British prime minister Theresa May has delayed a parliamentary vote on Brexit on the day the European Court of Justice ruled the country can unilaterally cancel its withdrawal from the EU. Read more “May Delays Brexit Vote. European Court Rules Britain Can Cancel Article 50”
The Sun reports that British cabinet secretaries Michael Gove and Amber Rudd — the former a leader of the 2016 campaign to leave the EU, the latter a “remainer” — intend to push for membership of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) with Labour’s support if and when Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal fails in Parliament.
This plan is unlikely to succeed, for two reasons:
Spain has demanded greater clarity on the status of Gibraltar before signing off on the treaty that is meant to regulate Britain’s exit from the EU in March 2019.
“We want the interpretation to be clear in that text that the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU will not apply to Gibraltar,” Josep Borrell, the Spanish foreign minister, said on Monday.
Here is why his demand is a bit of a dud. Read more “Why Spain’s Threat to Hold Up Brexit Over Gibraltar Is Theater”
The United Kingdom has reached a provisional agreement with the EU about its withdrawal from the bloc in March 2019.
Here is a summary of what you need to know. Read more “Everything You Need to Know About the Brexit Deal”
After Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, I argued here that the only alternative to a “hard” Brexit was a Norway-style deal under which Britain would stay in the EU customs union and single market.
I got it half-right. The draft agreement that is due to be published later today would — according to British media — see the United Kingdom exit the single market but remain in the customs union until a better solution can be found to prevent the return of a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Britain would also respect the rights of the roughly three million EU nationals in the country. The one million Britons who live and work on the continent would be treated similarly. Read more “May’s Is the Only Alternative to a No-Deal Brexit”
Northern Ireland’s conservatives have threatened to withhold their support from Theresa May’s 2019 budget proposal if the prime minister crosses their “red lines” on Brexit.
May needs the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland for her majority in Westminster. Read more “Northern Ireland’s Unionists Threaten to Rebel Over Brexit”
The EU summit in Salzburg, Austria has driven home two truths about Brexit:
None of this should be news. Read more “EU Doesn’t Budge on Brexit”
It’s been seventeen months since the Brexit talks began and, judging by their recent commentary, including Boris Johnson’s latest column in The Telegraph, the Brexiteers are still laboring under delusions about the outcome.
So let’s be blunt. Read more “Blunt Talk for Brexiteers”
