Sunday, 30 April 2017

JAPAN TIMES Brexit Headlines: 1 Apr - 30 Apr 2017

The Japan Times
Brexit Headlines

Brexit to dominate as May sets out plans for U.K. re-electionWORLD / POLITICSAPR 25, 2017

BY KYLIE MACLELLAN
Whatever Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives promise in their manifesto before a June election, managing Britain's exit from the European Union will limit her opportunity to push wide-ranging radical domestic change. Brexit is already diverting government attention from other, often pressing, issues — the number ...

The 'Brenda factor' and the British election

COMMENTARY / WORLDAPR 24, 2017

BY HUGH CORTAZZI
Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to call a snap election after repeatedly saying she would not do so has dented her reputation for honesty.

EDITORIALS   APR 21, 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking to strengthen her hand domestically as she 
enters into difficult Brexit negotiations.

British parliament backs May's plan for June 8 snap election

WORLD / POLITICSAPR 19, 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May won parliament's backing for an early election on Wednesday, a vote she said would strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union and help heal divisions in Britain. May surprised allies and opponents on Tuesday when she announced her ...

Saturday, 29 April 2017

UK economy continues to shine after Brexit vote

The British economy is actually growing at a solid pace, despite the dishonest reporting of many in the mainstream media following data last week. Project Fear continues to show a desperation to ignore the reality of a very successful Brexit story after last year's referendum


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Brexit economy flies high
6f37592038ebe4c2dc83c06bb82884256d790fa4
John Redwood MP
On 29 April 2017 10:27
UK GDP continues to advance faster than most advanced countries, at a pace well up with the new official  forecasts of 2 percent growth. In the first quarter of 2017 the economy grew by 0.3%, the same rate of growth as in the first quarter of 2016 before the Brexit vote.
The annual rate was 2.1 percent, a figure some are reluctant to report.
Real incomes were up, and manufacturing and production were up by more than the rate of general growth, thanks to exports and import substitution.
Pessimistic commentators focus on how first quarter growth was lower than fourth quarter 2016, which was a great figure which none of them predicted. Indeed many of them found it uncomfortable given their forecasts of winter recession.
Retail spending was weaker in the first quarter 2017.
Easter was later this year so there may have been some problems adjusting the figures for that effect. Food and beverage spending was well up in contrast.
There is a perpetual spin line that weak sterling will lead to price rises which will squeeze consumption which will damage the economy.
Those who think this need to answer why it is that UK inflation has not gone up by more than Germany and by less than US, and to acknowledge that a large part of the UK price rises so far has come from a much higher international price of oil.
They should also now be saying that given the pound has risen 8 percent from its low against the dollar and the Euro, the two main importing currencies, there should be some improved effect on their analysis as imports get cheaper again.
Mr. Redwood's writing is re-posted here by his kind permission. This and other articles are available at  johnredwoodsdiary.com

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/6560/uk_economy_continues_to_shine_after_brexit_vote

Friday, 21 April 2017

MUST READ: What happened to BBC honest reporting on Brexit?

Sometimes the BBC just doesn't bother to try and hide its institutional bias. Its anti-Brexit pro-EU stance takes the biscuit. John Redwood MP gives us an extraordinary first hand account of a shocking departure from basic journalistic standards


Bbc_newsroom
A very biased newsroom
6f37592038ebe4c2dc83c06bb82884256d790fa4
John Redwood MP
On 21 April 2017 01:12
On Wednesday, I was phoned up and asked onto the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. They said they wanted me to answer questions about how the election would change the UK’s ability to negotiate a good new relationship with the EU.
I was happy to do so, and said I could make any time at their studio. It seemed like a good topic, and central to what the PM said about her reason for calling the election.
They then proceeded to ask me a series of questions all designed to get me to disagree with the UK negotiating position and the Prime Minister. I explained that I supported the PM, agreed with her Brexit White Paper and stated aims, and suggested if all they wanted to do was to criticise her they should approach the Opposition parties.
They continued to try to get me to disagree. They did not seem to have read the White Paper or the PM’s speech on the topic, so I had to tell them what was in them and why I agreed with them.
I explained again that their thesis that the Leave supporting MPs were in disagreement with the PM and were “rebels” was simply untrue. We are not in disagreement with the PM and we have been strongly supporting the government’s statements and legislation on Brexit. She said she would get back to me about the invitation to go on, with the details.
She did not of course bother to, as it was clear I was unwilling to feed their view of what the news should be.
I then found another Leave supporting Conservative MP had been given the same treatment, and he too had thought the BBC were trying to change the news rather than reporting the position.
When I came to do a live interview on some other BBC programme I was faced with the same stupid thesis and had to explain on air how wrong their idea  was.
I do not know who is feeding the BBC this nonsense, but it is frustrating that they do not accept the truth from those whose views they claim to be reporting, and do not bother to get back and openly say they do not want you on because you won’t say what they want you to say.
Mr. Redwood's writing is re-posted here by his kind permission. This and other articles are available at  johnredwoodsdiary.com

Wednesday, 19 April 2017

May wins parliament's backing for June 8 snap election

Prime Minister Theresa May won parliament's backing for an early election on Wednesday, a vote she said would strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union and help heal divisions in Britain.

UK | Wed Apr 19, 2017 | 4:17pm BST
By Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan | LONDON

May surprised allies and opponents on Tuesday when she announced her plan to bring forward an election that was not due until 2020, saying she needed to avoid a clash of priorities in the sensitive final stages of the two-year Brexit talks.
After addressing a rowdy session of the House of Commons, May won the support of 522 lawmakers in the 650-seat parliament for an election on June 8. Only 13 voted against.
With May seen winning a new five-year mandate and boosting her majority in parliament by perhaps 100 seats, the pound held close to six-and-a-half month highs on hopes she may be able to clinch a smoother, more phased departure from the EU and minimise damage to the UK economy.
"I believe that at this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, not division," she said.
"A general election will provide the country with five years of strong and stable leadership to see us through the negotiations and ensure we are able to go on to make a success as a result, and that is crucial."
The former interior minister, who became prime minister without an election when her predecessor David Cameron quit after last year's referendum vote for Brexit, enjoys a runaway lead over the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.
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A still image from a video footage shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May addressing the House of Commons in central London April 19, 2017. Parbul TV/Handout via Reuters TV
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She has also played up the strength of the economy, which has so far defied predictions of a slowdown - a key campaign theme that her Conservative Party will use to try to undermine Labour in the election.
A victory would give May a powerful mandate extending until 2022, long enough to cover the Brexit negotiations plus a possible transition period into new trading arrangements with the EU.
The Sun, Britain's top-selling newspaper, splashed the headline "Blue Murder" - a reference to the Conservatives' party colour and the prospect of Labour losing dozens of seats.
RELUCTANT
May formally notified the European Union on March 29 of Britain's intention to leave, and has said she is confident of reaching a deal on the terms of withdrawal in the two years available.
She said on Tuesday she had "reluctantly" come to the decision to call for an early election because of political division in Westminster, criticising opposition parties for trying to thwart her plans for leaving the EU.
"What do we know that the leader of the Labour Party, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and the leader of the Scottish nationalists have in common?" she asked parliament.
"They want to unite together to divide our country and we will not let them do it."
But for Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, the move was a "huge political miscalculation" that could help the Scottish National Party's efforts to hold an independence vote.
"If the SNP wins this election in Scotland and the Tories (Conservatives) don't, then Theresa May's attempt to block our mandate to give the people of Scotland a choice over their own future when the time is right will crumble to dust," said Sturgeon, who heads Scotland's devolved government.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn set the tone for his campaign by criticising May for her "broken promises" on healthcare and education, and jabbed at her for not agreeing to take part in television debates before the election.
May, who has described herself as "not a showy politician", said she would rather talk directly to voters.

"I will be debating these issues publicly across the country," she told parliament. "We will be taking a proud record of a Conservative government, but more than that we will taking our plans for the future of this country."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-election-idUKKBN17L0LD