The Government must now gain the approval of both Houses of Parliament, and it has already been discussed in the media that the Government has been drafting appropriate legislation.  However, the Supreme Court also ruled that the devolved administrations do not have to be consulted before Article 50 is triggered.

During the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union’s statement to the House of Commons, he confirmed that the Government still plans to trigger Article 50 by the end of March, and responding, Kier Starmer QC stated that Labour accepts and respects the outcome of the referendum and will not seek to thwart the process, but will be tabling amendments to the Bill to ensure sufficient accountability and scrutiny.  The SNP also intends on tabling a high number of amendments (as predicted!)

At this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Theresa May confirmed that the Government will be publishing a White Paper ahead of triggering Article 50.

We also have a timetable for dates when the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill will make its passage through the House of Commons.  The Bill is 138 words – short, snappy and to the point!

• Tuesday 31 January: 2nd Reading (the House is expected to sit until midnight)
• Wednesday 1 February: Continuation of 2nd Reading
• Monday 6 February: Committee Stage (day 1)
• Tuesday 7 February: Continuation of Committee Stage (day 2)
• Wednesday 8 February: Conclusion of Committee Stage and Remaining Stages

The Bill is expected to move through both the House of Commons and House of Lords before gaining Royal Assent prior to the March 31st deadline.  The Bill comes ahead of the introduction of the Great Repeal Bill, that will transpose EU law into UK law to ensure the maximum stability on exit, with changes to the law requiring the full consent of Parliament.

Tulip Siddiq MP has resigned as Shadow Education Minister, and Jo Stevens as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales as a result of Corbyn placing Labour MPs on a Three-Line Whip to ensure the Government’s Bill passes.  Numerous other Labour MPs are expected to defy the Whip, including Corbyn’s leadership opponent, Owen Smith.

Theresa goes Stateside!

The Prime Minister is currently in the US, being the first foreign leader to meet with new President, Donald Trump.  Theresa May has been open in her desire to continue the Special Relationship with Trump, and expressed at Prime Minister’s Questions that she’s “not afraid to be frank” with the President.  On the agenda to discuss are thought to be: (1) the Special Relationship (2) trade (3) NATO (4) The EU (by standing up for the EU to succeed) (5) Russia and foreign policy.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister addressed Republicans in Pennsylvania and gave the world a glimpse of her foreign policy objectives, including embracing the Special Relationship as enjoyed by Reagan/Thatcher and also stating that gone are the times of the US and the UK taking military intervention in sovereign countries to “remake the world in our own image” (but not to sit by when the threat is very real), and advised Trump to be wary when engaging with Putin.

Later today, the two leaders will meet before undertaking a joint press conference, which is due to start at 18:00.

You can see a lovely photo collection of UK Prime Ministers meeting new US Presidents here!

On another note, you may be interested in this article by The Guardian discussing Trump’s culture policy, with many in the arts and music feeling anxious about Trump’s future commitment to their industries.

Industrial Strategy Green Paper

Within the Government’s sought after Industrial Strategy Green Paper, it identified 10 key pillars within the strategy:

      1. Investing in science, research and innovation

We must become a more innovative economy and do more to commercialise our world leading science base to drive growth across the UK.

      2. Developing skills

We must help people and businesses to thrive by: ensuring everyone has the basic skills needed in a modern economy; building a new system of technical education to benefit the half of young people who do not go to university; boosting STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills, digital skills and numeracy; and by raising skill levels in lagging areas.

      3. Upgrading infrastructure

We must upgrade our standards of performance on digital, energy, transport, water and flood defence infrastructure, and better align central government infrastructure investment with local growth priorities.

      4. Supporting businesses to start and grow

We must ensure that businesses across the UK can access the finance and management skills they need to grow; and we must create the right conditions for companies to invest for the long term.

      5. Improving procurement

We must use strategic government procurement to drive innovation and enable the development of UK supply chains;

      6. Encouraging trade and inward investment policy

Government policy can help boost productivity and growth across our economy, including by increasing competition and helping to bring new ways of doing things to the UK.

      7. Delivering affordable energy and clean growth

We need to keep costs down for businesses, and secure the economic benefits of the transition to a low-carbon economy.

      8. Cultivating world-leading sectors

We must build on our areas of competitive advantage, and help new sectors to flourish, in many cases challenging existing institutions and incumbents;

      9. Driving growth across the whole country

We will create a framework to build on the particular strengths of different places and address factors that hold places back – whether it is investing in key infrastructure projects to encourage growth, increasing skill levels, or backing local innovation strengths.

10. Creating the right institutions to bring together sectors and places

We will consider the best structures to support people, industries and places. In some places and sectors there may be missing institutions which we could create, or existing ones we could strengthen, be they local civic or educational institutions, trade associations or financial networks.

Specifically for IP, the Government have made a new commitment regarding Intellectual Property:

“We are reviewing how to maximise the incentives created by the Intellectual Property system to stimulate collaborative innovation and licensing opportunities – including considering the opening up of registries to facilitate licensing deals and business to- business model agreements to support collaboration. We will place Intellectual Property Office representatives in key UK cities – starting with pilots in the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine to build local capability to commercialise intellectual property.”

House of Commons: Industrial Strategy Consultation debate – 23^rd January

On the afternoon of the Green Paper being published, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy introduced the Paper to the House.  In the Secretary of State’s opening remarks, he stated that the UK has a global reputation in the creative industries.  Later in the debate, Oliver Dowden MP made an intervention:

Oliver Dowden (Hertsmere) (Con)

I welcome the Green Paper’s recognition of the vital role of the creative industries, the one sector that grew throughout the whole of the last recession. Will the Secretary of State reassure me that that extends to the TV and film industry? The recent hit Netflix series “The Crown”, which was filmed in my constituency, is a wonderful example of how jobs, investment and exports can be generated by the sector. Does he agree that that requires not only the right skills, but the requisite supply of commercial space, particularly in the south-east?

Greg Clark

I agree with my hon. Friend. The creative industries, together, have some claim to be Britain’s most successful sector in recent years—they have been growing very strongly. Sir Peter Bazalgette has agreed to work with the industries to look at what they need to build on that success in the future and to continue to create the great jobs they have produced. I look forward to that work.

You can find the Alliance’s immediate response to the Green Paper here, and we are looking forward to working with Members to write the full Consultation response.

IP (Unjustified Threats) Bill Committee meeting

This week saw the IP Unjustified Threats Bill return to the House of Commons.  As mentioned in last week’s monitoring report, there are five main parts of the Clauses:

1. Clear test for whether a particular occasion contains a threat
2. Which types of threats trigger the threats provisions
3. Guidance of what can safely be said
4. Remedies and defences
5. Introduction of an exemption that threats claimed cannot be brought against regulated professional advisors acting on instructions

The amendments that were submitted are detailed below:

Clause 1 – Patents

• Amendment 1 withdrawn. This amendment would ensure the commissioner is treated the same as the manufacturer in the case of infringement. This would make it consistent with the arrangement for trademarks.
• Amendment 2 rejected at a vote (Ayes 5, Noes 9). This amendment deals with people or companies who hold themselves out as the primary infringer: ie, they claim to be the manufacturer or importer of a product (and therefore can be written to freely) when, in fact, they are not.
• Amendment 3 withdrawn. This amendment would allow communications from the rights holder to the primary infringer to also refer to secondary infringing acts (by the primary infringer), without it constituting a threat.

Clauses 1 to 9 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

New Clause 1

• Brought up and read for the first time. A probing new clause to assess the impact of exiting the European Union on the provisions within this Act.
• Question put that the new clause be read a second time rejected (Ayes 5, Noes 9).

Digital Economy Bill

We have now learnt of the dates for when the Bill will be heard at Committee Stage in the House of Lords:

• Tuesday 31^st January
• Thursday 2^nd February
• Monday 6^th February
• Wednesday 8^th February

Full list of amendments can be found here.  Of interest to the Alliance are:

• “Devices or services that infringe copyright” – Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Foster of Bath
• “Remote e-lending” – Lord Clement-Jones, Lord Foster of Bath, The Earl of Clancarty
• “Review of the sale on the internet of counterfeit electrical appliances” – Baroness Janke, Lord Tope
• “Report of cost to the United Kingdom economy of sale on the internet of counterfeit electrical goods” – Baroness Janke, Lord Tope
• “Copyright and the role of active hosts” – Lord Foster of Bath
• “Transparency and fairness obligations” – Lord Clement-Jones
• “Code of Practice on search engines and copyright infringement” – Lord Stevenson of Balmacara

I will be watching the proceedings closely and will be sending out monitoring that relates to Part 4 of the Bill (Clauses 27, 28 and 29)

By-Elections

Both Copeland and Stoke Central by-elections have been announced to take place on 23^rd February 2017.  UKIP leader Paul Nuttall is UKIP candidate in Stoke Central…

Upcoming dates

• 1^st and 21^st February 2017 – APPG for Intellectual Property Enforcement Inquiry