Amid perceived (or professed) uncertainty around the UK’s future GDPR adequacy status, Google executives have opted to transfer oversight of their UK data subjects from their EU subsidiary Google Ireland Limited to their American HQ Google LLC. Cited by outlets such as Reuters and The Guardian, Lea Kissner, Google’s former lead for global privacy technology,…
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This blog, charting the progress of the UK towards Brexit and its impacts from a data protection perspective, has been running for a few months now. It seems that every week there has been a new twist or sudden change in direction. This week, again contrary to many commentators’ predictions, came the news that we…
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Shortly after he was installed in post, the new Chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced that three million new 50 pence coins celebrating Brexit would be issued on 31st October to mark the UK’s exit from the EU. Millions more were set to be minted in the following months. The move was supposed to underline the Government’s…
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Well who saw that coming? Suddenly at about 10.30 on Thursday morning came the announcement that the UK Government and the EU have agreed a Brexit deal. It came as something of a surprise as public pronouncements from both sides of the negotiations had been suggesting a deal was increasingly unlikely. Maybe this was expectation…
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This was the week in which Brexit positions hardened. Last Monday it became clear that EU leaders were not won over by the UK Government’s Protocol. The Protocol was launched amid high expectations on 2nd October. It was designed to break the deadlock and introduce a new approach to the problem of customs checks between…
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So now we have it. On Wednesday the Prime Minister wrote to Jean-Claude Junker, President of the European Commission, with the Government’s proposals for a new “Protocol on Northern Ireland/Ireland”. This is an attempt to break the logjam of the Northern Ireland backstop which has held up progress on a Brexit deal for so long…
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Well nobody saw that coming! On Tuesday, as storm clouds descended on Westminster, the Supreme Court delivered its own thunderbolt. In a unanimous decision, all 11 Supreme Court Justices ruled that, in the circumstances, it was unlawful for the Government to advise the Queen to prorogue Parliament. The suspension of Parliament was void and the…
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With the countdown to Brexit clock still ticking it seems that all has gone (relatively) quiet on the Brexit front. Parliament is not sitting and won’t be back until 14th October but this has not stopped politicians and commentators on all sides of the debate from re-iterating their deeply-held positions. Behind the scenes, it…
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Ornithology What has Brexit to do with a small member of the bunting family? A bird that is migratory, apparently recognising no national boundaries. One that is found throughout Europe and thrives in its adopted homes in Australia and New Zealand. So widespread is the Yellowhammer (Emberiza citronella) that it has been adopted as the…
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It has been a momentous week for UK politics. With Parliament back from the summer recess MPs moved to seize the Order Paper from Government. There then followed an audacious move to legislate against a “No Deal” Brexit, a move which would hamstring the Government’s Brexit negotiation strategy. The Government’s strenuous attempts to prevent the…
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