Parliament is coming to close for the summer after next week but what has happened in the last week of politics? We have seen the Taylor review into working practices in the ‘gig economy’, Conservative Mp, Anne Marie Morris, suspended by the party over racist remarks and Brexit talks continued with Euratom, the European atomic energy community much cited after the government announced they would be leaving the regulatory body.
The world news includes the Trump-Russia saga, Brazil’s attempted crackdown on high profile corruption, Venezuela’s crisis continues, protesters take to the streets of Turkey, the EU approved an association with Ukraine and ISIL lay defeated in Mosul.
The UK, Brexit and Euratom
The Taylor review into the gig economy was released and for the most part it is 114 pages of hot air. Thompson Solicitors, who specialise in workers’ rights described it as ‘feeble’ and the review itself often praises the ‘flexible’ approach. However, it doesn’t address the issues of enforcing the law on companies like Uber and it also suggests that ‘workers’ should be paid on a piece-rate basis, which is on average 20% less than the minimum wage. It promotes the idea that this would be a ‘compromise’ when in fact it is a way to undercut the minimum wage legally.
Anne Marie Morris was suspended by the Conservatives after pressure from opposition, commentators and party members after it emerged she said in a meeting “n***er in the woodpile”, in relation to an aspect of Brexit that would affect the financial markets.
The phrase originates from pre-civil war US South, which refers to runaway slaves’ tendencies to hide in woodpiles. Theresa may said it was “completely unacceptable”.
Brexit has continued this week with EU Chief Negotiator, Michael Barnier, stating in a speech that the UK could not retain the benefits of the single market and leave, he also said that a frictionless trade agreement would not be possible.
Vince Cable stated that Brexit may never happen because of the divisions within the Conservatives, this statement was largely dismissed, Chancellor, Phillip Hammond was berated by colleagues for his statement in the House of Commons saying that the media was being too negative over Brexit.
Theresa May confirms she wants to stay on as PM during Brexit negotiations at the very least.
The newly renamed EU Withdrawal Bill, formerly the Great Repeal Bill, will begin its journey through parliament next week, with much of the focus on the ‘Henry VIII’ clause that allows legislation to be changed without a vote from parliament.
The government announced that they want to leave the European regulatory agreement of Euratom, a nuclear safety and research watchdog. The official legal summary explains, “the Euratom treaty today helps to pool knowledge, infrastructure and funding of nuclear energy. It ensures the security of atomic energy supply within the framework of a centralised monitoring system.” The body perfectly highlights the complexities of Brexit.
Technically Euratom is not part of the EU, in fact, the treaty that eventually gave birth to this regulatory body was drawn up in parallel to the European Economic Community (EEC).
Because it required a separate legal relationship that was enforced by the European Court of Justice, a separate clause was required announcing our intention to leave Euratom within the Article 50 legislation. Whilst most European bodies aren’t the same, it underlines the complexities when leaving the EU.
World news
The White House continued to deny allegations that Trump’s campaign team colluded with the Russians, after it emerged that Trump Jr held a meeting with a Russian lawyer over possible information on Hillary Clinton. This would be a breach of election law. In Brazil, former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sentence to 10 years in prison over bribery and in Venezuela, the Supreme Court ordered that Leopoldo López, leader of the opposition against the authoritarian regime to be moved out of prison and into house arrest.
In Turkey, hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest in Istanbul, against the crackdown of opposition that has been in force since the attempted coup a year ago. After years of delay because of former PM, Viktor Yanukovych, refusal to sign the agreement that led to his downfall. The EU and Ukraine have signed an association agreement. In Mosul, Iraq’s PM, Haider al-Abadi visited to mark the liberation from ISIL. However, there remains a few small pockets of resistance from the terror group and it is claimed by the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights that ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.
