Britain must make substantive movement in trade talks with the European Union if it wants a post-Brexit deal, Germany said Tuesday, amid warnings that negotiations were at a critical stage.
German EU affairs minister Michael Roth said the bloc was still working hard for a deal but added it was ready to trade from 2021 without an agreement that would avoid tariffs or quotas.
"We are at a very critical stage in the negotiations and we are extremely under pressure. Time is running out," Mr Roth said as the EU held Brexit talks in Luxembourg.
"That's why we expect substantial progress by our friends in the United Kingdom in key areas: in particular on governance, 'level playing field' and fisheries." But Mr Roth also warned that a no-deal scenario would be the worst case situation for both sides.
The EU-UK negotiation aims to reach a new partnership agreement on everything from trade to transport and nuclear co-operation from January 1 next year, when Britain’s post-Brexit transition period finishes.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament in London there was still room for a deal to be hammered out.
"The scope and the prospects for a deal are there,” he said.
"I'm hopeful that we can close the gap, but ultimately it will require the same goodwill, the same pragmatism, the same flexibility on the EU side, that the United Kingdom and this Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) have shown.”
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- Flexible work arrangements
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Freezer tips
- Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
- If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
- Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
- The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
