A “no-deal” Brexit looks inevitable
The Independent
Remember Brexit? In this locked-down world, it feels like yesterday’s problem, says Sean O’Grady. Yet talks between London and Brussels are still going ahead – or, to be more accurate, “going backwards”. The “mutual suspicion” dogging negotiations has all but capsized the prospect of a free trade deal by the year’s end. London wants a “copy and paste” version of the EU-Canada free trade deal, even as Brussels is demanding more safeguards against “unfair competition”. A request for an extension to the transition period must be made before 1 July, but the UK has ruled out agreeing to one. So now a no-deal outcome looks all too likely. Worse still, even the existing UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, the one “signed after much trauma” last autumn, may unravel. As part of that deal, the two sides had tasked a joint committee to decide the practical working arrangements for the new economic border down the Irish Sea. Yet this committee is paralysed in disagreement. And if the withdrawal deal falls apart, then everything – from reciprocal citizens’ rights and the £39bn “divorce bill” to the future of Gibraltar – will be thrown into doubt.
A Londoner has taken to wearing a greenhouse to shield himself from Covid-19 as he exercises. Terry Stubbs, 67, donned the outfit to give him “extra protection” as he walked three miles to wish his grandson happy birthday. The greenhouse costume has won him fans in Uxbridge, where people have stopped to take photos on their phones. “I didn’t even think people would notice,” he said, “so it’s nice to put a smile on people’s faces.”
A Swedish town worried about the country’s relaxed lockdown rules has dumped a tonne of chicken manure in its central park to deter visitors. The university town of Lund attracts up to 30,000 people a year for its famed Walpurgis Night party on 30 April. But council leader Philip Sandberg warned potential revellers this year it would “not be a pleasant experience... to sit in a park that stinks of chicken manure”. There would be upsides for locals, too. “It will be good for the lawns, as chicken manure contains a lot of phosphorus and nitrogen, so we’ll get a really nice park for the summer.”