Brexit – Page 20 – Slugger O'Toole

A house divided against itself – Brexit factions in Westminster

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on December 22, 2018, 4:51 pm

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It has become apparent that Westminster is deadlocked with regards how to proceed with the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. Theresa May had intended to receive “clarification” from the European Union on the proposed Withdrawal Agreement, but the EU have made it clear that no re-negotiation will be forthcoming. Assuming nothing dramatic happens between now and the vote, it is virtually certain that the government will face a heavy defeat. To illustrate the difficulty faced in getting parliament …

Looking through the lens of history helps us ease the torments of Brexit

Brian Walker on December 22, 2018, 11:50 am

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As a Christmas treat, let’s stand back from the tangles of Brexit and the backstop and take a broader look at how they’re complicating our fond old obsession with our choice of identities British, Irish and European. One of the leaders of the current debate is Fintan O’Toole a torrentially eloquent writer who knows Britain as well as his own backyard. You’d be hard put to find an English equivalent writing about Ireland. What we see more of are endless voyages of …

Crisp advice to Parliament on what to ponder over Christmas

Brian Walker on December 20, 2018, 10:31 am

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Perhaps the most celebrated of constitutional experts Vernon Bogdanor, has no doubts about what should happen next. The irony is that there is a much greater consensus among MPs than is apparent from the posturing of May’s opponents. Kenneth Clarke believes that about 80% of MPs are against a no-deal Brexit, while nearly all MPs accept that there should not be a hard Irish border, which would be incompatible with the spirit of the Good Friday agreement of 1998. The withdrawal agreement achieves …

Theresa, No Deal Project Fear is a cruel insult to our intelligence

Brian Walker on December 18, 2018, 11:50 pm

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The latest Project Fear is a UK government analysis of the impact of No Deal on the Republic’s trade. It says that 80% of their trade with Europe passes over the British land bridge to ports such as Dover. No deal barriers causing expected congestion there would have a catastrophic effect on the Irish economy. The aim is to soften up Varadkar’s apparently implacable support for the backstop. Project Fear is accompanied by Project Puff up and Soothe the DUP, …

Brexit has reversed the stereotypes of Britain and Ireland

Brian Walker on December 18, 2018, 5:11 pm

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Brexit has turned British, Irish and continental stereotypes on their heads, historian Arthur Aughey has observed in a brilliant essay in the Belfast Telegraph One long-standing explanation is that the British and continental Europeans (especially the French) approach political problems with very different mindsets… On the one hand, Michel Barnier’s style – and the European Council’s – considers British reluctance to define principles as either proof of poor preparation or as inability to clarify its objectives. That, more or less, …

May’s desperate tactics are unworthy and will fail to give her victory

Brian Walker on December 17, 2018, 10:31 pm

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Tactically Theresa May is being astute. But then she has always run Brexit as a party strategy. Strategically in the national interest, she’s risking a disaster. By continuing to face MPs with a binary choice as late as mid January – My Deal or No Deal – she’s squeezing the time available for any Plan Bs to emerge but she’s raised her immediate chances of staying in office. This of course assumes the divided cabinet will play along and the …

“I can take the despair. It’s the hope I can’t stand.” Theresa May in Brussels? Answer. Worse: humiliation

Brian Walker on December 13, 2018, 11:53 pm

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What was Theresa May actually expecting from the EU 27 leaders in Brussels? There was always the desperate hope for one of those last minute rush to settle against the declared odds. Instead… headlines… Daily Telegraph ( Brexiteer) Theresa May was humiliated once again by EU leaders last night as her attempts to improve her Brexit deal were thrown back in her face. The Sun (Brexiteer) and coiner of dreadful puns BRUSSELS ROUT Theresa May told to get stuffed by …

Putting Brexit in Historical Perspective #NevinLecture

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 13, 2018, 8:00 am

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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE – Listen back to Professor Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke delivering the annual Donal Nevin lecture, explaining how UK trade policies evolved to the point that they entered the EU, and what this teaches us about Brexit. QUB’s Dr Katy Hayward responded with the Northern Ireland context.

No sign of Ireland blinking over the backstop, as Theresa May races around Europe raising the bogey of No Deal

Brian Walker on December 11, 2018, 1:48 pm

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Theresa May at bay threw down one effective challenge to the massed ranks of her critics. “Come clean: do you want Brexit or not? “No”, chorused the SNP and she rolled her eyes. For as long as Parliament cannot settle on an agreed alternative she holds a narrow initiative. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed woman is queen. In her whistle -stop tour of continental capitals, her ploy now is to seek “reassurances”, a time honoured feature of …

Four Pro-Remain parties issue joint statement on the backstop

David McCann on December 10, 2018, 9:10 pm

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The following statement was issued by the leaders of Sinn Fein, SDLP, Alliance and the Green Party. The four Remain parties, Sinn Féin, SDLP, Alliance and Green Party continue to believe that there is no such thing as a good Brexit and our preference is for no Brexit at all. We recognise that the majority of people, businesses and civic society do not want Brexit either. “We have a shared responsibility to protect jobs, economic stability, the environment and …

Keep your eye on the glimmer of light in the Big Picture. But first we need to re-examine the backstop, sooner rather than later.

Brian Walker on December 10, 2018, 1:04 pm

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Although the sight of it is darkly occluded, the shape of things to come is emerging through the fog. Whatever immediate political strategy Theresa May chooses today, the dream of the hard line Brexiteers is in process of disintegration. Whatever the political turmoil today, the UK will retain some sort of close relationship with the EU. In Northern Ireland, unionists will have a closer relationship with the Republic and with nationalists generally – and I would argue with only slightly …

UUP calls for May Deal to be voted down with an extension of Article 50

David McCann on December 9, 2018, 1:49 pm

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The Ulster Unionists have issued a statement on the Withdrawal Agreement, calling for its rejection. “The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated between Her Majesty’s Government and the EU will erode the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom and should be rejected. “The Ulster Unionist Party warned of the potential consequences of the inclusion of the disastrous backstop in December 2017, but the DUP who claimed to be in a position of influence at the heart of UK Government were asleep …

The DUP would be fools to vote for no confidence in the government and boost the chances of a No Deal default

Brian Walker on December 7, 2018, 4:33 pm

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Politics is in a vortex of fast moving events over which the government has little control. According to the likely scenario, Theresa May will lose the meaningful vote badly next Tuesday night. What happens next is in uncharted waters. But this is how the meaningful vote fits into the prescribed timetable, courtesy of the FT: The vote is a legal obligation under the UK’s 2018 EU Withdrawal Act, which says such a vote must take place “before the European Parliament decides whether …

Theresa May’s new olive branch to the DUP is unlikely to impress

Brian Walker on December 5, 2018, 3:01 pm

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So was there something worth hiding that’s now been exposed under duress? In my opinion, it’s not so much a smoking gun, more a blast of painful shotgun pellets. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds was bound to describe as “devastating” the Attorney General’s full legal advice on the withdrawal agreement that the government fought so hard to withhold yesterday – and lost. In a statement this afternoon Mr Dodds rises to new heights with the description of the backstop as …

DUP are threatening May with collapse unnecessarily, even in their own cause

Brian Walker on December 3, 2018, 1:09 am

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It looks worse and worse for Theresa May as a crucial week begins. The Times reports: Theresa May was under fresh pressure last night as the DUP threatened to abandon her in a confidence vote if she failed to get her Brexit deal through parliament. Party sources said that they were considering the move, which would leave the prime minister without a Commons majority, over fears that her plan would create a border between Northern Ireland and the rest …

Theresa May’s survival depends on cross party support for Plan B. Will she concede or quit?

Brian Walker on December 2, 2018, 1:18 pm

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First things first. Are we back to contemplating the DUP holding the balance of power? The Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times report what they rate as exciting new moves for an already potentially fateful week. The Democratic Unionist Party will join Labour and other opposition parties on Monday in a bid to force the Government to publish its legal advice on Brexit – a move that could delay the crucial vote on Theresa May’s plan. In an explosive alliance that will rock the …

Game of chicken is hotting up

Brian Walker on December 1, 2018, 5:23 pm

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Brexit tensions are rising towards fever pitch. The Times story puts it neatly : If you step back from the noise surrounding Theresa May’s struggle to get her deal through parliament there are really only four Brexit options left on the table: Mrs May’s deal (possibly tweaked); no deal; a second referendum; and a Norway-style soft Brexit. Each option has its advocates in the Commons but none yet has enough backing to command majority support in the House. Ultimately MPs …

Slugger TV looks at the Withdrawal Agreement

David McCann on December 1, 2018, 10:59 am

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Slugger TV: Episode 20 from Northern Visions NvTv on Vimeo. Latest Slugger TV where we are discussing Brexit and the Withdrawal Agreement with Dr Katy Hayward from Queens University and Brendan Hughes from the Irish News. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Northern Ireland’s business community has united as never before to make sure it is heard and the consequences of crashing out of the EU next March are understood.

Soapbox on November 29, 2018, 12:12 pm

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Stephen Kelly is the Chief Executive of Manufacturing NI, he writes for Slugger about why the Withdrawal Agreement from the European Union should be supported. A community has found it voice. Reluctant, yet determined, Northern Ireland’s business community has united as never before, to make sure is heard, and that the consequences of crashing out of the EU next March are understood. Some may have been frustrated that Northern Ireland’s businesses and their representatives have been too quiet, but we …

Why Brexit is going wrong and how it could be fixed (part 2)

Paul Evans on November 28, 2018, 10:01 am

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This is the second of two posts here looking at Brexit through a democratic, rather than a political lens. In the previous post, I argued that the ‘cliff edge’ exit that is inevitable when leaving the EU is not sustainable for the EU, and that the UK would be doing everyone a favour by challenging it. The word “crisis” is over-used in British politics, but we are undoubtedly in one now. We have a Prime Minister who is trying to …