Pramod Thomas is a senior correspondent with Asian Media Group since 2020, bringing 19 years of journalism experience across business, politics, sports, communities, and international relations. His career spans both traditional and digital media platforms, with eight years specifically focused on digital journalism. This blend of experience positions him well to navigate the evolving media landscape and deliver content across various formats. He has worked with national and international media organisations, giving him a broad perspective on global news trends and reporting standards.
THE UK prime minister Boris Johnson vowed to go the "extra mile" for a Brexit trade deal but instructed his government to prepare for Britain to crash out of the EU's single market at the end of this year.
The gloom deepened over the drawn-out Brexit saga after Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, over a combative dinner in Brussels, declared a Sunday deadline to decide whether to keep talking or give up.
Johnson stressed he wanted his negotiators to "keep going, and we'll go the extra mile" for a last-gasp deal, and said he was ready to travel again to Brussels, as well as to Paris or Berlin, to get one over the line.
But speaking after a rare evening meeting of the cabinet on Thursday(10), the Conservative leader said his ministers "agreed very strongly with me that the deal on the table is really not at the moment right for the UK".
"So what I told the cabinet this evening is to get on and make those preparations" for no deal, he said.
The pound has slumped on currency markets as traders adjust to the looming possibility that after five decades of integration between Britain and mainland Europe, cross-Channel trade will be subject anew to tariffs and quotas in the New Year.
Britain left the EU on January 31 but a standstill transition period, under which it remains bound by the bloc's rules pending any new deal, ends on the night of December 31.
Without a post-Brexit deal, Britain's trade with its biggest market will in future operate on pared-down World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, or Australian terms as Johnson prefers to call them for public consumption.
"We're not stopping talks, we'll continue to negotiate, but looking at where we are I do think it's vital that everyone now gets ready for that Australian option," Johnson said.
He accused the EU of shifting the goalposts in the past fortnight by reviving demands for "equivalence", meaning Britain would be bound to follow future regulatory standards laid down by Brussels to prevent either side gaining a competitive edge.
Refusal would mean Britain facing "punishment, sanctions, tariffs or whatever", he said.
The other big sticking point remained EU members' future access to Britain's rich fishing waters, Johnson noted.
"After many years now of voting to leave the EU we wouldn't still have control of our waters and that's no good. And so the cabinet agreed very strongly with it that we're really not there yet at all," he said.
Britain's chief negotiator David Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier resumed talks in Brussels on Thursday, despite the mounting pessimism.
Local councils now face four “nationally significant” cyber attacks weekly, putting essential services at risk.
Cyber-attacks cost UK SMEs £3.4 billion annually, with the North West particularly affected.
Experts recommend proactive measures including supplier monitoring, threat intelligence, and an “assume breach” mindset.
Cyber threats escalate
Britain’s local authorities are facing an unprecedented surge in cyber threats, with the National Cyber Security Centre reporting that councils confront four “nationally significant” cyber attacks every week. The escalation comes as organisations are urged to take concrete action, with new toolkits and free cyber insurance through the NCSC Cyber Essentials scheme to help secure their foundations.
Recent attacks on major retailers including Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Jaguar Land Rover have demonstrated the devastating impact of cyber threats on critical operations. Yet councils remain equally vulnerable, with a single successful attack capable of rendering essential public services inaccessible to millions of citizens.
The stakes are extraordinarily high. When councils fall victim to cyber attacks, citizens cannot access housing benefits, pay council tax or retrieve crucial information. Simultaneously, staff are locked out of email systems and case management tools, halting service delivery across social care, police liaison and NHS coordination.
Call for cyber resilience
According to Vodafone and WPI Strategy’s Securing Success: The Role of Cybersecurity in SME Growth report, cyber-attacks are costing UK small and medium-sized enterprises an estimated £3.4 billion annually in lost revenue. Over a quarter of SMEs surveyed stated that a single attack averaging £6,940 could force them out of business entirely. This financial impact is particularly acute in the North West, where attacks cost businesses nearly £5,000 more than the national average.
Renata Vincoletto, CISO at Civica, emphasises that councils need not wait for legislation to strengthen their cyber resilience. She outlines five immediate priorities: employing third-party continuous monitoring tools to track supplier security compliance; subscribing to threat intelligence feeds from the NCSC and sector experts; engaging with regional cyber clusters supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration ( UKC3) establishing standardised incident reporting processes aligned with NCSC frameworks; and adopting an “assume breach” mindset to stay vigilant against inevitable threats.
“Cyber resilience is not a single project or policy it’s a culture of preparedness,” Vincoletto states. “Every small step taken today reduces the impact of tomorrow’s inevitable attack.”
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