Those of us who follow Brexit on an everyday basis have become obsessed by process. How, we ask ourselves, will the 14 day timetable imposed by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act post-Vote of No Confidence (VONC) play out with the required 5 or 6 weeks to hold a General Election, and […]
Fictitious scenario. The date is Monday 22 July, the day before Boris Johnson is expected to be approved leader of the Conservative Party, and two days before he is expected to go to the Palace to see the Queen. Jeremy Corbyn announces he will make a public speech, explaining Labour’s […]
At the Freudenstadt Symposium on European Regionalism this past weekend I was rather flummoxed by a nevertheless amusing question by someone in the audience. Are there any implausible, but still just about viable, Brexit scenarios you have not thought about? I was asked after I had presented my latest Brexit […]
In 2014 the race to become President of the European Commission – using the new Spitzenkandidat process – was a two-horse race, and months ahead everyone knew who would likely win – Jean-Claude Juncker (EPP). Martin Schulz (PES) put in energy and determination, but the EPP emerged as the largest party after […]
One of the consistent outcomes in my latest round of Brexit Diagrams has been to foresee a General Election as the most likely outcome of the Brexit process. “But a General Election is not an outcome!” has been the common retort from my readers. “Do any of us know how […]
So the Heads of State and Government put in an all-nighter at the European Council in Brussels. And this morning at the time of writing there is still no consensus as to who will get any of the EU’s top jobs, President of the European Commission foremost among the positions […]
So you want to go to the only place in the world that still has the hammer and sickle on its flag? A largely unrecognised state? One with a statue of Lenin in front of its Parliament? And you want to do that in 2019? And you want to do […]
For years now Twitter has been my main professional social network. It is (or has been?) the way to keep in touch with what is going on in politics, and to seek to influence it in some way. I have also written a lot about it – all gathered here. […]
So May has gone. Or at least said when she will go. Her statement today that she will stand aside on 7th June, together with the announcement by Brandon Lewis and others about the timetable for the leadership election that will conclude by mid July, gives us the framework. Into […]
A short while ago I needed to buy a plant pot so headed off to my local Hellweg DIY store. And EU flag was fluttering in front of the building, and placards inside told me “Hellweg zeigt Flagge für Europa!” (Hellweg is showing the flag for Europe!) Arriving back home […]
Just over a year ago I was speaking on a panel about Brexit at King’s College London with Richard Graham, Tory MP for Gloucester. “The democratic tradition” Graham said in sickly smooth tone 23 minutes in, “is much deeper in the UK than anywhere else in the European Union.” He […]
So with less than a month to go until Brexit (or it being delayed or cancelled), I am setting off around Europe, talking to different groups about the UK’s exit from the EU, and what we can expect between now and 29.3.2019. Details of all the events are below and […]
You are all joking, right? What would diverging just for the sake of it mean? How do you draft such a law? “We have to diverge”. “How?” “Don’t know. But we have to.” “In what respect?” “Don’t know. Make something up.” You are easily comforted if not having this dialogue suffices. https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1220404366231986183
NEW
CBI chief Fairbairn welcomes Chancellor “clarification” UK wouldn’t diverge “for sake of it”.
“Good to have clarification in terms of divergence from EU, that will be when its in economic interests of the country, not an obligation, a right we can use if we need to use it”
This is some thread. Read to the end.
About 20 years ago I moved to Germany for a little while. I'd been there twice before, both on school trips. But this time I moved to work, in Frankfurt. I spoke the tiniest bit of German, so I tried to learn a little bit more from some tapes made by a man called 'Michel Thomas'.
