The United Kingdom driving licence has dropped from the most to the least powerful after Brexit took place earlier last year.
In a 2021 comparison by Compare the Market, the power of 22 countries’ driving licences was ranked based on their ability to be used abroad with ease and without restrictions.
The most powerful driving licence is that of France, where drivers face little to no restrictions when travelling on many international roads, such as those in Finland, Germany, New Zealand and Japan.
The worst-performing driving licence is the United Kingdom, which fell from the best-performing in 2016, prior to leaving the European Union.
Access to driving in most European countries became considerably more difficult, where countries such as Italy and Spain fell from having no restrictions to implementing more complicated processes.
In order to gain an Italian licence for example, a theory test must be passed followed by six hours of instructed driving before a practical test can be taken.
According to Compare the Market, Switzerland showed the biggest rank increase from holding the 13th position in 2016, to a joint 3rd place in 2021 below France and Belgium (tied with Germany and Sweden).
Jeremy Hunt, Boris Johnson, Rory Stewart and Esther McVey have already said they will run for the leadership
LONDON-(MaraviPost)-The race to become the next Conservative Party leader has begun, following Theresa May’s announcement that she will step down next month.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is the fifth Tory to enter the race.
He told the BBC that delivering Brexit was “mission critical” and Mrs May’s successor must be more “brutally honest” about the “trade-offs” required to get a deal through Parliament.
The leadership contest will determine who is the UK’s next prime minister.
Party bosses expect a new leader to be chosen by the end of July.
She agreed with chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, that the process to choose a new leader should begin the week after she stands down.
Five candidates have, so far, confirmed their intention to stand:
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt
International Development Secretary Rory Stewart
Health Secretary Matt Hancock
Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
Former Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey
‘Fresh face’ needed
Announcing his candidacy, Mr Hancock ruled out a snap general election in order to resolve the Brexit stalemate, saying this would be “disastrous for the country” and would risk seeing the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in power “by Christmas”.
Instead, he said his focus would be on getting a Brexit deal through the current Parliament and “levelling” with MPs about what this would mean for the UK.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme he would push harder on alternative arrangements to the Northern Irish backstop but also be more upfront than Mrs May had been about what compromises the UK would have to make.
REUTERS; Amber Rudd is not standing but wants to shape the debate on Brexit
He said there was no point in becoming prime minister unless he was straightforward about the trade offs – “between sovereignty and market access and the trade-offs to get a deal through this Parliament”.
He also said the party needed a “leader for the future not just for now”, capable of appealing to younger voters.
“We need to move on from the horrible politics of the last three years,” he said.
“We need a fresh start and a fresh face to ensure this country wins the battles of the 2020s and remains prosperous for many years to come.”
‘Huge tensions’
Mr Stewart warned other candidates to tell the truth about what a no-deal Brexit would mean.
“There are huge tensions in the race,” he told Radio 4’s Today.
“People will be encouraged to promise things they can’t deliver… the most dramatic of which are people who are going to be encouraged to promise a no-deal Brexit.”
He said Parliament would simply not vote for leaving the EU without a deal and, even if the UK did leave that way, it would leave the country in a limbo.
“It is not a destination. It is a failure to reach a destination. What they are probably promising is failure, delay and endless uncertainty.”
Theresa May: How the PM fought through Brexit battles
More than a dozen more senior Conservatives are believed to be seriously considering running – including Sir Graham, who has resigned as chair of the 1922 Committee.
Most bookmakers have Mr Johnson as favourite, in front of former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who has yet to declare his hand.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd has ruled herself out, telling the BBC the party and the country wants “someone who is more enthusiastic about Brexit than I am”.
Asked who she would support, she told Radio 4’s Today she would “not malign” any of the candidates but would prefer someone who “wants to find a compromise” on Brexit and be realistic about what can be achieved”.
‘Do things differently’
Tory MPs have until the week commencing 10 June to put their name forward, and any of them can stand – as long as they have the backing of two parliamentary colleagues.
The candidates will be whittled down until two remain, and in July all party members will vote to decide on the winner.
The Conservative Party had 124,000 members, as of March last year. The last leader elected by the membership was David Cameron in 2005, as Theresa May was unopposed in 2016.
It will be the first time Conservative members have directly elected a prime minister, as opposed to a leader of the opposition.
Announcing her departure in Downing Street, Mrs May urged her successor to “seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum” and seek “consensus” in Parliament.
Contender Mr Johnson told an economic conference in Switzerland on Friday that a new leader would have “the opportunity to do things differently”.
Outlining his Brexit position, he said: “We will leave the EU on 31 October, deal or no deal. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal.”
Meanwhile, shadow chancellor John McDonnell suggested Labour might need to harden its position on another Brexit referendum if the Tories elected someone willing to pursue a no-deal exit.
Mr McDonnell told Today that “some form of public vote” would definitely be needed in that situation and he would seek to talk to MPs from all parties to potentially try and bring down a government that tried to take the UK out without a deal.
Who are the Conservative members?
Most members of most parties in the UK are pretty middle-class. But Conservative Party members are the most middle-class of all: 86% fall into the ABC1 category.
Around a quarter of them are, or were, self-employed and nearly half of them work, or used to, in the private sector.
Nearly four out of 10 put their annual income at over £30,000, and one in 20 put it at over £100,000. As such, Tory members are considerably better-off than most voters.
LONDON-(MaraviPost)-Theresa May has said she will quit as Conservative leader on 7 June, paving the way for a contest to decide a new prime minister.
In an emotional statement, she said she had done her best to deliver Brexit and it was a matter of “deep regret” that she had been unable to do so.
According to BBC, May said she would continue to serve as PM while a Conservative leadership contest took place.
The party said it hoped a new leader could be in place by the end of July.
It means Mrs May will still be prime minister when US President Donald Trump makes his state visit to the UK at the start of June.
Asked about the prime minister’s announcement, Mr Trump said: “I feel badly for Theresa. I like her very much. She’s a good woman. She worked very hard. She’s very strong.”
Mrs May said she would step down as Tory leader on 7 June and had agreed with the chairman of Tory backbenchers that the contest to replace her should begin the following week.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has become the latest MP to say that he will run, joining Boris Johnson, Esther McVey and Rory Stewart.
More than a dozen other MPs are believed to be seriously considering entering the contest.
In the end, May was overwhelmed
At the start she boasted about not being a creature of Westminster’s bars and cliques.
But it meant this very private politician had few true friends to help when things turned sour, and neither the powers of patronage, nor the capability to schmooze or arm twist to get people around to her point of view.
Few of her cabinet colleagues, even now, know her well at all, one saying that “as things got harder the circle got smaller”. Another revealed that “there was no trust, and no faith”.
Settling the Tories’ decades-long dispute over Europe was always perhaps beyond just one leader. But the wounds have got more painful under her leadership, rather than fading away.
In her statement, delivered in Downing Street, Mrs May said she had done “everything I can” to convince MPs to support the withdrawal deal she had negotiated with the European Union but it was now in the “best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort”.
She added that, in order to deliver Brexit, her successor would have to build agreement in Parliament.
“Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise,” she said.
PA
Theresa May at the top
Nearly 3 yearsas prime minister, following David Cameron
6 yearsbefore that, as home secretary
Failedto win 2017 general election outright, but stayed PM
Remainvoter in the 2016 EU referendum
Brexitdominated her time at 10 Downing Street
BBC
Mrs May’s voice shook as she ended her speech saying: “I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last.
“I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.”
The prime minister had faced a backlash from her MPs after announcing her latest Brexit plan earlier this week, which included concessions aimed at attracting cross-party support.
The Conservative Party said the likely timetable for the leadership contest was that nominations would close during the week beginning 10 June, with candidates whittled down to the final two to by the end of the month.
Those names would then be put to a vote of party members before the end of July.
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who is seen as the front-runner to succeed Mrs May, told an economic conference in Switzerland on Friday: “We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal.”
He said a new leader would have “the opportunity to do things differently”.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May had been “right to resign” and that the Conservative Party was now “disintegrating”.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called her a “true public servant” and Chancellor Philip Hammond said it had been a “privilege” to serve alongside her.
Mrs May’s predecessor, David Cameron – who resigned as prime minister after campaigning for Remain and losing the referendum – said she should be thanked for her “tireless efforts”.
He added: “I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required. She has made the right decision – and I hope that the spirit of compromise is continued.”
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wished Mrs May well despite “profound disagreements” but added: “The prospect of an even more hardline Brexiteer now becoming PM and threatening a no-deal exit is deeply concerning.”
Democratic Unionist Party Leader Arlene Foster, whose party supported Mrs May’s government in power after the Conservatives lost their majority in the 2017 election, praised Mrs May’s “dutiful approach on national issues”.
Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said Mrs May’s compromises with the right-wing of her party had been blame for her departure, adding: “The best and only option remains to take Brexit back to the people. I believe the public would now choose to stop Brexit.”
But Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage said two Conservative leaders whose “instincts were pro-EU” had now gone and the party either “learns that lesson, or it dies”
MPs have again failed to agree on proposals for the next steps of Brexit.
The Commons voted on four motions for leaving the EU, including a customs union and a Norway-style arrangement – keeping the UK in the single market – but none gained a majority.
The votes were not legally binding, so the government would not have been forced to adopt the proposals.
Theresa May’s plan that she negotiated with the EU has been rejected twice by historic margins in Parliament.
The withdrawal agreement section of her deal was voted down again by MPs on Friday.
Mrs May now has until 12 April to either seek a longer extension from the EU to take a different course or decide to leave the EU without a deal.
The option defeated by the narrowest margin was a proposal for a customs union, losing by only three votes.
The motion calling for a confirmatory referendum received the most votes in favour, totalling 280, but still lost by a margin of 12.
Following the failure of his own motion to stay in the Single Market – known as Common Market 2.0 – Nick Boles resigned from the Conservative Party.
In a point of order following the results, the MP for Grantham and Stamford said he could “no longer sit for this party”, adding: “I have done everything I can to find a compromise.”
According to BBC, as he left the Commons, MPs were heard shouting, “don’t go Nick”, and others applauded him.
He later tweeted that he would remain an MP and sit in the Commons as “an Independent Progressive Conservative”.
Nick Boles: “I have failed, chiefly, because my party refuses to compromise”
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the “only option” left was to find a way forward that allows the UK to leave the EU with a deal.
“The government continues to believe that the best course of action is to do so as soon as possible,” he said.
“If the House is able to pass a deal this week it may still be possible to avoid holding European elections.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was “disappointing” that none of the proposals secured a majority, but he said he wanted to remind the Commons that Mrs May’s deal had been “overwhelmingly rejected”.
He added: “If it is good enough for the prime minister to have three chances at her deal, then I suggest it’s possible the House should have a chance to consider again the options we had before us… so the House can succeed where the prime minister has failed – in presenting a credible economic relationship with Europe for the future that prevents us crashing out with no deal.”
MPs have criticised their colleagues for not agreeing on any of the options.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: “Now, please, can we all just vote for the deal and deliver Brexit.”
Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb told BBC Look East said that he is “ashamed to be a member of this Parliament” and hit out at MPs in his own party – five of whom voted against a customs union and four of whom voted against Common Market 2.0.
He said the Commons was “playing with fire and will unleash dark forces unless we learn to compromise”.
Senior figures in the EU have also shown their frustration at the results.
European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt, tweeted that by voting down the options, a “hard Brexit becomes nearly inevitable”.
LONDON-(MaraviPost)-Theresa May has said she will step down as prime minister before the next phase of Brexit negotiations in a bid to get Eurosceptic MPs to back her withdrawal deal.
The UK prime minister said she would make way for another Conservative leader after listening to the demands of MPs for a new leadership team.
She did not set a date for her departure as she spoke to a 1922 Committee meeting of Conservative backbenchers.
Donald Tusk: Extension possible but conditional on positive Brexit vote
The EU will only agree to a short delay to Brexit if MPs approve the current withdrawal agreement next week, Theresa May has been told.
EU Council President Donald Tusk said an extension, requested by the prime minister on Wednesday, was possible.
According to BBC, Mrs May has written to Mr Tusk requesting a Brexit delay to 30 June, saying she needed more time to get her deal agreed by MPs and passed into law.
The PM will making a statement from Downing Street at 20:15 GMT.
Mr Tusk said he believed all 27 other EU members, who must sign off on the extension, would agree but it depended on a “positive” vote in the House of Commons.
The length of any extension was open for discussion, he told reporters in Brussels.
The UK is due to leave the EU next Friday, on 29 March.
While a delay until 30 June “had its merits”, Mr Tusk also suggested there were “political and legal” questions about delaying Brexit beyond 23 May – when European elections will be held.
While the current withdrawal agreement could not be changed, he suggested additional legal assurances the EU gave Mrs May in Strasbourg last week could be formalised to help get the backing of MPs.
Mr Tusk spoke to Mrs May before his statement.
Meanwhile, an emergency debate took place in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, with Labour pressing for further detail about the PM’s intentions and demanding that any delay is long enough to allow MPs to “break the impasse and find a way forward”.
The prime minister is meeting MPs from opposition parties to discuss her letter.
But ahead of the meeting, the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford, Lib Dem leader Vince Cable MP, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts and the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas released a joint statement, calling for a longer extension and for Parliament to sit continuously “until it can reach a decision”.
May attacks MPs’ Brexit ‘indulgence’
PM: ‘Not prepared’ to delay Brexit beyond 30 June
At a highly charged Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, Mrs May said MPs had “indulged themselves on Europe for too long” and voters “deserved better”.
She said she had rejected calls for a longer delay to Brexit because she wanted to avoid the UK taking part in European elections in May, which she said would be “unacceptable” three years after voting to leave the EU.
“It would be a failure to deliver on the referendum decision this House said it would deliver,” she told the Commons.
But she added: “As prime minister I could not consider a further delay beyond 30 June.”
This was seen by some as an indication that Mrs May would resign rather than seek a further delay.
Implication of what PM saying v forcefully is that she might resign if Parliament or the EU forces delay beyond end of June
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused her of leading the UK into “crisis, chaos and division”.
“We are still legally due to leave the European Union in nine days’ time,” he told Mrs May at PMQs.
“Months of running down the clock and a concerted campaign of blackmail, bullying and bribery has failed to convince the House or the country that her deal is anything but a damaging national failure and should be rejected.”
He urged the prime minister to meet him later on Wednesday to discuss a “compromise to get through this crisis”, a plea ignored by the PM.
The Labour leader will travel to Brussels on Thursday to meet the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier. He is also expected to hold talks with several EU 27 leaders.
PM’s request to EU
In her letter to Mr Tusk, the prime minister says she had wanted to hold a Commons vote on her withdrawal agreement this week but had been prevented from doing so by Commons Speaker John Bercow.
But she adds: “It remains my intention to bring the deal back to the House.”
If the motion is passed, more time will be needed for Parliament to ratify the deal, she says. There is no mention in the letter of a longer delay, as some had been expecting.
Is the UK in a crisis over leaving the EU?
Mrs May, who has been meeting groups of cabinet ministers on Wednesday afternoon, told MPs that an extension beyond 30 June would not “take no-deal off the table” if an agreement had still not been reached.
She has repeatedly insisted the UK would leave the EU on 29 March and she told MPs it had always been her preferred option, but with a withdrawal deal to ensure it was an “orderly” exit.
But she was forced to seek a delay after MPs twice rejected the withdrawal deal she has agreed with the EU by massive margins and voted to reject a no-deal Brexit.
Her plan to hold a third vote on the deal this week were blocked by the Speaker, John Bercow, who said it would break longstanding conventions preventing MPs from being repeatedly asked the same question.
What we know
The UK is still by law due to leave the EU on 29 March – with or without a deal
Theresa May has written to European Council President Donald Tusk asking for a three month extension to the leave date, taking it to 30 June
The PM says this will give her enough time to win over MPs to support her deal in Parliament and get legislation through
Mrs May has rejected calls for a longer delay, saying she wants to avoid the UK having to take part in this year’s European Parliament elections
But a document from the European Commission, seen by the BBC, says if the UK stays in the EU beyond 23 May, it will have to hold elections
The 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers is due to meet this evening
Mrs May will make a statement from Downing Street at 20:15 GMT
The prime minister will travel to Brussels on Thursday for a summit with the other 27 EU leaders
May faces critics at PMQs
Conservative MP to May: “History will judge you at this moment”.
MPs from across the political spectrum lined up to attack Mrs May over her announcement at prime minister’s questions.
The SNP’s Pete Wishart, who wants another EU referendum, accused her of “caving in to Brexiteers”.
He urged her to “develop a backbone and stand up to those who would take this nation to disaster”.
Yvette Cooper – one of a string of Labour MPs to call for “indicative votes” on different alternatives to Mrs May’s Brexit deal – accused the PM of harming the national interest, adding: “I beg this prime minister to think again.”
Mrs May said Commons votes had already been held on different Brexit options and the “one positive thing” that had been agreed was to rule out a no-deal departure on 29 March.
Your guide to Brexit jargon
Conservative Brexiteer Peter Bone warned Mrs May she will be “betraying” the public if she continues to seek to delay Brexit.
“If you continue to apply for an extension to Article 50 you will be betraying the British people. If you don’t, you will be honouring their instruction.
“Prime minister, it is entirely down to you. History will judge you at this moment. Prime minister, which is it to be?”
Mrs May replied: “I am saying that I think we should look again at being able to leave with a negotiated deal, but in order to do that we need time for this Parliament to ratify a deal, and in order to do that we need an extension until 30 June.”
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Theresa May: How the PM fought through Brexit battles
Nick Boles: “I have failed, chiefly, because my party refuses to compromise”
Donald Tusk: Extension possible but conditional on positive Brexit vote
PM: ‘Not prepared’ to delay Brexit beyond 30 June
Is the UK in a crisis over leaving the EU?
