Brexit and health and social care - News from Parliament - UK Parliament

The Health Committee publishes its report on the effect of Brexit on health and social care.

• Read the conclusions and recommendation
• Read the full report: Brexit and health and social care—people & process

Background
The UK's withdrawal from the European Union—"Brexit"—will affect many aspects of the provision of health and social care in the United Kingdom. Given the range and complexity of the questions involved, we took evidence in advance of the triggering of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). This report was intended to be the first phase of our inquiry, addressing the immediate. Further phases of our inquiry have necessarily been cut short by the general election but we hope that our successor committee will return to this issue...

Read full report: Brexit and health and social care - News from Parliament - UK Parliament

We compared the Tories' policies to a BNP manifesto. And bloody hell [VIDEO] | The Canary

Theresa May has refused to take part in televised leadership debates for the general election. And one reason may be because she knows her government’s policies and record would not stand up to scrutiny. But one journalist did scrutinise the Tories’ policies – comparing them to those of the British National Party (BNP) in 2005, under then leader Nick Griffin. And the results are shocking...

Read more: We compared the Tories' policies to a BNP manifesto. And bloody hell [VIDEO] | The Canary

Government responded to “Exempt Non-EU NHS professionals from £35,000 salary threshold”

So, there was this petition, which ran as follows:

Exempt Non-EU NHS professionals from £35,000 salary threshold

Since April 2016, Non-EU citizens wishing to remain permanently in the UK have been required to earn £35,000 a year on a single contracted salary. I find this rule discriminates unfairly against those who chose to work in the NHS, where such a salary is impossible within first 5 years of employment.

Like many others I came to the UK to complete my MSc and now wish to remain working for NHS making differences to people's lives on a daily basis. I have been living here for over 7 years and working extra hours during nights/weekends to meet the threshold however it is not good enough to secure my place here unless something changes. 

Sadly there are many others facing the same hardship and I believe that the threshold should be lowered to at least the average UK salary £28,000 for NHS staff.

The petition having reached 10K signatures (it's open for signatures until 3rd May), the relevant Govt. department was required to issue an official reply. The current Secretary of State for the Home Department is Amber Rudd (see photo). The Petitions Committee will also take a look at this petition and its response. They can press the government for action and gather evidence.

Please note: this response was issued after the announcement of a General Election on 8th June.

The Convention - "Brexit and the Political Crash" 12 & 13 May, 2017

This email just arrived and may be of interest to people in and around London.

The European Movement is pleased to be supporting The Convention, an exciting event happening this May discussing "Brexit and the Political Crash". The following message is from its Director, Henry Porter:

Within hours of the General Election being announced, the inevitable process of narrowing the debate on Brexit began. We believe this is wrong and that Brexit deserves much greater scrutiny than has been allowed in Parliament, or is likely over the course of the election campaign. For two days at the start of the campaign  - and just after the French election campaign - the Convention on Brexit and the Political Crash, will examine the detail of Brexit and place it in the context of huge cultural and political developments in the US, Russia and Europe. BOOK TICKETS We are living in momentous times and the key to surviving them is to make sense of the deep forces at work, which is why we have taken Abraham Lincoln’s slogan - ‘think anew, act anew.’ We look forward to welcoming you to Central Hall Westminster on May 12 and 13 for two days of indispensable debate, analysis and conversation, when you, too, can have your say. Yours sincerely, Henry Porter Director of The Convention

Copyright © 2017 European Movement UK, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: European Movement UK Suite 1912A, Portland House Bressenden Place London, SW1E 5RS United Kingdom

Why Theresa May should scare you | Never Cruel Nor Cowardly

Looked at objectively, Theresa May is very clearly a political leader who, given free rein, would be a dictator.

Her history as Home Secretary is one of increasingly authoritarian rhetoric and policy, summarised by the “Go Home” vans.

Since becoming PM, govt proposed lists of foreign workers, forcing out foreign doctors, removing troops from international human rights law...

Read on: Why Theresa May should scare you | Never Cruel Nor Cowardly

Russia-linked fake news floods French social media - EUObserver

Almost one in four of the internet links shared by French users of social media in the run-up to elections were related to fake news, much of which favoured anti-EU candidates and showed traces of Russian influence, according to a new study.

The survey, by a UK-based firm, Bakamo, published on Wednesday (19 April), looked at 800 websites and almost 8 million links shared between 1 November and 4 April.

19.2 percent of links related to media that did not “adhere to journalistic standards” and that expressed “radical opinions …

Read on: Russia-linked fake news floods French social media

Meet Le Pen's friends at Trump Tower - EUObserver

On 12 January, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was spotted by photographers drinking coffee at Trump Tower in New York.

She suggested at the time that she wanted to meet with then US president-elect Donald Trump, but it didn't work out.

What few people know is that the night before, a cocktail party was organised in the same building to raise funds for her political party, the National Front (FN).

The party was organised by an Italian businessman George "Guido" Lombardi.

Lombardi, who lives in Trump Tower, has close links with the European far-right, especially Italy's Lega Nord. He says that he has been a friend of Marine Le Pen for 20 years.

"There were people [at the party] who were favorable to her, supporters, people who are friends of mine, entrepreneurs, at least three UN ambassadors, some political consultants and advisers," Lombardi told EUobserver in a recent phone interview.

He refused to give names but described the guests that came to meet Le Pen as "American businessmen, American representatives from Wall Street, Israeli businessmen, a couple of Russian businessmen*, a couple of Asian businessmen, a couple of Italians, some French nationals"...

Read the rest at Meet Le Pen's friends at Trump Tower

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* Our emphasis

My 9-year-old sold the Big Issue and revealed the truth of Brexit Britain - iNews

I was in the market town of Shrewsbury with my 9 year old on a recent Saturday. We stopped to buy The Big Issue and chat with Samaria, who is Romanian and has been in the UK for three years.

Despite the pouring rain and pregnancy-induced back ache, Samaria hadn’t sat down or eaten all day. We got her some lunch but she refused to rest because she had only sold enough to cover her transport costs. With two hungry children at home, she was resolute. What followed next was the proudest moment of my life. My son said, “Don’t worry, I’ll sell while you eat!” But my pride gave way to dismay...

Read on: My 9-year-old sold the Big Issue and revealed the truth of Brexit Britain - The i newspaper online iNews

Immigration: who needs a deal? – UK in a changing Europe

The status of EU nationals in the UK and UK nationals in the EU is likely to be the first item on the agenda for the Article 50 negotiations, as I explain here. What is far less clear is whether, and when, there will be any substantive discussion about the UK’s post-Brexit immigration policy.  There are two possible approaches that the government – and other EU member states – could take.

The first is that advocated before the referendum by Vote Leave – that, after leaving the EU, the UK should adopt a “non-discriminatory” system, under which non-UK nationals seeking to migrate to the UK would be treated the same, regardless of their country of origin (with a few relatively minor exceptions, non-EEA/Swiss nationals all currently face the same rules)...

Read on -> Immigration: who needs a deal? – UK in a changing Europe by Professor Jonathan Portes

Brexit: are you angry yet?

As I write this, Theresa May is poised to trigger Article 50* and start the process of taking us out of the EU.

 Now that it’s certain we’re going to set this juggernaut in motion, I expect Leave voters are feeling pleased and a little relieved that we’re finally getting on with the job. If you’re one of them, I’d like to take a moment to address you directly now. I know you won’t want to hear what I have to say, I know this will seem like a “Remoaner” rant (and I have to admit that it is), but please bear with me on just this one journey. If you’re a Remain voter, or didn’t vote, I think you need to hear this too...

Read on: Brexit: are you angry yet? | Citizen of Nowhere by David Hills

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* This act of incommensurable stupidity was committed shortly before 12:30 pm on 29 March, 2017

Brexit: You Got What You Voted For, Now STFU

Top 8 effects of Brexit on the future EU policies | VoteWatch

This report looks at the impact of Brexit from a fresh angle, digging into how the direction of the EU policies is likely to change in the absence of the UK representatives from the EU decision-making bodies. Our research combines expert insights with big political data that captures the actual voting records of representatives of all 28 Member States in the EU institutions in recent years.

In short, Brexit will change substantially the dynamics in the EU institutions. A Council of 27 members and a European Parliament lacking the British MEPs would see a substantial shift in the balance of power in favour of the pro-social/interventionist political forces, i.e. those who push for stronger intervention of the state in the economy and the redistribution of income. On the other hand, the forces that support free market, less red tape and a more competitive Europe would suffer a substantial blow...

See more at: Top 8 effects of Brexit on the future EU policiesVoteWatch | VoteWatch