Theresa May yesterday set January 15 as the date for Parliament to vote on Britain’s Brexit deal with Brussels, knowing the opposition Labour Party wants to trigger a general election.
Britain is set to leave the EU on March 29. Despite a high-profile campaign for a second referendum, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has dedicated his party to a quest to take power before the break with Europe.
“We want a people’s vote, which is called a general election,” said Barry Gardiner, the Labour international trade spokesman. “It’s actually the quickest way to go back to the people.”
Skwawkbox, a pro-Corbyn blog, caused controversy when it suggested an election could be triggered for March 21. If elected, that would give Mr Corbyn a week to revoke Brexit.
Mr Corbyn would have to abstain on Mrs May’s Brexit deal and allow it to pass. Labour would gamble that the Democratic Unionist Party, which gives Mrs May a majority in the Commons but opposes the Brussels deal, would turn on its ally.
“This would be a high-stakes and stunningly audacious move by Corbyn and his team,” Skwawkbox said.
“But it probably represents the most realistic chance for the UK to remove the Tories and achieve a ‘Labour Brexit’ that would avoid the excesses the Tories are hoping for.”
The report was later denied but its publication underlined the depth of planning in Mr Corbyn’s inner circle.
He and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, along with the Unite public sector union leader Len McCluskey, refuse to go along with calls for a second referendum, despite its popularity among most Labour members.
Labour has many seats in the north of England, which voted heavily in favour of Brexit in the 2016 referendum, and the move would allow Mrs May’s Conservatives to say the opposition did not respect the public will.
But there is power behind calls for the second vote, including within Momentum, the activist base that took Mr Corbyn to the Labour leadership in 2015. It is made up of tens of thousands of young, urban members who want stay to in Europe.
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At the party’s annual conference in Liverpool in September last year, Keir Starmer,
the shadow Brexit secretary and a supporter of remaining in Europe, said Labour’s position would now include the possibility of another referendum if all other options failed.
This led to division at the top of the party over the past few weeks as time runs out before the country crashes out of the EU without any deal in place, with all the economic disruption that this could cause.
Mr McDonnell, 67, a close friend and political ally of Mr Corbyn for four decades, indicated in November that the party would “inevitably” back a second referendum because the preferred option of a general election was unlikely to happen.
Mr McDonnell, 67, is politically astute but he is divisive within the party and across Westminster.
A former political officer for a key New Labour figure told The National that Mr McDonnell was “one of the few grown-ups in the room”.
His economic platform, which once seemed radical and included promises to re-nationalise important parts of Britain’s infrastructure, was praised by former Conservative minister Jim O’Neill.
Mr O’Neill said that by “addressing the failures of the market, house prices and low wages, Labour have caught the public mood”.
The push for an election also comes from fears that Mr Corbyn could suffer an electoral backlash if Britain left the EU without a deal.
A poll commissioned by the People’s Vote organisation, which is pushing for a second referendum, was published over the weekend. It showed Labour could lose a quarter of its support if it allowed a “no-deal” settlement.
The survey, which had an unusually large sample of 25,000 people, showed the state of support for the main parties as 40 per cent for the Conservatives and 34 per cent for Labour.
But when asked how they would vote if Labour allowed no deal to happen, their support dropped to 26 per cent.
Until the past few months, the party’s position on Brexit allowed it to avoid committing to any concrete policy as it watched the government tear itself to pieces over such issues as the Northern Ireland backstop.
As Britain enters the final countdown to March 29, the Labour Party could yet play a trump card to end the trials and tribulations of Mrs May, if not Brexit.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Poacher
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The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
MATCH INFO
Red Star Belgrade v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight (Thursday), UAE
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Superliminal%20
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20One%20%26amp%3B%20X%2FS%2C%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PC%20and%20Mac%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Delhi Daredevils 174-4 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)
Delhi won the match by 11 runs
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
OPENING FIXTURES
Saturday September 12
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds United
Tottenham v Everton
West Brom v Leicester
West Ham v Newcastle
Monday September 14
Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
To be rescheduled
Burnley v Manchester United
Manchester City v Aston Villa
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
Results
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EElite%20men%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Amare%20Hailemichael%20Samson%20(ERI)%202%3A07%3A10%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Leornard%20Barsoton%20(KEN)%202%3A09%3A37%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Ilham%20Ozbilan%20(TUR)%202%3A10%3A16%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Gideon%20Chepkonga%20(KEN)%202%3A11%3A17%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Isaac%20Timoi%20(KEN)%202%3A11%3A34%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EElite%20women%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Brigid%20Kosgei%20(KEN)%202%3A19%3A15%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Hawi%20Feysa%20Gejia%20(ETH)%202%3A24%3A03%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Sintayehu%20Dessi%20(ETH)%202%3A25%3A36%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Aurelia%20Kiptui%20(KEN)%202%3A28%3A59%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Emily%20Kipchumba%20(KEN)%202%3A29%3A52%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
