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The UK and the EU have agreed a new trade deal – five years after Brexit kicked in.

Following six months of talks after Sir Keir Starmer promised a fresh deal when he became prime minister last July, the two sides have come to an agreement.

Here are the details:

eGates

British passport holders will be able to use more eGates in Europe to avoid the long border control queues that have become the norm since Brexit in many EU countries.

Pet travel

Pet passports will be brought back so cats and dogs coming from the UK will no longer need pricey animal health certificates for every trip. After Brexit, pet owners had to get a certificate from a vet in the UK then a vet in the EU before returning.

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Pic: iStock
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Pets will now be allowed to travel on a pet passport instead of having to have a health certificate every time they travel. Pic: iStock

Red tape on food and drink sales

A new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal has been agreed to reduce red tape currently needed to import and export food and drink between the UK and the EU.

There is no time limit to this part of the deal, which the government says will reduce the burden on businesses and reduce lorry queues at the border.

The “vast majority” of routine checks and certificates for animal and plant products will be removed completely, including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The government says this could lower food prices and increase choice on supermarket shelves.

Some British foods that have been prevented from being sold in the EU since Brexit will be allowed back in again, including burgers and sausages.

Fishing rights

The current fishing deal agreed in 2020 will continue for 12 years.

There will be no increase in fish quotas.

The Cornish fishing village of Padstow.
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British fishing rights will continue for 12 years. Pic: PA

EU fishing vessels can fish in UK waters, but they require a valid licence, and there are annual negotiations on access and share of stock.

The UK government has announced a £360m investment into the fishing industry to go towards new technology and equipment to modernise the fleet, train the workforce, help revitalise coastal communities, support tourism and boost seafood exports.

Defence

A new security and defence partnership has been agreed so the UK defence industry can participate in the EU’s plan for a £150bn defence fund called Security Action for Europe (SAFE). This will support thousands of British jobs.

The UK and EU will also enhance cooperation over maritime security and accident reporting.

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Carbon tax

The deal will see closer co-operation on emissions by the UK and the EU, linking their own emissions trading systems.

The UK’s scheme sets a cap on the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed from the power generation sector, energy-intensive industries and aviation, with companies issued allowances that they can trade with each other.

Under the deal, UK businesses will avoid being hit by the EU’s carbon tax, due to come in next year, which would have handed £800m to the EU.

Steel

British steel exports will be protected from new EU rules and tariffs to save UK steel £25m a year.

Further talks:

Youth mobility scheme

The UK and the EU have agreed to more negotiations on a youth mobility scheme to allow people aged 18-30 in the UK and the EU to move freely between countries for a limited period.

The scheme would include visas for young people working, studying, volunteering, travelling and working as au pairs.

Erasmus

The EU and the UK have agreed they should work towards an Erasmus programme, the student exchange programme which was scrapped when Brexit took place.

Catching criminals

The two sides have agreed to enter talks about the UK having access to EU facial images data to help catch dangerous criminals.

Migration

The two sides have agreed to further work on finding solutions to tackle illegal migration, including on returns and a joint commitment to tackle Channel crossings.

Electricity

The UK and the EU said they should explore the UK’s participation in the EU’s internal electricity market, including in its trading platforms.

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Coca-Cola brews up sale of high street coffee giant Costa

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Coca-Cola brews up sale of high street coffee giant Costa

The Coca-Cola Company is brewing up a sale of Costa, Britain’s biggest high street coffee chain, more than six years after acquiring the business in a move aimed at helping it reduce its reliance on sugary soft drinks.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Coca-Cola is working with bankers to hold exploratory talks about a sale of Costa.

Initial talks have already been held with a small number of potential bidders, including private equity firms, City sources said on Saturday.

Lazard, the investment bank, is understood to have been engaged by Coca-Cola to review options for the business and gauge interest from prospective buyers.

Indicative offers are said to be due in the early part of the autumn, although one source cautioned that Coca-Cola could yet decide not to proceed with a sale.

Costa trades from more than 2,000 stores in the UK, and well over 3,000 globally, according to the latest available figures.

It has been reported to have a global workforce numbering 35,000, although Coca-Cola did not respond to several attempts to establish the precise number of outlets currently in operation, or its employee numbers.

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This weekend, analysts said that a sale could crystallise a multibillion pound loss on the £3.9bn sum Coca-Cola agreed to pay to buy Costa from Whitbread, the London-listed owner of the Premier Inn hotel chain, in 2018.

One suggested that Costa might now command a price tag of just £2bn in a sale process.

The disposal proceeds would, in any case, not be material to the Atlanta-based company, which had a market capitalisation at Friday’s closing share price of $304.2bn (£224.9bn).

At the time of the acquisition, Coca-Cola’s chief executive, James Quincey, said: “Costa gives Coca-Cola new capabilities and expertise in coffee, and our system can create opportunities to grow the Costa brand worldwide.

“Hot beverages is one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where Coca-Cola does not have a global brand.

“Costa gives us access to this market with a strong coffee platform.”

However, accounts filed at Companies House for Costa show that in 2023 – the last year for which standalone results are available – the coffee chain recorded revenues of £1.22bn.

While this represented a 9% increase on the previous year, it was below the £1.3bn recorded in 2018, the final year before Coca-Cola took control of the business.

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Coca-Cola has been grappling with the weak performance of Costa for some time, with Mr Quincey saying on an earnings call last month: “We’re in the mode of reflecting on what we’ve learned, thinking about how we might want to find new avenues to grow in the coffee category while continuing to run the Costa business successfully.”

“It’s still a lot of money we put down, and we wanted that money to work as hard as possible.”

Costa’s 2022 accounts referred to the financial pressures it faced from “the economic environment and inflationary pressures”, resulting in it launching “a restructuring programme to address the scale of overheads and invest for growth”.

Filings show that despite its lacklustre performance, Costa has paid more than £250m in dividends to its owner since the acquisition.

The deal was intended to provide Coca-Cola with a global platform in a growing area of the beverages market.

Costa trades in dozens of countries, including India, Japan, Mexico and Poland, and operates a network of thousands of coffee vending machines internationally under the Costa Express brand.

The chain was founded in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa.

It was sold to Whitbread for £19m in 1995, when it traded from fewer than 40 stores.

The business is now one of Britain’s biggest private sector employers, and has become a ubiquitous presence on high streets across the country.

Its main rivals include Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Pret a Manger – the last of which is being prepared for a stake sale and possible public market flotation.

It has also faced growing competition from more upmarket chains such as Gail’s, the bakeries group, which has also been exploring a sale.

Coca-Cola communications executives in the US and UK did not respond to a series of emails and calls from Sky News seeking comment on its plans for Costa.

A Lazard spokesperson declined to comment.

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TikTok puts hundreds of UK jobs at risk

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TikTok puts hundreds of UK jobs at risk

TikTok is putting hundreds of jobs at risk in the UK, as it turns to artificial intelligence to assess problematic content.

The video-sharing app said a global restructuring is taking place that means it is “concentrating operations in fewer locations”.

Layoffs are set to affect those working in its trust and safety departments, who focus on content moderation.

Unions have reacted angrily to the move – and claim “it will put TikTok’s millions of British users at risk”.

Figures from the tech giant, obtained by Sky News, suggest more than 85% of the videos removed for violating its community guidelines are now flagged by automated tools.

Meanwhile, it is claimed 99% of problematic content is proactively removed before being reported by users.

Executives also argue that AI systems can help reduce the amount of distressing content that moderation teams are exposed to – with the number of graphic videos viewed by staff falling 60% since this technology was implemented.

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It comes weeks after the Online Safety Act came into force, which means social networks can face huge fines if they fail to stop the spread of harmful material.

The Communication Workers Union has claimed the redundancy announcement “looks likely to be a significant reduction of the platform’s vital moderation teams”.

In a statement, it warned: “Alongside concerns ranging from workplace stress to a lack of clarity over questions such as pay scales and office attendance policy, workers have also raised concerns over the quality of AI in content moderation, believing such ‘alternatives’ to human work to be too vulnerable and ineffective to maintain TikTok user safety.”

John Chadfield, the union’s national officer for tech, said many of its members believe the AI alternatives being used are “hastily developed and immature”.

He also alleged that the layoffs come a week before staff were due to vote on union recognition.

“That TikTok management have announced these cuts just as the company’s workers are about to vote on having their union recognised stinks of union-busting and putting corporate greed over the safety of workers and the public,” he added.

Under the proposed plans, affected employees would see their roles reallocated elsewhere in Europe or handled by third-party providers, with a smaller number of trust and safety roles remaining on British soil.

The tech giant currently employs more than 2,500 people in the UK, and is due to open a new office in central London next year

A TikTok spokesperson said: “We are continuing a reorganisation that we started last year to strengthen our global operating model for Trust and Safety, which includes concentrating our operations in fewer locations globally to ensure that we maximize effectiveness and speed as we evolve this critical function for the company with the benefit of technological advancements.”

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‘Today is payday’: Union warns wages for workers at liquidated steel company must be a priority

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'Today is payday': Union warns wages for workers at liquidated steel company must be a priority

A union has welcomed the government taking over a troubled steel company, but is warning that payment for workers must be a top priority.

Speciality Steels UK – which employs almost 1,500 people – was pushed into compulsory liquidation on Thursday, and is the third-largest producer in the country.

It is part of the Liberty Steel empire owned by metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, and operates from sites in Rotherham and several other locations across South Yorkshire.

The government has stressed it will cover staff wages and the running costs of the plants until a buyer is found.

The Liberty Steel plant in Rotherham
Image:
The Liberty Steel plant in Rotherham

Speaking to Sky’s Anna Jones, Community Union National Secretary Alun Davies said workers are “concerned” about the developments.

He added: “Today is payday – but because the bank accounts were closed, I think the special managers and the HR team now are working with the unions to get that pay in today or as soon as they can.”

With a bank holiday weekend fast approaching, workers may only receive their wages on Tuesday unless payments are made as a matter of urgency.

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Mr Davies said he is confident that the plants have a future, telling Sky News: “If we use British-made steel for British infrastructure projects, it creates jobs, it grows economies and it gets our economy back on track, which is what this Labour government is trying to do.”

While he said government investment is valuable, the union official cautioned: “If we can find a decent buyer – a reputable steel company that knows what they’re doing – we’re open to all options.

“We’re not going to just say nationalise or part-nationalise, it’s what’s best for the business and gets the business up and running as soon as possible … if the government takes ownership, that is a significant cost to the taxpayer.”

Alun Davies
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Alun Davies

Mr Davies explained that many workers have been staying at home and on 85% pay, which is having a big impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

In a statement, Community’s General Secretary Roy Rickhuss described it as an “extremely worrying time” for the union’s members – and said jobs must be protected in the event of restructuring or a transition to new ownership.

Calling for 12 months of pension contributions to be secured alongside this month’s paychecks, he added: “Steelworkers at Liberty Steel are highly skilled and hugely experienced; they are quite frankly irreplaceable and will be critical to delivering future success for the businesses.”

Mr Rickhuss said the union has received “firm assurances” that efforts to address pay and pensions are under way – and welcomed the government’s intervention.

“However, in taking control of the business the government has assumed responsibility for our livelihoods and our communities, and we will of course be holding them to account,” he added.

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Bosses at Speciality Steels have said the move to wind up the business is “irrational” as a plan had been presented to courts that would have led to new investment in the UK steel sector.

“Instead, liquidation will now impose prolonged uncertainty and significant costs on UK taxpayers for settlements and related expenses, despite the availability of a commercial solution,” chief transformation officer Jeffrey Kabel added.

On Thursday, a government spokesperson said ministers “remain committed to a bright and sustainable future for steelmaking and steelmaking jobs in the UK”.

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