EU – Page 19 – Slugger O'Toole

Confusion over the state of the Brexit negotiations increases anxiety as May’s cabinet prepares to decide on a formula

Brian Walker on November 5, 2018, 9:59 am

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Civil society in both islands looking on anxiously at contrasting stories about the state of the Brexit negotiations are speaking out. Persistent fears of a hard border has prompted a group of nationalists to approach Leo Varadkar to protect northern nationalists’ rights. This the second appeal of its kind in a year. Latest 4pm Leo Varadkar said this afternoon Ireland is willing to consider proposals for a review clause in relation to the backstop for the Irish border. The backstop …

Most Northern Irish parties need Stormont more than it needs them…

Mick Fealty on November 5, 2018, 7:31 am

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Where are we after the presidential elections and Brexit? And when can we expect a return to actual politics in Northern Ireland? It’s difficult, not least because no one yet has an adequate response to question of why it collapsed in the first place (seriously, we don’t). Karen Bradley’s briefing to the parties on Thursday suggests it won’t be before new year (when we should know what Brexit looks like). As Jon Tonge noted on the Nolan Show on Thursday, …

“Breakthrough on the backstop, claims the Sunday Times

Brian Walker on November 4, 2018, 1:15 am

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In an “exclusive” pieced together from “dozens” of Whitehall and EU sources, the Sunday Times claims that Theresa May has secured a deal that will keep the whole UK in the customs union for the transition. A political declaration on “a future economic partnership” (FEP) will allow the UK to strike a Canada-style free trade deal that will appeal to Brexiteers. While the story doesn’t mention a specific time limit as demanded by the hardliners or a “break clause” floated …

Can it be for real? Arlene is looking happy

Brian Walker on November 3, 2018, 12:26 am

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While Mary Lou and friends were dismissing Brexit secretary Dominic Raab’s visit “ like a thief in the night” as a “box ticking exercise”, Arlene was treating us to a rare public smile. “Goodness, we have been here on a number of occasions and I think we are close to a deal that will work for Northern Ireland, that is what we want.” Raab was guardedly optimistic again at Stormont. But the louder mood music came out of the intergovernmental conference …

Trimble’s attack on the backstop has come too late

Brian Walker on November 2, 2018, 12:39 am

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With prospects of a return to Stormont hovering around degrees absolute, the temperature is rising among unionists about the meaning of the backstop. They believe – and they’re not alone – that there is no outcome other than no deal that will not activate the backstop and “make Northern Ireland a protectorate of the EU.” Mixed messages are emerging as EU leaders have to decide whether to convene a special ratification summit on 21 November. Meanwhile a more parochial row …

Future Ireland / Does motherhood unite or divide us?

Elizabeth Nelson on October 27, 2018, 9:02 am

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Most mothers have more pressing things to think about than constitutional arrangements. While there are some differences in the lived experiences of mothers in the UK and Ireland, they are small. In fact, our struggles are pretty much the same across national borders. Beyond the obvious, that all mothers want the best for their children (and often disagree on what that is and how to achieve it), we are united in our systematic disadvantage by the states in which we …

Backstop blues on both sides as another “deadline” approaches

Brian Walker on October 25, 2018, 11:39 am

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Interesting that the Irish Times have published two opinion pieces this morning deviating a little from the paper’s editorial line of unwavering support for the EU version of the backstop. Newton Emerson accuses Varadakar of having “a tin ear” to unionist sensitivities while Stephen Collins bluntly urges Varadkar and Coveney to “ shut up.” Sensitivities in both camps are heightening. The DUP are nervous that Theresa May will rat on them if she can get a deal that will pass …

EU to offer “UK-wide customs treaty” and the backstop clause has changed

Brian Walker on October 23, 2018, 11:41 pm

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The Sun and the Mail claim another “breakthrough” – but is it too good to be true? THERESA May got a Brexit boost today – as it emerged the EU will cave into her demands on the Irish backstop. But today RTE reported that the EU has accepted Mrs May’s plans could be workable as long as both sides sign a separate treaty to enshrine it into law. The compromise brings Britain and the EU a step closer to signing a …

Time to stop making a fetish of the backstop and find a new formula via the GFA

Brian Walker on October 22, 2018, 11:46 pm

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Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

Theresa May is shaping up for a fight. I rub my eyes, but for the first time yes, she even looks like a winner

Brian Walker on October 22, 2018, 12:21 am

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Anonymous briefings from Brexiteer backbenchers claiming Theresa May is “entering the killing zone” and “ drinking in the last chance saloon” have backfired as the prime minister goes on the offensive in the Sun in advance of a Commons statement on Monday afternoon. Breaking the normal protocol of informing MPs first, her Sun piece is a departure from her normal defensive stonewalling and a sign of new determination to seize the initiative. Reports that she’s facing a cabinet revolt sound …

The odds are narrowly on May surviving the week and staggering through to a withdrawal deal before Christmas

Brian Walker on October 21, 2018, 5:39 pm

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By a long way, more of the public demonstrated for a second referendum yesterday than were threatening the prime minister in lurid language with nemesis on Wednesday. Just now though, it’s the MPs uttering the threats ( at least to journalists), who matter more. One prominent Brexiteer is making a distinctive gesture. In a further headache for May, the former Brexit minister Steve Baker yesterday tabled a series of amendments to the Northern Ireland Bill, which is due in the …

Future Ireland / Nation-States Are Yesterday’s Politics – Let’s Review Our Terms and Conditions

Donal O'Hanlon on October 20, 2018, 8:32 am

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Global trends indicate that we are graduating from ideological party politics to voting based on personal priorities such as financial security. Trump’s America is the prime example. But, like their hurricanes, everything from the US eventually crosses the water and laps our shores. Unstoppable cultural homogeneity adds to this. With lightning speed our young people adopt the same fashion, music and patois globally. The extent to which this is manipulated by media giants, arms of government and lizard overlords is …

Would “more time” bring us closer to chaos or breaking the backstop deadlock?

Brian Walker on October 18, 2018, 1:39 pm

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Will “more time” do it for Theresa May and the rest of us? The option of a longer transition is intended to provide more reassurance that special measures would not be needed to avoid a hard border — even if the UK and the EU fail to implement a new trade deal by the end of 2020. Because the EU is mildly encouraging, the chorus of opposition in Westminster is all the louder. Remainers are as dead against as Leavers …

Only now are both sides realising that the backstop can’t be blagged away

Brian Walker on October 17, 2018, 11:52 am

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In single interviews it’s entirely appropriate for the presenter to play the devil’s advocate role. But in a long and pressing interview this morning on Radio 4’s Today programme with Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney, John Humphrys showed I believe a basic lack of understanding of the EU/Irish position of the backstop which partly explains why it’s such a conundrum. I’m pretty sure it was more ignorance than tactic. All Humphrys could do to fill the time was to keep …

The case for the Union is far broader than the DUP’s. But is it compatible with a good deal?

Brian Walker on October 16, 2018, 1:14 pm

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Nobody can doubt that Brexit has challenged the stability of the Union, not only in Scotland and Northern Ireland but in England too. In a lecture in London last night he entitled “The Nightmare of History, Brexit, Ireland and the English Revolution,” Fintan O’Toole warmed to his theme, familiar to Irish Times readers, of pouring scathing contempt over the Brexit case, which he dismissed as post imperial “imaginings.” If he’s right and Brexit is creating a revolution at least in …

It’s neither breakthrough nor breakdown

Brian Walker on October 14, 2018, 11:15 pm

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I think we may safely say the point of crisis has arrived at last. It may last for some time. After the false optimism of Saturday, the backstop, the entire Brexit negotiation, the future of the government and the stability of the Union are all in play, as Theresa May “ branded the draft deal a non-starter”. The FT sums up the general gloomy view of the correspondents on Sunday night.. Brexit talks reached a dramatic stand-off in Brussels on …

May at bay and kamikaze tactics from Foster, with three days to go to the EU summit

Brian Walker on October 14, 2018, 12:36 am

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Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

Fresh concessions to DUP reported as negotiations near climax

Brian Walker on October 12, 2018, 5:26 pm

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Plans to make the backstop redundant and more time to devise a permanent substitute to help keep the DUP on side, are among the ideas being touted, as the Brexit negotiations on EU withdrawal reach a climax. The FT reports on ” the tunnel phase” when no new proposals will be published by either side until the deal is done – or not Before the weekend is out, negotiators want to agree a complete draft treaty, defining the terms …

Can we manage the challenge to our identities created by Brexit?

Brian Walker on October 11, 2018, 12:55 pm

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There’s no doubt Brexit is creating fresh and unsought tensions over how to manage as well as express national identities. Two pieces today are vivid examples of the problems created by Brexit on these islands. Newton Emerson develops a theme raised here several times, but has yet to reach the top of the political agenda. How do Northern residents born and bred assert their continuing rights as EU and Irish citizens? Sinn Fein naturally want voting rights for Northerners in …

IS DUP threat to abandon pact trick or treat?

Brian Walker on October 10, 2018, 3:40 pm

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Newnight’s Nick Watt broke the story just after the regular morning lobby briefing in Downing St Just minutes before this story broke, a Downing Street source was asked whether the PM felt she could rely on DUP votes. “The confidence and supply arrangement we have with the DUP is a matter of record,” he said. “Is that a yes?” “It’s an answer? Yes The story.. Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party is planning to vote against the Budget if Theresa May …