.

But controversially, it says that if that deal is not agreed in time, Britain will adopt a "backstop" arrangement to keep open its land border with Ireland.

This would keep all of Britain in the EU's customs union, and Northern Ireland also in parts of the single market.

source: philstar.com

PM May’s grip on power in doubt as UK election heads for stalemate

LONDON — British voters punished Theresa May for her electoral gamble by denying her the resounding mandate she wanted to strengthen her hand in Brexit talks, casting doubt over her premiership and raising the prospect of a deadlocked parliament.

An exit poll predicted the Conservatives would win 314 seats in Britain’s 650-member parliament and the left-wing opposition Labor Party 266 — a “hung parliament” with no clear winner.

May unexpectedly called the snap election seven weeks ago to increase the slim majority she had inherited from predecessor David Cameron before launching into arduous divorce talks with the European Union, set to start in just over a week.

Instead, if the exit poll showing strong gains for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labor is anywhere near accurate, she risks losing power in what would be an ignominious end to her 11 months at Number 10 Downing Street.

May had spent the campaign denouncing Corbyn as the weak leader of a spendthrift party that would crash Britain’s economy and flounder in Brexit talks, while she would provide “strong and stable leadership” to clinch a good deal for Britain.

But her campaign unraveled after a major policy u-turn on care for the elderly, while Corbyn’s old-school socialist platform and more impassioned campaigning style won wider support than anyone had foreseen.

“We still don’t know the final result of this election, it is too early to say, but it looks likely to be a very, very bad result for Theresa May,” said Labor’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson in a statement after holding his own seat.

Sterling fell by more than two cents against the U.S. dollar.

“A hung parliament is the worst outcome from a markets perspective as it creates another layer of uncertainty ahead of the Brexit negotiations and chips away at what is already a short timeline to secure a deal for Britain,” said Craig Erlam, an analyst with brokerage Oanda in London.

Brexit questions
With the smaller parties more closely aligned with Labor than with the Conservatives, the prospect of Corbyn becoming prime minister no longer seems fanciful.

That would make the course of Brexit even harder to predict. During his three decades on Labor’s leftist fringe, Corbyn consistently opposed European integration and denounced the EU as a corporate, capitalist body.

As party leader, he unenthusiastically campaigned for Britain to remain in the bloc. How he would steer Britain through Brexit negotiations has not been explained in detail.

Early results were in line with the exit poll, with Labor doing better than expected. That was in part because votes that had previously gone to the anti-EU UKIP party were splitting evenly between the two major parties instead of going overwhelmingly to the Conservatives as pundits had expected.

The Conservatives failed to win the constituency of Darlington in northern England, a key target. In Wales, the closely-fought Vale of Clwyd seat was the first to switch from the Conservatives to Labor.

One of May’s top ministers, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, faced a recount in her south coast constituency, an indication that the result there was very close.

In Battersea, a London constituency, a Conservative junior finance minister lost her seat to Labor.

Even if the exit poll has underestimated the number of Conservative seats, as it did in 2015, and the party ends up with a slim majority, May will be so weakened that she may not be able to keep her job.

When she called the election, she was enjoying opinion poll leads of 20 points and more. She was widely expected to win a landslide. Should she now be forced to step down, that would make her tenure the shortest of any British premier since the 1920s.

“MAYHEM” screamed the headline in the tabloid Sun newspaper. “Britain on a knife edge,” said the Daily Mail.

Troubled campaign
Apart from the U-turn on care policy, May was also criticized during the campaign for refusing to debate her opponents on television. After Britain was hit by two Islamist militant attacks that killed 30 people in less than two weeks, she also faced questions for having overseen cuts to numbers of police officers during her six years as interior minister.

Her opinion poll lead narrowed sharply, although the consensus before the exit poll remained that she would win a majority.

If the exit poll is correct and neither party wins an overall majority, Corbyn could attempt to form a government with smaller parties that also strongly oppose most of May’s policies on domestic issues such as public spending cuts.

If Labor does take power with the backing of the Scottish Nationalist Party and the center-left Liberal Democrats, both parties adamantly opposed to Brexit, Britain’s future will be very different to the course the Conservatives were planning.

Labor has said it would push ahead with Brexit but would scrap May’s negotiating plans and make its priority maintaining the benefits of both the EU single market and its customs union.

In domestic policy, it proposes raising taxes for the richest 5 percent of Britons, scrapping university tuition fees, investing 250 billion pounds ($315 billion) in infrastructure plans and re-nationalizing the railways and postal service.

The exit poll forecast the Scottish National Party (SNP) would win 34 seats, the center-left Liberal Democrats 14, the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru three and the Greens one. Other parties were projected to win 18 seats.

“If the poll is anything like accurate, this is completely catastrophic for the Conservatives and for Theresa May,” said George Osborne, former Conservative finance minister.

May herself had said during her campaign: “It’s a fact that if we lose just six seats, we will lose our majority and Jeremy Corbyn will become prime minister,” predicting that the Scottish Nationalists and Liberal Democrats would back him.

“Well results are still coming in, but we are going to hold her to that,” Labor’s deputy leader Watson said.

Almost all of the smaller parties are opposed to May’s Brexit strategy built around leaving the EU’s single market, controlling immigration and escaping the jurisdiction of EU courts.

The center-left, strongly pro-EU Liberal Democrats, who were in coalition with the Conservatives between 2010 and 2015, looked unlikely to go down that route again. They were close to wiped out in the 2015 election.

Their former leader Nick Clegg, who was deputy prime minister during the coalition years, said the party would not prop up a Conservative government.

In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party, a natural ally of the Conservatives, said it would negotiate with the Conservatives if they fell short of a majority, as both parties had common ground.

source: interaksyon.com

Paris vies to overtake London as finance hub post-Brexit

PARIS - British Prime Minister David Cameron once gleefully offered to "roll out the red carpet" for French executives wanting to escape staggering wealth taxes.

Now, with London's red carpet fraying after the Brexit vote to leave the European Union, Paris is stepping in to welcome bankers, investors and businesses who may want to escape the uncertainty hanging over the City's role as a global finance hub.

"In this new environment which is taking shape, we want France to be attractive," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday.

As competition grows among Europe's capitals to benefit from the financial fallout of Brexit, Valls unveiled a series of measures to boost the allure of Paris.

Notably, he confirmed plans to cut France's corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 33 percent, a move previously announced by President Francois Hollande.

Britain's vote to leave the European Union "created shockwaves, for all European citizens but also, in a very concrete manner, many businesses settled in the United Kingdom," Valls said.

Valls said he wanted to improve the tax and legal framework to "welcome even more companies (and) make Paris the capital of smart finance."

The prime minister announced a tweak to a system allowing foreign employees to benefit from tax reductions, making it applicable for eight years instead of five.

Beyond these fiscal measures, the government also plans to put in place a "single entry point" to facilitate administrative matters for foreign companies seeking to set up shop in France -- where red tape can be a nightmare to navigate.

This service will help companies with questions about real estate, residency permits, schools and other issues.

Valls said France would open "as many international sections as needed in schools" to allow children of foreign employees to be taught in their mother tongue.

The Brexit vote has several European capitals clamoring to take London's spot as a major finance center, such as Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Dublin.

France is traditionally perceived as "anti-business", with its inflexible and hard-to-understand labor code.

According to the World Bank's 2016 "Ease of Doing Business" report, France ranks 27th out of 189 countries, while Britain comes in sixth.

'Supertax'

The Socialist government came into power in 2012 promising as 75 percent "supertax" on top earners -- which sent the rich fleeing -- and became another symbol of France's opposition to big business.

However the measure was slowly watered down and quietly dropped in 2015, as it failed to do much to boost a stagnating economy.

Hollande has since steered his government on a wildly different path to stimulate the economy, with a series of economic and labour reforms that have enraged the left flank of his party, which now accuses him of being too pro-business.

As an indication of how difficult the reforms have been, Valls had to force both sets of reforms through parliament without a vote using a special constitutional measure.

source: interaksyon.com

EU leaders tell Britain to exit swiftly, market rout halts

LONDON/BRUSSELS - European leaders told Britain on Tuesday to act quickly to resolve the political and economic chaos unleashed by its vote to leave the European Union, a move the IMF said could put pressure on global growth.

Financial markets recovered slightly after the result of Thursday's referendum wiped a record $3 trillion off global shares and sterling fell to its lowest level in 31 years, but trading was volatile and policymakers said they would take all necessary measures to protect their economies.

British Finance Minister George Osborne, whose attempt to calm markets had fallen on deaf ears on Monday, said the country would have to cut spending and raise taxes to stabilize the economy after a third credit ratings agency downgraded its debt.

Firms have announced hiring freezes and possible job cuts, despite voters' hopes the economy would thrive outside the EU.

European countries are concerned about the impact of the uncertainty created by Britain's vote to leave on the 27 other EU member states. There is little idea of when, or even if, the country will formally declare it is quitting.

"The process for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union must start as soon as possible," French President Francois Hollande said. "I can't imagine any British government would not respect the choice of its own people."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker sent a similar message as he prepared for talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron before an EU summit in Brussels, although he did not anticipate an immediate move.

"We cannot be embroiled in lasting uncertainty," Juncker said in a speech to the European Parliament, which he interrupted to ask British members of the assembly who campaigned to leave the EU why they were there.

Cameron, who called the referendum and tendered his resignation when it became clear he had failed to persuade Britain to stay in the EU, says he will leave it to his successor to formally declare the country's exit.

Arriving for the EU summit, he said: "I'll be explaining that Britain will be leaving the European Union but I want that process to be as constructive as possible, and I hope the outcome can be as constructive as possible.

Holding out hope of maintaining good relations with other European countries, he said Britain wanted "the closest possible relationship in terms of trade and cooperation and security. Because that is good for us and that is good for them."

His party says it aims to choose a new leader by early September. But those who campaigned for Britain's leave vote have made clear they hope to negotiate a new deal for the country with the EU before triggering the formal exit process. European leaders have said that is not an option.

"No notification, no negotiation," Juncker said.

No cherry-picking

After Cameron has addressed EU leaders on Tuesday evening, they will meet the next day to discuss Brexit without him.

Leave campaigners in Britain including Boris Johnson, a likely contender to replace Cameron, suggest the country can retain access to the European single market and curb immigration -- but those goals are mutually incompatible under EU rules.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Britain would not be able to "cherry-pick" parts of the EU, such as access to the single market, without accepting principles such as freedom of movement when it negotiates its exit from the bloc.

"I can only advise our British friends not to fool themselves ... in terms of the necessary decisions that need to be made in Britain," she told German parliament in Berlin.

Cameron will meet other European counterparts one-on-one before addressing them all at what promises to be a frosty dinner to discuss what has become known as Brexit.

EU lawmakers say they want him to trigger the exit process at the dinner, but an EU official said that was unrealistic given the political chaos in London, where both Cameron's party and opposition Labour lawmakers are deeply divided.

The ruling Conservative Party is split into pro- and anti-EU camps and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was facing a no confidence vote on Tuesday from parliamentarians who accuse him of lukewarm support for the EU.

The European Parliament jeered when Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain's euroskeptic UKIP party, said in a scathing speech that Europe had deceived its population and Britain would be its "best friend" if it agreed to extend a tariff-free trade deal.

But the vote has caused new friction in the EU at a time of crises over a mass influx of refugees, economic weakness and tensions on its borders with Russia.

Poland's foreign minister demanded Juncker and other leaders of the executive European Commission quit for not preserving the Union. The prime minister of Greece, enduring austerity measures in return for aid, said Europe must change direction.

Germany's financial market regulator delivered a double blow to London, saying it could not host the headquarters of a planned European stock exchange giant after Britain leaves the EU, and could not remain a center for trading in euros.

Fitch joined other credit ratings agencies in downgrading its sovereign debt on Monday, and Osborne said Britain faces tax rises and spending cuts.

"We are going to have to show the country and the world that the government can live within its means," Osborne, who campaigned to stay in the EU, told BBC radio.

Mayor seeks more autonomy for London

The 52-48 percent vote to leave has deepened multiple geographical as well as political and social divisions in the United Kingdom.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, where a majority voted to stay and people fear job losses if the city loses its status as a global financial center, said access to Europe's market was key. "On behalf of all Londoners, I am demanding more autonomy for the capital - right now," he said.

Scotland, where people voted strongly to remain in Europe, is weighing a possible second referendum on leaving the United Kingdom given the vote to leave the EU.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon denounced what she called a vacuum of leadership in London and said three months of political drift until a successor to Cameron is in place would further damage Britain's economy. She said she would meet EU leaders on Wednesday to discuss how Scotland could remain.

The impact looked likely to spread far beyond Britain's borders although European shares rose after a heavy sell-off, partly due to hopes of a more co-ordinated central bank response to financial market losses. Sterling also rose and Wall Street opened higher as investors hunted for bargains.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said central banks around the world should aim to align monetary policies to mitigate "destabilizing spillovers" between economies.

Shares in European banks have come under particular pressure, especially those based in Britain, over doubts about future market access, and Italy, with high levels of bad loans.

Brexit creates huge political uncertainty and will put pressure on global growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Deputy Managing Director Zhu Min said on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin in northern China.

Asian stocks rose and Chinese stocks, protected by capital controls, hit a three-week closing high. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sought to reassure investors by saying the country would not allow "roller-coaster" rides in capital markets.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said England had collapsed "politically, monetarily, constitutionally and economically".

US President Barack Obama told National Public Radio there had been some hysteria "as if somehow NATO's gone, the trans-Atlantic alliance is dissolving, and every country is rushing off to its own corner. That's not what's happening."

In view of the disarray in Britain, some people questioned whether Brexit would happen at all. Nordea bank analysts gave it a likelihood of 70 percent and a senior EU official involved in the process said he thought the country may find a way never to announce its formal departure to the bloc. (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald, Paul Taylor, Gabriela Baczynska, Phil Blenkinsop and Jan-Robert Bartunek in Brussels; Sudip Kar-Gupta and Guy Faulconbridge in London and Alistair Scrutton in Stockholm)

source: interaksyon.com

FOCUS | Buyer's remorse as Brexit sinks in

LONDON - As the markets crashed, sterling hit a 31-year low and Prime Minister David Cameron resigned, it dawned on some of those who voted for Britain to leave the EU that they may have got it wrong.

"It's a bit too soon to know what's going to happen but I have the feeling I made a mistake," 32-year-old Pam McVey told AFP as she celebrated London's Gay Pride this weekend.

As the early implications of Thursday's historic referendum became clear, there was a buzz on social media as people shared the regrets of some of the 52 percent of Britons who voted to quit the 28-nation alliance.

"I'm a bit shocked, to be honest. I didn't think that was going to happen," said Adam, a young man interviewed on the BBC in a widely shared clip.

"My vote, I didn't think it was going to matter too much because I thought we were going to remain.

"The David Cameron resignation has blown me away to be honest. I think the period of uncertainty that we're going to have for the next couple of months, that's just been magnified now. So yeah, I'm quite worried."

Few people have had the courage to admit that they were wrong, but the hashtags #regrexit and #BrexitRegret or #Bregret were trending on Twitter -- used mostly to mock those who regretted their choice.

"We're the girl who got drunk & dumped her loving, stable boyfriend because he was a bit boring and now realises she's ruined her life," tweeted Leila Molana-Allen.

'What is the EU?'

Others had regrets that they had not voted in a referendum that will have far-reaching consequences.

"I didn't know we could vote," said Bianca Kostic-London, a 30-year-old Australian who would have been eligible because she is a citizen of the Commonwealth.

She cried when she realized. "I said it was my fault," she said, hand on her chest. "I did feel very bad and disappointed."

Research during the campaign revealed how many Britons were misinformed about the EU, particularly on immigration and economic issues -- the main focuses of the battle for votes in the run-up to the referendum.

It seemed that many did not seek to address this problem until it was too late.

Google Trends revealed that the second top search in Britain on Friday, as the results rolled in, was "What is the EU?"

For some of the regions who voted to leave, the result also prompted an urgent call for reassurance that the government in London would match any EU funds they might lose when Britain finally breaks with the bloc.

The leader of Cornwall council said he was seeking "urgent steps" to ensure the impoverished county in southwest England would be protected.

"We will be insisting that Cornwall receives investment equal to that provided by the EU program which has averaged £60 million ($82 million, 73 million) per year over the last 10 years," said John Pollard.

Similar appeals came from Yorkshire in northern England, and from the first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, who had advocated a vote to "Remain" but whose countrymen and women chose to leave.

Wales and its three million population has benefited from more than £4 billion since 2000 from EU structural funds.

"Hi I'm Welsh. My community depends on EU funding and I voted out. FUCK #eufuckup" @eufuckup," wrote one social media user on twitter.

Others defended their decision, right or wrong. "I voted leave. if it turns out that it was the wrong decision in the future, I have the right to regret it," wrote one.

source: interaksyon.com

ANALYSIS | Can the EU survive Brexit?

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Britain's vote to become the first country to leave the EU, as projected by national media, is a shattering blow that threatens the survival of the post-war European project, officials and analysts said.

The loss of one of its biggest members will at the very least force major changes on an embattled bloc already struggling to deal with growing populism, a migration crisis and economic woes.

In the long-run, "Brexit" may lead to other countries holding referendums, a far looser union, and possibly even the disintegration of a grouping set up 60 years ago to bring security and prosperity after World War II.

EU President Donald Tusk warned in the run-up to the vote that Brexit could lead to the "destruction of not only the EU but also of Western political civilization."

With Europe facing a resurgent Russia and the threat of terrorism, Tusk said "our enemies ... will open a bottle of champagne if the result of referendum is negative for us."

In a less doom-laden assessment, European Commission Chief Jean-Claude Juncker said last week that the EU was not "in danger of death" from a Brexit but that it would have to learn lessons.

'Very serious blow'

Chris Bickerton, a lecturer at Britain's Cambridge University and author of "The European Union: A Citizen's Guide," said it was a "very serious blow" but not terminal, given the "core role" of the EU in much of European political life.

But he added that it would probably drift towards a "looser, ad hoc" union.

"I don't think it would suddenly disappear but over the longer term, we might see it slowly decline and become something different," he told AFP.

The next steps for the EU would be difficult, he added.

"We are very much in uncharted territory," he said. "I don't think anyone really thought Brexit was really likely, certainly not when they were negotiating with Cameron, otherwise they would have done a very different deal."

In the immediate aftermath of the British vote, seven years of potentially bitter divorce negotiations between Brussels and London loom.

The remaining EU countries will likely be keen to move ahead. France and Germany, the main EU heavyweights, have already been working on a joint plan for the future.

But with Berlin and Paris at loggerheads over future integration of the eurozone, any plan is likely to be a modest affair that deals only with issues such as security and defense.

Even without Britain in the club, the drift away from "ever closer union" and federalism is likely to increase, with growing talk of a "two-speed Europe" that allows states opt-outs from key rules.

One major step could be making membership of the euro non-compulsory, which would help Poland, which appears to have no intention of joining the single currency but is officially meant to.

Domino effect?
The main fear in many European capitals is that either way, the result could trigger a domino effect of referendums in other countries.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Tuesday urged all EU states to follow Britain's example, and eurosxeptics in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden have made similar calls for referendums.

Vivien Pertusot, Brussels-based analyst with the French Institute of International Relations, said the EU was likely to survive but be weakened.

"Institutions rarely die," he told AFP. "Maybe there will not be disintegration, but a loss of relevance. The EU will lose, bit by bit, its centrality for all the most political projects."

The danger for the EU is that even after it makes changes following the British referendum, it will still not be able to quell the forces of history tearing it apart.

"The EU is in a negative spiral," Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at Brussels-based think tank European Policy Centre, told AFP.

The question of what could replace the EU if it does collapse is even more vexed.

"It might sound as if yes, this story has ended, a new one has begun, but that's not easy. Especially after the experience of failure," said Emmanouilidis.

source: interaksyon.com