June's Political Intelligence
June 2020 discussions in the UK Parliament have been marked by the urgency of the EU-UK negotiations and future relationship including UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, EU Free Trade Agreement, the UK Immigration Rules, the merger of Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), as well as the “Black Lives Matter” social movement, the need of continuous outstanding measures for economic recovery from Covid-19 crisis, DEFRA regulations for environmental protection against single-use plastics and a potentially new APPG on racial bias.
In a sitting on 4th of June in the House of Commons, Michael Gove, Conservative MP and Minister for the Cabinet Office, has started the debate with a motion asking the Government for transparency in the EU-UK negotiations easing Parliament scrutiny, governmental reports on the advancement of the negotiations with the EU and the impacts of legislation passed at the EU level while the UK is in transition period, raised by European Scrutiny Committee. As stated in the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement both Parties intend to reach zero-tariff, zero-quota trade. However, the EU is conditioning this approach by requiring the UK Government to comply with the EU level playing field, which would constrain the UK to follow the EU laws. The discussions have continued in the House of Commons with sittings on the EU-UK negotiations on 8, 9, 11, 15, 16 and 18 of June, marking the urgency for the realization of the future relationship.
The discussions in the House of Commons have been echoed by the House of Lords for EU Exit and EU Trade in sittings on 2, 4, 9 and 18thof June. Lord True, Conservative Peer and Minister of the Cabinet Office has informed that negotiations with the EU are still in an impasse on EU level playing field requirements, fisheries and governance arrangements. The UK Government concern in the EU requirements is for the UK State sovereignty and independence which makes the compromise impossible. As a conclusion, the type of arrangement sought is similar to those between the EU-Canada and EU-Australia.
OnGlobal Britain sitting on the 16thof June in the House of Commons, Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, has announced the union of the DFID and the FCO to create a new department, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to unite UK aid for overseas development and diplomacyand to become a Whitehall super-Department for international affairs. The announcement was received with criticism by the Opposition that has created DFID and asked the Prime Minister to ensure both departments’ staff remain in their job as well as the UK commitment for international aid to be maintained. The UK is spending £15bn on overseas aid, equivalent to 0.7 of the UK GDP. The discussions on the DFID-FCO merger continued in the House of Commons on the 18thof June 2020. Labour MPs argued that the union of the departments is an internal distraction in a moment of crisisboth economic and social. Labour MP, Keir Starmer, informed a fall of 600, 000 people from PAYE in the UK according to ONS data, as well as an economic recess of 20% in April 2020 due to Covid-19.
Unemployment concerns have been discussed in a sitting in the House of Lords on 11thof June, Lord Randall of Uxbridge asking Lord Agnew of Oulton, Minister of State of the Cabinet Office and the Treasury and Conservative Peer on the assessment of unemployment projections over the next 12 months. Scenarios estimate that unemployment will surge at 10% in the 2nd quarter of 2020. Lord German, Liberal-Democrat Peer, has specified that many self-employed people have received no help in light of Covid-19 crisis to which the Cabinet Office and Treasury Minister has informed that Government’s priority is to reopen in phases the UK economic activities and that support of additional £600 million has been offered to local authorities to support businesses. This reference is for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund. Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, Labour Peer, brought to the House’s attention that more than 100 leading UK companies called the Prime Minister to include sustainability in the UK recovery strategy amid Covid-19. The corporate call urges the Government to tackle social inequalities, unemployment and to act for the UK’s legislative target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Environmental protectionhas been discussed in a sitting in the House of Commons on the 15thof June. Rebecca Pow, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Conservative MP, asked the House to approve the draft of the Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) Regulations 2020. England alone uses every year 4.7bn straws, 1.8bn plastic-stemmed cotton buds and 316m plastic stirrers. The regulation will help to reduce single-use plastic products by 95% according to estimations. The purpose is to shift from mass plastic use that affects in particular marine ecosystems and biodiversity and by breaking-down in microplastics entering in food chains. Parliamentarians have raised other points of concerns such as access to replacement solutions for businesses, for example biodegradable alternatives. Other concerns raised were waste, shifting from a throw-away society, which reflects the fashion industry’s realityas well. The Government’s 25-Year Plan is to eliminate plastics by 2040, and the Environment Bill is set to facilitate transformation for a circular economy with a process in which milestones are set, checked and rechecked. The sitting closed by approving the draft of the Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) Regulations 2020 laid before the House of Commons on the 19th of May 2020.
Lord Collins of Highbury, Labour Peer has asked the Government in a sitting on 8th of June how racism, discrimination and injustice are addressed in the UK following the “Black Lives Matter” protests caused by the death of George Floyd in the US and demonstrations in the UK.
The Government has set the Race Disparity Unit, part of the Cabinet Office to collect, analyse, publish experiences of people from different ethnic backgrounds to support government departments to drive change where disparities are found. The Unit is meant to better understand Covid-19 disparities found by the Public Health England Covid-19 report. The discussions in the House of Lords have been echoed in the House of Commons in a sitting on the 17th of June, when Owen Thompson, SNP MP, has asked Kemi Badenoch, the Equalities Minister on the priorities of the Government Equalities Office following the “Black Lives Matter” movement, arguing that the Government’s policies fail to reflect that black lives matter. Anne McLaughlin, SNP MP, argued that helping people to recognize and address their own bias could make a real difference and therefore initiated the idea of an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on unconscious bias, idea which the Equalities Minister welcomed.