So much has already been written about the triggering of Article 50, firing the starting gun on two years of negotiations about leaving the European Union. And it was only yesterday. For trade unions, it still seems strange that a Conservative Prime Mi…Read more…
Europe’s response to Article 50: what unions want
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will trigger Article 50 and fire the starting pistol on negotiations to leave the European Union. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has already adopted a statement setting out what unions here and in the res…Read more…
#Right2Remain gains wider support: so what’s the problem?
On Sunday morning, the House of Commons Select Committee on Exiting the European Union (the ‘Brexit Committee’ chaired by Hilary Benn MP) released a report urging the government to unilaterally grant the right to remain to EU citizens living and working in the UK. The cross-party group…Read more…
Lords begin voting on the Brexit Bill: our view
Today and Wednesday, the Article 50 Brexit bill – known formally as the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2016-17 – will get its committee stage in the House of Lords. This is the stage where most of the voting will take place on specific amendments (although there may be…Read more…
Putting working people first in the Brexit plans: we’re ready to talk
It’s a bit of a risk, writing a blog about where we are in the Brexit negotiations saga. Events often move with astonishing speed: so on top of last week’s Lancaster House speech by the Prime Minister, this week has already seen the Supreme Court’s decision on whether Parliament…Read more…
All to play for on #Brexit
It’s not clear that the British public really cares that much yet about whether Britain should be seeking a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit, because the options haven’t been clearly set out, and the Government hasn’t yet set out what it favours. The TUC wants a…Read more…
High court puts #Brexit ball back in Parliament’s court
Today’s decision by the High Court that the decision about whether and when to trigger Article 50 and start the formal process of negotiating Britain’s exit from the UK will now go to the Supreme Court. The government does not want Parliament to have the decision-making power, so it is…Read more…
Article 50: so much for Parliamentary sovereignty!
This week, Theresa May ruled out giving Parliament a vote before Article 50 is triggered. She’s explained her position in terms of respecting the will of the people as expressed in June’s referendum – and the TUC accepts that decision too. But we are still disappointed at her…Read more…
Why EU citizens in Britain shouldn’t be used as negotiating pawns
The TUC is only one of many groups in Britain calling for citizens of other EU countries currently living and working in the UK to be given the right to remain when we leave the European Union. Others who support the position include the CBI, IOD, orga…Read more…
They think it’s all over … but there are 5 tests before we start negotiating Brexit
One of the strangest views you hear expressed about the result of the EU referendum a month ago is that the impact on the economy has not been as severe as the Remain campaign claimed. Apart from the political turmoil in both the Conservative and Labou…Read more…