Both the House of Commons and House of Lords have voted in favour of the Early Parliamentary Election Bill scheduling a General Election for 12 December 2019. Parliament is now expected be dissolved at one minute past midnight on 6 November 2019 which will trigger the official start of the General Election campaign and the … Read more
The draft Withdrawal Agreement has finally been amended to replace the previous Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland with a new Protocol taking a rather different approach to securing the objective of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. We will describe below the main features of the new approach and then … Read more
At the EU Summit today, the UK Government and European Commission agreed a revised Brexit deal, reaching agreement on the key outstanding issue of the Irish backstop and revising the terms of the future relationship. The European Commission has asked the European Council to endorse the revised Withdrawal Agreement and revised Political Declaration on the … Read more
While the risks of a no-deal Brexit on the 31 October 2019 have greatly diminished, a no-deal Brexit is still firmly on the table for that date or, perhaps more likely, a future date. Our updated Brexit Legal Guide addresses in detail the legal position if the UK leaves the EU with or without a … Read more
The position of the EU changed almost imperceptibly over the summer from that which we noted in June 2019 of “the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation” to “where is your proposal?” There have been talks but, so far, the UK has not made any proposal – at least not in writing. This is … Read more
With just weeks to the 31 October Brexit deadline, and as the plans and responses of the UK Government, the UK Parliament and the EU continue to reveal themselves, we are delighted to invite clients to our Brexit breakfast discussion and Q&A on 26 September 2019 (Thursday) on the latest Brexit developments and what they imply … Read more
Today our updated Brexit Legal Guide was released. Below is a message from our Chair and Senior Partner James Palmer which accompanied the updated guide. Dear clients and professional colleagues, The outcome of the June 2016 UK referendum on EU membership ushered in a period of increasing political turmoil in the UK. When I wrote … Read more
Prosperity UK’s Alternative Arrangements Commission set up to develop credible and practical alternative arrangements relating to the Irish border has today released a 4-page Briefing Document which summarises the recommendations made by the Commission in its final report of 18 July 2019. The Commission’s report includes two draft protocols contributed by EU and international trade … Read more
The uncertainty presented by Brexit has posed an increasing challenge for many of our clients for over three years. A major sticking point has been the Irish ‘backstop’, which is designed to prevent the reintroduction of border controls between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However, in doing so, it keeps Northern Ireland (and … Read more
