Brexit – Page 27 – Slugger O'Toole

DUP hard line on Brexit is shown to be at odds with supporters’ opinions, as tensions rise between Brexiteers and the Irish

Brian Walker on May 23, 2018, 10:48 am

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As the days of Brexit reckoning draw near, rising tensions were on show yesterday at a conference held by the think tank the UK in a Changing Europe to discuss the Queen’s University report and survey, Northern Ireland and the UK’s exit – what the people think. Differences between Brexiteers and the Irish side were gaping wide. There was no meeting of minds over the UK’s options for withdrawal. A particular test case was over the feasibility of technology to keep …

MPs urge the UK government to end “untenable” inaction over the absence of Stormont after the Bank holiday. But who believes anything will happen?

Brian Walker on May 23, 2018, 12:23 am

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The call by the NI select committee of MPs to secretary of state Karen Bradley to “redouble” her efforts to restart talks aimed at restoring devolution has a ritual flavour about it. There seems no appetite for action on this front while the two governments are in stand-off over the UK’s long awaited proposals for exit and backstop which are due to be submitted by the EU next month and agreed in October. The MPs also said she must outline …

Four parties issue a joint statement on Brexit.

David McCann on May 22, 2018, 5:11 am

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Four party leaders representing 49 MLAs have penned a joint statement on Brexit. On 23rd June 2016 citizens voted to remain within the European Union. Despite this, the British Government intend to exit the EU in March 2019. Sinn Féin, Green Party, Alliance and the Social Democratic and Labour Party all share the common position that we should stay within both the single market and customs union and that there should be no hard border on the island of Ireland …

Reimagining the Union has begun. They have it all to do

Brian Walker on May 21, 2018, 11:53 pm

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Conservatives thinkers are hard at work to make the long overdue case for the Union, now dubbed “the Union state,” after the unexpected shock that still lingers (in England certainly) of discovering that devolution had whetted appetites for Union breakup and Brexit, you might think, makes their task more difficult. So far their ideas circumvent nationalism, described here as exaggerated “ identity politics,” rather than tackling nationalism head on. Although they claim for the Union “binding values”, they recognise Gordon …

Border poll recedes as polls show nationalist support for unity hinges on Brexit outcome

Brian Walker on May 21, 2018, 9:59 am

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If two polls out today are to be believed, pressure for an early border poll will recede and unionists fearing the worst, will heave sighs of relief For nationalists, while much hinges on the economic consequences of Brexit, majority opinion among them in favour of unity hasn’t solidified, despite the UK government’s confused approach to Brexit and the border. The Newsletter gleefully reports Two separate polls have found no evidence that Brexit has yet caused a radical shift in public …

But a new customs backstop won’t be enough….

Brian Walker on May 18, 2018, 7:35 am

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If the temporary extension of the customs relationship was greeted with euphoria, it was shortlived, as the FT reports. It exposes the next big issue. The single market looms. Mrs May was accused by some Conservative MPs of “bouncing” the cabinet into adopting the scheme, and others said they had been kept in the dark. Senior EU officials also expressed doubts about the UK approach, warning that it diverges significantly from Brussels’ preferred outcome. “If this is it, we will …

Breaking… The UK will meet the June deadline with a breakthrough plan for Brexit and the border, to a cautious welcome from Varadkar

Brian Walker on May 17, 2018, 5:34 pm

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Has the fog started to clear? Can any sense be made of the claim and denial about extending the transition beyond 2020 to buy time to solve the customs relationship and the border? The Guardian, RTE and the BBC all thinks so, reporting top level briefings from both governments at the EU summit in Sofia. Without overdoing it sounds like a modest breakthrough on the hitherto incompatible versions of the stopgap . The longer term relationship involving a longer transition …

New backstop plan ties the whole UK to the customs union to buy time for solving the border problem

Brian Walker on May 17, 2018, 8:11 am

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The rumour has now become fact (almost) Britain will tell Brussels it is prepared to stay tied to the customs union beyond 2021 as ministers remain deadlocked over a future deal with the EU, the Telegraph has learned. The Prime Minister’s Brexit war Cabinet earlier this week agreed on a new “backstop” as a last resort to avoid a hard Irish border, having rejected earlier proposals from the European Union. Ministers signed off the plans on Tuesday despite objections from Boris Johnson, the …

Brexit: what the hell happens now? And Brexit and Ireland – Two interesting books on Brexit…

Robert Campbell on May 16, 2018, 3:45 pm

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Let me be clear from the outset: I am a Remainer. I’ve not seen or read anything that would materially change my opinion. The European Union (EU) may have its problems, but overall I see it as a force for good. I live in N Ireland; here, we voted to remain in the EU. But the vote of the English outweighed this, and the vote in Scotland. The ‘will of the people’ is to Leave. The government triggered the Article …

Fears for the future of the Union move centre stage in Theresa May’s Brexit strategy, claims The Times

Brian Walker on May 15, 2018, 11:47 pm

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The Times has followed up on its report on how Theresa May challenged the complacency of the arch Brexiteer Jacob Rees Mogg in her series of back bench briefings in No10 when he claimed that a border poll could be won anytime despite Brexit, Mrs May said, ‘I would not be as confident as you. That’s not a risk I’m prepared to take. We cannot be confident on the politics of that situation, on how it plays out.’ ” This …

May tells Rees Mogg: with a hard border I’d not be confident of winning a border poll

Brian Walker on May 15, 2018, 10:40 am

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Times report Theresa May confronted Jacob Rees-Mogg at a meeting with Tory MPs designed to break the deadlock over Britain’s future customs arrangements with the EU, The Times has learnt. The pair clashed yesterday over the impact of rival plans on the Irish border, in what witnesses described as the prime minister “sending a tough signal” to hardline Brexiteers that she was not prepared to jeopardise the Union. It came after Mrs May went over the heads of her squabbling cabinet with a personal …

On Brexit we’re about to enter the eye of the storm before the relative calm

Brian Walker on May 11, 2018, 12:00 pm

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It’s the solemn duty of all professional commentators always to be interesting, even at the expense of consistency with writers in their own paper or even with themselves. And this is a terrific time for fascinating chaos and confusion. Where official “lines to take” are not banal they are tangled up and inconsistent, reflecting the fact that over Brexit, a chronically divided cabinet are singing like birds. Tension is ramped up before yet another deadline to be missed whether it’s …

“Sat nav and a mobile phone in the cab.” One of two answers to two problems?

Brian Walker on May 9, 2018, 3:00 pm

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David Trimble gets breezier by the day as he dismisses with a “ no problem” problems that may seem to him small beer compared to those that won him a share in the Nobel peace prize twenty years ago. “ Sat Nav and a mobile phone in the cab “ sorts the border problem out he claims. ( But what then, David? Do they never have to stop for spot checks? Or if they do so, where)? His remarks …

Guardian exclusive. A home grown plan for checks at NI ports, rejected by the DUP but still in play

Brian Walker on May 4, 2018, 6:49 pm

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A backup plan to impose border checks on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK at ports and airports to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland after Brexit has been drafted by senior civil servants. Despite the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) angrily rejecting any suggestion of a border “in the Irish Sea”, a leaked paper reveals that officials have been working on a blueprint “to be deployed as necessary in the negotiation process” While acknowledging these …

Dead parrots and delay: how they’re groping their way – towards 2023!

Brian Walker on May 4, 2018, 12:32 pm

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Boats with EU, UK flags sailing in opposite directions

The Guardian reports that No, the customs partnership is not a dead parrot and is still in play with “ max fac” the high tec solution that doesn’t exist yet. May’s enforcers are negotiating with her ambitious defence secretary Gavin Williamson to switch sides and support the partnership. Or a new combination of the two. And the outcome? The Remain Guardian and Brexiter Daily Telegraph are agreed, although split over its desirability. The Guardian Senior civil servants are believed to …

Fears of joint authority surface as the Lords approve no border checks without Dublin consent

Brian Walker on May 3, 2018, 3:48 pm

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Sometimes –only sometimes – debates in Parliament tell us a lot more than a dozen columnists or a week of Nolan. And with much greater courtesy than the latter, needless to say. One such took place yesterday when the House of Lords supported moves to prevent a hard border after Brexit under which no new checks or controls could be imposed without the agreement of the Irish Government. If you think this would be innocuous enough you’d be wrong. Approval for Patten’s amendment …

Ian Marshall makes maiden speech in the Seanad

David McCann on May 2, 2018, 12:06 pm

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Maiden @OireachtasNews speech: @IanMarshall_ :- “”It is a truly historic day for this house and for myself as the first Northern Unionist elected to the #Seanad and to represent the views and the opinions of the people of Northern Ireland and give their perspective.” pic.twitter.com/lJZ2daHnjD — RTÉ Politics (@rtepolitics) May 1, 2018 David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Is there something to be said for a British-Irish intergovernmental conference?

David McCann on May 1, 2018, 7:32 pm

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_Buildings_Stormont.jpg

The blame game continued in Stormont last week with arguments about who was holding progress between the DUP and Sinn Fein. We are now 14 months on without a government and we seem further away from seeing any form of functioning assembly. For both of the main parties the failure to secure agreement on some of the main outstanding issues is holding up progress in restoring devolution. Contrary to some musings that it suits both the DUP and Sinn Fein …

Will our protections for threatened species fall off a cliff edge come Brexit?

Soapbox on May 1, 2018, 4:43 pm

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Christopher McAteer, Nature Matters NI The potential effects of Brexit on Northern Ireland are so overwhelmingly varied – and often alarming – that it may seem a touch masochistic to consider yet more concerns. But if worries over tariffs, the fledgling economy, and a hard border aren’t enough for you, then the cliff edge facing our environment might be just up your street. A whopping 80% of the UK’s environmental laws originate from the EU, which will now have to …

If you were the EU’s chief negotiator, what would you say to Arlene Foster to make her happier?

Brian Walker on May 1, 2018, 1:11 pm

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Not exactly an unbiased report in the Daily Telegraph Michel Barnier has denied trying to split up the United Kingdom after strongly backing plans that would create a new border between Britain and Northern Ireland after Brexit. In an inflammatory address in Dundalk, Ireland on Monday, Mr Barnier denied there was a secret EU plan to pressure Britain into reversing Brexit by insisting on a backstop clause that would keep Northern Ireland in the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union. Arlene …