The Daily Mail obviously thinks we are a one party state and the government should dictate without let or hindrance. Yesterday’s vote was just an expression of what I think was once called the Parliamentary system – where government proposes and Parliament disposes. The government is only the executive. They have not been humiliated –… Read more
Category:
Brexit
About the decision, background and process of the UK leaving the European Union.
The EU – what should Labour do now?
Apparently there is to be no hard border but the UK is leaving the customs union. These contradictions are part of the recent agreement on Article 50. If the latest Times report is correct EU officials and diplomats were irritated by Mr Davis’s remark at the weekend that the withdrawal agreement was just a “statement… Read more
Will NI see its 100th Birthday in 2021?
The dust is settling slightly over the weekend, the relief on Friday sadly is once again turning into low level dread. The constructive ambiguity in the UK/EU agreement is wide open to interpretation. Some discussion of this is here on Richard Murphy’s TRUK blog. I’m not sure we are that much further forward but… Read more
“Report on the United Kingdom’s orderly withdrawal from the European Union” and staying in the single market
Today’s report seems to be spun as though it is a major achievement – indeed a major agreement. Maybe it will be, though of course nothing is actually yet agreed, but while the citizenship and financial agreements look substantial, the details on the single market and customs union seem simply to suggest that the UK… Read more
Brexit Tories take another page from the Trumpian-Republican playbook
There can’t be many rational people who don’t see the similarities between the Brexit wing of the Tory Party and the Trumpian version of the Republican Party. There are the similarities between leading figures, Trump and Boris Johnson being the obvious one: apart from the rather silly blond hair styles both are egotists and liars… Read more
Brexit Deal or No Deal and Onwards to Phase II?
It seems that the UK Government has resigned itself to paying the “divorce bill” on the EU’s terms, although some of the Brexiteers don’t seem to realise this yet. It’s also rumoured that considerable progress has been made regarding the “children”. The Irish rightly want a cast iron commitment that there will be no “regulatory… Read more
EU Phase 1 Negotiation One Down and Two to Go?
As readers will know the three issues on which sufficient progress needs to be made before moving onto phase II are the “Divorce Bill”, EU citizens in the UK and visa versa and the Irish Border. Of the three Progressive Pulse’s analysis as discussed in detail six days ago was that the “Divorce Bill” was … Read more
Liam Fox Calls in some of his American Friends to Negotiate with the Irish
A bit of humour in these dark times…. Read more
Praying to remain perhaps…
Is Money The UK’s strongest Card?
Does the recent UK offer to up the “divorce bill” from €20 to €40bn, but only if there are considerable concessions in terms of trade, give the UK much leverage? The hard Brexit faction seems absolutely convinced that only by threatening to walk away and playing “hard ball” can a good deal be extracted from… Read more