EU – Page 15 – Slugger O'Toole

No Deal alarm is rising on both sides of the border

Brian Walker on January 26, 2019, 12:12 pm

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Ah the old, old days! With so much concentration on the Westminster bubble, it’s easy to forget that the pressures of Brexit operate in several directions. Cracks in the facade of unity among EU 27 are appearing on the surface as the prospect of No Deal by default refuses to go away. Irish alarm is by no means unique. As everybody always knew, solidarity with EU 26 leaves the Republic uniquely exposed to a particularly inelegant game of political poker …

The DUP seem poised to bail out Theresa May. Will the EU be impressed?

Brian Walker on January 25, 2019, 11:52 pm

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After that cosy little dinner at Chequers, the Downing St spin machine duly delivered straight to The Sun THE DUP have privately decided to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal next week when she toughens it up, in a major breakthrough for No10. The Sun can reveal that delicate deliberations are now ongoing between the Ulster unionist party’s leaders and the PM. In a crucial shift, it has emerged that the DUP are now willing to accept a backstop as long as …

On Brexit be careful, for you tread on my myths

Brian Walker on January 24, 2019, 2:16 pm

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For British and Irish readers alike, Fintan O’Toole is a leading scourge of Brexit, delving deep into British history and culture to explain its mainsprings. For champions of diversity suffused with Brit guilt about unresolved issues of empire and the shifting sands of identity, there’s a thrilling novelty about an Irishman with his history of victimhood, even one with such a cosmopolitan outlook, diagnosing British ills and offering lessons from Ireland’s new minted – and more confident- present. Thank God …

Brexit panic surfaces in Dublin but the EU is implacable on No Deal consequences

Brian Walker on January 23, 2019, 9:12 pm

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Last night I managed to survive the Ivan Rogers Experience, ( YouTube) a remorseless dissection of the entire Brexit debate which was as depressing as it was impressive. With good reason, Rogers is known as the Eeyore among Brexit experts. He was the UK ambassador to the EU who quit in disgust six months into Theresa May’s premiership. Remorselessly he spelled out the defects of every option now facing the UK, including remaining or re-applying. He laid about him with …

“The time for sleep-walking, false confidence and even pretence has passed.”

Mick Fealty on January 23, 2019, 5:50 pm

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Not sure what’s triggered it exactly, but it sounds like Dublin is getting itchy over some of the conversation taking place over the backstop. No doubt all members of the cabinet have been briefed to keep schtum. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed found himself in hot water this morning on Morning Ireland when asked to explain why the government was making plans for a hard border with the UK at the ports (where, to be sure, the volume of trade …

Opinion may be swinging but even DUP supporters favour a soft Brexit. What are the DUP doing to help bring this about?

Brian Walker on January 22, 2019, 1:54 pm

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Polling results on Brexit vary widely according to the questions asked and the sequence of events in Parliament and between the UK and the EU, a major analysis of recent polls has found. Mrs May’s persistence with her deal despite last week’s massive majority against it suggests that even the most dramatic results can be regarded as unstable or heavily conditional. Some results however are clear enough. Unionists and nationalists are deeply divided on whether there should be a second …

Methinks thou does not protest enough…

Patrick Murdock on January 22, 2019, 12:02 pm

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Last Tuesday as the MP’s voted overwhelmingly to reject Theresa Mays’s Brexit deal, I voiced my support of the People’s Vote by attending the protests in Parliament Square which was happening as the votes were cast in Westminster. As well as the large vocal crowd that had gathered, I listened to a number of speakers voice their Brexit anger with speakers ranging from the usual Politicians and Celebrities but also frontline NHS staff and factory workers. Two students from Belfast …

With the Conservative and Labour leaders now under internal pressure, MPs on both sides of the chamber move to take control

Brian Walker on January 22, 2019, 12:15 am

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. The moment of Brexit decision has shifted yet again – closer and closer to default crash out of the EU on 29 March. Theresa May has confirmed that plan B is plan A – basically the deal that was so massively rejected a week ago. But the dynamics have changed. Next Monday she will move a neutral motion to the Withdrawal Bill taking note of her statement today. This will allow amendments to be moved with alternative proposals for …

Varadkar offers a way out of deadock – or a hedge against failure?

Brian Walker on January 21, 2019, 10:44 am

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The UK national papers are united in hopelessness over May’s latest strategy, tempered only by disbelief. Plan B is Plan A. Even the cheerleader for Brexit the Daily Telegraph is not impressed. The Europe editor slaps down the chief political correspondent’s “ exclusive.” Theresa May is considering amending the Good Friday Agreement as part of a fresh attempt to unblock the Brexit logjam, The Daily Telegraph understands. Peter Foster But the mere suggestion that a British government wants to ‘amend’ the Good Friday Agreement should …

No, Brexit Britain doesn’t want her Empire back…

Mick Fealty on January 19, 2019, 9:17 am

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Brexit is about a lot of things, but one thing I agree with John Lloyd it is not (for the vast majority at least) is lost Empire. The sheer narrowness of the vote even in England ought to give some our more enthusiastic purveyors of this line some pause for thought. During the week, John Lloyd, an unenthusiastic remain voter, laid out a more realistic view of the matter to Ivan Yates on Newstalk.. The interview came on foot of …

In the Brexit chaos political maturity is becoming a scarce commodity…

Mick Fealty on January 18, 2019, 6:47 pm

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It is hard to escape the impression that there’s been a creeping but potentially catastrophic loss of political maturity across the west. Every opportunity to act as a states(wo)man, it seems, is actively being refused because… Well, you can take your pick of excuses. In the capital of the richest country in the world, federal civil servants now face the loss of a second monthly cheque, and are turning up on breadlines, or serving up to fellow workers. They continue to …

Brexiteers at bay after the first day of May talks widens internal party splits

Brian Walker on January 18, 2019, 12:23 am

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As Paul Waugh aptly says in Huffpost.. The lectern moment’ really is wearing thin as a useful dramatic device for Theresa May. She’s stood on the steps of No.10 so many times now that she’s devalued the currency of its impact. And after this week’s shattering defeat of her Brexit plan, more than ever it seems like her Downing Street announcements are all words and no action. May rightly said the nation needs to ‘come together’, but showed little flexibility or humility needed to make …

Break-up of the parties or No Deal Brexit – the looming choice

Brian Walker on January 17, 2019, 4:51 pm

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As matters stand, we’re either heading for crash out No Deal or the main parties are heading for break-up. The Conservative and Labour leaders are dolally. Theresa May is listening but not to anybody who wants a customs union or a second referendum. Jeremy Corbyn will not only not meet her but has urged all Labour MPs not to meet her either. But this request in a letter to his MPs came too late to stop former ministers Yvette Cooper and …

Eastwood “Continuing to chase after the DUP, who hold a minority view in Northern Ireland is a mistake”

David McCann on January 17, 2019, 2:14 pm

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The SDLP Leader, Colum Eastwood has criticised Theresa May for her lack of consultation with other parties in Northern Ireland. He said; With each passing day, the British Government show an ever increasing disregard for the people of Northern Ireland. The sheer lack of communication, and indeed recognition that Northern Ireland will be devastated by a Brexit set to be delivered by dysfunctional politics in London, speaks volumes. “Despite false utterings from the DUP about a border down the Irish …

Tony Blair calls for extension of Article 50

David McCann on January 17, 2019, 2:03 pm

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Extending the #Brexit deadline is “inevitable” says Tony Blair: “If I was the government now, I would already be having discussions with Europe about the terms of an extension” #r4today https://t.co/55w4Ws2GFr pic.twitter.com/lxWzAYZr4x — BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) January 17, 2019 David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Book review: Brexit and the bridge too far…

Gerald Dawe on January 16, 2019, 4:52 pm

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Walking the dog through the silent streets and avenues of an unusually deserted south Belfast, the scene reminded me fleetingly of Sunday mornings during the industrial, asthma-inducing nineteen fifties when there wasn’t a soul about. Everyone then would have been indoors in semi-darkness, putting down fires and making fries before the call of whichever church service they adhered to or simply ‘turning over’. Not so here and now. It was a bright morning, the air clear as a bell. Shop …

Varadkar “words aren’t enough” to avoid a hard border

David McCann on January 16, 2019, 4:14 pm

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Taoiseach – “Words aren’t enough” to avoid a hard border. Says there must have an agreement on customs union & regulatory alignment. “Its not good enough to say there won’t be a hard border because nobody wants one.” #brexit pic.twitter.com/dLHoQZrwG5 — Darran Marshall (@DarranMarshall) January 16, 2019 David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

As good an argument as any for a hard border…

Brian O'Neill on January 16, 2019, 12:11 pm

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Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.

In spite of a day without precedent, it’s still party before country from the Conservatives and Labour

Brian Walker on January 16, 2019, 1:06 am

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At the very moment Conservative and Labour MPs are passionately proclaiming the need to work together, the two parties are locked in the elemental struggle for power after a major defeat, a vote of confidence in the government. This is Labour’s ritual act to stave off having to commit to a policy. For theirs is a unicorn with a mighty horn, a customs relationship that allows unilateral free trade negotiations and a single market relationship that restricts free movement. On …

Excuse the dampener -don’t be surprised if the moment of truth is postponed – again

Brian Walker on January 15, 2019, 12:04 am

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To be fair, in her direct appeal to MPs “to take a second look,” Theresa May made a better fist at making the case for her Deal in the Commons than she did earlier at the Doulton pottery in Stoke. For the first time she was saying that the Scottish nationalists and the “Ulster” nationalists of the DUP would carry the can for a catastrophic result. As a proud Unionist, I share the concerns of Members who want to ensure …