The EU/Brexit Blog

I apologise in advance for this post, it is a lot more reactionary to current affairs than most of my blog posts and whilst my blog posts are kind of dependent on current affairs, this is based upon the events of the past few days. For too long now, I have almost expected the UK Government and EU to reach a deal. Jean-Claude Juncker's mandate has been to reach a deal and it appeared almost inconceivable that Juncker could unsuccessfully achieve his mandate and still hold his position within the negotiating team. Similarly, a world in which the UK crashes out the EU seemed beyond belief; our financial sector, aviation, and food market would collapse almost instantaneously and leave Britain at a standstill, a first for such a developed nation - and one I didn't want to imagine. Furthermore, the positive language, until now, used by Tusk and May acted as encouragement that a deal could be done by November. The undertone set by May was that she expected, come November, the ...

Are the UK government finances as dire as many it perceive it to be? The Chancellor has been a fierce critic of Brexit since day one and his prominent position as a Remainer has brought much criticism from fellow party and cabinet members. The Chancellor has distributed statistics from the Treasury that frequently state the distinct negatives on the economy of any kind of so-called Hard Brexit. Unsurprisingly, as the economy has appeared fairly resilient to Brexit recently, and I recognise that the markets have been susceptible to statements about the Brexit negotiations, however, considering the mass uncertainty over the future relationship between the EU and Britain, the economy is performing well. Therefore, despite the dire concerns of the Treasury that Brexit would be a detriment to the economy, the Chancellor appears to be unable to eat his cake and have it at the same time. Yet on the brighter side, that means that the economy is in a stronger position than expected...

Last night, I was lying in bed thinking about Brexit, as you do, and I was thinking about the what the current EU leaders and all the parliamentarian leaders across the EU would be thinking about right now - particularly about Brexit. Now I am sure we've all heard the classic 'no one in the EU  really  cares as much about Brexit as us British do' but it seems to be becoming a more prominent issue across the EU. So I thought I would structure this blog post based on what do the other leaders of across the EU think about the Brexit negotiations and then the future for the EU as a result of these negotiations. Firstly, I thought it'd be important to say that I don't think anyone anticipated what a huge deal Brexit was until the negotiations started - now I know I'm stating the bleeding obvious but it's a key principal to note. Through the period up to summer 2017, I would regularly hear on the radio that EU leaders were unconcerned by Brexit and that it ...

First of all I want to address the breakthrough piece of news this week that stated that Corbyn and the Labour Party would be willing to accept a deal that Theresa May negotiates with the EU if   the UK remains part of some customs union. Now whilst key Labour cabinet members attempted to trivialise the significance of this statement, for example Barry Gardiner on the ever wonderful Peston show, said the deal had been on the table for the last 18 months, the significance of this remark is undoubtedly clear - it is a lifeline for May. One of the clear issues for Theresa May has been getting the deal negotiated with the EU to pass through the Commons. With around 60 hardline Tory MPs prepared to #ChuckChequers it remains to be seen whether the Tory Party will comjure the required votes from Labour and the Lib Dems to secure the bill passing through the Commons. Let us do some very quick maths, a bill needs around 322 votes to pass through the Commons and lets say the Tory P...

Okay, so I admit that today, this blog post is a bit more impromptu than normal and particularly fuelled with emotion despite my desire otherwise not to fill my blog posts with incessant opinions that stem from an emotional nature, but today signifies a one-off post of that nature. I read yesterday morning about Jeremy Corbyn coming out to say that if Labour members backed a second referendum at the Party Conference then he would be obliged to make it Party Policy - this particular news feed infuriated me especially - but I want to also discuss why this feeling has built up long-term as well. By now I'm sure most of my readership know of my standing on the political spectrum and, in particular, my position towards Brexit but I want you to ignore that fact as I will try to write without that ideology in mind. So whilst I recognise the seismic shift towards the left of the Labour Party, I want to criticise the position of the Labour Party, it's attitudes towards Brexit and ho...

First of all, I want to make clear that these points that I make below are not criticisms of the PM but rather me stating the facts and whether her Chequers Plan will survive as a result. In the first instance, the famous Chequers Plan sets out a common rulebook for some goods and services subject to agreement with the EU, a joint jurisdiction area whereby UK courts could uphold EU/UK regulations whilst still being aware of precedent and expectations of the EU - i.e removing ECJ jurisdiction and bring back 'control' back onto the mainland. Finally, the Chequers Plan sets out a maximum facilitation agreement whereby the UK would collect tariffs on products headed to the EU and pay those tariffs directly to the EU whilst still applying its own tariffs post-Brexit. As of the 21st of September 2018, the Prime Minister has come under immense scrutiny from members of her own cabinet and party, First Ministers across the UK and in particular, the EU - Juncker, Barnier and Tu...

We are back again with a new instalment based upon the European Research Group’s proposal on solving the issue surrounding the Irish Border. What is important to establish initially is that Brexiteers do not see the Irish Border as a problem that requires a solution - so sorry if I misled you in the title of the Blog. Their statement states the only action required along the border is ‘modifying existing arrangements’. There are many reasons why I believe that is far from feasible. Firstly, if anyone has read the Good Friday Agreement, they will know that regulatory alignment is mandatory when discussing the Irish Border and anything that deviates from that will likely cause the collapse of the socially and politically invaluable agreement. The modifications of existing agreements, as wishful as it sounds, is inconceivable with the proposals put forward just a few days prior. The idea that the UK can remove itself from a common rule book yet have frictionless trade is dream like...