Peers push Prime Minister Boris Johnson to reopen EU talks on services sector. Since the current deals with EU do not take services trade into consideration, sector professionals ask for an help.
Here’s why UK needs to reopen EU talks
Brexit trade agreements don’t consider this crucial sector, which was estimated to be worth £317bn in export in 2019. But, given the high value services trade has for UK, an agreement with Bruxelles becomes necessary. That’s the opinion shared by many.
The Lords EU services sub-committee warned about the damages a lack of deals could cause to the British economy.“The services sector is at the heart of the UK economy, so it is essential that the government and EU makes improvements to smooth UK-EU services trade. Too much is at stake if we don’t,” claimed Baroness Donaghy, the chair of the sub-committee.
Most of the worries concern UK professional qualifications not being recognized in EU, financial service jobs transferring in EU territory, the loss of visa-free music tours and the disposal of the Erasmus Programme for students.
Patel’s immigration plan
Besides concerns about finance, also immigration issues will be discussed today. Home Secretary Priti Patel has already announced an “immigration overhaul” indeed.
Patel’s plans envisage stronger immigration rules in order to make it tougher for illegal immigrants to stay in the country. That is, anyone who will reach UK illegally won’t have any automatic right to asylum and will be probably expelled from UK.
However, many voices were raised against this proposal. Nick Thomas-Symonds said these rules would not stop illegal crossings. In his opinion, there is a risk of leaving desperate people, victims of human trafficking, in the lurch.
Mike Adamson, the British Red Cross’ chief executive, pointed up Patel’s proposals as “inhumane” and Sonia Lenegan, of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, branded them as “cruel”.