Brexit

Reform and enlargement: Europe’s next struggle…

| Readers 2155

The first stage of the Brexit process, the ‘withdrawal’ is nearing its completion with a vote in the EU parliament on the withdrawal package now done. Barnier and the Commission throughout the process have presented a unified message with little breakdown in communication between them and the EU capitals. It may look to EU federalists like a stepping stone on the process of sovereign status for the Brussels institutions but upon closer inspection this notion is easily dispelled. The Brexit …

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The latest Brexit crisis – Should there be an Oxford comma on the new 50p?

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Author Sir Philip Pullman has suggested boycotting the new 50p over the lack of an Oxford comma. The 'Brexit' 50p coin is missing an Oxford comma, and should be boycotted by all literate people. — Philip Pullman (@PhilipPullman) January 26, 2020 Here is the new coin: The coin says: “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations.” With an Oxford comma after the word prosperity it would be: “Peace, prosperity, and friendship with all nations.” What is your view? Personally I …

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Free event: Queen’s Policy Engagement Post-Brexit Clinic on 4 February 2020…

| Readers 426

 Join us for what will be the first post-Brexit Clinic here at Queen’s Policy Engagement.  The UK’s request to extend the Brexit deadline to 31 January 2020 was agreed back in 2019 and Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal recently became law after it received royal assent from the Queen, having gone through all the required stages in Parliament. As things stand, the 1st February 2020 will mark the first day of the transition period for the UK and the beginning of a very …

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Michel Barnier speaking about #Brexit and the EU at QUB this evening (video + speech)

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Making his third visit to Northern Ireland in the role of EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier addressed a packed audience in Queen’s University Belfast’s Riddel Hall this evening. Watch back the video of his lecture and read extracts from his speech.

Paraphrasing what I heard: the UK can no longer dip its hand into the EU sweetie jar as those treats are only for the 27 members. Anyone hoping for a softer edge to Brexit may think again.

We have a piece of paper… it looks like a Stormont deal, tbc

| Readers 6438

Have we got a deal that the DUP and Sinn Fein sign up to or not? By Thursday midnight, it wasn’t clear. Will all parties turn up to the reconvened Assembly? By the time you read this we should know. In the meantime we have – a document .. But Arlene Foster’s verdict looks favourable.. “On balance we believe there is a basis upon which the Assembly and Executive can re-established in a fair and balanced way… This is not …

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Whatever you do, don’t handle the debate on a border poll like the politics of Brexit

| Readers 6093

The decision of the two governments to publish “ the basis of an  agreement “ on a return to Stormont  next week as recommended here and by others  is very welcome. Publication will either expose to your judgement and mine the reasonableness or otherwise of whoever is holding out against agreement, or it will constitute the agreement itself.  While an atmosphere of optimism among the parties is being fostered (no pun intended) in the  sketchy reporting, there is nothing objective …

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Brexit, Citizens’ Assemblies and the future of Democracy in the UK

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The Brexit process has put the UK’s democratic system under great strain, pitting competing democratic visions against each other and exposing weaknesses in each. Join Queen’s Policy Engagement for our first event of 2020 with Dr Alan Renwick from the UCL Constitution Unit where he will examine those weaknesses and consider possible ways of addressing them. Could the 2016 referendum have been designed differently to create a less polarised process? How could the grievances with current politics that the referendum …

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A Short History of the “L” Word

| Readers 2108

The American poet Robert Frost was only partly joking when he said a Liberal was definable as ‘a man too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel.’ Liberals of both (or more) genders have of course historically taken a side: their own. Now that a new decade has begun, and another important anniversary is being marked today, and there are question marks over how much longer liberalism is likely to last, now seems as good a time as …

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In 2020, the fate of the Assembly will be one of the simpler issues

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In agonising over terms for  recreating a functioning Stormont, the old chestnuts of an Irish Language Act and the petition of concern could be the easy bits – which is one reason why the DUP and Sinn Fein if they have any sense  at all, should grab at a deal. Truth to tell they are still in their comfort zone. Far more difficult issues are looming just a little way down the track. And it’s doubtful if the Assembly parties …

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Labour’s defeat was their own guilty secret. But Boris Johnson’s matters much more

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Andrew Parsons i/Images Now they tell us. Labour moderates had been watching the growth of the Conservative vote in north east of England council elections for years. But so had the Conservatives’ evil genius Dominic Cummings and he knew how to act on it. Forget  obsessions with social media, go knock on doors. As Tip O’Neill the old Speaker of the US House of Representatives memorably once said,  All politics is local.” And we can add,  it transcends ideology alone. …

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This is no narrow nationalist victory. It is a demand to make power sharing work

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DUP 8 seats (-2), 30.6% (-5.4%) SF 7 seats (nc), 22.8% (-6.6%) Alliance 1 seat (+1), 16.8% (+8.9%) SDLP 2 seats (+2), 14.9% (+3.2%) UUP 11.7% (+1.4%) Let’s say it clear.  This is a great result for Northern Ireland. It’s simplistic to call it a victory of nationalism over unionism. It shows that voters on both sides of the divide are capable of breaking out of the monolithic duopoly.  The DUP and SF have been punished for Stormont deadlock and …

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GE2019: Post-Election Analysis and Implications for Brexit…

| Readers 888

Free Event: Tuesday 17 December at 12.30pm Bell Lecture Theatre, Main Campus, Queen’s University Belfast  Why not come along for some post-election dissection with a side of Brexit analysis thrown in! Boris Johnson’s call for a general election was finally heard, and as we all know by now, UK voters are off to the polls on the 12th December for what commentators are calling the most important election in a generation! Join us at Queen’s University on the 17th December …

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With the best will in the world, you can’t know what you’re voting for today

| Readers 1422

Let’s begin at (your) home. After all the mystery and muttering about tactics after the election, do you know which main party the DUP would support in government? I don’t. But Nigel Dodds sounds as if he’s nuzzling up to the Tories again with or without an overall majority     There is no doubt that if we reach a tariff-free trade deal with the European Union, that will eliminate the need for most if not all customs checks..I sincerely hope …

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While you’re waiting for election results, why not take a look at the state of Brexit from the Irish point of view?

| Readers 1828

Fairly dramatic conclusions about the future of the Union and stability in Northern Ireland have been produced in the third Brexit Status Report of the Dublin based Institute of European and International Affairs.    Rather disappointingly the Report avoids discussing post Brexit  strategies for restoring  Stormont or if they fail, options such as direct rule, joint authority or an accountability mechanism for the Northern Ireland people on the future of the “frontstop,” assuming it is ratified by Parliament. A border …

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In denial over the front stop. Now Boris floored by 4 year old Jack, lying on a hospital floor

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The NHS howler of this campaign has hit Boris Johnson so hard he wanted to hide it in his pocket in the middle of an ITV News interview .. And more on another Johnson brazen denial -.the building row over the frontstop. Two Europe editors take his case apart, culled from Twitter. Peter Foster Europe editor of the Daily Telegraph HOW can Whitehall design this new GB-NI border or customs ‘filter’ UNTIL it knows what the shape of the UK-EU …

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Distrust in politicians? The answer lies in ourselves

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PA Media, Reuter’s, AFP  Whatever the result of this election, it will be greeted mainly with foreboding outside the ranks of the winning party, an interlude rather than a denouement  in the tortured saga of Brexit. Trust will remain as elusive as ever as another chapter of story is opened.  The campaign is riven by lies and fantasy. There is a chorus of comment along these lines in the London papers today. What impels politicians in these directions?  We can …

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On border checks the evidence from his own government mounts but Boris keeps brazening out the denial

| Readers 1428

It’s more than depressing when the prime minister keeps brazening out denials about checks between GB and NI. He actually contradicts himself between “ no checks” and  “the only checks” within a couple of sentences below. When asked on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday whether there would be checks, in light of the leaked Treasury document, Johnson replied: “No, absolutely not… The deal we’ve done with the EU is a brilliant deal and it allows us to do all …

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This Strangely Misfiring Tory Campaign Just Makes Me Wonder

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This is a very strange election campaign from the Conservatives. The Tory messaging for the final week is all wrong. My browser is full of Tory ads calling on me to “Get Brexit Done” when everyone knows Boris is all about that; if anything, they risk alienating the key group of Remainers who voted Tory in 2017. The Tories are currently hanging on to just five-eighths of these voters, and any further slippage could be fatal. As far as potential …

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Back to Stormont soon and Johnson’s deal could work, say DUP and Sinn Fein. Dreams coming true or fake news?

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Is there an election on? DUP And Sinn Fein leaders are sounding optimistic notes to tempt waverers into the polling stations. Both party leaderships are also forecasting a return to Stormont any day now – without troubling us with the details of a deal.  Here we also have the astounding phenomenon of Nigel Dodds and Mary Lou McDonald both speaking in favour of Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement – a worse deal that Theresa May’s and which they were condemning only …

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The backtop is back in business after Johnson’s denial is nakedly exposed

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It’s not actually  news that there will “be a border down the Irish Sea” if Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement is passed. But if the document Jeremy Corbyn has been waving this morning is an authentic Treasury paper, it shows that Johnson is lying or at best or in denial.   He will surely be pressed to explain himself in tonight’s BBC debate with Jeremy Corbyn.  Taken at face value it means Johnson will denounce his own withdrawal agreement as soon as …

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