Yesterday the European Parliament Conference of Presidents agreed that two Committees – INTA and AFET – would vote on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) this week, but that any decision as to when the plenary of the European Parliament would vote on it was deferred. The decision was […]
Brexit
European Parliament: if you take Brexit scrutiny seriously, why not call Frost to give evidence?
Days before the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) finally emerged on Christmas Eve, the European Parliament had already expressed its concern at the process, and refused to be bounced into last minute ratification as the House of Commons was. Chair of the EPP Group Manfred Weber wrote this at […]
Brexit, coordination, leadership and accountability: questions for the EU side too
The elevation of David Frost to Cabinet, and him largely replacing Michael Gove as the UK Government’s coordinator of all things Brexit, understandably generated considerable debate. Jill Rutter penned a piece for UK in a Changing Europe about what we do and do not know about the UK Government’s new […]
The personal psychological cost of the consumption of Brexit bullshit
For years on this blog I have painstakingly been documenting the Brexit saga – in more than 50 diagrams and more than 200 blog posts. I don’t know if anyone can really have described themselves as a Brexit expert back at the time of the referendum, but over the past […]
Ratification delay, and avoiding a No Deal Brexit – we’re not yet out of the woods
One of the consequences of leaving it so late – 24 December 2020 – to agree The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) was that ratification could not be completed before the Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2021. The European Parliament stated it would not have the time […]
The slam-dunk style of modern political digital communication, and missing meaning
Slam dunk. Lambast Michael Gove with a hasty tweet hammered out while drinking my morning coffee. Push the emotional buttons of both Remain people and Scottish pro-Indy people in one go. *So* much to unpick in a 10 word tweet! 1️⃣ So Michael, you now agree there is a hefty […]
It is time to wonder: is the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), as drafted, actually going to be ratified?
A question has been on my mind for some time: when is the UK Government going to really begin to do the hard implementation work that is inevitable as a consequence of having signed the Northern Ireland Protocol and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA)? The answer, I think, […]
A little lockdown project: Brexit Geoguessr
My father was a geography teacher, my mother also a geography graduate, and I grew up with a map in my hand. Years ago I discovered a little game called Geoguessr that used Google Maps and Google Street View and turned them into a game – you used whatever you […]
UK politics, all so wrong it’s hard to know where to start
So there it is, in black and white. Вперед, к Cуверенитету comrades! Onwards, to sovereignty! Today’s FT long read (€) on how the Brexit Deal was struck and what happens next is a remarkable piece of work, drawing together a series of disparate parts of the past 12 months of the […]
It’s easier to critique honest incompetence than deal with malevolent deceit
“When future historians try to understand how Britain ended up with a choice between chaos and becoming a satellite of the European Union, one question will stump them,” wrote Fintan O’Toole in this Irish Times column in November 2018. “Were these people telling deliberate lies or were they merely staggeringly […]
On the Brexit Deal and Erasmus the SNP appear clear and decisive, and Labour contorted and confused
It has been a good week for the SNP. On two major issues – due to their own clarity of thought and the errors of others – they have banked clear political wins. On both issues the Labour Party by contrast looks contorted and confused. First the UK-EU Deal. Here […]
There’s no way to avoid it: the EU question is going to be on the agenda at the 2024 UK General Election, and so Labour can’t wish away the EU question
On page 218 and 219 of the UK-EU Trade Deal (full PDF here) is the following paragraph (emphasis is mine): In order to ensure an appropriate balance between the commitments made by the Parties in this Agreement on a more durable basis, either Party may request, no sooner than four […]