UK MHRA announces pre-election quiet period
The UK drug regulator announced it would be “much quieter than usual” from midnight on Friday, 21 April until after the general election on 8 June as per civil service rules.
A spokesman told us "Communications referring to things like licensing announcements, marketing authorisations, manufacturing licensing etc. will continue as normal through our customer services team."
May’s call for election – which won Parliament’s backing last Wednesday – was a surprise given her repeated statements that there would be no vote until 2020.
Her justification for the U-turn centred on the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union – Brexit – which she chose to trigger in March on the back of the narrow 'leave' victory in the non-binding, advisory referendum last year.
She said: “Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. And as we look to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe.
"At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division.”
EU agencies must be in EU shock
In related news, the European Commission (EC) confirmed the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will leave London as a result of Brexit.
Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said on Wednesday that: “The decision to relocate the EMA and the EBA is a decision for the 27 member states to take. It is not part of the Brexit negotiations, it is rather a consequence of Brexit.”
European Union agencies must be based in the EU. The decision to relocate EU agencies based in the UK is not part of the Brexit negotiations pic.twitter.com/74M6Zzd2Ee
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) April 19, 2017
The statement follows days after David Davis, the UK Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, suggested the location of the EMA and the European Banking Authority (EBA) – also currently in London – would be part of the Brexit talks.
