Matrix’s Legal Support Service provides a weekly round-up of Brexit-related links and news.

Brexit and the UK constitution

1. The UK in a Changing Europe has published a piece discussing the “unfortunate, but dangerous”, debate over Brexit in Northern Ireland which is becoming polarised in terms of traditional green vs. orange identity politics”.
2. The House of Lords Constitution Select Committee has heard evidence from Lord Neuberger, former President of the Supreme Court as part of its scrutiny of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
3. The Public Law Project has published extracts from its parliamentary briefing to highlight the problems with the ‘Repeal Bill’, as well as a briefing considering the importance of the term ‘exit day’ in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, which determines how long ministers can exercise delegated powers for.

The UK’s post-Brexit deal with the EU

1. The House of Commons business statement has set out that the EU (Withdrawal) Bill is provisionally to enter the committee stage on Tuesday 14^th Meanwhile the House of Commons Library has published a report summarising what happened in the Brexit negotiations in October.
2. The UK has asked for ‘continuous’ talks with the EU to break the Brexit negotiation impasse, whilst the UK and EU have confirmed that the next round of talks will be held next week. Giving the clearest glimpse so far of the Government’s preferred end game for the Brexit talks, David Davis has admitted that the exit deal is likely to “favour the union on things like money”.
3. The London Assembly EU Exit Working Group has published a letter pressing the Mayor to publish a plan of action and strategy for London post-Brexit, and to make the case for protecting the future of the financial services sector in London in his meetings with David Davis.
4. The former boss of YouGov has defended Barry Sheerman, a Labour MP facing criticism for pointing out that better-educated people tended to vote to remain in the EU during the referendum.
5. A cross-party trio of pro-EU politicians, Nick Clegg, Ken Clarke and Lord Adonis, have held talks with the European Commission’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier. Meanwhile the Times Brief has reported on a Law Society warning that a ‘no deal’ Brexit will result in the courts being overwhelmed with claims.
6. Lord Justice Gross has given a speech arguing that London and English law should continue to be world leaders in international dispute resolution post-Brexit.

Impact of Brexit on the economy

1. The Financial Times has argued that the Treasury should release its impact assessments on the economy following Brexit. Analysis by the paper has also shown that many of the UK’s leading EU trade partners will not have enough customs officers in place to cope with a ‘no deal’ Brexit for at least a year after the UK is scheduled to leave the bloc.
2. The House of Commons blog has set out the fifty-eight sectors which have been assessed. A Commons’ motion seeking the release of the economic impact assessments has been passed unanimously, whilst the Scottish Government has also called for the Brexit analysis to be shared. As a result of this David Davis is to hold talks over the handover of the documents.
3. UKTPO have considered the impact of Brexit on cross-channel trade and the practical challenges facing the UK economy post-Brexit.
4. Shearman & Sterling have published a note arguing that loss of “passporting” rights and other freedoms under EU treaties upon Brexit should neither frustrate existing contracts nor render the performance of existing cross-border UK-EU contracts illegal nor cause them to be void or voidable.
5. According to a paper published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and reported in the Guardian, the Brexit vote has cost each household over £600 per year.
6. The Bank of England has warned that the City could lose 10,000 jobs on the day of Brexit, with the deputy governor, Sam Woods, admitting that forecasts of 75,000 job losses long-term are “plausible”.
7. The Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee has received a response from David Davis MP, Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, to its report, Brexit: trade in goods. Meanwhile, Liam Fox has been asked about the post-Brexit relationship that the UK will have with non-EU countries with which Brussels has signed free trade agreements.
   

Brexit as it affects Practice Areas:

Data Protection

The Government has issued a letter thanking the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport for its work on the Lords’ Brexit: EU Data Protection Package report, and stating that the UK Government has proposed that the UK and the EU agree a model for protecting and exchanging personal data.

Health

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has stated that the NHS faces a staffing shortfall due to the ‘double whammy’ of European and UK-trained medics leaving in droves since the Brexit vote.

Immigration

The EU law analysis blog has considered the irony of Brexit for immigration control.

Human Rights, Equality and Discrimination

Shami Chakrabarti has argued that failing to guarantee the rights of EU nationals “isn’t politics – it’s cruelty”.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has written to David Davis raising a number of questions regarding the human rights implications of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

The Public Law Project has published a Committee Stage brief on the rights implications of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

Environment

Client Earth and the Institute for European Environmental Policy have published a paper considering how to ensure compliance with environmental obligations through a future UK-EU relationship.

The Guardian has reported on the RSA launch of a food and farming inquiry which is concerned the impact of Brexit ‘may be dramatic’ as most of the UK’s fruit and vegetables come from other EU nations.