Brian Walker – Page 28 – Slugger O'Toole

Chequers: they thought it was all over. It is now. Brexit brinkmanship or bust

Brian Walker on September 20, 2018, 4:50 pm

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Donald Tusk President of the EU Council At our EU27 working lunch today we had a good discussion on Brexit, which once again reconfirmed our full unity. Let me highlight three points. First, we reconfirmed that there will be no Withdrawal Agreement without a solid, operational and legally binding Irish backstop. And we continue to fully support Michel Barnier in his efforts to find such a model. Second, we agreed to have a joint political declaration that provides as much …

No breakthrough for May at Salzburg. More moves on the border needed and concessions on the single market

Brian Walker on September 20, 2018, 11:52 am

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God knows where we are now. Groping towards a solution probably. We’re unlikely to get much more clarity from Salzburg by the end of the day. The suggestion of a second referendum by the Maltese and Czech leaders made an interesting diversion but little more. The Irish Times headlined “stark divisions” between May and Varadkar in advance of their breakfast meeting today but added: Sources close to the prime minister accepted, however, that London would be bringing forward proposals on …

Brinkmanship on the border: May squares off before EU leaders as Barnier revises his plan

Brian Walker on September 19, 2018, 11:19 am

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To herald her appearance at today’s EU summit at Salzburg, Theresa May has presented a bullish case for her Chequers plan where it matters most – to the Germans. In an article under her name in the heavyweight paper Die Welt, she insists that Chequers contains the border solution without resorting to the EU’s legal draft of the backstop. Say it quietly but she may be pushing at a door, if not wide open, just left ajar. Pardon the cliché, …

New November “deadline” for agreeing withdrawal terms puts pressure on all sides

Brian Walker on September 18, 2018, 1:51 pm

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The mantra “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” may be joined with a new one, “ nothing changes until everything changes.” This applies in spades to the border backstop wrangle. Rather than face crunch point at Salzburg on Thursday, EU leaders have confirmed that the terms for UK withdrawal will be settled at a special Brexit summit in November. So that’s all good, then. But the backstop still nags and Theresa May has said nothing to wish it away, …

The burning border problem. Is it a gnat or a camel?

Brian Walker on September 17, 2018, 12:37 pm

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Only two things are sure about the Brexit arguments. Over the border issue ’they’re hotting up inside the Conservative party. And the binary nature of the exchanges between Theresa and Boris produces only deadlock as binary arguments tend to do. In her BBC interview no doubt she believes she’s defending “the precious, precious Union” and the will of the Northern Ireland people. But as interviewer Nick Robinson might have reminded her, they voted in favour of Remain. Does it really …

Brexiteer border plan is not a game changer, nor a government wrecker for the DUP

Brian Walker on September 12, 2018, 3:30 pm

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Will Arlene Foster proclaim the merits of the Brexiteer European Research Group’s plan for the border when she meets Theresa May? She will come under immediate pressure to give her verdict – for or against the Chequers plan on which May refuses to compromise; or in favour of the ERG’s? Nigel Dodds has declared the plan which is rival to the prime minister’s plan “positive and timely.” But is this an implied threat to withdraw support from the government? It …

Big business’s demand for same sex marriage must set a precedent for more challenges to our embarrassingly out of touch politicians

Brian Walker on September 11, 2018, 10:53 pm

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Hooray! At last! Civil society, for so long fearful of saying a single word that would offend a politician, has plucked up enough courage to speak out on a burning issue that’s also a glaring anomaly. In a move that takes advantage of the political vacuum and shows just how fed up they are with it, normally cautious big business is calling for equal marriage to be extended to Northern Ireland. They’re arguing on the grounds of creating better jobs …

As the practicalities of the border issue are wrestled with, the pressure on the DUP is mounting. Are the hardline Brexiteers preparing to rat?

Brian Walker on September 11, 2018, 11:41 am

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Now what? On the border issue, the EU Commission and the Brexiteers are coming closer together than either to the government, according to the Guardian. This report shows that both sides are getting down to the practical options, instead of political grandstanding. Do the options appeal to the DUP? Downing St are sticking with ” no EU officials” at British ports but for how long? Does ” no EU officials ” rule out categorically different rules for the island of …

The EU may shoot Boris’s fox and bail Theresa out

Brian Walker on September 10, 2018, 11:06 am

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The FT has discovered a blink of light for Theresa May amid the general Brexit gloom. The Daily Telegraph is among other papers lifting the story, labelling it, “Operation Save Theresa.” The EU is preparing to give its Brexit negotiator new instructions to help close a deal with Britain, in a conciliatory move that will bolster Theresa May as she suffers savage attacks from Brexiters at home. An informal summit in Salzburg this month between the EU’s …

If the MoD stalls over the Ballymurphy inquest, you can forget drawing a line under the Troubles

Brian Walker on September 9, 2018, 1:31 pm

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The Channel 4 film “Massacre at Ballymurphy” will quickly be seized on as ammunition in the battle of narratives for dealing with the past. Those who complain that not only the narrative but justice has become one sided may believe that the documentary has handed a propaganda victory to Sinn Fein: and so whatever the gross hypocrisy involved, it probably has. But this is beside the point. To think of it only in Clausewitzian terms is to view it through the …

When oh when will the UK government stop stalling on the backstop?

Brian Walker on September 8, 2018, 2:19 pm

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Why is Michel Barnier being messed about over the backstop and the border? On Tuesday he said this to the Commons Brexit Select Committee. I am very concerned about Ireland. We need to find a solution that avoids the return of a hard border and that remains today the main obstacle on our road to an agreement between the British and ourselves. On the ground, ladies and gentlemen, it is impossible—this is nothing new—to distinguish between customs checks and other …

Spurred on by the generals, the government now admit they’re considering an amnesty

Brian Walker on September 6, 2018, 1:17 pm

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For the first time the UK government have admitted they’re considering a general amnesty arising out of the Troubles. Although an amnesty is not government policy, the admission came in a Lords debate instigated by the former Chief of General Staff of the Army Lord Dannatt, supported by other former top brass and former secretaries of state. What remains unclear is how this would affect the Legacy package of the Stormont House Agreement, including the proposal for an independent Historical …

The time has come for the next Assembly to vote on a border poll

Brian Walker on September 6, 2018, 12:01 pm

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In a brave attempt to discuss a border poll dispassionately, Newton Emerson is tentatively suggesting that it might be a good idea to hold a sort of test poll outside the terms of the GFA “to clear the air.” Unfortunately his analysis is better than his prescription, as a poll of any sort under official sponsorship, even one declared in some way not to count, would inevitably still stimulate the seven year itch among nationalists he rightly identifies , to …

From the London broadsheets, rare interest in Irish developing positions is to be welcomed

Brian Walker on September 5, 2018, 10:42 am

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The criticism is well made that British interest in Irish positions is generally self serving and fails to recognise their independent validity. Any slight shift in this is to be welcomed. The London broadsheets have paid Sinn Fein the rare compliment of taking seriously the party’s think-in at Cavan. It’s worth noting that they have yet to broach the notion that a Brexit solution would be so much easier if Northern Ireland were to join the Republic. Quite apart from …

The arrest of two journalists is a symptom of a bankrupt system for dealing with the Troubles legacy, with no solution in sight

Brian Walker on September 4, 2018, 12:11 pm

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The arrest and interrogation of two journalists suspected of stealing documents in connection with the making the film documentary No Stone Unturned on the Loughinisland murders, is a perfect example of how the current handing of the Troubles legacy is deeply unsatisfactory. In the present vacuum, the PSNI, which still retains front-line legacy responsibilities, seems to feel bound to be seen doing something, even in cases where they look self interested, counterproductive and downright foolish. On the face of it …

Brexit crisis point is arriving even faster than expected

Brian Walker on September 3, 2018, 2:16 pm

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At the opening of the Westminster season, no time has been wasted for open warfare to break out inside the Conservative party. Theresa May’s Chequers plan is assailed from both left and right, in the old terms, between Leave and Remain. Its main thrust – separating the authority to lay down rules for goods from regulations for services – is now specifically rejected by Brussels. Crying wolf is easy but this looks really serious. Boris slaps down his challenge in …

The Pope’s visit revealed a Church at war between left and right and over the authority of the Pope. The result is deadlock

Brian Walker on September 1, 2018, 12:26 pm

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Two characteristics of the papacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio emerged more clearly as a result of his brief visit to Ireland, neither of them encouraging. One was the local hierarchy’s relative powerlessness to influence what went on. Over the dashed hopes that he might come North, they talked like onlookers in the crowd. This goes flatly against all I ever assumed about the pledges of collegiality with local bishops after Vatican 2. The second is the relative powerless of the …

Border issues are difficult enough without manufacturing a phoney one

Brian Walker on August 30, 2018, 8:52 am

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In response to Fionnbhar’s post, Newton has said most of what needs to be said. Debate over tariffs and regulations has been conflated with security to a ludicrous, irresponsible degree. Whatever shape Brexit takes, it can be made clear now that terrorist threats will be dealt with as they are dealt with already – by intelligence-led policing across Ireland. The latest kerfuffle over a open or a hard border is just one example of a prevailing paradox. That in a …

The consultation on the Legacy Bill has predictably divided along sectarian lines and is doomed to fail. Radical thinking is needed, and is available

Brian Walker on August 28, 2018, 12:04 pm

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Arthur Aughey, a doyen of thoughtful unionism, has made an important contribution to the Newsletter’s series on “the legacy scandal” ( no mistaking their point of view). The draft Bill involves a civil service logic: it is time to get this done; the template has been agreed; so let’s get it done. From that bureaucratic angle, it all makes perfect sense. The Legacy Policy Team has done its job There is another logic in play, that of policing and justice. …

The Pope calling those involved in abuse and coverup “caca”- excrement – will be remembered. But will it be significant?

Brian Walker on August 26, 2018, 1:10 pm

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In a statement, the representatives from the Survivors of Mother and Baby Homes group said Francis condemned corruption and cover up within the Church as “caca”, an Italian and Spanish word for human excrement. The statement said that after the pope used the word, his translator explained that it meant “literally filth as one sees in a toilet.” A Vatican spokesman had no comment on the details of what was said in the meeting. A Vatican official said he …